3
Chapter 3
Her oldest memory was of the Village Chief arguing with her mother.
-Stop being so stubborn. That child... is a being that should never have been born.
Whenever that happened, her mother would always say this.
Even so, she's my child.
She's not some abomination that shouldn't exist.
However, Ciel disagreed with that sentiment.
The proof was that she remembered this conversation taking place before she even saw the light of day.
Because of that, she knew.
She truly was a life that should not have been born.
A life form akin to a Curse, forcibly conceived by the Demons.
She knew this better than anyone else.
But in the end, she was born anyway.
And the Village Chief's fears were proven right almost immediately.
Black hair and pale skin that everyone in the village gossiped about being ominous.
Not only her, but even her mother began to be ostracized by the village Elves.
[Aren't you sick of those bastards tormenting your parents like that?]
A mere turn of her head, and the Black Wolf would be right beside her, yapping away.
The girl didn't know that it was the fallen Remnants of the Demon King, nor did she know what it was trying to use her for.
She only knew that she was an impure existence, enough to have such a terrible thing attached to her.
[It's not too late even now. I'll gladly eat up those annoying bastards for you right now.]
The ominous Black Wolf whispered.
According to what she heard from the Wolf, she was the most valuable sacrifice in the world to him.
An Elf capable of wielding Demonic Energy—the only one of her kind in the world.
He asked her to form a contract with him, promising to bestow power upon her in exchange for a portion of her soul.
And if she offered her entire soul, not just a part of it... he would make any wish come true, save for the absurdity of bringing back the dead.
However, the girl ignored the Wolf as always.
The reason was simple.
She thought it was wrong to cause even more harm to her mother, who was already being ostracized.
If she were caught talking to thin air, the public opinion to drive her out for being ominous would only grow stronger.
"I'm sorry. We simply cannot accept that child. Please leave this place as soon as possible."
Unfortunately, her efforts were in vain.
Those were the words the Village Chief delivered when he visited again one day.
For a moment, her mother's eyes wavered in distress.
In a way, it was only natural.
Elves cannot survive outside the forest.
The farther they get from the World Tree, the weaker Elves become, gradually losing their strength until they eventually die.
This was no different from pronouncing a death sentence on her.
"Please, just kill me."
That was why Ciel said it without any hesitation.
No matter how she thought about it, that was the right thing to do.
But for some reason, her mother cried and hugged her with the saddest expression she had ever seen.
Because the sight was so heartbreaking, Ciel never brought it up again after that.
Just like that, Ciel left the village with her mother.
With each passing day, her mother grew weaker.
There were many people trying to capture a wandering Elf, and as time went by, it became harder and harder to stay hidden.
"Thank goodness. Thank goodness..."
Yet, her mother would always say that.
That it was a relief you wouldn't lose your strength even away from the forest, and that you would be able to keep living.
Ciel simply could not understand those words.
The fact that she was still alive even away from the forest was proof that she was a monster, closer to something other than an Elf.
That was why Ciel tried to persuade her mother once again.
That she had no such thing as emotions.
That she didn't hold any attachment to anyone.
That she was merely a Curse, a life that should never have been born.
So she should abandon her and return to their hometown.
But even after hearing those words, her mother, for some reason, spoke with a sorrowful smile.
That it didn't matter.
That she loved her.
She couldn't understand it.
She simply couldn't accept it.
She tried to persuade her mother time and time again, telling her as much.
But her mother would only bring up those incomprehensible words once more.
That she wasn't devoid of emotions.
That she too would eventually love someone, and realize the true meaning of loving someone.
Having said her piece, her mother left their hideout to find food.
Even with a body that looked ready to collapse at any moment, she worried about Ciel instead, repeatedly dissuading her when she offered to come along.
And...... she never came back.
Only then did Ciel feel relieved.
Her mother had finally abandoned her. Now, everything had been set right.
With that thought in mind, she walked through the streets.
It wasn't long before she found it.
Eyes and a heart.
An Elf's corpse, stripped of all its valuable parts, strewn across the ground like trash.
She could hear the Wolf laughing.
Her mind was spinning.
Just, for some reason, her eyes stung and ached.
At the agonizing pain of her heart being torn to shreds, a scream simply slipped from her lips.
[Offer your entire soul to me. If you do, I will swallow up this entire hateful world.]
Only that voice reached her ears.
In the distance, the faces of humans sneering as they held up her mother's eyeballs—only those horrific, repulsive smiles filled her vision.
And so, the girl blankly reached her hand out toward the Wolf.......
-I love you, Ciel.
She remembered her mother's face as she said those words.
And she thought.
That she had never once answered those words, no matter how many times she had heard them.
That she had never once returned the love she had always received.
Because she didn't know what it meant to love. She hadn't yet been able to tell her mother she loved her.
