Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 318

Chapter 318

“I know Mom is dead. But people keep saying she’s just far away because she’s busy. So I know. That’s what you say when someone dies, right?”

“…….”

To be honest, I thought I could smooth things over since she was a child. But that wasn’t the case at all. I had no excuse for her sharp, pointed words, so I chose to remain silent. The smart child seemed to realize what that expression meant. Ray’s face contorted even more.

“I remembered. In a dark place… an uncle who was your friend told me to lie down. When I asked why, he forced me to lie down. He tied my hands and feet so I couldn’t move. Rin was hovering around, trying to interfere… After that, I don’t remember anything.”

“…….”

“Rin… she kept being anxious. She seemed scared. I told her it was okay. I ended up like this because I followed your friend, right? I…….”

“No, Ray. It’s not like that…….”

As I tried to get closer, Ray flinched and stepped back. There was fear in her eyes that hadn’t been there before.

“Ray?”

“Who are you really? How do you know Rin can’t come? Are you really Mom’s friend? Why are Mom’s friends here? It was so dark there. How did you find me?”

Her hunched shoulders were trembling. Since all of this started with someone who was a friend of someone she knew, she couldn’t trust me, who approached her in a similar way. It was a situation where everything was confusing and scary. It seemed like hiding it further would be counterproductive, so I decided to be honest.

“I’m sorry, Ray. I lied. I know your mom, but I’m not her friend. To be exact, Rin called me here.”

The child, who had stiffened at the word ‘lie,’ looked bewildered at the next words.

“……Rin?”

“Yes, Rin. Her real name is Naias.”

“Naias……?”

“I told you Rin and I look alike, right? That’s right. Rin was my family. She met your mom by chance, and you seemed to be in so much pain that you needed help. So I sent Rin to you. I put her in the necklace.”

“……!”

A gasp escaped her lips. It was the most agitated reaction I had seen so far. Ray looked up at me with a face as if she were seeing a ghost.

“The necklace…….”

“Yes, the necklace. I’m talking about the one you’re wearing around your neck right now.”

When I gestured to it, the startled child hurriedly groped around her neck with both hands. Her fingers, which had been fumbling, found the pendant of the necklace and clutched it tightly. The spirit residing there had disappeared, so it no longer had a fixing function, but I had deliberately left it on.

“This… no one knows Rin lives here. Except for you and me. I haven’t told anyone.”

“Really? Then can you trust me now?”

“Are you really Rin’s family?”

For the sake of the cautious child, I decided to show the most definitive proof. By creating water on my palm and floating it. As the cold water soared into the empty air, Ray gasped again. Seeing her eyes widened as much as they could, she seemed really surprised. I made the created water into a round ball and slowly floated it towards Ray. Ray, who was staring blankly at the water ball floating towards her, carefully reached out and touched it. The sight of her swallowing hard as her hand touched it was both cute and pitiful.

“……It’s real. It’s real water. It’s the same as Rin.”

“I told you.”

“Then did Rin really call you here?”

“Yes. Rin asked me to help you. To help.”

A loud sigh echoed. Tears dripped down from under her bowed head. Ray, who could no longer hold back her sadness, began to cry. I carefully approached and wiped her crying face. Finally, she let her guard down, and the child no longer flinched even when I got close.

“I’ll do whatever you want. What do you want to do? Should I take you back to that uncle?”

“Really? Can you do that?”

“Of course, I can.”

“Then I want to go to the uncle. I miss him. I have to tell him that Rin, that Rin is dead. But the uncle isn’t home right now. He said he wouldn’t be back for a while.”

“Really? Where did he go?”

“I don’t know either.”

“Hmm, I need to know the location. Then where have you been in the meantime? Were you home alone with no one there?”

“No. There’s a butler. And Lolan. And other brothers and sisters…….”

“If there’s a butler, the house must be quite big.”

Now that I see it, it seems she’s been taken in by a fairly wealthy person. Ray nodded her head greatly to me, who was secretly thinking it was a good thing.

“The uncle said he was a noble. So he has a family name too. He said he would give me that family name too.”

“Then I can find the house. Let’s go there first and meet the butler. That person will know where the uncle went. I’ll ask him. Do you remember the uncle’s family name?”

This time, Ray nodded. Tears were still welling up in her eyes, but her expression was brighter than before, thanks to the hope that she could go home. While giving her a gentle smile to reassure her, my mind became busier than ever. Until just now, I was convinced that I should send Ray to her guardian, but now that the other party was a noble, I felt uneasy, as if a thorn was stuck in my throat. In a world where the difference in status is clear, it was not common for a noble to adopt a commoner child. The decision to do so was probably due to the fact that Ray was a ‘Spiritist’ [someone with an affinity for spirits]. An ability user would be someone who could enhance the family’s name. So I had to think about it. Would that family still accept Ray, who had lost her spirit in this incident?

Thanks to possessing Naias’s power, Ray became closer to spirits than anyone else, but now she could never contract with a spirit again. It’s the same principle as spirits not contracting with each other. But since she’s not a real spirit, she can’t even use the power of a spirit. In the end, she became an ordinary child with no abilities.

Of course, that’s just how it seems on the surface, but in reality, she has many more special qualities. The change has just begun, so she will probably become more and more different from humans as she grows up. I don’t know what form that will take, and I can’t guarantee that it will manifest in a good way. But it was certain that she would become a being superior to most humans. Even so, it was meaningless if she did not meet the conditions of the adoption that the guardian wanted. I was worried that sending her away for Ray’s emotional well-being might actually cause her deeper wounds. But these thoughts didn’t last long either. The moment I heard the next word, they all evaporated from my head.

“Caribdis.”

“……!”

The busy thoughts stopped at once. I turned to look at the child blankly. Ray, unaware of my agitation, continued without hesitation.

