Chapter 203
Chapter 203
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 203
Chapter Title: A Painful Memory
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A good five minutes had passed, but the door remained closed.
From behind it, a frantic clattering sound could be heard.
“She seems to care about you a great deal.”
Sienna thought that someone merely being polite wouldn't be in such a tizzy.
Loan silently agreed.
He remembered making the headmaster of Arthur Magic Academy wait outside while he frantically cleaned and organized his own home.
Sienna glanced at the silent Loan and added another comment.
“And you seem to care about her, too.”
Loan paused for a moment, then gave a small nod.
“As you know, Miss Bella suffered a great deal after getting caught up in the Union's affairs. In truth, I was the one who dragged her into it. I think that's made me feel a greater sense of responsibility and caution.”
It was a straightforward answer, but one could guess he had agonized over it for a long time to reach that conclusion.
It was a concern fitting for the Union, whose core principle was “to protect.”
The results of one's actions couldn't always be ideal, so all one could do was accept the judgments and outcomes, think of a better way forward, and keep moving.
Loan, however, seemed to possess an unusually strong sense of responsibility, a feeling of “I have to do it.”
*‘Could the pressure be from what he went through in his childhood?’*
Reaching this thought, Sienna abandoned her intention to tease him and stared at the closed door with a dry expression.
As if her thoughts had been transmitted, the door opened right then.
It seemed she had not only tidied up the house in that short time but also freshened herself up.
While not a dramatic change, simply tying her hair back neatly made her look like a different person.
Sienna thought she must have been quite beautiful when things were better.
“Please, come in.”
As Loan stepped inside, Bella's gaze finally fell upon Sienna, who was standing behind him.
They exchanged brief, silent nods before passing each other.
Loan stood for a moment, looking around the house.
Though it was a rather fine mansion from the outside, the interior was overly modest.
Aside from the necessary living room furniture, there were no decorations or anything of value.
Bella guided Loan to the sofa and asked.
“Would you like some tea?”
“No, it's alri—”
“Yes, please.”
Sienna cut Loan off and answered.
When Bella had left the room.
“We showed up unannounced. She still seems flustered. It's best to give her a moment.”
After a moment, the sounds of water boiling and dishes clinking could be heard.
Bella returned with boiled tea in chipped cups.
The scent of dried herbs filled the living room, bringing with it a strangely calming feeling.
“Please, have some. The cups are a bit worn, but the tea itself should be fine.”
Bella simply watched blankly as Loan and Sienna took sips.
Loan asked again.
“Is the Bella Company gone?”
“Yes. As you can see, it's just me, so there's nothing to call a company.”
“It hasn't been that long since we parted in Ferrara. What happened?”
“There were… various circumstances.”
“You said back then that you had to return quickly because your father was in trouble. Is this related to that?”
Loan's persistent questions didn't seem to carry any particular concern.
There was even a somewhat interrogative air about them.
Bella, guessing there was another reason for Loan's sudden visit with a colleague, said.
“That was part of it. But the biggest reason was realizing there was nothing I could do.”
She answered with a rather resigned expression.
Bella then slowly recounted the events that had led to this day.
Among them, the story of her father being tormented by the Ledon family's demands for compensation seemed particularly unreasonable and unjust.
Loan said.
“It's not like you failed to make the delivery on purpose. With what happened to the Duke of Ferrara, the recipient themselves was gone. What kind of reason is that?”
“Logically, yes. But the head of the Ledon family is not a man who operates on logic.”
“Wasn't the money you received from the Union enough to resolve it?”
“It could solve the immediate problem, but for a company that's lost its business, there is no future. On top of that, my father passed away from his illness. I couldn't find a reason to continue the company. After paying severance to the employees and settling our debts, there was nothing left.”
“I also told you to come find me if the issue with Ledon wasn't resolved.”
“I couldn't impose on you any further…”
Bella's voice trailed off slightly.
Loan sensed there was something more than the superficial reasons she had given.
As Loan stared intently at Bella's face, which had grown noticeably gaunt after she finished speaking.
“The Ledon family seems to be doing business with a place called the Beauvoir Company now. Do you know of it?”
Sienna suddenly changed the subject.
Bella glanced at Loan before shaking her head.
“I don't know it well. It has little to no history in Versa, at least. It became slightly known after monopolizing trade with the Pobel family, and by the time I returned, it had already started doing business with Ledon.”
Loan tilted his head.
“When did it monopolize trade with Pobel?”
“That wasn't long ago either. Maybe about a month before the current Albre family took over.”
Chronologically, that would have been around the time the demon Bifrons possessed Marquis Maurice, the head of the Pobel family.
The coincidence bothered Loan slightly.
“So, it switched its business partner to Ledon right after the lordship changed to the Albre family. And naturally, the Bella Company was pushed out.”
Loan then began writing and erasing words in the air with the steam rising from his teacup.
He seemed to be arranging specific events in chronological order.
Among them were the Puppeteer laying waste to the villages of Versa.
