Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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>Translator: Vine
>Chapter: 21
>Chapter Title: Choking on Kindness
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She felt like she was choking on his kindness.
***
“Hah, haah...”
The moment she spotted the slightly ajar laboratory door, her steps halted. She swallowed hard, catching her breath before approaching the door.
Slice, tear... Drip.
The experiment was still underway. Every time Mia flicked her hand, Rian's skin split open. Blood trickled down.
The experiment table and the floor were already soaked in red. Noah clenched her fists, tears streaming down her face, yet she forced herself to burn the cruel scene into her memory.
“Get in there.”
At Mia's words, Noah's gaze followed her gesture. It was the bathtub where the contents of the oak barrel had been poured.
“That's...”
“Atia's Venom, one of the most vicious poisons in this world. It's so terrible that it can't even be stored in anything that hasn't been magically treated.”
“Oh...”
Hearing Rian's exclamation of wonder, she felt the strength drain from her body.
*'Just what kind of... what kind of life have you lived?'*
To think that being experimented on with poison is comfortable, to say that a horrific experiment isn't painful.
Facts she had previously overlooked for the simple reason that he was easy to rely on now returned as question marks.
The only thing she could be sure of was that his life must have been more horrifying than anything she could possibly imagine.
Sizzzle!
As his foot entered the tub, the sound of melting flesh filled the air. At the gruesome noise, tears welled up in Noah's eyes once more.
“Agh!”
“...!”
Hearing a scream from Rian for the first time, Noah's eyes widened.
“Did you finally feel some real pain this time? Or perhaps a threat to your life...!”
“Ah, well. I don't have many clothes. It'd be a bit of a problem if they melted.”
“...”
Tightly, Noah clenched her fists even harder. Her nails dug into her palms, sending a sharp sting through them.
*'Are those stupid clothes more important than you are?'*
Shocked by the fact that Rian cared so little for his own body, Noah stared at him with trembling eyes.
“...!”
“...!”
And in that moment, their eyes met. Her heart plummeted.
“Uh, um... Mia, may I be excused for a moment?”
“Hmm, are you sure it's really about the clothes? You're not trying to run away because you're scared, are you?”
“Of course not.”
Rian scratched the back of his head and walked toward the door. She had never imagined he would come this way, so she stumbled backward.
Thud.
Trying to back away too quickly, she fell. She sat there, trembling, and stared past the door.
*'Why, why is he coming over here?'*
A thousand thoughts raced through her mind. *Is he trying to send me in because he doesn't want to get into that horrible poison? Is he going to report me for spying and ask to have me replace him as the test subject?*
Even though she knew Rian would never do such things, the thoughts came to her instinctively.
Creek.
“Hk...!”
Rian, who had reached the door, looked down at her. Frozen, she looked up at him.
“Noah, is something urgent?”
Rian spoke in a casual tone, then crouched down to her eye level.
“I'm a little busy right now, so can we talk later?”
“Uh...”
Noah's tongue felt heavy, and she couldn't manage a proper reply. Rian tilted his head, then glanced down at his own clothes and scratched the back of his head.
“Ah, I'm a mess. This must have surprised you, huh? I'll come find you as soon as the experiment is over, so could you head back for now?”
“O-Okay.”
Rian's gentle tone finally allowed Noah to eke out a response.
“What's going on?”
“...!”
When Rian didn't return from the door, Mia walked over. She saw Noah sitting on the floor, trembling, and raised an eyebrow.
Mia's expression turned icy.
“You weren't secretly spying on my experiment, were you?”
At her words, Rian turned to Mia and said.
“Oh, no. I couldn't help with dinner distribution today, and it seems like a problem came up.”
“Hmm...”
Mia wanted to kill Noah on the spot, but she relented at the 'please let it go this once' look in Rian's eyes. He was, after all, an important test subject.
“Hah, then send her away quickly.”
“Yes!”
Rian nodded and wiped his hands on a less bloody part of his clothes. Then he pulled a neatly folded handkerchief from his pocket. Luckily, it was still intact.
It was the handkerchief he used to wipe the children's faces whenever they got something on them. It was just a small piece of a towel, but it would be fine for wiping away Noah's tear stains.
“I don't know what you fought with Nero about, but for now, use this to wipe your tears. I'm sure Nero feels bad too.”
“Huh...?”
“Oh, is that not it? I saw you crying and just assumed it was about Nero.”
Noah was speechless at Rian's words as he scratched the back of his head.
“Ahem.”
“Ah, I have to go back in. Sorry, I'm really sorry!”
After Rian apologized to Noah several more times.
