75 – Ash’s Marquis 6
When Betsdo jokingly killed all the people in the village of Sepia,
The reason Sepia didn’t die at the hands of Betsdo was simply because she was lucky.
“No, it can’t be called lucky.”
No one could call it lucky to have witnessed, with their own eyes, the brutal slaughter and desecration of all the people in the village.
Sepia was adopted as a writer by the Rybaiden family after that.
There might have been an investigation into Betsdo, the one who killed the villagers, but nothing would have been found.
All Sepia knows is Betsdo’s face.
She doesn’t even know that Betsdo is a necromancer or where Betsdo is.
All she could do now was to become stronger for the sake of revenge.
“………..”
Sepia did not blink until the harmonious family disappeared from her sight.
Only after they disappeared from her sight did Sepia speak.
“……… Let’s go.”
After that, Sepia continued to walk the path, quietly watching the harmonious families and the lively conversations of the villagers.
She didn’t know exactly what kind of village she had lived in, but this village and its atmosphere seemed similar.
In Sepia’s eyes as she looked at the villagers, there was longing and sadness.
Longing to see the villagers.
But sadness that she couldn’t see them.
It’s been quite some time since we arrived in the village, but we still haven’t done anything.
“……… I’m sorry.”
Sepia apologized, thinking she couldn’t fulfill her mission because of herself.
“It’s okay. We have plenty of time anyway.”
The urgent matter was with Lord Ash, not me.
But Sepia couldn’t say that to her.
“Still, I’m sorry. I’ll do it properly from now on.”
As Sepia said that and walked forward, every time laughter from the villagers reached her ears, her head automatically turned in that direction.
Watching such Sepia,
“Ouch!”
I let out an awkward scream, grabbing my left leg and sitting down hesitantly.
“Fool?”
When I screamed, Sepia turned around and looked at me.
“Miss Sepia, it seems like my leg is sprained. How about taking a break and then continuing?”
Even as I spoke, my voice and tone were awkward.
“Clearly, it looks like acting. What! Don’t joke around, get up.”
Honestly, I knew she would see through the fact that it was acting.
Unless it was acting done during a fight, my acting skills were pathetic.
But even if I couldn’t act, I was confident in being shameless.
I lay down in the middle of the road.
“Oh! It hurts so much that I can’t even take a step! It would be okay if someone rested with me for a while before continuing…”
Beyond surprise to absurdity, Sepia looked at me with an incredulous expression.
I lay in the middle of the road, unmoving, and soon the villagers began to look in my direction.
“Alright! It’s okay to take a break for a moment!”
Perhaps embarrassed, Sepia shouted with a flushed face.
.
.
.
Sepia and I found a suitable place where the villagers could see us.
“I really don’t know what we’re doing….”
Sepia grumbled, but with this, she could comfortably observe the villagers.
“Come on, let’s save the complaints for later and enjoy some delicious food for now.”
As I said that, I quickly took out various easily consumable foods from the space.
“But the others are probably searching, shouldn’t we be looking too?”
While the others were working hard, Sepia seemed concerned about us taking a break.
“Hmm. Then let’s do this.”
As soon as I finished speaking, words appeared in the air.
[If anyone knows about the villain Cardinal, please come here! Even Cardinal himself is welcome!]
“How about that? Perfect, right?”
“Is it okay to search so conspicuously like this?”
“It’s not like us searching for Cardinal is a secret, so it shouldn’t matter.”
And then, I continued to take out the food I had prepared.
“How long have you been in the interdimensional space, exactly?”
Sepia continued, looking at my interdimensional space from which food kept popping out.
“I’ve kept it reasonably stocked, enough not to starve even if stranded on an island.”
“That’s not what I’d call reasonably stocked.”
Typically, interdimensional artifacts have their limits on what can be placed inside.
However, I had yet to encounter a limit in my interdimensional space.
“That’s not the point right now. Try this.”
I held up a sandwich to Sepia’s hand.
“I’ll eat on my own terms. Thanks, though.”
Sepia brought the sandwich I handed her to her mouth and took a small bite.
“…….!!”
“How is it? Delicious, huh?
Enhancements in the interdimensional space aren’t limited to magical items or potions.
Ordinary tools, and even food, can be enhanced.
