The Museum Manager Max 6
The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was a group of people looking down at me.
“We did it.”
“It worked!”
I remember it as though everything were strange.
A room so large it was packed with people.
Some of them had pointed ears. Some were short. Others stood a head taller than the rest, and one person in particular had green skin.
As my eyes wandered, the face I remember most clearly was that of a blond-haired, point-eared person who laughed brightly and patted my head.
“Your name is Max.”
-Max?
“Yes. Max.”
-Max!
“And my name is Metel.”
-Metel?
“Yes. Metel.”
-Metel!
“This place is called the Crack Museum. You’re a concentration of mana created by the combined power of our Guardians... but before I explain everything, why don’t we try walking first? Can you do that?”
-Uh... yes.
Everything back then was full of wonder.
People greeting me from all directions, people patting my head, objects strewn all around me.
I remember it all feeling new.
The cold sensation when my feet touched the floor. The feel of mana against my skin.
I could only think, I’m glad.
I’m glad I was born.
I was truly glad to have come to understand all of this. It was only natural to think that way. Everything before my eyes felt like a blessing meant for me.
Time passed.
Of course, after that day, I learned many things. I learned how I had been made and why I had been born, and I came to understand why the Crack Museum existed, what it meant, and how the management office functioned.
Studying was fun.
I got to be with the Guardians, and if I worked hard enough, they praised me too.
“Do you understand?”
-Yes, Jamie. I understand. I’ve memorized every single item on the museum’s management list!
“Really? Our Max is smart.”
-Thank you.
I learned a great deal.
“You were born to manage the museum, Max. To take over the duties of our Guardians. I’m sorry to ask this of you, but I hope you’ll understand us.”
-There’s no need to apologize, Oliver. I’m truly happy to have been born. I really am.
I learned what responsibility was.
“Just so you know, your body will scatter if you leave the museum. The mana in this place is what keeps you together, so be careful.”
-Yes, Snev!
I learned what I must never do.
“I’m glad you’re working hard. Hmm. You do look a little like me... .”
-I’m honored you’d say that, Isaac. I heard you were leaving today... .
“Yes. I don’t belong here. We may see each other again someday. Take care, Max.”
-Ah... yes.
Of course, there were things I never grew used to no matter how much time passed, but the time I spent with the Guardians was genuinely happy.
Walking through the museum and inspecting it, talking with the Guardians—those were all precious to me.
Thank you for making me, Guardians.
I found myself thinking something like that several times a day. Some of the Guardians were difficult to deal with, but others were the opposite.
-Guardian Metel!
“Max! How was your day?”
-Yes. Today I inspected the management office and went to see the sealed crack in person. With Snev.
“Oh my. Did he say anything to you? He treated you well, didn’t he?”
-Yes. He explained many things. That for now the crack is completely sealed, but since no one knows when it may open again, we have to keep watch over it until the end. And also, the items in this museum...
“It’s the same talk every time. You must be sick of hearing it by now... .”
-Not at all, Metel. It’s the reason I was born. I was made to inherit the museum’s continuation after the Guardians! I have to work hard!
“......”
-Guardian Metel?
“You don’t have to be so crushed by it.”
-Pardon?
“No, it’s nothing. How about skipping class tomorrow and playing with me instead?”
-May I do that?
“Of course. It’s fine to rest for a day.”
Especially the time I spent with Guardian Metel was incredibly enjoyable.
The others were certainly kind and treated me well, but Metel treated me in a way that was different from the other Guardians.
-Guardian Metel, what are parents?
“That means a father and a mother. Elves like me, or humans like Jamie, are born differently from the way you were, Max. When a man and a woman love each other, a child comes to exist inside the woman’s belly, and after some time, that child comes out into the world. Those are the people we call the parents who gave birth to you. Of course, there’s also the idea of raising someone... Ah! More importantly, why do you ask about parents all of a sudden?”
-Snev said Guardian Metel is like my parent.
“Well! The method may be a little different, but I’m practically Max’s parent. I’m the one who contributed the most to bringing Max into the world. Heh. Snev is observant. In truth, I’d already been thinking of Max as my child. How about it? Want to call me Mom?”
-N-no.
“Why not?”
-I just... feel shy.
“Hurry up and say it!”
-La-later. It’s too embarrassing.
I truly thought I was glad to have been born.
Looking back now, I think this was the happiest time of my life.
I had no worries. I smiled every day, ran around sometimes, and even acted spoiled toward Guardian Metel.
And so time kept passing.
I couldn’t say exactly how much time went by, but it was long enough for Jamie’s hair to change from blue to white, and long enough for wrinkles to appear on Oliver and Snev’s faces.
Snev, who used to be angry every day, began spending more time reading quietly or staring into the distance, and his body grew visibly weaker.
Oliver could no longer chew properly, and every time he spoke, he would reach out and pat my head.
“I’m sorry.”
-It’s all right, Oliver. I should be the one apologizing. There’s nothing I can do for you... .
“I burdened you with a great deal.”
-I’ve never once thought that, Oliver!
“Ha... Thank you for thinking so. Yes... thank you.”
-Oliver? Guardian Metel! Oliver is acting strange! Guardian Metel!
And then.
For the first time in my life,
I experienced someone else’s death.
Perhaps it was around then.
-Humans die, huh.
It was about that time that I truly felt a fact I had already known.
“Our little darling... .”
Then Jamie passed away... .
“I’m sorry I was so harsh to you every time. Still, I hope you know that I never disliked you. Max, please take good care of the museum.”
And then Snev disappeared.
Guardian Metel would quietly shed tears every time one of the others closed their eyes, and there were many days when she didn’t eat at all.
