This time, when time started to flow, Seele no longer hesitated. She lowered her head and charged forward. Although this body wasn't hers, it surprisingly fit her control.
This time, she finally heard the gunshot. But before she could get far, Seele felt a sharp pain in her arm.
Good thing it's just a sharp pain...
Seele's pained expression twisted slightly. With tears welling up in her eyes, she glanced at her arm. A startling crimson was rapidly being sprayed behind her.
It hurts...
There was no restart this time. Seele could only lower her head and continue running. But ahead was a fork in the road, with a villa standing right in the middle.
Seele didn't react in time. She clumsily rolled and crashed into the villa's wall.
The window was open. Perhaps by a stroke of luck, Seele tumbled in through the open window.
"Huh? Where did she go?!" Outside the window, a voice grew louder as it approached. Seele, feeling pain all over her body, subconsciously covered her mouth.
"She must have run off! Split up!" At its closest, the voice gave another order. Then, the sound of footsteps scattered to both sides of the villa.
Seele let out a sigh of relief, then began to curl up from the pain.
It really hurts...
After a while, Seele managed to open her eyes. The first thing she saw was a pair of fair, slender hands.
"Are these... Bronya-oneechan's hands?" Seele recognized them immediately. Then, she suddenly raised a hand to touch her face, pulled on her spiral ponytail, and as the ponytail sprang back, she reached for her chest, and finally... downward.
Seele saw Sin Mal, squatting beside her, staring at her in the darkness with her heterochromatic eyes.
She was also small, and was wearing a gorgeous dress Seele had never seen before. Her hair was also a beautiful long style. The way she squatted there was not only well-behaved, but also exceptionally elegant.
Seele silently withdrew her hand from her leg.
I should be Bronya-oneechan right now... and it hasn't restarted yet... Is it because Bronya-oneechan is really meeting Sin Mal right now?
Seele had more or less figured out what she needed to do here. Anchor replacement meant swapping her position with Bronya-oneechan's. So now, she should experience everything Bronya-oneechan had experienced before...
Then... how would Bronya-oneechan speak?
Seele thought for a moment, then wiped all expression from her face, putting on the same indifferent look as Bronya.
"Hello."
Bronya-oneechan definitely wouldn't say hello like that!!
Seele almost turned and covered her face.
"Hello," Sin Mal said, taken aback for a moment, then nodded very seriously at Seele.
Huh? Was I not wrong?
Seele looked up in surprise, thought for a moment, then looked at the bleeding wound on her arm and the multiple bruises on her body.
"Excuse me, is there any medicine here?" Seele asked tentatively.
Sin Mal's eyes slowly moved to Seele's arm, then back again. "Yes... wait a moment."
With that, Sin Mal stood up with a graceful movement and left. Seele watched this elegant Sin Mal with some surprise, finding it hard to believe.
Sin Mal... that irritable Sin Mal can be so elegant?
While Sin Mal was away, Seele endured the pain all over her body and began to think about what to do next.
This event... she had never heard Bronya-oneechan mention it, so I don't know what to do... Sin Mal is a little strange. Will those people who were chasing Bronya-oneechan come back? Many other questions made Seele's face wrinkle in frustration.
[...]
No, Bronya-oneechan wouldn't make such an expression. Seele immediately resumed her cold demeanor.
[.]
Sin Mal returned, bringing medicine, bandages, and two pieces of bread.
She placed these things in front of Seele. Seele looked up, hesitating whether to thank Sin Mal, and then saw a faint glow emanating from Sin Mal's body.
She really was emitting a faint glow... like the holy light that angels have when they bestow blessings upon the world.
Seele was stunned and forgot to say thank you, just blankly looking down.
No... there's definitely something wrong here! Why is Sin Mal glowing?!
[...It's normal for memories to be slightly artisticized by their owner.]
"Huh?" The answer that suddenly appeared in her mind made Seele let out a strange sound. She was silent for two seconds, then looked up at Sin Mal again.
She really does seem to have a halo...
Is it because Bronya-oneechan really thought she saw an angel in this memory... or because... Sin Mal thought she was an angel at that moment?
"Do you need my help?" Sin Mal's voice was so gentle it made Seele shiver. She obediently held out her hand, letting Sin Mal take the medicine and bandages and start treating her wound.
"Ngh..." The sting from the medicine on the wound made Seele let out a small whimper. Then she suddenly remembered that Bronya-oneechan would never make such a sound and put on a stern face again.
But she could still feel her face slowly getting hot.
So... still no change?
Was this memory really like this?
There wasn't much conversation between the two. After the wound was treated, Seele hesitated for two seconds looking at the bread, then finally gave in to her hunger, picked up the bread and took a small... large bite.
I'm definitely eating exactly like Bronya-oneechan usually does! Seele is confident about that.
After eating, they stared at each other again. The two children were at a loss for words. It wasn't until Seele couldn't stand Sin Mal's direct gaze and the faint glow from her body anymore and was about to get up and leave.
Bang—!! A dull thud sounded. Several burly men kicked the door open and swarmed in.
"Found you..." the leading man sneered at Seele. He was taken aback for a moment when he saw Sin Mal squatting to the side, then sneered. "After making us run around for so long, you come here to make friends?"
"Are you looking down on us?!" he roared, then abruptly raised his hand, aimed his gun at Sin Mal, and decisively pulled the trigger.
Two figures rolled to the side, leaving a smoking bullet hole in the ground.
The faint glow on Sin Mal disappeared. Seele looked up, quickly got to her feet, and subconsciously stood in front of Sin Mal.
Then, Seele found that she herself had started to glow.
...This was definitely not Bronya-oneechan's memory.