Chapter 88
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 88
Chapter Title: Before the Festival (2)
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Behind the old building by the lake.
[Thank you for your patronage.]
I wrapped up the request along with my reply.
"Ah, my throat hurts."
La Vricet. In the common tongue, Lonely You.
I did my best to mimic the voice of that famous musical actor from my memories, the one who'd sung the same song.
Of course, it wouldn't be perfect. My timbre must've blended halfway with his. But my pronunciation was probably far better.
"What are you doing?"
A voice suddenly came from the bushes. I jumped in surprise and turned toward it.
Soliet stood there, her expression as blank as ever.
"...You heard that?"
"Heard what?"
Luckily, it seemed she hadn't.
Soliet strode over and sat on the stone bench across from me, as if it were her spot all along.
"...".
She silently gazed out at the lake. Her eyes quietly followed the tiny, shimmering scales of moonlight dancing on the ripples, as if they might shatter at any moment.
After a long while like that, she murmured softly, like a sigh.
"...To track down the Nightmare, we have to investigate the people it killed too."
It was something I'd said once. I nodded as I looked at her.
"That's right."
"Yes."
She clenched her fist. Her teeth ground together with a faint crack.
"Let's do that. But..."
Her lips, which had seemed ready to speak boldly, faltered and stopped.
"But..."
Unable to continue, she bowed her head deeply, hiding her face. I could guess what was behind it.
The fear that those two might have some 'secret' even she didn't know about.
The dread that some ugly side, like Veriotan's, might be uncovered.
"You don't have to worry about those two."
I said it casually as I picked up a pebble from the ground. Soliet's head snapped up. Her voice trembled as she asked,
"Have you... already looked into their backgrounds?"
"No."
I tossed the pebble into the lake. It sailed through the air with a whoosh, creating a pathetic little splash.
"I know those two, same as you."
Zabed and Felix.
When I was a freshman, they were seniors hailed as six-star prospects.
When I was a total outcast, they were idols everyone looked up to.
"They're good people. Too good."
People who never dismissed others lightly, never judged them arbitrarily, and could see the most beautiful light even in the most insignificant souls.
"...Just like you know."
Some people can brighten their surroundings simply by existing. Like stars that radiate their own light, warming distant planets.
Zabed and Felix were stars like that.
"What you see is what they are."
I turned to look at Soliet.
Only when I spoke of them did she finally meet my eyes. She looked only at me, the 'me' in that moment. Her blue eyes were misty with memories.
"No need to investigate people you already know."
"...I see. That's a relief."
Soliet rose from the stone bench. She turned away immediately, pretending to stretch as she wiped her eyes with her sleeve.
"Then I'll head out first."
She walked down the forest path without showing her face.
I turned back to the lake.
I listened to her retreating footsteps.
Suddenly, a scene from long ago flashed in my mind.
Soliet with Zabed, with Felix, smiling like a child with pure white joy.
A sight I'd glimpsed by chance once, yet still vivid in my memory.
Back then, it had seemed so wondrous to me. Almost fantastical.
Because it was a world far too distant from mine.
"...".
I silently picked up another pebble and flung it into the lake. Splash—tiny droplets scattered.
"...I'm barely this much."
That's all I am.
A pebble that stirs the tiniest ripple in the lake.
"I shouldn't have tried."
I shouldn't have even attempted to stand in for them. Shouldn't have dared to harbor such ambition.
Overcoming a person is ultimately that person's burden.
Overcoming them doesn't make you them.
I'm no star.
Soliet felt like her heart was shattering. Like her chest was being torn open. Her face twisted on its own, her limbs kept buckling.
This kind of pain was too familiar yet too agonizing after so long. Too hateful because it had been so long.
Zabed and Felix came to mind.
She'd spent more years with them than alone.
She'd thought they'd be together forever.
The faces of those who'd left before her rose before her eyes.
Every moment she'd taken for granted back then stabbed into her heart like blades.
"...Fuck."
What should have been fond memories turned to pain. Stories they'd laughed over together became tears.
They were dead.
Killed by the Nightmare.
She could never see them again. Never meet them again.
Soliet had loved them.
A love she hadn't realized while they were together, revealed only by their parting.
She'd loved her blood kin Zabed, and cherished his longtime friend Felix.
"Fuck..."
She had to hurt.
Even if remembering them paralyzed her, she couldn't run from it.
She couldn't bury the pain out of fear. She had to endure this bladed storm.
Because, as Sion Askal said, they were good people.
Too precious to simply forget or bury...
"Sniff."
Soliet blew her nose. She rubbed her swollen eyes. Tears dripped from her nose tip.
