Chapter 241: Chance Encounter

* * *

Several days had passed since Rana learned about the rumor of the cursed child.

That day, her husband Parirot came home after Ikeranjel had already fallen fast asleep.

It seemed that the repair of the magic lamps requested by the government office took longer than expected, and on top of that, he was caught by the young members of the Chamber of Commerce and couldn't easily escape from their meeting.

Rana didn't say anything to her husband about the rumor of the cursed child, even though his cheeks were slightly flushed and he smelled a little of alcohol.

As usual, she hugged him, expressed her joy at his return, scolded him with a wry smile for coming home late, talked about her son's condition that day and the store's sales, and then went to bed.

Parirot is a cheerful and carefree man, but he is kind.

He's different from the scum who gets drunk and becomes violent.

If he heard the rumor, he would surely understand what Rana is afraid of, empathize with her heart, and comfort her.

However, Rana didn't think that was good.

Because then, Parirot's heart would also be hurt.

This is Rana's sin.

Turning away from that sin, continuing to run away, and covering her consciousness.

However, the intense sense of guilt that still assails her from time to time.

Rana believed that she should bear all of that.

Parirot is just a trigger.

There's no need for him to suffer.

* * *

On this day, Rana closed the Parirot Magic Lamp Store early and went shopping at the market in the town of Serelirin.

In the alleys sandwiched between dull, light yellow walls, wooden boxes are randomly lined up, and vegetables, meat, fish, etc. are sold.

Serelirin is a town with a relatively large population, and the products lined up in the market are also diverse.

The snow that fell the other day has not yet completely melted, and even in this market, small snow mountains can be seen here and there, but the shopkeepers are trying to attract customers without minding such cold weather.

The enthusiasm is so great that it makes one forget that it is winter now.

"Topopolock meat, salted sakke, winter-grown leafy greens, fist beans..."

While thinking about the menu for the next week, Rana puts the necessary ingredients into her shopping basket one after another.

"Hey! Rana-chan, you're cute today too!"

"Oh my, you old man! ...Oh, what's that?"

"This? This is dried vinegar zuta! It's a new product that spreads a refreshing sourness when you put it in soup and stuff! Wanna buy it?"

"Yes, I'll take one bundle."

Several years have passed since Rana started living in this town of Serelirin, and she has become quite familiar with the people in this market.

Rana loves talking with these cheerful people.

It blows away the dark feelings and is a good change of pace.

Sometimes she ends up buying too much, but it's a necessary expense because making these connections will lead to more requests for the magic lamp store.

"...Oh my, is it this late already?"

Rana, who had been completely absorbed in talking with the vegetable store owner's wife of the same age, noticed that the sun was about to set beyond the townscape and put her hand to her mouth in surprise.

"Oops, sorry Rana-chan! I took up your time!"

"It's fine, it's fine! I had fun today too! Thank you for chatting with me!"

"Ahaha, you're welcome! Well then, our store is about to close too... Oh, here Rana-chan, this is a bonus! Gaguge potatoes! They're sweet!"

"Wow, Ike will be so happy!"

Turning her back and waving to the vegetable store, Rana hurried home.

Her husband said he would be late again today.

Ikeranjel had probably already come home.

It would be pitiful to make him wait too long for dinner.

"...I wonder if I should take a shortcut."

So, instead of taking the main street she always uses, Rana changed her route to the narrow, winding alleys.

Using this path, she could reach home a little faster.

Serelirin is a town with good public safety, and there is almost no risk of getting involved in a crime just because there are few people on the road.

The reason she doesn't always use this path is simply that she doesn't like it because it feels somehow lonely.

Since the sun is already setting, the surroundings are a little dim, and the narrowness and lack of people in the old alley make it feel somewhat eerie.

In Rana's heart, which had become a little more positive after chatting at the market, anxiety raises its scythe-like head again.

"............"

However, Rana forcibly suppresses it and moves forward.

She puts a lid on the unpleasant feelings and memories she doesn't want to recall.

It's her specialty that she always does.

To avert her eyes from the anxiety, Rana desperately rethinks tonight's menu.

There are Gaguge potatoes.

Should she boil and mash them and put them in bread?

Or should she stir-fry them and combine them with meat?

