MPBGS 6

Chapter : 06

I asked Kanna, the one who suffered the most, about punishing Donau. Normally, I would have reported him to the authorities so he could face the law, but this is another world. Besides, Evangeline is a noble, so maybe it’s okay to handle criminal punishment autonomously?

“Should we lock him up in an underground prison forever?”

Kanna and Hena looked at me. If I wanted, I could have him rot in prison for life.

But Kanna shook her head. Could it be that she thinks this punishment is too harsh? Is she an angel? No wonder she gets along with Hena so well. Silly me—worry about your own body first!

“How’s your neck?”

Now that I looked, Kanna’s neck wound was deeper than I thought. A long red line ran along her neck like a thread.

Do we still have holy water at home? If I use it for treatment, will the scar disappear too? A wound from glory can be worn as a badge, but being kidnapped isn’t glorious.

“Good!”

Kanna replied, filled with joy. Her reaction seemed a bit over the top. I wondered why, then understood.

Being kidnapped and then saved by the villain, who even worries about you—that could overwhelm anyone. Kanna is also a maid at the Rohanson mansion. Compared to the girls who faint at just the sight of me, this is nothing.

“Hngh.”

Suddenly, Hena turned pale and covered her mouth. She wasn’t reacting to me, was she? Her gaze was directed behind me. What was there? Crazy… Donau!

Had I taken the knife Donau was holding? I quickly turned my head and saw a completely unexpected scene.

I expected Donau to charge at me with the knife, but instead, Donau was the one who got stabbed.

“Did you see that?”

“Yes. He stabbed his own neck.”

Kanna confirmed it.

Donau had committed suicide. Since the only thing in his hand was a knife, it seemed he used it to stab his own neck. Not the wrist, but the vital neck? Was he really that unwilling to pay for his crime?

Criminals always try to escape punishment through suicide! Even in another world, it’s the same.

“Sorry. He’s dead.”

I wanted to give him a taste of justice…

“It’s okay. This is enough for me.”

Kanna’s eyes sparkled. Her bright smile seemed to have already shaken off the fear. How big-hearted she is…

“Thank you for saving me.”

She was polite too.

Huh? No, it’s not just her manners that are bright.

‘Isn’t it a bit bright around here?’

Whoa, crazy! Fire!

A fire had broken out behind Donau, and the flames made everything around look bright. No wonder I could see clearly even with the windows blocked and no lighting!

Thanks to this, the whole room was visible at a glance. The summoning circle drawn in the center of the room was clear. Could this be… the thing he stole from me?

Then this fire… Donau must have summoned a fire spirit. So that really was a summoning circle for a spirit! Damn… he should have returned the paper or at least told me! Rudeless criminal brat!

I quickly led Hena and Kanna out of the house. It was a relief the door had been broken open. The smoke escaped outside, making it less suffocating.

This brat managed to commit one last crime before dying! If there were subtitles, it would read (+arson). Theft, kidnapping, and arson—a true triple crown!

Fortunately, the neighboring houses didn’t catch fire—maybe the buildings had some fireproof materials. The quality in this world is insane! We should bring this back home.

Donau’s house burned fiercely on its own—a spectacular sight.

I felt like I might cry. My summoning circle… it must have burned too.

A rusty, moldy room, cold soup, a narrow and hard bed, a tiny window just two spans wide.

This was all Kanna’s world.

She had been in poor health since birth. Her birth was difficult, and her mother died giving her life. If she had been born by consuming her mother, she should have been healthy, but she wasn’t. Kanna was always sick, almost as if she were about to die.

Her father died from overwork trying to earn money for her treatment, and now her older sister Hena had taken his place.

Even after consuming the lifelines of two family members, Kanna didn’t get healthier. Lying in bed became all she could do.

She could barely move her hands, let alone breathe easily. Hena had to hire a nurse and extend her working hours to cover it. I was worried that she might even exhaust her sister.

But there was nothing Kanna could do. She wished her sister would just say, “Stop trying, it’s hopeless,” but Kanna wanted to live. She wanted to cling to her pitiful, ragged breath.

Her sister called that hope.

“Kanna, can you see the people outside? I think someday you’ll walk like them. I’ll make that happen. So let’s not give up our hope.”

