The Genius Perfumer of the Fallen Cult - Chapter 54

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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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The Genius Perfumer of the Fallen Religious Order Episode 54

 

It was just words saying there was no scent of demon beasts, and even though there was no way to know which part of those words could be trusted, he found himself believing them naturally. The fear about himself that had almost sprouted within him also disappeared.

 

After that, Rozien and Prim always wandered the back alleys together.

 

It felt good to insult those who pointed fingers at him, calling them cowards.

 

And even those people, even those who shunned and tried to drive him away, would become flustered and not know what to do when he gave them something, then eventually accept that help.

 

If he was helpful, if he was useful, he could blend in among them regardless of what color his hair was. Even if it was in a very awkward way.

 

Then he would feel proud and satisfied, as if he was proving Prim’s words that he was human, as if he was gaining Prim’s recognition.

 

Rozien easily gave away what was his. There were people who, even reluctantly, would eventually take his hand.

 

Since he had been bigger than his peers from childhood, the street children quickly followed him, and adults too, while finding him distasteful, would use him and depend on him.

 

The fact that other people needed him, that there was a place for him somewhere even in a rough and awkward form, was so sweet.

 

Even if that place was the dirtiest spot on the dark and muddy streets.

 

When he spread an old blanket there and sat Prim down, he felt like he wouldn’t envy anyone who owned the whole world.

 

And that sweet time was quickly shattered.

 

The back alleys were a place where fights broke out every day. People held grudges and resentment over the most trivial things, and tried to release that poison as if they didn’t care what happened to their own futures.

 

And at the end of one such fight, someone had obtained a low-grade curse. Now it was unclear who that had been, or who had almost fallen victim to that curse.

 

He had gotten involved in the fight wanting to save that person whose face he couldn’t remember, and someone had thrown the curse.

 

Though all the details of who it was and why were hazy, the moment when the cheap glass bottle with black, murky energy swirling inside came flying was still vivid. And so were the white hands that had pulled him.

 

His body was yanked to the side and there was the sound of glass breaking. The trickle of blood flowing down Prim’s forehead, the glass shards glinting in her hair, that black energy seeping into her feet.

 

Only at that moment did his mind snap to attention.

 

What have I been doing all this time?

 

Every scene seemed to freeze at once.

 

What did I want to do?

 

What was I doing while keeping the child who called me human by my side?

 

Wanting to prove himself to her, wanting to shout that her words were right, wanting to appear even slightly useful in her eyes, he had actually abandoned this child.

 

Prim had once said to him:

 

— Rozien, are you going to chase after unhappy people forever like that?

 

At the time, he didn’t understand exactly what she meant and just laughed.

 

— We’re all unhappy people anyway!

 

But only then did he understand what those words meant.

 

When he saw Prim, who had been protecting him, being consumed by the curse, when every step he took became a path of thorns.

 

From that day on, Rozien no longer needed to extend his hand to other people. Both his arms were used to carry Prim on his back.

 

But the truth was, even after all that had happened, he had learned nothing.

 

He firmly believed that Prim would need him forever and thoroughly enjoyed that fact. Like a lazy bee drunk on what it thought was an endless spring of honey.

 

When he heard that Prim’s curse could be lifted, the first thought that came to mind was the pain of the rose stem he had grasped.

 

Now this child would be freed from that pain, finally!

 

But immediately after, black tar that he didn’t even know existed came bubbling up, and dark, sticky thoughts squeezed through the cracks.

 

Now Prim wouldn’t need him.

 

If he wanted to stay together even when she didn’t need him, even when he was useless, what should he do?

 

What should he do?

 

How?

 

But who would want to stay with such a disgusting person who couldn’t even purely celebrate the lifting of the curse? If such inner thoughts were discovered, it wouldn’t be surprising to receive looks of contempt right now.

 

Rozien wanted to cry. He wanted to cut open his chest with a sword, pull out his heart and throw it away. Along with all the dirty things clinging to his heart.

 

Having such a heart more wicked than demon beasts, wasn’t he truly a demon beast hybrid?

