Chapter 6: Lonely Day
“Home is truly the best.”
-Shiver shiver.
In the room of dolls/figurines where trembling is more frequent than usual, Sion sat in the middle, proudly gazing at his collection. They were his collectibles and his companions in stories.
“I don’t need friends. Especially with so many undead around.”
As Sion uttered the word ‘friends,’ he recalled the earlier incident, his complexion darkening.
“Right, guys?”
-Shiver shiver!
One of the dolls trembled as if a teacup were about to fall, evidence of the fear harbored within the undead inside. Sion tilted his head.
“…Do you guys hate me too?”
Thud!
As Sion finished speaking, the trembling ceased.
“Yeah. No, right? I thought so.”
A slight smile crept upon Sion’s lips. Along with it, the oppressive aura he had been emitting since earlier dissipated.
Phew.
The dolls seemed to relax as if they were breathing a sigh of relief.
The dark aura that emanated depending on Sion’s mood was difficult for even the most powerful undead to withstand.
If there were a god of death, wouldn’t it be the human in front of them? The undead sincerely believed so.
“Huh?”
Sion’s face, which had been proudly looking at the skeleton dolls with satisfaction, stiffened.
On the back of a skeleton doll in the form of a dragon, there was a wound as if something had been torn apart.
“This doll was brought back last time with Draginote.”
“…Ah.”
Shiver shiver shiver shiver!
An overwhelming darkness filled the room, unlike before. The undead couldn’t control their trembling bodies.
“Who did this? Who would do such a thing?”
-Drip.
All the skeleton dolls pointed to one place. Sion slowly turned his head.
In this room, there were only four high-end glass display cabinets. Inside, there were statues with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a snake.
“Is it you? Echidna.”
Sion walked over to Echidna’s display cabinet and opened it.
Carefully taking her out, he choked.
“Come out.”
Swoosh!
Purple smoke flowed out, soon forming into a human shape.
“I-I’m not…!”
A cute girl with her hair tied in twin tails was crouched down, trembling.
She raised her head slightly, wearing a pitiful expression. Sharp fangs were visible on both sides of her mouth.
Her name was Echidna. She was once known as the ‘Witch of Rebirth,’ a villain who almost destroyed the world 500 years ago in a myth.
“P-Please believe me. It’s really not me this time.”
“Then were the others lying?”
As Sion’s sharp gaze fell on her, all the skeletons nodded in unison.
“I said it wasn’t me.”
“Hmm.”
“Are you lying again, Echidna?”
Echidna was a troublesome undead. Since she was summoned, bloody incidents kept occurring. It was unavoidable. Echidna was a witch who loved chaos and war. But if not given attention, she could become a problem child who knows no bounds.
“B-But a squishy newbie joined us, how am I supposed to endure it…”
“I told you all to get along.”
“That’s… I’m sorry.”
“No need to apologize. Let’s go to the Room of Truth.”
Shiver-
Just hearing that word made the undead tremble in fear.
The Room of Truth. It meant a duel with Sion. It was also the most feared event for the ’79’ high-level undead here.
“Please forgive meeee!”
Echidna, forgetting her dignity as the ‘Worst Witch in Humanity,’ clung to Sion’s thigh, sobbing.
As Echidna continued to whine, Sion became annoyed.
“She should understand by now.”
In truth, he didn’t want to go to the Room of Truth today. Normally, he would have enjoyed it, but his mind was filled with various thoughts right now.
“…Be careful from now on.”
“Are you forgiving me?”
“Yeah. But if you get caught again, I’ll double the punishment.”
Echidna quickly nodded, afraid that Sion might change his mind.
“I’ll go. You need to get along, you are friends.”
“Yes sir!”
Echidna raised her right hand with a bright expression.
Sion nodded slightly and left the room.
And as soon as Sion left—
“Is he gone?”
Echidna immediately became insolent.
“Ah, it’s really hard to cater to that little brat’s whims.”
She shrugged, suppressing a chuckle.
“Just watch. Echidna might seem scared now, but given the chance, she’ll just…”
Shiver shiver shiver.
Seeing the doll trembling, Echidna smirked.
“Huh? Why are you trembling? He’s gone. He won’t come back now.”
Feeling something ominous, Echidna turned around.
Sion, who she thought had left, was standing right in front of her.
“Ugh.”
Groaning as if from a sudden pain, Echidna hesitated and sat down.
A black shadow cast over her face.
“Let’s go.”
“Wait, just a moment…!”
That day, Echidna realized that even undead could die if they messed up.
**
Sion finished bathing and stepped outside. Not a bad feeling. As expected, the best thing after sweating was a bath.
“Master, where are you going? I need to dry your hair.”
“Caught.”
Sion, caught by Mary just before entering his room, stopped in his tracks.
“Really, even if I told you not to lie down on the bed right after cutting your hair…”
Led by Mary to the dressing table, Sion blinked as he looked at his reflection in the mirror.
Even though he had some feminine traits normally, when his hair was down and messy from sweating, he just looked like a girl.
