[Anchor Replacement Complete—]
Just as Seele was nervously watching the ferocious-looking men, wondering what Bronya-oneechan would do, a voice suddenly sounded in her mind.
At the same time, in the outside world, Sin Mal, who was coordinating with Kai to entangle Frélle, suddenly froze, a flicker of confusion in her eyes.
The surroundings became chaotic. Seele felt a suction force from behind, pulling her backward.
But her body seemed to remain in place. Seele retreated to a spectator's position, watching as the person standing in front of Sin Mal, protecting her, became herself.
The ground beneath her suddenly gave way. Before Seele could react, she began to fall, landing on a patch of cold snow.
She didn't do anything this time. After a brief moment of surprise, she quickly suppressed the urge to get up.
In her hands was a large sniper rifle. A weapon of this size was not something her small frame should be using. The recoil would mercilessly shatter her fragile shoulders.
But this was Bronya-oneechan...
Seele didn't get up. Instead, she cooperatively placed her face on the cheek rest and looked through the sniper scope at the pre-aimed position.
The feedback from her body was hunger and cold. Drowsiness and intense concentration overlapped, causing Seele's heart rate to rise continuously.
And then...
[Anchor replacement failed... restarting]
Time probably rewound. Seele couldn't see any change in the environment, but she already knew where she had gone wrong.
Bronya-oneechan wouldn't shrink back from such small difficulties...
After repeating this to herself several times, Seele tried to stabilize her emotions and shift toward a state of high concentration.
Then time seemed to speed up, but the surroundings still didn't change.
It was as if the temperature had completely frozen this place.
Until a person appeared in her scope.
That's... Mama Cocolia?!
Cocolia, dressed in military attire and a greatcoat, appeared in her scope, seemingly defenseless. Seele was taken aback, her finger subconsciously slipping off the trigger.
As if sensing something, the Cocolia in the scope also turned her head and gave Seele a cold smile.
The next moment, a gust of wind swept up beside her. Seele's heart trembled. She turned to see Cocolia appear beside her in an extremely high-profile manner, using her greatcoat to whip up a wind that swept away all the snow covering Seele.
Seele's cover was completely blown. She leaned there, stunned. And Cocolia seemed to be stunned at the same time.
A child?
Seele could clearly feel the strange emotion in Cocolia's eyes. They looked at each other for about a second before Seele once again heard the cold voice in her mind.
[Anchor replacement failed... restarting.]
This time, Seele truly felt time rewinding. She watched the uncovered snow return to her body, only to be blown away again by the wind a moment later.
I should resist... a voice in her heart said.
Bronya-oneechan would never just stand there uselessly like me after such an incident. If it were Bronya-oneechan, she would definitely fight back!
The moment Cocolia was stunned, the gritting Seele pulled out the dagger strapped to her thigh and, with her eyes closed, swung it wildly behind her.
Her wrist was caught the next moment. Then, a sharp pain shot through her entire arm, pinning her back into the snow.
This time... my arm should be dislocated...
The pain was so intense that Seele could barely control her tears. But thankfully, the cold snow wiped them away. Seele struggled to get up but was held down firmly, unable to move.
Bronya-oneechan... what would she do at a time like this...
After forcing herself to calm down, Seele began to think again.
At a time like this... Bronya-oneechan definitely wouldn't back down... She would keep fighting until she won, right...
As Seele thought this, and just as she was about to endure the pain and launch a second counterattack despite her dislocated arm, a warning sounded in her mind again.
[Anchor replacement failed... restarting.]
She was back to the moment she had been disarmed. Seele was pressed into the snow, stunned, her eyes filled with disbelief.
No... Bronya-oneechan... didn't fight back?
Then what did Bronya-oneechan do? She remembered that Bronya-oneechan wasn't brought back by Mama Cocolia, but had appeared at the orphanage gate by herself...
Was Bronya-oneechan saved by someone at this time?
No... if there was someone, they should have appeared by now... and the people around Bronya-oneechan... would they really come to save her?
While Seele was still in a daze, Cocolia's hand had already landed on her head. And then, the fourth warning.
[Anchor replacement failed, restarting.]
Could it be that—
In the rewind, Seele suddenly thought of a possibility. A very simple, very normal possibility, but one she had never considered because it was Bronya.
Here... Bronya-oneechan... ran away?
Just like her, she ran away from here in fear?
Bronya-oneechan... that Bronya-oneechan would actually... be afraid?
And to run away in fear from her target?
Seele didn't believe it, but it was the only remaining answer. The only inconsistency was... it didn't fit Bronya-oneechan.
So... Bronya-oneechan really...
...made a decision that no one could have expected.
The cold-blooded Ural Silver Wolf, the emotionless killing machine, who didn't know how to communicate, had never experienced any emotion, and didn't even have expressions, suddenly felt fear.
Seele struggled free from Cocolia's grasp. In the cold, the sharp pain, the hunger, and the confusion, she fled from here, darting into the woods, running far, far away without looking back.
To a somewhat remote small town.
The place where Cocolia had once brought Seele and met Bronya.
[Anchor Replacement Complete—]
Many people have a few unforgettable turning points in their lives. They may have lost something, gained something, changed something, or failed to change something...
And at this moment, an emotionless body, a soulless empty shell, a puppet so pure it was without any impurity, was finally stained with its first color from within.
She said...
"I don't want to die..."