Chapter 47 – A World Without Me Is Too Fragile – 2

Ellie. Of theta. By name.
Your. Time. Don’t stop

Six words run through my head. Ellie. Theta. Name. You. Hour. Stop.

Stop.

Hour.

Time. Stop.

“You mean… Stop time?”

His mouth moved wildly and he asked a question. Then came the suffocating answer.

“Yes…Time. Time has stopped. There is no damage to the body. It was the same for you, Luca. You were fine even after being released from the seal. It’s the same with Ellie…I’m sure that’s the case…”

“Don’t talk nonsense. Then why didn’t you breathe? Why did you vomit blood?”

“Breath…Not breathing is of course…Sigh…It’s because your internal organs are also stopped…You’re weird, Luca. It’s possible because your exorcism is abnormally high. The reason why she vomited…Maybe Ellie’s condition was extremely bad…Or…Ugh…That’s the condition for the curse to be triggered…”

“Are you sure? Are you sure, Bobby?”

“Uugh…Ugh…Yes…You can be sure…Aaaaa…”

“Proof? Do you have any proof to show me?”

“That…That…Not now. But later…”

“Damn… I guess. Okay, so where is Ellie now, Bobby? Answer me.”

“L…Ugh…Bad…”

“That… That Luka-san. Stop…”

“Where’s Ellie! Answer me Bobby!”

“Cheuk…Cheuk…”

“Luca. Then you die! Stop it!”

“Answer me, you fucking bastard!!!”

“Luca!!!”

Rachel’s voice echoed clearly through her heat-clouded mind. When I looked up at her, she was holding my arm tightly around her and pulling as hard as she could. I finally came to her senses and loosened her tightly clenched fists a little.

“Uh… Uh…”

Then Bobby’s body flopped and fell to the floor. He was gasping for breath, rubbing a clear handprint on his neck. And I, too, exhaled heavily, feeling as if I was suffocating.

“Haha…”

“Calm down please. The kids are watching.”

“Ellie… Ellie…”

“I heard that too. So please calm down.”

I couldn’t bear to finish my words and dropped my hand. Rachel hugged it tightly as if it were a dangerous weapon and refused to let go. A warm feeling ran down her arms, but it didn’t calm down at all. Rather, my thoughts were racing like crazy along with my beating heart.

Ellie is alive.

It’s just sealed.

And Leo is struggling to break the seal.

“Seal…”

Again, the mouth was opened on its own. I looked at Bobby and asked again.

“How to break the seal. Did you figure that out too?”

“I…I don’t know.”

Bobby was still rolling on the floor, giggling. Fuck. I went up to him and pressed my foot down on that piggy belly and asked again.

“Then who knows. You may have just loosened it.”

“Luka-san…”

“Ah…Ahhh…I…I really don’t know…”

“Stop saying you don’t know! Answer anything!”

“Miss Luca!”

Before Rachel could stop, I hit the piglet’s muzzle vigorously with her foot. All the teeth in the part where the feet touched were ripped out, and blood splattered on the wall.

“Uh uh uh…! Uh uh…”

“Answer me Bobby! How to break the seal!”

“You know that Luca!!!”

He screamed miserably, pouring out tears and blood. He whined like a newborn child and curled up on his body.

“You are the only one freed from that seal, Luca. So I rather thought you would know… You… You’re the only one who knows how, Luka…”

“I know?”

“Yeah…We…We couldn’t figure it out in the end. Damn, we couldn’t find out even if we called all the priests…So Leo headed to the capital. We’re going to gather all the talented people in the imperial family and study them. That stupid nonsense. Damn…Leo…Leo you incompetent asshole…”

Soon Bobby was complaining to himself. I looked at it and took a small step back.

Do you know how to break the seal?

I rummaged through the memories and recalled that time. What the hell happened that day? There were days when everything came to mind clearly, but at the same time, there were also days when nothing came to mind. Rick. Bobby. Leo. Nadia. Sera. Ellie. I swore an oath for them. But I knew nothing of what had happened outside of that oath, what was happening outside the closed view.

What the hell happened then? There was no sign of who was looking for it. Did anything else unusual happen? No. There was none of that. No, there must have been something. Remember Luca. To remember Memories suck. Damn nothing happened. It’s just that time passed and it solved itself. There is no other way to describe it!!!

…

“…Hour.”

Again, the word lingered in my head.

Hour.

It loosened up over time.

Just. What if that was the only curse?

Okay. All seals are like that. Over time, the seal breaks.

What if that curse is like that too?

Ellie’s curse too. What if it just loosens up over time?

…

If so… Then…

If Ellie too. If the seal is to be released after the same amount of time as mine has passed.

Until the seal is broken. How much do you have left?

