Chapter 31: The End of Obsession (6)[Revised]

[31] 4. The End of Obsession (6)[Revised]

We left the Vatican on a heavy snowy day.

The entire sky was white, as if snowballs would come pouring down if you threw a stone at it.

Perhaps because of that, Clara, who had come to see us off, looked even more fragile.

It was as if she would vanish into the whiteness at any moment.

I looked at Clara’s hands and eyes with a displeased expression.

To be more precise, at her eyepatch and prosthetic hand.

“Are you really sure you don’t want to fix them?”

A bitter smile appeared on Clara’s face.

“…They’re proof of my sin.”

Clara’s white hand grazed the eyepatch and prosthetic hand.

“Even if it was all part of Ivan’s scheme, it doesn’t change the fact that Rem was hurt because I was careless.”

Suddenly, a hint of sadness appeared in her eyes.

“And, when I thought you had lost your memories, I lied, and I forced you to come to the Vatican. That is undeniably my fault.”

“…”

I let out a low groan.

No one knew better than me how difficult it was to live without a hand and an eye.

And I didn’t want Clara to have to go through that.

“Don’t worry. I’m not planning on staying crippled forever.”

Clara added, with a chuckle.

“Someday, when I feel like I’ve atoned enough… and the day comes when I can face you with a clear conscience… I’ll fix them. I promise.”

…What else could I say when she was speaking with such conviction?

Besides, Clara was originally a girl who never listened to what others said.

Sighing inwardly, I scratched my head.

“Let me ask you the same thing. Rem, are you sure you don’t want to stay in the Vatican and get treated?”

A sudden counterattack.

I looked at Clara’s pleading eyes.

“Believe it or not, this time, I’ll have you treated properly, following all the procedures. You don’t have to become the Saint’s companion or anything just…”

Suddenly, Clara clamped her mouth shut.

Probably because of the expression I had unknowingly made.

“…I see, it’s… not possible, is it?.”

Clara lowered her gaze.

“I’m sorry, My Lady.”

Looking away, I rubbed the back of my neck. I barely managed to get the heavy words out of my mouth.

“As I said before, there’s someone who needs me to be by their side…”

“It’s okay.”

Clara said, smiling faintly. A smile as fragile as a snowflake, as if it would melt if I touched it.

“You love her, don’t you? Captain Rose.”

For a moment, I didn’t understand her words. Because of that, I ended up letting her continue.

“A person’s heart can change at any time. I’m content with having received it once.”

“No, wait, that’s not…!”

“Vice-Captain!!”

A shout, coming from the distant carriage, cut me off. I turned around and saw Pointy ears, with his head poking out from the carriage, holding a rolled-up leather sheet.

“Stop your damn drama and get over here!! The Barbarian woman’s going to die of anxiety… Aaaagh!! Vice-Captain!! Get over here and help me!! The Barbarian’s trying to kill me!!”

I rubbed my temples as I watched the swaying carriage.

How can they not go a single day without causing trouble…

“You should go.”

I looked back at Clara.

She was smiling brighter than ever.

“It’s really okay now.”

I opened my mouth,

Then closed it again weakly.

Instead, bowing my head, I said,

“Please, take care, My Lady.”

“Yes, and if there’s a next time… please speak to me casually then. We’re friends now, really.”

Unspoken pain was evident in her voice. I could easily understand what she meant.

“…Okay.”

However, I turned my back.

I approached the carriage, which was now quiet, and got in.

The carriage started moving, jostling me back and forth. Letting my body sway to its rhythm, I thought to myself.

Right, this is for the best.

An ending where a reunited boy and girl get married and live happily ever after? That only happens in fairy tales.

Reality always hits us hard.

After all, she was a noble saint, and I was a lowly mercenary, whose body was closer to an undead than a human’s.

There would be complications.

And those complications might lead to another tragedy.

And besides…

I placed a hand on my chest.

Instead of a heartbeat, I felt a steady vibration.

But for some reason, it felt a little bit weaker than yesterday.

The realization that I could collapse and die at any moment filled my mind.

Yes, this is for the best.

No matter how many times I think about it.

…

“Brother…?”

Right, that’s how it should be.

But why couldn’t I tear my gaze away from Clara?

Clara, dressed all in white, wasn’t getting further away. It was as if she was melting into the snow. The fact that she was waving made it even worse.

