The Punishment Hall (18)
The Punishment Hall (18)
"...So, um..."
It had only been a month. But her clumsy pronunciation had already corrected itself. There were still a few stumbles here and there, but the words came out as fluently as if she had always lived on the Western Continent.
"Am I... doing okay now?"
"You're doing great."
"Really?"
"Really."
"Waaah..."
Tsubaki carefully wrote words in her notebook. The letters were crooked, and some were misspelled along the way, but most were correct.
"If I do this... like this..."
"Good. Good."
"Finished...! Thank you! Language teacher!"
"That's Tsubaki for you!"
I clapped. To memorize an entire language in a single month.
There was effort involved, but fundamentally, her mind was brilliant. She wasn't a spellcaster for nothing. Right. To memorize those complex ritual formulas, being merely clever wasn't enough.
"Amazing, Tsubaki. The smartest person on the Eastern Continent, as expected."
"Ehehe."
Tsubaki squirmed. Then she threw herself into my arms.
"Zahard."
"Hm?"
"Thank you... really..."
Her hands flinched and trembled. But no sparks flew from them.
It felt like she was forcing something down. I let out a small laugh.
"Want to blow something up?"
"......"
"Exercising your right to remain silent is prohibited."
"...Yeah."
"Good."
These days, she listened well. She did cute things often, too.
When she sat in front of the desk, she no longer tried to run away. I let out a small laugh.
Since she had been obedient, it was probably fine to hand her something else now. I'd buy Maya something tasty later, too.
"Here."
I took something out of my Pocket. A small rabbit plush doll dropped to the floor with a soft thud.
"......?"
Tsubaki picked up the doll. She fiddled with the small rabbit doll.
"Is this a present for me?"
"Correct. Do you know what this is?"
"A rabbit doll?"
"A handmade doll personally crafted for Tsubaki. And an 'incredible' wizard had a hand in it."
It was something I had personally requested from Maya. The outside was cloth, but everything inside was flesh. It was something only the Lord of the Rotten could create.
On top of that, it had been made to match human body proportions as closely as possible. The elongated rabbit doll was about the size of a small child.
The human-like skin wrapped around it was to keep the revulsion in check. The doll's outward form was chosen to make it easy to carry around.
Maya had made it exactly as I'd asked. As expected, no one could match her when it came to crafting flesh.
"...Zahard. You know me. Popping a doll isn't enough to satisfy me."
"Don't just stroke it. Touch it."
"...Huh? It feels... a little strange."
"You can blow it up."
"Uh... uhm..."
The doll exploded in Tsubaki's hands. Flesh and blood sprayed everywhere.
"...Huh?"
Her hands trembled. Tsubaki's blood-smeared lips curled upward. As if feeling an unbearable ecstasy, she let out a rough breath.
"Uh... uhhh..."
"Once isn't the end."
That doll, despite how it looked, was the same as a Rotten One - Ratten. To be precise, it was one of Maya's familiars.
A doll made with a small soul sealed inside, endlessly resurrecting. The kind of thing that belonged in a ghost story.
The scattered flesh gathered back together. A blood-soaked body reformed, and cloth covered its surface once more.
The plush doll was remade. Tsubaki looked back and forth between me and the doll.
"It has... organs inside. A brain, too. Wh-what... is this...?"
"A present."
"D-don't..."
Tsubaki stammered. Her excited expression slowly subsided.
Instead, tears fell with a soft plink.
"Zahard... this isn't your kind of thing..."
"Well, I guess?"
"Doesn't it... gross you out...?"
"Not really."
Well, it was grotesque. But I'd beaten plenty of these things to death in Paramer.
I'd wiped them out in droves before. Ah. I miss that. How long has it been.
"I don't like it, but I don't dislike it either."
"But... but..."
"Hey now. Talking back to your teacher?"
I scooped up the regenerated rabbit doll. I held it out to her.
"Do you like my present?"
"...I... don't know."
Tsubaki took the doll. She stared down at it blankly.
"If I liked it... that would be weird."
"What's weird about it?"
"Because... because... I like blowing up people... and if getting a weird doll like this makes me happy..."
"Hmm."
I bent down. I met her eyes and whispered.
"How did it feel when you blew up the doll?"
"...It felt good."
"Did it relieve the urge a bit? Do you think you can go without blowing up people?"
"...Yeah."
"Then that solves it, right? You won't have to hurt other people, and you won't have to go hunting down vicious criminals one by one."
"......"
"And what's weird about it? People can't all be the same."
I raised my hand. I wiped the corners of Tsubaki's eyes.
"Tsubaki is enough just being Tsubaki. You don't need to follow other people."
"...Really?"
"Of course. I don't know about me, but at the very least, you must never deny yourself. The only person who can truly be on your side is always yourself."
Tsubaki hugged the doll. She glanced at me.
"...Thank you."
"I've got a decent sense for gifts, right?"
"Amazing."
Tsubaki beamed.
"Amazing! Amaaazing!!"
. . .
"Today's the last day, right? Finally, the cooking is over..."
Eve stopped speaking. She stood there blankly, staring at me.
