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Left or Right – Part 07

“Go on without me,” Mary said feebly. “You need to help the people above.”

“Mary!”

“What’s going on? Why have you suddenly turned timid? You’re like Wonder Girl when her hair was cut. Hey!”

Kazuya and Troll grew even more frantic. Shining the flashlight, they tried removing the slabs of wood one by one from the top.

“We’re gonna get you out of there. Just hang on!” Kazuya said. “Damn it, why is this happening… Stay with us!”

“But…”

“What’s gotten into you? You were so reliable just a moment ago.”

“Yeah. From our perspective, you might not be able to fly in the sky or have super strength, but you were brave, energetic, and full of courage! You’re like our own version of Wonder Girl.”

“Mary!”

“Plus, you even have a medal on your chest. Oh, I remember now!” Troll exclaimed. “I read about you in the papers.”

“Huh? The papers?” Kazuya said.

Struggling to move the wood, Troll explained, “Mary here is none other than the female firefighter who was prominently featured in last month’s Daily Road. There was a fire at some big shot’s mansion. The flames were so intense that nobody else dared to step inside, when a young female firefighter rushed in and successfully rescued the lady of the house and her son. Right, you were the one commended by Mayor Emigré for that incident. That’s why you have that medal despite being so young. You really are like a local Wonder Girl. So come on, hang in there! Whoa, why are you crying? M-Mary? What’s wrong?”

“I-I’ve been trying to tell everyone… I’m not like that. I don’t deserve such high praises,” Mary muttered dejectedly.

Childlike sobs echoed in the darkness. Kazuya and Troll exchanged perplexed glances.

“At the fire,” Mary said softly, “I heard the voices of women calling for help from both sides. I had no grounds to decide which way to go. I just went to the right. Then I happened to find the madam and the young master there. After I rescued them, of course, I tried to go to the left next, but the fire spread faster than I expected, and I couldn’t reach the person calling for help from that side. Later, I heard she was a maid who grew up in the ghetto. A second-generation Irish immigrant, just like me. If I had gone to the left… But I just happened to choose right.”

“I see,” Troll said.

Kazuya also nodded slowly.

“The next thing I knew, I received high praise and even an official commendation. But I couldn’t save the girl. It was just a coincidence that I got to the lady of the house first, but it looks like I rescued her first because she was more important. And ever since then…”

“Mary…”

“It tears my heart.”

“…”

“Sins have to be atoned for! That’s why…”

Once again, her childish cries echoed in the darkness.

“M-Mary,” Kazuya muttered. “Anyway, we’re getting you out of there, so please stop crying. It can’t end like this. Not with you heartbroken.” He gritted his teeth and tried to lift the lumber.

Troll paused. “I get it now. You’re a good person, so I can understand why it bothers you.”

“Mm…”

“But you were quite remarkable today. You helped Linlin and me, a weird Asian dude and a tiny man, and brought us all the way up here.”

“Did you just call me a weird Asian dude?”

Troll ignored Kazuya’s unsettlingly quiet voice.

“You did, didn’t you?” Kazuya persisted.

Troll awkwardly turned away from him. “Mary, because of how I look, people made fun of me when I was a child. Actually, they still do. I hate being picked on, so I act like a clown, but you were nice to me.”

“T-Troll…”

“Anyway, I don’t know much about you and that strange girl, but I’ve taken a liking to you. Enough with the complicated stuff. Let’s just get out of here alive. We’ll eat some trout sandwiches. Ah, I’m starving! I’ve been saying that for a while now.”

“Huh?”

“Well, anyway… Later, we can tell everything to our descendants. For immigrants, the beginning of a family’s history is important, but history is an endlessly corrupt path. I think having a too-perfect family history is just a myth. Life is full of both good and bad things. Hahaha… Anyway, let’s go! I’m hungry!”

Mary’s crying gradually subsided. Kazuya and Troll nodded at each other. They both dove under the lumber again and exerted force.

Troll shouted, “Wonder Girl, crawl out as soon as we lift it!”

“You might only have a moment,” Kazuya added. “Please pull yourself together, Mary!”

“I-I got it,” she responded weakly.

“On three!”

“All right!”

