Etude of the Melancholy Sunflower | Chapter 9

[healingbonds]

Chapter 8 << | index | >> Chapter 10


Faust: ..........

Nero: Are you done talking, Mr. Faust?

Faust: Did you all stay up waiting for me.....?

Shino: Nah. I was just taking care of my magic weapon.

Heathcliff: He’s right; please don’t let it bother you. The Southern wizards all headed off to their rooms together just moments ago.

Faust: .....I’ll explain the steps for the ritual tomorrow morning. Don’t worry about it; go to bed, and get plenty of rest.

Shino: We’re not worried about the job or the ritual. You knew the person who generated this curse, right?
Then there’s nothing to worry about.

Faust: ....Then why are you awake?

Nero: ........... Haha......

Faust: What’s so funny?

Nero: Oh, it’s nothing. Shino just got hungry, you see. Heathcliff, too.
That’s why they were having trouble falling asleep. Everyone feels restless when they’re not fulfilled.
And everyone gets nervous when something is missing. Even if we’re just a team that’s been cobbled together.

Faust: Hmph.... You’re awfully dutiful for someone who has trouble getting along with others.

Shino: You said that I would realize that we could no longer be together.

Heathcliff: Huh?

Shino: Nero said that after you almost die thirty times, you realize that you can no longer be with someone.

Nero: ....Yeah. I did say that.

Shino: No matter how many hundreds of times I stand on the brink of death, I will stay by Heath’s side. And I won’t let him cry about it.
I’ll make him get used to seeing me covered in blood. For the sake of our future and our freedom.

Heathcliff: .............

Nero: That’s brutal.....

Faust: Sometimes I can’t tell which of you is the master.......

Shino: Faust. Nero.

Faust & Nero: ...........

Shino: Until the day I make that moon grovel and crush it beneath the soles of my shoes, I need you.
Let’s work together, even if we’re a bunch of guys who can’t be together.

Nero: .....Haha. Yeah. You’re right. So long as we have these crests......

Heathcliff: .....I can’t agree with everything Shino just said, but..... We should all work together.
Please teach us magic, Mr. Faust.

Faust: ...........
I will when the sun rises.

✦✧☾✧✦

The next morning, we make careful arrangements and preparations before heading off to the sunflower fields.
The preparations were rather strange: we put perfumed oil on the tops of our heads, and drafty leaves in our mouths.
Once we finished all that, we arrived at the sunflower fields, where people had already gathered.
Their faces are pale from fear, and they stare at us as if in prayer — or suspicion.

Faust: Now then, do as I told you.

Shino: Got it.

Shino takes a square lump of red clay out of his bag.

Shino: << Matztzāh Sudipas >>

As he mutters his spell, the clay turns to red sand and floats into the sky.
The red dust circles around in the bright blue sky and begins to form a vortex.

Heathcliff: << Repsevaivulp Sonus >>

Heathcliff follows, and does the same, taking the red clay out of his bag and reciting his spell.
His red dust joins Shino’s in the air, floating above the yellow sunflowers.
Eventually, the dust comes dancing downwards and turns into a giant circle that encompasses the whole periphery of the vast sunflower fields.

Nero: << Adnodus Omnis >>

Nero casts his spell as he throws some dried herbs into the air.
They release a refreshing smell as they’re drawn upwards to land atop the red dust.
The moment the herbs land, they release tiny embers and begin to burn. The villagers begin to stir.
The noose appears.
Come here, come here, it seems to beckon as it swings back and forth.
Or perhaps it’s grabbing someone’s shoulders and asking, why, why.

Akira: (Bianca, the man-eating witch.)
(But she was a serious and kind witch who loved her family. Why did this happen to her....)

Lennox: Sir Akira.

Lennox calls me by my name, and I’m drawn back to my senses.
Reading my face, he whispers:

Lennox: Do not offer your sympathies to cursed things. If you accept the curse, it will contaminate you.



Lennox walks forward and brings out his magical tool — his key.
He raises it towards the noose suspended in air.

Lennox: << Forsettao Meiuvat >>

Figaro likewise raises his orb.

Figaro: << Possideo >>

The brothers follow: Rutile lifts his feather pen, and Mitile lifts his jar. They too recite their spells.

Rutile: << Ortonik Setomaouge >>

Mitile: << Ortonik Sealsispilce >>

The atmosphere goes muddy and stagnant. The red dust scattered outside the edges of the sunflower fields turns black in no time.

"Ahaha!"

We hear a woman’s laugh.
Faust raises his mirror into the air. It shines bright, slicing through the malicious air that surrounds us.

Faust: << Satillquinart Mullcreed >>

"Ahahaha! Ahaha!"

We hear a woman’s laugh. Before I know it, tears have begun to flow from my eyes.
The red dust has turned pitch black. We hear a woman’s laugh. The villagers are now praying.

"Ahahaha!"

Because her laughter is so sorrowful.
The noose begins to quietly disappear. And something bizarre appears in its place.



Chapter 8 << | index | >> Chapter 10