Stigma Effect

Proofreader: kuroneko_chan

The carriage traveled an incomparably longer distance than when traveling within the Imperial Capital.

The trip would not have been possible if not for the money thrown by the boy he met at the temple. The food, water, and thick clothes he bought with the money made it worthwhile for Baraha to spend in the luggage compartment.

There he looked at the paper he had torn and thought about the prophecy.

An unwanted prophecy was written on a piece of paper. It was about the saint who would save the Imperial Capital, and some of the content was clearly describing Baraha himself.

And below that, the content that made him laugh continued.

“Why would I try to save someone I don’t even know their face?”

He bit his lips and muttered.

It states that the child represented by himself saves another child.

As far as Baraha knows, prophecies were unconditionally fulfilled. He didn't know how to stop it. He could not find out on his own what the alchemists could not.

So to stop the prophecy, Baraha had only one option.

An ignorant but sure way. To kill the protagonist of the prophecy.

“If I don’t save…. Are they going to die?”

The paper he was holding was crumpled. Seeing them die, he thought he would die too. Baraha touched the dagger he had brought with him in his other hand and closed his eyes.

'I wonder what they would look like. Judging from what was written, this kid must have suffered quite a bit....'

What they were going through and what they were thinking, he was a little curious.

How would they react if he told them about the prophecy, maybe they have a strange ability like him?

According to the prophecy, they can understand each other better than anyone else....

Baraha was exhausted. The sound of the carriage wheels rolling and irregularly rattling in addition to the low temperature, even in what was usually a difficult environment to fall asleep in, Baraha soon fell asleep….

He fell asleep in an uncomfortable position in the carriage that rattled.

＊＊＊

“It’s snowing too much.”

“It’s nice to be here. If it had snowed like this in the capital, everyone would have frozen to death.”

“What is that? When do you think a road will be built? If you have a road, you can go to the Imperial Capital in one day.”

“How do I know that?”

He could hear the porters talking. Baraha, who had fallen into a deep sleep, woke up with a frightening surprise.

Baraha was always vigilant so he was a light sleeper who woke even at the slightest noise. He was surprised at how deeply he slept last night.

He sensed nothing and slept soundly.

He looked at his hands and feet first, wondering if he might have been caught hiding in the luggage compartment. After confirming that he was not tied up, he exhaled in peace.

He traced his body and confirmed that the money, dagger, and paper with the prophecy were still intact. Baraha had been squatting down in one position and raised his aching body.

“Let’s check our luggage and enter the castle.”

“Tell the others to check it out, why don’t we go and have a drink? Isn’t the alcohol in Mogris a delicacy?"

“There is something important…. Hey, be good. Let's go check it out.”

“I checked everything when we left, of course it’s okay! Let’s just check the number of carts and leave the rest.”

The porters giggled and passed the carriage, tapping their palms. Baraha, who was nervous about the door opening, shook his head.

He sprinted through the people who were busy checking the carriages and luggage. As he came out of the station where the carriages were stored, he saw a landscape of thick snow pouring down like what he had heard from inside.

It felt different from what he saw in the Imperial Capital.

It felt cooler and quieter. People in thick hats and clothes roamed the snow-covered streets.

Because it was winter, many people came to the store that sells firewood.

When he lived in the Imperial Capital, the clothes that felt quite thick looked like thin indoor clothes compared to the clothes of the people here. Baraha tried to avoid the eyes of those who glanced at his outfit, but since it was the first street he had come to, he had no idea where to hide.

“Yuriel, hey! Where are you going in that outfit?”

“Ack, hello! I'm going to pick up some branches before the snow piles up. I have no money to buy firewood!”

Baraha, who crouched his body away from people, stopped when he saw a child passing by him. She had light brown hair and green eyes.

A lively voice, as if it had never suffered before, echoed through the quiet street. Except for one thick glove, she was dressed similar to Baraha.

While she said she had no money, she showed no signs of shame. Baraha’s expression, who seemed to have no thoughts, contained pity as he looked at the child.

“It is dangerous to enter the forest when it is snowing. The sun will set soon.”

"It’s okay! I’ll be right back.”