As she wiped them away, she unwittingly smiled.
A ridiculous snort of a laugh.
Then she cried again. She buried her face in her hands, trembling silently on the ground.
Scritch-scratch.
At that pathetic moment sprawled out, the sound of writing came from somewhere.
The scratch of pencil on notepad.
Soliet blankly lifted her head. Her vision was blurred. Tears had turned the dirt into mud clinging to her eyes.
She rubbed with her arms. The dirt smeared across her face and hair, making more mess.
"Fuck."
Cursing, she summoned her Mana Body. The heat incinerated everything clinging to her skin. Only then could she see clearly.
On the ground lay a fallen notepad.
[See you Thursday. I'll teach you Latynel then. You teach me hand-to-hand.]
[Also, since I took the week off, I'll take 3/4 pay. No discounts like this next week.]
"...Ah."
Looking at it, her heart sank a little.
Payday was coming soon.
In other words, she'd have to scrape together another 20,000 ren. Sure, she could sell the luxury goods piling up at home, but since she was hiding her identity, they always ripped her off. No one would believe a 30,000-ren piece was going for 3,000...
Well, no helping it.
She'd just have to haggle harder herself.
"Sniff."
Soliet blew her nose again and kept walking.
Monday. Festival D-2.
This was Endex's Palette Theater. In this 2,300-seat venue, staff were setting up props like the silver-screen curtain and other gear.
"There's a lot of stuff."
Items for Friday's Endex festival highlight, The Minstrel.
Especially that silver-screen curtain. Placed behind the stage, it allowed theater productions to pull off drama- or movie-like effects.
The curtain sprayed mana stereoscopically around the edges, making the entire stage backdrop vividly realistic. Scene transitions became incredibly fluid too.
Turn that on, and this place would look like a real palace.
"Hey. If you're not gonna work, just leave."
Some voice was like a needle prick now and then.
I'd built up calluses, so it didn't sting anymore, but that pinpoint jab let me know who it was just by hearing it.
"What."
Obviously Elise.
"Can't you see everyone's working?"
"Yeah. High school theater takes a lot, huh."
"Just go. Get lost."
Honestly, I didn't want to be next to Elise here either.
But I had no choice. Screw up, and her head might roll.
Then I'd be a regressor who couldn't even keep a promise to my benefactor. A total loser.
"...Hey. Can I ask one thing first?"
But before that, let's think. Let's deduce.
If the underworld scum planned to exploit the festival's security gaps, they'd target peak crowd times.
Friday was obvious.
The play ends Friday, followed immediately by fireworks and the masked ball. From 7 p.m. to midnight.
If Elise had a schedule leaving Endex before then, it'd be a lock.
"You got anything after the play?"
"...".
No answer from Elise. Her lips pressed tight, I repeated,
"Any schedule?"
"...".
Elise whipped around to glare at me. Her face full of irritation, laced with disgust and suspicion.
"Right after the play, I'm heading to the Magic Tower for an experience trip. Three days, two nights. Even if not, I wouldn't have time for you anyway."
"...Tch."
I clicked my tongue.
She was right.
Sounded definite.
Magic Tower visits required reservations months in advance.
Elise had booked it deliberately for festival week—rest week—and the info leaked.
Verhalsi probably planned to hit her en route to the tower.
"Before you go, can you spare a moment?"
I asked. Even five minutes, I'd grab her somehow.
"If you're bored, go post flyers."
Elise reached into the air. Hundreds of flyers flew over and stuck to her hand.
"Go. Borrow a mascot costume if you want."
"...".
I took the flyers she thrust at me.
"Ten minutes if I finish? After curtain call, in the waiting room."
Elise shot me a contemptuous look. As if you? That face.
Damn, pissing me off. Should I just smack her?
"What're you staring at?"
—That was when.
Click!
Palette Theater went dark. The silver-screen curtain lit up.
"...Whoa."
I gasped instinctively. Elise nodded in satisfaction too.
—Done!
—Clap clap clap!
—They said it's the latest model, and damn, it is. Our theater's isn't this crisp.
The whole stage had transformed into a palace. Almost like a mana space.
"Go post those flyers. Do some hawking from Wednesday. Then maybe."
Elise said that and headed onstage. I looked at the flyers in my hand.
[Friday 7 p.m., Palette Theater.]
[Come see the play The Minstrel. The bard himself will share a tale that'll shock everyone.]
"...Yeah. Guess I have to."
If the play succeeds, it's good for me too. More sponsorship for the orphanage.
I tucked the flyer bundle into my pocket.