= Mira’s POV =
How long have I been… dead?
Maybe long enough for me to realize that I can no longer feel the warmth that once wrapped around this body of mine…
And yet what I feel right now is nothing but… like floating in the middle of an ocean. Is this the journey toward the pce where my mother is?
I hope so.
But… why does it feel so hollow, I feel no calm, no peace at all. Oh? How naive of me, wishing for peace. When this body of mine carries a curse that damns every moment peace dares to come close.
To hell with magical power! Curse everything that caused my suffering! I hope they—
Huh?
Something is… entering my head, so cold… so rough… just like the way my father treated my mother… and I couldn’t do anything back then. Even Suna, a brother who should have protected her, chose to do the opposite.
What?
Why are my thoughts suddenly drifting everywhere… wasn’t I angry just a moment ago? Then why does it feel so unbearably sad now…
Why are those bitter moments flooding back into my memory?! Isn’t death supposed to mean letting go of all worldly matters? Then why do I still remember everything I left behind!
Pathetic, Mira, wake up from this nightmare! I’m sure I’m not dead yet! I’m sure of it—
“Shhhh.”
“Who is that—”
Huh? Something is… touching my lips… a finger, maybe human? But the stench is so rotten, I don’t even dare to peek…
“Good child, now stay still like a doll. I’ll dress you up a little, it won’t hurt.”
Damn it, my body froze in pce. I have to do something, I hate being toyed with, I hate the stench of blood, I hate being forced to stay still!
“WHO THE HELL ARE YOU—”
Oh. My left eye flew wide open along with the scream tearing out of my mouth… what I saw would probably become a nightmare for any child.
An old woman, her face stitched like a worn-out doll. So many needles embedded in her skin… perhaps she did it herself?
Who cares… I felt no fear at all toward her incomplete face. I was only shocked when she held up a mirror, pointing it at my own face…
Disgusting.
Turns out my right eye had been neatly sewn shut, while the stitches on my mouth looked torn. Probably from that scream earlier? Strangely, I felt no pain at all… instead, I felt hatred and a fierce urge to destroy the creature in front of me who dared to defile my face like this…
“Dear! How could you be so cruel to hurt me?” the thing whimpered after I managed to snatch her needle and kick her away with all my strength.
I was fully aware that my face was still a mess, but what greeted me was not an ordinary sea…
My mind kept struggling to process what my eyes were seeing. A sea of blood, beneath a sky so dark, adorned only by a crimson moonlight… a sight I couldn’t believe.
When I saw that creature trying to stand again, my breathing quickened, I could feel my heart pounding violently once more. My hands were drenched in sweat, yet the trembling wouldn’t stop. But my mind had only one purpose now, yes.
To release this suffering.
“Arghhh, d-dear… w-what are you… w-why are you choking me?”
I lunged forward without hesitation, following what I knew I had to do. And I was certain this was right. I was sick of being lied to by my own unstable heart. That’s why I chose to be honest with what was inside my head.
“Nghhhh.”
“Lowly creature… I’m being merciful by only strangling you.”
And after a while, there was no further movement. Everything suddenly fell silent, no more resistance. Only a lifeless body, stripped of everything it once had. Even so, I made sure to keep choking it a little longer, just in case this creature was deceiving me. Hahahaha…
“Father…?” a child’s voice suddenly came from behind me, a voice I still recognize to this day…
I slowly peeked over my shoulder. What awaited me behind was none other than—
“Suna…?” My brother… but still a small child? And why was he only peeking from behind the door with a face drenched in tears… and why am I suddenly inside Father’s room from long ago?!
“Why did Father… kill Mother?”
Please, stop crying… my heart truly cannot process what I am feeling right now… is this fear? Regret? Loss? Or what?!
I have to do something. The creature I killed is clearly not our mother, I am certain of that. Mother’s scent was far gentler than that of this wretched thing! I have to tell him immediately—
“What you are seeing is a noble act of relieving suffering, my little Suna. You will come to understand that ending the life of one who suffers is far better than letting them live on.”
What?
I never wanted to say something so vile, but why… does it feel as if someone is taking control of my will. Suna, don’t listen to that!
“As the heir to the throne, you must follow in your father’s footsteps. Or you will suffer the same fate as your mother.”
No, please, just this once, don’t be an obedient child! Suna! Come back and embrace me while I am—
Wait… why do I remember everything so clearly… could it be—
That’s right. When I turned my gaze back to the creature, the sea of blood reappeared as before, and the one standing there was no longer the old woman with a stitched face. Instead it was… Mother?
I abandoned all sense of propriety and respect when everything shifted so abruptly. Mother’s body slipped from my grasp as I realized I was reenacting the darkest tragedy of the past…
That wound, that hollow stare… everything was etched clearly into my memory. But why now, am I the one who became the perpetrator?
