Chapter 326 – Side Story Two. The Girl in the Orb (Two)

Philip and Veronica couldn’t hide their excitement the entire time they were walking through the streets.

“Wow… It’s been so long.”

“Everything’s the same! Samson’s General Store! And Mr. Hutton’s restaurant!”

The memories of every surrounding scene reflected in their eyes were vivid.

In a way, it was only natural.

This was none other than Sector 49.

Even though the journey of the past two years—or even a lifetime for some—had been incredibly dense, it wasn’t enough to fade the memories of the place where they had spent almost their entire lives.

As the group walked, looking around, they stopped at an intersection.

“I’m going this way! I need to go check on the kids at the hotel first!”

“I’m going that way! I definitely remember the way to the bookstore! See you later, Ray! And you too, Curie!”

Philip and Veronica headed off in different directions.

Curiosa, left behind, mumbled in bewilderment.

“Hotel…? Bookstore…?”

“They’re like home to each of them.”

Ray explained briefly.

On the outskirts of the sector, there was a hotel Philip had renovated and operated from an abandoned factory.

On 8th Street, there was the bookstore where Veronica had stayed with her grandfather.

“If nothing special happened, there are probably people waiting for Philip and Veronica at each place.”

At the hotel, the children living there.

At the bookstore, Veronica’s two younger siblings.

In other words, it meant Philip and Veronica had a place to return to.

“…….”

For Curiosa, all of this was new information.

The past two years.

Even though she had grown closer to the little group and shared quite a few stories, she hadn’t heard such detailed things.

A sudden realization dawned on her.

No matter how close you become, you’re still ultimately strangers.

And she felt envy.

Unlike me, they have a place to return to.

“Envious?”

“You damn kid… I told you not to read other people’s emotions.”

“I feel something similar.”

“What do you mean?”

“The feeling of envy.”

Ray started walking.

Curiosa hurriedly moved to his side.

“Envy? You, kid?”

“I often think that. It would be nice to have a place of solace, a place to return to after a long journey.”

Curiosa tilted her head.

“You, I heard before that you came from Sector 50. Can’t you just go back there?”

“It doesn’t mean much.”

“Why?”

“The people who would welcome me no longer exist there.”

Niles and his operatives.

And Pale and the kids under the bridge.

Those who now only exist in memory.

“Huh… They’re all dead…?”

“Yeah. That’s also the reason I left Sector 50 to find the Rainbow.”

What is this, suddenly bringing up such heavy talk is cheating, isn’t it?

Even though he himself had an indifferent expression, she felt strangely guilty.

Curiosa flailed her arms vigorously in the air.

“But! But! Now, whenever you go somewhere and come back, the other two kids welcome you! Even if they’re off somewhere else for now!”

“That’s true.”

Ray gave a faint smile.

While moving and talking about how the group had met in Sector 49, the street numbers changed several times.

Before they knew it, they had turned into an alley.

Walking along a graffiti-covered wall, Curiosa suddenly realized her heart was pounding strangely.

“……?”

What is this? Arrhythmia?

Did I drink too much coffee this morning?

Unable to grasp the cause of the symptom, Curiosa only realized after turning a corner and seeing an old utility pole.

“Ah.”

The cause of the pounding, amplified by the current thumping, was a sense of déjà vu.

It all seemed familiar.

The dent on the right side of the utility pole.

The long graffiti on the wall.

The layout of the lined-up shanties, everything.

Tap, tap, tap, tap─

As they walked through the alley, the sense of déjà vu grew stronger, and Curiosa’s pace quickened as well.

Her stomach churned.

Her head spun.

The memories of the scenery were hazy like a fog, but she was certain of one thing.

That this experience of walking through this alley was definitely not her first time.

And at the end of her hurried steps.

“…….”

Curiosa stopped.

Outside the alley connected to an empty lot on the outskirts of the sector, and there, a weathered old wall stretched in a circle.

Her heart pounded fiercely.

She shifted her gaze inside the wall.

A skeletal steel structure indicated that a two-story building had once stood there.

Ray approached from the side and asked.

“Seems like you remember?”

“…….”

