Ch.1818. Birthday Present

Hello?

I’m at that age where I can wear flowers in my ears and everyone smiles and calls me cute!

I’m Emily, an 8-year-old girl!

Usually at this time, I should be back from school having snacks at home, but not today.

We’re climbing a snowy mountain right now!

Why?

We’re moving, but honestly, I don’t really know why.

Mom and Dad said we can’t live in Flower Garden anymore.

Oh right, Flower Garden is my hometown!

It’s a village famous for its beautiful flowers in the Republic of Clark!

I love yellow flowers the most because they match me!

But Mom and Dad say I shouldn’t go near them! Not even smell them!

So I can only look at them from afar. Yet Dad works at the botanical garden and gets to touch them every day!

“Emily, want me to carry you if you’re tired?”

Dad seems worried about me. I smiled and told him I’m fine.

Eight is too old to be carried, right?

Besides, I became a lady just yesterday.

Why, you ask?

Because Delphin from next door confessed to me yesterday.

I learned from books that knowing love makes you a lady!

Of course, I rejected him.

In the Republic of Clark, dating is legally prohibited for anyone under 20.

Delphin said it would be fine if we kept it secret, but if Mom or Dad got sent to a detention center because of that, it would be terrible.

But since we’re moving, if we don’t need to follow those laws anymore?

Then I might reconsider. Of course, Delphin would have to confess again!

“Are you hungry?”

“No! I’m not hungry!”

“Good, once we cross this mountain, we’ll have your birthday party.”

“Yes! Great!”

It feels so nice when Mom strokes my head with her thick-gloved hand!

Want to know a secret?

Today is actually my birthday!

What will my present be?

I’m so excited!

The snowy mountain is really treacherous, and adults take such big steps that it’s hard to keep up, and I really want to eat warm, fluffy pancakes.

But I have to be patient.

Surely once we cross this mountain, we’ll get to eat delicious food, right?

Everyone will celebrate with me, right?

Huh?

Suddenly, the people walking ahead started shouting something.

“Please!”

“We’ve done nothing wrong!”

“Emily!”

Everyone is shouting with terrified expressions, but I can’t see because Mom is holding me tight.

The screams are scary, so I hug Mom tightly.

“It’s okay. I’ll go talk to them.”

I hear Dad’s voice. I twist my head slightly to peek, and Dad is showing his usual confident smile.

“Little, cute Emily. Don’t worry too much. Soon we’ll be able to live happily and peacefully again.”

“Okay.”

“You know Dad doesn’t lie, right?”

“Yes!”

Dad is always praised by the villagers! I’m sure he’ll resolve this!

“Lord Norsweden! We’re from Flower Garden in the Republic of Clark! Please, hear our story just once…”

Huh?

Dad’s voice was cut off.

I want to look out to see what’s happening, but Mom is holding me too tightly.

“I love you, I love you Emily. You know Mom and Dad really love you, right?”

“Yes, Mom. I love you too.”

Mom is trembling so much that she feels like a block that might collapse if touched. I can’t help feeling scared.

“Don’t dare speak my name, you immigrant trash.”

A scary voice I don’t recognize.

Does “trash” mean us?

“Director Maalks, capture them all for use.”

“Yes, understood.”

That voice was the end.

It’s extremely cold, but strangely, I feel sleepy.

* * *

AAAAAAAAAHHHHH!

Ow, my head hurts.

My head has never hurt this badly before. I woke up to a terrifying scream, but where am I?

Everything around is dark, with only scary green lights that I don’t like.

“Don’t, don’t look!”

I tried to get up, but suddenly I hear Delphin’s voice beside me.

He covers my eyes with his hands, but what is…

AAAAAAHHH! HELP! HELP MEEEEE!

“Mom?”

I pushed Delphin away and jumped up. I was trapped in a cage like an animal pen, but that wasn’t important right now.

Outside the bars, Mom is surrounded by strange people in white clothes, screaming.

“Huh?”

Why?

Why are Mom’s arms and legs…

…why?

“MOOOOM!”

BANG!

Mom!

Mom!

My mom is in pain!

I need to go help her!

I need to save her!

“MOOOOM!”

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

“Don’t hit the cage! If you do, those people will!”

