CH 9.2

The girl timidly opened her eyes and looked up at the boy who had an awkward expression.

…… What exactly was going on.

The boy had an expression that suited his age and was completely different from the impression she had earlier.

Elizabeth thought he was not as scary as she had expected.

[Erm…… are you not going to do anything to me?]

[No.]

The boy answered. It seemed like he really did not intend to hurt her.

The taut feelings within her were released and she sighed with relief.

…… It seemed like the boy was more reasonable than she expected, and it seemed like it was going to be a favorable situation for her.

Perhaps she would be able to realize ‘that’ after spending so many years thinking about it.

(—This monster!)

But the instant the thought of hope appeared in her mind, she suddenly remembered these words.

Maybe this boy was the same as the other adults.

She was an abnormality, someone who was different from humans after all. And it was clear that she was an abnormality upon first sight.

Was he not afraid when he noticed for what she really was?

She looked uneasily at the boy, but he did not appear to be scared.

[Erm! ….. Are you not afraid of me?]

Silence filled the room. Elizabeth bit her lips tightly.

[I’m not exactly scared—]

[Why…… Why exactly!?]

She yelled out loudly.

Everyone who knew her was feared her.

There were people who cursed her, there were people who swung swords at her, there were people who ran out — Every action they did in front of her was filled with fear.

The reason as to why was because she was —

[I’m already dead. I’m a genuine ghost. A monster. My body is transparent, and—]

Because, a ghost—

Was an existence that people detested.

It was an abnormal existence from humans.

But it seemed like she was not the only abnormal existence around.

[Even though you’re a ghost it doesn’t mean you would attack people. Then it’s fine—]

The boy answered.

He was someone who had a different common sense from this world.

She was stunned by the boy’s words, and when she understood the meaning of her words, her tears fell.

Once her tears fell she was unable to stop her tears, and began to stand there crying softly.

[I’m sorry.]

Elizabeth apologized with a blushing face.

The gaze that was full of kindness made her blush even more.

[Don’t worry about it.]

The boy waved his hand to show it was a trivial thing.

[My name is Elizabeth. Onii-san’s name is……]

[I’m Chaos.]

[Chaos, is it? Why did you come to such a remote place?]

From Chaos’s words, it seemed that he was on traveling from Meldor to the capital.

As he passed through the mountain path, the number of attacks from the undead suddenly increased, and after moving from the place he fought, he discovered this dilapidated house by chance.

He saw Elizabeth by chance and came to take a look.

Since Elizabeth had never left the house even once, she did not know where Meldor or the capital was.

She asked Chaos what they were like.

Chaos answered that he did not know what the capital was like since he was going there for the first time, but he talked about the adventurer’s life in Meldor.

They were experiences on doing quests and joining a party for the first time.

There were plenty of words that Elizabeth did not understand, but she found everything new and listened attentively.

How long had it been that she was so lively?

Ever since her father died, she had never spoken up until now.

She felt the world that was faded was suddenly filled with colors.

[Meldor roughly felt something like this.]

[Thank you very much, Chaos-san. I really enjoyed it very much!]

[…… Is that so?]

Elizabeth thanked Chaos who spoke for some time.

She thought he was scary in the beginning, but realized he was really a nice person.

She wondered if he was able to do something.

[Chaos-san, I humbly request of you to destroy the orb in the basement.]

The basement in the house was her father’s laboratory, and created often made magic items there.

She rarely visited there from the time she was alive, and even until she had became like what she was now.

When her father was still alive the basement was properly cleaned, and the impression that the books, specimens, and magic items were arranged properly, but it was dusty now after long years of neglect.

The spider webs were everywhere and made the place unrecognizable from its former self.

There was an orb sitting in the pedestal in the room.

[This?]

Chaos asked Elizabeth for confirmation.

[Yes. As long as this is here I am unable to leave the mansion. I will be released if this is broken. I can interfere with objects in this mansion, but I am unable to touch this jewel.]

