Volume 10 Chapter 7 The Funeral Director
"――It's a good night"
For a moment, I thought there was a black wall right in front of the door.
However, I soon realized it was different.
A sturdy middle-aged man was standing there, looking up at me.
He was a man with an ominous aura, giving off a deathly smell.
Wrapped in black priestly robes, he wore a wooden cross around his neck.
With his hands covered in white gloves, he was ringing a small bell with a "ting-ting" sound.
"Don't you think so, too?"
"Uh..."
I didn't expect him to talk to me, so my response was slow.
"Well, it's the eve of the festival, after all."
"Yeah, tomorrow the dead will rise again."
When I looked up, the man had a gentle smile on his face.
It was an expression that didn't match his physique. His round glasses reflected the moonlight, making his eyes invisible.
"Who are you?"
"Me? I'm called the Funeral Director."
His voice was soft, but I sensed a coldness somewhere. I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was.
"However, technically speaking, I am a Lay Minister. I didn't have the equipment slots to become a priest, so I ended up only doing funerals for poor people like this."
The Funeral Director glanced back at the horse-drawn carriage behind him. It was probably his carriage. A coarse cloth was draped over the carriage, and I could see several pale feet sticking out from under the cloth.
A poor person's funeral procession. The church's dirty work.
Those who made money from people's deaths were hated everywhere...
"...I don't take any money for it"
The Funeral Director said, as if he had seen through my thoughts.
"This is more like charity work. Those who haven't received baptism can't even have a funeral. According to God's teachings, those people are destined for hell, no matter how good or innocent they are"
"...That's true"
"But still, I want to mourn. That's why I'm doing this funeral service with... Eliza, my lover."
Perhaps she reacted to her name. A noblewoman-like lady sitting on a carriage, with an otherworldly aura, looked at me.
She was a woman with an ethereal atmosphere, wearing a dress like a nightgown, with a thin veil over her face. When she waved at me, the small bell rang out with a "ting-ting" sound.
"...Huh?"
Wait, what's that smell...coming from her? Does no one else notice it?
"What's wrong?"
"Ah, no... I mean, since you're not married, I thought maybe she was your girlfriend or something."
"Yeah."
The funeral director's face relaxed into a smile.
"We're getting married soon, though. It's a weird job, but she said she'd stick with me, so..."
"Hmm."
They're a passionate couple, I guess.
"By the way, about her..."
I was about to ask a question when...
"Funeral Director!"
Senior Rikka came out of the orphanage, carrying several bundles wrapped in cloth. When she saw me, she turned away, looking embarrassed.
"...This is for today."
"Alright."
The funeral director received the bundles and headed towards the carriage.
He lifted the cloth covering the carriage, and... there was a mountain of corpses.
I counted... maybe around 20.
The funeral director was stuffing small bundles of cloth into the gaps between the adult corpses.
It was an efficient way of carrying them, like a puzzle.
"And, this child..."
Senior Rikka handed over the last bundle.
A wooden pendant was attached to the cloth wrapping it.
"This is a memento from her parents. Please send it off with her."
"Got it."
The funeral director smiled and carefully placed it on top of the corpses.
Before long, he finished loading the corpses and covered the carriage again.
"Well, I'll be off then."
"...Be careful, okay? Things have been pretty rough lately."
"Ah. Then, let's go... Eliza."
He called out to his girlfriend sitting on the coachman's seat.
She responded with a cheerful "Ting-ting!" and rang a small bell.
The whip cracked, and the carriage started moving. The bell's sound gradually faded away...
"...You saw something weird again, didn't you?"
Senior Rikka looked uncomfortable, fidgeting.
I didn't know what to say, but Senior Rikka spoke up first.
"Sorry about this on the festival day. I showed you something unpleasant."
"No..."
"It's just that kids die quickly. We have to send them off to the funeral director every day, like that."
"...I guess so."
I understood because I used to live in an orphanage.
Abandoned kids... half of them don't make it past a year.
And then it's halved, and then it's replenished. It's an endless cycle.
"Don't make that face, okay? I've already sent so many people off. I'm used to it by now."
That's a lie. Senior Rikka's voice is shaking.
"But, still... sometimes I get scared, you know?"
"Scared?"
"I don't know... it's like, 'What if it's my fault they died?' or 'If I was stronger, I could've saved them...' or 'If I was more careful, they wouldn't have died...' I feel like I'm being hated for it... That kind of thing, I start thinking about it."
When Senior Rikka stopped talking, a heavy, oppressive silence fell.
The sound of the red butterfly's wings fluttering in was the only thing that could be heard in the stillness.