Delphin tries to stop me from the side, but I wasn’t thinking. I just kept throwing myself at the bars, wanting to save Mom.

There was a cracking sound from my shoulder, but the bars didn’t budge at all.

And then.

“Who’s that?”

The oldest-looking person among those surrounding Mom looked at me.

It was my first time in life.

So this is what fear is.

That man had a nameplate on his chest, just like we did at school.

[Director Maalks]

The one who knocked us all out…

“It’s me!”

Delphin raised his hand instead of me, tears streaming down his face. I couldn’t understand what was happening.

“I’m sure I told you to stay still.”

Director Maalks walks over, step by step. I was so scared I could only chatter my teeth, unable to say anything.

“Emily.”

Delphin, who raised his hand instead of me, smiles and gives me a thumbs up.

“I’ll save you.”

“Ah…”

“So date me.”

Tears flowed down my face as I watched Delphin grinning confidently as he was taken away by Director Maalks.

I was sorry.

I understood.

“AAACK! It, it wasn’t me! Actually! Actually it was—AAAAAHHH!”

Even as he screamed that someone else did it, I could only cry. I thought it was only right for him to curse me.

“E-EEEEK! Em-Emil! Emily did it! Please, pleeeease!”

No matter how many times I shouted that I was sorry, Delphin couldn’t hear me.

And so.

Time continued to pass.

Every time the cage door opened, one person disappeared.

All those people gradually dwindled, and…

“Only you left, huh.”

I was the only one left in the cage.

Mom had long been buried among the corpses, unrecognizable.

Delphin turned to ash from electric shocks, swept up with a broom and thrown in the trash.

Dad?

I can always see Dad.

“That’s your father, right?”

His head was hanging in the center of the lab. Director Maalks explained with delight that they made an example of Dad, who was our representative, to instill fear in us.

He said he’d show me around the lab since I was the last one.

I didn’t want to see, but I had no choice.

And finally, I too…

Had to lie on the experiment table where countless people had died.

A large blade digs into my chest.

It hurts.

It hurts.

It hurts so, so much.

I want to eat pancakes.

I want to see yellow flowers.

I want to go to school with my friends.

I want to raise a puppy.

I want to hold hands with Delphin and go on a date.

I want to be held in Mom and Dad’s arms.

There are so many things I want to do.

But…

“I will save you.”

What does this man in front of me want?

I’ve never seen him before.

I don’t remember how long I was unconscious. I just feel like I kept losing consciousness because it hurt so much.

“What is your wish?”

My lips feel like hardened plaster, not my own.

Of course, no voice comes out.

It feels like there’s a handful of chalk dust in my throat.

Even to moisten my throat with tears, I’ve already cried too much and have no tears left.

I’m so dried up that even a single word…

Squelch!

Drip, drip.

Thick blood flowing over my stiff tongue. The familiar pungent smell that numbs my nose.

The man in front of me magically pierced his own hand and is pouring blood into my mouth.

“Moisten your throat and speak clearly. I will listen.”

“…Ah.”

My throat is still too clogged to allow my voice out.

But the blood flowing in has cleared a small passage.

I realized I was allowed just one word.

What I want.

I told you earlier, didn’t I?

I want so many things.

There’s so much I want to do.

But.

If I can choose just one.

If this is my last word in life and a slightly late birthday present.

What I want is…

“Re…venge.”

I want revenge.

Then the cold man gave me a smile I thought he could never make.

“Yes, well said.”

* * *

The girl’s spirit trusted me.

Emily’s resentment seeping gently into me was so unbearably heavy that I almost fell to my knees.

Findenai supported me as I staggered. The bone monster she had been fighting had become nothing but limp bones after Emily’s spirit, its medium, disappeared.

“Was that just now the child’s memory?”

“You saw it?”

“…Yes.”

Yes, that’s possible.

“Spirits with deep resentment often show their past. They want someone to know them.”

“…”

Findenai presses her lips tightly.

At that moment, Deia approaches, barely maintaining her balance as if her strength had drained.

“Was that just now the family secret…”

Visibly shocked, Deia covers her face with both hands and asks me with an exhale:

“What are you going to do?”

“About what?”

“You promised revenge, didn’t you?”

“…”

Findenai also looks at me, curious about the same thing.

