Chapter 49
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: No Response
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"No matter how much I knock or shout, there's no response. Not even a single breath can be heard. It's completely silent, just like no one's inside."
Marigold sat slumped against the wall, staring blankly up at the night sky.
"Marlboro. Give me a cigarette."
"...What?"
Marlboro's face twisted in utter bewilderment.
A kid asking for a smoke. It triggered a serious case of cognitive dissonance.
Of course, he knew.
She wasn't a normal child.
Considering she was Exim #30, it made sense that she should be an adult.
He just couldn't fathom where she put all those years or why her body stayed so small.
"...Do you even know how to smoke?"
"No. Never tried it. Hate the smell, actually."
Marigold stood up from her spot.
She thumped her chest with her fist to ease the stuffiness inside.
"But now I think I'm starting to get why people puff on these things."
Marlboro stared at Marigold for a long moment before crossing his arms instead of handing over a cigarette.
"Bad for your health. It'll rot your bones."
"...Huh?"
"If it's stress, find another way to deal. Chew some candy or something."
"Jeez, unbelievable. You treating me like a kid right now?"
Marlboro didn't answer.
'You're acting like one, so what does that make you?'
That was the look in his eyes as he stared her down.
No matter her true age, the body right in front of him was that of a child, so he'd treat her accordingly.
Marigold glared at him, then shrugged it off with an whatever.
"Fine, whatever. This body's a kid's, after all."
"Throwing a tantrum like that, guess you're not just a kid on the outside."
"Sometimes I wanna act all grown-up and cool. Shake it all off like a boss."
Marigold let out a soft puff of a sigh into the empty air.
"...Coming up with thoughts like that, so out of character... guess the shock really hit hard."
"Not surprising."
Marlboro replied flatly.
The two stood side by side, gazing in silence at the dark sky.
"Honestly, I can't believe it."
"Her death?"
"Yeah. Feels like she'll bust through that door any second, yelling at us to shut our traps 'cause we're too damn loud."
"Was she really like that at home?"
"Nah. She used to kick me out a lot, actually. Lately, though, it seemed like she'd given up on that."
"Shows how much she'd really changed."
"Even Asrania couldn't beat time in the end."
A woman who wore the scent of blood like perfume.
A monster boasting peak combat prowess among the Exims.
Marigold's voice grew thick with emotion.
"Who could've guessed the great Asrania would go out like that."
"Life's tough as nails, but it ends in an instant. No exceptions for us either."
"I know. I get it, but... it's just too absurd."
Marigold clenched her fist so hard her nails dug into her palm.
"Not like she died in battle or for the organization. Just... like some ordinary mom."
"That must've been her choice."
"Choice? Don't make me laugh. Sis wanted to live more than anyone. For Esira's sake, at least."
"...".
"And yet she threw herself away. To save her daughter. That selfish woman went and died for someone else like an idiot."
Marigold's eyes reddened.
She roughly rubbed at her eyes, as if to suppress the swelling emotions.
"God, it's so frustrating. Selfish to the very end."
"...I think that's the most like her."
Marlboro replied matter-of-factly.
"You serious?"
"She put a period at the end in the most her way possible. For the thing she cherished most."
Marigold scoffed.
"Look at you, turning poet."
"Point is, Esira survived. It wasn't a dog's death."
"That's what makes my guts churn even more."
"...Why's that?"
"Look at her. Just look at that state! We risked everything to save her, and now she's a doll that just breathes. If Sis saw this, she'd cry rivers of blood."
"That's why the Commander's here. Maybe he can do something."
"Ha! As if. What are we pinning hopes on that moron for?"
Truth be told, the Commander was trash.
Asrania clearly knew him, but he flat-out denied even meeting her.
He didn't even grasp the reason behind the favor she'd done him.
All the circumstances didn't add up—a guy who was truly hard to believe.
"The Commander might look like a fool, but he's a pro at looking after his own."
"...".
"Heard he's good at soothing wounded hearts, too."
Marigold fell silent.
