Chapter 44
His voice was heavy.
“And at the end of this, there are only two outcomes: death or success. Nothing else. In that sense, I don’t want you involved in this.”
Kin’s revenge was still ongoing. A brutal, terrifying kind of revenge.
‘He means he’ll only tell me the truth if I risk my life for it, become one of his people, right?’
Kin was not a man to speak empty words.
If I nodded here, there was no doubt he would tell me what happened that day immediately.
But—
‘…Wait.’
A warning light went off in Ash’s mind.
‘Do I really have to stake my life with this person?’
No. That was too much.
Everything has its weight.
The most important variable in all my calculations was my life, my survival.
‘How could I give that up? My dream is simple: live warm and full in a good home until I’m old and gray!’
It might sound selfish, but that was my honest feeling.
‘The truth matters, but my life matters more.’
In the end, I turned my head.
“…Then I don’t want to hear it right now. If I ever want to know, I’ll ask.”
Of course, I still wanted to know the truth.
But at least today, I wouldn’t give my life to Kin in exchange for it.
I lowered my head and clenched my fists.
‘The road to the capital isn’t the only path, right? If I look around carefully, something will come up.’
Ash was not someone who would give up easily.
I would find the truth, protecting my life and freedom, no matter what!
7
“Geez, Ash. When did you get so close with the captain?”
Ricky patted my back and laughed.
‘Close? If I got any closer, even distant relatives would disappear!’
I shed imaginary tears and gave a weak smile.
“I’m not that close with the lord. It’s just work-related, that’s all.”
“Don’t lie! If it was just work, why would the captain look at you like that? That’s totally…”
“Totally… what?”
A bad feeling rose in my chest as I swallowed.
Ricky’s eyes shone as he stared at me.
“…Totally the look you give someone you fully trust! You’re officially one of Captain Kin’s people now, Ash.”
“Ah… right.”
This guy really has no sense sometimes.
I decided not to correct Ricky’s misunderstanding.
He continued excitedly:
“If the captain trusts you, I can trust you completely too.”
“I even helped your possessed little brother, and you still didn’t fully trust me?”
A mischievous smile appeared on Ricky’s face.
“That’s different. What you did is appreciated, but this is separate.”
“You’re so picky… But Ricky, why did you come see me yesterday?”
He said he was going to stay at home with his siblings.
‘But in the middle of the night, he suddenly came and discovered I’d disappeared.’
It almost caused a serious problem.
‘I managed to resolve it somehow… But could it be that Ricky was secretly watching me at night, testing my trust?’
I thought we were very close, but suspicion crept up.
Ricky noticed my unease and scrunched his nose.
“No, not what you think. Yesterday, I came quickly because of Anna.”
“Anna? You mean the rabbit doll’s Anna from the soup shop?”
“Something happened at that place. He wanted to ask you something.”
I immediately guessed what had happened.
“Anna’s father must have left, huh?”
“Uh, how did you know?”
I hesitated, then answered vaguely:
“…The soul stays because of a strong wish. If the wish is fulfilled, there’s no reason to remain in this world, right?”
I had thought that the soul might eventually leave. I hadn’t mentioned it before for fear of ruining the happy mood.
“Anna must have been really sad.”
“No, she said she was glad to see her father leave happily. Even though it was all written messages, they could communicate a lot until the end.”
“…Oh? So he didn’t leave suddenly?”
I had expected the soul had suddenly departed the doll to find me.
‘Then why did he come to me?’
I looked at Ricky, full of questions, and he scratched his cheek.
“Well… the rabbit, I mean, the man left something for you.”
“Left something? The rabbit gave me a gift?”
It was just a rabbit doll. What could be so extraordinary?
Ricky rummaged in his clothes and extended a fist.
“Here, this is it.”
I narrowed my eyes.
“This is… a stone?”
In Ricky’s palm was a tiny stone, about the size of two thumbnails. Plain, ordinary-looking, like any rock on the roadside.
‘Not even a gem. What is this?’
I grumbled, but Ricky forced the stone into my hand.
“It came from inside the doll. When we opened the chest, it was in the heart area.”
“Ah…”
“You look so unimpressed! He said you’d know what it was, but it seems you don’t.”
‘Wait, could this be a special stone?’
I realized and activated my item appraisal.
The information appeared:
Name: Gift the soul left Ash
Property: Enhances ability
The simplest item description I had ever seen.
But the meaning was far from simple.
‘It enhances abilities?’
Just two words, but my heart raced.
“Wow!”
“Ash, what is this?”
I heard Ricky shouting, but I wasn’t ready to answer.
I only began examining this tiny ‘gift,’ thinking about how to use it.
‘How am I supposed to use this?’
Suddenly,
—Fwaaah…!
An invisible wave surged from the stone.
“Ugh, what is this!”
At the same time, a massive force poured into my body.
It was a sensation no normal mind could withstand, and soon my limbs went weak.
‘Ah, I feel dizzy…’
I stumbled. Ricky caught me, screaming.
“Ash? Ash? What’s happening? Hey! Wake up!”
His voice faded as I blacked out.
“Ugh…”
I groaned as my body was shaken.
“Ash! Ash! Answer me if you’re awake! You’re not dead, right?”
“Ugh… I feel dizzy…”
I staggered up from the bed. Ricky and Bernard, sitting nearby, cheered loudly.
“Thank goodness, milady! You’re awake!”
“Do you know how worried I was, thinking you’d die?”
I pressed my temples and pointed at them.
“Thanks for worrying, but you worried me so badly my head hurts…”
I tried to clear my dizzy vision, and what I saw was unexpected.
“…Wait. Where am I?”
“This is your room.”
“No, it’s not. My room doesn’t look like this.”
The guest room I’d been staying in had vanished, replaced with a luxurious noblewoman’s room.
“This is your room.”
“Don’t lie! This looks three times bigger than my original room. How can it be the same?”
Ricky shrugged.
“Your old room needed repairs, so we moved you here. Lucky you, right?”
“Just like that?”
“Yeah. The captain said so. Something about privacy. I don’t know why it’s connected to construction, though.”
“…Ah.”
I realized immediately.
‘That room was connected to Kin’s bath. Even Kin wouldn’t want to worry about a strange woman suddenly appearing while bathing.’
I cleared my throat and looked around.
The new room was three times bigger and ten times more lavish.
Full of decorations, expensive furniture…
As I gawked, Bernard whispered:
“This used to be the room of the previous lord’s daughter. You’re very lucky to get a room this nice.”
