Old People Don’t Hold Hands - Chapter 144



Only Krnovel

Episode 144, The Frost Queen’s Crown (16)

Does he know that he has no choice but to win?

He was smiling with a triumphant expression.

“……vote?”

When I asked him again, he proudly puffed out his chest.

“Yes, I’m suggesting we decide by voting. Aren’t we all equals anyway, Leader?”

“That’s true, but… … .”

But it seemed like Nowen was taken in by the bastard’s words.

“But, as DeClen said, wouldn’t it be better for everyone to go to the shelter and get treatment?”

Nowen gave an unexpected answer.

The bastard’s relaxed expression was momentarily disturbed by Nowen’s words.

… … Yes, this is it.

The gap that had been invisible, even more so than between Biella and Diana, was now beginning to become visible.

That is what Nowen is trying to do for ‘all of us’.

The ‘everyone’ mentioned here did not only include the Welcome Body guys.

That guy cheering at the shelter story, and that includes me.

He is literally not a leader just for them, but a leader for all of us.

It was thanks to that small difference that a tiny gap could be seen between Nowen and the others.

And that means… … .

In the end, when faced with a choice for ‘everyone’, it becomes clear that they can never beat us.

It seemed I wasn’t the only one who noticed the subtle gap, as another one of them stepped forward.

Just a moment ago, she was a middle-aged woman who was comforting and soothing an injured child.

“Hey leader… …, we all agree on going to the shelter.”

“But why do you want to vote?”

“As you know, Leader, there are too many dangers out there… … . It would be difficult for us to go forward with our injured bodies.”

“Then, is there any guarantee that it will get better?”

When I asked the middle-aged woman while looking straight at her, she turned her head and glared at me as if nothing had happened.

… … It’s creepy to see her like that while holding a child.

The woman completely ignored what I said, then changed her expression and looked at Nowen again.

He started to whine while holding Nowen’s hand tightly.

“I just want to give myself a little time to recover… …. Isn’t there a need to rush things like this?”

“… … .”

Nowen was pondering those words again.

As if to drive a wedge in, one of the guys stepped forward again.

“So let’s take our opinions into account and decide fairly through a vote.”

… … Fairness ain’t no joke.

In the end, since they have far more people, they probably think they’ll push through with this.

“I see… … , I see.”

“Thank you, Leader!”

Although he argued back a few more times after that, he could not change Nowen’s mind, which had already been turned by their appeal.

In the first place, the argument they were pushing wasn’t that we shouldn’t go to the shelter.

Wasn’t it just a matter of voting?

No matter how much I tried to convince Nowen that he needed to go to the shelter right away.

[I guess they have their own circumstances. Let’s decide by voting for now.]

… … That’s all I could say.

Well, after that, the vote proceeded without any particular disagreement.

Naturally, the result was that we should go to the shelter later.

Nowen abstained.

6 votes in favor of going to the shelter now.

There were a total of 10 votes against.

… … By the way, the votes in favor included the soldiers who came with him and the man who desperately wanted to go to the shelter.

“Ha, haha… … ! These people here are crazy… … !”

Eventually, when the evacuation was postponed, the man almost lost his mind.

“Then, according to the voting results, we will postpone the move to the shelter for a while… … .”

“Yes! Thank you for considering our circumstances, Leader!”

Nowen with a somewhat uneasy expression.

Only those who smiled brightly and gave thanks remained.

It seemed like things were being sorted out like that, but… …, I can’t just let it go quietly.

“Just a moment. There’s something I want to make clear.”

“… … Yes, Declen. What is it?”

“Even if the results come out like this, once the injury has somewhat improved, won’t you move to a shelter?”

“That’s true.”

“Then let’s decide now when to depart.”

“… … .”

I wasn’t even expecting to go right away anyway.

They all had a murderous expression on their faces, as if they didn’t like what I said.

“… … That makes sense, let’s try setting a departure date.”

“Okay, then… … .”

I clapped my hands once to change the mood.

And exactly, he pointed at one of the guys with his index finger.

I’m talking about that guy who was rolling on the floor with his stomach ripped open today.

“Then you.”

“… … What is it?”

“When do you think it will get better? That wound you got today by chance.”

When I emphasized the word ‘coincidentally’, he took a step back as if he was feeling hurt.

“… … .”

“But… … , despite having a burst stomach, you’re still standing up fine? You can even walk.”

At my words, the guy flinched and changed his posture awkwardly.

As if he was trying to show off that he was sick, even if it was only belatedly.

… … This is fucking crazy.

Do you think you’ll be a real hurt person if you do that?

“Ah, the wound is still deep, so I can’t say for sure when it will get better… … .”

“So, you’re saying that you don’t know when you’ll get better?”

“… … .”

The bastard just stared at me without being able to deny what I said.

Even so, that’s the case.

This level of ignorant, weakling cosplay only works on people like Nowen.

It doesn’t work for me.

“So if what you say is true, if the wound gets worse, I might never be able to go to a shelter again.”

“That, that is… … .”