Normally, she'd fire back with a sneer, but right now, she didn't have the energy.
Whether he was a hypocrite or scum didn't matter at this point.
If that loathsome tongue of his could at least bolster the fading spark in the dying child...
Then, unexpectedly, Marlboro spoke up.
"By the way, Marigold."
"What now."
"Didn't know you and Sis were that close. Honestly, never would've imagined it."
Marigold looked up at him, exasperated.
"Weird that I'd hang around with her?"
"Pretty weird. You, me, her—we're all miles away from anything human."
She couldn't deny it.
Marigold let out a self-deprecating chuckle.
"True. Back in the day, I wouldn't have gone near her. Why tempt fate?"
"Things changed now, huh?"
Longing flickered in Marigold's eyes.
"She smelled like a person."
"Yeah. We all saw it. She turned human after the kid came along."
"Right. Watching her made me feel warmer, too."
"That's why you dropped by so often? To soak up the warmth?"
"Yeah. I was cold."
Marigold admitted it honestly.
Like a stray cat prowling for a heater in the dead of winter.
She had wormed her way into Asrania's side.
"I was jealous. So jealous of Esira, I even started delusioning about becoming a mom myself someday."
"...For real?"
Marlboro asked, repulsed.
"A married woman with your looks? Her husband would get slapped with a criminal record and rot in jail."
"...Kinda serious about it, too. Harsh much?"
"That's what makes it scarier."
Marigold laughed it off, then her expression soured bitterly.
"But I realized it. What I really wanted wasn't to be a mom... it was to be the daughter."
"Daughter?"
What the hell was that now?
"Yeah. I wanted in on that family. Pretend I was part of it, get carried along like a protected kid."
Marlboro shut his mouth, like his tongue had gone numb.
He could hardly believe his ears.
Who was Marigold, anyway?
Her looks were childish, but she was his vastly more senior colleague.
Never dreamed she'd fantasize about playing house.
Asrania, who'd mocked family and belonging, changed—and it planted a void in even Marigold, who was always around.
"Calling her 'sis,' but deep down... maybe I wanted to call her 'mom.'"
"...Weren't you just being Esira's friend?"
"Eh. Once I started liking Asrania sis, the kid looked cute too, I guess."
Marlboro looked down at her wordlessly.
The Marigold before him didn't seem like her usual wild brat self—just a fragile, underdeveloped child.
To the point where it painfully seemed like what this old kid truly needed was a mother's love.
"That's why I hate the Commander."
"Still suspecting he and Sis were lovers?"
"Don't you think so, Marlboro?"
"...Dunno. Hard to picture, though."
Marlboro pulled a crumpled pack from his pocket and lit one up.
Acrid smoke billowed out.
"Can you imagine Asrania Sis in some guy's arms? I couldn't even in my wildest dreams."
"...Yeah, that's kinda creepy."
Marigold shuddered.
What would Asrania, of all people, need with a weakling like that?
"Damn, so confusing! So you're saying no? They were really nothing?"
"That's what I believe. Doesn't make sense otherwise."
"Ugh, I give up. Makes no sense."
Marigold frustration scratched wildly at her hair.
"It's infuriating. Nothing gets resolved cleanly."
Suffocation washed over her.
Like reading a mystery novel where the final page tears out right before the killer's reveal.
It was right then.
Rough, urgent footsteps echoed from the end of the hallway, by the entrance.
Marigold and Marlboro's gazes snapped there simultaneously.
It was the Commander.
He'd walked in with grim resolve earlier, but now he came running, pale as a ghost.
"What? Get turned away at the door?"
Marigold scowled, as if it were obvious. Feeding him was one thing; no way they'd open the door for him.
The Commander panted heavily, too out of it to reply.
"Are you sure Esira's in that room?"
"What kinda... Of course she is! We saw her go in earlier!"
The Commander's lips trembled.
"No response."
"Response?"
"No matter how much I knock or shout, there's no response. Not even a single breath can be heard. It's completely silent, just like no one's inside."