Chapter 72
It’s Just a Glass Shard
After finishing her preliminary activities report, Riche returned to the dormitory.
She wasn’t too worried because she knew through star detection that Pythoness was in the dorm.
[Contractor!]
As soon as Riche opened the door, Pythoness’s urgent voice echoed in her head.
‘Pythoness? What’s wrong?’
Startled, Riche looked around and found Pythoness wriggling on the bed.
Pythoness’s body was tangled in leather straps.
“Pythoness, what are those straps? You said you met Morgan.”
“What? Did she say that? Morgan Dayel. She recognized me and still caught me? That brat…”
Riche immediately approached to untangle the leather straps, but they were tightly wound around Pythoness, making it difficult to remove by hand.
The straps were so tightly wrapped that it was impossible to find where they started.
“This isn’t working. Should I try using magic?”
“W-Wait a minute!”
Pythoness cried out urgently.
“Contractor, are you sure you can do it without damaging my beautiful fur?”
“…Let’s just cut it with a knife.”
Riche wasn’t confident enough in her magic to use it delicately. She stood up from the bed.
Pythoness nodded in agreement, as even she was too worried about causing damage to use her own destructive powers.
With muscles that couldn’t be shown, all that was left for Pythoness was her shiny fur and cute appearance.
While searching the desk drawer for a knife, Riche asked,
“How did you end up tangled in straps? Does it have something to do with your disappearance earlier?”
This morning, while Riche was preparing to go out, Pythoness had disappeared from the room.
Riche had gone out and used star detection to find Pythoness, which led to her unexpectedly meeting Morgan.
Pythoness shook her head, signaling it wasn’t worth talking about.
“I picked up a star shard, hoping something would happen when it reflected in the sunlight. But it fell between the windows. So, I quickly went down and picked up a ring rolling on the street.”
Professor Declan, who was passing by, had witnessed Pythoness picking up the ring.
“My, my ring!”
Was that the ring’s previous owner?
A brief standoff occurred between Pythoness and Professor Declan.
“Did I look like the owner of a star shard? So, I stuffed it in my mouth and ran away.”
If she ran straight to the contractor’s room, it would only seem like Riche had the ring.
It was better to pretend to be a local squirrel and lose the human.
While escaping from Declan, Pythoness had encountered Morgan Dayel.
“I managed to hold out without using my power until then. But the ring got tangled with Morgan Dayel’s ornament.”
“Ornament?”
Riche, holding the knife, looked at Pythoness’s belly.
Among the fluffy white fur, in addition to the ring, was a familiar ornament.
It was the ornament Morgan used to hang on her scabbard.
So, she lost it when she met Pythoness.
‘It seemed important to her.’
Maybe she’s still looking for it.
Thinking of Morgan wandering around searching for the missing ornament made Riche feel a sense of urgency.
‘I have to return it quickly.’
Riche used the knife to cut the leather straps.
Snip, snip.
After finding and cutting through the tangled parts, the straps fell away, and the ornament and ring rolled onto the blanket.
Pythoness shook her body in relief, finally free.
“Phew, now I can breathe again.”
As Riche cleaned up the shredded leather straps, she asked Pythoness:
“What about the ring? Shouldn’t we return it since we know the owner?”
“What are you talking about, contractor? On the battlefield, once something’s lost, it’s over. Finders keepers.”
Pythoness fluffed up her fur in defiance.
Riche stood up, holding the ring and the ornament from the blanket.
“Where are you going?”
Are you going to return the ring?
Pythoness clung to Riche’s arm, looking up at her. After all the time, effort, and thought she had invested, not to mention her pride, it didn’t seem right to simply return the star shard to its owner.
Pythoness decided to try to stop Riche—with her cuteness. She widened her eyes and sparkled.
“Are you really going to return the ring? Seriously?”
“I’m going to give the ornament back to Morgan first.”
“Morgan Dayel?”
“Yes. She’s probably looking for it.”
Riche, with the ring and ornament in hand, thought about Morgan.
That’s when it happened.
[Not done yet?]
A woman’s voice echoed in both Riche and Pythoness’s ears.
[W-What?]
Is someone outside the door? Pythoness closed her mouth and climbed onto Riche’s shoulder, ears perked.
She glanced at Riche, but Riche’s gaze was fixed on one spot, unmoving.
Following her gaze, Pythoness turned her head.
What appeared in the center of the room left both Pythoness and Riche unable to look away.
“…What is this?”
Pythoness muttered in awe.
It was an ability she was familiar with. No wonder her powers hadn’t activated—it was because Riche had been holding onto the ring all this time.
It was an ability that materialized the memories of objects.
The light from the star shard in Riche’s hand spread out, vividly recreating the memories of the ornament.
The memory was likely related to the person Riche had just been thinking about.
“It’s Ian before he disappeared.”
Riche watched a young Ian piece together the shards of a broken mirror.
It was the same mirror Riche had seen at the Gerwer estate of the Zodiac.
[Are you ready?]
A maid leaning against the open door spoke to Ian.
When Pythoness saw the maid’s glowing golden eye, she jumped up.
“That yellow-eyed jerk?”
It was Hickenka. How had Hickenka gotten close to young Ian Duane?
Could that brat be involved in the reason for the disappearance of the Gerwer duchy?
Pythoness glanced nervously at Riche, concerned about her reaction.