The festive noise seemed far away.
It was hard to believe we were just in the midst of that noise just a little while ago.
...The grudge of the dead, maybe.
I felt like I finally understood why Senior Rikka was afraid of ghosts.
"Ahh, if I was strong like Phantom, I wouldn't have to think about this stuff..."
Her voice was trying to sound bright, but it was still shaking.
It was like she was carrying an unbearable weight on her small body.
"Since I'm everyone's big sister, I have to be stronger... but I'm still weak, yeah..."
Is it because she's the big sister that she has to be strong?
For some reason, I felt like I was seeing Senior Rikka as a person for the first time.
Her trying to act like an adult, her trying to be strong, her being kind... it was all because she was trying to be a "strong big sister".
It's amazing, I thought honestly.
In a world where talent decides your life, and effort doesn't get rewarded...
Senior Rikka can still think about someone else even when she's weak.
But...
"Hey!"
I gave Senior Rikka a light punch on the shoulder.
"I got flicked on the forehead by my junior!?"
"That was just a meaningless flick, okay?"
"So why did you do it then?"
I got glared at, and went "Uwaa~".
"Well, the flick doesn't matter, so let's just forget about it."
"Forget about it?!"
"How should I put it... Senior Rikka, you're unexpectedly clumsy, aren't you?"
"Is that bad?"
"Yeah, it's really bad. You should reflect on that."
"That's going too far!"
"Yeah."
I give a mischievous grin.
"But, Senior Rikka isn't weak at all, you know?"
"Huh?"
"I mean, you can protect so many kids, right?"
"Uh..."
It's true that there are kids she couldn't protect, but she's still able to protect many.
She's doing her best, so it's not right to count only what she's lost and belittle herself.
And...
"I don't think true strength is about what you can do, but about what you try to do."
"Huh?"
"It's not about having equipment or a high position, but about trying to help someone or persevering even when it's tough... That's what makes you strong, I think. So..."
I try to put it into words, but it doesn't come out right.
I think it's just empty words, but I wanted to say at least one thing.
"――Senior Rikka is already strong, you know."
Senior Rikka said Phantom is strong, but when I was desperate to survive, I was only thinking about myself.
I wasn't kind enough to try to do something for someone else.
In a world where people life is decided by their innate talent and effort isn't rewarded... If someone can still care about others even without power, then that person can't be weak.
"So, please don't belittle yourself like that. Senior Rikka is already doing a great job as everyone's big sister."
"I see..."
Senior Rikka falls silent for a while.
"Haah..."
She lets out a deep sigh.
"What can I say, Noa, you are... a weird person."
"Yeah, that's true, isn't it?"
"Yeah, it is."
She chuckles.
"I mean, you suddenly put on a serious face. I thought you were going to say something..."
"Uh..."
I suddenly feel embarrassed.
Yeah, I said something weird again.
I can't read the atmosphere, and I always blurt out what's on my mind... I'm really bad at this.
"But..."
Suddenly, the lantern above us swayed, and a red butterfly fluttered up.
Senior Rikka's face was illuminated by the flickering light, and for an instant, her eyes sparkled.
"...I think Noa is the first person to say that to me."
Her voice was barely above a whisper, and when our eyes met, she quickly looked away.
"Yeah, well... that's just how it is, I guess."
I tried to play it cool, speaking quickly and nervously.
"I guess it's not like I was encouraged by Noa or anything, but I did feel a little better... so I'll just pretend that's what happened."
"That's quite an honor, isn't it?"
Senior Rikka laughed, and her mood seemed to lift.
It still felt a bit awkward, but I guess this was better.
Yeah... Senior Rikka wouldn't sulk over something she lost.
I smiled too, feeling a bit relieved.
...And secretly, I clenched my fist.
* * *
After parting ways with Senior Rikka, I walked down a deserted street.
The only ones walking down this street were the red butterflies.
In the midst of the lively atmosphere of the previous night's festival, I was the only one who was silent.
'You're unusually angry.'
Juju poked her head out of her waist bag.
"Me?"
'Who else could it be?'
Even when someone told me I was angry, I didn't really understand.
But I knew for sure that my mood was bad.
Naturally, my feet started walking away from the inn.
'Where are you going? You just passed by the Zarigani cooking stall!'
"No, I just have a little job to do."
It wasn't a big deal or anything.
So, I'll just get it over with.
As I walked away from the festival lights, I stepped into the dark alleyway.
I took out a mantle and mask from my Gluttony Mimic Bag and put them on.
Now――it's time to become "Phantom".
I'm going to steal the cursed equipment.
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