Cecilia really did seem to have left her here...
Bianka, who had been waiting for nearly half an hour, came to this conclusion.
Sitting on the roadside with her canteen and the Star of Judgment, Bianka silently looked at the half-full bottle of water. She gently shook it, watching the calm surface ripple with splashes, waiting for them to settle down before shaking it again, enjoying the simple pleasure.
The judgment of her biological clock came quickly. Even though Bianka had no way of telling the time, her stomach was telling her, "It's lunchtime."
She looked up and around, but still couldn't see the "flying" Cecilia.
However, she could occasionally hear some noise from far away, but Bianka wasn't sure if that was where Cecilia was, so she didn't dare to move.
The eternally dark City of Sighs actually had its daytime. It was a rare day in the city, a day that all the residents looked forward to.
People affectionately called that day "Amnesty Day."
It was the day it rained in this desert.
On that day, the canopy that covered the City of Sighs would open, allowing the rain to fall into the city. Most of the facilities would be shut down on this day, and both the upper class in their magnificent residences and the dying lower class in the dark corners would appear, using all their means to collect as much rainwater as possible.
That might be the capital to turn the tables on the big gambling table of the City of Sighs, or it could be a sign of the fall of a top figure.
It was the great flood that descended from the sky after Cain had committed an unforgivable sin.
But it was undeniable... an "Amnesty Day" could really save a lot of people.
For example...
...the little girl's mother.
Today was another day with no water. Aizahár silently looked at the basket of paper flowers in her arms. The pungent, cheap perfume on the flowers could not hide the smell on her body.
Away from the hustle and bustle of the crowd, Aizahár didn't know whether she liked the silence of this contrast or hated it.
At least when she left the street, her heart did relax for a moment, but the pressure that followed made it difficult for her to even lift her feet.
Now she had to go home and cook... she could eat only one meal a day, but her mother couldn't.
Because of that damned Honkai disease, her mother was already very weak. If she couldn't replenish her energy, her mother would really...
Just thinking of her mother lying in bed, weak and frail, even saying a single word seemed to take all her strength, Aizahár felt an indescribable bitterness in her heart.
Why... why did her mother have to get that kind of disease...
If it weren't for the information released by the Fire MOTHs, Aizahár wouldn't even know what was wrong with her mother.
No disease had ever made a person look like that... her skin had turned grayish-white, as if it were festering. How could a human body become like that? Not only was the color strange, but it felt like plasticine to the touch.
And then there were the strange pink lines that appeared on the surface of her body... that used to be Aizahár's favorite color, but now it had become a color that haunted her nightmares.
If it were just that, it would be fine... the people from the Fire MOTHs had already announced the various states of this disease. Even if there was no hope of a cure, even if she might never be able to contact the Fire MOTHs in her lifetime, Aizahár could accept it...
She could really accept her mother leaving her... she wasn't that fragile!
Even if she were left all alone, God would still look after her.
Her mother had said before that because no one would love an orphan, the merciful God would tilt his love a little towards children without parents.
But... but...
She had seen zombies, and she had seen the Dead... the monsters that had spawned from this great Honkai.
That gray skin, those strange pink lines... they were exactly the same as the ones that had appeared on her mother!
It wasn't until she realized this that Aizahár felt a fear that she couldn't shake off.
So... would her mother become like that in the future? Would she become like those things that only roared and, upon seeing a person, would rush over with a twisted body, pounce on them and bite them, then stand up covered in blood and look for the next target...
That ugly and crazy appearance... that must be the most severe punishment that God would send down!
Her mother had been abandoned by God!
This was a fact that Aizahár was unwilling to mention no matter what.
The people here had grown up in religion, so their faith was no less important than their lives.
Those who were abandoned by God would not go to heaven even if they died. They would be cast into hell, suffer the torments of hell, and never be reincarnated in their suffering...
And as the child of someone abandoned by God, would God look at her?
Her mother had not given an answer, and no one had told her what would happen in this situation, so Aizahár came to her own conclusion.
If she didn't like someone... then she wouldn't like the people around that person either.
God would not like her.
So, there was a moment... or rather, many times, even every day, when Aizahár would think about this.
Why not... just leave?
She could leave... she didn't have the same disease as her mother! She could just leave, leave her mother who was already delirious, leave her mother who had no ability to take care of her and was just a burden.
Then, start a new life... God would accept such a reborn person! This was a widely accepted saying in the City of Sighs!
After the great flood, God would accept the reborn!
...
She couldn't do it... the girl named Aizahár couldn't do it.
God said: He will build a rainbow for the reborn.
God said: The flood will wash away the sins of Cain.
God said: ...
She said: ... she couldn't do it.
The girl named Aizahár couldn't even have a sincere faith.
The way home was a little dark. Aizahár, heavy with thoughts, turned on her flashlight to light the way.
Due to long-term malnutrition, Aizahár's night vision was already a little blurry. The moment she turned on the flashlight, a snow-white... no, a pale face suddenly appeared in her sight.
In that instant, the image of a zombie in her mind and the pale face in front of her suddenly merged. The flower basket in Aizahár's hand fell to the ground. Her mind reacted faster than her legs, and she fainted before she could turn and run.
And so, a "corpse" that had fallen straight down appeared in front of Bianka.
Looking at Aizahár, whom she had caught before she could hit the back of her head on the ground, Bianka suddenly felt a headache coming on.