The Girl Wants to Be Murdered

TL/Editor: Butter Cat

Status: 4/week mon-thurs

Illustrations: none

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〈 Chapter 7 〉 Chapter 7. Play.

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Just as I thought, or perhaps just as I calculated,

For Anna, it must have felt like crossing a river of no return? She turned away coldly, leaving me behind as I burst into tears.

Ah, this is good.

So, good.

After that incident, Anna began to treat everything coldly, to the point where even a stranger could tell she had changed a lot.

What am I doing, you ask?

Well, of course—

Knock, knock, knock → knock, knock → knock, knock!

"Do you want to build a snowman~♬?"

"...Go away."

"...Okay... Sorry for bothering you."

"..."

I was still hanging around big sis Anna.

Wow, this isn't working.

I tried to imitate a scene from my first life, a memory that's fading but more strongly imprinted than any other life, but to no avail.

Winter came and the first snow fell, so I invited her to build a snowman together, but as expected, I got rejected.

That's the 75th time I've done this. Tch, she's a brick wall.

Despite my advances, big sis Anna's walls showed no sign of crumbling.

Well, if she crumbled this easily, I would have been even more disappointed.

Despite my efforts, her heart seems to be hardening even more. Or should I say, her heart is like a dry and parched land, hardening.

The more it hardens, the more it'll shatter without any time to recover once a crack appears.

Like a porcelain doll cracking.

Heehee.

Despite her rejection, I continued to act like a cheerful and bright child, pretending that nothing had happened.

However, I did show a tiny bit of sadness.

"...Aris, were you here again..?"

"...Yes..."

"Haa... Come here, let's play."

Hug.

Shiver, shiver, my body temperature was starting to drop due to the cold wind.

I was thinking of staying a little longer and faking a fainting spell due to the cold, but Remi found me first.

It's a shame, but this situation isn't so bad either.

Remi runs towards me and embraces me warmly.

As always, she's such a warm sister.

How wonderful it would be if she cried?

Every time I imagined her weeping while holding my cold body, I felt a sense of happiness.

Ah, I want to see it.

But the most regrettable thing is that if I die, I won't be able to see it with my own eyes.

She held my hands, blew warm air on them, and slowly thawed them. I felt a slight tingling sensation as the blood started to circulate again.

Hmm, I almost got frostbite. I didn't know. Wow, my hands are blue.

Was I outside for about two hours?

I kept talking to her through the door, but all I got were rejections. Later, she didn't even answer and just ignored me.

The effect is definitely there.

"Anna, you idiot! Stupid! Sea anemone!"

"D-Don't say that! It's... It's all my fault..."

"Aris did nothing wrong! That stuffy, blockhead is the problem!"

Don't say bad things about big sis Anna...

Aris is so kind despite this! Ugh! I hope she cuts her finger on paper while reading a book!

Th-that's a bit much..

Right!? That's what bookworms deserve!

Remi tried her best to cheer me up, saying she'd punish Anna, calling her a reincarnated monster who was a bookworm in her past life, and I finally burst into laughter.

Seeing me laugh, she started laughing too. As we laughed, my body temperature gradually returned to normal.

Every time I saw Remi's pure actions for me, I felt so happy, like a parent watching their child's adorable antics.

As we walked some distance away from Anna's residence with Remi, she suddenly spoke to me.

"I want to see it!"

It was a disjointed phrase, but we had long understood each other, able to read each other's thoughts with just a glance.

Uh... That?

Yes! That!

Actually, I don't know either.

"Eh... I'm embarrassed... I'm still not very good at it..."

"I love everything Aris does! I want to see it! I want to see it~! Show me your dance~"

"Uh—Then... I'm only showing it to you, okay?"

"I love you, Aris!"

I love you too.

I continued to maintain a good relationship with big sis Remi. In fact, she stuck to me like glue.

And since I always gave in to her, we never fought.

When we bathed, I tried to push her away gently, saying I was embarrassed, but she just barged in, saying she wanted to see my blushing face, so I gave up.

To be honest, I don't really mind.

We were practically together all the time, except for maybe two or three hours a day.

Since I helped her with her studies and homework when she didn't understand something, played with her, and sang her lullabies when she slept, she seemed to see me as a parent figure.

Our parents, being the king and queen of the kingdom, were busy.

It felt like a newborn chick imprinting on a vulture tearing apart a carcass, mistaking it for its mother.

