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Chapter 18
For a moment, her mind went blank. Rosha read the words written on the candy wrapper over and over again. But the content remained the same. It wasn’t that Rosha had misunderstood.
‘Lily is at that orphanage….’
Then why did the director lie?
No, that wasn’t important right now. Rosha immediately got to her feet.
But at that moment, everything that had happened at the orphanage today flashed through her mind like a montage. Including the moment she had accidentally seen the director’s name.
Susan Reiletra.
She felt like she vaguely knew where she had seen that surname before.
As if possessed, Rosha took out a pen and wrote the director’s surname beneath the letters on the candy wrapper—spelling it in reverse.
Reiletra.
Artelier.
A chill ran down her spine.
The surname Artelier had been reversed to create the name Reiletra.
Artelier was a force that operated on the opposite side of Rostelier.
While Rostelier of the Golden Dawn Society stood as the faction of light, Artelier of Babel existed on the opposing side, running parallel.
After checking on the sleeping Joshua, Rosha quietly left the room.
She went to her old room, grabbed her wand and pocket watch, and warned Shadrach.
“If you don’t want to die, don’t ask Joshua to touch you. Stay here quietly. Got it?”
Locking Shadrach—who wagged his tail, clueless—inside the room, Rosha hurried out of the count’s mansion.
Babel was a group that controlled demons and sought to summon an evil god to bring about the world’s destruction. Calling it an evil god sounded grand, but it was nothing more than a great demon—or the king of demons. Yet they worshiped such a being as a god.
Just as the Golden Dawn Society used the surname Rostelier, Babel, standing in opposition, used the name Artelier.
It was strange—though she had heard it for the first time, it felt familiar.
‘Then Lily….’
She would have to confirm it herself, but according to the child who had given her the lollipop, Lily was still at the Angel Orphanage. In other words, Susan Artelier’s claim that Lily had left was a blatant lie.
Why did she lie…? To drive someone like herself, affiliated with the Golden Dawn Society, into despair?
No—there was nothing she could be certain of yet.
More important than the fact that the woman had lied was the fact that Lily was still under Artelier. Perhaps Lily had been brought to the orphanage because they knew she was Rosha’s younger sister.
‘I won’t let this slide. How dare they touch my sister….’
Her grip tightened around her wand. Running with all her strength, Rosha eventually couldn’t overcome her impatience and struck the ground with her wand.
At the same time, a transparent crack in space—imperceptible to ordinary people—swallowed her whole.
Tap.
When Rosha’s black Oxford shoes touched the ground again, the Angel Orphanage she had visited earlier stood before her.
Though it was a short distance, the warp magic required considerable energy, and Rosha felt slightly dizzy as she reached out toward the gate.
She carefully pushed the cold gate, but it seemed locked from the inside. Only the sound of metal clashing echoed, and it didn’t open.
“Hoo…”
Letting out a short sigh, Rosha grabbed the iron bars of the gate with her gloved hand. Her eyes turned a deep crimson, nearly magenta.
“Open.”
For a divine magic knight, the words spoken aloud were themselves spells.
With the command, mana flowed from her hand gripping the bars. Carefully controlled so no one would notice, the mana coiled around the bars like rose vines and slipped down to unlock the latch.
Click.
The gate opened.
Creak—
She stepped inside cautiously. Perhaps because it was night, the orphanage looked far more sinister than during the day—like a haunted house. Rosha walked steadily inward. Using the same method, she unlocked the building’s door and entered, where an empty corridor greeted her.
The lights were off, but the bright moonlight made it easy enough to see.
Suppressing both her footsteps and her mana, Rosha walked down the long hallway.
‘Even if it’s a small orphanage, there’s far too little presence….’
Was it just because everyone was asleep?
…Was it really?
She opened doors to rooms where children should have been—but there were none. They had all vanished without a trace, as if they had never existed in the first place.
Perhaps they had sensed she would return today and moved the children in just a single day. If Artelier had deliberately hidden themselves, there was no way Rosha—already a step behind—could track them.
But if Artelier had Lily, she couldn’t give up, no matter how impossible it seemed.
Having made her decision, Rosha turned to leave the orphanage.
Then she noticed a staircase she hadn’t seen earlier. It was tucked away in a corner, easy to miss.
The stairs leading down to the basement were separate, not connected to the stairs going up.
Maybe… they’re down there.
Clenching her damp hand inside her glove, Rosha descended the dark staircase.
Every night, prayers for their god echoed through the basement.
Tonight was no different.
Susan Artelier, who had gathered the young souls taken from the orphanage, struck the children’s calves with a rod.
It was to help them confess the lies inherent in their nature.
“To, today… Mitchell stepped on my foot, so I, I got an—angry….”
“And after getting angry?”
“He ap—apologized…”
“And then?”
“We… made up….”
Smack!
The short whip struck the child’s pale, fragile calf in one swift motion.
“Ugh!”
The child trembled violently, unable even to scream. Susan clicked her tongue and pressed on.
“Did you really make up? Is that all?”
“……”
“So you truly forgave Mitchell?”
“Th-that is…”
“You’re slow to answer.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the whip struck again. The child’s hands trembled as they clutched their rolled-up pant legs. Susan continued striking, helping the child reach a purer confession.
“M-Mitchell…!”
Finally, the little lamb, having reached realization, cried out while collapsing to the ground.
“I wanted to kill him! I wanted to crush his foot with an axe!”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Only then did a satisfied smile appear on Susan’s lips.
She embraced the child who had perfectly confessed their sin.
