Chapter 23
Chapter 23
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Reunion
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The slender woman stumbled forward, and Karin opened her mouth toward the man reflected in her eyes.
"…Brother?"
She hadn't called him "brother" for years after suffering at his hands, vowing never to do so again, but somehow the word slipped out instinctively.
A single word that burst forth without passing through reason.
Lucas lifted his deeply bowed head.
"Karin…."
A voice free of pretense, brimming with genuine sincerity.
The atmosphere was utterly different from when the demon had seized his body.
"Have you… come back?"
The Lucas before her now was nothing like the one she'd known.
Gone was the somehow sinister air; instead, he exuded a gentle warmth that embraced everyone.
It was the same atmosphere she'd felt from him countless times as a child.
"I'm sorry…."
In response to her question about his return, Lucas merely bowed his head even lower and offered an apology.
There were so many things he wanted to say, but time was short, and his voice wouldn't cooperate, choked by regret.
"…I still don't understand why you did that back then."
Lucas recalled that day when he hadn't been himself.
The day he'd practiced magic as usual, only to see zero results.
As he'd been drifting off to sleep, a sweet, alluring voice had whispered in his ear.
He now knew it had been the demon's voice, but as a child, he'd been helpless against its spell.
'Do you want talent?'
That was what the demon had asked.
And Lucas had nodded without hesitation, accepting the devil's bargain.
The boy he'd been back then hadn't realized one thing.
That a deal with a demon was never fair.
"Though I couldn't help you… I watched over you all this time."
Lucas gave Karin a feeble smile.
How utterly powerless he'd felt.
Foolishly agreeing to the deal, losing his body, forced to watch his little sister slowly break down under its control—it had been pure torment.
Even as he'd screamed at the demon inside to stop, it had only cackled in delight.
Those nightmare years dragged on.
And it wasn't just Karin who'd been ruined.
Yet all Lucas could do was apologize to her.
"I'm sorry. It's all my fault."
Just a heartfelt apology.
That was the only thing he could manage.
Unlike him, who would soon vanish, Karin would carry the horrific memories he'd caused for the rest of her life.
"…Lift your head."
Even knowing this Lucas felt like the brother from her past, Karin kept her distance and spoke in a small voice.
"………."
Lucas didn't raise his head.
He didn't believe his sins could be forgiven so easily.
"Lift your head…!!"
At the rising pitch in her voice, Lucas slowly looked up.
Now reflected in his eyes was no longer a little girl, but a full-fledged young woman.
"Karin…."
"Don't get the wrong idea. I'm not forgiving you."
She had no intention of forgiving him.
No, even if she'd wanted to, she couldn't.
The wounds he'd inflicted were far too deep to heal easily.
"And… you're a victim too, Brother."
"No, I…."
As Karin said, Lucas was nothing more than a victim himself.
A child tricked by a demon, body stolen, forced to watch his sister crumble while crumbling alongside her.
Even if it had been his own flesh and blood that broke her, the fact remained that he was a victim.
"Little by little… let's go back."
Karin spoke to Lucas in a soft voice.
Let's go back, little by little.
It was a plea to gradually return to being the close siblings they'd been as children.
No matter the horrific memories he'd left her with.
More than her instinct to reject him, she wanted to accept him once more as her brother.
'Blood ties really are something else.'
Yuri, who had been quietly watching, thought to himself.
Karin, scarred and repulsed by Lucas, now wished to draw close to him again.
It was baffling, yet somehow understandable.
"Karin. Unfortunately, what you said isn't possible."
He had no desire to interrupt the reunion of these two after so many years, but Yuri forced the words out anyway.
"…What?"
Karin startled at Yuri's sudden voice, asking him back.
Yuri let out a deep sigh and addressed her.
"Sadly, Lucas is going to die soon."
The abrupt death sentence hanging over Lucas.
Karin's mouth gaped open like a goldfish's as she turned to him, her eyes conveying the question: Is this real? Are you really dying soon?
Lucas could only nod weakly.
"No… way."
From the moment the demon had taken his body, the vessel holding his soul had been tainted.
Separate from the times Yuri had cut him down, it had never been a body built to last.
Lucas managed only a feeble smile.
"Just when I thought… everything had come back…."
Karin alternated her gaze between Yuri and Lucas, her face the picture of utter loss.
Her eyes settled on Yuri, and she spoke.
"Master… surely Master knows something… right?"
"Unfortunately, I can't help with this one."
If one of the Seven Stars—a Divine Star—had been at her side, there might have been a way.
But standing before her was no life-saving Divine Star, but a Sword Saint who only brought death.
A single tear, one she hadn't shed until now, trickled from the corner of Karin's eye.
"Why…."
Her word overflowed with countless emotions.
Yuri and Lucas could only feel helpless, unable to do a thing.
Karin and Lucas seemed like they might never speak again.
Karin sobbed softly, Lucas kept his head bowed in guilt.
But after a little time passed, they began exchanging words once more, bit by bit.
As if the halted time had started flowing again.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Not long after seeing Lucas off, Karin collapsed, losing consciousness.
Her body had likely reached its limit long ago, but she'd pushed herself to keep talking with him.
"Huu… Well, at least now I can get some rest."
After laying Karin in bed and handing Lucas's body over to Bergil, I was finally able to sink into the hot spring I'd been looking forward to.
The harmony of the northern cold with snow falling and the warm onsen waters enveloping my body.
It felt completely different from the onsens I'd enjoyed in the modern world.
Probably because this world's hot spring water contained a trace of mana, making it feel even better.
A transcendent body could absorb that mana all the more easily, after all.
"Haaah… Finally wrapped up the Karin issue."
I muttered to myself, letting out a deep sigh.
From Cecilia to Karin.
Since the day I'd possessed this body, I'd been running nonstop, and the results were far better than in the original story—several times over.
The problem was that the main storyline hadn't even begun yet.
'…If I'm this beat already, I'll drop dead when the main story kicks off.'
The main story was several times more complex, with events tangled together in ways that made them even harder to resolve.
As I thought about it, I felt a sudden urge to hole up in some mountain and live as a hermit.
Well… I'd already gotten involved with Cecilia and Karin, so that wasn't happening.
'Still… from today, I can properly rest for about a year.'
With Karin's matter settled, I'd resolved everything I knew of that could be handled in advance.
There were probably more lurking out there, but I had no clue about them.
I wasn't the game's creator, nor some hardcore speedrunner who'd memorized every detail.
"Ahh. Anyway, why hasn't that bastard Bergil shown up yet?"
Didn't we agree to handle business and then enjoy the onsen with a drink?
Yet an hour had nearly passed since I'd gotten in, and still no sign of Bergil.
Splash…!
I sank in up to my neck.
Even with my immunity to heat and cold, the warmth felt good.
I was dying to down some of that northern liquor Bergil was bringing.
Creeeak….
Just as the craving for alcohol started overwhelming me.
A wooden door creaked open behind me, and I sensed a presence.
The odd thing was, this presence felt nothing like Bergil's.
'Something's off.'
Bergil was a former Archmage of Extremes; no matter how much he suppressed it, mana was ingrained in his very being.
But this presence had barely any mana at all—like someone who'd never trained in swordsmanship or magic.
Yeah, like Cecilia, who'd mastered nothing….
"Uh… Cecilia?"
I whipped around, and there she was: Cecilia, her flawless white skin wrapped in a thin white robe.
"Did you call for me? Master."
Her cute voice set my heart racing as she smiled.
She casually lowered her hips right beside me.
"This is our first time bathing together, isn't it?"