So.
"Not yet."
She couldn't end everything just yet.
With that thought in mind.
Ciel simply buried her mother, and began walking once more.
*****
It had been nearly three years since she set out on her journey.
By human standards, she had now reached an age where she could be considered an adult.
And yet, she still couldn't understand love.
The world she saw with her own two eyes was utterly filthy.
Parents kill their own children.
Because they don't have the money to raise them.
People kill other people.
Just to take something from them.
No matter where she went, it was all ugly.
She couldn't find anything like love anywhere.
So she couldn't even begin to understand it.
Only the Wolf's voice grew louder and louder in her ears.
Stop thinking. You don't have emotions anyway, so it's all pointless. If you hate it, just destroy it.
Listening to those words, Ciel walked along in a daze until she sensed someone approaching from behind.
But Ciel didn't do anything.
She simply let herself be captured, locked in an iron cage, and dragged off to some nameless Mana Stone Mine.
Unknown people carved a Spell Engraving into her neck. They spat threats at her before casting her into an unfamiliar world.
But none of that mattered to her in the slightest.
The voice ringing in her ears only grew louder.
Surely, it was because the Wolf's thoughts weren't so different from her own.
Understanding love was impossible for her.
If that was the case, she just needed to give up.
She could fulfill the contract she had postponed and simply ask him to destroy this endlessly hateful and ugly world.
That was what she was thinking at that very moment.
Suddenly, she felt a strange sensation. Ciel turned her head to look at whatever had bumped into her.
"Sorry, I was lost in thought and wasn't watching where I was going."
An apology.
There was something odd about that apology, so she stared blankly at the boy.
This wasn't her first time in a Mining Site like this.
That was why she knew.
What state the children in places like this were in.
That everyone desperately trampled on others just to survive.
Was he apologizing and pretending to be friendly just to steal something from her?
But if that were the case, she couldn't sense any such intention behind it.
"But why are you just standing here? Are you lost? If so, follow me. You'll get beaten if you don't hurry."
These words too held no pretense whatsoever.
He had simply said them out of concern for her.
She could feel the genuine worry in his eyes directed at her.
Why on earth?
Her own life was in danger. She was in a situation where she couldn't survive without taking from others. She was in a situation where she'd have to trample over anyone just to stay alive.
Why worry about me, someone you've just met for the first time?
Why care about someone else when you can barely take care of yourself?
Why genuinely try to help someone you're seeing for the first time?
"What's your name?"
The boy asked her that.
"Ciel."
For some reason, she answered that question.
She didn't know why.
She just wanted to answer.
Just like back then. She felt that now wasn't the time to end everything just yet.
That was her first encounter with that strange boy.
*****
Something felt off.
The moment I sprinted to the assembly area, I felt that premonition.
"Today, I will punish the idiot who dared to dream of escaping."
The words themselves were certainly ordinary.
Someone gets caught trying to escape and is made an example of. It's a fairly common occurrence.
What was strange was the reaction of some of the kids.
That unpleasant smirk directed at me.
Was it just my imagination?
Was it merely a delusion?
I rapidly fired questions through my head.
What were the odds that I had made quite a few enemies here?
There were.
More than enough. Just roughly counting the faces of the bastards who looked at me funny, there were dozens.
What were the odds that the kids here were smarter than I thought?
That was high, too.
Because the idiots who weren't smart all died.
Then, lastly.
When someone who held a grudge against me falsely reported that I was planning an escape, what were the odds the Overseer would actually verify it?
None.
They couldn't be bothered to judge innocence or guilt.
They'd just kill me as an example without wasting time.
With the conclusion reached, there was no need to agonize over it any longer.
I immediately turned around.
Sure enough, several Overseers armed with Protective Gear were sneaking up behind me.
I quickly opened the Trait selection window.
I had already figured out a Trait that could break through this situation.
So while dodging the guys coming at me, I would run away and choose my Trait.......
'......Huh?'
My head grew dizzy.
I desperately clung to my consciousness and pinpointed the cause of the anomaly.
And I found it.
The light radiating from my neck.
'......Fuck.'
Is this a collar they put on Slaves?
It was clear that some sort of magic was engraved into it.
This was beyond ridiculous.
An element that didn't even appear in the previous work.
Information I could never have known, considering I possessed a body that already had this engraved in it.
I'm going to die because of something so utterly absurd?
All that preparation, all that effort, gone to waste?
Am I really going to die like this here?
I bit my tongue, trying with all my might to stay conscious. But I could barely even feel the pain.
Sleep was washing over me. A sleep I couldn't possibly avoid.
My vision slowly began to blur.
The last thing that caught my fading eyes was.......
'......Ciel?'
The Ciel I had spent the past two weeks with,
Yet, a Ciel with a face I had never seen before.