There’s Something Special About Her – Chapter 16

Author: Asternkm

“Mana Rampage Potion?”

Deacon tilted his head as if he were hearing the term for the first time.

But there was no way to know whether that reaction was genuine.

Pretending to know nothing in order to draw information out of someone was one of the most basic conversation tactics, after all.

Deacon Gold was being unusually friendly toward me, calling me his benefactor, but I had to remember one thing.

The man in front of me was one of the seven executives of Nox.

“I don’t know much about it either. Just that… it’s some kind of drug that back-alley thugs take before fighting another gang.”

“But you just called it a ‘symptom of addiction,’ didn’t you? If so, that means you’ve seen enough addicts to recognize it.”

See?

The moment he spotted an opening, he grabbed onto it.

I lowered my head and squeezed my innocent sleeve, putting on a troubled expression.

Seeing that, Deacon decided I was frightened and comforted me again in a gentle voice.

“It’s okay, Ruki. You can tell me.”

“I-I wasn’t lying…”

After hesitating for a moment and waiting for the right timing, I opened my mouth.

“Before I came to Nox. When I didn’t have any money, I sometimes walked through the back alleys late at night. Sometimes there would be people who had passed out or… died. And sometimes, if I searched their pockets carefully, I’d find some money…”

“My goodness. You must have had a very hard time.”

“Anyway, sometimes I’d find bodies lying there with purple foam around their mouths, just like the Green Merchant Guild Master. Later, I found out that if someone takes too much of that rampage drug too often, they start having seizures like that and eventually die.”

“Hmm.”

Deacon rubbed his chin and fell into thought.

The sleepy look he had worn earlier was gone. His face was sharply focused.

I gave Deacon time to think while slowly sipping my cold tea.

There was probably a lot on his mind.

After all, I had specifically said “too much” and “too often.”

In reality, addiction symptoms as severe as the Green Merchant Guild Master’s wouldn’t appear from taking the rampage drug just once or twice.

Someone had been supplying him with the drug that often.

Hoping that the Green Merchant Guild Master would succeed in assassinating Killian Nox.

So, right now, the names of all the organizations capable of pulling off something like that were probably running through Deacon’s head one after another.

‘For now, I gave him the information under the assumption that there was an organization behind it, but you never know.’

Maybe he had simply hated Killian Nox so deeply that he was willing to find illegal drugs in the back alleys and keep chewing them down until he became addicted.

Even I had wondered how I could stab that bastard to make it hurt the most.

Just then, Deacon, who had been silent, asked me a question.

“Where is Ruki from?”

“…Rovenhaven.”

“A territory on the border between the Empire and the Kingdom of Krollin.”

How did he know the name of that insignificant little village?

While I was secretly caught off guard, Deacon suddenly stood up.

Then he staggered as though he might fall at any moment.

“Oops.”

“Are you all right, Deacon?”

“Ah, it’s nothing. I just got a little dizzy from standing up too quickly. That’s common while I’m under the mana-blocking punishment. More importantly, I’m sorry about this. Something has come up that I need to hurry off to.”

“I figured you must be busy! I’m fine, so please don’t worry about me!”

As I waved both hands and stood up after him, Deacon lowered the corners of his eyes and asked,

“You haven’t even finished your cookies. You can stay a little longer and make yourself comfortable. The tea must have gone cold, so I’ll have my aide make you another—”

“No! I’m fine!”

I had held back because Deacon had been sitting with me, but if I asked for more tea after being left alone with his aide, I had no idea what that man might do to it.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes! It wouldn’t make sense for an outsider to be alone in an office when the owner isn’t here.”

I followed Deacon, who was putting on his coat, out of the office and said,

“I gave you the cookies, after all.”

Through the gap between the closing doors, I could see the window facing the western forest.

“So I accomplished what I came here to do, in my own way.”

****

Mother’s arms were warm.

Every night, after I took a warm bath, Mother would tell me old stories until I fell asleep.

It was a precious time when I could have Mother all to myself, now that she had become so busy after my little brother Lucas was born.

