episode_0122

Dorga’s Records

“Records, you know… they’re the most important thing in the world. Do you know why, Aria?”

“Hmm… I’m not sure. Isn’t it because there’s something to record?”

Zeke, resting in an inn in Melodian, was recording the events that had transpired so far when he asked Aria, who was sitting on the bed, about the importance of records. Aria replied that she didn’t know, so Zeke showed her his book and answered.

“Records are the most crucial documents that show everything in the world. Just as others can empathize with your pain, records allow us to understand what happened in the world and to think about what we should do next.”

“…But I was already satisfied just by Zeke-nim empathizing with my pain.”

Aria, who had already found Zeke’s empathy sufficient, tilted her head as if she couldn’t understand his words. Zeke, seemingly a little flustered, started sweating profusely and let out a forced laugh as he explained to Aria.

“Hahaha… Well, that’s a relief, but… not everyone might feel that way. Records can serve as a warning for what not to do in the future, and ancient techniques can be used to advance current technology. That’s the power of records. No matter how much we rack our brains, the possibility of overcoming records that contain everything is small. That’s why records must be protected and preserved. For a simple example, when you go grocery shopping, you write down what you need on a small piece of paper so you don’t forget, right? That’s why I truly value records.”

“…It makes me feel bad that records are taking all of Zeke-nim’s attention…”

“Of… of course, you’re also important… No, wait… everyone I’ve met so far is just as important as records. And of course, you, right here beside me, are too.”

When Zeke said that she was just as important as records, Aria, who had been displeased at feeling records had stolen Zeke’s attention, seemed to cheer up and began to giggle. Recalling the events of that day, Aria looked at a diary in her hand and sighed deeply.

“Haaaaah… that puppeteer might burn all these records, so it’s important to find them all first, right? I should probably try to remember the contents, just in case… But, hmm…”

Aria, having ultimately chosen to protect the records that Zeke cherished, sighed deeply and decided to find all of them. Then, feeling something amiss, she glanced around and scratched her head, pondering.

‘That puppeteer… isn’t sending any more puppets? It seems like they’re preparing something else… In the meantime, it’s important to quickly find the records scattered throughout the village.’

Aria, concluding that the puppeteer was preparing something and thus not sending puppets, decided to use this opportunity to search for records throughout the village. Finding a backpack in a tavern cabinet, Aria put the diaries she had found inside and checked outside through a window.

‘Hmm… the people outside have turned into puppets, and there’s a thick fog, so I can’t tell what’s going on out there… But my goal is to find records and the puppeteer simultaneously… Still, I wonder if they can spot me in this fog?’

Aria, thinking about her inability to assess the outside situation due to the fog, wondered if the puppeteer could ascertain her location within the fog. Then, spotting a fallen puppet beside her, she immediately threw it outside. But when no movement was seen from outside, Aria nodded and thought.

‘It seems they’re preparing something, which is why they haven’t sent puppets to roam. Well then…!’

Realizing that no puppets were roaming the streets, Aria immediately grabbed her backpack and went outside. She then ran to a private house on the opposite side of the tavern. As soon as she entered, a puppet wielding a fork rushed at her. She swiftly preempted it by thrusting her staff through its abdomen.

“Hoooooh… Still, it seems there are puppets inside. Hmmm… I wonder if they placed puppets inside because it’s a house of puppets?”

Aria, having subdued the puppet in one swift move, pulled it off her staff and surmised that the puppeteer had deliberately placed puppets in the private house. She then immediately began to look around for books, but when she found the bookshelves completely empty, Aria started to feel awkward.

“Oh… there are no books on the shelves. That’s strange… I thought there would be at least one… Hmmm… really odd. If they disposed of books without leaving any behind, why didn’t they get rid of that diary in the tavern…?”

Aria, guessing that the absence of books on the shelves was due to the puppeteer, began to wonder why the puppeteer had left the diary in the tavern. Then, suddenly recalling something, Aria immediately took the diary out of her backpack and figured out the reason.

