Mad Rosetta - Chapter 51

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Mad Rosetta

 

Episode 51

 

The Cowardly Man (3)

 

Do you know this?

 

When flames catch quickly, they really do make a ‘whoosh’ sound.

 

“Aaah! Damn it, waaah!”

 

“Fi-fire! Fire!”

 

Starting from the ignition point, the flames that began shooting up spread in the blink of an eye due to the pine resin powder scattered everywhere.

 

‘Somehow, somehow she was fluttering around acting crazy! Odette, that damn…!’

 

I couldn’t help but be certain that she was the cause of this fire.

 

After all, hadn’t she been strutting around a weapon shop she had no business being in, wearing a bright yellow dress like a forsythia flower?

 

Still, couldn’t I escape now?

 

Just as I was about to rush toward the entrance before the flames rose higher.

 

“Ah, urgh!”

 

I turned at the shop owner’s death groan to see his hair caught on a display case.

 

It seemed he’d gotten caught while hurrying, and it didn’t look like he could free himself with his own hands.

 

‘Shit, shit…!’

 

With the entrance right in front of me, I immediately grabbed a nearby dagger and rushed to him.

 

It was obvious I’d be tormented by guilt if the innocent shop owner was found dead.

 

When I cut through his hair caught on the display case without hesitation, the tearful shop owner kept bowing his head.

 

There was no time to receive his thanks, so I was about to tell him to hurry out.

 

‘…Damn. Really damn.’

 

In that time, the shop’s entrance had turned into a sea of flames.

 

Since the lantern hanging right in front of the door had broken and caught fire, it was perhaps an inevitable result.

 

At this rate, I might really die.

 

Setting aside the scorching heat of the flames relentlessly shooting up toward the interior, my breathing was becoming labored due to the acrid smoke.

 

I quickly covered my nose and mouth with a handkerchief from my bag, grabbed the shop owner’s sleeve, and shouted.

 

“You cover your face quickly like me too! Don’t you have a handkerchief or something?”

 

“I’m… I’m a man, so…”

 

“Damn it, then cover it with your clothes! Do you want to suffocate to death?”

 

I didn’t want to grab the collar of a middle-aged man much older than me, but the owner looked even more terrified than I was, so I had no choice.

 

I need to think.

 

If I assume Odette scattered pine resin powder around, the flames would surely reach the second floor quickly too.

 

The black smoke was so thick that just keeping my eyes open was agonizing.

 

If we can’t get out of here right now, both the proprietor and I will burn to death without fail!

 

I kept coughing while pulling at the proprietor’s collar.

 

“Wa-water! Is there no water? Or another exit!”

 

“Uh, huuk. The-there’s a rear door but the key is…”

 

Like me, the owner looked somewhere while squinting his eyes.

 

Somehow, I thought it strange that someone who had lived longer than me seemed to fall into despair without any composure.

 

The key ring that had been hanging next to the entrance was blazing away.

 

‘…Can’t escape? Am I really going to die like this?’

 

Whether it was due to the overwhelming fear or the terrible heat I’d never felt before in my life, my head spun for a moment.

 

If not for the desperate cry of the despairing shop owner, I might have fainted just like that.

 

“…Ah, ah! Water! There should be some water left that I set aside for drinking!”

 

The proprietor shouted this while crawling as low as possible toward the counter.

 

I too followed behind him, stubbornly gripping his sleeve due to my impaired vision.

 

As he said, there was a glass pitcher on the platform under the counter.

 

We quickly soaked the cloth each of us had with water and covered our faces again.

 

Perhaps because Odette couldn’t bring herself to enter behind the counter, the flames seemed to be rising more slowly in this area alone.

 

‘…So what. I can’t get out!’

 

I couldn’t even tell if tears were coming out because my eyes stung so much, or if I really wanted to cry.

 

My vision was already pitch black, and the dull sounds of weapons hanging on the walls falling one by one following the flames stimulated my fear.

 

“Uh, urgh. Cough! L-Lady, you’re still alive, right…?”

 

The proprietor’s trembling voice, as if asking me to tell him that what was beside him wasn’t a corpse, was truly horrible.

 

Odette. How can you do this?

 

If you had only wanted to torment me alone, I would have tried to understand, even reluctantly.

 

But isn’t the person beside me an innocent man?

 

Thinking of Odette, who didn’t care about not only damaging such a person’s property but even taking his life, made my teeth chatter with rage.

 

‘…Hot. It’s hot, suffocating. It hurts so much, sob… I’m going to die…’

 

The rear door is right in front of me, so why can’t I get out? Do I have to die twice because of someone like you?

 

Wouldn’t this level of resentment be enough to become a ghost like Sing?

 

I was consumed by despair to the point where I could only think such thoughts.

 

Just as my breath was rapidly failing and my consciousness was becoming distant.

 

【Rose, snap out of it.】

 

I was startled for a moment by someone who suddenly grabbed my face with both hands.