Either way, Ikeranjel will be happy.

She desperately tries to imagine her son's smile in her mind.

She tries to imagine her husband's smile in her mind.

Everyone gathers around the dining table with a smile.

A happy family of three.

"Uwaaaaaah!!"

However, Rana's happy imagination was interrupted by a boy's scream that sounded familiar.

The place was a four-way intersection where alleys intersected, with poor visibility due to the buildings!

"Eh... Kyaa!?"

Noticing the scream and turning towards the direction of the voice... the alley to her right, Rana collided with the source of the voice who seemed to have run at full speed and fell on her bottom!

The impact caused her to drop her shopping basket, and the Gaguge potatoes rolled away.

"Ouch... Hey, be careful, it's dangerous... wait."

"Ah, huh!? Mama!?"

Rana was surprised to see the figure of the voice's owner... a boy who had fallen on her stomach in a way that looked like he was clinging to her.

Because it was her own son, Ikeranjel, who should have already been home by this time.

"Hey, Ike! What are you doing? It's already dark, are you still playing around?"

Rana sighed and scolded him as usual.

However, Ikeranjel's reaction to that was different from usual.

First of all, his appearance was strange.

He was wearing a protective helmet that his father uses for work on his head, and on his back, he was carrying a tool bag full of metal tools, which were also his father's work tools.

And his breathing was rough, and he was trembling.

His face was pale.

It was as if he had encountered something terribly frightening, and the color had drained from his face.

"M-Mama! This is not the time for that! L-Let's run away! We have to run away, quickly!!"

"Huh? Ike, what's wrong with you?"

"I-I made them angry!! I met... the rumored cursed child!!"

The moment Rana heard those words from her son Ikeranjel, she gasped... and then it happened!

"............"

The Gaguge potatoes that had been rolling around hit someone's foot and stopped.

It was a small foot.

Moreover, despite it being winter, despite being on the cold stone pavement, it was barefoot.

With the setting sun at its back, it was backlit, but even so, it could be seen that its skin was as white as snow.

"U-UWAAH! THEY'RE HEREEEE!!"

Seeing the one who suddenly appeared in the alley from the direction Ikeranjel had run from, he trembled, screamed, and hugged Rana tightly.

In other words, that was the one he said he had angered.

Rana forgot to breathe and stared at that being.

Now, all she could hear in her ears was the sound of her own heart beating, thump, thump.

Gradually, gradually, timidly, Rana moved her gaze from its feet to its head.

It was barefoot, but above that, it was wearing slightly frayed pants normally, and further above that... it seemed to be wearing something incomprehensible, like a pitch-black, spiky rock.

The spikes occasionally surfaced a rusty red color and then disappeared.

It was mysterious and gruesome.

Just looking at it made one feel anxious.

But more than that, more than anything.

The head that popped out from above that pitch-black, rock-like something.

Black hair, black eyes.

A cursed child.

It was a cursed child.

However, it wasn't just an ordinary cursed child.

Those abnormally well-proportioned features that one could never forget once seen.

Rana recognized it.

Rana did!!

Remember!!

She always tried to forget, tried to forget!!

However, she couldn't forget!!

There was a resemblance!!

Even as an infant, she was abnormally beautiful!!

There was absolutely no mistake!!

Even though Rana knew!!

Even though she knew that village was destroyed by monsters!!

Even though she thought that child had already died!!

Rana became convinced!!

Even though she wanted to believe that such a thing was impossible!!

That child was!!

That child was!!

...That child was!!

The daughter she had once abandoned...!!

"E...mi..."

That name unintentionally spilled from Rana's mouth.

Hearing that, the cursed child... shifted her gaze, which had been directed at Ikeranjel whom she had been chasing, to Rana.

With those deep, deep black eyes, she stared intently at Rana.

Her expression was completely blank.

An inorganic gaze that couldn't be read for any emotion.

How much time had passed?

After a while, the cursed child finally opened her mouth.

And then.

"So this is where you were."

She muttered softly.

Not to Ikeranjel, whom she had been chasing.

While clearly looking into Rana's eyes.

The cursed child's shadow, stretched long and far by the setting sun, merged with Rana and the others' shadows and became one.