Chapter 174, New Year’s Uproar brought by White_3 (: Fake)

Translator: Nonon

Proofreader: Silavin

POV: Mary

 

Shiki.

It’s a place I had never heard of in ‘Ring of Fire’ at least.

It’s a place governed by Mr. Clo and Violet, and from what I have heard, it’s a place where ‘strange people’ live.

It used to be prosperous, but now there are fewer people left in the domain.

Until recently it was still in chaos because of the two previous Lords, who were terrible, but now it apparently has calmed down quite a bit.

 

“Immediately let me know if you get injured. And report the situation. It’ll be fine, whether it hurts or you scream, I’ll ignore it and put you back to normal.”

“N-numbness… fu-fufufu, I came across a good poison early right into New Year…!”

“My goodness, to be so lucky to meet such a beautiful woman so early in the New Year! How about it, beautiful blonde lady, won’t you spend this night with me?!”

“My beloved Husband, this year I will kill (love) you to the fullest. First, I will pierce your heart.”

“Ah, if only you were a man, what a wonderful body you have… no, I’m sorry, it’s nothing.”

“My beauty will continue to be polished this year…!”

 

I’m starting to wonder if things really have settled down.

Or rather, how are they worse before?

Also, is it my imagination or was the person with black hair who was admiring herself with a strangely ecstatic expression Ms. Schwarz who also appeared in Ring of Fire…?

 

“What? Do I love wounds, you ask? If anything, I hate them. That’s why I want to heal them all.”

“Do I love poisons? Well, I do, but… I want to get rid of it eventually. My dream is to create medicine that will work on all poisons.”

“It’s true that I can’t help but love women. Why? I don’t really know either, haha!”

“It’s because I love him that I want him to accept all of me. That’s why I will kill him.”

“Who I love? My Husband in his entirety, my Son, and the body of the Lord of this place… How do I love them? By loving them so much I’m willing to give up everything I have for them, I guess?”

 

And although they went in various ways, I could sense love from each of them so I tried asking and received all different answers.

Each one was interesting, and I learned that love came in different shapes.

However, if there was one thing they all had in common – it was that they looked like they were having fun.

There were degrees to it, but when they were absorbed in something, they were very lively and looked like they were having fun.

I wonder if I’m capable of ever having passion to feel love like them.

 

— What I liked

 

In my previous life, I was able to enjoy manga and games even when I was hospitalized. They were certainly fun, and learning about all kinds of new stories was my reason to live.

Although there were times when I felt frustrated with my body that couldn’t do things described in those stories, I can say without a doubt that they were plenty of fun.

… However, if you asked me whether I loved them, I wouldn’t be able to answer.

 

“Mr. Clo, if I remember right, you were a patterner in your previous life, right?”

“That came out of nowhere. Well, it’s true.”

 

After taking a look around, I returned to the Lord’s mansion, and after making sure that Mr. Clo was the only person around, I asked.

A patterner.

In other words, a person who gives a three-dimensional form to the clothes drawn by the designer. Although they don’t stand out as much as the designers, patterners are so important, the quality of garments depends on them.

The most important thing for them is the patience to sew diligently, and flexibility to respond to all kinds of instructions

 

“I think that kind of specialized work requires passion and interest. Looking at people of Shiki, I think a lot of them let their passions dictate their paths in life.”

“To think that you would be able to make that judgement by looking at those guys… you are not wrong though.”

 

At the same time, I remembered the dress Violet wore at the school festival party

Even somebody like me, who knows next to nothing about clothes, could see how great that dress was. I don’t know how to describe it, but… it was the kind of a dress that perfectly encapsulated what Vermillion meant by ‘sewn while thinking of you’.

I remembered that it was the defining difference between me and Mr. Clo.

 

“As expected, maybe it’s better if I set a goal for myself and work towards it?”

“It can be a very small trigger. I only became a patterner because we were so poor I had to fix my Little Sister’s clothes by hand and then my friend suggested the fashion industry.”

 

Mr. Clo stood up, took out sewing supplies from a random shelf, and started speaking.

His Little Sister… if I remember right, she was 8 years younger than him and they lived together in a one-room apartment. If they didn’t have money, perhaps his parents were poor?

 

“My parents in previous life? My Father was not determined, and my Mother would just give me money and go to have fun on her own, only to come back a few weeks later and hand me a baby saying ‘this is your Little Sister’, pushing all the burden on me.”

 

His parents were worse than I thought.

According to him, there was a time when he was constantly getting into fights as a way of rebellion, and it helped him improve his physical abilities. That being said, it’s still weird that he was able to see bullets so clearly.

 

“Anyway, triggers can be simple things like that. For example, somebody can become interested in medicine because they’re curious about why scabs form, or somebody might be determined to create an panacea, because their mother passed away from illness, or they might have learned pleasure after being assaulted by a maid in childhood, or they could have been branded as God Killer and the only person who protected them was their Husband so they wanted to kill him.”

 

Is it just me or were his examples weird in some places?

 

“… The reason I first started liking Lady Violet was because I saw her in her weakened state. I don’t know what your trigger could be or what it might be though, Ms. Mary.”

 

Mr. Clo handed me the sewing supplies.

It consisted of several needles stuck into a pincushion and a band to wrap them around the hand.

 

“Just like how you became interested in Robot, one day ‘love’ might suddenly come to you. Why don’t you try to take it slow for some time? It’s New Year, so nobody would blame you even if you took it easy at home. Or I can teach you how to sew if you’d like.”

 

As always, Mr. Clo was kind even to me.

For him it was probably something that came naturally, nothing special.

… Somehow, I think I understand why he’s so loved by the people of Shiki.  And the reason he became close to Violet too… I’m envious

 

“Yes, it might be good to take it easy. I could even do something typical to our home country, Japan. I wonder if there’s anything good I could do.”

“… Would you like to eat some zouni? Personally, this is what comes to life when I think of New Year, but it’s not very popular here. Lady Violet and Gray had a lukewarm reaction to it too.”

“Ah, zouni is good. This will be my first time eating it with flavor, so may I have some?”

“Of course… your first time eating zouni with flavor? What do you mean by that…?”

 

In my previous life, I couldn’t taste things because of my illness, so I could only experience zouni as a sensation.

Maybe this is a good opportunity to find out what it’s like. I’m excited.

 

“M-Mary! What did you do in Shiki?!”

 

Just as I was about to accept his offer, Violet came rushing over to us in a panic.

Even Mr. Clo couldn’t hide his surprise at the rare expression on her face.

 

“W-what’s wrong, Lady Violet? Please calm down.”

“S-sorry… anyway, Mary, what exactly did you do in Shiki?”

 

Even Mr. Clo looked at me doubtfully after hearing her words.

…  What I’ve done in Shiki is just asking everybody about love, and after that…

 

“I was acting just like how I usually am at the academy. I can’t ask about love unless we become friends first…”

 

First of all, in order to become friends, I tried to talk with them to learn a little more about things they loved.

 

“… I see. I somewhat understand it now.”

“What happened, Lady Violet?”

“To sum it up,”

“Yes?”

“We are being swamped by people begging to meet Mary.”

“… Pardon?”

 

This is what happened later.

Because I explained some knowledge I had from my previous life, residents of Shiki came flocking to me, seeking my knowledge.

… Mr. Clo told me that he understood I did what I did for other people’s sake, but he got mad at me, telling me to pay more attention to the surroundings. It had been a long time since I’d been lectured.

 

…It’s really been a long time since I’ve been scolded.

 

—–

TL/N:

Zouni is a Japanese soup containing mocha rice and it’s considered to be the staple dish to eat on New Year’s day