 

“Rozien, do you actually not want to become a knight?”

 

“What?”

 

Prim asked while gauging his mood. Rozien unconsciously replied in a dazed, absent voice. Prim spoke gently.

 

“If you don’t want to become a knight, you don’t have to.”

 

“…”

 

Clear light green eyes looked at him quietly. He had once hoped that if he washed his eyes with water, they might become as bright as those.

 

When he didn’t even have water to drink, he couldn’t dare try it, and after becoming an orphan at the orphanage, he learned that pouring water in your eyes wouldn’t change their color.

 

“…What about you? Do you want me to become a knight?”

 

Though he knew he was asking another stupid question, somehow Rozien couldn’t stop himself. Prim stared into his eyes for a long time. Feeling embarrassed for some reason, Rozien looked away.

 

“Rozien.”

 

“…Yeah.”

 

“We’re family, aren’t we?”

 

Even after entering the orphanage, his boundary of ‘family’ had never expanded. There was always only one lily of the valley blooming there.

 

When that flower swayed in the gentle breeze, it always gave off a soft fragrance that melted his heart.

 

“…That’s right.”

 

“Even when we’re apart, even when we’re not helpful to each other, being family doesn’t change.”

 

“…But you tried to leave when you couldn’t walk anymore!”

 

Who was it that tried to disappear from his side just because she couldn’t be helpful!

 

After a brief silence, Prim replied sheepishly.

 

“Th-that was when I was young.”

 

“…”

 

“I know I was wrong then. Now that I’m older…”

 

At ten years old, she was already old enough to pull her own weight on the streets. Prim hesitated a bit before speaking.

 

“I was… sorry.”

 

Rozien thought something was hard to bear.

 

The fact that it was Prim who had taken the curse in his place, Prim who had tried to disappear for his sake, and now Prim who was apologizing crushed his heart.

 

“Are you… are you stupid?!”

 

“…”

 

Even though he had blurted out nonsensical criticism in his surge of emotion, Prim just blinked and stared at him.

 

Rozien roughly wiped his face, cleaning away the few tears that had leaked out. Then he quietly apologized.

 

Prim, I’m sorry.

 

Prim asked back.

 

For what?

 

The tangled, sticky, dark things slowly washed away.

 

“…Fine, I’ll become a knight, whatever. Since I decided to do it!”

 

“Not just because I told you to.”

 

“It’s not like you can just do it right away because someone tells you to.”

 

“Do you really want to be a knight? If you want to do something else, let’s do something else. Like learning something from Uncle Luciano and becoming a merchant…”

 

“What kid this age wouldn’t want to be a knight? If someone offers, everyone would jump at the chance with fire in their eyes.”

 

Rozien spoke as if it were someone else’s business.

 

But when Baron Corvus’s black hand came down, when he saw Sebardo’s sword that deflected it, Rozien too had truly thought he wanted to become a knight.

 

“Really?”

 

“I said really. You were all for it before.”

 

“I guess I said something unnecessary. I was worried you were only doing it because I told you to.”

 

Her eyebrows drooped on her small face. Rozien hesitated for a moment, then lifted Prim up.

 

Since he had always carried her after the curse, Prim wasn’t surprised or awkward at all and naturally leaned into him.

 

Rozien said.

 

“It’s real. I really want to become a knight.”

 

Not to help Prim, not hoping that Prim would need him, it wasn’t that kind of feeling.

 

Prim had said family wasn’t like that. He believed those words.

 

So Rozien imagined, though still vaguely and roughly, where everything converged: the work he could do, the work he was good at, the work he wanted to do.

 

And he said again.

 

“I really want to become a knight. After I become a knight, I’ll become a Grand Lord. Just like we talked about.”

 

Prim nodded her head.

 

Rozien hesitated for a moment before adding.

 

“But the curse will still need another hundred days to be completely lifted, right?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Then until then, I’ll just carry you on my back like before.”

 

“Huh? Yeah.”

 

Prim tilted her head like someone who had just been reminded of something obvious. Rozien laughed heartily.

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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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