She looked like another snowflake, fluttering down from the sky.

When spring comes, the snowflakes will be gone without a trace..

“Ah, fuck it.”

“B-Brother…?”

I kicked open the carriage door and jumped out.

I could see Clara’s body freeze in the distance. Her shocked eyes locked onto me.

She looked frightened. Perhaps she was getting ready to run.

But I wouldn’t know, not until I talk to her, face to face.

I started running toward her, with all my might.

And Clara didn’t move.

Until my arms wrapped around her waist.

“Wait…!”

And until my lips met hers.

Snowflakes, falling on our heated faces, melted away.

The scent of lavender filling my nose,

The salty scent of tears mixed in,

Her body, gradually stopping its trembling,

And her red eyes, which I loved.

I let my lips slowly part away

“Rem…?”

Looking at her stupid face, back to its usual state, I said curtly.

“Do I have to spell it out for you again?”

“Wait, Rem, I don’t understand, why…!”

“It’s not like that between the Captain and me.”

“What…?”

Clara’s face turned blank again.

I sighed inwardly, then said,

“Wait for me.”

I roughly wiped my lips and then forced a grin.

“This time, I’ll come back, even if I have to crawl with my teeth.”

And with that, I turned and ran towards the carriage as fast as I could.

So that she wouldn’t see how red my ears were.

And so, on a day when the snow fell heavily, we kissed.

***

Let’s talk about a story from the past.

It happened in the past, not too distant, but not exactly recent, either.

It had been 15 years since I was reincarnated into this shitty little Tsukūru eroge. (TL Note: To simplify Tsukūru is RPG Maker (RPG Tsukūru), So… She’s talking about an eroge rpg maker game lmao.)

And it had been 15 years of anger.

5 years of struggling after being reincarnated as the daughter of a noble who wasn’t even in the game.

Another 5 years of running around, working my ass off trying to revive a ruined territory, squeezing out my knowledge of the original work.

And then, five years of collecting talents and resources, sleeping only six hours a day every week, in preparation for the ending.

My life since reincarnation has been a cycle of anger.

I was angry, so I struggled more, and I got angrier the more I struggled.

Every day, I pushed the limits of my patience.

But I swear to Buddha and Allah, there’s only been one day in those 15 years that had been as infuriating as today.

I crumpled the paper in my hands, grinding my teeth.

“…What’s got you so worked up again? Miss Irene?”

It was the words of the girl wearing men’s clothes opposite to me in the carriage. She added, while brushing her arm.

“Didn’t you meet with the ‘would-be Saint’ as you wished? After showering them with a massive donation.”

I suppressed my anger and tried to speak in a gentle tone,

“Yes… I did meet her. But, Betty? That’s not the problem, is it?”

“Then what *is* the problem? Is it because that would-be saint wasn’t as pretty as you thought? Well, she did look a bit too gloomy…”

I couldn’t hold back, and shouted.

“Because the saint’s eyes are perfectly fine!!”

Betty winced, as if my shout had pierced her eardrums, and she glared at me.

But I didn’t care and stood up, pacing around the carriage.

“This doesn’t make sense… it just doesn’t…! Clara should have been blind at this point in the original story…!”

“M-Miss Irene, stop mumbling to yourself and tell me what’s going on.”

I turned my head sharply to glare at Betty. However, Betty just shrugged nonchalantly.

“I need to know what’s going on to help you, you know?”

I resisted the urge to throw a cushion at her and calmed down.

And then, I humbly admitted that she had a point.

“Fine. But I’m not going to repeat myself, so open your ears and listen carefully.”

I sat down and told Betty about the contents of the Tsukūru eroge ‘The Porter’s Tale’ that I knew.

…

…

…

“Ivan, isn’t that bastard a complete psycho?”

…And Betty gave me the exact reaction I had predicted.

Running her hand through her navy blue hair, she let out a dumbfounded chuckle.

“No, I mean, how can a Bishop order the Captain of the Holy Knights to blind an 11-year-old girl just because she’s a little arrogant?”

“To be precise, it’s more like he instigated the Captain. To make Clara dependent on him. Blinding her probably wasn’t part of the plan.”

And he might have even liked her more after she lost her eyes, I added to myself.

At those words, Betty shook her head in disgust.