“Helena, the moon is especially bright tonight. Isn’t it?”

“Yaaawn… Yes.”

An affectionate kiss landed on my forehead as I answered with a long yawn.

“My adorable little girl.”

“That’s a lie. You only spoil Lucas every day.”

“Hmm? Is our Helena feeling left out?”

“…I don’t know.”

I pouted and snuggled into her warm arms, and Mother laughed as she hugged me tightly.

“Let’s see. What kind of fun story should I tell to make our Helena feel better?”

“The story about the moon, the stars, and the crow.”

“Again?”

I smiled too as Mother laughed and said, ‘How many times have I told you that one already?’

Even though I was no longer upset, I urged Mother on.

“Hurry.”

“All right, all right.”

Mother gently patted my back and began the story.

Once upon a time, a very, very long time ago.

It was a story from a time when there was nothing in the world but darkness.

There was only the moon in the sky.

The moon shone alone in the night sky, lighting up the world.

But the moon knew something.

There were places that even her bright light could not reach.

Behind the mountains, deep inside the forests, and at the bottom of deep valleys, there were shadows that resisted the moonlight.

So the moon made the stars.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.

At last, seven stars began to shine beside the moon.

The stars worked hard to light up the places the moon could not reach.

The star behind the mountain, the star above the forest, and the star looking down into the valley.

Now the night was no longer dark.

But, Helena, there were things that could not be seen even when the light reached them.

There was a bad kind of darkness, a shadow that had learned how to hide inside the light.

Even beneath the moonlight and starlight, they secretly hid and plotted evil deeds.

No matter how brightly the stars shone, it was no use.

The moon became worried.

How could she find something that could not be seen even when she shone her light on it?

Just then, a crow flew in from somewhere and landed near the moon.

It was a crow with feathers as black as the night and red eyes.

The moon asked,

「Who are you?」

The crow answered,

「I am a crow, Moon. I was born in the shadows. So I know what they are hiding.」

「Is that really true?」

The crow nodded.

「But you have to help me, Moon. My eyes can see through the darkness, but when it is too dark, I lose my way. Please lend me a little of your light. And the stars’ light, too. Then I can fly anywhere and find all the shadows that are hiding.」

The moon smiled brightly and shared her shining moonlight with the crow.

The seven stars each shared a handful of their own light as well.

At last, the crow was able to take the moonlight and starlight beneath its feathers and fly into the sky with all its strength.

From that night on, the crow flew through the darkness.

Whenever it found a shadow hiding in the light, it quickly told the moon.

The crow’s feathers were so black that no one could tell when it was flying overhead.

But the crow saw everything.

Then, one day, there was a night when the moon fell into a deep sleep and no moonlight came down.

A huge and terrifying darkness tried to swallow the moon.

Neither the moon nor the stars noticed the darkness approaching.

It was a darkness that had learned how to hide in the light, just like a shadow.

But the crow saw it.

The crow flew toward the moon with all its strength.

Then it cried out at the top of its lungs.

「Moon, you’re in danger! The evil darkness is coming!」

The moon woke up at the sound of its cry, and the stars gathered all their light at once.

Unable to withstand that light, the darkness scattered and disappeared.

From that day on, the moon never spent a night without the crow.

The crow always stayed close to the moon, seeing what no one else could see and hearing what no one else could hear. Whenever the moon was in danger, it flew to warn her before anyone else.

So, Helena, even if you happen to see a crow flying through the night sky, don’t be afraid.

That crow is working hard to protect the moon even while we sleep.

“Mother, you know…”

After the story ended, I said to Mother,

“Do you know why I like this story? Because I don’t think the moon will be lonely anymore. That’s why I like it. And actually…”

I clasped my still-small hands together and whispered into Mother’s ear.

“When I grow up, I’m going to become a crow. The moon’s best friend, the crow.”

But Mother was acting strangely.

I thought she would praise me and say, ‘Our Helena will become a wonderful crow!’

Instead, Mother’s hands gripping my shoulders were unusually strong.

“Oh, Mother. That hurts…”

“Helena, no. That’s not what you need to remember!”