“Yuriel! Even your clothes... ! Oh my, she’s already gone."

Baraha moved his body before he could even recognize it in his head.

‘Yuriel.’

The person who called the child didn't seem like a family member. He happened to be out on the street and saw a child passing by and talked to her.

‘That kid.’

Before Baraha even looked around the streets, he followed Yuriel whom he had found. The moment he saw Yuriel smiling as she answered, he was convinced that it was that child written in the prophecy.

For a moment, Baraha's eyes saw only that girl. Among the snowflakes fluttering in the wind, Yuriel’s smiling face and green eyes that he met for a moment as she turned her face were clear.

He was a bit embarrassed as she appeared more cheerful than he had expected.

Unlike him, who was gloomy and depressed, Yuriel's face was full of smiles.

‘Your name is Yuriel.’

He followed Yuriel as she ran down the snow-covered street.

Snow piled up on the light-colored hair that looked like it had been colored with cream and quickly melted away. Baraha frowned as he looked at Yuriel's wet hair.

‘Everyone else is wearing a hat, so why are you not wearing anything? What would you do if you caught a cold... ?'

The sight of Yuriel running around with the snow on her gave him a bit of annoyance.

‘No one cares, so that’s why she’s going around like that.’

He came to a conclusion while recalling his own experiences. If he was correct about the protagonist of the prophecy, that child would have suffered a lot.

‘… It makes me a little confused as I keep looking at her.’

No matter how he looked at her, she did not look like a person who had suffered, it was vague. Baraha decided to watch the child for a few more days.

＊＊＊

‘Why do you leave that alone?’

Baraha clenched his fists as he watched the children giggle and threw snow behind Yuriel.

It has been more than ten days since he bought clothes and a hat to match the weather in Mogris and followed Yuriel. Winter was getting deeper, and Yuriel looked more pitiful than when he first saw her.

At first sight, Yuriel was so bright that Baraha's eyes didn't even notice it.

Her clothes were tattered perhaps by the amount of times they had been worn, and she goes looking for work without even having a proper meal every day. He followed her to her house to see what her living conditions were like, and even there he was speechless.

She spoke to the people around her in a friendly manner, but no one was there to help. Everyone was busy taking care of their own mouth.

Poor kid was beaten. It was better off dying than living.

It was pitiful to go looking for work, but it was made worse by the pranks played by children of the same age.

When he saw Yuriel shaking her body and shaking the snow as if she had gotten snow through her clothes, he got angry. Prominent bones were visible over her dry nape.

“Those fucking things… Why are you tormenting poor people anyway?”

Baraha, who spit out abusive language, bent his legs and crumpled his eyes.

Baraha had not seen Yuriel get angry or annoyed even now. She was consistently cheerful enough that someone would think she had no negative emotions.

She smiled and scratched her cheek even when she should be angry if she was a normal person. After that, the children would stop playing and go back as their interest waned.

It was the same this time. The child who threw snow said it was no fun and left to find other games. Baraha threw a snowball filled with a stone at the back of the child who threw snow at Yuriel.

"Ack!"

“You’re wearing a hat, don’t exaggerate.”

Ignoring the scream from behind, Baraha followed Yuriel.

Yuriel was on her way to the forest today. Hearing from a person who said that he would give food if she brought herbs, she went to look for the herbs.

Baraha took off the hat he was wearing and looked at Yuriel's head.

‘Shall I give it? No, I'm here to watch you die, so what am I doing with the hat?'

Baraha nervously grabbed the hat and put the hat deep on his head again.

He has been very sensitive today.

＊＊＊

Baraha found out why he was sensitive all the time.

A terrible monster appeared in front of Yuriel, who headed for the forest behind the castle.

Dark skin, sharp claws, and a low growling sound made Yuriel freeze as if frightened. Because Yuriel did not have a proper basket, she had spread the hem of her clothes with her hands to hold the herbs. Due to the unexpected appearance of the monster, her hands lost strength.

The herbs she had gathered along with the drooping hem of her clothes all fell to the ground.

Baraha watched quietly.

He sensed that this was the moment he had been waiting for.