Chapter 8

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter Title: Skinny Kid Looking for Dad: Chapter 107

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In the second-floor bedroom of the lord's castle, the fireplace blazed fiercely.

Drawing the curtains tightly shut, Veil anxiously spoke up.

"What exactly is mana depletion? How dangerous is it, precisely?"

Lukarion, who had been examining Tiye, lifted his head.

His red eyes, now back in the form of a boy, were deeply sunken.

"I don't know much about mana depletion in humans, either."

"Kyuu...."

Ppu Ppu immediately leaned its head against Astie's cheek and wiped away tears.

Lukarion let out a sigh.

"All magic is powered by mana. When mana depletes, the caster inevitably falls into a state of extreme thirst."

Basto stepped closer to the bed.

"I know that much. But she's never had this happen before."

Tiye had cast countless massive spells in the past.

But she'd never been this exhausted before.

"...Summoning the departed into manifestation requires an enormous amount of mana to begin with."

At that moment, Lukarion murmured.

He turned to the others.

"Remember the spirits Astie called forth in Perl City?"

Raoul and Enzo nodded.

How could they forget?

The wrecked ship slicing fearlessly through the stormy sea.

And the blue souls densely surrounding it.

"The wrecked ship, the spirits, and even the skeletons summoned today—they're all results of Astie using some kind of remnants to partially revive them."

"Partially?"

"Yeah. You can tell just from the principle behind summoning skeletons."

Basto's brow furrowed.

He recalled how Tiye had often talked about her bone friends.

"...Yeah. She said she could only summon them if there was a graveyard nearby."

"Exactly. That's because it requires physical remnants like bone fragments or corpses in the vicinity."

"I see..."

"The same goes for the wrecked ship from Perl City. She pulled up a vessel sunk in the abyss and temporarily controlled it. The spirits were the same in effect."

"The same in effect?"

Lukarion pointed out the window through a gap in the curtains.

"Spirits exist everywhere to begin with. They just aren't visible to our eyes."

Veil swallowed hard.

"The problem is that they lack consciousness. No basic memories of who they were or what they did in life."

"So... they're souls wandering without even knowing who they are?"

"Right. What Tiye does is infuse them with her mana to gain temporary control. She's literally creating disposable minions she can command for a short while."

Raoul and Enzo exchanged glances.

From earlier, Lukarion had been speaking as if none of this was a big deal.

But Tiye was the only mage who could communicate with the departed and infuse them with mana.

The first of her kind.

Meanwhile, Lukarion continued.

"But bridging the underworld and the world of the living is something entirely different."

"..."

"It's not about adding mana to remnants to complete something. The caster has to handle everything from start to finish."

Soul manifestation.

It was an attempt nearly impossible—perfectly recreating the past life of something already dead.

Yet Tiye hadn't just manifested a dead person before the living; she'd even enabled conversation.

"Restoring the departed's memories, emotions, personality—even physical traces. Of course it'd strain her body."

"B-but didn't something similar happen in Perl City?"

Basto spoke up in confusion.

"In Perl City. Karl Warben saw my dead wife. They even seemed to talk. Of course, I couldn't see her myself, but..."

"That wasn't manifestation. It was a grudge."

"What?"

"Your wife revealing herself to Karl Warben wasn't Tiye's doing. That woman, Eve, did it of her own will."

Speechless, Basto shut his mouth.

Lukarion sighed.

"Besides, Karl Warben was on the brink of death back then. With his body and soul nearly severed, he could see your wife vividly."

The memory from that day revived before Basto's eyes.

The towering waves.

The Death Hound's ship摇摇欲坠.

Karl Warben, trembling like a leaf amid the spirits.

"I see..."

Basto slumped into a chair.

"It's my fault, damn it."

Veil muttered.

He stared down at his lap with a pained expression.

On his knee lay his hand, wrapped tightly in bandages, clutching a silver necklace.

"There must've been another way. I just couldn't stand listening to that bastard Reginald..."

Instead of replying, Basto stared blankly at Veil.

He had no desire to blame Veil now.

But he was puzzled all the same.

Why had this man, who never cared about others' business, lost his temper and charged at Reginald this time?

"...I worked in the mines too. When I was a kid."

At that moment, Veil murmured softly.

Head bowed, he gripped the necklace so tightly his knuckles turned white.

"My parents sold me off when I was two. To some human trafficker."

A hollow chuckle escaped Veil's lips.

"But what that bastard Reginald said... it was exactly like what the overseer at my first mine used to say, damn it."

'These narrow tunnels are for kids your brother's age, rookie.'

'The narrower and lower the shaft, the easier it is for children to work.'

The moment he heard it, Veil felt the blood in his veins turn to ice.

Was it because it reminded him of the days he'd worked until vomiting blood to keep his siblings out of the mines?

Or because it recalled how he'd eventually left the mines and started dirtying his hands?

When he snapped back to his senses moments later.

Reginald lay unconscious at his feet.

Veil's gaze turned to Tiye, filled with guilt.

"...I should've held back."

He thought as the soldiers dragged him away.

I should've endured. Or snuck into the castle late at night instead.

Then he could've killed the bastard quietly, without anyone knowing.

Just like how he'd ended that mine overseer's life before leaving his hometown.

"All because of me, the kid..."

His eyes grew darker by the moment.

"Nngh..."

A faint groan came from the bed.

Veil jerked his head up.

Tiye's eyes had fluttered open at some point, dimly.

"Kid?"

"...Tiye!"

Everyone jumped to their feet.

But the newly awakened Tiye looked straight at Veil first.

"...Big bro."

Veil froze, then replied in a trembling voice.

"Y-yeah... kid. A-are you okay?"

But the child didn't answer right away. Instead, she slowly scanned Veil's face.

Then, gazing at his bandaged hand, she spoke.

"Does big bro's hand feel better?"

Veil's eyes instantly reddened.

Tiye reached out worriedly and gripped his hand tight.

"Sorry... I'm the leader, but I came to save you so late..."

Veil drew in a sharp breath.

'Big bro, did it hurt a lot?'

'Sorry for making you do dangerous stuff every day, bro.'

The faces of his siblings back home overlapped with Astie's.

Something plopped onto his knee before he knew it.

"B-big bro? You're crying?"

Startled, Tiye struggled to sit up.

But instead of answering, Veil roughly wiped his eyes and pulled her into a fierce hug.

"You idiot! Even so, how could you push yourself like that?!"

His voice was gruff, but hot tears kept streaming down his cheeks.

"You weren't even over your cold yet—why go manifesting spirits and all that nonsense?!"

Tiye's lips immediately quivered.

Soon, the child sniffled back a sob.

"Waaah... Tiye just wanted Adelin sis to meet her mom..."