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WeD - V1C52 - Makia Learns Something Crucial
🕑 Added 2022-11-13 10:23:33 +0000 UTCThis is Makia.
After leaving the ballroom, I go look for my parents.
"Ah, Makia…”
“... Mother.”
My parents are in one of the resting rooms under the ballroom.
Apparently, Father was so surprised by my actions that he actually collapsed and fainted away.
Still, he looks fine now.
“That is… um…” right now, I am standing in front of them, but I still have no idea what to say.
Father and Mother exchange a look and beam at me.
Then, Mother said, “Makia dear, there's no need to explain anything… Is it right to say that what happened earlier is similar to what happened back then with Tooru?”
“...”
“ Although, I must say that seeing you so familiar with His Highness is quite a surprise…?”
“... Yes”
“Have you managed to speak properly?”
‘Not quite’ was my answer.
To be honest, mother’s tone of voice is rather… light. I thought that she would be all wary or at least storm over with all kinds of questions like the Duke of Beigrates.
However, neither Father nor Mother is commenting or even asking for clarifications.
“Makia… Back when I discovered Tooru, my first thought was that he would be someone who could understand you. My child, I have no other thoughts aside from… feeling that he was a little different and that he would make a good companion for you.”
“...”
“How should I say it? Well, I don’t have a real answer to why I felt like that. I’m also sure that your relationship with Tooru and your… new friend must be something similar. If it is something you cannot tell us, you don’t have to say anything. However, if you ever want to speak to us about it, you are free to talk to us. Elena and I have already decided this together.”
“Father…”
I do not think I could explain the situation. However, I still feel that I should at least say something to reassure my parents.
“Th-that is, i can’t really explain it but those two people are really important to me. Yuri… I mean, Prince Ulysses is a special person to Tooru and I…”
“For Tooru as well?”
“Yes, Ulysses is really important to us. We are…”
We are the former Demon Kings who had reincarnated into the same world together in our previous lives. As expected, this isn’t something that I could just lightly say.
As I struggle to find the words, my parents start giggling. “Oh my~ Well, I’m glad you’ve found two people who are important to you~”
“Well, go on then. I’m sure you have a lot to speak to him about, yes? We shall be here for the rest of the ball. We’ll be fine, father is already happy and relieved that you came to see us.”
“... A-alright, please rest well, Father, Mother.”
I clench my trembling hands on my skirt several times, biting my lip and wondering what else to say.
My parents of this world are wearing the flower brooches on their chests.
Please read this at kitchennovel dot com ~
Tooru and Ulysses are waiting outside.
I join them and we walk across the royal gardens, following Ulysses as he leads us all the way into the deeper parts of the garden.
“... It’s quiet here.”
“Isn’t it? People rarely come to this area. I often come here to play with the Spirits that live around here.”
“Spirits…”
Ulysses nods and snaps his fingers.
There had been no sign of people around us [1] or following us. Spirits pop up from between gaps of fences, from the tops of trees and splashing out of the fountain.
A total of 10 Spirits appear in front of us.
“Houhou, it’s been a long time, Demon Kings.”
“My, my, it’s been a while~ is that what you want me to say, haahh!!??”
“Shut up, Pino. He is no longer the White Sage’s enemy.”
“...”
One by one, the Spirits made their comments.
They are all really sweet and cute looking. We find ourselves looking at an owl, a lizard, a pretty mermaid, a quiet white monkey and more.
“Woah, you managed to collect quite a few of them.”
“There’s still a long way to go. I did manage to contract with 100 Spirits back then.”
I carefully pet the quiet white monkey, and it licks my finger. Aww, how cute.
“That lizard with the Edo accent has been head-butting me for some time now.”
“Ufufu. That little guy had been killed by you before. Your existence must have stuck with him all this while, Black Demon King.”
Just then, a beautiful, sexy looking Mermaid Spirit, pushes up from the water, exposing her upper body and tail. She waves her tail fins and winks at Tooru.
I happen to know her too, she is the Superior Water Spirit, Celiade.
[2] “It’s been a long time, Celiade.”
“Oh my, if it isn’t the Crimson Witch. You are all dressed in red as usual. How vulgar, red is not at all refined, you know?”
She pushes back her wavy blue hair over her shoulders and breathes in deeply. Inflating the chest part of her dynamite for all to see.
