Chapter 67
Chapter 67
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 66
Chapter Title: Chatterbox
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After securing a brief reprieve from Haini Rosaless, I considered heading into Portren's mansion for one more attempt at persuasion, but in the end, I turned my steps away.
She was with the royal inspectors, and she wasn't about to shy away from bloodshed.
I figured there had to be some reason she was so unyielding, and it turned out to be easier to uncover than I'd thought.
"Cough! Cough!"
"Michelle? You okay? Should we go to the hospital?"
"Your face looks so pale."
"Ah, no. I'm fine. The hospital won't help anyway, and I have medicine at home."
"......"
Back at the hotel, Michelle was coughing nonstop, her complexion worsening by the second, while Rin and Hayun tended to her.
Come to think of it, she'd been coughing even during meals, and despite it not being cold weather, she'd been rubbing her hands together like she was freezing.
"Medicine only available at home?"
I immediately hoisted her onto my back and headed out of the hotel again.
"I've confirmed the inspectors have all left, so I'll take her back and come right back."
"Want me to come along?"
Rin looked at Michelle with pity in her eyes. As someone aspiring to be a doctor, she probably couldn't just stand by and watch a patient suffer, but I shook my head.
I doubted Rin could keep up with my pace.
"Sen, come here for a sec."
"Hm?"
She hadn't expected me to call her, pointing at herself to confirm before approaching.
"Find out which hotel Hebun Ren is staying at, and how long he's booked for."
"......A commission?"
It was an out-of-left-field request, but I knew she wasn't the type to act purely on sentiment, so I gave a small nod.
We had plenty of cash from this hotel gig anyway, so money wasn't an issue.
"Got it."
Sen headed out with a strangely satisfied expression, and I took Michelle back to the mansion.
'Getting a real workout in since morning.'
The distance was a bit far, so I wanted to go fast, but in case Michelle got cold, I moderated my speed as I ran. Then, from behind me, she asked in a small voice,
"Mister, is my dad a bad person?"
"......"
"Those people earlier were knights, right? I heard knights protect people. If knights came for my dad, does that mean he's a bad person?"
'What do I even say to this.'
Michael Portren was undeniably a villain.
But telling Michelle that outright was impossible.
Yet the girl astutely buried her face in my back since I gave no answer, and sniffled.
"So, Dad really is a bad person."
"Really?"
"Following Dad around sometimes, I'd see weird people. People hiding their faces or looking gross, like villains."
Probably the Pit Fighters.
They seemed to be grafting the power and flesh of demon beasts from the Demon Realm Forest onto themselves.
"Is Dad going to get caught now? Is that it?"
"......Yeah."
I didn't want to give her false hope with vague words.
Michael Portren's crimes were severe enough that the death penalty was practically assured.
"Hic, h-hic."
I slowed my pace a bit for her as she sobbed. Suddenly, I remembered a similar incident between us in the Demon Realm Forest before.
'......'
A girl shedding tears.
A child who should have been going to school, maybe sharing her first innocent crush with a boy her age, had been carrying far too heavy a burden and finally collapsed under it.
When I'd asked what was wrong, she hadn't answered me—probably because she didn't want to burden me with it.
'I-I'm sorry. For showing you such an ugly side.'
Even as she apologized like that, the girl had stubbornly gotten back up, forced a smile, and told me to have breakfast with her.
"What burden were you carrying back then?"
The hollow question, leaving only questions behind, was swept away by the wind, vanishing without meaning.
By the time her sobs began to fade, we arrived at the Portren mansion. The servants out front smiled brightly when they saw me carrying Michelle.
"I'd like to see Michael Portren."
They looked flustered at my sudden declaration, but Michelle chimed in from beside me, so I was let inside without much hassle.
"Mister's going to persuade my dad?"
"If possible."
"......"
Michelle let go of my hand with a complicated expression and ran off down the wide hallway. A servant guided me to Michael Portren's study.
"......So, you brought our Michelle back? Thank you."
Michael's expression looked terrible at a glance.
He was clearly in a foul mood, like he might explode at the slightest touch, though he was holding it back.
Once the servant left, I spoke up.
"For Michelle's sake, if nothing else, stop this now and turn yourself in."
A vein bulged on Michael's forehead, but he took a breath, placed his hands on his desk, and asked,
"You know something, don't you?"
"Staying at that rundown wooden hotel on the city outskirts. The old lady there was really kind."
Michael's eyes flashed as he clenched his fist hard.