1 year? One month?

Or not. Only fortnight?

Memories run toward the past. He counts time while going through nightmares he doesn’t want to remember. Because I decided to bury it, I thought I didn’t want to take it out, so I couldn’t calculate it accurately. But she was clear on one thing.

“…We have to go.”

“Miss Luca?”

I turned her head towards Rachel. And she grabbed her by the shoulder.

“Rachel. How long will it take to get to the capital?”

“Yeah? It’s quite a distance, so that’s…”

“There’s a distance? How to minimize it? We have to get there as quickly as possible. Somehow! You know how?”

“Wait a minute. That’s something I need to figure out. And in a situation like this…”

“Please Rachel!

“Luka.”

Rachel grabbed my chin and made eye contact with her. Before she knew it, she had thrown away all of Sera’s features. So, all that remained on her body were traces of the other girl. I opened my lips meaninglessly, then closed them tight. Rachel stared at me like that before finally saying a word.

“…Let me help you.”

Then he smiled a little. But inside she had lost her characteristic gaiety. To put it bluntly, she looked like she was about to cry.

“So let’s calm down, go outside and talk. OK?”

“…Okay.”

I nodded. And didn’t say anything. If I opened my mouth now, it seemed that nonsense would come out.

“Come on. Let’s go.”

She grabbed my hand I quietly followed her with my head down. Bobby’s moans of pain could be heard behind her, then cut off.

“What if you scream like that in the presence of children, Mr. Luca?”

“…Sorry.”

“I’m sorry again. You said you wouldn’t say that to me.”

“…Sorry.”

“Please don’t say that.”

We stood leaning against the door of the shack and stared at the sky. The summer sky after the rainy season was clear and blue. The bright sunlight seemed to promise a bright future for the changed city, but to me it seemed like a shade that drew a deeper shadow. Rachel let out a thin sigh and turned her head to me.

“So. What the hell is going on?”

“Ellie is alive.”

“I’m guessing you’re referring to the dark-haired girl in the flow. I’d like to think I’m lucky that my beliefs were right, but that’s not the case right now, right?”

“The seal might be broken soon.”

“Then isn’t it nice? Because we can meet soon.”

“I can’t break the seal now.”

“Why?”

“…Long, so to speak.”

“I guess so.”

Rachel shook her head slowly. And she let out a word like a sigh.

“I’m not going to tell you what the story is about now. I know you won’t get an answer.”

“…”

Again, I didn’t say sorry. In the meantime, Rachel’s words continued.

“You mean we have to go to the capital anyway. But things aren’t that simple right now. First of all, we’ve turned this whole city upside down.”

“I’ll be able to get at least one wagon.”

“Even if you can save it, it won’t be easy to get out of the city. Right now, the knights from the capital are confronting the protesters outside the gate. .”

“I won’t touch the good people of the empire who don’t know anything.”

“I haven’t touched it yet. But I don’t know. What will happen if I run into it myself.”

She frowned as she suddenly scratched her hair. And she poured out her words as if lamenting.

“In addition, demons appear more frequently these days, so you have to take care of the escort while you go, and it’s quite far from the capital, so you have to prepare supplies. And you have to prepare counterfeit ID cards more thoroughly. There are not just one or two things to prepare. But you say you have to go to the capital right now? Do you know that if you make up your mind, everything will happen just as you please? Don’t say sorry!”

“…”

“…Don’t even make that face. Ha…So the conclusion is…”

Rachel pulled her hair out as if her head was about to explode. And, drooping her shoulders, she said.

“In conclusion, it will work out somehow. Well, if Luka-san and I go together, it will work out somehow. Isn’t it? Just like always.”

Then, a soft smile. It was a warm and calming smile as always, but today, when I saw that smile, I felt like I was becoming uncomfortable with my heart. I averted her gaze for a bit and opened her mouth.

“About that, Rachel.”

“Why. Is there anything else you want to say?”

“Yes. Actually…”

Bang.

Just then, the door exploded open from behind, and something small jumped out. Rachel squealed and flopped ferociously, and I looked back at her, frowning. Then, for some reason, he met her eyes with the well-dressed Bella.

“Uhhhhh…It’s a surprise. Someone did it for me. It must have been you, Bella.”

Without the serious expression from before, Rachel smiled like an idiot and raised her head. But Bella looked at us with an expression that was different from her usual smile.

“…”

“Uh…Why is that Bella? What’s wrong?”

“…”

Bella didn’t answer, just kept her mouth shut and looked up at me. Only then did I see the tear marks on that little face. As if to hold back her crying, her clenched fists trembled before finally bowing her head.

“Ugh.”

“…”

“What’s going on… Bella?”