"Hmm~ Hmm~ Aris's dance~"

"You like it that much?"

"Of course I do!"

I led Remi's hand and headed towards the flower garden.

On the way, we stopped by my room and I picked up a sword. My custom-made sword.

Teacher Fayne said I had nothing left to learn from him.

He gave it to me as a graduation gift, as a bonus.

Haha, what a character, Teacher.

Hey~ You know, just outside our sight, around the corner of the building, big sis Anna was eavesdropping, and you praised me so much in front of her.

Is it possible... Teacher, you too?

Well, probably not.

With Teacher Fayne's unexpected assist, I returned to my room in high spirits.

Big sis Anna? Well, she probably snuck back to her room and felt anxious or resentful towards me, right?

The day when all that affection turns into love-hate, and then into hatred, isn't far off.

After that, I was thinking about what to do with my time. Practicing swordsmanship? I've been doing it for thousands of years, and there's no point in doing it for a few more years here.

Lost in thought, I suddenly had the urge to perform a sword dance.

And then, Remi saw me practicing alone in the flower garden and insisted that I show it to her, which is what's happening now.

Hmm.

But, this sword is too soft.

—Ting

"Hmm~ That's a nice sound."

"Really? I like it if you like it, Big sis."

"Ugh... You little cutie!"

I flicked the sword lightly with my finger. The clear, resonant sound filled the flower garden. The sound is beautiful, but the performance is... uh…

It's probably rude to compare it to swords from the future.

Even a simple plate made of a proper alloy, cut into the shape of a sword, would be stronger and more durable than most of the famous swords in the royal palace.

Still, I can't help but feel a sense of disappointment.

Well, it's not just this sword, but all the other swords have been downgraded like this, so let's call it even.

I smiled bitterly.

"...Are you still thinking about big sis Anna...?"

"..U-Uh? Ah... Yes..."

Leaving Remi behind, who made a gloomy expression looking at me, I slowly walked to the center of the flower garden.

It feels strange to be driving a wedge between them, but it also feels exhilarating to think that this is the influence of my existence on them.

Ah, I feel alive.

Now, then.

"Waaaaah!! Aris! Aris!"

"Uuuu... Don't tease me!"

"Heehee, sorry~"

I take my stance.

Two audience members.

Over there, in the flower garden, is big sis Remi, cheering me on. Clapping and cheering, her enthusiasm no less vibrant than the flowers blooming around her.

She's my regular audience.

And, far away, in the gap between the buildings.

"......."

One audience member, watching me with empty eyes.

Since she wants to watch secretly, I should pretend I don't know. The privacy of the audience is more important than anything else. I won't reveal who she is.

However, I will tell you that it's a very familiar face.

Clap, clap.

This humble performer is truly grateful that so many audience members have come to see this crude dance.

It's an honor beyond my worth.

Now, ladies and gentlemen—, no, let me start over.

Now, Ladies, let the show begin.

I hummed a tune. No lyrics, just a melody through the nose with closed lips.

Listening to my melody, I moved my body not by controlling the sword with my will, but by following the direction the sword seemed to want to move.

You might ask, how can an inanimate object have a will and move on its own?

Honestly, it sounds like bullshit even to me, but after swinging it for so long, I started to understand.

Swords were a common tool in most of the worlds I've lived in. Sometimes for self-defense, as a primary weapon, as a secondary weapon, or as a tool to cut through nature, and even as decorations for various ceremonies. They were my friends.

I've probably swung a sword for, like, a thousand years?

Is that an exaggeration? Hmm... I haven't counted, so I'm not sure.

"...Wow!"

"......~"

The content of the dance, let's see.

The tragedy of Medea, that would be good. (Tl Note: It’s an Ancient Greek play)

A tragic woman, driven to kill her own children by the machinations of the gods.

The protagonist of a tragedy, who brutally murdered her brother for love, dismembered his body, and threw the pieces one by one into the sea.

She seems like a villainess, but in later generations, she was exceptionally evaluated as a female hero.

In the hopeless world of Greek and Roman mythology, she successfully took her revenge, her children became kings, and she achieved a happy ending.

"Hoo—!"

"Amazing...!"

A round of applause for the protagonist who will become the future Medea!

And death for the future Apsyrtus, me!

In the flower garden, I twirled, holding a mirror-like, clear sword.

Twirl, twirl.

Twirl.

Twirl, twirl.

Ah, this is fun.

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