Despite the eerie groan, the lumber barely budged. Kazuya’s shoulders and arms screamed in protest. He gritted his teeth so hard it felt like his molars might crack. Then, for just a moment, the lumber lifted slightly, and there was a sound of someone crawling on the floor.

“I’m out,” Mary said.

Kazuya and Troll let go of the lumber, leaping backward. With a loud crash, the lumber hit the floor, causing a significant vibration.

Kazuya quickly shone his flashlight on Mary’s legs. Blood was trickling to the floor. Troll and Kazuya exchanged glances in a silent discussion.

Troll nodded vigorously. “She can’t go on.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll get her out of here. I don’t know if she’ll make it, but I won’t abandon her.”

“Understood. Then, we’ll part ways here. Please take care of Mary.” Kazuya lifted his chin. “From here on out, I’m going alone.”

Troll gave Kazuya a grave look. They stared at each other for a while.

Finally, Troll said, “Best of luck, Linlin.”

Mary quickly attempted to rise. “I’ll manage on my own,” she insisted. “You two go help the people upstairs.”

“Don’t be stupid!” Troll snapped. “You can’t go back down alone with those injuries. Just listen to what I say, crybaby Wonder Girl. You’re heading back with this celebrity. Take the stairs down, and hop on the dumbwaiter. Haha. I know how to operate it, no worries. I’m very skilled with machines.”

“Skilled with machines?” Kazuya asked.

Troll nodded confidently. “I design and sell cars, you know! Operating a dumbwaiter like that is a breeze for a gentleman like me!”

“Cars?! I wouldn’t have guessed that.”

“Yup. If we make it out alive and meet up below, we can have a nice, relaxing chat. Maybe over trout sandwiches. Let’s go, young lady! Hang on to my shoulders. Oh, am I too small? Then just hold on to my head. Oh, but don’t actually grab my head. I’m just joking.”

Troll started down the stairs, assisting Mary, who was dragging her feet along, sniffling. He glanced up at the tall, red-haired woman.

“I hope my usual hangout is still open,” he said. “Grabbing some dark beer and potato salad, then enjoying it in Central Park is divine.”

Mary gave a weak nod, then looked over her shoulder. “Take care, Linlin.” Before Kazuya could respond, she hurriedly added, “Don’t forget: do not leave things to chance. It’s the golden rule in times like this. Make sure it’s safe before you proceed. Don’t choose randomly, like I did. See you later, Linlin. Please, please be careful, and sorry you have to do this alone.”

“I understand. I’ll be fine. You both take care.”

“We will. Bye.”

Kazuya watched with concern, and as they turned the corner of the landing, Troll suddenly looked back and gave a playful wink. Kazuya was taken aback, blushing slightly, then nodded in return.

The two figures gradually vanished, and Kazuya found himself truly alone for the first time since arriving in the New World.

Standing in the emergency staircase of the towering skyscraper Apocalypse, Kazuya clenched his fists tightly.

And then…

He ran up the dim emergency staircase. He was breathing heavily, enduring the fatigue in his thighs as he continued the relentless climb. It felt like being lost in an endless tower of magic. The only sound he could hear was his ragged breath.

As Mary had taught him, he occasionally spun in place in the opposite direction on the landing, before climbing again.

Oh, I never got to share my immigration story. I heard all about Troll, Mary, and even Coup de Grâce. Haha.

He closed his eyes softly, and his lips loosened. His legs alone kept moving automatically, running up the stairs.

Yes, I only got here tonight.

He climbed and climbed.

To the New Word, with a precious girl.

Up and up.

Because I vowed never to leave her side again.

Slowly, he opened his eyes. The dim emergency staircase stretched endlessly.

Kazuya began to envision scenes from a small island nation in the Far East, events from about two months ago at the Kujou household.

He returned home from war and reunited with his family. After moving to a new house together, Kazuya initially began seeking a teaching position, but his father made himself busy for his exceptional son.

“You’ve been appointed to a prestigious government role, thanks to your outstanding academic performance.”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

“On one condition.”

And that condition was…

“Send back that foreign witch that followed you here.”

“What?”

Kazuya closed his eyes. The memory of their conversation came rushing back.

“Father, I… If I have to choose…”

“You fool! Why can’t you understand how I feel?! I’m saying this for your own good!”

“But Father! I don’t want to lose that girl ever again.”