I asked in the softest voice possible, not like me. Then Bella barely raised her head. Before she knew it, her tears were pouring down from her eyes.

“That is…”

“Bella!”

“…!”

But no answer followed. As soon as Bella heard Vanessa shouting behind her, she sprinted to the other side. While I traced the tears left in my arms with my fingers, this time Vanessa opened the door and came out.

“Ugh. That damn guy is for real.”

“Uh…What’s going on?”

“You don’t have to worry about it.”

“What is it?”

Vanessa, who was trying to gloss over it, leaned against the doorway, frowning when I asked. Then she shook her head and replied.

“It’s no big deal. I just thought maybe I could see her mother.”

“Mother? But Bella’s mother…”

“Yes. He died. A long time ago.”

“Then why is she doing that all of a sudden? She seems to know that she can’t see her mother.”

“Yeah…”

Vanessa dragged on for a long time. Then he ended his words bitterly.

“Because I saw my dad today.”

“Dad? But…Ah…”

Rachel, who was asking blankly, immediately understood the meaning and stopped her words. And she opened her mouth again to see if her suspicions were true.

“Is Bella… Barbie’s illegitimate child?”

“Kids are smart enough to be annoying sometimes.”

She took out the pipe and put it back into her arms, following her instincts. And banged her head against her wall.

“I don’t know the exact story. But I can guess. It’s probably the child of a girl who was forcibly impregnated by Bobby, like that girl today. Bobby raped countless girls before he became an archbishop. I don’t know, but Bella He won’t be Bobby’s only illegitimate son.”

“…This is the first time I’ve seen Bella do that.”

“It’s my first time too. If I were Bella too… Maybe she just vaguely thought she would overcome it. After all, she’s just a kid.”

Vanessa puts her hands in her pockets and suddenly smiles faintly at me.

“And it’s the first time I’ve seen Bella show such closeness to a man, Mr. Luca. She must be more friendly than I thought.”

“…Maybe.”

“I knew you would make that face.”

I don’t know what expression I made, but Vanessa stretched him all the way and shuddered at him. And he spoke in an exaggeratedly loud voice.

“Ah! Shit. Talking about him just makes me feel dirty. Talking about something else. What were you talking about?”

“It’s just… So-and-so. About the story Bobby brought up earlier, about leaving for the capital.”

“Yes. Vanessa. I still want to ask you something.”

“Ooh. You want to ask me. I don’t know what I know, but I’ll answer you as much as I want. What are you curious about?”

“Bobby’s story. How much of it do you think is true?”

“That’s it.”

Vanessa looked up at the sky with a knowing expression on her face. And after a fairly long time, he nodded his head.

“At least I think it’s true about the language of the demons. I’ve never studied the language of the demons, but well, since I’ve had experience there, I’ve picked up a lot of military terminology. ‘Move forward’ is the ego.’ Maden means ‘Go back’ and Ruta means ‘Stop.’ The rest of the language also… I think they mean something similar.”

“Does that mean that the curse of stopping someone’s time really exists?”

“I’m not sure about that. You’re not an expert. You’ll have to ask someone else about that.”

“What if someone else?”

“Well… Say it.”

Vanessa stopped him and looked me straight in the eyes. And he said with infinitely blue eyes shining.

“For example, a genius wizard who graduated from Appenheim Academy at the top of his class.”

…

At that moment, I shut her mouth and averted her gaze. Her desire to pretend not to hear came over her.

“Magic and divine. I know of only one person who has mastered those two realms. Even if that was a name based on lies, I wouldn’t have wasted those long years.”

…

“Even if I don’t know exactly, I can give you a hint. I think it’s worth talking about.”

…

“Luka.”

Vanessa called my name in a stronger tone than ever. Her voice had the power to catch people’s attention. When I managed to turn her head, she spoke in a clear voice.

“I hate that saintess. To be precise, I hate everyone who belongs to the church. They’ve all been watching Bobby’s misdeeds for years. But regardless, I think she has the right to know. As far as the fact that an old colleague is still alive.”

…

That wasn’t entirely correct.

…

But even so, it was not something that could be completely denied.

“Ha…”

I sighed towards the sky. The heat of summer couldn’t even draw white breath. I asked quietly as I watched the breath disappear without a trace.

“Is Sarah still sleeping?”

“Yes.”

Thud.

…

Then, suddenly, my heart beat once and for all. It felt as if the entire earth was shaking. I suddenly felt strange and cast my gaze toward the horizon. But there, as always, the sun was shining.

“Okay.”

Sarah, too, must have the right to know.

Damn I didn’t say it out of my mouth. I just nodded at Vanessa.

Then she nodded her head, then usually nodded, and moved her steps somewhere. I silently followed him.