“Piron de Caribdis. That’s the uncle’s name.”

* * *

The good thing about celebrities is that it’s easy to get information. The process of finding the Caribdis Duke’s residence was solved very easily. The inn arranged a carriage for me. Ray, who couldn’t hide her anxiety when she first got into the carriage, gradually calmed down when she recognized the road. On the other hand, I became more and more uneasy as the time of arrival approached.

Caribdis Duke!

It had been dozens of minutes since I left, but I still couldn’t get over the shock of hearing that name. Among the many nobles in the Empire, I never thought that name would come up. Unless there was another name, Caribdis must be the Duke I knew. The Sword Master who is the right-hand man and loyal subject of the Grand Duke. The contractor of the Wind Sword, Bluster, whom my party is currently searching for.

I had once passed by the Duke and knew his face. Rough hair fluttering like a lion’s mane. His whole body was trained like a weapon, so he didn’t seem to need armor. With his fierce atmosphere and blunt face, he had an intimidating atmosphere that no one would dare to approach. In a word, he didn’t seem to have anything to do with childcare. I couldn’t help but feel surprised that he would take in Ray. It’s said that you shouldn’t judge people by their appearance, but no matter how I thought about it, I couldn’t hide my surprise. In fact, that wasn’t the only thing that bothered me.

“Ray. I have a question. You said that you and the uncle are the only ones who know that Rin lives in the necklace, right?”

“Yes. The uncle told me not to tell anyone.”

My head became more complicated with the ready answer. The necklace that Ray had was given by Isana and had the imperial family’s crest on it. There was no way that the Caribdis Duke wouldn’t have recognized the crest. He must have figured out who gave it to her. But instead of revealing the truth, he chose to conceal it. It seemed that he didn’t even allow the family members to reveal Rin’s existence.

At first, I thought that the Duke had taken Ray in to offer her to the Grand Duke. As the right-hand man, there was a possibility that he was also cooperating with the Grand Duke’s work. The harsh things that Ray had experienced seemed to be undeniable evidence. But the more I thought about it, the more something seemed different. First of all, Ray followed the ‘uncle’ a lot. This meant that he had been good to her, but if she was a child to be offered to the Grand Duke, there was no need to win her favor. The fact that he took care of her himself and said that he would adopt her was also strange. It was also strange that the man who was the uncle’s friend had tricked the child into luring her.

‘Come to think of it, if the ‘uncle’ is the Caribdis Duke, then the ‘friend’ is probably…….’

After thinking that far, I quickly turned to look at Ray again.

“About the uncle’s friend who came to pick you up. Have you ever seen him before?”

“Just once.”

“Where?”

“In the house’s garden. I was playing with Rin when he suddenly appeared. The uncle seemed very embarrassed to see him. He told me to say hello, so I said hello.”

“What did he look like?”

The child, who had been answering without hesitation to the repeated questions, frowned slightly. Her face was flustered, like someone who had encountered an unexpected situation.

“Hmm. That’s strange.”

“Why?”

“I don’t remember the uncle’s friend’s face very well. I definitely looked at him straight.”

“Just the face? Don’t you remember anything else?”

“Anything else? Ah! He was wearing white clothes. Long clothes like a dress. Mom said that kind of clothes are worn by priests.”

“……I see.”

The identity of the kidnapper became clear. I was half-expecting it, but it was really the Grand Duke who had stepped forward himself. Come to think of it, Ray was a quick-witted child who immediately realized Rin’s death. There was no way that a smart child would have readily followed a stranger. She was tricked by the obvious method of taking her because it was someone she had already seen.

If they met by chance in the garden of the mansion, it wouldn’t have been a meeting intended by the Duke. At least, he seemed to be sincere in trying to take Ray in, as he was embarrassed to see the Grand Duke who suddenly appeared. Perhaps he didn’t know anything.

……I was wondering why Bluster’s rampage suddenly accelerated.

The conclusion drawn by combining all those situations made me sigh. I couldn’t believe that the reason why things were happening at this time was here. The Duke’s actions were quite unexpected, but as a result, it was a confirmation of how far the Grand Duke had fallen and his evil deeds. He had touched not only other people but also the child of his subordinate who followed him. Now he seemed to have thrown away even the last mask he had left as a human being.

“Sir, we’re here. The Duke’s residence is right in front of us.”

The carriage, which had reached its destination while I was tormented by many thoughts, stopped moving. When I paid the fare and got off, I saw a high fence. Beyond that, there was a wide forest, and when I followed the direction, I saw a splendid and magnificent building built at the highest point. It was almost a castle rather than a mansion.

‘……I’ve come this far, but.’

Looking at the endlessly long walls, I couldn’t even tell where the main gate was, and I couldn’t help but sigh. I had arrived, but I felt overwhelmed when I thought about what to do next. It had already been confirmed that I couldn’t meet the Duke even if I came, and there was no way that the butler would know where his master was. To find out where he was, it would be faster to find my party who were chasing Bluster. Still, it seemed right to take Ray to a place where she could feel safe right now.

I glanced down to check below. The child, who was looking around, had a very nervous face. Even though she already knew that she had no friends, she was clutching the necklace with both hands as if it were a lifeline. Perhaps she still doesn’t realize Rin’s absence.

“Is this the right place?”

When I spoke carefully to soothe her anxiety, Ray nodded slowly. While walking together towards the main gate, I pondered what to do from now on. I knew that the Duke’s residence would be great, but the site was even bigger than I expected. It seemed that just passing through the gate would be difficult. But that was an unnecessary worry.

“Good heavens! Young Master! Young Master Ray!”

Even before reaching the main gate, I heard a scream-like shout from afar. Someone had found us and was running towards us. It was a middle-aged man who seemed to be from the mansion. People who looked like servants were following him.