Chapter 25: Mirabelle, the Eternal Slave
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 25: Mirabelle, the Eternal Slave
“Ugh...”
The rustling of leaves.
The chirping of mountain birds.
The gurgle of a stream.
A rather harmonious ensemble, but to Mirabelle, it was nothing more than an alarm forcing her awake.
She tried her best to block her ears and stay asleep, but the sunlight piercing through the window struck her eyes directly.
“Nnngh.”
Mirabelle scrunched up her face with a strange whimper. She pulled the blanket over her head and tried to fall back asleep, but it was already a lost cause. After wriggling and tossing about, she finally gave up and got out of bed.
Her eyes were dazed.
Her hair was a messy, tangled mop.
Blinking slowly, Mirabelle gradually came to her senses, got out of bed, and put on her shoes.
This was because if she climbed onto the bed with her shoes on, Karami would let out a bizarre scream and cough up blood.
This had become a new habit for Mirabelle, so she now knew to take off her shoes before getting into bed without being told.
Mirabelle rubbed her eyes and left the bedroom. The combined living room and kitchen was filled with the familiar smell of stew. It was the same thing they always had.
“Haaam... Good morning.”
“Oh, my daughter's awake?”
“Yes...”
“Waking up all by yourself without me having to get you. My daughter is all grown up. Go wash your face and wake yourself up. The food is ready.”
These were words she heard every day.
A lie she heard every day.
When her mother said everything was ready and to come eat, there would be nothing on the table. If she asked what exactly was prepared, she'd be chided to come set the plates and utensils herself.
‘Doesn't that mean it's not ready...?’
The question naturally arose, but she never voiced it. After all, Mirabelle had seen Harold get scolded by Naredi with a "Then make your own damn food!" for saying the exact same thing.
The girl knew very well who held the real power in the house.
Mirabelle created water with magic and washed her face. The water didn't fall but floated in the air, and she tossed it outside with a flick.
‘Huh...?’
It was then that Mirabelle felt something was off.
Normally, Karami would have muttered, "Such precious stuff..." but now, there was only silence.
Mirabelle looked around the house. Karami was nowhere to be seen.
“Mom, where did Master go?”
“I wonder? Maybe he's out for a walk somewhere?”
Naredi said this without even looking at Mirabelle. Mirabelle found her noncommittal answer strange, but she didn't think much of it.
“I'll go look for him.”
“Why? He'll come back on his own if you just wait.”
“It'll be a disaster if Master gets dragged off by a bear.”
He was the type of person you couldn't leave alone.
Of course, knowing Karami, he could probably talk a bear into submission. Imagining Karami having a conversation with a bear, Mirabelle giggled.
Holding the Heavenly Covenant, Mirabelle prepared to cast a spell. Finding anyone else might be hard, but finding Karami wasn't difficult at all.
They were bound by the soul shackles. Even if he were on the other side of the world...
“Huh?”
“What's wrong?”
“Uh, what? The, the shackles? The shackles are...?”
Mirabelle frantically checked her own soul. Karami's shackles, which had been tightly wound around it, had vanished overnight.
“M-Mom! The shackles are gone!”
“Oh, isn't that a good thing? It means you're not a slave anymore.”
Naredi said it nonchalantly, but to Mirabelle's ears, it didn't sound like good news at all.
The soul shackles.
Karami's magic possessed a suspiciously strong binding power. When Colton had suggested removing them, they had tried to undo the shackles as a test, but they hadn't budged an inch.
It was the same even after she had awakened as a Witch. She had concluded that no one but Karami, the one who had placed the shackles, could ever remove them.
And so, Mirabelle had been relieved. It meant that no matter what happened, she would always be connected to Karami.
But those shackles were gone.
And Karami was nowhere to be found.
A single bead of cold sweat trickled down from Mirabelle's armpit.
“Mom, I'm going to go find Master.”
Right, I just have to find Karami.
I'll find him and ask him to put them on me again.
“What strange things are you saying? Are you saying you want to become a slave voluntarily?”
“It's not about becoming a slave, I'm already Master's slave!”
Naredi's hand, which had been stirring the stew, faltered.
Naredi bit her lip.
“I was so grateful he brought you back safely, but he's gone and made the child strange...!”
Muttering to herself in a lamenting voice, Naredi turned to face Mirabelle. Mirabelle was stomping her feet, looking as if she would bolt out the door at any second.
Watching the scene, Naredi let out a heavy sigh. She had tried to hide it, but it seemed that wouldn't work.
Naredi revealed the truth.
“He's gone.”
“G-Gone? Where to?”
“Even I don't know. He said he had no more business here. I suppose he went off to take care of business elsewhere?”
“Why... why would he leave me...?”
Naredi approached the confused Mirabelle and knelt to meet her eyes.
“You don't have to overthink it. Mirabelle has returned safely to her mother's arms, and you're not a slave anymore. So this neck ring can now—”
Smack!
“Ugh?”
Mirabelle roughly slapped away Naredi's hand as she tried to remove the neck ring. Clutching the ring, Mirabelle backed away. Her eyes, fixed on Naredi, were sharp and filled with wariness.
“What are you doing?”
“M-Mirabelle?”
“Master put this on me. No one but Master is allowed to touch it. Not even you, Mom.”
Leaving Naredi speechless with shock, Mirabelle anxiously examined her soul once more.
The shackle was gone. But a trace of the magic that had been there, a mana signature, remained.
Mirabelle hastily gathered the mana signature to examine it.
