Chapter 144: The Weight of Redemption: Shirone and Marsha’s Resolve
At that moment, without realizing it, a single tear rolled down her cheek.
"Ah..." As her vision blurred with tears, the door opened, and a silhouette resembling her stepfather approached.
Marsha.
Torimia Magic Association, Inspection Division.
Sakiri, having obtained all the information from Lucas, leaned back on the sofa, half-unbuttoning his sweat-soaked shirt.
"Phew, this job gets harder every year."
Though he was someone who could make any villain tremble, the effort didn't match the salary.
"Haha! Even you're complaining now, Senior."
A junior from the Inspection Division entered with a drink, and Sakiri, holding an unlit cigarette, asked, "What's up?"
"You've done a great job this time. Catching Marsha is just a matter of time now."
"..."
Sakiri snapped the unlit cigarette in half.
It was clear the junior had come to gauge his reaction after hearing about the use of the forbidden technique, "Scales of Truth."
"I appreciate your concern, but stop it. I'm tired of being comforted by juniors."
"Hey, it's not like that."
The junior, sitting across from him with a cheeky smile, opened a report lying on the sofa.
"Hmm."
As he read with an intrigued smile, his expression changed at the mention of the term "Rulebreaker."
Sakiri cut him off.
"An Rulebreaker. It's an ability that allows one to utilize others' magic. That's why there was confusion."
"Well, cases like that are tough. Evidence shows up at the scene, but the culprit can't be identified."
"That's not the problem."
The junior looked up, holding the documents.
"Magic is selective concentration, but an Rulebreaker's ability dominates their entire life. The fact that she hasn't been caught until now proves she's extremely suspicious."
'Dominates their entire life.'
There was no room for argument, as it came from an Rulebreaker.
The "Scales of Truth" placed Sakiri's mental anguish on a scale, transforming it into physical pain.
If the trauma were diluted, the pain would lessen, but no criminal had ever resisted it.
'How does she endure it?'
Only a handful of people, including the junior, could even guess what Sakiri's trauma was.
"I heard it can be extinguished. Rulebreaker abilities are ultimately a matter of the mind."
"Catharsis."
Sakiri's eyes darkened.
"If a catharsis that transcends the trauma occurs, the Rulebreaker ability vanishes. There have been a few cases, but they make up less than 1% of all Rulebreakers. It's not something that can be done consciously. That's why no one teaches it. If you recklessly try to treat it, the therapist might go mad instead."
"B-but it's not entirely impossible..."
The junior trailed off.
Before him was Sakiri's true face, something he never revealed.
"Do you think I can escape it? Really?"
After countless answers ran through his mind, all he could say was, "I'm sorry, Senior."
Sakiri's expression softened.
He knew how much the junior cared for him.
"It's not entirely impossible."
As he sipped his drink, he muttered softly, "It would be a miracle."
Clay Marsha (7)
It was the summer of her 17th year.
Marsha lay in a sweltering room, staring at the ceiling.
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When the sun set, her drunken stepfather would beat her, but she had nowhere to run.
No, perhaps it was more accurate to say she had no will to run.
'Why?'
She wanted to ask.
But every time, the thought was too terrifying, and she couldn't bring herself to speak.
'Does Dad... hate me?'
It was unbearable.
More than the beatings, more than having her belongings taken, not knowing the truth was the hardest.
"Marsha."
At her stepfather's voice, Marsha sat up.
Unlike usual, she hid a small dagger behind her back.
"You can hug me."
Even now, Marsha remembers it vividly.
Her stepfather's face, his gaze, the coldness of the dagger, the smell of blood.
But in this moment, the stepfather standing before her gently embraced her.
"I'm sorry, my daughter."
"..."
Perhaps she had lived just to hear those words.
The blade hidden behind her fell, disappearing like a mirage before it hit the ground. And time reversed.
"Hic! Sob!"
Years of pent-up, twisted emotions exploded in an instant, like a spirit bursting forth from a fully opened consciousness.
"Waaah! Dad! Dad!"
Marsha clung to Shirone, crying like a seventeen-year-old girl.
Shirone silently stroked her back.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
Though the event never happened, her past was shattering in her mind.
As the twisted logic disappeared and her memories were reconstructed with new logic, Shirone felt all his magic returning.
Freeman looked incredulous.
"M-Marsha."
The reason he had stayed by her side through all the hardships was solely for this moment.
'But... I couldn't do it.'
Giving everything to someone you love isn't a sacrifice.
That's why the weight of what Shirone had given up for Marsha felt even greater.
'It's a complete defeat, Shirone.'
Marsha's crying showed no signs of stopping.
She knew it too. That if not today, the door might never open again.
"Waaah! Waaah!"
The endlessly deep wound was healing.