When she tried to approach the orb, she was blocked by an invisible wall, as though there was a barrier blocking it.

[So please help me break it—]

[…… Understood.]

Chaos slowly swung his staff and broke the orb.

He did not feel any change within him, but Elizabeth felt that burden which had been suppressing her for many years disappear.

It was as if the chains around her had been released.

[….. Finally with this….. Thank you very much, Chaos-san.]

(Hah—- I’m finally free.)

Her dream had finally came true, and she trembled with joy.

Elizabeth hummed naturally at the entrance of the mansion.

The place that had always looked like a prison to her, was now just a door.

She resolved herself and opened it.

The doors that opened made the radiant sunlight pour through it.

She closed her eyes and advanced forward step by step.

— She was finally out of the mansion.

[Thank you very much, Chaos-san. I have no more regrets—]

Elizabeth said with a beaming smile.

[I have something in the house as a gift—]

Although she did not know if it was going to be of use…… She thought with a forced smile.

Chaos’s reaction was slow. She looked up slightly as she was curious.

His expression was —

[You’re really a kind person. I am really glad to have met Chaos-san.]

He was the only one who did not treat her like a monster, other than her father.

How much was her heart saved by that alone?

[Please don’t have an expression like that. Thanks to Chaos-san, I can finally move on. This is my wish, so please send me off with a smile —]

The girl brushed back her hair and smiled, and Chaos smiled back stiffly.

—- Thank you, Chaos-san—-

============= Chaos POV =============

– Crunch, crunch.

The quest is done.

On my way to the kingdom, I saw a little girl in the house, so I went over to check it out.

When I found Elizabeth with pink hair and a translucent body, I thought it might be a monster, but it was more likely to be a NPC.

Still, I was scared at first and was wary of her.

– Crunch, crunch, crunch.

When I talked to her in the room, I received a new quest.

The quest’s name was [Release the captive soul].

After I investigated the situation, I found out that Elizabeth suffered from an illness and her body was weak, and her father tried many ways to do something about it.

But he was unable to cure her.

In the end, he finally reached the idea of keeping the soul here like the undead.

But that was not all.

Was it because he locked the soul here which became a bad side effect, or did it became a punishment for messing with life—

She bore the punishment of being born and dying of old age in a single day, repeatedly.

When I met her for the first time, she had the appearance of a little girl with short hair and covered with a rag-like dress, but when we parted she had grown into an adult female.

Her father tried various means to save her from this repeating life and death cycle, but could not solve the situation and suffered in distress as he took his final breath.

There was something like a corpse which looked like a mummy on the bed in one of the rooms on the second floor.

— This was the setting.

Destroy the orb that cursed the dead and release the girl.

The reward was a staff that the father used to use.

– Crunch, crunch, crunch

This is the commonly seen downer quest in a game.

In a few hours, I think the quest will reset and she will return to this place, so another player can redeem the quest again.

– Crunch, crunch, crunch

Even so.

– Crunch.

Why am I feeling so wretched inside my heart?

Was I someone who was so sensitive and flooded with emotions?

If an onlooker look at this scene from a display screen from the outside, I think it will just be a somewhat sad event.

Is it because it’s too realistic in the VR world?

That brought so much hurt from just a chance encounter?

– Crunch, crunch.

I thought about it.

Did I have any other way to rescue her?

But the quest can only be completed if the orb is destroyed.

Is her setting and existence not locked by the fact she was in a game?

It was only an event that allowed players to experience it over and over again.

In the end I wonder if she was really rewarded from passing in peace.

Crunch — Therefore.

I dug a hole and buried both Elizabeth and her father’s body.

I stab my staff into the ground that I have been using up until now as a gravestone.

I thought I could dig a hole like how the Giant Mole attacked through the ground in the past, but considering how I’m able to do something like this, I think the developing programmer must be a genius.

This action is probably meaningless.

Elizabeth will be back in a few hours.

So this is just to satisfy myself.

Even so, just one person like myself — it’s fine for a player to something absurd like this right?