Ch. 64 Apology
by AfuhfuihgsChapter 64 – Apology
***
“Mari, I’m sorry!”
“Yes, yes? W-Why are you apologizing all of a sudden…?”
“I moved the doll to a different spot for a bit while coming here. I think that’s why the connection got cut off…”
I was already panicking because the connection with the Giant Wooden Doll 505 had been severed, and now Yuika was suddenly apologizing, making it a complete mess. But from Yuika’s following words, I could tell what she was misunderstanding.
“Ah, no, Yuika! The connection isn’t so weak that it would break just from that…”
Of course, unless Yuika did something more, simply moving it wouldn’t break the connection at all. If the connection was that flimsy, it would have been cut off a long time ago when Hosanna touched it.
Besides, the reason I left the doll there wasn’t because it was a significant point for the connection, but just to find the way easily.
As I hurriedly waved my hands, Yuika said with an awkward expression.
“Oh, really? That’s a relief… I was worried I broke the connection because of me. But if it’s not because of me, why did the connection break?”
“Hmm… It’s hard to be sure yet, but there are only two cases where the connection between me and the doll breaks.”
I said, holding up one finger.
“The first is when I’m too far away from the doll. I don’t know how far the recognition range is, since I’ve never measured it… But more importantly, where did you move the doll to?”
“Not too far from where it was originally. I hid it behind a tree nearby, since it was on the side of the road.”
“Then it’s still within the recognition range… If I can’t feel it, it’s probably the second reason…”
“The second reason?”
“When the doll is so damaged that it’s difficult to move.”
I sighed deeply, holding up another finger.
It was better than losing it, but it also depended on the extent of the damage.
Unlike the small Wooden Doll 505, the Giant Wooden Doll 505, which cost hundreds of thousands of gold to make, would surely cost at least tens of thousands of gold just to repair.
In the worst case, I might have to make a new one.
Of course, one might say, “What does it matter if a doll you can’t use is broken?” But the Giant Wooden Doll 505 wasn’t made by my power alone.
It was made with Hosanna’s support and encouragement, so it couldn’t be okay if it was broken. As I grumbled inwardly, Yuika murmured with a slightly serious face.
“So-Someone might have destroyed the doll.”
“Maybe…”
Of course, it wasn’t a stage where I could be sure yet. Like Yuika did, it might have simply been moved far away. But if it was broken… I would never let it go. As I quietly sharpened my knife towards the faceless culprit, Yuika stroked my head and said.
“Let’s go to where the doll is first. It might not be broken, and someone might have taken it in the meantime. Right?”
“U-Um… Y-Yeah, maybe…”
“Let’s go. I’ll guide you.”
What a surprise. For a moment, I thought Yuika could read minds like Hosanna. I tried to hide my surprise and took Yuika’s hand, following behind her.
–
“Let’s see… It was around here, I think, ah!”
When a familiar terrain appeared to me, Yuika hesitated for a moment and then changed direction and moved her steps.
Surprisingly, there was already a guest at the place we arrived. The round ears on top of her head perked up, as if she had already noticed us approaching.
Before we could even speak, the guest spoke first.
“Oh, who is it? It’s Yuika?”
“Oh, really? Why is Miao here…?”
The identity of the guest who was already there was Miao. I hurriedly hid behind Yuika at the sight of Miao, who was wagging her unique spotted tail and squatting down, and she rested her chin on her hand and said.
“Yeah~ I just couldn’t pass by something I found while going down the dungeon. By the way, you said you had something to do in the dungeon, was it on the first floor?”
“Ah, yes. I’ve already finished my business.”
“Already? That’s fast.”
Come to think of it, why did Yuika come to the dungeon at this hour? I couldn’t ask when I woke up, because I was so out of it, but when I think about it now, it was strange.
Of course, it’s not like I know Yuika’s lifestyle, and she might have been coming to the dungeon at this hour from the beginning, but from listening to the conversation, it seemed like she came to solve some problem.
I don’t know what it is, though. As I quietly fell into thought, I suddenly felt a gaze staring intently at me. When I raised my head slightly, I met golden-brown eyes with a faint glow shining through the darkening day.
“Oh, you’re finally looking this way?”
“Hiek…”
When I made eye contact, she smiled with those words, revealing her sharp teeth, which gave a very ferocious impression. I couldn’t help but let out a scream.
“‘Hiek’, she says. Aren’t you too surprised? I’m hurt.”
