The girl immediately tossed the flashlight aside and rushed forward.
Her small hands anxiously patted and checked Soren's arms and body, her voice full of panic:
"Soren! What happened to your clothes?!"
"So many cuts… you're bleeding?! Where the hell did you go?! Did you run into a really powerful demon?! Did that bastard Dante abandon you all by yourself?!"
Soren looked at the anxious girl in front of him, the corners of his eyes crinkling with a smile.
This was Patty — sharp tongue, soft heart. Aside from Lady and Trish, she was the person in this world who cared about him the most.
Oh, and Dante too, he supposed.
"Stop, stop, stop! Don't touch anymore, you'll have to pay if you keep going!"
Soren grabbed her little hands. "Relax, they're just superficial wounds. Already healed."
"Pay?!"
Patty pinched his arm hard, puffing up like an angry kitten. "You were picked up by this young lady from the side of a trash can! What part of you haven't I seen before? When I carried you, you were still…"
"Stop! Stop! Stop!"
Soren's head throbbed the moment she started her nonsense again. He quickly shoved the pizza boxes into her arms. "Here, your big feast."
"Pizza again?! Can't you have some originality for once?"
Patty's rant was interrupted. She pouted, but still expertly opened the box. The rich smell of cheese made her stomach growl honestly.
"You've been eating this since you were a kid and you're not sick of it yet? This flour and cheap cheese junk food…"
While muttering complaints, she picked up a slice with perfect cheese pull. "Hmph, I'll reluctantly eat two slices this time."
Soren saw her tightly knitted brows finally relax and was about to breathe a sigh of relief.
"Soren, you were picked up by me. You're my personal property."
Patty chewed on the pizza, mumbling her lecture. "From now on, you must get my approval before getting injured. Do you hear me…"
But before she could finish, her chewing suddenly froze.
A little girl in a pretty dress with a pale, clean face drifted in from behind Soren. Her pure, flawless big eyes were staring straight at the pizza in Patty's hand.
Soren saw this scene and helplessly facepalmed.
Oh no.
He had been too busy dealing with Patty and completely forgot to have Alessa return to his body.
The next second, an ear-piercing shriek that could lift the roof exploded from Patty's mouth:
"Soren!!!"
"You disappeared for so many days just to go outside and raise a child?!"
Tears actually welled up in her eyes.
"I'm telling Lady and Aunt Trish! I'm having Aunt Lady blow you up with a rocket launcher, you heartless womanizer!"
Soren: "???"
...
One hour later.
Buzz— buzz—
Soren had paid the electricity bill.
The lights came back on, but his wallet was now empty. He really wanted to know how his uncle Dante had managed to rack up such a massive overdue bill.
The TV was turned back on, replaying the evening news.
"…According to our report, there have been several cases of teenagers dying suddenly in their sleep on Elm Street recently. Police have yet to determine the cause…"
"…Multiple self-driving tourists have gone missing in the eastern region. Police remind citizens to stay vigilant…"
Alessa was being held in Patty's arms, sitting on the sofa. She was holding a slice of pizza and taking tiny, careful bites.
After living in Silent Hill for so many years, she had never eaten anything this delicious.
Patty had completely forgotten about the "secret daughter" topic.
Her eyes were overflowing with maternal love as she looked at the well-behaved little girl in her arms, her own eyes red. "Soren, how could those people do something like this to a little girl?!"
She gently stroked Alessa's head.
"..."
Soren, leaning against the desk, watched this scene speechlessly.
Alessa, you're the master of Silent Hill who killed countless people. How did one slice of pizza buy you so completely?
I should've just bribed you with food from the start.
Soren dragged over a chair, sat backwards with his arms resting on the backrest, and asked, "By the way, why did you suddenly take time off and come back?"
Hearing this, Patty, who had been immersed in motherly affection, froze.
She suddenly became a little shy, eyes darting away. "Nothing much… I just wanted to come back and see you guys."
Soren raised an eyebrow and looked her up and down. "Are you… on your period or something?"
"You're the one on your period!"
Patty exploded in embarrassment and hurled the empty pizza box at him.
"School's about to start spring break. This weekend, a few of us classmates are planning a group trip."
Patty spoke while daydreaming about the upcoming holiday.
Spring break was the special one-week vacation around Easter.
For students who had been crushed under schoolwork for so long, it meant not only rest, but also sunshine, beaches, and pure fun.
Soren caught the box steadily and nodded. "I have no money."
"Who asked you for money?"
Patty rolled her eyes and raised her chin proudly. "Even if you work ten lifetimes, you still won't be as rich as me."
Soren couldn't refute that.
Patty's background was special, but her experience was even more bizarre.
Because of her family, she had grown up in an orphanage. Then, because she shared the exact same name as the heir of a powerful conglomerate family, she had been taken in as a decoy.
Afterward, the conglomerate heir, grateful, gave her a huge sum of money as compensation.
Soren didn't know the exact amount, but when Dante talked about it he had drooled and said, "That money is enough for me to take pizza baths in the office for ten lifetimes."
"I'm asking if you're going or not?"
Patty seemed to have an ulterior motive. She continued on her own, "We're taking that beautiful East 9 Highway. I heard the scenery there is amazing, and there are tons of rural legends…"
East 9 Highway? What kind of backwater place is that?
"Sounds pretty nice."
Soren nodded.
Patty's face lit up with half a smile — then immediately stiffened at his next words.
"Not going."
He pulled out his phone and started browsing the news.
What was the point of going to a bunch of kids' party?
Even though his physical age was still a few years younger than Patty's, his old-soul attitude was impossible to change.
"You!"
Seeing him refuse so decisively, Patty's cheeks puffed up in anger. She lowered her head and looked at Alessa in her arms, trying to find an ally:
"Alessa, do you want to come with me? It'll be super fun! There'll be sunshine, grass, and tons of delicious food."
The originally quiet Alessa who had been enjoying her food suddenly stiffened.
She raised her head, looked at the expectant Patty, then turned to look at Soren who was still scrolling on his phone.
Being handed over from someone close to a stranger and taken somewhere else…
She had experienced this before.
Just like the time her mother handed her over to her aunt… and she ended up being sent to the stake.
Yes, Christabella was Dahlia's older sister — Alessa's aunt.
It was hard to imagine how cruel someone could be.
"No…"
Alessa's pupils contracted violently. Her face turned deathly pale.
A heavy wave of dark power suddenly burst out from her small body.
Buzz— buzz—
The lights that had just come back on began flickering wildly. The room temperature plummeted, and rust patterns even started spreading across the walls.
"Alessa?"
Patty felt the dark aura. It was as if the doll in her arms had suddenly turned into a demon.
Soren immediately realized something when he saw the lights flickering.