LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 93
Chapter
“Yeah! I’m the one who reaped the soul of the Idalian!”
The Marquis’s facial muscles twitched violently at the ghostly woman’s words. It was nothing short of a miracle that he managed to mask his agitation with a calm voice.
“…What do you mean by that?”
“I’m saying it literally. I took the soul of the Idalian, resulting in the death of her body. In a way, you could say I killed her.”
Her tone seemed deliberately provocative. Enok, the third party, thought so, but for the Marquis, it was unbearable.
“You… vile fiend…!”
A chilling aura of Ki enveloped the Marquis’s sword. As he swung it, the air split apart, but the ghost woman merely laughed and flitted about.
“Don’t you want to hear more?”
“I won’t be your puppet any longer!”
At last, the Marquis’s sword sliced through the ghost, splitting her in two.
Yet, the Marquis’s face twisted in even greater fury. The ghost, utterly unharmed, whispered mischievously in his ear.
“I remember her last words. Quite poignant, really. She was a remarkably pure woman.”
“T-This…!”
Veins bulged alarmingly on the Marquis’s face. Everyone sensed it. Even the Marquis realized he was teetering on the edge of a breakdown.
But he hesitated not. If he could tear apart this fiend before him, his life was of no consequence.
“Dad! Stop! Let’s hear her out a little longer!”
“What more is there to hear?!”
“Y-Yeah, exactly.”
Had Enok been in the Marquis’s position, he would have immediately razed a city to get started. How could he tolerate such mockery regarding Rionne?
However, since it was merely someone else’s affair for now, he could remain calm.
“Let’s listen to her first.”
Pressure rose, compelled by Enok’s will, weighing down the Marquis. In his struggle to shake it off, the Marquis seemed to hesitate, loosening his resistance.
“Stop with the strange talk, will you?”
Enok’s eyes pierced through the woman. She awkwardly smiled, subtly twisting away.
“Right. Your eyes are quite frightening.”
Still, Enok found the woman untrustworthy. He had had enough of complications. Things had already become plenty tiresome.
So he scanned the half-destroyed Lord’s Castle with his eyes.
“I’ve found it.”
He detected the weave of fate lying between two realms. Enok pulled at the air. To everyone else, it seemed an inconsequential gesture, but to those who perceived the flow of souls, it was anything but.
“[What a truly frightening child.]”
The soul of the Idalian was pulled into the space in front of Enok. He inscribed the flow of fate in his memory and opened the eye of his mind based on it.
Kiinnng-!
Capturing the rough outline of the soul reduced the strain on his Ki Eye dramatically.
As Enok gazed at the now much clearer image of the Idalian, he extended his hand.
“Grab my hand.”
The Idalian, who had hesitated, reached out. Enok was now certain: her sanity was awfully frayed.
If she lingered like this any longer, she would completely lose her mind, ending up as a soulless husk.
Grasping the Idalian’s hand, Enok stomped on the ground a few times.
Tap, tap- Tap!
The flow of mana spread out, taking shape. A massive magic circle materialized, and the results of his painstaking calculations were successfully revealed.
“Ah, ah….”
A voice, softly crying, slipped through Enok’s lips. It was the woman’s voice. The familiar sound caused the Marquis to lift his head in alarm.
“I-Idalian…?”
“Ah… Nibeilon….”
“Idalian…!”
The half-dazed Marquis rushed over and took her hand in his.
“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry. I was foolish and couldn’t even imagine your suffering.”
“Nibeilon….”
“Please don’t hold my failings against me. If you permit it, I’ll repay this debt in the afterlife.”
“Don’t speak of such things…”
While observing from within, Enok was taken aback. Like a flickering candle flame igniting brightly, the soul of the Idalian shone vividly.
“I’m okay. Thanks to you, it hasn’t been too hard on me. It’s just… I’m worried about our son….”
“Zikfrein has grown up healthy. Heaven must have recognized your devotion. He’s now received the blessings of the Ziwei Star, unrivaled among his peers.”
“I’m so glad… You kept your promise….”
“Promise…?”
The ghost woman coughed a bit to draw attention to herself.
“[I’m the one who saved Zikfrein, you know. Though I took a little fee for it.]”
At her words, the Idalian smiled faintly.
“That’s true. It was quite a small price. I’m always so grateful.”
“[Is that really so? That’s quite embarrassing.]”