To be precise, her gaze wasn't directed at me.
A special visitor.
A cane struck something. The man, realizing there were iron bars in front of him, flinched in surprise.
"Um, Priest... are you here right now?"
"Yes. Come in carefully. Shall I help you?"
"No. I'm fine. I can do it alone."
His eyes were open. But the pupils themselves were white, as if clouded over.
A blind man who couldn't see ahead. He shuffled hesitantly into the cell.
"Priest... so, um... the teacher..."
"You heard her voice earlier, didn't you?"
"...Actually, my hearing isn't very good either. I can only hear when I'm close."
I took a step back. Right now, I was nothing more than a bystander.
Eve set down the spatula. She walked slowly.
She stopped in front of the man. She stared down at him blankly.
Eve raised her hand and cupped his cheek.
He flinched.
The man trembled. Then, realizing there was no hostility, he set down his cane. He groped around and grabbed her hand.
"...Teacher?"
"Ree...d...? How... h-how... y-you... definitely... definitely died..."
"The priest was right! It's really you, Teacher!"
The man, Reed, beamed. As if he had returned to being a child, a smile spread across his entire face.
"How have you been, Teacher?"
"Th-that's..."
Eve looked back at me. I shrugged.
"It was hard to find you. But I found you in the end."
Actually, I'd known where he was from the start. Thanks to paying people to search, I could have found him even faster.
"Shall I give you two some space?"
"Ah, no... I have so many questions... s-so, um..."
Eve looked Reed over. She examined his body here and there, and when she realized one of his legs was a prosthetic, her expression crumbled.
"Why... why..."
"Teacher. I'm fine. Even with a prosthetic, I move well. It's as comfortable as my own leg."
"B-but..."
"I only lost it when I got caught in a magic bombardment. My sight isn't good, and now my ears are muffled too, but I'm fine."
Reed sniffed the air.
"My nose works perfectly. It smells delicious. Is that food you made, Teacher?"
"I... so, um... uh..."
Eve hurriedly sat Reed down. She tried to ladle out stew with trembling hands and kept failing. She even spilled some.
The hand that had been frantically scooping up the spilled food stopped. She murmured blankly.
"H-how... how... th-they definitely all died..."
"I was buried under the rubble. There was a small space between the pillars. I was trapped there... and later, a soldier helped me."
"B-but..."
"Teacher. I'm hungry. Aren't you hungry too, Priest?"
"I'm fine."
"Let's eat together. Your stew doesn't taste good, Teacher, but it's very warm."
"...Well. It might be different from before."
"Really? I'm looking forward to it."
A bowl was placed in front of Reed. Reed raised his hands and carefully searched for the bowl.
"...It's warm."
Eve opened her mouth. Then closed it again.
Her hands trembled as she poured water into a cup. She placed it beside him.
"It's hot... so eat slowly."
"...Yes."
Reed swallowed a spoonful of stew. He tasted the broth, then beamed.
"Teacher... you haven't changed at all!"
"I-I'm different."
Eve murmured.
"I'm different. I-I've changed. Reed. I'm not the teacher you think I am."
"But it's still warm. You were always so smart, Teacher. You would have done well anywhere. This is really delicious, too. The taste from back then is still there, so I think it's even better."
"What I made back then... was really awful..."
"But it was warm. What you gave me was always warm."
Reed carefully set down his food. He glanced toward where I was.
"Priest. Do you know? Teacher was the pride of our village. Even the rowdiest kids would quiet down the moment they stood in front of her."
"Is that so."
"Yes. Because Teacher knows so much. She was always teaching us. She had so many books, too. I... as for me. I actually thought Teacher had died."
Reed fidgeted with his hands.
"So I wrote down so many things I wanted to say. A soldier... well, the man who's now my father, wrote letters for me too. But you know. When I heard Teacher was waiting for me, I didn't bring any of them."
"...Why...?"
"I wanted to tell you in person."
His hand brushed lightly over the table. The skin was rough from burns, but still pure.
"After losing my sight, I came to know things I couldn't see before. The feel of flowers. The smell of the wind. For me. I like now, when I can't see, better than when I could."
"......"
"When spring comes, flowers bloom. When winter comes, they wither again, but that's because the flowers are sleeping. You told me that, didn't you, Teacher? Right? That even when flowers wither... after time passes, they bloom again. Even more beautifully than before. I remember. Everything you taught me. And... and you know. The pride of our village is a flower called 'Blue Warbling.' I heard it's really pretty. I couldn't see it, but its scent is really sweet, too. If I touch it with my hands, I can tell what it looks like."
"......"
"I picked one because I wanted to show it to you, Teacher. Here..."
A crushed and misshapen blue flower.
"Of course, since I came from far away... it's probably ruined... but it's not too ruined, right?"
"......"
Eve blankly accepted the flower. She stroked it several times, as if cradling something precious.
"Reed... you..."
A short cough burst out, as if she were choking up.
"Reed... have you ever thought about wanting to die...?"
"I have."
"What about... wanting to give up on everything because it was too hard...?"