Amidst indescribable emotions, Curiosa slowly nodded.

Next to the rusty barred gate, a dangling metal signboard.

Even without the faded writing on it, she knew where this was.

“Shanless… Orphanage….”

It was the very place that held all her childhood memories.

Curiosa, as if entranced, hurriedly headed inside.

Ray followed behind, explaining.

“I had the street kids help me find it. Knowing the orphanage’s name was Shanless was useful. It was originally a place run on donations, but it disappeared overnight due to a fire of unknown cause.”

As Ray said, black burn marks were grotesquely stuck to the steel surface.

Curiosa kept looking around between the steel beams, muttering.

“…Yeah. I definitely remember that. Because of that terrible fire, all the orphanage family died. Only a few children who were outside at the time or barely escaped the flames survived.”

The next day, the Doctor came.

He adopted all the children crying in front of the collapsed orphanage.

“There wasn’t much suspicion. Even though we couldn’t see his face because of the mask and hat, he was someone who had visited the orphanage before and spoken with the Headmaster a few times.”

We were just grateful.

Taking in six homeless orphans was no easy task.

But later, we found out the Doctor was the one who started the fire.

“It’s just my thought, but maybe the Headmaster demanded a large sum of money in exchange for taking us, and the negotiations didn’t go well. Or maybe he just set the fire to test our emotions.”

Anyway, it was clear the Doctor’s approach was very intentional.

Curie’s heart churned.

She continued exploring between the steel beams.

“This is where Labo’s room was….”

Memories of the past, buried deep in the subconscious, stirred.

Her steps moved.

“I remember.”

Tap.

“There was a laundry room here.”

Tap, tap, tap.

“This was the Headmaster’s office.”

Intense and excited emotions.

Curiosa’s breathing grew rapid.

Scenes from the past, spanning nearly twenty years, were overlapping and reviving in the spaces between the steel beams.

But at some point, a question arose.

‘Where was my room…?’

She couldn’t remember.

Memories of her orphanage friends came to mind, but nothing about herself surfaced.

What kind of child was I?

My personality? Habits?

Foods I liked and disliked?

She couldn’t know any of it.

Her heart sank heavily.

She had thought coming here would give her clues about who she was.

‘The Doctor tried to transform me into a completely different being from before. Is it a side effect of the experiments? Did he completely erase my memories with drugs or something?’

The purple hope that had filled Curiosa’s Vessel began to diminish.

Just as a black sense of despair was starting to fill that space instead.

“I found this.”

“Ah! You startled me. Kid. Please make some noise when you approach.”

After calming her startled heart, Curiosa looked at the object Ray held out.

A glass orb the size of a palm.

Scratches and burn marks all over the surface.

Inside, it contained miniatures of real objects.

“A Snow Globe…?”

“It was buried in the debris. There were a few other toys too, but this was the only one that retained its shape.”

It had a structure where turning a key on the base would make the internal miniatures move.

Due to the black marks pressed against the glass surface, the shapes of the miniatures inside weren’t clearly visible.

Creak, creak, creak.

“The key doesn’t turn either.”

“It’s an item over twenty years old; there’s no way it would work.”

“Let’s see how long you can last.”

“Huh, hey, what are you doing?”

Curiosa hastily rescued the Snow Globe from Ray’s hand.

“I was fixing it.”

“You weren’t fixing it; you were breaking it. Can’t you put away that predator’s gaze?”

Curiosa growled.

Anyway, a precious clue found in the place where she spent her childhood.

She couldn’t bear to see it destroyed by an insensitive predator.

“I’ll keep this for now….”

The moment Curiosa’s gaze lowered and touched the Snow Globe.

“…….”

She was speechless.

Completely frozen in place.

Because a memory from the past was rapidly replaying in her mind.

A dark sky covered with Black Clouds.

Children playing noisily in the yard.

Dust blooming whitely, kicked up by feet.

And.

A little girl sitting leaning against a tree in the corner, gazing at a Snow Globe.

That was herself.

Ray and Curiosa left the old orphanage site and arrived at the eastern outskirts of the sector.

Beyond the piles of scrap metal scattered here and there, a huge abandoned factory came into view.

