Chapter 51
Chapter 51
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Finding the Lost Princess
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One hour before the orphanage children's wonderful performance was set to begin.
As they were getting ready to go on stage, Lena approached Rene.
There was a hint of anxiety on her small, lovely face.
Lena glanced at Rene, her eyes filled with worry.
Rene, thinking Lena was just feeling down with stage fright, placed a hand on her small shoulder.
She offered a gentle smile.
“Are you nervous? It's okay. You all worked so hard, so you'll do great.”
Lena shook her head at Rene's encouragement.
“It's not that. I can't find Lily.”
“Lily?”
Rene looked around.
Among the children, only Lily's face was missing.
Come to think of it, she hadn't been seen since she said she was going to the restroom.
“I checked the restroom, but she wasn't there.”
Rene asked the other children where Lily was.
The bewildered children looked at each other and asked around, but no one knew.
Rene sensed that something was wrong.
Lily wasn't the type of child to disappear without a reason.
For her to be gone this long meant she must have run into some unexpected trouble.
The other children also seemed to sense the strange atmosphere, anxiety blooming on their lovely faces. Rene smiled brightly to soothe them.
“Don't worry. Everyone, keep getting ready. I'll go find Lily.”
Rene left the children with the assistants and exited the waiting room.
After searching the entire building and confirming Lily wasn't there, she went outside.
Rene used her ability, sending roots from her feet spreading rapidly throughout the entire festival grounds.
In an instant, the festival streets became Rene's domain, and she tried to locate Lily.
But.
*?*
She couldn't feel any sign of Lily.
Rene concluded that something serious had happened.
She immediately took out her phone and informed the person on the other end.
A moment later.
Red rushed over, her face grave.
“What do you mean you can't find Lily? Have you checked all the likely places?”
“Yes, I tried to find her using my power, but I can't sense her presence. It's as if she's not here at all.”
Red realized the gravity of the situation.
It was impossible for someone's presence to be undetectable within Rene's domain.
Unless it was a special circumstance.
“Don't tell me... it's not a kidnapping, is it?”
“…”
Red stroked her chin, lost in thought.
She and her acquaintances had been keeping a close watch, and they had deployed numerous security robots, pouring their efforts into safety.
Safety was the first priority, and the second.
No mishap should have been possible, and even if one occurred, they could have dealt with it quickly.
Besides, knowing who was at this festival, most organizations wouldn't dare to cause trouble. Not unless they had nothing to lose or were complete fools.
Moreover, Lily was a rather special child.
She wasn't a child who could be easily kidnapped, and even if she were, there should have been a trace.
To quietly abduct a girl while bypassing all these difficult conditions was virtually impossible.
By all normal standards, Rene's guess had to be wrong.
But Red couldn't dismiss Rene's opinion.
What in the world was going on?
As silence deepened in the clearly strange situation, Red sensed a peculiar presence approaching rapidly.
Red moved her hand and caught something.
It was a small, fist-sized device.
“Red, what's that….”
Something emerged from the machine.
It was a luxurious invitation, out of place in this era.
She opened the invitation and checked its contents.
Red's face hardened.
Her eyes grew murderous as she read, her grip tightening until the paper crumpled.
The letter explained everything in detail.
She now understood why Lily had disappeared.
She clicked her tongue, furious at this farce.
Rene asked.
“Who is it?”
“Greed.”
“What?”
“Midas of Greed has returned.”
Rene was stunned by the unexpected name.
The Seven Deadly Sins, the organization with the most influence after the Four Great Organizations.
And Midas, the one who represented Greed.
For losers from a bygone era to show up now, in the middle of a festival…
“Could it be…”
“Yes, it is. It says to come to his location if we want Lily back. How kind of him to include the coordinates.”
“Is it for revenge?”
“Revenge… Knowing him, it's probably less about revenge and more about…”
Red scowled, as if not even wanting to think about it.
She didn't finish her sentence, instead taking a sharp breath.
The deliberation was over.
The task was simple.
“Anyway, if this is how they want to play, I'll play along. I'm going to get Lily.”
“Okay. I'll tell the kids Lily has a bit of a stomachache and had to step out.”
“Tell the others to heighten security. And if I can't make it back before the play starts, just proceed without Lily for now. Will that be a problem?”
“Well... I'll have to adjust the script, but the play itself should be fine. But there's a scene where the princess is absolutely necessary. You have to be back by then. Otherwise, Lily might lose her chance to be on stage.”
“Right, I get it. I'll be sure not to be late.”
Rene did as Red said.
She was worried, but she trusted Red's abilities.
After all, Red had defeated all seven of the Seven Deadly Sins.
One of them alone couldn't do anything to Red.
Which meant he must have prepared something to face her. Rene easily guessed this and gave a warning.
“You have to be careful.”
“I know. I will be.”
***
This happened in the distant past, before the existence known as the Grim Reaper appeared.
There was once a very beautiful and lovely girl.
The girl, who looked as if she should have been treasured in a grand mansion, was trapped in a cage-like prison, a shackle-like collar around her neck.
Feeling deep despair at her situation, the girl sang a sorrowful song.
It wasn't always like this.
No, not from the beginning.
It started with an accident. And the girl's world changed completely.
The girl, who had only recently opened her eyes to this world, began to move for survival as she came to understand her circumstances.
At first, she moved with hope.
But this was not a kind world for a girl who had nothing, who had no power.
What awaited her was a continuous series of hardships and adversities.
*I'm cold...*
*I'm hungry...*
*It hurts...*
*Why do I have to suffer like this... What did I even do...*
Unable to eat properly, she was starving. She would steal food or rummage through trash cans to fill her empty stomach.
