NOVEL WEB Chapter 90 - Side Story: Schlie Letziano 3 (Part 3)
Side Story: Schlie Letziano 3 (Part 3)
However, some questions remained. On my way to the Don, I took a break from parallel thinking and made my brain work overtime.
I now understood that Meg, who’d been empty, had gained a soul… But I didn’t think it was a new soul.
Because she was far too intelligent. It could be argued that she was simply using the memories she’d accumulated in this body, but her communication skills were too good.
Meg had grown up in a secluded place. She must have only interacted with a limited number of people. And yet, she was adapting to the guild’s rules and had no trouble interacting with people she met for the first time.
And so, I concluded that the soul that had entered her body must have originally belonged to “someone.” And that “someone’s” memories remained intact. That’s why she was able to live a normal life, even though she had taken up residence in a body that was supposed to be ignorant.
When thinking about this, the first thing I thought about was how the child must have felt.
Did she know that she was going to inhabit a new body? It would be fine if she’d agreed to it, but what if she hadn’t? I couldn’t imagine her confusion.
And she’d probably feel like she couldn’t tell anyone. It was easy to imagine her thinking that no one would believe her, that it was too unrealistic.
Maybe the original Meg’s body and the soul’s mind had somehow merged, creating the current Meg. One moment she’d be expressing mature thoughts, and then the next she’d be laughing innocently. It would also explain her inconsistencies. Maybe the soul was even older than her body.
It seemed like I’d been standing here, dumbfounded, for a while. This was all so unprecedented. But well, it couldn’t be helped.
A child had been born between a Demon King, said to be the least likely of all beings to bear a child, and a High Elf, who were also incredibly unlikely to bear children. And the mother had successfully given birth, even though the father was a Demon King. No, maybe she’d only been able to endure it because she was Yennaliearl, a High Elf.
Well then, shall we confirm this with the Don?
“As expected of you, Schlie. To think you’d even gather the information I needed. I’m impressed.”
When I presented my deductions to the Don, he simply replied with this. Apparently, I’d passed. It’d been a while since I’d felt that nervous.
“The request Ash gave me was to find Yennaliearl and to investigate her abilities. But I never imagined that she’d have a child, that a child had already been born.”
He’d said that even the Demon King hadn’t realized that he had a child. The Don had returned to the guild before because he’d heard about the High Elf child we’d found.
“I thought it was a ridiculous possibility back then, but I knew the moment I saw her. She looks just like her mother. Those deep blue eyes you mentioned? Maybe she took after Ash in that regard.”
A clue had finally appeared. He’d told the Demon King, his client, immediately, but even he’d had a hard time believing it. Well, I understood how he felt. I’d also find it absurd without all this circumstantial evidence.
“And her name.”
“Name? Meg’s?”
“That’s right. We’d talked about it a long time ago, just a what-if story. If they had a daughter, they’d name her Meg, both the Demon King and Yenna had said that. So, it wouldn’t be strange for Yenna to have named her that.”
So, that’s what had happened. Now that I thought about it, the Don had known about the meaning of the flower “Meg.” He must have heard it from the Demon King.
“Now, the problem is that the Demon King has a child, and she’s a High Elf child. And then, there’s Meg’s ability.”
“There’s literally a mountain of problems.”
“Yeah. Meg, considering her lineage and her potential abilities, she’s the next Demon King. There’s no doubt about that. But the High Elves won’t let Meg, who has the power of precognition and the ability to rule over demons, go so easily. A High Elf who can control demons and demi-humans? …Wouldn’t you say that makes her the closest thing to a god?”
His words took my breath away. He was right. If the High Elves were still aiming to regain their positions as gods, then they wouldn’t want to let go of Meg, who had such a godly ability. They’d try to use her.
I didn’t know if she had precognition, but the ability to control demons and demi-humans, that was something all children who share the Demon King’s blood inherited. The fact that the current Demon King’s pressure didn’t affect her was proof of that. And just that ability alone was enough reason for the High Elves to target her.
“It all comes down to… how much the High Elves know about Meg…”
“Exactly. It’s so easy to talk to you, Schlie. You don’t need me to spell it out for you.”
I’m just good at analyzing things, it’s a racial trait, but it still felt nice to be praised. I shrugged slightly and smiled.
We then started listing the possible scenarios.
“Why isn’t Yenna with her? Why was Meg found alone in the dungeon? Yenna’s probably at the High Elf Village. And she’s probably being restrained.”
“Maybe she foresaw Meg’s future. Maybe she somehow managed to get Meg out of there.”
Thinking about that, it was clear that Meg was in danger, and I felt a surge of anxiety. I was sure she was fine for now, with Gil always by her side. But if their enemy was the High Elves, that was a different story. Maybe she’d be safer while the Demon King was at the guild… But I still didn’t like the idea of her real father just taking her away. This was a matter of personal feelings.
“If your deduction is correct, then Meg’s been drawing pictures of the future she’s seen with her precognitive abilities. Before we start searching for Yenna, we should have the guild investigate that.”
“It hasn’t been confirmed that she has precognition, but there’s no point in talking about it without investigating.”
And so, our business at the Elven Village was quickly concluded, and we started discussing our future plans. After a moment of silence, the Don spoke, lowering his voice.
“And if there’s a soul inhabiting Meg’s body, we should talk to her about it directly. See how much she understands. She might not know at all… But if she’s troubled and unable to talk about it, we need to reassure her that it’s okay to talk.”
“You’re right…”
The Don’s face was filled with sympathy and affection. I could tell he cared about Meg’s well-being, and also about the soul that was inhabiting her body.
A wandering soul who’d ended up in Meg, a vessel, for reasons unknown. If it was an evil soul, it would have been troublesome in a different way, but there wouldn’t be much to worry about. But it was clear that the soul was pure, both from the spirits’ reactions and from my own observations.
I, Gil, the others, all the guild members, liked Meg, not just her appearance, but also her personality. And even after realizing that the soul wasn’t her own, our feelings for her didn’t change. Meg was Meg, no matter who the soul belonged to, no matter the circumstances of her birth. And I realized, once again, that I wanted to accept her as the child she is.
A child born between a Demon King and a High Elf, a child who shouldn’t even exist.
The fact that a soul she wasn’t supposed to have had suddenly appeared one day.
Meg was truly a miracle child. I shivered at the realization.