As he hesitated, I took the opportunity to fire at him.

But there was one person who came before me.

“T-That won’t do! T-It’s not like we know what will happen to the shelter at any time… …!”

Just a moment ago, the man who was laughing and crying at the news of the shelter.

I guess things are going this way so the shit line is burning.

The man’s stepping forward unintentionally turned the mood around.

“What if something goes wrong if I go to the shelter late like this person said? What if I go to the shelter too late and can’t get proper treatment?”

“But, but that’s… … !”

When I added pressure to the man’s words, he just fidgeted and held his stomach.

Yeah, so when you’re in a hurry, you’re just making excuses that it hurts to trip and fall?

“But isn’t it too much? I don’t understand why we even have to set a schedule. This guy is injured!”

“That’s right. It’s not like we wanted to get hurt… … , can you wait just a little bit?”

But other guys came out and spoke up.

If what I was thinking was right, this time Nowen wouldn’t give in so easily.

Because what Nowen wants is not just those guys, but ‘everyone’ here.

“Leader, do you think so too? We have to wait indefinitely until those people’s wounds completely heal?”

“… … .”

At my words, Nowen seemed to be pondering with a heavy expression.

“No, I think it would be better to set a date for moving to the shelter.”

“Lee, leader?”

“Wait a minute, Leader! Please consider our circumstances as well. Aren’t we part of the same family… …!”

The bastards, tired of it, tried to complain to Nowen again.

Nowen looked at them with a rather stern expression, unlike before.

“Stop it. We already took your circumstances into consideration and conducted a vote. This is a choice for everyone.”

“That’s an excellent choice. We don’t have much food left, after all.”

When I said something, some of them glared at me as if they found me annoying.

Most people just stared at Nowenman and asked him to reconsider… … .

The results did not change.

“Then let’s move to the shelter at least after two weeks.”

“Lee, leader… … .”

“This decision is irreversible.”

Leaving behind those who were always looking at Nowen.

I raised my hand as if to announce something.

“But Leader, two weeks seems too long.”

“… …Why do you think so?”

“I don’t think there will be much food left. What I brought today will probably be gone in three days.”

Of course, this is assuming that you don’t know that there is a lot of food left in the basement.

But Nowen nodded obediently to my words.

“Okay, let’s do that.”

We were able to bring forward the shelter move date by a week.

“Lee, Leader! A week is too short… …!”

But they shouted even more urgently in an attempt to buy more time.

Nowen kept a stern expression and simply repeated that this was a choice for everyone.

Perhaps they knew what Nowen meant.

That they alone will not be able to overcome the values ​​of all of us.

In that respect, I could see hope.

… … If things continue like this, we will wait until they become an obstacle to the work for ‘all’ of us, just like today.

It seemed like it would be a good idea to sow discord between Nowen and the guys, saying it was for the good of ‘all’ of us, like Yamche.

If we can distance ourselves from each other to that extent, we’ll be able to safely eliminate them.

Before we really start to divide them and Nowen, there’s something we need to make sure of.

I guess what happened between them and Nowen?

I approached Inogen to see exactly what kind of atmosphere this group had.

Before that, I made eye contact with Diana and exchanged a quick greeting.

Inogen stood next to the man who had been left alone, giggling.

The man had been cheering since it was decided that he would go to the shelter a week later.

“… … Kick, hey human, is it really that good?”

“That’s obvious… …!”

I gestured to Inogen, who was smiling at the man, and called her aside.

After that, the two continued their conversation secretly.

Before I moved with Biella, this is exactly what I asked of Inogen.

Befriend the man who was the only one who was not a welcoming person and was left out in this group, and extract information from him.

He seemed very scared, so I thought that Inogen would find out the information even if he threatened him… … .

It seemed that Inogen had faithfully followed the method of ‘becoming close’ as I said.

It seemed that his pride was still hurt by being ordered to become friends with such a person.

“… … Inogen, have you heard anything?”

“What do you think this dragon is? Of course, you should approach that human man and get information.”

“Really? Are you doing anything?”

“… … They say there used to be more people here than there are now.”

“How long has it been like this?”

“According to that human man… …, he’s twenty years old.”

If you’re twenty, there were just as many ordinary people mixed in with the crowd as those guys…

“But why is that person the only one left?”

“They all said they couldn’t stand it anymore and left. It was because of those guys.”

What Nowen was referring to with these words was, of course, the Welcome Body guys.

… … Hmm, I guess so.

Now things are finally falling into place.

There have been outsiders like us before, and they continue to come in.

This is precisely why most of them are not left now.

The Welcome Body guys were on guard and refused to take shelter until the very end, so they couldn’t hold out any longer and just left.

Perhaps Nowen has already had many experiences where his plans were delayed or canceled because of them.

So this time, I think it will come out quite decisively.

… … If I do it right, I think it’ll be easier to solve than I thought?

A few days passed while I was thinking like that and trying to find an opening between them and Nowen.

Finally D-1.

It was the day before we moved to the shelter.