Lost in thought while gazing at the fluttering ghost, Zikfrein approached the Idalian.
There stood his mother. The one he thought he had lost forever.
“Was it my life…? What do you mean by price, Mom?”
“Ah… my son. My son Zikfrein.”
Zikfrein, cradled in his mother’s arms, buried his head. An ominous thought lingered in his mind. Unable to voice it, he merely fidgeted his lips, finally saying something else.
“I punished everyone who pretended to be you and did bad things. It took a while, but I got rid of all the people who tormented you.”
“…Thank you for thinking of me. Yet, that was a pointless act.”
The Idalian softly stroked Zikfrein’s head.
“I was truly fine. I didn’t suffer at all. It’s not just empty words; I genuinely did not. The simple village girl enjoyed luxuries not meant for her fate.”
“No! Don’t say that! Those were neither noble nor worthy! If anything, that girl was more of a noble than anyone!”
The Marquis screamed. The Idalian shook her head.
“That can’t be true. I know better than anyone else. If I had been noble from the start, none of this would have happened.”
The Idalian, who seemed to gaze endlessly at her family without blinking, looked up to the sky.
A sky with vivid colors she couldn’t see while residing in the realm of souls. Struck by its strangeness, she murmured as if in a dream.
“Don’t be sad. Don’t hate too much. I was happy. I received too much from that ghost, whose name I didn’t even know.”
“What do you mean by ‘received’?! I cannot understand at all!”
“What do you think? Our son. I was happy. So I wish for you and Zikfrein to be happy too.”
Her sparkling eyes captured the night sky. As the two men gazed at her as if enchanted, the ghost whispered.
“[Why do you keep pretending you don’t understand? The Idalian sacrificed her life to save her son. Zikfrein, your life, your talents, they all spring from your mother’s very life.]”
“Th-That….”
Faced with a truth he had denied, Zikfrein ultimately shattered. The Marquis merely fumbled, unsure of what to do. Watching them, the Idalian smiled softly.
“Don’t be so cruel. It was a transaction that benefited everyone involved. For me, and for the ghost as well. If you and Zikfrein can be happy till the end, then it’s a perfect deal.”
With her rationality fading, the Idalian began to sing like a chant.
“The time is running out. I didn’t expect such fortune at the end. I would have been satisfied just watching quietly. Thank you, Enok.”
Nodding lightly at the response from within, the Idalian smiled serenely.
“I’m leaving now. So don’t forget. You must be happy. If not, this perfect transaction of mine becomes meaningless, you know? Let me do something noble at the very end.”
“…I shall. Absolutely.”
“Thank you.”
Her soul began to fade. Losing the strength to remain, the ghost was drawn towards the call of the afterlife.
“…My son, Zikfrein. Don’t cry too much. This fate merely came a little sooner than it should have.”
“Mom….”
“All I want is to see you smile.”
A twisted smile formed upon Zikfrein’s lips. The Idalian spoke lightly.
“Thank you. That’s enough.”
With her final words, her soul ascended to the sky. Regaining control of his body, Enok wiped away the tears and snot on his clothes.
“Well, that’s that.”
It was as if that were a signal, and then both father and son began to weep in unison. Watching the two men cry, Enok shook his head.
“Sigh… At least it’s a relief they aren’t sobbing on each other.”
He gazed up at the sky where the Idalian had vanished, pondering an awkward question.
“Could someone who claims to be satisfied with just watching quietly really have stayed in the Middle Realm this long? What could compel her to resist the pull of the afterlife?”
Only the Idalian, who had now disappeared, would know.
*
“[Happy ending? Bad ending? Hmm… it’s all rather ambiguous. But I guess, this isn’t so bad.]”
The ghost, having watched the play, clapped her hands. It was a relatively satisfying conclusion.
“[Shall I be on my way?]”
However, as she was about to leave, a girl stopped her in her tracks.
“So, what brings the God of Life and Death’s specter all the way here?”
“Oh my, wasn’t I supposed to be scary? How deceptive of me!”
Standing gracefully beneath the moon, Tsukiyo’s eyes glimmered golden as she smiled.
“I’ve long outgrown being scared of ghosts.”
Puff— a whiff of dense tobacco smoke wafted through the air. Before the hesitant ghost, Tsukiyo’s pupils stretched unnaturally wide.
“It’s a secret from Dad.”