Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: Birthday Gift
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Hello?
It's the tender age where you can tuck a flower behind your ear and everyone around you smiles and calls you cute!
I'm Emily, an eight-year-old girl!
Normally at this time, I'd be done with school, back home, and munching on a snack. But not today.
Right now, we're climbing the snowy mountains!
Why, you ask?
They say it's because we're moving, but honestly, I don't really get it.
Mom and Dad said we can't live in Flower Garden anymore.
Oh, Flower Garden is my hometown!
It's a village in the Clock Republic famous for its beautifully blooming flowers!
My favorite is the yellow flower that matches me so well!
But Mom and Dad said we can't go near them! Not even smell them!
So we can only look from afar. Dad's a big shot at the botanical gardens, so he touches them every day!
"Emily, want me to carry you if you're tired?"
Dad must be worried about me. I smiled and said I'm fine.
Eight years old is too old to be carried, right?
Plus, I've been a lady since yesterday.
Why, you ask?
The boy next door, Delphin, confessed to me yesterday.
I learned in a book that knowing love makes you a lady!
Of course, I turned him down.
In the Clock Republic, dating under twenty is legally forbidden.
Delphin said we could do it secretly, but if Mom or Dad got dragged to a camp because of it, that'd be a disaster.
But since we're moving, if we don't have to follow the law anymore?
Then I'd think about it again. Of course, Delphin would have to confess again!
"Aren't you hungry?"
"Nope! Not hungry!"
"Good. Once we cross this mountain, we'll have your birthday party."
"Yeah! Sounds great!"
Mom strokes my hair with her thick-gloved hand, and it feels so nice!
Want me to tell you a secret?
Today is actually my birthday!
I wonder what my present is?
I'm so excited!
Truth be told, the snowy mountains are so treacherous, the adults' strides are huge and hard to keep up with, and I really want warm, fluffy pancakes.
But I have to endure.
Surely, once we cross this mountain, we'll get to eat something delicious, right?
They'll all celebrate with me, right?
Huh?
Suddenly, the people walking ahead start screaming.
"Please!"
"We haven't done anything wrong!"
"Emily!"
Everyone's face is filled with terror as they shout, but Mom hugs me tight so I can't see.
The screams make me scared for no reason, so I hug Mom back tightly.
"It's okay. I'll go talk to them."
I hear Dad's voice. I twist my head to peek and see Dad's usual confident smile.
"My sweet little Emily. Don't worry too much. Soon we'll be able to live happily and peacefully again."
"Mm-hmm."
"You know Daddy doesn't lie, right?"
"Yeah!"
Dad always gets praise from the villagers! He'll definitely fix this!
"Count of Northwedden! We're from Flower Garden in the Clock Republic! Please, just hear our story...."
Huh?
Dad's voice cuts off.
I want to peek out to check, but Mom hugs me tighter, blocking my view.
"I love you, I love you, Emily. You know Mommy and Daddy really love you, right?"
"Mm-hmm, Mommy. I love you too."
Mom is trembling so much she feels like a block tower that could collapse if touched. I get scared without knowing why.
"Don't you dare speak my name, you filthy immigrants."
An unfamiliar, scary voice.
Filthy... is that us?
"Maalks Research Director, take them all in for use."
"Yes, sir."
That voice was the end.
It was freezing, but strangely, I started feeling sleepy.
* * *
Kiiiiiiiiiaaaaaak!
Ow, my head hurts.
I've never had a headache this bad before. I woke up to a terrifying scream. Where am I?
It's pitch black around me, with only scary green lights, and I hate it.
"D-Don't look!"
I try to get up, but suddenly I hear Delphin's voice from beside me.
He's covering my eyes with his hand. What the...?
Kweeeeeaaaak! It hurts! It huuuuurts! Aaaaaaaaak!
"Mom?"
I shove Delphin away and jump up. I'm trapped in a cage like an animal pen, but that's not important right now.
Mom is outside the bars, surrounded by weird people in white clothes, screaming.
"Huh?"
