Chapter 23: Reunion
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 23: Reunion
“Hah, hah… L-let’s just rest for a moment.”
We were in a nameless village a short distance from Fracture.
Mirabelle’s hometown.
Behind it stood a small mountain, and we were in the middle of climbing it.
For someone like me, for whom a trip to the corner store was an ordeal, this was nothing short of torture. Was the pain Harold felt similar to this…? No, even I have to admit that’s a shameless thought.
Objectively speaking, this was a little less painful than that.
“Resting again?”
“What do you mean, again? This is all out of consideration for you, Mirabelle. Wow, what a kind master I am. So considerate of his slave.”
“I’m fine, though. There was nothing to do in the village but run around, so this much doesn’t tire me out. Should we keep going?”
Oh, so that’s how you want to play it?
Fine. Karami isn’t moving another inch.
Not unless Mirabelle carries me.
I plopped right down on the ground. Mirabelle had no choice but to stop, looking down at me with pity in her eyes.
“…Hmph.”
“Huh?”
Did she just sigh?
At me?
So the day has finally come when Mirabelle sighs at me.
I was genuinely hurt.
Mirabelle, who had just dealt me the biggest blow of my life, casually sat down between my legs. She did it without a hint of hesitation, as if this were her designated seat.
She turned her head and glanced at me, a hopeful look in her eyes. Having spent so much time together, I knew what she wanted, but I pretended not to. This was an adult’s revenge.
“……”
When I did nothing, Mirabelle puffed out her cheeks and narrowed her eyes. After glaring at me with enough intensity to shoot lasers, she grabbed my arms and wrapped them around her own waist.
Seemingly satisfied, she leaned back comfortably, but that was it. I didn’t squeeze her or pull her closer. My arms were just draped over her.
Mirabelle turned her head again.
I remained steadfast in my ignorance.
“Is there something you wish to say?”
“You’re being mean…”
“I’m not sure what you mean.”
“You know exactly what.”
“I won’t know unless you tell me. I don’t have the ability to read people’s minds, you see.”
The first rule of negotiation.
The one who gets bent out of shape is the one who loses.
The world is a cold place, Mirabelle. It’s not so forgiving that a little bit of cute pouting will solve everything.
“You’re not going to hug me…?”
“……”
“Really?”
“Huh?”
By the time I came to my senses, I was already hugging Mirabelle.
When on earth did that happen?
Was that a psychic attack?
Using magic like that is cheating, isn’t it?
The thought crossed my mind, but it was just a testament to how lethal Mirabelle’s cuteness was.
She’d learned how to use that face of hers.
‘Makes me want to play a tycoon game.’
If I sat Mirabelle at a reception desk, she’d rake in all the customers. It’s a shame that’s not an option in reality. Maybe I should try it once before we go home.
As I was lost in thought, Mirabelle created some water for me. It was cool and sweet.
“The water you make is always delicious, Mirabelle.”
“Hehe.”
Mirabelle laughed, pleased.
I stroked her head.
“Let’s get going again.”
We’d rested enough. Time to move.
We were almost there.
I stood up and brushed the dirt and fallen leaves from my pants.
Shhhk.
‘Hm?’
I thought I saw a flash of navy-blue powder just now.
The kind that appears when Mirabelle uses magic.
I suppose it was from when she made the water.
‘Did that happen when she made water before?’
I didn’t think it happened with simple household magic.
Well, it’s probably nothing.
*
“Master, why are we climbing a mountain, anyway?” Mirabelle asked.
It struck me again how late her questions always were. Whenever I told her to do something, she’d follow without a word of complaint, only asking for the reason much later.
One might think that’s just how a master-slave relationship works, but ours was a special case. I had to assume it meant Mirabelle trusted me completely.
“I made a promise, didn’t I? That I would send you to your mother’s side.”
Mirabelle’s true ending: ‘Reunion.’
No one was ignorant of who that reunion was with. It was a common enough story.
Mirabelle’s mother, the witch Naredi, who was thought to have died that day.
Right before being captured by the Knight Order, she had used magic to swap places with a doll that looked exactly like her and escaped. The original story stated that she was alive somewhere in the world.
You had to try several times to even learn of this route. Players who thought it was over after getting revenge would liberate her, only to find it wasn't a "complete liberation."
There was a hint, of course.
Harold’s final words.
—Your papa is always watching over you, Mirabelle.
It might not seem like much, but a tiny hint was hidden there.
‘Papa’ is always watching over Mirabelle.
Why only papa?
Naredi had ‘died’ before Harold, so he should have known, yet he didn’t say ‘mama and papa.’
It was as if Naredi was still alive.
It wasn’t much of a prediction. This, too, was a cliché if you could call it that. The father you thought was alive is dead, and the mother you thought was dead is alive.
The only problem was not knowing where she was.
In the game, you had to progress a certain amount to find Naredi’s location, but as for me… well, of course, I already knew.
At first, I’d wondered, ‘Wouldn’t it be easier to just find Naredi from the start?’ In the game, you had to follow a set route, but now, if I wanted to meet her, I just had to go.
But there was a risk.
I couldn’t predict what would happen if we had the reunion right away, without building up her affection and getting her revenge first.
So, I followed the standard route and collected all the pieces. Now that all the problems were solved, all that was left was to fit the pieces of the puzzle together.
We were climbing this mountain to do just that. Naredi was here, somewhere.