“That crazy bastard, If he wanted to win an 11-year-old’s favor, he should’ve just showered her with gifts and sweets.”

“What he wanted wasn’t her favor, but her dependence.”

As I answered, I thought about Ivan’s backstory.

Ivan, the lover of the would-be saint Gleia, who was blinded and killed after teaching beggars holy magic.

But the truth was that Gleia didn’t die.

She was simply abandoned on the street.

The young priest, learning about this, rushed to where she had been left.

But what he found was his lover, who had been gang-raped by beggars and turned into an idiot, and a newborn baby in her arms.

Was it affection or hatred that man felt for that child?

“Still, he’s a crazy bastard all the same.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s nothing.”

I shook my head and looked at Betty again with sharp eyes.

“More importantly, what matters now is that the content of the original story has been twisted. By this point, Clara should have already lost both eyes and gone crazy.”

I spoke seriously, but Betty’s reaction was lukewarm. She yawns lazily and shakes her head.

“So what if the original story is a bit twisted…”

“Betty…!!”

“Okay, okay! The knowledge of the original story is god, and I am invincible, happy?”

And Betty let out a deep sigh and looked at me with tired eyes.

“So, are we going back to our territory now? Can I finally get some rest?”

“No, we have one more place to go.”

An unpleasant look immediately appears on Betty’s face. However, it couldn’t be helped.

“Originally, I wasn’t going to go there because the incident hadn’t happened yet. But the flow of the original story has already been twisted twice. We need to check if at least that place is following the scenario.”

“…So where are we going?”

“The Magic Tower.”

I turned my eyes to look out the window.

Beyond the distant mountain ridge, a faint black line could be seen rising.

“We need to check if Parsley is still obsessed with her mother.”

If the flow of the original story is twisted this time too, I’ll hang myself by my own neck.

I thought to myself.

***

And then, not too long in the future…

Parsley, taking off her usual wide-brimmed hat, looked at the door.

It wasn’t a flamboyant door like the one in the Crystal Palace or the Imperial Palace. It was, rather, a crude looking old wooden door.

But any mage worth their salt would feel a sense of awe before it.

Parsley extended her hand and touched the door.

The moment she did, blue magic circles appeared on the door and began to spin wildly.

It was the activation sequence of the protective barrier.

But, no matter how much time passed, the spell didn’t activate. The magic circles simply spun in place.

And this repeated wherever Parsley touched.

Magic circles that shone with magic power but didn’t activate, simply spinning in place.

And before long, the ordinary wooden door was covered with those magic circles.

Placing her finger in the center of the door, Parsley murmured.

“Peno”

*BOOM!!*

The door burst apart, scattering splinters everywhere.

The blue hat in her hand flew off from the force of the blast.

Fluttering like a butterfly, it landed on a desk.

To be precise, in front of a woman wearing an identical hat.

The woman looked at the hat, and then at Parsley, who was standing beyond it.

The woman looked at Parsley, and then, she returned her gaze to the thesis she had been reading.

“Parsley, that’s a rather rude way to enter a room. You could have just knocked…”

“Mother.”

The woman’s eyes wavered at the unfamiliar title. She looked back at Parsley.

And it was only then that she realized that something was wrong.

Dark circles were etched beneath her daughter’s eyes, as if she had been up for nights on end. And her red hair, which had always been lustrous and vibrant, was disheveled.

The woman’s speculation was confirmed when she saw the needle mark on Parsley’s forearm.

The woman glared at Parsley with a distorted face.

“You…!”

“I’m not going to ask why you did it.”

“…!”

Parsley’s staff pointed at the woman.

But the woman couldn’t even think of casting a protective spell, she couldn’t think of anything at all.

Parsley, her daughter…

…Was glaring at her with murderous intent, tears streaming down her face.

Her voice was cold as she spoke through clenched teeth,

“But you will pay.”

“Pa-Parsley… I, I…”

Parsley didn’t listen.

She simply closed her eyes and shouted,

“Urnb!!”

And then everything was engulfed in flames.

…

…

…

The next morning, the residents of the Magic Tower who received the newspaper all fell into panic.

This was because what was written in the newspaper, and on top of that, as a headline, was too unbelievable.

That headline reads…

“Sage, Master of the Magic Tower, Dead.”