Pobel suddenly challenging other families to duels to acquire their secret techniques.
And Sophie acting strangely after returning to the Pobel household and meeting with Marquis Maurice and some woman—events that seemed unrelated at first glance were all there.
Sienna, who had been watching quietly, asked.
“Are you suggesting these events are connected to what happened in Ferrara this time?”
“Yes. It's still a bit disjointed and jumbled… but if someone could straighten it out, I think we could arrive at some significant information.”
“Someone?”
“The Puppeteer. She's connected to all the past events I just wrote down.”
“But the Puppeteer is dead.”
“Yes, she's dead, but…”
Loan's voice trailed off as his gaze turned to Bella.
“Her memories remain.”
“Hm?”
Sienna grunted in question, looking at Bella.
While Bella wore a deeply troubled expression, Loan continued.
“After you woke up, Miss Bella, you said it yourself. That you now have all of Amy's memories, and the memories of the demon Asmo who possessed her.”
“Yes… It's truly agonizing.”
Bella replied with a sigh.
Indeed, she scowled and shook her head, as if some memories had suddenly surfaced.
“You wouldn't know. What it's like to be forced to have someone else's memories. And for those memories to be filled not with beauty, but with all sorts of ugliness. And with a demon's memories on top of that, it's even worse…”
Loan and Sienna couldn't readily respond.
Bella said.
“I still can't sleep properly. When I close my eyes, I see their faces. People I didn't harm, but my memories did. Poor people. The poor people of Versa. The elderly, children, even pregnant women, steeped in despair, begging for their lives, for mercy. They're not my memories, but now they are, and because of them, I can't live a normal life.”
“…”
It seemed that was another reason she had quit the company.
Loan felt a slight sense of responsibility, but he was also clearly aware of what he had to do now.
He posed another question to the tormented Bella.
“It must have been difficult, but that also means you know something. You said you didn't know much earlier, but you must know about the Beauvoir Company. Even if you don't, Amy would.”
The timing fit.
The point when Amy contacted Marquis Maurice coincided with when the Beauvoir Company became Pobel's business partner.
Bella, with a slightly drained expression, looked back and forth between Loan and Sienna before nodding.
Again, resignation was visible in her eyes.
“This is why I didn't go to the Union. I was afraid seeing you, young master, would bring back more memories. But… I think I was being selfish. You were the one who saved me, after all… To repay that kindness, I should do whatever I can. And what I can do now is share these memories.”
Bella paused for a moment before continuing her story.
“I will tell you Amy's and the demon's memories related to Versa. At the time, they were the same person, so it's a single memory.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
Loan was genuinely grateful.
Whether she spoke or not was entirely her choice.
“When Amy first came to Versa and roamed the villages, she had several objectives. To obtain the Stone of Goetia, to soak the land with the resentful blood of people to make it a place fit for demons, and to find a cursed land that had already been created before. All of those were part of it.”
“What is a cursed land?”
“A place suitable for opening a gate to the demon world. Dark, damp… It would be easier to understand if you pictured the underground of Rhodes.”
“Amy already knew about the underground of Rhodes, so why was she searching for another such place?”
“Because a gate had already been opened in Rhodes.”
“So another gate can't be made there?”
“Correct.”
Bella answered with a firm expression, as if it were an undeniable fact.
Loan understood it to mean that the same magic couldn't be used in the same place twice.
So she was searching for a candidate site.
“Is there another place like that?”
“It seems she found out by chance. That's why she had 'Biffle' possess Marquis Maurice, the head of the Pobel family. She also ordered him to find the secret techniques.”
Calling Bifrons “Biffle” felt incredibly natural.
Amy must have called him that herself.
Forcibly erasing the image of Amy that grew clearer in his mind the more he listened, Loan asked.
“And yet she still went to Ferrara?”
“There's no reason there should be only one gate.”
“So, to summarize, Amy found a candidate site here in Versa, and she was trying to find another one.”
Loan finished speaking and looked at Sienna. Sienna understood his meaning and gave a slight nod.
She asked Bella.
“Is the place she found in Versa by any chance the hilly region on the border of Ledon and Pobel?”
“…”
Bella looked at Sienna and Loan with a startled expression.
Her brow quickly furrowed.
“So you already knew… Is that why you came here, to interrogate me to see if I was involved?”
Intense emotions seemed to well up as she spoke.
Tears even welled in her eyes, showing how genuinely wronged she felt.
It was a clear misunderstanding.
Sienna said.
“No. We knew nothing until we arrived here. But even Loan, who did know, didn't come here just for that.”
“…”
“He came because he was worried. Because he feels responsible. If this were just about getting information, the Union would have taken you to headquarters long ago.”
“…”
Bella stared blankly at Loan with tear-filled eyes.
Loan neither nodded nor affirmed Sienna's words.
“The hilly region is vast. Does Amy's memory recall the exact location? We don't have much time, so we need to go now.”
He simply asked what needed to be asked in a very business-like tone.