Chapter 2: 2

Chapter 2

translator / editor: astralmech

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Rise was on her way to the village to sell the herbs she had gathered when she saw a burning village amidst the mountains. Just in the sky above were those wretched beasts, flying overhead.

[Rise] ”We have to get away!”

The older couple and Rise left the mountain pass without even properly packing. Rise briefly noticed them hiding something away, but she didn’t have the time nor the energy to care anymore.

After walking for days, they met up with another group of refugees, flooding the roads. They were all undertaking this trek to escape from the monstrous creatures.

It was only after a few months did they manage to settle in a refugee camp near the capital. The older couple was exhausted from the journey, lying down while being unable to sit up straight. This journey was a difficult one, and it was killing them.

A priest had stopped by the village, only shaking his head when he understood their condition.

[Priest] ”If you wish to pass into the kingdom of God, you must confess your sins before your death.”

That night, after the priest had returned, the older couple called in Rise.

[Couple] ”You are not our daughter.”

Rise could not believe what they were saying. If that was true, then what did this mean for her?

[Couple] ”We just picked you up on our way to the village, after you had washed up by the river. After saving you…we…..were going to sell you…..”

Slowly, they poured out their sins.

On their way to the village to sell their herbs, they found Rise.

At first glance, they noticed the clothing she was wearing was certainly not the same as a commoner’s outfit. The two of them went in for a closer look, curious to see if there was anything there worth some extra money, but were disappointed to find she had already been picked clean.

Even the lace of her dress had already been torn off, so they assumed someone else had already found her first.

It was a bit strange that the clothing seemed a little too big for her body, but they weren’t interested anymore. Finished here, the two of them turned to leave.

And that’s when they heard a cough. The woman they thought was a corpse was actually alive.

Not long ago, they had taken care of another woman who had gotten lost in the mountains. She sold for quite the hefty price from what they could remember…

[Slaver] ”She looks a little weird, but she seems in good shape. Where did you find her?”

[Couple] ”We picked her up wandering in the mountains.”

[Slaver] ”Well, here. I paid extra, so if you happen across anyone else, bring them to me straight away.”

The slave merchant who had crossed the border went on his way with the woman in tow, and within the older couple’s grasp was more gold coins than they had ever seen in their life.

If we save this woman, she’ll definitely sell for even more money, they thought.

With no time to delay, the older couple hurried their steps. This woman even had a pretty face, so that would only add to her selling value. However, after Rise regained consciousness and started moving around more, their thoughts changed the more time passed.

Rise truly regarded them as her parents and began to complete their work for them. No matter the weather, rain or shine, she climbed the mountain to gather more pricey herbs, and even prepared meals for them. Their old and withered cottage was even repaired.

In that case, wouldn’t it be better to keep her?

Money was good, but even with money, no one could live if they had no one to take care of them. So when the slaver came around again, they hid Rise.

They confessed all of their sins, professing all the way until dawn, and by the time the morning sun rose above the horizon, they were no longer breathing.

Rise burned their bodies by the river. The firewood, which she had purchased by selling out some of their extra clothing they had brought, burned day and night.

……Who….am I?

Rise collapsed with a thudding sound as the final remaining embers burned out.

Even as the void left behind by her missing memories kept her up at night, she thought she was fortunate because she at least had her parents with her. She did not complain, even as it was difficult to buy herself new clothing from the herbs she sold because they always took the money from her.

Though they would get annoyed with her when she felt ill on rainy days, she still tried to take good care of them because she thought they were her parents.

But they weren’t.

She couldn’t believe it was all a lie, and she couldn’t believe they only picked her up because they wanted to sell her to slavers. They lied to her, all because it was more useful to keep a ‘daughter’ around that could take care of them.

Rise couldn’t leave that place until the firewood carrying their remains had gone completely cold.

If you were going to lie, couldn’t you have kept lying until the end?

If they had, she would not have felt this crushing sense of loss and betrayal. All that time was spent working hard, but if she could consider it time spent with her parents, she could’ve held onto those memories and kept them beautiful.

But the older couple’s final wish to be welcomed into the heavens led to them impressing this cold and cruel reality onto Rise.

What do I do now?

The older couple only used her and lied to her and yet, somehow Rise missed them. She wished they were alive because if they were, at least she would know what to do, and how she should treat herself.

And now, there was not a single soul on this earth who knew her. Who could possibly remember someone who does not remember themselves?

Who am I? Do I have a family? If I did, wouldn’t they have found me by now?

Oftentimes, within the village, there was a sheet of paper posted on the bulletin asking around for missing people. Mostly they were just wanted criminals, but sometimes people would inquire about their family.

— Rise! Looking for a woman named Rise! She’s tall and has silver hair that stops above her shoulders, and blue eyes as well! —

One day, she heard about someone looking for a woman who shared her name. Funnily enough, it was a woman who had gone missing around the same time she had been discovered.

I hope that person can return to her family as soon as possible, she thought.

She left that place with that wish secretly within her heart for herself as well. After that, Rise waited for the next paper to be posted, written by someone who was in search of her, too. But there was no one looking for her.

They might not be able to look for me because they don’t have the money or means to do so, Rise comforted herself. It’d be nice if she could hold onto this hope.

The remains of the older couple were gathered from the firewood. There was a decree going around that all refugee remains were meant to be kept at a specified grave site to prevent the spread of any potential disease.

Their bodies were added to the dozens of recently deceased refugees. After a short and insincere prayer was read by the priest that was sent out, the funeral was wrapped up quickly.

A funeral attended by only two people—the priest and Rise.

It was only after the sun was completely down that Rise left the grave site, long after the priest went on his way.

What do I do now? She asked herself. Should I find my family?

But in all these years, she never heard any rumblings of someone searching for her. And would they even expect to find her in a place like this, where monsters ran rampant?

