Chapter 83: All the Toys in Crane Machine

"I can see my brother Arthur," Camille said, after finishing the game.

She bent down to get the toy she got from the crane machine. It has been a while and a few times since she had been playing the crane machine, but it always gets to her every single time.

She had always used her brother as a seemingly source of her inferiority complex, but she couldn't deny that she has always been fond of Arthur.

She knew why everyone likes him, but she understood more than anyone what his true good qualities are.

Everyone liked the fact that he's a genius and thus, holds a lot of potential in the future. He's like a reliable investment for other people, but that's not how Camille looked at him.

It was despite his overwhelming talent that he remains either humble or indifferent on it.

He just accepts them and never gloats about it to anyone, not even to himself.

Self-focused and growing at his own pace, it was truly a beautiful and endearing sight that makes her always want to support him. But it just felt like she'd get in the way and that's how the gap between them widened.

"If I couldn't get a toy, no one would appear?" Haru asked.

Camille nodded, "Although that's the case, it's highly probable that you'd win and get a toy. It's not similar to those crane machines from the original world. Aren't most of them rigged, so it'd be more difficult for players to get an item?"

"I guess you're right. The world's always feeding us with a golden spoon so far, after all."

Haru positioned himself in front of the crane machine and prepared himself to play the game. He pushed the start button and concentrated into getting a toy. It did passed by him to wonder what kind of person he'd see.

Questions in his head started rising.

Is it someone from the orphanage?

Would it be the nuns or the workers?

Or unexpectedly, a fellow orphan he somehow forgot, but has always been precious to him?

It definitely won't be his elder brother from the family he was adopted to. But it could be the parents. They were precious to him, after all.

Would it be possible that the person was actually that eerie witch who kept appearing during convenient times?

Her name was Shiho, he thought.

'Who is it? Who is it?'

Whether it's from the impatience or being lost in his own thoughts, it felt like he had self-destructed when he failed the game once.

"Hey, relax yourself," Camille tapped his shoulder. "You look really tense. Or does your head still hurt? Like I said, we could just rest for a while and take it easy. The crane machine won't go anywhere, you know."

But that only fueled Haru's desperation. He shook his head, "I'm fine. I was just too distracted, so I failed. I'll try to win the next one."

"O-Okay," Camille responded, hugging her toy.

She was still worrying, so she looked back, hoping that Alicia would come already. Alicia said she'd bring some compress to cool down Haru's head, but it seems to be taking a while. Maybe because they couldn't find the resources.

Camille noticed that as well that medicines here are difficult to obtain.

Her gaze returned to Haru, who's looking so seriously at the crane machine.

It's as if his life depended on winning that game.

Although she knew that she couldn't understand whatever was going on inside his head, she knew that it's hard and twisted for him right now.

And anytime, stepping nearer to him would be like going into a zone filled with landmines.