Ch.207A World Where Everyone Is Unhappy (2)

I don’t want to recall in detail what happened, but somehow we managed to safely return to the lakeside cabin.

How many weeks has it been?

This crude cabin I built with my own hands now feels like home.

The dirt ground near the cabin still bears the traces of the training Sylvia and I did together.

“We’re back…”

This small lakeside, watched over by the green woman who had become a great tree, was still completely free of mana contamination.

I exhaled deeply, mixing a sigh with my noticeably more comfortable breathing.

The chest pain that had felt like needles piercing my lungs had definitely subsided.

“You did well, thank you, Pia.”

“…Yeah.”

Pia fidgeted and avoided my eyes.

Sylvia shot her a sharp glare.

“Sylvia… you worked hard too.”

“Indeed.”

Sylvia answered in a calm voice, but her raised eyebrows made no attempt to hide her discomfort.

It couldn’t have been pleasant to watch the man she loved kiss another woman right in front of her.

But now wasn’t really the time to be angry.

Today was a monumental day—we had commemorated a comrade who sacrificed her life and defeated the evil enemy that had driven humanity to the brink of extinction.

“…Hah.”

I carefully laid Alice’s body down in a sunny spot.

Looking at her face again, she seemed incredibly peaceful with her eyes closed.

Her last words kept echoing in my ears.

“I had no idea… I never even thought about it.”

To think that Alice had feelings for me.

Before entering this forest, I had vaguely assumed that someday she and I would become husband and wife.

But even then, I never imagined she actually liked me.

Just a childhood friend with mutual affection.

As I viewed her, I thought she viewed me the same way.

“…I just… thought the Count merely cared for me.”

Naturally, I had assumed our engagement was simply a strategic marriage between close families.

But Alice’s fragile voice, which completely denied that assumption, was being etched into my heart like a tattoo.

Even her last faint breath remained trapped in my ear, circling in my mind.

‘I love you, Ash… I’ve liked you since we were children.’

Alice’s final confession was so poignant,

And because it was a feeling I could never reciprocate now,

Her love seemed so delicate and fragile that I kept wanting to look back at it.

“You did well… Sister Alice…”

I gently stroked Alice’s hair one last time.

“…Hah.”

I slowly rose to my feet, leaving Alice where she lay.

At the same time, Sister Maria knelt beside Alice’s body and neatly folded her hands across her chest.

Seeing that gesture, like a deceased person lying in a coffin, my eyes suddenly grew hot.

I lowered my head, quickly wiped my eyes with my sleeve, and slowly turned around.

When our eyes met, Sylvia closed hers gently and nodded slowly.

I gave her a small smile with my eyes, grateful that she had endured until the end despite how uncomfortable it must have been, then spoke to Sister Maria who was still looking down at Alice.

“Sister.”

“…Yes, what is it?”

I took a moment to catch my breath.

A terribly bitter, stale taste seemed to spread in my mouth.

Since I never dreamed I’d have another chance to meet Sister Maria, I never thought I’d be saying these words.

They were truly difficult to speak aloud, but I had to say them.

After all, Sister Maria was her family too.

With my eyes closed, I opened my mouth with a trembling voice.

“Let’s go… pay our respects to Laila.”

“…What was Laila like? Was she very cute?”

Sister Maria asked as she caressed Laila’s tombstone that I had carved myself.

I nodded silently.

“I’m sure she was, she was so cute as a baby…”

“She would have been the most beautiful woman in the Goldfield territory when she grew up.”

My sister died but was reborn as a spirit.

I’m dying, but still alive.

It somehow felt terribly unfair that Laila, the youngest of the three siblings, was completely dead, lying in the cold earth.

Could she read my thoughts?

Sylvia, who was holding my hand tightly to block the effects of mana contamination, squeezed my hand a little harder.

I too gripped her hand firmly with my trembling fingers.

Sister Maria smiled softly and said:

“It’s a strange feeling. The last time I saw Laila, she was just learning to walk… and now she’s lying here.”

“…Yes… it is.”

Sister Maria slowly removed her hand from the tombstone.

“You’ve been through a lot. My little brother.”

“…Me?”

“Carving this tombstone… I can clearly see how your heart was carved away with it…”

“Ah…”

Sister Maria slowly rose and approached me.

She pulled up the corners of her mouth into a smile.

It was a faint smile, somewhat bitter and incredibly sorrowful.