Why?
Why are Mom's arms and legs...?
...Why?
"Moooooom!"
Bang!
Mom!
Mom!
My mom is in pain!
I have to go help her!
I have to save her!
"Moooooom!"
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
"Don't hit the cage! Then those people will!"
Delphin tries to stop me from the side, but I don't think. I just keep throwing myself at the bars to save Mom.
Crack. Something breaks in my shoulder, but the bars don't budge.
And then.
"Who's that?"
The oldest-looking one among the people around Mom looks at me.
It's the first time in my life.
This is fear.
That man has a name tag on his chest, just like the ones at school.
[Maalks Research Director]
The one who knocked us all out....
"It's me!"
Delphin raises his hand for me, tears streaming down his face. I don't understand what's happening.
"I told you to stay still."
The Maalks Director walks over clunk clunk. I'm so scared my teeth chatter; I can't say a word.
"Emily."
Delphin, who raised his hand for me, smiles and gives a thumbs-up.
"I'll save you."
"Ah...."
"So go out with me."
Seeing Delphin smile cheekily as he's grabbed by the Maalks Director and dragged out of the cage, tears flow from my eyes without me knowing.
I'm sorry.
I get it now.
"Kweeeeeek! N-Not meeeee! Actually! Actually it was meeeeeeek!"
Even as he screams that it was someone else, I can't stop my tears. I think he has every right to curse me.
"E-Eek! E-Emily! It was Emiiiiily! Pleeeease, pleeeeease!"
No matter how many times I scream I'm sorry, Delphin can't hear me.
And so.
Time kept passing.
Every time the cage door opened, one less person.
So many people, now almost all gone.
"You're the last one left."
I'm the only one still in the cage.
Mom was long buried among the corpse piles, unrecognizable.
Delphin was turned to ash by electric shocks, swept up with a broom, and thrown in the trash.
Dad?
I can always see him.
"That's your father, right?"
His head was dangling alone in the center of the lab. The Maalks Director happily explained they made an example of him, our leader, to instill fear in us.
Since I'm last, he'll show me around the lab, he said.
I didn't want to see, but I had to.
In the end, I too.
Had to lie on the experiment table where so many had died.
A huge blade digs into my chest.
It hurts.
It hurts.
It hurts so much.
I want pancakes.
I want to see yellow flowers.
I want to go to school with my friends.
I want to raise a puppy.
I want to hold hands with Delphin and go on a date.
I want to be held in Mom and Dad's arms.
I have so many things I want to do.
But.
"I'll save you."
What does this man in front of me want from me?
I've never seen him before.
I don't remember how long I passed out. It just hurt so much, I must have lost consciousness without realizing.
"What is your wish?"
My lips feel like stone, not mine.
No voice comes out, of course.
My throat feels full of chalk dust.
Not even tears to wet it; I've cried too much, none left.
Dried up, I can't even say one word.
Puk!
Drip, drip.
Thick blood trickles down my stiff tongue. The fishy smell I've grown numb to.
The man in front pricks his hand with magic and drips blood into my mouth.
"Wet your throat and speak clearly. I'll grant it."
"...Ah."
My clogged throat still won't let a voice out.
But the blood lets a little air through.
Just one word is permitted.
What I want.
I said it earlier.
I want so many things.
So much I want to do.
But.
If I can only pick one.
If this is my life's last word, my belated birthday gift.
What I want is.
"Re...venge."
I want revenge.
The cold man smiles, a smile I thought he'd never make.
"Good. Well said."
* * *
The girl's spirit trusted me.
Emily's resentment seeped softly into me, so heavy it nearly buckled my knees for a moment.
Pindenai steadied my staggering form. The bone centipede she'd been fighting had become limp bones now that Emily's spirit, its medium, was gone.
"Was that... the child's memory just now?"
"You saw it."
"...Yeah."
Yeah, that figures.
"Spirits full of resentment often show their past. They want someone to understand them."
"...."
Pindenai clamps her mouth shut.
