Evil Black Maria - Chapter 108. The Relentless Man

“I thought I was gonna die today……”

Hound, having rinsed the blood from his mouth, slumped back against the sofa and spoke weakly.

His knotty hand gently stroked his stomach, which had just been healed by healing magic.

“Twelve rounds. Roselinde didn’t stop until she was out of ammo……”

“Haha…”

Hound lets out a deep sigh and discards his bloodstained and bullet-riddled suit.

He then pulls out a cigarette case from the pocket of his slacks.

“…..Oh, sorry. I forgot you don’t like smoking.”

“It’s not that I hate them……,but with Mary here, I’d prefer it if you didn’t.”

Stroking Mary’s hair as she sat on his lap, Shizuru bowed his head with a wry smile.

He never smokes, because Casca and Lady hate it immensely. Nor is there any reason for him to smoke in the first place.

Above all.

“As a doctor, I don’t recommend smoking. Hundred harms and no profit*”

“It’s a way of relieving stress. Just ignore it.”

Hound says quietly, putting his cigarette case back in his pocket and shrugs his shoulders.

Then he gulps down a glass of water instead of smoking a cigarette.

“…..Thanks for what you did earlier, Hound. And sorry about that.”

Suddenly, with an apologetic look in his eyes, Shizuru spoke up.

Had Hound not stopped Mary, Roselinde would have drawn her gun and returned fire. If that had happened, it would have been very difficult to end the dispute.

It was Hound’s intervention that saved a great deal of trouble.

But the result was that Hound suffered serious injuries.

Therefore, Shizuru bowed deeply and said thanks and apologized.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s the captain’s duty to keep his troops in line.”

Hound’s reply was very straightforward.

With a smile on his rugged face, he then looked down at Mary.

“But …… I’ve heard stories about you, you really are a very violent girl.”

At first glance, Mary looked like an adorable little girl, rubbing against and being pampered by him.

But just moments ago, she was truly a ferocious little beast.

“……I can’t help it. She has very little to cling to.”

His fingers stroke her soft grey hair.

Mary is afraid.

She is afraid that someone will take away the only source of love and affection that she has.

That’s why she is so afraid of anyone who comes close to Shizuru, and tries to force them away.

In order to shake off the fear that he might be taken away from her.

“Mother……won’t go anywhere……”

With a look of melancholy in her eyes, she looked up at Shizuru.

Mary is broken.

A shattered glass figurine. Numerous pieces of glass are assembled without using any glue or anything else, and somehow the original shape is maintained.

Without someone watching over her at all times, the slightest jolt would cause her to shatter.

But the broken glass is too sharp.

Having never received any love, even from her own mother, Mary does not open up easily to others.

Most people who would touch it would just get cut by it, remove it, and hurt her even more.

“Mother, Mother, Mother…..”

Mary’s heart is much more fragile than people think.

Shizuru and Beth are the only ones who can interact with her without breaking her or being cut by her.

“Don’t worry, Mary. I’m not going anywhere.”

Shizuru whispered to Mary in a voice that brought her relief.

The gentle touch of his fingertips gently brushing her hair melted away her fears.

–Mary’s wounds are too deep.

The pain of growing up without any love for the first ten years of her life.

The only way to heal it is to give her unconditional love and comfort.

“I’ll stay with you for as long as you want me to.”

So he pours his love into her, almost to the point of poisoning her to death.

Even if he has to part with her, he will do so until the day when Mary is no longer broken.

The warmth from Shizuru’s body seemed to ease Mary’s mind, and she began to sleep peacefully.

Shizuru stroked her head and bowed to the hound once more.

“Thanks for everything you did last time, Hound. For lending a hand to Ludmila and the others.”

The reason why they originally came here today.

After they had left the royal capital as part of the temporary unit, the 3rd Black Maria Unit was lacking even with Lady.

He was grateful to Hound for filling the shortage of manpower during that time.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s not so bad to be able to help another unit once in a while.”

“That’s nice of you to say. Did you get along well with Ludmila and Elizabeth?”

It was a question asked with the intention of making casual small talk.

Hound stopped moving when he heard this.

“…… Huh? Hound?”

Noticing his unease, Shizuru tilted his head and called out to him.

But there was no reply, and Hound only looked down.

But after a long pause.

Hound raised his head quietly, and with a dead expression on his face, said in a bleak tone.

“I got rejected.”

It was a short, but sombre statement that made him understand what had happened to him.

Shizuru’s mouth twitched, as if he had just heard something unpleasant.

“Oh, I see……Oh, by the way, I remember you asking me to introduce you to Ludmilla or Eliza before…….”

He was not sure who rejected him.

Shizuru hesitates for a while, wondering if he should ask the question directly or change the topic to something more appropriate.

While he was thinking about it, Hound gave him an answer.

“I was rejected by both of them.”

“Both of them….!?”

Even Shizuru was surprised.

He could not immediately think of what to say to him.

“Ludmila told me that she had no intention of letting any other man have her body.”

“…..I’m sorry….”

He looked away in embarrassment.

“Eliza politely refused to go out with me unless she killed me and I was still alive.”*

“As for that, I’d say you approached the wrong person in the first place…….”

If you’re trying to hit on her anyway, there is still hope for Beth.

“Fu~…..I’m going to die all alone, unable to have a girlfriend, or a family.”

“Oh, don’t be so depressed, Hound…….”

Shizuru starts to panic as his friend starts carrying a shadow. **

Then Hound looked up suddenly, as if he had realized something.

“…..Oh, yeah, Shizuru. You can turn into a woman, can’t you?”

“Eh”

It seems that too many things have gone wrong for him and he has started to think in the wrong direction.

With a somewhat insane look in his eyes, Hound approaches Shizuru.

“Please, Shizuru…..! Just once, just once! Help a disadvantaged virgin!”

“E, eh?…… Wait , Hound, let’s calm down, okay?　Let’s just calm down first.”

“I don’t want to be a pro!　Please, let me dream for one night!”

Shizuru was bewildered by the desperate offer.

Hound came to his senses when Mary woke up and gave him a good beating, which saved his life.