“And you’re as nasty as ever, Celiade. It’s fine though, you may speak your mind as you wish tonight. I find your nasty words rather adorable.”
“Oh my, I must say you’re as boring as ever,” with a final flick of her tail, she dives back into the water, splashing shiny droplets of water at me.
“Haha, you guys are as friendly as ever,”
“That crude little Spirit. I’ll turn her into sashimi the next time I see her,” I say as I do my best to shake the water out of my face.
“Tooru, handkerchief,” I ordered sternly.
“Yeah, yeah,” Tooru takes out a handkerchief from his pocket and begins to quickly and efficiently brush off the water from my hair.
As he watches, Ulysses puts his hand under his chin and muses, “Tooru-kun is really Maki-chan’s servant.”
“Sadly, this happened through a series of unlikely events.”
“What are you talking about? You were a chimney sweep before, was that better?”
“...”
Ulysses took pity on Tooru, and simply said ‘That’s really like Tooru’ before dropping the subject.
We walk down a path through a rose arch and out onto a square that overlooks the city below the Royal Palace. Bright lights and cheerful music float up to us, indicating the lively bustle of people celebrating the Holy Festival at night.
Ulysses and I sit together on a beach while Tooru leans against a fence nearby. The three of us talk a lot about all kinds of things that cross our minds.
“I’m 14 now.”
“I’m 16.”
“... 17 here.”
“Goodness, there’s quite a variation this time. Looks like I’m the youngest.”
“That’s right. I thought these things didn’t really change.”
“This fellow’s attitude is the same. He still acts older than his age.”
First, we compared our ages. Then, after confirming our names we proceed onto the next most important thing.
“... My MP is 1,664,562; Ulysses is 1,783,804 while Tooru’s MP is a crazy 2,048,519. The fact that you’re the most powerful hasn't changed despite us all getting a level up.”
“Fufun~”
Well, Tooru certainly sounds pleased.
“Tooru-kun’s attack power is overwhelmingly high.”
“Isn’t it good? Some day, I’ll kill off that damned Hero with that magic.”
“... Right…”
I happened to recall the dance with That Man earlier. During the dance, General Kanon said something about how we have all sinned.
“Hey… Back then when I self-destructed, how did it impact this world…”
I don’t really understand why the Western Continent is contaminated by the foul Magic Particles, but, could it be possible that some of my magic remained and turned into something evil?
Thus far, I know that people fled the Western Continent due to food shortages, war and other conflicts. However, I only know this through words from books and letters.
I have no idea what had really happened, or what was on the minds of the people who were there when it happened, nor the experiences of the people who had suffered later.“If you wish to know, you could always ask the Wisteria Princess about it.”
“... The Wisteria Princess? The one from 1000 years ago?”
“Ah, that’s right. Tooru-kun doesn’t know about her yet. Fresier’s Princess Shatma is the reincarnation of the Wisteria Princess of 1000 years ago. She is talented White Magic user who could call Spirits up to the 9th Summoning Level and has an MP of over 1 million.”
Tooru’s eyes widen at that.
“That person was also killed by the hero,” Ulysses has a far away look on his face as he strokes Fan’s feathers. The Wind Spirit, in the form of a little owl, is sitting on his shoulder. He appears to know more than we do.
I guess that’s the advantage of being in a Royal Palace where information eventually flows through.
“I’d a private conversation with her before. I asked why she kept the man who had driven her to her death close to her and she told me that it is because her death meant something. According to history, the Wisteria Princess was once the ruler of a small nation in the East. However, she was condemned to death by the guillotine. It is said that her vassals and the citizens of her nation made quite a lot of movement after her death.”
“... Then, what is the connection between her death and that man?”
“Apparently, they had a contract. So long as the Hero promises to protect the Kingdom of Fresir from the Hermedes Federation, she doesn't mind being killed by him later. According to her, she is the one using the Hero’s powers to protect her people.”
“What a scary woman.”
“Well, we can’t know how true it is. After all, we lacked a lot of information,” Ulysses shrugs.
“... Speaking of which, the Green Shrine Maiden was here just now,” Tooru says, as though he had just remembered this information.
“Eh… Percelis?”
“Yeah, yeah, I think that’s her name. We did a little spying together.”
“Spying?” I recall the Green Shrine Maiden as the green-haired girl with a rather expressive face.
Ulysses starts to chuckle for some reason. “Heh, I’ll tell you now… that girl was my wife in her previous life.”