“It’s difficult to be in crowded places.”
“……That’s true. It would be hard for her in a place with a lot of people.”
Mirabelle had the Heavenly Covenant, but Naredi didn’t. As a witch, she had no choice but to live in hiding in a remote place like this.
“We’re almost there. We’re getting closer to your mother.”
“I know. The sky is getting closer, too…”
Why was she suddenly talking about the sky? More importantly, Mirabelle had let out a sigh. We were going to see her mother, yet for some reason, her mood had soured.
“What’s wrong? Don’t you want to see your mother?”
“I do want to see her. Just like when you first told me you’d help me meet her. But…”
“But?”
“I feel like… I’ve developed some lingering attachments… or that I want to postpone my liberation a little…”
What?
She doesn’t want to be liberated?
Why?
Could it be that she’s had a change of heart now?
“What kind of attachments?”
“That’s……”
Mirabelle didn’t give me a reason.
She just stared at me quietly.
What is it?
Am I the cause?
‘Could it be that she’s grown to like me so much she doesn’t want to leave?’
Considering her recent behavior, it seemed plausible, but then I realized what ridiculous nonsense that was. A self-deprecating laugh escaped me at my own clueless narcissism.
Think about it logically.
Who would she choose, her mother or a slave trader? The choice didn’t even warrant a moment’s thought.
“Master, there’s a house over there.”
As I walked, lost in thought, Mirabelle pointed. A lone cabin stood in the middle of the mountain, where there was no other sign of human life.
“Hmm, someone living deep in a mountain like this. How strange. Shall we stop by?”
“We should be careful. For someone to be in such a remote place… they might be a strange person.”
“I’m not worried, not when I have you with me, Mirabelle.”
“Hehe.”
We slowly approached the cabin. To prepare for any unexpected situations, Mirabelle moved with the Heavenly Covenant held tightly in both hands.
As we drew closer, the smell of food wafted towards us, as if someone was cooking inside.
“…Huh?”
It was Mirabelle who reacted.
“What is it?”
“Th-that… this smell… It can’t be… Huh?”
Mirabelle muttered incomprehensibly. The hand holding her staff slowly dropped to her side, and as if mesmerized by the scent, she began to walk toward the cabin. Her small steps gradually widened until she was breaking into a run.
I followed behind at a leisurely pace with my hands clasped behind my back.
“Hah, haah… haah…”
Mirabelle reached the cabin in a single dash.
The same girl who’d claimed climbing the mountain was nothing was now catching her breath raggedly before a single door. She stared at it blankly, then reached for the handle with a trembling hand and pushed.
The door swung open with a long, scraping creak.
From beyond the doorway, someone started in surprise and quickly turned their head.
It was an adult woman.
She had short, navy-blue hair, a shade lighter than Mirabelle’s.
Her features were also similar to Mirabelle’s, but she lacked the chubby cheeks and looked rather gaunt.
She was squatting in front of a pot, seemingly in the middle of cooking.
Thud.
Clatter.
The Heavenly Covenant fell from Mirabelle’s hand and rolled across the floor. Mirabelle, unable to tear her gaze from the woman, simply stared.
“…………Mom?”
That’s what she called the woman.
“Mirabelle…?”
As if time was slowing down, the woman rose slowly, very slowly. Her blue pupils, like someone who had seen something they shouldn’t have, widened in shock until they froze.
Mirabelle moved her legs and approached the woman. Her movements were different from mere walking. It was more like a law of nature, her body drawn toward the woman.
Soon, Mirabelle stood before her. The two, who looked so much alike, simply faced each other, neither able to move first.
The woman opened and closed her mouth several times, trying to say something, before finally managing to squeeze out a single word.
“Is it really… you, Mirabelle? Are you my daughter, Mirabelle? Mama’s not seeing things, is she?”
“It’s Mom… It’s my mom. My beautiful mom.”
The woman, who had been biting her lower lip and trembling, suddenly threw her arms out and embraced Mirabelle. She hugged her with all her might, as if she might shatter.
The woman’s name was Naredi.
Mirabelle’s mother.
The other half of Mirabelle’s true ending, ‘Reunion.’
Mirabelle hugged Naredi back. She cried out with all her might, as if releasing everything she had suppressed until now.
“Mom! It’s Mom! It’s really my mom!”
“Yes, yes… It’s Mama. My daughter. How did you get all the way here?”
“Papa…! Because of me, Papa…!”
“…It’s okay. As long as you’re safe, Mirabelle, it’s okay. Papa will be happy to know you’re safe, too.”
Naredi soothed Mirabelle, holding back her own tears.
But the tragedy she had endured for months could not be so easily calmed. Even if Mirabelle had become a Great Witch, inside, she was still a tender, fragile girl.
Mirabelle let out choked sobs, swallowing her cries as she spewed out the black, compressed lump of grief from within her.
The raw emotion she poured out was enough to make one’s heart ache just by watching.
After Naredi comforted her for a long, long time, Mirabelle’s crying began to subside. She had reached a point where she had no more tears to shed, even if she wanted to.
“By the way… who is that person?”
Having calmed Mirabelle down, Naredi looked over her daughter’s shoulder and stared at me.
If you ask who I am, it is only proper that I answer.
“Greetings. I am the slave trader Karami. Mirabelle’s master. A pleasure to meet you, former master.”