Then Dayah approaches, forcing herself to stay steady as her strength fades.
"That was... the family secret...."
Visibly shocked, she covers her face with both hands and asks me as if exhaling.
"What are you going to do?"
"About what."
"You said you'd get revenge."
"...."
Pindenai looks at me too, clearly wondering the same.
"You're not thinking of holding Darius responsible, are you?"
"He only bears the sin of silently allowing it after learning the truth when everything ended. Too much to pin all the crimes on him."
"...Then what? The revenge that child wants is impossible now."
Because they're all dead.
Emily was from at least 150 years ago.
Naturally, everyone involved is long gone.
That's why.
"The staff."
I reach out, and the staff I dropped flies to me.
I slipped earlier when spilling blood.
[Here you go.]
With the soul-eating bone centipedes gone, Scrall—who could now enter underground—carefully places the staff in my hand.
The two women are startled that the staff flew to me without any mana use.
I push Pindenai aside and lean on the staff for support.
The resentment is so strong my body feels like it's tearing apart.
But there's still work to do.
"Do you remember what I said?"
"What?"
"What are you talking about?"
I catch my breath and repeat to the puzzled women.
"Every spirit whispers its resentment and regrets very secretly."
This holds true without exception for any soul.
In my past life, and this one.
"It's like a quiz. Each spirit hides its thoughts like a riddle, yet wants you to solve it."
"What are you suddenly...."
Dayah tries to interrupt, but I continue.
"It's their instinct. And most hide uncreative quizzes, mistaking them for profound ones."
I've resolved many ghosts' grudges, so I know.
They're human, after all.
Isolated humans lack creativity. They mostly follow the same thought patterns.
"For example, there are spirits that act and speak backwards. They do bizarre, shocking things, but they're like kids throwing tantrums to be noticed."
Pindenai and Dayah look confused now.
Faces saying they have no idea what I'm talking about.
But I'm not talking to you.
"So what I'm saying is."
I slowly raise my head.
I calm Emily, who's raging like she wants to lunge and tear him apart, and look at him.
"Introducing yourself backwards is a goddamn cliché riddle, Scrall."
[.......]
His expression hardens blankly.
I let out a scornful chuckle and ask.
"Did you really think that lame act would fool me?"
The first day I met Scrall, he introduced himself like this.
'My name is Scrall Ma—finally, I can repay the favor Lord Ditros Verdi bestowed 150 years ago. It's an honor.'
"Were you just trying to pass as a mere butler? Think trembling your voice and slyly skipping the first syllable would hide it?"
[Heh....]
Scrall.
No, Maalks Research Director laughs hollowly and scratches his head.
[Did your brain ossify after death?]
Caught, yet utterly brazen, Maalks.
[To think I'd be exposed by a wastrel second son like you.]
"You're just a fool. Before death, and after."
[So what now?]
He shrugs and smirks absurdly at me.
[You gonna judge me? By what right? I'm a Verdi! I just followed your family's orders! If anything, I'm a victim too!]
"...."
[Judge your ancestors if you want! With their blood in your veins, daring to judge me—it's no different from a mangy mutt yapping.]
"I promised to fulfill that child's wish."
[That's your justification? Proxy revenge? Can you even call that the girl's true vengeance?!]
"You've seen it plenty by now."
The girl's spirit floats above my hand.
Absorbed into me via necromancy, she gradually turns into a large blue flame.
"Spirits hold mana."
[!]
The blue flame takes the small girl's shape and stands on the ground.
"I just convert the mana in the spirit into magic."
Subjugating a spirit with necromancy is highly advanced.
Ordinary necromancers lack my special eyes; they can't see spirits directly or converse.
So how do necromancers handle them?
Pain.
They inflict pain on spirits with magic to control and breed them.
"With my basic necromancy, you couldn't be subjugated even if you wanted."
Pain persists but never ends.
The necromancer's flame brings suffering to the dead, disrupting the repose they should have after life.
Now the girl is my flame.
So I gently push her back and whisper.
"Happy birthday, Emily."