Even though she said that, the way she chuckled didn’t look like someone who was hurt at all. I quickly lowered my head and apologized, and Miao said,
“Apologies are fine, anyway. Long time no see, Mari. Oh, you remember me, right? I even made clothes for you, I’d be a little sad if you didn’t remember~”
“Yes, yes… I remember you, Miao…”
For some reason, it sounded like she would eat me if I didn’t remember, so I hurriedly nodded, and Miao made a satisfied expression.
“That’s a relief. She even remembers my name properly. I would have liked it even more if she called me ‘Sister’, though.”
“Could you not cut in line, Miao? I haven’t even heard it yet.”
I have no intention of calling either of you “Sister”…
I sighed as I watched the two of them bickering over who I would call “Sister” first, and something caught my eye in the corner of my vision. It was what Miao had been touching just a moment ago… It looked somehow familiar?
I narrowed my brows and carefully examined it, and I soon realized what it was and opened my mouth wide.
“Ah, aaaaah…!”
“Mari? What’s wrong all of a sudden?”
Yuika asked with a puzzled expression at my sudden scream, but I couldn’t answer her question.
“T-This isss…!”
“Huh? Oh, this you mean?”
Right now, my head was nothing but chaos, destruction, and oblivion! As I wailed with a tearful face, Miao tapped the almost ragged lump of wood and said.
“Really, I was so surprised when I first found this. I don’t know who made such a monstrosity and abandoned it here?”
“M-Monstrosity…?!”
“Monstrosity, you say…? W-Wait, this…?”
Whether Yuika had realized it belatedly, her eyes were wide open, but Miao didn’t notice our reaction and stroked the roundly carved head and said.
“I don’t know who made it, but it’s clear they have no talent.”
“Ugh…”
“If it was smaller, it might have looked a little cute, but it’s too big, so it’s rather ugly.”
“Heuek…”
“Besides, the ugly parts were emphasized as it got bigger, so I couldn’t just let it go. Of course, the person who abandoned this probably won’t take it back, but I was marking the parts that I should carve or modify in my own way… Why is Mari suddenly lying on the ground?”
“Heieing…”
Words without malice became arrows and pierced my heart.
As I clutched my chest and collapsed, Miao asked with a bewildered voice, but I didn’t have the strength to answer.
As everyone probably expected by now, what Miao was calling a monstrosity was the Giant Wooden Doll 505 that I had left behind.
However, like Miao said she had made various modifications, the Giant Wooden Doll 505 looked much different from the original.
The square head had become round like a human head, there were large holes in the middle of the straight arms and legs, and the body had deep lines drawn here and there as if with something sharp.
Of course, I had anticipated that the doll might not be in a normal state since I realized the connection had been cut off, but when I actually saw it, a tragic cry burst out of me.
“My, my Giant Wooden Doll 505aaaaa…!”
“M-Mari?”
“Ha, haha… Miao-ssi, you see…”
As Yuika explained the situation in whispers, Miao, who had been making a flustered expression at my scream, became even more flustered and stammered.
“O-Oh, so Mari… made this? And named it Wooden Doll 505? And didn’t abandon it, but set it up to find the way?”
“Yes.”
“And I thought someone had abandoned it and damaged it as they pleased and slandered it in front of the maker, Mari, is that right?”
“Uh… I guess so?”
“Um, I see.”
Miao nodded at Yuika’s agreement, then sharpened her nails and put them to her neck, saying.
“I’ll apologize with my life. Let’s be closer in the next life…”
“What are you saying in front of a child?!”
A surprised Yuika shouted and smacked the back of Miao’s head. Thwack-! The sound was so loud that the tears that were about to come out disappeared.
I looked back and forth between Yuika, who was panting as she moved urgently, and Miao, who was lying face down and not moving, and carefully approached Miao and put my finger to her nose.
And when I didn’t feel a weak breath, I muttered without realizing it.
“D-Dead…?”
“What…?”
Author Note
A/N (Author’s note):
Thank you for reading today!!I don’t know if this’ll get pinned [to the top], but just in case it doesn’t, I’m writing this separately.
Yesterday was nothing short of a celebration—my favorite team won!
But maybe the dopamine hit too hard… I ended up so euphoric I couldn’t focus on writing at all, forcing me to take an unplanned break.
Too much happiness is its own problem, huh? Turns out, misery really does fuel creativity.
They say art springs from longing, after all. But for now? I just want to bask in this joy a little longer…
At least until the Sunday after next… After that, I’ll gladly embrace misery again if I must…!
Translator Note
T/N (Translator’s note):
Learn that kids? Suicide is bad but assisted suicide is good!!Don’t die alone, die by someone else’s hand!
(For entertainment purposes, the message above is a joke, smh.)
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