“……”
Riche was silent, her eyes focused on the vision before her.
[Tomorrow’s the day. How do you feel about leaving?]
[I’m fine.]
Ian and Hickenka continued their conversation.
[You won’t see Lethiom for years, though.]
[… But I have to leave so that Riche can live.]
Ian had to leave for Riche to survive.
“What does that even mean?”
Pythoness, bewildered by the strange words, opened her mouth to speak but was silenced by Riche’s warning.
Quiet.
Riche muttered as she hugged Pythoness and sat down on the bed.
She barely breathed as she listened to the rest of the conversation between Ian and Hickenka. Their fates were entwined, their deaths fated to occur when they were 16 and 19.
The scene shifted.
It seemed to be following the timeline of memories related to Morgan, based on the first memory that appeared.
[Aren’t you going to say goodbye to Lethiom?]
[I won’t. I don’t want Riche to worry.]
And with that, Ian crossed over to the Pan Continent.
The memories flowed by quickly, showing fragments of Ian’s life: wandering the streets, being taken in by the headmaster, grueling training, covered in wounds, crying from the hardship, soaked in blood…
[…Riche, I’m so tired.]
Words he couldn’t tell anyone else.
Words that wouldn’t even reach Riche, the one Ian intended them for.
Ian had spoken countless words to the shards of the mirror.
Riche simply watched those scenes, endlessly.
* * *
‘…It’s not here.’
Morgan wandered the streets, retracing the path she’d taken earlier that day in search of the lost ornament, but she couldn’t find it anywhere.
She vividly remembered seeing the ornament attached to her sword sheath at the training ground.
It had to have fallen somewhere along the way.
‘Without it—’
Morgan grew anxious.
Her life had always been on the verge of collapsing, and every time it did, that object had held her together.
Without the mirror shard, she wasn’t sure she could survive the next three years.
This Cruxelphon tournament would be her last encounter with Riche. Once the tournament ended, Morgan had resolved to never see Riche again.
Even if Hannivan ordered her to participate in Cruxelphon next year, if Riche was involved, she wouldn’t even bother applying for eligibility.
‘I have to find it.’
Could it have slipped into some crack or crevice?
As Morgan bent over, scanning her surroundings, a hand suddenly appeared before her.
“Hey, Morgan.”
Morgan straightened up, surprised to see Riche standing there. They had parted ways just hours earlier.
“Riche?”
Had Riche come looking for her on purpose? What for?
Morgan asked, “What brings you here?”
“This.”
Riche opened her clenched fist, revealing the ornament that Morgan had lost.
“I picked it up. Our squirrel brought it along.”
So it was Pythoness who had taken it. Morgan sighed in relief as she took the ornament from Riche’s hand.
“Thanks, Riche. You really saved me.”
“Is it important?”
Morgan hesitated as she was about to pocket the ornament.
Riche’s silver eyes were staring directly at her. She recalled how Riche had shown interest in the ornament earlier.
‘Does she want it?’
But there was no way Morgan could give it to her. She simply nodded without saying much.
“Yes, it’s very important.”
“But it’s just a piece of glass…?”
“Even if it’s just a piece of glass.”
Riche’s tone seemed different from usual.
Riche wasn’t the type to dismiss someone else’s treasured object as “just” anything.
“Riche, do you want one of these that badly? I can ask Hamad to make one for you. Hamad’s the one who made this. The glass inside won’t be the same, but if we use black gemstones, we can get something that looks similar.”
“…”
But instead of replying, Riche pressed her lips together tightly. Why was that? She didn’t seem angry.
“No, Morgan. I’m sorry. What I said just now about it being just glass was a mistake… I should go now.”
With that, Riche turned and walked away.
Does she have something urgent to do? Morgan waved after her.
“Okay. See you next time, and thanks again for finding the ornament.”
Riche nodded and ran off.
A single drop of water fell on Morgan’s hand.
‘Rain?’
She looked up at the sky. The clear sky was aglow with a crimson sunset.
“Oh.”
That’s when Morgan remembered she had to gather thirty monster hearts.
If she went out tonight and stayed up all night, she might be able to do it.
Maybe the tournament grounds would still have a cart she could borrow.
Though she’d probably need to buy a sturdy leather strap first. It might be better to wear it as a necklace this time.
Morgan left the spot where Riche had disappeared.
* * *
The crackling sound of burning torches filled the air.
Underneath the torches illuminating the underground temple, dozens of priests stood in line.
They were all wearing black robes embroidered with an hourglass on the back.
They were facing an altar at the front, where a high-ranking priest in white robes stood.
“The great star has spoken. The past can be undone. All you have to do is believe.”
The priest placed a dried branch on the altar.
As he chanted in a language no one could understand, the dried branch began to swell. Leaves sprouted and fell, flowers bloomed and withered, and fresh green buds formed on the once-bare branch.
“Behold! The moment when the glory of the past is reborn in the dead! The moment when everything begins anew!”
A roar of cheers filled the temple from the assembled priests.
On the wall of the temple, a single red spider clung to the surface.
“…”
It was Siegbert, who had transformed into a spider.
[Wasn’t I right?]
“…”
[The star that created Lethiom is trying to break down the barrier between the human world and the grave.]
A satisfied growl from a predator echoed in Siegbert’s mind.
