Chapter 183: He’ll be back
It was a rainy day and Edward, who had been tapping on the door since morning, came with Zetto’s obituary.
He looked at the bare-faced Zetto, whose eyes were now closed.
“…I was wondering how to pretend to be sad.”
I grumbled softly to Geppeti, who was staring at Zetto from the side.
“…Yeah.”
“I know, but I’m still a little sad. This is…”
I swallowed the bitterness that was forming in my mouth.
Zetto was covered in a clean cloth, but even a cursory glance showed the wounds.
He’d tried desperately but the problem would be the others who didn’t know he survived.
“At least you made it back in time, hero.”
Geppeti whispered in a low voice and her voice was calm, despite her expression.
“What I was looking for was not hard to find…”
“What you were looking for… did you… find it?”
“Well, I suppose.”
I shuddered a little since it was a secret of the Ludwig clan but knowing about Zetto’s past made me feel a little better.
‘The only one who can break the chains…’
As I stared at Zetto’s corpse, a question came to mind.
“But, Geppeti…”
“Yes.”
“My brother…what if he doesn’t come back to life until he’s buried?”
From what the others were saying, it sounded like the funeral would be held tomorrow but Zetto was showing no signs of waking up.
Geppeti answered in a gruff voice.
“Saint.”
“The saint’s miracle is…?”
“Well…I’m going to dig with the Saint.”
“Geppeti…”
“…Just kidding. You’re looking a bit down, so maybe the Saint should stroke the tombstone, since she’ll be able to sense the life force beneath the ground. Well, blah blah blah, but the ideal time would be at a funeral.”
“Do you think she’ll come, since she’s not officially connected?”
My nervous question is met with a firm answer from Geppeti.
“She’s coming.”
“Umm…”
“I’m sure she’ll want to see it with her own two eyes.”
“Good.”
Geppeti tone and voice are strangely trusting.
“What do you think Zetto is doing right now, anyway? Unconscious…sleeping soundly.”
“I don’t know…Maybe he’s meeting with God?”
Geppeti next words almost made me laugh in a place I shouldn’t have.
It was almost too funny.
“God…
Luckily, I was able to keep it to a faint smile, but it didn’t seem so outrageous given Zetto background.
***
After identifying Zetto’s body, Rei and Geppeti quietly left the morgue.
Geppeti was in tears, and Rei had her head down, unsure of how to react.
However, her reaction didn’t seem so strange to others.
The people looking at her thought she was too young to understand the true meaning of death.
Regardless, Rei and Geppeti’s roles were just beginning since Zetto had already assigned them a task.
Crying in Edward’s arms, Geppeti quickly checked the reactions of those standing in the hallway.
First was Aizel since she was the most important person in this situation.
Every now and then, she would steal a quick glance at Geppeti and Rei but for now, she didn’t seem to see anything.
On the other hand, Geppeti was feeling suspicious.
‘Lord Zetto clearly told me to stop her from taking her own life…’
But the current Aizel didn’t seem like the kind of person who would make such an extreme choice.
‘Maybe she’s had a change of heart.’
Zetto had one request.
If I believed that Aizel would choose to end her life, I would approach her and say the lines that Zetto had given me.
To summarize, the lines were
[How can you so easily give up the life my brother saved?
He died because of you, so I want you to live too.]
Guilt is used to keep people from taking their own lives.
The words were extreme and aggressive, but Geppeti decided they were enough to stop her from taking her own life.
But Geppeti had feelings, too.
While this method will work to prevent Aizel from taking her own life, it will leave an indelible mark on her.
It was one of the problems with Zetto that Geppeti had seen over the years.
She’s always been one to make harsh judgments, eliminating any risk for the sake of the best outcome.
Geppeti had been thinking of moderating her methods, but with Aizel in such a state, there was no point in saying so.
‘I wonder if she had a conversation with Lord Zetto at the end.’