“Ah… so that was the reason. If the diary’s color was too similar to the desk it was on, and if it was small enough that the puppeteer couldn’t find it… then there might still be something in this house that the puppeteer hasn’t discovered yet.”

Aria, surmising that the puppeteer hadn’t been able to dispose of the tavern’s diary because they hadn’t found the book in time, immediately crouched down to examine beneath the bookshelf. Then, when something caught her eye, Aria swiftly used her staff to pull out whatever was under the shelf. Confirming it was a diary, Aria smiled brightly and murmured.

“Good! Another diary! Zeke-nim will be very pleased…! And I’ll get more praise… Eheeheehee…”

The thought of receiving more praise from Zeke made Aria burst into laughter. Then, hoping there might be a clue to the puppeteer’s location inside, she opened the diary to check its contents.

July 14th It seems that child has caused trouble again. The child, playing with dolls, startled my children’s friends, and their parents reportedly condemned the child. It’s said that child lives alone… At this point, I’m starting to wonder how they manage to live alone. Could they truly be a demon child, as the villagers say…?

July 17th That child is still making dolls, tirelessly. But how do they know how to make dolls? No one taught them how. Wooden dolls, cotton dolls, even dolls carved from stone… Is it talent? Or is a demon disguised as that child? The villagers are still only suspicious of the child, but if anything suspicious arises, they plan to interrogate them immediately. If the child turns out to be a demon child, or a demon itself, they’re even thinking of killing them.

July 19th I don’t know where they got the materials, but the child made dolls and tried to give them as gifts to the children in the village. However, the children rejected them, so the child couldn’t give the gifts. The child then returned home, disheartened. Hmmm… A Saint-nim is scheduled to visit here tomorrow… Could a Saint-nim immediately discern the child’s true identity?

July 21st Something is strange. Aside from the child’s eyes glowing red, the child showed us the ability to control dolls. They were holding a ball of yarn in their hand and manipulating the dolls they had made. What is this…? I have an ominous feeling. Even Saint-nim couldn’t figure out the child’s true identity, so could there be something else about that child? A power we don’t know of, one that can even evade Saint-nim’s abilities… Saint-nim seemed to notice it too, as she advised us to be suspicious.

July 22nd Everyone is treating that child like a monster. If it were just the ability to make and move dolls, that would be one thing… but with that child’s power, the dolls in every house started moving on their own. That’s why they’re treating the child like a monster. Honestly, I also have a strange feeling.

July 23rd The fog has set in. We cannot go outside. We are bound here forever. Beware of that demon.

“…What is this bizarre diary? And a child… could the puppeteer be a child?”

Aria, having checked the diary’s contents, was dumbfounded by this one, which contained even more grotesque entries than the previous diary she had found. Then Aria considered that the puppeteer, who had conveyed their words through puppets, might be the child mentioned in the diary. However, judging that this alone was not enough to determine the puppeteer’s identity and location, Aria put the found diary into her backpack and immediately went outside.

“Alright… the buildings are lined up in a row… so searching should be easy. Next up…!!”

Aria, determining that the search would be easy since all the buildings were lined up in a row, immediately entered the leftmost building among those on the opposite side. When a puppet inside that building attacked her again, Aria effortlessly swung her fist, smashing the puppet’s head. She then immediately searched the building, but finding no books, she scratched her head, thinking.

‘It seems there are duds too. Well… can’t be helped!’

Realizing that there might be buildings with no books at all, Aria, as soon as she judged there was nothing more to find in her current building, went outside and entered the building opposite. In what appeared to be a vegetable shop, two puppets in the form of old people rushed at her. Aria swung her staff widely, simultaneously smashing all of their legs, and then stepped on their heads to stop them.

“Hoooooh… Still, these persistent puppets are such a nuisance… Oh?”