“Like Laila, in my memory you were just a little kid… but you’ve grown up to be so mature… even though I died… I’m truly blessed.”

“…I was so happy to see you again too, Sister.”

Sister Maria closed her eyes tightly and took a breath.

Then slowly, with a voice that seemed to have made some decision, she began to speak.

“Ash.”

“…Yes?”

“You’re going back to Goldfield, right?”

“…Yes, I want to bury Sister Alice in our homeland. And I want to place Laila’s remains… beside our parents…”

“And have your newlywed life with Sylvia?”

“…Yes.”

“That’s good…”

I turned my head to look into Sylvia’s eyes as I continued.

“Of course, the curse hasn’t been lifted yet…”

“That’s due to the lingering effects of mana contamination. Now that the Demon King is dead, you should recover after spending a few days by the lake.”

Sister Maria answered straightforwardly.

Still with her eyes closed, she nodded a couple of times as if in understanding, then slowly began to speak again.

“Ash.”

“Yes.”

“I’m staying here.”

“What…?”

“I’m not going with you—I’m planning to stay here. Ash.”

Surprised by her sudden announcement, I asked:

“Why…? Don’t you want to go home? Our parents…”

“As an unfilial daughter who died first, I don’t have the face to see our parents.”

“That’s such a foolish—”

“Actually, there’s a bigger issue than that—this forest.”

“What?”

Sister Maria slowly turned her head.

Her gaze was directed toward the lakeside where the green woman was embedded.

“This Reclining Tree Forest was originally under her rule, right?”

“You mean… the green woman?”

“Yes, the green woman. The great spirit of this forest. Now that I’ve become a spirit myself, I understand. The mana contamination became so rampant not only because of the Demon King but also because there was no spirit managing this forest.”

“…So, you’re going to take the green woman’s place?”

“Yes, somehow I feel like this is my role.”

Sister Maria was saying something incomprehensible.

She seemed to be wrapped in some special sense that only spirits could understand.

Whether it was because I was a spirit mage, or because her detached attitude appeared so resolute,

I could tell she was genuinely determined to take on the responsibility that the green woman had held.

“Why?”

In place of me, who was dumbfounded by Sister Maria’s sudden announcement, Sylvia asked in a low voice.

“Why do you have to do this, Maria? Can’t another spirit do it?”

“Sylvia.”

“Yes, you and Ash are family, but you’re also a dear friend to me. I have so many things I want to talk about with you… and I want us to live together.”

“…Haha, if we lived together, we’d fight all the time. Don’t you remember?”

“Maria, stop joking around.”

“See? You’re getting angry again.”

Sister Maria smiled gently, then slowly opened her eyes.

She looked directly at me and Sylvia in turn.

“Both of you, look at me. Stand up straight.”

“…?”

“I am not Maria.”

“What?”

Sister Maria patted my startled shoulder and continued.

“I’m just a spirit with Maria’s memories.”

“No, Sister, you’re clearly…!”

“Ash. Of course I remember you all, and I’ll never forget the memories we shared… hmm…”

Sister Maria hesitated for a moment, then continued with a sigh.

“I’m not human. I can never be human again. I’m a completely different being.”

“…Whether you’re human or not doesn’t matter. The fact that you’re my friend Maria is enough. You don’t need to think such strange thoughts about not being human.”

Sylvia objected to Sister Maria’s words.

I nodded vigorously, strongly agreeing with Sylvia.

But Sister Maria shook her head with a sad smile.

“Ash, take out that necklace.”

“…Huh?”

“The necklace. The one that made me a spirit.”

I took out Malice’s necklace from the pouch at my waist.

The symbolic relic of Malice that Sister Alice had obtained.

A precious item that Sister Alice had struggled to acquire after hearing legends of its power to revive the dead, in case someone died during our journey.

This mysterious artifact couldn’t save Alice, but it allowed us to meet Sister Maria again.

Considering that Sister Maria’s magic played a crucial role in defeating the Demon King, our entire journey was shaped by Sister Alice’s actions from beginning to end.

The necklace still emitted a bright blue light.

“Isn’t this necklace strange?”

“…What about it?”

“You don’t see it?”

“…?”

Sylvia said:

“Maria… how many times do I have to tell you to stop teasing and just say what you mean… Look at this, these bad habits are all you, Maria.”

“Hehe, alright. I’ll just tell you.”

Sister Maria chuckled and continued.

