[24.7] A Piece to Forget

A few months later I handed over the vials, "I hope you hold up your end of the bargain."

She grinned and pushed over a book with a few papers rolled up on top, "My Boss always keeps his promises."

I grabbed the book and flipped through the pages. I furrowed my brow at the unknown symbols and the notes scrawled over top of them as if the person had been translating them. However, it was a terrible translation.

I glared at her.

She smiled, "It is hard to find a book on necromancy in this country. It has to come from another, so please don't look so unhappy. It will still work."

I muttered under my breath, "As long as it works."

I moved to the papers and looked them over. On the page was a portrait of a man so lifelike, that it was almost scary.

My eyes widened in surprise.

She noticed my look and spoke in a smug tone, "My Boss is an excellent artist. One of the best. Although, he usually hates doing portraits."

I clicked my tongue, "The colors look off."

She shrugged, "It was the only colors he had at the time, I suppose."

I turned back to the paper and read it carefully. There is more than enough information on this to find him. According to the documents, there was one man who had found and targeted the caravan group. Working with shadow men, he extracted their mana and left.

A chilling smile crept across my face.

Now I just need to prepare.

What happened next I recognized from the dreams before.

In the middle of the night, I went to the graveyard and dug up my mother using only my fingers.

I was so excited, I didn't care who saw.

The grave was still fresh so it wasn't hard, but it was cold and difficult regardless. I could have used magic, but my thoughts were a mess.

I laughed through my tears as my fingers throbbed in pain.

I brought my mother's charred corpse to the abandoned factory and placed her in the middle of a magic circle painted with blood.

All I needed was to grab that man as a sacrifice, but when the day finally came for me to get him, the Royal Knights arrived and ruined everything.

I stormed back to the Demon Sympathizers' hideout and forced the door open with magic.

I clenched my jaw as I pushed past the bodyguards, "You said I could have him! Now those Royal Knights have taken him away!"

The woman herself looked to be stressed even without my sudden appearance. She groaned, "Listen, kid. I know we made a deal, but those Royal Knights are trying to screw me over too. They are getting too close to our hideout so I need to escape myself."

I shouted, "A DEAL IS A DEAL!"

She paused and glanced over at me, "Kid. My Boss isn't a patient man and he doesn't like the forceful types… Even still, he is deeply indebted to you for that mana. Thanks to it, he was able to recover from his previous wounds."

I scoffed, "Why do you think I care about your boss and his wounds?"

She smirked, "Because he wants to offer you a position. He sees talent in you. If you can provide him with one more vial, he will be returned to his original form… Don't you understand the opportunity here? He is willing to give you a chance to join us."

I stared her down, "All I want is that man."

She let out a sigh, "He's at the Capital's secure prison. You won't be able to break in undetected. I can't help you."

"Worthless." I spat out in anger, "I will just have to solve this myself."

As I turned to leave, she grabbed me, "Wait!"

I turned to her abruptly, "What do you want?!"

"My Boss wants you to join our society. What do you say? We could give you everything you want."

I laughed, "I want that man. I don't want anything else."

"...What about money?"

I paused, "Money?"

"My Boss has a lot of power and resources." Her voice was firm, "He will pay you very well. You won't have to live in the slums. You can live in a castle. You can eat whatever you want to eat and do whatever you want to do."

If I could live in a castle…

Wouldn't my mother finally be safe?

A small smile crossed my face, "Once I finish my business, I will come and find you."

She beamed, "I look forward to it."

As I left the building, my smile dropped immediately.

There's no way I will take that deal.

My mummy would rather be poor and suffering than have me join a group of murderers.

But if I had said no, they probably would have tried to stop me or force me into their group.

I'd rather avoid that kind of headache.

Especially now that I don't have much time.

...

I watched the prison from the shadows.

I paid close attention to everyone's movements.

I had been surveilling the prison for many months now. I memorized all of the guard's schedules, their points of weakness, and how they operated. That man was supposed to be taken out of the prison any day now to be executed. However, whenever they execute prisoners, which was still very rare, they do so with a very twisted method.

They use magic to forcibly remove the prisoner's mana until they fall into a coma and eventually stop breathing. They call it "hanging", but that's only because of the collar around their neck that's responsible for it.

Honestly, it's not much better than what the Demon Sympathizers do.

But I could care less about their messed-up morality. What's important is that it means I will only have a small window of time to get him.

Just as I had seen in my dreams, the man was brought out and read his rights. Then, the punishment was conducted and as his body collapsed into a coma, I started a commotion so the guards would abandon his soon-to-be corpse.

Then I dragged it out, using magic to cover my tracks.

I dropped his body on the ground and brought out the book, "The magic circle is complete and the body of a sacrifice has been found. Now I just need to put on the finishing touches."

I poured out the blood onto the circle which illuminated, throbbing in starvation. I read out the ancient spell and waved my wand.

Overwhelming energy poured out.

It was working.

A single wisp of smoke arouse from the charred corpse and took the shape of my mother.

She looked at me with somber eyes, "Reika… You mustn't do this, my darling. You will be turned into an enemy and chased down… I can't bear to see you suffer like that… So please, my darling… Just let me go."

I hesitated.

In my hesitation, the spell backfired.

The powerful mana grew erratic, creating sparks of pure energy that collided against each other.

My mother's somber look disappeared into one of panic, "REIKA!"

The last thing I saw was her ghost rushing over to me and embracing me tightly before the room exploded.

Her soft voice echoed in my ears, "I made you a promise, my darling Rei of sun... I will always be with you… And I WILL protect you."

My eyes fluttered close as the world around me turned black.

I was eight years old when I failed in bringing my mummy back to me.

Once again, she saved my life.

Once again, she was no longer there.

I want her back…

I NEED her back…

…But I can still succeed.

I can bring her back…

I drifted through that darkness as hate started filling my heart.

But who…

Who had started the fire that killed my mother?!

Bright, piercing orange eyes stared at me through the depths of my mind, "It was you."

What…

"YOU started that fire."

No…

"YOU killed your own mother."

I covered my ears, trembling as I clenched my jaw.

No… It can't be…

"You killed her…"

I didn't!

"It was all your fault."