Aria, staring intently at the puppets she had broken, noticed something beneath a vegetable crate. She immediately lifted the crate and pulled out the book underneath. Realizing that it, too, was a diary, Aria fell into thought, recalling that all the diaries seemed to be hidden.

‘Hmm… it seems the villagers deliberately hid them… What I’ve gathered from the diaries so far is that there was a child in this village, and that child had the ability to control puppets… And because of this fog, everyone is trapped here…?’

Aria, synthesizing what she had learned so far, was pondering the fog when she suddenly recalled something. She immediately went outside and ran towards the edge of the village. However, an invisible barrier repelled her, sending Aria sprawling to the ground.

‘Ugh… It seems Zeke-nim and I are also trapped… This fog seems to be blocking people from leaving… It’s an ability I’ve never seen before, so I don’t know how to deal with it… Should I really just deal with the puppeteer…?’

Aria, at a loss regarding the unfamiliar confinement ability, carefully examined the old people’s diary in her hand, thinking it might contain a clue. She immediately opened it to check its contents. But when she found only the same entries she had already seen, Aria sighed deeply, stood up, and murmured.

“Ugh… at this point, I have no choice but to search the buildings again… Alright… shall I get moving again?”

When the diary she had just found yielded no special clues, Aria realized she had no choice but to search the buildings again until she found a clue. She immediately entered the building on her left, directly in front of her. But when that turned out to be a dead end too, Aria immediately entered another building. In this way, Aria visited every building in Dorga, defeating the puppets inside and immediately placing any books she found into her backpack. About 20 minutes passed like this, and Aria returned to the tavern she had first entered, taking a deep breath as she looked at her backpack.

“Hmm… this should be enough. Ten diaries… It’s surprising that I only found this many, considering how many buildings there were, but it’s even more surprising that all the books I found are diaries…”

Aria was greatly bewildered that all the books she had found were diaries. However, knowing there was no time to question it, Aria opened a diary without any complaints to check its contents. But when only repetitive or completely unrelated content appeared, Aria sighed deeply.

“Haaaaah… this too… and this… and this… they’re all similar or unnecessary content… The part about Dorga originally being a unique village at the edge of the world is information Zeke-nim needs, not me… Ugh… And that this place is famous for its stone statues and is a village capable of cultivating vegetable gardens in the wasteland isn’t something I need to know right now… Huh?”

Just as Aria was complaining that all nine diaries were useless for the current situation, she noticed that the last diary had a distinctly different cover from the ones she had seen before. Aria tilted her head and examined the diary.

“Unlike the other diaries, its condition seems relatively good… And there’s a name written on the cover? Pier… Tiavel?”

Aria, drawn to the diary because of its relatively good condition and the name Pier Tiavel written on its cover, immediately opened it.

‘Today, I tried to give dolls to my friends. But everyone treated me like a monster. They said it was because I grew up alone.’

‘Today, I made dolls again. The dolls are pretty. I wish the kids would like them when they see them.’

‘A mysterious person came to the village today. That person told me many things. I told Saint-nim that I dream of living in a tent with my dolls someday.’

‘The villagers torment me. Why?’

“…!!”

As Aria turned to the next page, she flinched. The content of that next page was that shocking. A single word was repeatedly written in red, filling an entire page of the diary.

‘Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why? Why me?Why?Why?Why?Why? Why torment me?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why? Why must I make them into dolls?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why?Why…! Ah, yes! I’ll make them into dolls! To turn everyone into dolls, their souls must leave. The doll-making method is surfacing in my mind. Hehehe… I feel good somehow.’

‘I made dolls. Everyone is with me now. All the villagers won’t torment me anymore and will take care of me. I feel good.’

“Ugh…”

Aria, reading the diary’s contents, found it too sickening to continue. She closed the diary and tossed it into her backpack. Then, hiding the backpack under the table, she sighed deeply, picked up her staff, and murmured as she walked outside.

“I don’t know what circumstances led to this… but first, I need to finish this game, Pier Tiavel? I can clearly see where you are now. Wait there. I’m coming for you.”