My gaze fell upon the sea of blood beneath my feet, its reflection enough to tell me that the one standing exactly where I am now is none other than my father himself…
Even now, I regret that I could not do anything back then. Even Suna was unable to prevent that death…
And on top of that, Father disappeared after the tragedy. I cannot even be certain whether he is still alive or not. When I think about it, what use is it for a murderer to remain alive, surrounded by the wealth of a kingdom he himself has defiled…
If only I could know his condition now, perhaps I would feel relieved if the one who so heartlessly killed my mother had already died the most wretched death imaginable. And if that man is still alive… then he deserves suffering far more painful than death itself!
Blinded by my rage, I failed to notice that the figure of “Mother” before me was… melting?
Everything was swallowed once more by the sea of blood. Perhaps it is improper to call this pce a sea at all, since the depth only reaches my ankles.
Yet as far as the eye can see, there is no nd at all. Only the stench forcing its way into my nose, and only then did I truly realize it.
Is this really… a temporary resting pce for the dead? Is it not indecent to leave the souls of the deceased in a pce like this…
What gives this pce a sembnce of life is the moonlight that occasionally dims, accompanied by small ripples that seem to originate from somewhere deep within the red mist ahead…
And it seems I cannot use magic here, which makes my body feel much lighter. Unlike when I was alive, when my body, fragile since birth, had to bear the burden of being human with mana flowing through it.
After standing still for a while, I decided to walk toward the red mist, driven by curiosity toward the waves coming from that direction.
Walking here is exhausting. The heat in the air truly presses against my lungs. Even though this pce looks like a world without a ceiling, I feel an unbearable suffocation, as if I am walking with a cloth wrapped tightly around my entire head.
At times I have to stop just to catch my breath, or turn around because I feel something following me from behind. Truly unsettling…
The farther I walk, two massive silhouettes of gigantic structures begin to emerge behind the thick fog. Even though I have not yet fully entered it, I am certain they are not illusions.
“What the—”
The moment I stepped into the fog, I was confronted with a sea of humans piled upon one another. The ground beneath my feet had turned into the body of someone I did not recognize.
Perhaps I should never have made this decision in the first pce. Not because of the bodies themselves, but because of the bloodstains that make me nauseous…
This is why I always eliminate my enemies in a single strike. Because I do not want to see the filth they leave behind afterward…
Enough. I cannot take this anymore. I have to go back—
“Look at that! Someone’s about to throw up after seeing their own sins, hahahaha!”
“Who’s there?!”
“Ohhh, don’t be so startled, you maniac. I’m merely admiring the reaction you’re showing after witnessing all the human victims you’ve—”
“Shut your filthy mouth! A lowly creature like you has no right to— ahhhh”
Pain…
It hurts so badly. A bck, barbed spear suddenly flew straight into my mouth, its spikes digging deep inside. It feels like several of my front teeth shattered from this cursed thing. I cannot even speak!
“How pitiful… a special guest has come to visit my world. Such a shame that she is a maniac with no manners at all. Perhaps this is the only way to keep your mouth shut.”
This is humiliating. I cannot even see the one speaking in that shrill tone. And now I truly feel pain again because this wretched spear dares to pierce—
Crack
What…?
“Magnificent! You endure pain quite well, Lady Mira.”
“However, I am proud to inform you that I can also read that clever mind of yours. It is truly unfortunate that such intelligence is wasted on something as useless as throwing insults…”
So all of this is real… I am merely in a different world from Yoei and Suna, and the entity tormenting me right now is also… real.
“Ohh, how sweet you are, Lady Mira. Completely ignoring the fact and the pain that I have already severed your right arm.”
. . .
. . .
“So that’s it. You choose not to think about anything anymore…”
Crack
. . .
“How irritating… I have cut off both of your arms, yet your mind remains silent.”
“Very well, you win. I no longer wish to py with you. As a reward, I will return your consciousness to the real world.”
“Because you are a special guest, I will share a bit of information with you. Your heart is still beating out there. The pet you once created, named Chika, truly saved your life. That is all. Any st message for me?”
I will tear your mouth apart if we ever meet again!
“How daring…”
“That is enough. I will ensure that my next guest becomes a vessel for me, so that I may escape this dimensional prison.”
Darkness enveloped my vision once more. The sea of blood completely vanished from my sight. The stench was repced by a scent that calmed my body. It seems I have been alive all this time…
Still, I truly do not understand what happened to me earlier. Ah, forget it. It seems I have returned to the real world. Most likely, I am still in Valoric’s house. My ears faintly catch fragments of conversation. It would be better for me to sleep again… or lose consciousness.