Ch.130Chapter 130 – The Girl’s Doll

The girl holding the doll slowly walked toward the stage after hearing my words.

I extended my hand to help the child climb onto the stage.

The doll in the child’s arms was… visibly in poor condition at first glance.

The stitches connecting various parts of the doll had come undone, causing the stuffing to poke out.

There were patches of cloth sewn here and there to prevent this, but even those patches were fraying, the fabric fibers coming apart with time.

Despite being worn, dirty, and grimy, the way she clutched it to her chest made it clear that it was undoubtedly a precious possession.

“What’s your name?”

Feeling no need to maintain a formal tone with a young child, I bent down to meet her at eye level.

“Um… Anna. My name is Anna…”

Was I still intimidating to her even after matching her eye level?

‘Hmm. It’s difficult to appear more approachable…’

Well, if I were handsome it might be different, but I’m rather ordinary-looking.

Still, I can’t give up. Stopping here would get me nowhere.

“Anna, what are you holding in your arms?”

“It’s a doll.”

I already knew that what Anna was holding was a doll.

But by asking again, I was trying to lighten the somewhat stiff atmosphere.

“Who bought you this doll?”

“My… mom! No, my dad!”

Anna hesitated slightly, mentioning her mother first, then correcting herself to say her father.

Analyzing her answer, I concluded that her mother had given her the gift, but her father had purchased it.

In other words, this doll was a gift from Anna’s parents.

“I see. When did you receive the doll as a gift?”

“When I was four! Mom and Dad gave it to me then!”

“And how old are you now, Anna?”

“Ten! I’ll be eleven next year!”

Anna seemed to relax a bit and began answering my questions more freely.

As the person on stage became less tense, the audience also seemed to relax a little.

“Why did you bring this doll today?”

“Because it was the first gift Mom and Dad ever bought me!”

The first gift…

I understood why Anna had brought the doll.

For anyone, the first gift is the most memorable.

Especially if it’s a gift from family, it becomes even more precious.

Anna said she was ten years old.

At ten, parents still make most decisions, big and small.

I…

‘What’s this?’

Why can’t I recall my childhood memories?

It’s as if someone had taken a razor and carved out the memories from my mind.

‘I’ll think about this later.’

I pushed aside these distracting thoughts and decided to focus on Anna’s story.

“You’ve kept your first gift without losing it and treasured it greatly. But the doll seems quite dirty?”

“About that… they said the doll is too old to be washed anymore…”

Hmm. I think I understand.

From my military experience, I know that used uniforms are lighter and more comfortable than new ones.

Fabric is ultimately a collection of tiny fibers.

When friction occurs, these fibers fall off and become dust.

That’s why clothes worn for a long time tear more easily than new ones.

The fabric itself becomes thinner, reducing durability.

Anna’s doll, too, has lost fiber over time, making it extremely fragile.

“Do you know why I asked you to come up on stage?”

“Um… to fix my doll?”

“That’s correct.”

I extended my hand toward Anna.

It was a gesture asking for her doll.

When I reached out, Anna hesitated momentarily.

But soon she handed me the doll she had been holding.

Anna’s doll was very old, dirty, and even had a slight odor.

It probably hadn’t been washed for a long time.

I placed the doll on a desk on stage so everyone could see it clearly.

…?

Wait, when was this desk brought here?

I don’t recall asking for a desk to be placed here.

‘Perhaps the construction workers set it up on their own.’

I’m not sure when it was brought in… but it’s better than not having one.

“Ladies and gentlemen. Behold this memory-filled doll brought by this little girl.”

I emphasized to the audience to look closely at the doll.

“This is the first gift ever given to her by her parents. Everyone has something precious to them, and for this girl, her treasured possession is this doll from her parents.”

As I introduced the story behind Anna’s item, some people in the audience nodded, while others looked at me with increased interest.

“It’s too worn to be washed, with burst seams and fabric in places where stuffing is poking out. There are patches of cloth sewn on, but even those have become too old to be repaired by human hands.”

I transformed my bracelet into a hammer.

When I produced the hammer, there were mixed reactions from those who knew about me and those who didn’t.

“Hmm, a hammer? Using a hammer to fix a doll?”

“Is this some kind of magic? Or is that hammer a magical tool for repairing items?”

People unfamiliar with my ability mistakenly thought the hammer had the power to repair things.

“Hmm. So Count Pathos Severio’s ability works on such items as well.”

“It seems he’s trying to capture people’s attention through a doll with a story.”

Those who knew about my ability showed anticipation for what was about to happen.

I carefully placed the hammer over the doll.

“I will now demonstrate. This worn doll will shed its old appearance and be completely restored to new.”

I raised the hammer and brought it down on the doll.

“A single hammer strike will never cause change.”

I brought the hammer down on the doll once more.

“But if you don’t give up and keep swinging, changes will gradually occur.”

Unlike the previous two times, for the final strike, I looked at the audience.

“Just like this.”

As I struck the doll with the hammer three times, a bright light began to envelop the doll, filling the booth.

The light was so bright that it reflected off the bald heads of some audience members.

When the light that filled the booth faded, a new doll lay on the desk.

No burst seams.

No cloth patches.

The doll’s eyes were properly attached.

The colors of the doll’s clothes were vibrant with no fading.

And most importantly, the doll was no longer grimy but clean.

I picked up the restored doll and approached Anna.

“Anna, this doll is now like new. Do you like it?”

“Yes! Thank you! I think I can play with this doll for another 10 years now!”

Anna received the new doll and showed a very pleased reaction.

Yes, such an enthusiastic response is all I could ask for.

“Wow, that worn-out doll… really became new?”

“Is that even possible? So that wasn’t magic, but an actual ability?”

“Whoa… that’s incredible.”

People were amazed to see the old doll instantly transformed into a new one.

Indeed, showing an ability directly to people leaves a stronger impression than just hearing about it.

After all, everyone who has seen my ability with their own eyes or experienced it directly has acknowledged it.

Even that ruffian Jason became a new person after experiencing my ability firsthand.

If there’s only one person I’ve failed with… it would probably be Reina.

I should call Reina separately soon and use my ability on her once more.

“Now that you’ve witnessed my ability, we’ll proceed with the drawing.”

But that’s for later; right now, successfully completing this demonstration is the priority.

“I will select ten people from those who brought items of memory. I’ll listen to their stories and restore their items to new condition with my ability.”

As soon as I finished speaking, people began raising their hands.

Did they not hear me? I said we’d have a drawing.

“We will now begin the drawing. The device used for the drawing was specially made by the Chancellor of Glesius Academy.”

I repurposed the gacha machine that had been idle since the repair shop explosion and brought it here.

And now, a special magic was deployed in this booth.

“Numbers will appear above your heads. When I pull this lever, numbers will appear, and those whose numbers match will be selected. Now, I’ll pull the lever!”

I pulled the lever of the gacha machine that had been transformed into a drawing machine.

The numbers on the screen spun rapidly and gradually began to slow down.

“Yes! It’s me!”

When the numbers finally stopped, one person shouted.

The number displayed on the screen was 83.

The number floating above the shouting man’s head was 83.

I called him forward.

I wondered what he had brought.

“Um, could you fix this potion bottle?”

What he brought forward was, surprisingly, a cracked potion bottle whose contents had completely dried up.