(Arc 14 Epilogue 3) Why the Cursed Child Sent Money to Her Biological Family

“Um, this is...... just what exactly is the meaning of this?”

Parirot swallowed hard and looked down at what lay spread across the desk.

They were gold coins.

A great many gold coins, spread out across the desk in front of the chairs where he and his wife, Rana, sat.

“As I told you, didn't I? This is a gift, from Emi-san.”

The one saying so was the small, plain woman sitting across from the couple...... Taiche, a Special Affairs Officer who worked at the Adventurers' Guild Headquarters.

Like the proper officer she was, she had made an appointment well in advance before coming to the Parirot Magic Lamp Store.

But all the couple had been told in advance was the curt ‘I have a matter to discuss regarding Emi-san.’

It was a ridiculous way to handle an appointment, but a small town magic lamp store couldn't exactly refuse a request from the Adventurers' Guild, an international organization, so Parirot had accepted Taiche's visit.

And upon arriving, she had produced the aforementioned mountain of gold coins from a large wheeled suitcase.

Both Parirot and Rana were, naturally, stunned.

Seeing their faces, Taiche was grinning, amused.

Perhaps Taiche had kept the details secret just because she wanted to see the couple's shocked expressions.

If so, she was a spiteful woman.

“A gift...... that makes even less sense. Why would that thing give us a gift?”

The moment he heard Emi's name, Parirot's mood soured.

Rana hung her head, hunched her shoulders, and made herself small.

“That thing is a cursed child, to begin with. There's no way it has any money...... Ah, so in other words, this is hush money from the Adventurers' Guild? The Supreme Commander taking in a cursed child as her daughter is nothing but a scandal, after all.”

To Parirot, Emi was...... an enemy.

An enemy who tormented his wife's heart and smashed the happiness of their family of 3.

It didn't matter that she was still a young girl, or that she'd had an unfortunate upbringing.

Emi was a cursed child, so there was no need to be considerate of such things.

That was why, whenever it came to Emi, he changed completely from his usual cheerful self and became excessively aggressive.

To protect his wife, and his family.

“Hahaha!”

Seeing Parirot so desperate, and Rana starting to cower, Taiche laughed as if mocking them.

“You......!!”

“Dear, wait!”

That laugh sent the blood rushing straight to Parirot's head, and he shot to his feet, sending his chair toppling backward.

But violence is not allowed!

Rana hurriedly hugged Parirot, stopping his movements.

“Hahaha...... No, my apologies.”

Even faced with Parirot's anger, she was every bit the veteran Special Affairs Officer.

Without panicking in the slightest, Taiche sat deep in her chair, crossed her legs, and took a sip of the steaming Zamago bean tea on the desk to moisten her throat.

“Your husband says things so wildly off the mark, I just couldn't help finding it funny.”

Taiche grinned as she watched Parirot, whom Rana had forced back into his chair.

“Off the mark, you say?”

“Yes, off the mark. This money was undoubtedly sent by Emi-san. Not by us at the Adventurers' Guild.”

“But that thing is a cursed child. As I said before, how could it have such a large sum......”

“......Then, let us start there.”

Setting her teacup down on the desk with a kotori, Taiche dropped the grin and straightened up.

Then she let out a single sigh.

“This was originally compensation paid by the Adventurers' Guild to Emi-san.”

““Compensation?””

At the unexpected word, the couple frowned in puzzlement together, in spite of themselves.

“Since it would expose the organization's shame, I'd prefer it if you didn't spread this around...... but some time ago, there was an incident where a certain Guild employee treated Emi-san unfairly and, of all things, exploited her.”

As Taiche said this, her brow was deeply furrowed.

In truth, she probably didn't even want to talk about these circumstances.

“This money is the compensation for that incident. Goodness, it was a struggle. Emi-san being Emi-san, we couldn't even find out where she was, to begin with. And then, just when we finally found her, she'd become the Supreme Commander's daughter. Really, you never know how things will turn out in this world, do you?”

As she spoke, Taiche had a distant look in her eyes.

That expression spoke eloquently of how real the ‘struggle’ she described had been.

“But when we finally caught Emi-san and told her about the compensation, she said quite clearly: ‘I don't need this much.’”

“Huh?”

Parirot tilted his head.

Surely, money was never a bad thing to have.

What did it mean to say ‘I don't need it’ when she had the legitimate right to receive it?

“I can well imagine how you feel. Emi-san is, well...... someone who lives apart from human economic society.”

Saying this, Taiche cast a fleeting glance at Rana.

“After all, she has black hair and black eyes. Apparently, even when she went into shops in town, she was hardly ever allowed to buy anything, you know? Turned away at the door everywhere, she says. She's lived like that until now, with no one to help her, apparently, you know?”

“............”

Taiche said it flatly, her eyes on Rana.

Rana could do nothing but look down in silence.

Rana could tell, too.

Taiche was indirectly blaming her.

But, still.

What was I supposed to do?

When I fled from my violent husband and the village...... should I have taken Emi with me?

No.

I can't do something like that.

If I did that, wouldn't everyone, Parirot included, just end up unhappy?

Because Emi is a cursed child.

Surely, if I did that, everyone, Parirot and Rana included, would be persecuted by the world.

In order to protect ourselves, we had no choice but to leave Emi behind.

There was surely no other choice.

But.

This is surely a sin.

One that Rana must carry forever.

I've always, always known that.

In my head, the thoughts spin round and round, round and round.

“......That's why she said, ‘I don't need money I can't use anyway.’ And just as a token, she put only as many gold coins as she could grasp in her small hand into her pocket, and refused the rest.”

Perhaps finding Rana's lack of reaction boring, Taiche turned her eyes back to Parirot and explained the situation.