People used to say that young boys who were really handsome couldn’t be distinguished from girls, and it was true.
“It’s time to cut your hair. It’s taking too long to dry it.”
As Mary gently dried Sion’s hair with a towel, her hand froze for a moment.
“That, that won’t do. I’ve mentioned it before, but long hair is a symbol of the Rothfellers.”
‘It’s just Mary’s preference.’
Although he only saw his father, who was a blood relative, once when he was young, he remembered him clearly. He had ordinary men’s hair. The reason he let the obvious lie slide was because Mary was the only maid managing this grand mansion, so he didn’t want to take away her small joys.
“Um… But, Master.”
As Mary began to comb his hair, she cautiously spoke.
“What happened today?”
“… ”
“One of the buttons on your uniform was missing.”
It was an unexpectedly serious question coming from innocent Mary.
Meeting his own gaze in the mirror, Sion replied calmly.
“I made a mistake.”
“I see…”
Mary didn’t ask twice. But her eyes continued to convey, ‘I wish you would tell me.’
“We had a little fight.”
“…Huh?”
“Mary.”
Sion decided to ask something he had been curious about for a while.
“What kind of family are the Rothfellers?”
“Cough, cough.”
He had a rough idea, so he hadn’t asked until now, but judging by the students’ reactions today, it was quite unusual.
“Uh… W-well, the Rothfellers are a very noble aristocratic family, right? In terms of the empire’s hierarchy, they’re one of the top-ranking families…”
“I’m not asking about that. I mean, the public perception. Tell me about that.”
Mary’s eyes, which had been combing his hair, filled with sadness.
‘Someday, I’ll have to tell him.’
It was something that couldn’t be hidden forever. Especially since Sion seemed to have had a rather unpleasant experience today because of that perception.
“It’s a cursed family.”
“A curse?”
It wasn’t an abstract meaning. This was a practical meaning.
“Yes. Do you know about the Hundred Years’ War 300 years ago?”
“Yeah.”
It wasn’t about the Hundred Years’ War from a past life. Here, the Hundred Years’ War referred to the war with the Demon King’s army 300 years ago.
“At that time, the Rothfellers made great contributions to defeating the Demon King. Because of that, just before the Demon King died, he cursed the Rothfellers with eternal damnation.”
‘You should’ve read the story.’
Sion was a skipper. He was only interested in fighting, so if more than two lines came up, he immediately hit the escape key.
“So? What’s the content of that curse?”
“…We don’t know. All we know is that when one becomes the head of the family, they inherit the curse of the deceased Demon King.”
“I see.”
‘The curse of the deceased Demon King.’
Sion was genuinely curious about what that curse could be.
‘I’ll have to turn someone into an undead later and ask.’
It was the moment when one more name was added to Sion’s wish undead list.
“For that reason, there are still many speculations surrounding the Rothfellers. Some say they worship the Demon King, or that the head of the family is the Demon King. Some say they were behind the destruction of a city five years ago. Some say they lost their emotions as a price for the curse and became monsters without human hearts, or that they’re the hidden manipulators of this world… etcetera. Rumors are endless.”
“That’s really absurd rumors.”
“That’s right!”
Muttering, Mary added one more thing.
“Half of them are true, but even so…”
“?”
Sion was bewildered.
“Now that I’ve told you, please be honest too, Sion. What happened at the academy?”
“Ah.”
It was easy for her to spill the beans, as Mary had a plan all along. Sion had no choice but to speak up.
“I accidentally impaled the crown prince on the ceiling. Of course, by mistake.”
“…?”
Mary’s eyes filled with astonishment.
“Oh, even if you’re angry, impaling someone on the ceiling… That’s truly a Rothfeller thing to do.”
“Weren’t you just angry about the prejudice against the family until a moment ago?”
“Yeah.”
Finally, Sion’s hair was completely dry. Mary applied a last bit of skin-friendly oil to Sion’s face and said,
“Don’t worry. Rothfellers are not as simple as you think.”
Rubbing his cheeks, Sion asked to himself,
‘This strange oil always gives me a peculiar feeling when applied.’
“What nonsense is that?”
“I suddenly feel like writing a letter after a long time. Just a thought?”
With a grin, Mary got up from her seat.
‘Well… he’ll figure it out.’
Sion decided to leave whatever Mary was up to alone. The bigger issue was his first class tomorrow.
Sion returned to his room, flopped onto his bed, and stared at the ceiling.
‘If I want to turn a hero into an undead later, I need to make sure they like me beforehand.’
It was okay to have a bad relationship with others, but having a rift with Aria would be troublesome.
“To raise her favor… Ah, a gift.”
Of course, there was nothing better than a gift to become closer with someone.
Sion reached into his pocket dimension and pulled something out.
“Here we go-”
It was a strange (?) flower making a peculiar sound.
Its name was the Flower of Hell. If you possess it, it nullifies any curse once, no matter how severe.
It wasn’t too burdensome, and it seemed like a thoughtful gift.
“…Adorable.”
Sion gently stroked the Flower of Hell, which had a human face instead of petals, and fell asleep.