“That is human nature. The desire to kill someone just because they caused you even the slightest harm—that is the human heart.”
“Sniff… sob…”
“But I told you, didn’t I? You may kill all the humans in the world, but among our brothers, you must never kill each other.”
“Y-yes…”
“Now go. Hug Mitchell and truly reconcile.”
If one committed no sins for even a single day, they were no longer human.
All acts society defined as ‘sins’ were, in fact, human nature. Only by committing sin could one be human. That was why Babel forgave its members for committing sins against humans—they were merely acting according to their innate nature.
However, committing sins against fellow members was forbidden. Even harboring murderous intent was taboo.
Susan smiled contentedly as she watched the children embrace each other.
“T-teacher…”
At that moment, a child who had already finished their confession called out to her. Susan naturally turned her gaze.
It was the commendable child who had worn a golden wig and helped her shake off that disgusting Rostelier.
Limping over on swollen legs, the child spoke with trembling lips.
“Lily… has woken up….”
As soon as the child finished speaking, another Artelier appeared, pulling aside the curtain that had been set up for the children to rest after the ritual.
“Now’s not the time to relax, Susan.”
Susan called her colleague’s name.
“Dola.”
The girl called Dola dragged her small, tired body to a chair and sat down.
“The presence of that disgusting Rostelier is getting closer.”
“Oh dear. I thought I had deceived her well.”
“You lost your composure the moment you saw her. That’s probably why Rostelier caught the scent and came.”
Yawning tiredly, Dola asked,
“What are you going to do?”
“She must have come looking for something…”
“……”
“So we’ll simply give that Rostelier what she wants.”
Susan smiled sweetly and caressed Dola’s cheek.
It had been a long time since she last encountered a Rostelier, and this would be a rare little festival.
Though Dola loathed members of the Golden Dawn Society, Susan secretly enjoyed them—because they provided a bit of entertainment.
Sensing the overwhelming mana, barely restrained yet overflowing enough to reach even here, she licked her lips.
Come down quickly, little lady of the Golden Dawn Society.
I’ve prepared a small gift for you.
Meanwhile, shadows gathered around the bed where the boy lay alone.
〔Wake up, Joshua.〕
〔Wake up. Wake up. You have to wake up, Joshua!〕
The boy stirred as if about to wake, but after a moment, he remained still.
More precisely, he was pretending to sleep.
Joshua knew as well—those things were far from holy.
Only a day had passed since Rosha had gotten angry at him after seeing a demon. And today, she was even sleeping in the same room. If he spoke to them, she might grow suspicious again.
Even as the shadows raised their voices in anger, Joshua kept his eyes firmly shut.
〔Joshua, Joshua!〕
〔Why are you ignoring us? You must not turn away from us.〕
〔Is it because of that woman? That disgusting Rostelier!〕
〔Even the name Golden Dawn Society is tacky! Ugh!〕
〔If you turn away from us, we’ll be sad.〕
Up until then, Joshua could easily ignore their chatter.
〔That Rostelier isn’t here right now.〕
But at those words, he couldn’t keep his eyes closed.
Joshua’s eyes snapped open as he sat up. The sofa, the carpet—Rosha was nowhere to be seen.
〔Because you ignore us, you didn’t even notice her presence disappearing.〕
〔You and we are one.〕
〔We are your other half—and your power, Joshua.〕
“Rosha…? Rosha!”
Ignoring the shadows completely, Joshua got out of bed. Though he knew it was pointless, he checked under the sofa and the bed. Of course, only dust greeted him.
Even Shadrach was gone.
Joshua opened the door and walked down the corridor toward Rosha’s old room. The shadows continued whispering relentlessly.
And every word was hard for him to ignore.
〔That pink-haired Rostelier abandoned you!〕
〔She said, while taking the white wolf, that the stench of darkness from you was unbearable!〕
〔She cherishes the wolf but finds you ominous—a terrible mage!〕
As Joshua got closer to Rosha’s room, the voices grew harsher.
〔Why won’t you believe us? Why? Why? Why?〕
〔She took all her belongings and left!〕
〔Joshua, you’ve been abandoned in the end!〕
Joshua tried not to be swayed.
At last, he reached the door and grabbed the handle.
〔If you hesitate like this, you’ll lose that Rostelier forever.〕
At those words, his hand fell from the handle.
〔Wouldn’t it be better to hurry and chase after that pink-haired girl?〕
Joshua thought of Rosha.
The pretty girl who scolded him every time he tried to touch Shadrach.
Yet she herself had no hesitation touching him.
In the visions the shadows had shown him long ago, she had always been like that.
He hadn’t told her everything—because he thought she wouldn’t believe him anyway.
But in those visions, Rosha had been kind to him.
They held hands while walking together, wore matching clothes, and she even sang him lullabies.
Joshua had learned loneliness from a young age, but when he saw Rosha in those visions, he never felt alone.
He knew she didn’t like him very much yet—but he believed that would change with time.
So Rosha wouldn’t abandon him.
At least, unlike others, she wasn’t afraid of him.
…But what the mind knows and what the heart accepts are different.
Before he knew it, Joshua was running barefoot across the cold snow.
Though his mind believed Rosha hadn’t run away, his heart was already convinced she had.
〔Don’t stop—run, Joshua!〕
〔Go and witness that cunning Rostelier’s betrayal!〕
In the late night with the streetlights out, shadows chased after him, even blocking the moonlight.
In the cold, snow-covered alleys of dawn, the laughter of the shadows lingered for a long time.