“This necklace is one-time use. Once used, it traps a soul inside, so it can’t be used again. In other words, this necklace can only save one person… Well, whether turning someone into a spirit counts as saving them is debatable…”

“…I don’t understand… Sister, what are you trying to say?”

“Ah, Ash… you fool,”

Sister Maria sighed and said:

“It means Malice never used it.”

“…?”

“Think about it. That person must have had someone they wanted to save too. Someone they didn’t want to part with. A death they wanted to deny. But Malice didn’t use it. Why do you think that is?”

“…”

This time, it seemed her question wasn’t meant to tease, as Sister Maria promptly provided the answer.

“Because they knew that even if they used it, it would only create a spirit with that person’s memories, not the actual person.”

“…”

“Ash, I’m not your Sister Maria. In fact, even as I’m saying this, if you were to order me to go with you to Goldfield territory, I would have no choice but to follow.”

“That doesn’t matter, then…”

“But could you truly accept such a version of me as your Sister Maria?”

“Of course I can…!”

I suddenly closed my mouth.

Sister Maria, faithfully following my orders.

How would that make me any different from Balder, who used Maria like a puppet?

Sister Maria looked at me and gave me that mischievous expression of hers.

Then, ruffling my hair, she said:

“Thank you for still seeing me as your sister, as your friend. But that’s all the more reason to let me stay here. This is my choice.”

“…Hah,”

Sylvia exhaled and spoke.

“Fine, I understand.”

“Sylvia…”

“I knew you’d understand, Sylvia.”

Sylvia pointed at Sister Maria and said:

“She was always like this, Ash. You might not know what Maria was like at the academy, but she was always this way. Always thinking further ahead than others, acting on her thoughts immediately, and being incredibly stubborn…”

“That’s funny coming from you, Sylvia. You’re even more stubborn.”

“You’re going to do it anyway, now that you’ve decided.”

“Hehe, that’s right. Since I’ve become a spirit, I might as well try being the boss.”

“…Ah, really.”

Sister Maria hugged me tightly.

“I’ll stay here and watch over the place where Laila rests.”

“…”

“So, Ash. Please tell our parents… okay?”

I answered weakly.

“…Alright.”

Sylvia, Sister Maria, and I returned to the cabin.

I carefully wrapped Sister Alice in a cloth that Sister Maria had created with magic, while Sylvia dug a hole.

Since we would take her remains with us when we returned to Goldfield territory, we laid Alice carefully in a shallow grave and covered her with soil.

With this, all the tasks for the first day after the Demon King’s disappearance were complete.

An unbearable fatigue now enveloped my entire body.

Though Sylvia didn’t show it, she must be extremely tired and drained as well.

While Sylvia and I washed ourselves briefly by the lake, Sister Maria took Pia and disappeared somewhere.

She probably wanted to give Sylvia and me some time alone.

Sylvia’s wet hair glistened.

I wrapped my arm around Sylvia’s arm beside me and held her hand.

Sylvia silently rested her head on my shoulder.

I felt like I could fall asleep just like this.

I wanted to drift into sweet slumber in her embrace.

Surely Sylvia felt the same.

We kissed lightly and, holding hands, slowly walked into the cabin.

Even the creaking sound of the wood with each step felt so welcome.

Slowly opening the door, the moment we entered the nostalgic cabin interior.

“Oh…!”

Sylvia instantly grabbed my collar and pushed me down.

“Ugh!”

“…Hah.”

“S-Sylvia? What are you—”

“Shut up.”

“…Sylvia?”

In the dark cabin with no windows, Sylvia’s eyes flickered strangely.

Red eyes swirling with desire, jealousy, and lust pushed to the limit stared directly at me, emitting light.

Sylvia gripped my chin with her strong hand and slowly traced my lips with her thumb.

“…This is mine.”

“I know… I’m yours, Sylvia.”

“And yet… Alice and Pia…”

Good heavens.

“Sylvia… w-wait, we just today—”

“I said shut up.”

“Wait a minute… I’m really too tired…”

“Can’t wait.”

Sylvia lifted me up and threw me onto the bedding.

A cloud of musty dust rose from the bedding that had been left unattended in the cabin for a long time.

“I’m not waiting anymore.”

A pair of red lights lunged toward me.

Those bright red dots filled my vision.

At the same time, something moist and soft covered my lips.

Rough fingers suddenly slipped inside my clothes.

.