From the moment she heard those words, the small window became special to Kanna.

The only thing that changed in her daily routine was the scenery outside the window. The sun rose, birds flew, children ran around, the sunset came, everyone went home for dinner, and night fell.

Kanna added herself to the ordinary scenes outside. Running around, going to work, returning home.

And from one day, another scene appeared outside the window.

‘You came again today?’

A cat had started visiting Kanna’s window during its walks. The golden cat would always perch on the windowsill, watch her for a while, and then disappear.

Once she could walk, she would feed that cat. It must have an owner with the collar, so maybe just a snack? The cat naturally claimed a place in Kanna’s future.

“Kanna! Kanna!”

Then a miracle happened.

“Are you okay? Does it hurt now?”

“I… I’m okay.”

Her voice was hoarse, mispronounced, and stammered. Hearing her say she was okay, her sister cried and embraced her. Her shoulders were wet with tears, but Kanna silently hugged her back.

Her sister found better pay and entered the Rohanson household. Recently, the young lady Evangeline Rohanson had heard Kanna’s story and provided holy water.

For a commoner, collecting enough to buy even one bottle would take half a lifetime. Kanna realized that the hope her sister spoke of was this holy water. Her father and sister had sacrificed their lives so that someone could easily give her this out of compassion. Just for a single bottle of water!

“I’m so relieved. Really relieved.”

Hearing her sister, Kanna’s anger melted away. What use was it to be angry when the one who sacrificed their life was so happy?

Kanna gradually improved. Moving her body stimulated her appetite, and eating properly helped her gain weight. The hope her sister spoke of had suddenly arrived—it was unfamiliar and startling, but she slowly accepted it. Then Kanna decided to do what she had dreamed of.

She left the house. Sometimes wandering nearby, sometimes sitting by the door.

Shy and awkward, she couldn’t greet or talk to the children. But feeling the warm sun and listening to the chatter made her fully aware that she belonged to the “outside.”

‘I wonder if that cat will come?’

Kanna had asked Hena to leave treats for the cat. She always carried some in her pocket but had never seen it. Had its route changed? Hopefully no one had hurt it.

While worrying, she spent time outside, and her body quickly grew cold. Her sister would be home late today, so she decided to go in. Just then, a golden tail flicked past the edge of her vision.

‘A cat?’

Kanna remembered Hena’s warning not to go out at night. It was still daytime. She just wanted to check briefly and return. But as she entered the alley, a man appeared.

When she regained consciousness, she was in an unfamiliar room.

Her mouth was gagged, hands and feet bound. How long had she been unconscious? The room was dark. After a while, her eyes adjusted enough to see.

She wasn’t alone. A man sat reading some papers intently. This had to be the one who attacked her. Kanna struggled in anger, but her newly recovered body couldn’t function properly yet.

“What’s this, awake already? Don’t disturb me while I’m reading.”

As he approached, a putrid smell hit her. Kanna immediately recognized it—it was blood. Strange that she didn’t notice earlier, but she had vomited a lot. However, aside from being bound, Kanna had no wounds. The smell came from him.

“Wait quietly until nightfall.”

The man faced the wall. Kanna forced herself to look in the same direction. It wasn’t a wall—just a window boarded up. Kanna felt dizzy.

Just seeing the blocked window was more shocking than realizing she’d been kidnapped. That window had been her hope. Here, there was no hope at all.

So even as the man ordered her to behave, Kanna began to struggle.

She called for her sister. She begged for help. The man ignored her entirely. She sought hope. She wanted to see beyond the window. It wasn’t night yet. Her sister would worry if she returned home and she wasn’t there.

Kanna could do nothing. She had reverted to the powerless patient she had been, lying in bed and waiting for her sister before drinking the holy water.

Her search for hope gradually turned into a curse.

Finally, the sun set completely, and the man’s long-awaited night arrived. He lit a candle and picked up a knife.

“Die, die, die…” Kanna whispered. The man danced, oblivious to her words, as if her curse were music. Kanna watched without blinking.

The man finished dancing and sank in front of her. Now she knew what he intended. She had learned from reading the papers aloud dozens of times. A “angel of light”?

‘He’s going to… offer me as a sacrifice?’