Maybe I was the unlucky one after all...
I used to think that sometimes.
I thought it when the Guardians passed away, and when Guardian Metel stayed shut up in her room, too.
As time went on and on, until only the two of us remained in that enormous museum, I kept thinking the same thing.
Of course, it wasn’t as though I was unhappy all the time.
Guardian Metel didn’t age, and there were many things that made her laugh.
We read books together. We ran around the museum together.
We had many conversations, and our lessons never stopped.
There were more moments of laughter than sadness.
It was a little disappointing that we couldn’t go outside together, but it was still surely happy.
I thought everything would last forever.
But Guardian Metel, too, was not endless. Like Jamie and the others, she began to change from the way she had once been.
Around that time, Guardian Metel stopped coming out of her room very often.
“I’m going to start... researching, Max. I’ll be busy for a while, all right?”
-Yes, Guardian.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to come out much. So until then... please take care of the museum.”
-Yes, Guardian.
I never learned exactly what she was researching, but just as she said, it became hard to see her face.
I’m the unlucky one after all.
I found myself thinking that more and more often.
Guardian Metel remained absorbed in some research, and as a result she began to waste away at a terrifying pace.
Even when she did come outside now and then, she coughed often, and there were many times when she clutched her chest and gasped for breath.
I was scared, but I could only smile, and I could only focus on managing the museum.
I had to do what I was supposed to do.
Sometimes Guardian Metel would pat my head. She would cast all sorts of new spells on my body and say the same thing every time.
“I love you.”
Lies.
Even when she could barely move, she said the same thing.
“I love you.”
Lies.
Even when all the mana in her body had vanished, she smiled and said it.
“I love you, Max.”
Lies.
Even when she poured out all her mana and carried me outside the museum, she said the same thing.
She said it even while muttering, “The research worked,” and even as her body fell apart.
“I love you... I... love you, Max.”
I thought it was all a lie.
-Lies...
“......”
-If you loved me... if that was really true, then you shouldn’t have made me. Nghh...
“......”
-If it were true, you shouldn’t have left me alone like this. If Jamie, Oliver, and Snev all said they liked me, then you shouldn’t have left me all alone like this... nghh... . Guardian Metel, you’re a liar. Nghh... You said we could stay together forever... liar... If it was going to be like this, I’d have been better off never being born. I’d have been better off never being made.
“......”
-I never said I wanted to go outside. I said I could keep living in the museum. I never asked for this. If you were going to say you loved me... then you should have stayed with me. You shouldn’t have done this to me.
“......”
-......
“......”
-I love you too... I love you too, so don’t go.
“......”
-I knew all along that it wasn’t a lie. I know you really did love me. So... please get up. Please, get up.
“......”
-Nghhhh... please... please.
“......”
* * *
“That’s the end?”
-Yes... After that, as I explained, I didn’t go outside anymore and... entered the museum to carry out the duties and responsibilities the Guardians had given me. I was surprised when the museum suddenly turned into a dungeon.
It was a more moving story than I had expected.
For a moment, I even seriously considered whether I ought to shed crocodile tears for Max, who had finished his tale so calmly.
Still, I didn’t actually cry.
For one thing, it was a little too unreal for me, and for another, the noisy voices coming from outside were too distracting for me to get sentimental.
Those were undoubtedly the expedition members approaching the management office.
Max’s Guardian.
It is a title created at the earnest request of Guardian Metel. Depending on Max’s growth, the museum’s management rank will rise. - I’m sorry. Please treat him sincerely.
Hoo...
It wasn’t bad.
Unlike with Dialugia, my life wasn’t being held hostage, and whether or not I did something with him was up to me.
Still, I couldn’t shake the feeling of unease.
What’s more, after taking responsibility for the final seal, this woman named Metel had even gone and crossed the rainbow bridge herself, along with her lingering consciousness.
It was so absurd that I almost laughed out loud.
“Then that thing I saw for a moment...”
-It was probably the residual consciousness left behind by Lady Metel. She probably never trusted me to the very end.
“That’s not likely. Given the circumstances, it’s more reasonable to think she left it behind in case you chose to go outside.”
-Ah... .
“Anyway, so... this crack guardian wants me to take care of you. But why didn’t you go outside that day in the first place?”
-S-someone had to take responsibility. I’m the manager... I’m s-sorry.
“No need to apologize, Max. We’re not the ones losing out in this deal, after all. The real problem is how I’m supposed to explain it.”
Maybe he was so nervous that he was chewing on his nails like Jung Hayan. I’d have to think about what to do with this guy.
This isn’t bad.
Of course, it wasn’t bad.
Just having the museum’s management rank go up was already a huge gain.
I had gotten so much so quickly that it was hard to sort it all out, but no matter how I looked at it, the biggest jackpot from this expedition was the museum itself.
Someone has to manage it anyway...
Of course, now that he was a guardian, the arrangement would be a little different from him living here as before, but his existence was indispensable.
He was the only one besides me who could handle these devices.
On top of that, using these devices as a base, he’d likely shorten the time needed to mass-produce them as well.
“Hey, Max.”
-Yes?
“Just asking in case... do you know the internal structure of the devices in here?”
-I-I know the basics. Of course, I can’t really touch the core devices myself, but... .
“This one? How about this one?”
-Ah... that much, I could probably... .
“Oh? Anything else you can do?”
-Ah... I think I can make that too, Representative Lee.
“Oh?”
-Representative Lee?
The answer was already decided. In truth, there was no need to think about it so complicatedly.
“What do you mean, Representative Lee? You can call me Father. Son.”
-Pardon?
“Pfft.”
I’d acquired a son who would take care of my happy retirement.