Thump!
He closed the lab door and went back inside.
Woooong.
A magic circle appeared over the lab door. Mia had cast a spell to prevent any outside interference.
“What is this...”
Noah muttered, looking down at the handkerchief in her hand.
“You... idiot...”
Tears welled in her eyes until they formed huge drops and fell. Noah felt like she was choking on his kindness.
“I-If you act like this, how can I...”
For her brother's sake, and for her own, she had tried to believe. She had tried to look away. But she couldn't do it anymore.
Squeeze.
Noah clutched the handkerchief tightly and pressed her hand to her heart.
Thump, thump, thump!
Her heart pounded violently, asserting its vitality. Noah could faintly feel the scars left on it.
For the rest of her life, she would regret her past choices, how she had believed his words without a single doubt, and she would weep. At the same time, she would forever try to atone for the sin she had committed.
No matter what it took.
*'I can't... I can't just stand by and do nothing.'*
Noah staggered to her feet. Then, she slapped her cheeks hard.
*'I have to save Rian.'*
If she saves Rian, Nero dies. If she saves Nero, Rian dies. Noah decided to shatter that equation.
*'I'll save them all—all of them.'*
A light seeped into her once-dull, sunken eyes.
*'Whatever it takes.'*
A brilliant, yet not entirely beautiful, light flashed in Noah's eyes.
***
“This, this... why? Why? How? Why...?”
“Hmm...”
Clatter, clatter.
I felt my teeth chattering as I watched Mia have a complete mental breakdown. She had turned deathly pale and collapsed to the floor upon seeing me, completely melted down to my bones, moving around casually.
For the past thirty minutes, she had been muttering, “Why is this happening? How?” I scratched my jawbone with a bony index finger.
*'Is it really that shocking?'*
I expected her to be a little shocked, but I never imagined that Mia, who looked like she'd calmly sip tea with a knife to her throat, would turn into a shut-in.
*'Hmm, she said this was the last experiment, so I guess I can go back now?'*
Honestly, it was really embarrassing. I found myself instinctively covering my pelvis and pubic bone.
*'Thirty minutes is long enough. I'm leaving.'*
I immediately spun around. In an instant, my body returned to normal. But I was naked. At my plea about not having any clothes, I'd gone into the tub wearing only my underwear.
Thanks to that, my clothes were still fine. I quickly got dressed and spoke to Mia.
“Well, I'll be going now.”
“Why? This, this is... why?”
Mia didn't snap out of it even as I was leaving. It was a shame.
Click.
The moment I closed the door, Noah's face came to mind.
“She seemed to be crying so much... What on earth happened?”
Worried, I quickened my pace.
***
Sliiide.
“...”
Noah, the person Rian was so desperately looking for, was in Mia's study, peering into a book. It was a place forbidden to a slave like Noah.
If Mia caught her, it wouldn't end well. But nothing could stop the frantic Noah.
Fortunately, the protection magic Mia had cast only reacted to outsiders, so Noah could move about the study without any issue.
*'I have to find a way to get stronger.'*
In the Demon King's land, strength was law, and power. To save both Nero and Rian, she ultimately needed great strength.
“This isn't it...”
She closed the book she was reading after seeing a passage about gaining immense power by sacrificing a thousand lives. She put the book back in its place and moved quickly between the shelves.
There were several books on how to become stronger, but as expected of a Black Mage's library, none of them offered a normal method.
There were only cruel methods, like flaying someone's skin or sacrificing a loved one.
The thought *'Is there no way to become stronger?'* crept into her mind, but Noah didn't give up.
As she wandered through the study.
Thud.
A book fell in front of her.
“This is...?”
Unlike the other black or reddish books, the one that had fallen before her was pure white. There were no letters engraved on the cover. As if possessed, Noah picked it up.
“Ngh...”
As she picked up the book, an eerie chill swept over her. Noah sensed that this was no ordinary book.
Fear spiked within her for a moment, but a desire even greater than her fear allowed her to suppress it and open the book.
Fwip.
The instant she turned the cover, the pages began to flip on their own, as if caught in a gust of wind.
Sssss.
Something pure white began to ooze out of the book. The translucent thing stretched endlessly toward the ceiling before shrinking down to the size of an adult woman.
The white mass soon took on a human form. First, elegant lines formed into eyes, a nose, and a mouth, and long hair cascaded down to a slender waist.
The armor covering her body and the sword at her waist indicated her status.
[ Haaa-... ]
The being let out a sigh like an exclamation and opened its eyes. Noah stumbled back, her face pale, and muttered.
“A ghost...”