 

I immediately realized it was Sing from that unmistakably resolute voice.

 

“Si-Sing? Is that you, Sing?”

 

There was no time to ask why Sing, whom I’d left to monitor Lianna, was here.

 

I was just so heartbroken, and the guy in front of me was so welcome…

 

So even though I knew I shouldn’t, I burst into tears.

 

“Hu-huuung! O-Odette, that damn, cough! Huuung! I-I can’t see anything. I-I don’t want to die…! Sob.”

 

【Don’t say useless things… Maintain your breathing.】

 

“Huuusob…”

 

Such a cold-hearted bastard.

 

The guy pressed my hand holding the handkerchief deeper and gave cold instructions, but there was nothing that brought more reassurance.

 

【We’re going to break down the rear door and get out, Rose. Remember my words. Push with all your strength, understand?】

 

“How am I supposed to break down a door with my strength? I-I can’t even see… Ah!”

 

Suddenly my whole body was doused with water, and I realized Sing had taken my hand and poured the remaining water from the pitcher.

 

Then, as he guided me to reach out, something thick and smooth caught in my hand, but there was no way to know what it was.

 

As if there was no time to explain to me, Sing hurriedly made me lift it.

 

I was surprised by the tremendous weight, but soon realized the object was a shield that had been hanging on the wall behind the counter.

 

【I’ll be your eyes, so trust me and run.】

 

“Uh-huh… H-hey proprietor! Get up for now! Help me hold this!”

 

I threw away even the handkerchief I’d been gripping tightly and reached out my hand, and the floundering shop owner’s hand was caught firmly.

 

Soon the proprietor and I gripped the shield close together. I felt Sing firmly holding my lower back.

 

One, two, three…!

 

“Uaaaah!”

 

I really closed my eyes tightly and quickly leaped forward.

 

An impact so strong it shook my entire body.

 

The immediate sound of cracking and air cold enough to clear my breathing.

 

Whether my lungs were startled, I felt my solar plexus tighten for a moment.

 

Due to the outside air that instantly filled the interior, flames surged up once from behind.

 

My body hurt enough to make me want to faint.

 

Nevertheless, I was able to immerse myself in deep liberation like someone who had emerged into the world and seen light after several years.

 

“Kyaaah! Pe-people came out!”

 

“Security Bureau, here! Over here!”

 

It was chaotic.

 

Lying flat among the broken wooden pieces, I could see Cessia running over while shouting.

 

The person standing quietly behind him was…

 

‘…It’s Odette.’

 

She didn’t show any sign of surprise like Cessia, nor did she put on a pretense of worry for her sister with a face frozen in fear.

 

“…Winter…. So tiresome….”

 

As if utterly disgusted by my stubborn return to life, Odette looked down at me with an extremely cold expression and muttered.

 

‘…Haven’t I seen those lips somewhere before?’

 

The moment I thought that, Odette’s form seemed to overlap with someone else’s nameless figure.

 

A splitting headache struck, and I lost consciousness among the voices telling me to pull myself together.

 

* * *

 

Thirteen years old. The perfect age for throwing tantrums.

 

“Y-you’re lying, right, Cessia?”

 

“…You’ve never heard this kind of ghost story? It’s a common rumor at the Academy.”

 

“I’ve never heard it! A ghost wandering around the Academy—that’s complete nonsense.”

 

Of course, it was also the perfect age to tremble at worthless ghost stories.

 

That day started peacefully like any other.

 

I had dressed up from morning due to Cessia’s scheduled visit, and spent time with him in my room from lunch until early afternoon.

 

If I had to pick one thing that bothered me…. It was hearing the ghost story about how the runner-up who always missed first place died and became a ghost that only curses students with good grades.

 

Seeing me all hunched up, Cessia burst out laughing.

 

“Ahaha! Rosetta is afraid of ghosts.”

 

“N-no I’m not…. Besides, ghosts don’t exist anyway.”

 

Right, I was scared.

 

I was so frightened that I clung to Marahan, ate three cookies, and still couldn’t fall asleep that night.

 

That day happened to be several days after Father had left to attend a state council meeting for the New Year.

 

Moreover, since it was the middle of winter, fierce winds kept rattling the windows intermittently.

 

‘A ghost that only curses students who study well? What kind of petty ghost is that? It should focus more on spiritual cultivation…!’

 

Despite my inner thoughts harshly criticizing the nameless ghost, I think I was also considering that smart and pretty me might become the ghost’s target.

 

A dark and quiet night.

 

Even though I tried to force myself to sleep, the ghost story I’d heard during the day kept churning in my head, and I eventually sat up abruptly.

 

“M-Mother must be lonely too….”

 

Thirteen-year-old Rosetta Coco, wearing only a coat over her nightgown, resolutely headed to the main manor.

 

I intended to share a bed with Mother, who would be feeling Father’s absence.

 

Never dreaming that day would become Mother’s death anniversary.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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