"I've thought that too! As expected, Teacher knows my heart well."
"If you let everything go... it would be easier... why did you come all the way here...?"
A tear fell with a soft plink.
"With that body, why... why go so far... why... come all the way here... to see me..."
Her pronunciation slurred.
"I never did anything... anything for you... why in the world..."
"Teacher, are you crying?"
"N-no... I'm not crying. I'm not crying... really..."
"Don't cry, Teacher. There's something Mary always used to say. Teacher. Our village was poor, wasn't it? So poor we couldn't even eat one proper meal a day. But you know. The food you sometimes made for us was really delicious. Sometimes everyone grumbled that it tasted bad, but we always ate it."
"...Why..."
"Because you taught us, Teacher."
Reed reached out his hand. He groped through the air, searching for her hand.
"You said learning is boring and hard... but it would definitely help us later. That someday the poverty would lift, and the day would come when we could eat our fill."
"......"
"Teacher. My father is poor. There are many times I can't work properly either. But you know. I haven't forgotten a single thing you taught me. Even if I eat little today, I might eat my fill tomorrow. Even if I cry today, I might not cry tomorrow."
"......"
"Thanks to what you taught me, Teacher, I can still stand. I go hungry, and the world is so dark I can't see it anymore... but I'm still searching for happiness. And sometimes, I manage to grasp it."
His hand touched hers. Reed smiled brightly.
"That flower... isn't it really pretty? I thought it would be nice if you saw it and felt happy."
"Ah... ahh..."
"It's thanks to you, Teacher. The reason I can still be happy is because of what you taught me."
Young and weak, as if she might break at any moment.
But she never broke.
The crushed and ruined blue flower spoke.
"Thank you... for teaching me how to live."
Eve clenched her hand tightly. The tears that had started as one or two drops began to fall continuously.
"I'm... sorry..."
She struggled to hold back the sobs that burst out. She raised her hand and wiped away tears.
But even so, she couldn't stop, and her pronunciation slurred. Eventually, everything mixed together in the tears until she couldn't tell what was what.
"Th...ank... you... I... I..."
Eve tried to smile. She lifted the corners of her lips and pulled Reed into an embrace with her ruined face.
"Thank you... for growing up so well... really..."
"Don't cry, Teacher. You don't need to thank me."
Reed hugged her back. A small tear fell from his unfocused eyes.
"I'm the one... who should be thankful. The other kids would feel the same. Because you taught me... I was able to stand here."
A sob escaped from the small whisper.
Eve collapsed as if crumbling and whispered.
Words that didn't stop, words she didn't even know who they were for.
"Sorry... I'm sorry..."
"Teacher. Don't cry. I'm hungry. Eat with me. Okay?"
"......"
Eve picked up the spoon with trembling hands. She put the food she had made into her mouth.
"Hn... hnnk... hnk..."
Her smile crumbled. The tears wouldn't stop.
But even so, Eve kept putting food into her mouth. She forced it in and chewed hard.
Reed moved his hands. Tears fell from his eyes, but his expression was bright and clear.
His voice trembled, but he pushed food into his mouth as if pretending nothing was wrong.
He asked.
"You know... Teacher... are you happy right now, too?"
"...Yes."
She answered.
"I'm... happy... really..."
. . .
I tried to open Amar's cell door. But she spoke without turning around.
"Don't open the door."
"...Huh?"
"Don't come in."
It was different from our previous conversations. Something felt strange. I stopped beyond the bars.
"Did something happen?"
"...When I'm with you, I get strange."
Amar murmured.
"I get so strange that I can't tell what's what anymore. Zahard. Don't come in. Right now is when I'm safest."
"......"
"Just leave. It's the last time anyway. After today, we won't see each other again."
"I'll come back..."
"Don't come back. Don't come to see me. There's no reason to. I... don't want to see someone who doesn't love me."
"What do you..."
"Then I'll ask."
Amar turned to look at me sideways. Her expression was endlessly serious.
"Do you love Amar?"
"......."
It wasn't a light question. I said nothing. Amar smiled faintly, as if she understood.
"Leave. Don't make me strange."
"...I'll come back."
"There's no need."
Amar turned her back.
"I... will believe in what I've always believed. When you're here, I can't believe in it anymore. So don't come. Please."
. . .
The last visit had ended in a mess, leaving a bitter taste in my mouth, but there was nothing I could do. As long as Amar was refusing, coming back later was the answer.
There was no time now, either. I had to get things done as quickly as possible. Arpina was waiting, and everyone at the church headquarters was probably worried sick about me.
First, I'd take Beverick, the apprentice priest, and...
Clank!
The door opened. Director Veronica strode out in a hurry. She was fully armed. Her usual drunken air was nowhere to be seen.
"Director?"
"...Inquisitor. I'm in a hurry right now. Let's talk later."
Her expression was sterner than I'd ever seen. I quickly caught up to her.
"Did something happen?"
"Something happened."
Veronica roughly threw open the door to the central corridor.
"Word came from Filamon. It's a large-scale assault. I don't know who, but they're slaughtering the citizens of Filamon."