“But in that case, couldn't your Supreme Commander have taken it? She's that thing's mother now, isn't she?”

“There are circumstances regarding that as well......”

Taiche scratched her cheek and gave a wry smile.

“Emi-san and the Supreme Commander...... in the end, they do seem to have acknowledged each other as mother and child...... but it seems they haven't built the kind of mother-and-child relationship we'd imagine. How should I put it...... they're both superhuman, after all. Their sensibilities just seem different from ours. At any rate, Emi-san seemed to dislike the idea of leaving the money with the Supreme Commander, too.”

Until then, Taiche had been talking in a smooth, logical flow, but on this topic she kept to vague phrasing throughout.

It was likely because she herself didn't fully understand the relationship between Emi and the Supreme Commander.

“Then surely the Adventurers' Guild could have just held on to that money as it was. The Adventurers' Guild, like the merchant guilds, can take deposits and make withdrawals through ‘the Blessing of the Banking God,’ can't it?”

“That didn't work either. First of all, she apparently has a promise with the Supreme Commander not to become an adventurer. Hence, she cannot make a deposit with our Guild. We proposed creating an account somewhere else, but she refused, saying, ‘Even if I make one, I'll just be discriminated against because of my looks and won't be able to withdraw it while traveling, so it's fine.’”

“............”

“My, my...... she really, truly does not trust human society. On the other hand, it's not that she resents human society all that much. On this point, we have to be grateful. If she hated humans...... society, then surely...... things would get terrible.”

Why was Taiche's face so pale?

Just how much power Emi possessed—Parirot and Rana did not know.

So the two of them didn't understand.

What ‘things would get terrible’ meant.

◇ ◇ ◇

The kettle on the stove burning in a corner of the shop began to go pii.

Though winter had ended and spring had already arrived, chilly days still continued.

A stove was indispensable for daily life.

And as for this kettle, all the hot water inside had been used to make Zamago bean tea before this discussion began, and it had been refilled with fresh water.

Enough time had already passed for such a kettle to start going pii pii.

“Now then, shall we get back to the matter at hand? Parirot-san, Rana-san. I would like you to accept this money.”

Taiche faced the couple once more and repeated the words she had spoken at the start of the discussion.

“Is that...... as compensation? Or a nuisance fee?”

Parirot said in a prickly tone, his brow furrowed.

The crucial part—why Emi would want to send them money—had not yet been revealed.

And of course, there was a reason he spoke of compensation and a nuisance fee.

There had been some connection between the cursed child Emi and the Parirot Magic Lamp Store.

Rumors to that effect were already circulating throughout the town of Serelirin.

It was a fact that this was affecting the store's sales.

Ikeranjel hadn't said anything, but he was no doubt hearing things at school too.

A cursed child really was a bringer of misfortune.

In this world, people were extremely hostile toward cursed children and anyone connected with them.

“......Money to cut ties...... is that it?”

Rana, meanwhile, murmured that.

Startled, Parirot turned to look at Rana's profile.

“Rana-chan, how can you say such a thing? That makes it sound as if......”

“I'm the one at fault, dear......”

Rana began to speak, haltingly.

“I'm the one who gave birth to that child. I'm the one who left her in the village...... no, the one who abandoned her and fled. I'm the one who made that child suffer for so long. To completely sever the relationship with someone like me. Could this money be...... that kind of money?”

Rana said this while looking straight at Taiche.

Rana had always been aware of her sin.

But she had lived her life constantly looking away from that sin.

Until now, that had been fine.

Because she thought Emi had been attacked by monsters along with the village and had died.

But Emi was alive.

She had lived, and had appeared before her once again.

Rana was forced to face her own sin once more.

It was not an easy thing.

Even during the mediation meeting, Rana could do nothing but look down and tremble.

She had been running away.

She knew that herself.

Even then, there was nothing she could do.

But.

Even so.

Still.

Perhaps the opportunity for her to truly face her own sin had finally arrived here and now.

Perhaps this was her last chance.

Thinking round and round, round and round, round and round, round and round.

At last, that was what Rana thought.

The money lined up on the desk.

It was certainly a lot, but it wasn't an amount that was impossible to earn.

Even without it, they would have no trouble with their living or with running the store.

But if she accepted this, Rana could no longer keep running from her sin, as she had before reuniting with Emi.

Every time she saw this money, every time she saw something bought with this money, Rana would remember Emi.

And she would suffer from her sense of guilt.

Considering the toll on Rana's heart, it would be far better not to accept this money.

But she could not keep running any longer.

Rana had finally made up her mind.

That she would live her life in constant repentance.

So she absolutely had to accept that money.

Rana would stop letting Parirot protect her.

That was the conclusion she had reached.

“I see, compensation, a nuisance fee.”

Taiche murmured and looked at Parirot.

“And now, money to cut ties, is it?”

Next, she turned toward Rana.

Rana was no longer looking down.

She was staring straight into Taiche's eyes.

“Every single one of those is completely off the mark.”

But Taiche snorted and laughed off Parirot's disgust and Rana's resolve alike, and told them so.

““Huh?””

In spite of themselves, the couple let out a dumbfounded sound in unison.

“In the first place, while this is money I'd like you to accept, it was by no means sent to you.”

““Whaa?””

Unable to understand, Parirot and Rana stood there with their mouths agape.

Watching them, Taiche scratched her cheek again and, with a wry smile, told them this.

“This, you see, is for your son...... fried bread money, she says.”

With this, Arc 14 comes to an end.

It's not for me to say, but the structure was pretty scattered, so it may have been hard to read.

Thank you for sticking with it.

Thank you for always reading ‘The Omake Reincarnator’.

I hope you'll keep me company from here on too, so I humbly ask for your continued support.