“That’s the Philip Hotel I mentioned earlier.”

“Oh, the shape is more decent than I thought….”

Aluminum drainage pipes densely connected along the wall.

Numerous fans spinning for ventilation in various places.

And even a large chimney spewing smoke, presumably connected to a heating system.

Curiosa, who had only expected a shabby abandoned factory, let out a sigh of admiration.

They moved their steps diligently.

There were many children at the hotel entrance.

Polishing stacked shoes.

Hammering metal plates.

Applying labels to bottles.

They were probably handling jobs commissioned from the sector.

A boy spotted Ray.

He frowned, then his face turned surprised, and he jumped up.

“H-Hunter!”

“Hunter?”

Whoosh!

Instantly, children swarmed.

They surrounded them so densely there was no room to step.

“Oh my god! It’s really the Hunter!”

“That’s right! Since Philip is back, the Hunter must be back too! Hunter! Look here!”

“Don’t push! I said don’t push!”

“I’m going to the front! I saved snacks for the Hunter!”

“Hunter! I missed you!”

“Can I give the Hunter chocolate?”

A storm of excited emotions.

Ray felt a slight dizziness.

It was nice to see them, but such boisterous hospitality was still unfamiliar.

I just came to see Philip.

What should I do in this situation?

And Ray wasn’t the only one bewildered by the swarming children.

“Who are you, teacher?”

“Hmm, a strange mask and a black cloth covering the body. I’m the attention-seeker in this area, but I sense a feeling of crisis.”

“I’d vote for a circus clown.”

“You’re tall. First of all, you seem like a man.”

Curiosa trembled.

Clown? Attention-seeker?

Daring to say that to a renowned spatial mage like me?

I’ll show you exactly who I am and how terrifying I am.

Whoosh!

“No! It’s a lady! Her voice was very beautiful earlier! If she takes off the mask, she’ll probably be really pretty!”

I’ll show you next time.

Curiosa’s boiling anger and Mana fizzled out with a whoosh.

“Are you staying here? How long? Until when?”

“Do you know how to do a cartwheel? I know how.”

The children’s continuous chattering.

Somehow, it felt strangely familiar.

‘…I think I understand.’

In her childhood at the orphanage, she must have been with friends like this too.

The number of swarming children was considerable, raising the temperature of the surrounding air.

A pleasant warmth.

Just as she was feeling drowsy.

Creak! Clatter!

“You’re here!”

Philip appeared outside the hotel.

Behind him, boys who seemed like attendants also poured out.

As they approached, the children parted to make way.

“How is it? Did you go check out the place I mentioned?”

“Yeah. Just came to look around. By the way, it seems the hotel was running well.”

Philip grinned.

“Of course, it was running well. I left it with a deputy I could trust. Looking at the operation logs and ledger, it’s even more prosperous than before.”

“Haha, Philip, don’t embarrass me with such praise. More importantly, Hunter! Long time no see! When you fought that gang 500 to 1, it was really amazing!”

I don’t remember fighting that many kids.

Anyway, as the pleasant conversation continued.

Philip looked at Curiosa and said.

“Curiosa, did you gain anything?”

Gain.

It meant whether visiting the old orphanage site had brought back any memories of her childhood.

Ripples formed on the black cloth.

Curiosa’s hand stretched out.

“Hmm, a Snow Globe?”

“There weren’t any big memories that came back, but I found this. It seems like something I cherished when I was little.”

Philip took the Snow Globe and examined it.

“Hmm. The burn marks make it hard to see inside properly. The key seems broken too.”

“Yeah. Unfortunately.”

“Shall I fix it for you?”

Curiosa was taken aback.

On the way here, she had already visited watch shops and jewelry stores to request repairs.

But they all refused.

「The condition is too poor. You’d be better off buying a new one.」

「We can’t even tell who the manufacturer is. I think it might be a handmade item by an individual?」

“…Even experts gave up. You can fix it?”

“Of course. Absolutely.”

Philip grinned widely.

He looked at the children and said.

“At the Philip Hotel, we have craftsmen in all fields who are better than adults.”