‘There's too little...’
And it was too faint.
Too much time had passed.
On top of that, Karami's mana had always been pathetically weak. Only the shackles had been bizarrely strong.
She couldn't find Karami with this. For now, she scraped together what little of his mana she could and stored it carefully inside her body, as if it were a precious treasure.
Mirabelle sank into thought with a grave expression.
‘Why did Master abandon me?’
I haven't been liberated yet, have I? I'm still alive, aren't I?
He said he'd feel better liberating me after my value had increased.
Does removing the shackles mean I'm not worth liberating? Did he throw me away because I'm worthless?
‘Ah.’
Something flashed through Mirabelle's mind.
While climbing the mountain, she had told Karami something. That she wanted to postpone her liberation. That she had lingering attachments. That was an act that went against Karami's great will.
That's why Karami abandoned her. Because she was no longer valuable. Because she'd taken everything she could get and then acted shamelessly.
“Gasp, gasp.”
The color drained from Mirabelle's face.
Her breathing grew ragged, and the frantic pounding of her heart filled her ears.
“I know you're sad about parting with someone you've grown fond of, but isn't this a relief? You've returned safely to my side, you're not a slave anymore. We can live here happily together...”
Just as Naredi was trying to persuade her, Mirabelle's head shot up and she dashed into her room. She soon emerged wearing her maid outfit and carrying a small bag.
“Wh-What are you doing?”
“I have to go find Master. He couldn't have gone far.”
His stamina is abysmal, after all.
The farthest he could have gone is a nearby city. It's not too late. If I chase him, I can catch him.
“What have you been talking about this whole time? Why would you chase after him?”
“Because I'm Master's slave.”
“I told you, you're not a slave anymore!”
Mirabelle shook her head vehemently.
“Once a slave, always a slave.”
Even unto death.
That was the relationship between her and Karami.
At her daughter's dizzying logic, Naredi pressed a hand to her forehead.
“After everything I went through to get you back, you're saying you'll go back to that dangerous place?”
“Dad said so. He said I was the child who would create a world where Witches don't have to live in hiding. That I would be the one to bring about a miracle.”
“He did say that, didn't he...?”
“To create that kind of world, I can't just stay in a cabin like this.”
Mirabelle had returned so much more mature after just a few months away. For a moment, Naredi's eyes reddened at her daughter's growth. As a parent, she felt a surge of emotion that was hard to put into words.
If only she weren't leaving to become a slave again. If not for that, it would have been a truly heartwarming scene.
Her heartless daughter, oblivious to her mother's feelings, had already finished packing and was ready to leave.
“You're really going? If something happens to you, how am I supposed to live all by myself?”
“It's okay, Mom. I'm a proper Witch now. And I have the magic Master taught me. I won't be taken advantage of like before.”
Naredi couldn't help but be impressed by her daughter's confident attitude.
She wondered who she got that stubbornness from.
‘Should I try to stop her by force?’
No, that wouldn't work. If they fought, Naredi would lose.
Even though they were both Witches, they were on different levels. This could no longer be stopped.
“Haaah... Alright. But wait just a moment.”
Naredi rummaged through the cabin and brought out an ancient, dusty tome. Covered in a thick layer of dust, it clearly hadn't been read in a very long time.
“This was written by my maternal grandmother. So, your great-grandmother. I don't have much of a talent for magic, so I never really understood it.”
“And?”
“I thought that maybe you could learn from it, Mirabelle.”
Naredi flipped through the book.
“Read it when you're bored. Okay?”
Study when you're bored. It might sound like a bizarre thing to say, but to a Witch, studying was just another form of entertainment. The moment she received the book, Mirabelle's eyes began to sparkle.
“Wow... Thank you. I'll enjoy reading it.”
Naredi watched Mirabelle hold the book, her own eyes filled with a mixture of emotions.
To think the day would come when she'd pass this book down to Mirabelle. It was a truly complex and strange feeling.
“So this is how a Witch's knowledge is passed on.”
Mirabelle put the book in her bag and went outside. Naredi followed to see her off.
“Do you really have to go in that outfit? I brought some of your clothes, Mirabelle.”
Mirabelle was wearing a short maid outfit. It was cute, making her look like a little maid, but it wasn't suitable for traveling.
But Mirabelle shook her head.
“It's fine. I like this outfit the best.”
“Just... live however you want.”
“Yes, I will. Hehe.”
Mirabelle walked away briskly, her figure growing smaller in the distance. Watching her daughter leave, Naredi began to call out her final words of advice.
“Don't skip your meals. Don't follow strangers. And if anyone tries anything funny, chop off their hands.”
“I will.”
“If you can't find him, or if things get too hard, you can always come back. I'll always be here waiting for you, Mirabelle. Understood?”
“Yes.”
“Alright. Be safe.”
Naredi waved back at Mirabelle, who waved as she disappeared into the distance.
And so, Mirabelle set off on a journey to find her vanished master—a journey to become a slave once more.
With a certain Reaper trailing silently behind her.
*
“Guhk...”
Somewhere in the Great Forest.
In a place where colossal, ancient trees blotted out the sky, casting it in deep shadow, a forest elf lay curled up like a shrimp.
The elf clutched at their chest, their face contorted in pain.
Cold sweat poured down like a waterfall, tracing the lines of their body to soak the grass below, and a low moan escaped through their clenched teeth.
Despite it all, the elf simply endured the pain.
Without asking anyone for help.
Because pain... was familiar.