In any case, she seemed much better than Zetto had feared.
Well, as long as she didn’t choose to end her life.
In fact, Geppeti had already been told by Zetto what Aizel was capable of.
The Regressor Aizel had a very unique ability to travel back in time after her death.
Geppeti had his own data on “regressors” and she knew what their mindset was.
So when she chooses to end her life, she’s choosing regression…This was not a good thing.
The fact that she showed no signs of choosing to end her life at all meant that…
‘…giving up on Mr. Zetto.’
Thus, Aizel was thoroughly shattered.
Regression is, in its simplest form, an immensely powerful ability. The power to undo what has happened, what has existed, to nothing.
The power to remember and deal with it.
So even if Zetto was dead, she could undo it and start over.
She would have to go through the confusion of whether or not that world was truly a meaningful one, but still, bringing the dead back to life was a huge advantage.
But he had given up that advantage.
He had made it so that the regressor could no longer choose to regress.
‘What on earth did Zetto say…?’
No matter how much she thought about it, Geppeti realized that there was no way Zetto could have died without saying something.
But this was not a good situation to be in.
Now that the regressor had given up the enormous advantage of regression, Zetto’s resurrection was inevitable.
It’s usually much more dramatic when something you’ve given up comes back to you.
In this case, Aizel’s emotions could have gone to extremes.
‘You could have left it with me.’
That’s what Geppeti thought, realizing that Zetto had overplayed his hand.
After all, the method he had taught her was merely an insurance policy, a backup plan in case things didn’t go the way he thought they would.
‘I don’t know if she cared about Aizel or me…No, maybe both.’
Zetto tried to carry the burden alone again, this was another one of his bad habits.
Barely holding back a sigh that threatened to burst into tears, Geppeti turned to the next person.
‘Yuri Clementine.’
Yuri, squatting beside Aizel, had her face buried in her knees, unable to lift her head.
But there was no anger in his expression. She seemed to be in control of her emotions.
In contrast, on the other side of the room, Kaen was covered in dirt and a graying bearded man, likely an instructor at the academy, was stroking her hair as she silently wiped away tears.
Zetto’s expectations were not perfect.
‘I’ve already taken care of Yuri’s problem, so let’s move on…’
Watching them closely, Geppeti decided that there didn’t seem to be any immediate moves to be made.
Contrary to Zetto’s fears, they were each coping surprisingly well.
‘If there’s one thing that’s holding me back…’
What happens after this?
Rather, Geppeti was worried about what would happen after Zetto was resurrected.
Just as Geppeti’s thoughts were coming to a close Aizel approached Edward, who was holding Geppeti and Rei.
“…Instructor, what happens to these children now…?”
In the midst of her distraction, Aizel asked about Zetto’s sisters.
This drew the attention of everyone else in the hallway until finally, Edward spoke up.
“Now…they don’t have a chaperone, so I think we’ll have to discuss this further.”
“…Then how about I take care of these children until then.”
“I… I… I want to help.”
At the sound of Aizel’s voice, Yuri wiped the tears from her eyes and pushed herself to her feet.
“……”
Soon, Kaen joined them, nodding faintly.
“…Well, as long as they’re okay with it… I don’t think it’s too much to ask.”
Edward replied, leaning down to look at Geppeti, who was in tears, and Rei, who was clutching Edward’s pants.
Aizel immediately bends down and locks eyes with them.
“…What do you say, do you want to stay with your sisters for a while…?”
Aizel tries her best to smile.
“……”
Geppeti, who has finally stopped crying, wipes the tears from her eyes and nods.
She wipes the tears from her eyes and nods, knowing that if something were to happen, she’d be better able to deal with it if she was by their side.
Well, even if it wasn’t… there was no point in rejecting their good intentions.
***
They say grief is lessened by sharing so Aizel, Rei, Geppeti, Yuri, and Kaen, who had come to stay in Aizel’s room for a while.