The emotions he'd been suppressing poured out—not like a raging waterfall, but steady and deep, like steeping tea.
"So you weren't approaching us because of Hayun Ren and Hebun Ren's connection?"
"Well, call it a coincidence."
"Coincidence...... What a shitty coincidence."
Clicking his tongue, Michael now saw me fully as an enemy.
"You the one who brought the inspectors?"
"That was a coincidence too."
"These coincidences sure overlap a lot."
The repetitive tapping noise as he drummed his fingers harder on the desk.
I waited calmly, but no satisfactory answer came.
"I refuse. The Pit Fighters and I are in too deep to separate now."
"Think of Michelle."
Hitting his reverse scale, Michael slammed both hands down on the desk where he'd been tapping.
"How dare you! Don't utter Michelle's name in front of me! Before I chew your damn head off right here!"
"......"
"You think anyone loves Michelle as much as I do? She's already lost her mom—I'm her only support left. If I go too, it's really over for her!"
"Michelle's stronger than you think."
"What the hell do you know about my daughter to spout that crap! Fine! I'll concede a hundred, a thousand times. You saw her condition was bad and brought her home, right? Where do you think I got medicine that even hospitals can't cure?"
"......"
"The Pit Fighters! You damn milk-scented student brat! Those herbs they bring from the Demon Realm Forest are the only way Michelle survives!"
Michael caught his breath and clenched his fist.
His hand seemed a bit larger somehow, but I didn't mention it.
"Building that murder hotel, bringing in lunatics, providing corpses or even live people inside? All to save my daughter!"
A father's desperate cry.
Michael Portren, the man who could do nothing but clasp the hands of his bedridden wife as she passed from this world.
And then, another massive tragedy struck him.
His daughter, Michelle Portren, afflicted with the same illness as her mother.
Unable to lose his daughter after his wife, the man made a pact with the Pit Fighters and built a factory of sorts to supply them with people.
"What if I could bring those herbs?"
I took a shot in the dark, but he just scoffed, as expected.
"The kid's got some loyalty, huh. You know about the Pit Fighters, so maybe you're somebody. But the Demon Realm Forest is full of monsters beyond your imagination."
"......"
"Kid, that forest itself is a demon beast through and through."
"If I bring the herbs, will you turn yourself in?"
Michael hesitated at my serious expression but soon shook his head.
"No. Like I said, I'm already in too deep with the Pit Fighters. If I'm dragged to the palace and locked up, who knows what they'll do to Michelle."
"Fair enough."
I knew that already but said it anyway.
He'd learned too much about them just procuring Michelle's medicine—if he got arrested, every servant in this mansion could vanish in an instant.
"Kid, I get that you're worried about Michelle. For that sentiment, I'll let this slide. Leave Bethel today and go back to the academy."
"......"
"I won't ask what happened to the hotel granny or the others. The old lady's Death Spider abilities are so stealthy, no human could detect them. Even the Pit Fighters won't chase hard if she fled."
He sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"Clear out the hotel and leave. It could be evidence, so my people will burn it down tonight."
"Haini Rosaless is a tenacious inspector. Especially with her life on the line here."
"I already know about her. She's under suspicion for killing the Leiros Family's second son during interrogation. That's why she's dealing with the Ren Family—don't worry about it."
He realized his slip the moment he said it, flinching and staring at me.
"Dealing?"
"......"
"Whatever. I don't know the details, but looks like the families have some ties."
"Damn it, just get out now. Forget everything you've seen here and live as a normal student. This is sincere advice."
"Sorry, but I can't do that."
Michael Portren let out a heavy sigh at my curt, resolute reply.
"What do you think a mere student can accomplish?"
"Status doesn't matter."
"Sigh. Fine, rephrase the question. Why? Why go this far?"
"......"
This time, I was at a slight loss for words, but an answer did come to mind.
A blink, and in that instant of darkening vision, memories surfaced.
A distant future that could no longer be—yet was my past as well.
'Growing gourds? I wanna see that too, mister!'
'Wow, you made such a great house? You'd be so domesticated as a dad.'
'The Demon Realm Forest is kinda scary, but it's okay 'cause I'm with you, mister.'
'Ah, mister......'
In a pitch-black room, even the faintest candlelight shines so brightly.
That candle illuminating all darkness transforms in an instant into the center of the dark room.
The chatty young lady was the candle in my otherwise pitch-black life.
"I'm expressing my gratitude."
To the chatterbox who showed a small but vivid light to me, who had lived as a demon beast in darkness for so long, awakening me.