The night wind and the cold ground froze the little girl's body.
The dangers lurking throughout the city wounded her.
*This place is truly awful...*
The world she had woken up in was far more dangerous than she had imagined.
Death, destruction, betrayal, blood, corpses, violence, murder.
Things that had been rare in the world she came from.
Here, they happened as if they were everyday occurrences.
*I wish this were all a dream...*
She hoped that if she closed her eyes and opened them again, she would be back in her original world.
She wished she would never open her eyes again.
But her wish went unfulfilled, and she faced another day.
The cruel reality remained unchanged.
The girl sank into deep despair and sobbed.
Lacking the courage to die, all the girl could do was adapt to this world.
Alone.
It would have been nice to receive help from others.
Unfortunately, that was not possible.
When people saw the girl's face, they approached her with sinister desires.
“Get her! If we catch her and sell her, we'll be sitting on a pile of money!”
“Hee hee hee! She's mine! Don't touch!”
“Little girl, come with me.”
So she covered her face when she went out.
She couldn't trust people.
“Ahaha! Sorry, kid. But what can I do? This is the only way for me to survive.”
“Don't blame me. This is just how the world is.”
“Isn't the one who trusts the fool?”
The people around her seemed like enemies.
It was commonplace for them to easily change their minds for their own self-preservation.
Unable to trust, she couldn't carelessly approach anyone.
She steadfastly endured alone in the cold city.
She bore it all by herself.
A daily routine of being caught, escaping, stealing, and having things taken by force.
As if hated by the gods, the girl stubbornly survived.
And after a desperate struggle, she was finally caught for good.
*You fool! Why! Why did you hesitate!*
She could have escaped.
If she had killed the person who blocked her path, she could have run away.
She had ample opportunity; all she had to do was steel her heart and act.
But the girl hesitated at the crucial moment.
Though she sometimes had to resort to violence, she couldn't bring herself to take a life.
*Why am I so stupid?*
If only she could take a life without hesitation, like the protagonists in the stories she had read.
Those people weren't even good.
There was no reason not to kill them.
So why!
Reality is truly cruel.
The girl couldn't act like a protagonist from a story.
The girl was soft-hearted and weak. Terribly kind.
Even as the world's malice encroached upon her heart, she could never cross that final line.
Was it a lack of courage? Or was it foolishness?
It didn't matter which.
The girl had to pay the price for her hesitation.
“Hee hee hee, you're mine now.”
If the world the girl had woken up in was a soft and gentle one.
Someone would have pitied her, pouring out infinite affection without asking for anything in return.
But this was not a sweet world.
“Nooow! Sing. The more you sing, the more money piles up. Gwehehehe.”
The girl was a goose that laid golden eggs.
No.
She was an angel who summoned money.
The powerless girl had no choice but to do as the man commanded.
Lacking the courage to die, the girl sang to survive.
The girl's song was special.
Like sunshine pouring into a murky world, it breathed life into the heart. A cozy, warm energy enveloped the soul. It brought happiness.
Countless wealthy spectators came to hear the angel's song.
Animal masks.
All in expensive, neat attire.
Happy laughter and thunderous applause.
Every single bit of it was truly horrifying. It made her want to vomit.
What pierced the girl's heart even more were the words they spoke.
“That girl must be a messenger sent from God. To sing such a beautiful song. Listening to it brings peace to my heart. With this, I can save even more people. Ah, thank you, O Lord! Thank you so much for sending an angel to this earth!”
The one who claimed to be a servant of God ignored the girl suffering in agony.
“I've been tired from helping people lately. But listening to that song here has completely cured my headache. Now I can save more people.”
The one who claimed to be a champion of justice turned a blind eye to the dying girl.
“Can't you sell that girl to me? If not, please just let me record her! Huh? You can't? Why not?!”
“Come on, sing the next song.”
“That's right, hurry up and sing. I paid good money to hear you sing.”
Not a single one of them saw the girl's situation.
Anger, disillusionment, hatred, pain.
The more she sang and made people happy, the sicker her heart became.
She felt like she was the only fool. It felt stupid to have endured it for so long.
She regretted all her past foolish actions.
The girl, who couldn't bring herself to take a life even at the very end, now wanted to erase everything before her eyes.
The negative emotions that had been slowly accumulating became too difficult to suppress, creating a crack in the girl's stubborn kindness.
The crack, once formed, slowly widened and then shattered completely.
Light and shadow.
Life and death.
The song that saved people became a living hell that descended upon them.
The warm embrace that soothed life became a flame that incinerated all.
The happiness that redeemed souls became a catastrophe that annihilated even the soul itself.
Amidst the utter screams, the girl shed a stream of tears, her face relieved.
***
I flutter my eyes open.
A dream.
A truly awful nightmare.
How annoying to have a dream like that, of all things.
I pressed my brow, feeling dizzy from the past I didn't want to remember.
It's all because I was trapped in a cage-like prison and forced to sing.
Right now, I'm trapped in a prison high up.
I was going to deal with my kidnapper immediately, but he was stronger than I expected, making it difficult to use my power recklessly.
One wrong move and my identity could be exposed.
I have to be extra careful in a place like this.
I look around from inside the prison.
It looked just like an arena.
Down below is the person who kidnapped me.
The play is about to start.
I have to escape so I'm not late.
This seems to be a special kind of space, so even if I use my power, it won't leak outside.
In other words, there's no risk of being discovered.
Just as I'm about to escape, someone enters the arena.
It was Red.