They were all able to return home at night, though they were busy preparing for Zetto’s funeral, which would be held soon.
Without Zetto’s sisters, they would have been left to grieve alone, but they couldn’t help but notice Rei and Geppeti.
They didn’t talk much, but they were clearly comforted by each other.
After all, they were in the same situation.
They were able to understand and empathize with each other so it didn’t take a lot of conversation.
Later that night, darkness fell over the room.
Geppeti had fallen asleep, exhausted from crying, and Rei was asleep, hugging a doll.
Meanwhile, the others were having trouble falling asleep.
They’ve been through so much…that they couldn’t get rid of the feeling that if they fell asleep now, somehow they would see Zetto in their dreams.
Unlike the Zetto they had seen during the day, who was not warm at all…they knew that Zetto would be waiting for them with a gentle smile on his face.
They couldn’t imagine waking up from such a sweet dream so they did not fall asleep.
Soon, a voice broke through the silence and reached their ears.
“…He’ll be back…”
Rei’s voice came out of nowhere, and the women in the room naturally listened.
Rei, who had fallen asleep cuddling her doll, tossed and turned in her sleep.
“My brother…he’ll definitely come back…”
But the words broke their hearts.
Rei hadn’t spoken all day and they thought it was because she was young and didn’t understand the meaning of death but it was because she believed Zetto would return that Rei didn’t cry.
However they knew that Zetto would not return.
“…”
Aizel struggled to turn her head and look out the window.
“Well…”
Yuri was tormented by a harsh reality that was hard for a child to accept.
“…”
Kaen hoped for a miracle.
May the poor child’s wish come true.
She desperately hoped for such an absurd miracle.
Finally, Aizel, who had been sobbing, spoke up.
“The rain… won’t stop…”
And with that, the silent cries of the three women filled the room, accompanied by the mournful pounding of the rain against the window.
***
It was a close call with Murka but I had succeeded…
…opened my eyes.
I was clearly losing consciousness.
I couldn’t see anything.
But what was this?
Just a moment ago, I was talking to Aizel, and then my eyes suddenly opened.
I couldn’t see anything, but it was the same as before. Everything around me was pitch black.
“…Ugh.”
What was even more bizarre was that I was able to stand up normally.
‘My left arm…’
My severed left arm was still intact and I could no longer feel the excruciating pain of having a limb torn off.
I groped for my abdomen and there was no hole, that’s when I realized that I was dead.
That was it.
Reaching this simple conclusion, I squinted, trying to make sense of the situation.
‘So where am I, in the afterlife…?’
Hell or heaven?
It wouldn’t really matter either way.
I rubbed the corners of my eyes out of habit.
It was a routine thing I did every time I woke up or went to sleep.
But there was no ‘bandage’.
I couldn’t feel the bandage that always covered my eyes.
I wondered why.
I had a lot of questions.
At that moment, I was thinking about what the afterlife was like.
-KEYING!!!
A beam of light shone out of the endless darkness toward me.
The pure white light was so blinding that I had to put my hands up to shield my eyes.
At the same time, as the light emanated, I began to see things that had been obscured by the darkness.
Countless, unidentifiable hands protruding from the black floor were hovering around me.
Not just the floor, but the walls, the ceiling, and everywhere else seemed to be reaching out to grab me.
‘This energy…’
I didn’t run away from it, though, because it was familiar.
[…My child, come here.]
A voice echoed in his head.
The sweet voice belonged to a woman, but it was not a familiar voice.
And even with the voice echoing in my head, I naturally knew which way to go.
It was where the light was emanating from because the owner of the voice was there.
It was a simple intuition.
“Hmmm…”
There was one bizarre phenomenon after another.
I didn’t see the point in questioning it further, so I cleared my head.
I walked toward the light, dodging back and forth from the grasping hands that tried to grab my ankles.
Perhaps I should talk to “her” who was waiting for me on the other side.