MPBAGS Chapter 12

She was bright and polite too.

Huh? No, it's not just her politeness that's bright.

'Isn't it a bit bright around here?'

Wow crazy, crazy! Fire!

There was a fire behind Donau, making the surroundings bright with firelight. No wonder I could see so well even though the windows were blocked and there was no lighting!

Thanks to that, I could see the interior at a glance. I could clearly see the summoning circle drawn in the center of the room. Could this be, could this be the one he stole from me?

Then this fire... Donau must have summoned a fire spirit. So that was a spirit summoning circle!

Wow... How did he do it? He should have returned the paper or taught me before leaving! Bastard criminal with no business ethics!

I hurriedly took Henna and Kanna and got out of the house. Fortunately, I had kicked the door open, so thanks to that, the smoke escaped through the door, making breathing less uncomfortable.

This bastard accumulated one more crime before dying! If there were subtitles, it would have shown (+Arson). Theft, kidnapping, and even arson! A triple crown!

Fortunately, the neighboring houses must have been built with some kind of fire-spread prevention materials, because the fire didn't spread.

What kind of quality is this other world! I need to reverse-import this.

Donau's house, burning alone, was quite a spectacle.

I felt like I might cry a little. My summoning circle... it must have burned up with everything else.

Rusted walls and a moldy room, cold soup and a narrow, hard bed, a window just two hand-spans wide.

That was all of Kanna's world.

She had been unwell since birth. It was a difficult birth, and her mother died giving birth to her.

If she had devoured her mother to be born, at least Kanna should have been healthy, but that wasn't the case either. Kanna was always sick as if she might die at any moment.

Her father died from overwork trying to find money for Kanna's medical expenses, and now her sister Henna had inherited that burden.

Even after consuming the lives of two family members, Kanna couldn't get healthy. Now lying in bed was all she could do.

She couldn't even move her hands, let alone anything else - even breathing was difficult. Henna hired a caregiver and extended her working hours to pay for it. Kanna worried she might end up devouring her sister too.

But there was nothing Kanna could do. It would have been better if she had told her sister that she was hopeless and to give up, but Kanna wanted to live. She wanted to keep this miserable breath going.

Her sister called that hope.

"Kanna, do you see the people outside? Sister thinks that someday you'll be able to walk around like those people too. Sister will make it happen. So let's not give up hope."

From the moment she heard those words, the small window became special to Kanna too.

In the unchanging daily routine, the only thing that changed was the scenery outside the window. The sun rose, birds flew around, children ran about, the sunset came, everyone went home for dinner, and night arrived.

Kanna began adding herself to the ordinary scenes outside. Let's run and play together, go to work, and come home.

And from one day onward, another scene was added outside the window.

'Did you come again today?'

A cat began stopping by Kanna's window during its walks. The golden cat would always sit on the windowsill, watch Kanna, then gracefully disappear.

When I can walk, let's give that cat some food. Since it has a collar, it must have an owner, so maybe treats would be okay? The cat naturally began to occupy a place in Kanna's future.

"Kanna! Kanna!"

And a miracle came.

"Are you okay? Does it not hurt anymore?"

"I... I'm okay."

Her voice was all cracked. Her pronunciation was also inaccurate and she even stammered. What was so special about saying she was okay that her sister cried and hugged Kanna? Her shoulder became damp with tears, but Kanna silently hugged her sister back.

Her sister had entered the Rohanson Count's estate looking for better wages. She said that a young lady named Evangeline Rohanson, whom she had recently begun serving, heard Kanna's story and provided holy water.

Holy water was something a commoner could afford maybe one bottle of after saving for half their lifetime. Kanna realized that this holy water was the hope Henna had spoken of. What someone else could casually give away as charitable pity—just one bottle of this water—was what her father and sister had sacrificed their very lives for!

"Thank goodness. Really, thank goodness."

But hearing her sister's words, Kanna's anger melted away. When the person who had ground up their life was this happy, what was the point of Kanna getting angry?