“...”
“...”
There is a long moment of silence.
A gust of wind whoosh past us.
“” “”Haaaaaahhhhhhh?!”” “”
Tooru and I lurch forward, shouting incoherently together.
We are shocked, truly shocked. I mean, I knew that the White Sage had a wife and children, but… what the heck?
He was married to the Green Shrine Maiden??!
“Surprised?”
“.... This is definitely news to me.”
“Haha.”
“But, you know, what’s going on?”
Ulysses keeps smiling at us, looking very cheerful after having surprised us by this unexpected bomb.
Soon, however, he lowers his eyes and looks into the distance. As though recalling a distant memory.
“Percelis… That child is the reincarnation of the Green Shrine Maiden from 2000 years ago. I only noticed it quite a long time after meeting with her.”
“... so, she has no memories?”
“Yeah, she doesn’t seem to recall her previous life. Still, that is good. She could live a new life without the burden of her past life. I think… this could be a really good thing…”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yes… just watching over her is good enough for me. Having someone be in that position is very important.” Ulysses’ smile is very gentle. However, it also feels somewhat lonely.
I am shocked, of course. But more than that, I am happy for him.
Anyway, I take Ulysses’ hand in mine and squeeze it tightly. “I’m very glad for you, Yuri.”
“... Maki-chan…”
“I’m glad… to meet everyone again!!”
“...”
What a terrible situation to be in.
To meet the person you once loved, and yet, that other person did not remember you at all.
“You really are an idiot, aren’t you? Just a stupid sage. So what if you remember and she doesn’t? Do you think that’s a good enough excuse to put up a wall between you two? That girl, even if she doesn’t have the memories, she’s still your…”
Tooru exhales loudly and scratches his head.
He stops himself from saying anything else. “It’s not like I’m in a position to say anything.”
“How unusual, Tooru is reflecting on himself.”
I have no idea what he is about to say, but the guy with a harem in his past life was betrayed by one of his favorite mistresses clearly believed that he is not qualified to butt into other people’s love affairs.
The awkward look on his face is really funny looking.
On the other hand, Ulysses is laughing.
[1] Eventually, the talk resumes again and Ulysses says, “Maki-chan, you live in Delia Fields, right? It’s kind of far from here. Once the Holy Festival is over, you two will be returning…”
“Right, but I don’t see us staying in the countryside forever.”
The words that the Hero has said just now pierced me deeper than I had expected. It left something festing inside my heart.
“I think… there is something I should find out.”
“... What is it?”
“Everything.”
I stood up, stood by the fence next to Tooru and stared down at the shimmering lights of the town. A light breeze floated up, pushing against my hair.
“I need to know the consequences of my action.”
“...”
“You mean, the consequences of our actions. It all happened because the three of us did something, Makia. You’re not the only one responsible,” Tooru says in a low, firm voice.
Ulysses also joins us at the fence, leans over his arm to my other side.
“Maki-chan, let me tell you one important thing. Your self-destruction is the consequence of a series of actions, parts of them set off by the Hero. Back then, it was only natural for you to struggle against the Hero. You don’t want to lose and throw everything into not losing… So, I don’t think you’re completely in the wrong.”
“.... Yuri…”
I nodded once slowly, then nodded again. Then, I put my hand against my chest.
I am the Crimson Witch.
My existence here is not to linger over things that have happened.
However, I do understand that we reincarnated into this era for a reason. That we must know this reason.
The Hero had said: Everything will be made clear after the Holy Festival.
“He told us to go to the Sanctuary after the festival was over, didn’t he?”
“... To Vabilophos?”
“Somehow, there’s a door there. Deep inside the Sanctuary.”
“I know.”
“... Well… that’s where we first met Him. At the door.” I breathe in deeply and exhale slowly. “Once the Holy Festival is over, the three of us should go and open that door.”
I breathe in deeply again, trying to exhale all the bad thoughts from my mind. I want the wind to take all the vague and uncertain things from my mind and carry them away into the cold night breeze.
Suddenly, I reach out and grab the arms of my companions and pull them close.
“Our starting point is here.”
Once the Holy Festival ends, everything else will begin.
With knowledge, we will know what we should do.
[Gumihou: Okay, this is all kinds of vague and threatening…]
[1] Additional details
[2] Rearranged some details to make the paragraphs make sense.