Thinking about the family she might not have hurt her heart too much, so from now on, she decided she needed to live alone. But, when Rise went to leave the cemetery, she caught the sight of something shifting underneath the moonlight.

What was that?

It didn’t look like one of the mountain animals that moved. Eventually, she discovered it was a small child.

She had dark and tanned skin that was visible even underneath the moonlight. She was a witch child, digging through the dirt with her bare hands. Next to her was a small box, and through the opening, she could see what appeared to be a visible bone.

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Who could she be trying to bury?

She knew the answer before even needing to ask. A small child, coming to the cemetery alone and digging through the dirt—who else could the dead be but her parents?

[Rise] “You…..”

[Child] “Ah!”

When Rise tried to talk to her, the child screamed and took a step back. She clearly didn’t expect anyone to be around at this time. She looked up at Rise before falling to her hands and knees.

[Child] “I’m sorry! I’m really sorry, but my mom’s not a witch! Please let me bury her here!”

The girl cried, begging Rise. She had been digging through the harsh dirt with her bare hands, and her fingertips and nails were all torn and bleeding.

[Rise] “……..Do these remains belong to your mother?”

[Child] “Y, yes. My mom got sick, so some people gave me firewood to help cremate her. She was burned yesterday, so I brought her bones…but then they said I needed money to bury her…”

Listening to the girl’s crying, Rise could understand what had happened.

Taxes were required to bury someone here. Rise was able to pay for the older couple, so she could bury them and listen to the priest’s requiem.

But a child wouldn’t have that kind of money, so no doubt the officials denied her request for burial and the priest would have spoken no prayer for her. And it was near certain they treated her cruelly because of her tanned skin.

However, it was believed that if someone was buried anywhere but the cemetery, then they would not be welcomed into heaven. This child must have wanted to bury her mother here secretly after hearing such a story.

[Rise] “What about your father?”

[Child] “I don’t know, but my mom wasn’t a witch. She had pale skin, unlike me. I swear, it’s true.”

The girl’s voice was desperate, perhaps thinking that Rise would not allow her to bury her mother.

[Rise] “What is your name?”

[Karin] “Ka, Karin.”

After hearing that, Rise turned around. As Karin watched her walk away, suddenly she reappeared with a shovel in hand.

And she started digging without saying a word. They didn’t even need to dig very far down since all that was left were the bones. Once they were safely beneath the earth, Rise turned to Karin.

[Rise] “Karin.”

[Karin] “Yes?”

[Rise] “If you have no place to go…..would you like to come with me?”

Karin stared at Rise for a long time before nodding.

That was Rise’s first meeting with Karin.

On the day she lost her family in the blink of an eye, Rise met her new family. From that day forth, Rise lived thinking of Karin as her own.

After all, she would likely never meet her past family for the rest of her life.

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[Rise] “Awful woman.”

She didn’t know how many times she muttered that phrase to herself today.

Rise was walking the mountain path, bathing beneath the moonlight. When she went to take the wagon back down to the village after her work at the mansion, she was met with empty air instead.

[Rise] “So that’s why she was speaking to the coachman.”

She saw the maid she had fought with talking to the coachman with a subtle smirk on her face. She had a bad feeling about it when she saw it, but now at least she knew why. She must have been whispering to him to go on ahead and leave her behind.

[Rise] “I should’ve just ignored her. It’s pointless to make a fuss on my last day.”

Since today was her last day as a temporary worker, she made sure to leave everything she was put in charge of in perfect order. With that thought in mind, she returned to the place where the wagon would be waiting, but what she heard instead was a snide giggle behind her.

[Maid] ”Oh, looks like you’ll need to walk back to the village. Whatever will you do?”

The mansion was quite far away from the village. If she wanted to walk there, leaving now would only result in taking the mountain path in the middle of the night.

[Maid] ”If you get down on your knees and beg, I can give you a blanket and let you sleep outside the front door.”

Only authorized workers could stay within the mansion interior, but Rise was a temporary worker, which meant she needed to leave before nightfall. All things considered, it would be safer to remain here where there were guards, even if it meant enduring the harsh dawn winds until the morning came.

The maid knew that, and deliberately made this offer to Rise.

[Rise] ”It’s fine.”

But Rise didn’t beg. Instead, she turned around and walked off towards the mountain pass.

[Maid] ”Hey! What, are you crazy?”

The maid shouted in shock.

So close to the capital, there weren’t any monsters around. But even knowing that, no one dared to cross the mountain path in the middle of the night. The darkness alone made things dangerous, and was enough to make people take pause at the idea of going.

And walking alone like that, even a robust man would struggle, much less her.

[Maid] ”Hey! If you get hurt, don’t blame me! You left like you wanted!”

Rise walked while ignoring the maid’s cries, growing in volume behind her. It didn’t matter how late it was. She needed to get home where Karin would be waiting for her.

Now, Rise was crossing the four mountain paths. One more, and the village would be within sight, and just on the outskirts of that village would be a cottage—one meant for two people.

[Rise] “Ha, ha…hah…..”

As she thought, it was not easy to walk with only the moonlight to guide her, and the pervasive clouds made the matter even more difficult.

She kept tripping, stumbling over all the rocks scattered across the ground.

Noticing a pain in her hand, Rise realized she must’ve cut her hand when she fell. She frowned, holding up her hand to inspect it. She’ll probably need to apply some herbal medicine on this once she returns.

[Rise] “Karin must be so worried…..”

Murmuring, Rise tapped her hand against the pouch at her side, hearing the sound of the coins jingling inside.

On my next day off, I’ll need to buy Karin a new ribbon.

With that thought, Rise smiled.

Then—

Crunch—

She heard something stepping on a leaf.

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