“You’re not going to hold Darius responsible, are you?”

“He’s only guilty of ignoring responsibility despite knowing the truth after everything ended. It would be excessive to blame him for everything.”

“…Then what will you do? The revenge that child wants is already impossible.”

Because everyone is dead.

The girl named Emily lived at least 150 years ago.

Naturally, everyone involved is already dead.

Therefore.

“My staff.”

When I reach out, the staff I dropped flies to me.

I dropped it earlier when my hand slipped while giving blood.

[Here it is.]

Skraal, who could enter the underground now that the bone-devouring monster was gone, carefully places the staff in my hand.

The two women are surprised that the staff flew to me without any mana manipulation.

I support myself with the staff, pushing Findenai away.

The vengeful energy feels like it’s tearing my body apart, but.

There’s still something I must do.

“Do you remember what I said?”

“What?”

“What are you talking about?”

To the two confused women, I explain again after catching my breath:

“Every spirit whispers their resentment and lingering attachments very secretly.”

This is true for all spirits without exception.

In past lives and in the present.

“Think of it as a kind of puzzle. Each soul hides their thoughts like a puzzle, yet paradoxically wants someone to solve it.”

“Suddenly what…”

Deia tried to interrupt, but I continued:

“It’s almost like their instinct. And most of them hold onto puzzles they think are brilliant when they’re actually quite uncreative.”

Having resolved the grudges of many ghosts, I know this.

After all, they are human.

And surprisingly, humans left alone lack creativity. Most walk the same rails of thought.

“For example, there are spirits who act and speak backwards. They behave bizarrely and provocatively, but they’re really like children throwing tantrums, wanting to be acknowledged.”

Findenai and Deia now look completely lost.

Their faces say they want to demand what on earth I’m talking about.

But I’m not talking to you.

“So what I want to say is.”

I slowly raise my head.

Looking at Emily, who is raging as if she wants to tear everything apart, I try to calm her as I face him.

“Introducing yourself with your name backwards is a ridiculously common puzzle, Skraal.”

[…]

His expressionless face stiffens.

I give a scornful laugh and ask:

“Did you truly think you could fool me with such an act?”

When I first met Skraal, he introduced himself to me like this:

‘My name is Skraal Ma… it’s an honor to finally be able to repay the debt I owe to Master Ditros Verdi from 150 years ago.’

“Did you think you could pass as just a butler? Did you think I wouldn’t notice if you pretended to stutter and cleverly skipped over the first letters?”

[Huh…]

Skraal.

No, Research Director Maalks scratches his head with a hollow laugh.

[Has your brain hardened in death?]

Maalks comes forward so confidently despite having his identity exposed.

[To think I’d be pathetically exposed by a rogue second son.]

“You’re just foolish, that’s all. Before death and after.”

[So what do you plan to do?]

Shrugging his shoulders and curling his lips, Maalks exclaims to me in disbelief:

[Do you intend to judge me? By what right? I am Verdi! I only followed your family’s orders! In a way, I’m a victim too!]

“…”

[If you want to judge someone, judge your ancestors! With the blood of the masterminds flowing in you, your attempt to judge me is no different from a dog barking.]

“I promised to fulfill that child’s wish.”

[Is that your justification? You’re acting as a proxy for revenge? Can you really call that the girl’s revenge?!]

“You must have seen it several times already.”

The girl’s spirit hovering above my hand.

She, who was absorbed into me through necromancy, gradually transforms into a large blue flame.

“Spirits contain mana.”

[…!]

The blue flame takes the form of a small girl standing on the ground.

“I merely convert the mana contained in spirits into magic.”

Controlling spirits through necromancy is an extremely difficult technique.

Ordinary necromancers don’t have special eyes like mine, so they can’t directly see spirits’ forms or converse with them.

Then why can necromancers handle spirits?

Pain.

By inflicting magical pain on spirits, they control and cultivate them.

“With my basic necromancy skills, you couldn’t be controlled even if you wanted to be.”

The pain continues but never ends.

A necromancer’s flame bestows burning pain upon the dead, disturbing the peace they should enjoy after life.

Now the girl has become my flame.

And so, gently pushing her back, I whispered:

“Happy birthday, Emily.”