Unlike in other games, eating doesn’t increase stats, but the taste definitely gets an upgrade.
Sepia, without answering my question about the taste, grabbed another sandwich.
“…………….”
“Emily, make sure to come in before it gets late!”
“Dad, I’m not a child anymore! I can handle it myself!”
“How can you be so… stubborn… ugh!”
“Hoho, ignore what your dad said and come in after having some fun.”
Sephia looked at the harmonious family, happily chatting and eating sandwiches.
I looked at Sephia, who was looking at them.
“Hogu, you know I wasn’t born as a biological child of the Hujak family, but rather, I’m adopted, right?”
Sephia, who was happily eating a sandwich while looking at the cheerful villagers, suddenly asked me.
“Yes, I know.”
There’s no one who doesn’t know that Sephia was adopted.
“Then, do you know about the parents who actually gave birth to me, other than the ones I have now?”
I nodded silently.
“hahahaha. Is that so? You, who have never seen the parents who were just ordinary villagers, know more than anyone else.”
There was no strength in Sephia’s laughter.
“It’s natural that you don’t know,” Sephia said.
“…….. Lately, I can’t remember the faces of the parents who gave birth to me. I remember the faces of all the villagers, but not theirs.”
Sephia said in a weak voice as if murmuring.
“What should I do?”
Was it because of the emotions that rose while watching the harmonious family? Or was it because the already risen emotions were flowing down as she watched the harmonious family?
It was a feeble voice that Sephia wouldn’t have used under normal circumstances.
And yet, that’s why it felt sincere.
“Sorry. I suddenly said something strange…”
“Sephia, do you remember the conversations we had with our parents or the games we played together?”
Sepia nodded after a brief surprise, as if she didn’t expect me to say that.
“Then it doesn’t matter.”
“But!”
“The important thing is not to forget the person’s face, but to remember the memories with that person.”
“Memories…”
“So, it’s okay to slowly recall the face later.”
From Noble mtl dot com
“What if, what if I can’t recall it for the rest of my life?”
Sepia looked at me with an anxious expression and asked in a nervous voice.
“I’ll help you remember then.”
I said with a confident voice.
“How?”
“That’s obviously a secret. But don’t worry. There’s nothing I can’t do.”
“hahahaha, what’s that? Really…”
After that, we had an unusual conversation and ate sandwiches.
When there were only a few sandwiches left, someone approached us.
Three men came up to us, and their appearance and clothing seemed to scream “I’m a thug.”
“If you’re looking for the Cardinal Thief, play with us and we’ll tell you what we’ve seen.”
They talked to Sepia, ignoring me completely. Their eyes were fixed on Sepia’s face.
I subtly transformed my appearance into a fantasy, but all I changed were my usual mask to a slightly ordinary one and Sepia’s pink hair to a normal brown.
Even if Sepia didn’t have the symbolic pink hair, she remained beautiful.
To the extent that bugs would gather.
When I got annoyed and tried to roughly create a fantasy to drive them away.
“aaahhhhh!!!!!!”
The delinquents suddenly screamed and disappeared from my sight.
While contemplating the situation.
“What the hell is this!!!!”
The voice of the delinquent came from below.
When I lowered my head to check below, there were three delinquents, their entire bodies buried in the ground, only their faces sticking out.
It seemed like Sepia dealt with them using spirits.
“Well, shall we start moving around and look for ourselves?”
Sepia said, holding the remaining sandwich in her hand.
“What about those people?”
I said while still looking at the men whose heads were still poking out of the ground.
“Well, someone will probably find and help them later. Let’s not worry about it and go.”
“That sounds good. Let’s go quickly!”
Saying that, I walked towards the direction where there seemed to be a lot of people.
“But hey, buddy, didn’t you say your leg was sprained?”
Ah, right. I did.
I grabbed the right leg.
“Ouch.”
Sepia looked at me screaming awkwardly and chuckled.
“Ahahahahaha! Silly, it’s the opposite of before.”
Upon hearing that, I hastily grabbed my left leg.
Sepia laughed for a while and then walked forward.
As she passed by me, Sepia turned back and looked at me.
“Rocky, thank you.”
Until recently, sadness and longing had filled Sepia’s eyes, but now a beautiful smile adorned her lips.