Kanna's condition gradually improved. Moving her body brought back her appetite, and eating well helped her gain weight.

The sudden arrival of the hope her sister had spoken of was strange and bewildering, but she was slowly accepting it. And Kanna decided to do what she had always dreamed of.

Kanna left the house. She walked aimlessly around the neighborhood and sometimes sat in front of the door to rest.

She wasn't outgoing enough to greet the children or strike up conversations with them. But sitting there, soaking in the warm sunlight and listening to their chattering voices, she could truly feel that she belonged to the 'outside the window.'

'Come to think of it, hasn't that cat been coming around?'

Kanna had asked Henna to buy some cat treats. She always carried them in her pocket, but she hadn't run into the cat even once. Had its walking route changed? She hoped nothing bad had happened to it.

She was lost in worry while spending time outside, and her body quickly grew cold.

Sister would be late today, so I should head in now, she thought as she stood up. Just then, a golden tail flashed at the edge of Kanna's vision.

'The cat?'

Kanna remembered Henna's warning not to wander around at night. It was still midday. She'd just take a quick look and then go in so her sister wouldn't worry.

The moment she stepped into the alley, a man appeared.

And when she came to her senses, she was in a strange room.

Her mouth was gagged and her hands and feet were tied. How long had she been unconscious? It was dark around her. After a while, her eyes adjusted to the darkness and she could see her surroundings.

She thought she was alone, but there was another person. A man sitting in a chair, absorbed in reading some paper.

That man was definitely the one who had attacked Kanna. Kanna struggled in fury. But her body, which had only just begun recovering, couldn't function properly.

"What, you're awake? I'm trying to read here, so could you not disturb me?"

As the man came closer, a fishy smell hit her. Kanna immediately recognized what the smell was. How much blood had she vomited - it would be strange not to know.

But except for being tied up, Kanna had no injuries. The smell of blood was coming from the man.

"Stay quiet until nightfall."

The man said while looking at the wall. Kanna also forced herself to turn and look in the same direction. It wasn't a wall. It was just plywood nailed over a window. Kanna's mind became hazy.

Just seeing a blocked window shocked her more than when she realized she'd been kidnapped. Because to Kanna, what lay beyond windows was hope. Here, she couldn't see any hope at all.

So Kanna began struggling despite the man's order to stay quiet.

She called for her sister. She screamed to be saved. The man ignored everything she said. She searched for hope. She begged him to show her what lay beyond the window. It wasn't night yet. When would sister come home? She'd worry when she found Kanna missing.

Kanna could do nothing. She felt like she had returned to being that helpless patient who could only lie in bed waiting for her sister before drinking the holy water.

Her search for hope soon became corrupted. Kanna now recited curses.

Finally the sun completely set and the night the man had so longed for arrived. The man lit a candle and picked up a knife.

Die, die, die.

Not knowing what words she was spitting out, the man danced to the accompaniment of Kanna's curses. Kanna stared at that scene without even blinking.

The man who finished dancing crouched down in front of Kanna.

Now she knew what the man was trying to do. Thanks to him reading that paper dozens of times aloud. An angel of light?

'He's... offering me as a sacrifice?'

If that was the case, he had definitely picked the wrong target. The one to be sacrificed should be innocent. How great were the sins Kanna carried - what an idiot.

Even if he killed Kanna, the man's wishes would never be granted.

The man cut Kanna's neck. She could hear him humming. Kanna once again put lyrics to the man's humming. She wished for the man's most miserable death.

If that was too much, then at least let Kanna's death be of no help to that man. Let whatever the man summoned grant him no wishes.

And once again, rescue appeared for Kanna.

With a thunderous sound, the door was smashed. Moonlight crept in through the wide-open door. The door had opened. Even if it wasn't the window her sister had spoken of, it was definitely hope.

The pure white woman who appeared wrapped in moonlight was no different from the angel the man had spoken of.

'Sister!'

And when her sister appeared from behind the woman, Kanna felt like her heart stopped. Just seeing her sister was so reassuring that all the strength left her body.