Published at 1st of September 2019 8:11 pm

[ Day Six ]

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

A refreshing morning. A curtain of light slipped through the trees and illuminated my cheeks. As I sat up, the tree trunk I'd been napping against lightly shook.

The usual morning. Nothing changed. Nothing since the day I was born.

Well, maybe I tired a little more easily these days. But that was it. Even if I used up all my power and died, I wouldn't really mind it, myself.

Because that was just my mission, and my destiny, I guess.

"Morning. Nice weather today," I said to some little birds stopped on tree branches and chirping. The birds chirped back, but I had no clue if they were responding to my greeting.

"They call me a bluebird, but I don't really get what you guys are saying."

I don't know too much about who I am. But since Phil, Mischa, the townspeople all called me a bluebird, I must've been that.

What do I know is my power. Phil called it the power to make people happy.

But I begged to differ. I couldn't exactly tell you why I felt that way, but I just doubt a power that can make everyone happy, no buts, exists in this world.

Since happiness to one person isn't necessarily happiness to someone else, that seems pretty obvious.

"I guess I might be coming up to my limit..."

It had been a year and some change since I started using my ability. I had zero confidence I was using it well.

I mean, as far as I could see, as far as I heard, I wasn't using it well. Laughable, huh? Maybe because I'd only just been born.

"Maybe I got a little too cocky."

Every day, I was using lots of my own energy. Pretty much on full blast all day. Not surprising that I'd start to wear out. I couldn't become the bluebird from the fairy tale.

"Wonder if Efi'll come today?"

The other day, some visitors came to town.

One was Al. I hadn't talked to him in person, but Phil called him that, so that was probably right. The other was Efi. Somehow, she seemed to have the same scent as me. Just intuition.

Efi was bright and silly and just a little stupid, but I had a lot of fun talking with her. And she smiled a lot. The kind of smile a happy-looking person had.

I felt like there were hardly any people left in this town with smiles like that. There were some who smiled a lot, but they were fake smiles.

I wanna talk with Efi. And I wanna see her smile. That's the only time I can have the illusion of being happy myself.

"Efi?" I sensed someone on the other side of the fence.

"Morning."

Someone looked down from the fence connected to the garden and greeted me as usual. But it wasn't Efi greeting me.

*

"Got it? You go see Mischa."

"Why?", Efi asked with a tilt of the head.

"'Cause that seems safest."

Efi still looked to be not getting it, but said "Got it!" and flew out of the room. ...Not asking anything complicated, so she should be fine.

"Now then..."

If Efi was to be believed, the bluebird was in that garden where we talked with Phil two days back.

What would I do if she wasn't there...? Well, Efi talked to her in the same place two days in a row, so maybe the bluebird kept coming back there to talk to her.

It wouldn't be Efi today... Would she talk with me?

I'd have to be careful about breaking the ice and all that. ...But did I have time to spare?

While thinking a bunch of things over, I arrived at that spacious garden.

Unfortunately, I didn't see the bluebird anywhere. Couldn't be that easy, could it... I sighed and was about to head back, when...

"Efi?"

"!"

An unfamiliar voice came from over the fence. Looking closer, I saw a little bit of blue hair sticking through the fence. Was this the bluebird?

"Morning."

I calmly issued a greeting, hiding my impatience. First, I decided to wait for her reply.

A child peeked her face out from behind the fence. "Not Efi, huh. You're Al, aren't you?"

"You know me?"

"I saw you talking with Phil here, that's why."

The blue-haired child moved her face away from the fence, then vigorously leapt over it.

The fence was pretty tall, so I panicked for a moment. But she flapped the wings on her back and softly landed on the ground.

"So Efi couldn't come today."

"Nope. I'm the one who wants to talk to you today."

"Huh." The blue-haired child smirked.

"First, I want to ask something. Are you the bluebird?"

"Yeah, that's me," she nodded, not attempting to hide a thing.

While I was thinking about how to proceed with the conversation, she spoke up. "So what do you need with me?" Helped that she was making this quick.

"It's you. You're using your power over the whole town."

With that, the bluebird tilted her head a little.

"...Huh. You already know a bunch, Al."

"Yep."

Readily admitting to such a massive truth, she met eyes with me without her smile breaking, as if to say "that's not all that important."

Considering her age, it felt off that she had such a distanced outlook... that she was so hard to get a handle on.

"Well, instead of talking, can I make a request of my own?"

I braced myself slightly for this sudden proposition.

"It's nothing weird... I just want you to save a certain person."

"Who would that be?"

"You see..."

"...What in the world do you mean?" The bluebird's unexpected reply honestly disconcerted me.

"Just what it sounds like. What you asked me, and what I'm about to tell you - with all of that, you should understand too, Al."

Still wearing an meaningful smile, the bluebird began to tell me everything.

"Sending Efi over there was a mistake..."

I hurried to find Mischa. She wasn't in the front hall like I expected, so I had no choice but to search all over the vast mansion. Was Efi meeting with Mischa now?

I had to find her and talk to her now... As my impatience grew, my feet quickened too.

Now at nearly running speed, I was about to turn a corner when I suddenly saw a figure in my blind spot. I attempted to stop, but couldn't halt my momentum and lightly bumped their shoulder.

"Ahh, sorry. I'm in a hurry..."

"Oh, I'm fine. ...What seems to be the matter?"

Phil was standing in front of me.

...What should I do?

For a few seconds, I considered every possibility.

I could continue toward Mischa. But if we were in the worst possible situation I could imagine, I wouldn't have the means to handle it.

Phil seemed like the key to resolving said worst-case scenario. So maybe it would be best to talk to Phil here.

"I was looking for Miss Mischa. She wasn't in the grand hall, so..."

"Mischa... is in her room. She hasn't been well lately. What did you need with her?"

Not well... My spine shivered with bad premonitions.

"Er... Not well how?"

"Hm? Oh, it's not a fever or anything of that sort, but she's had trouble breathing. It seems she couldn't sing yesterday..."

So was that the reason I didn't see her yesterday?

If it had worsened to the point of not singing, the symptoms must have started appearing a few days ago.

"Well... Then we might want to hurry."

"Hm?" Phil's face hardened.

"Let's tell Mischa... about her memory loss."

"Huh?!" Phil showed an expression of pure surprise like I'd never seen before, more suiting his age.

"Do you understand what it is you're saying?"

"I sure do."

"Mischa... Even if you tell her such things, she'll quickly forget! So why let her know something so sad? Why intentionally cause her pain?!"

Phil desperately denied my proposal. He had the right reaction. I'd even promised to him that I'd keep quiet about it.

"But I think Mischa's suffering as she is."

Phil locked up for a moment.

"W-Why would you think that too...?"

"'Cause I told him."

Hearing a voice from the back, Phil's gaze left me.

From behind me appeared the bluebird. She told me she too was worried for Mischa and Phil, so I brought her along.

"I've been talking with Mischa, too. And when I told Al about it, he told me that's what we should do."

It seemed the bluebird had been talking with not only Phil, Efi, and the townspeople, but also Mischa periodically. And earlier, she told me all about their conversations.

"So there you go. Any further use of the bluebird's power will just leave Mischa and the bluebird sad. And the bluebird... even if she isn't human, she might just die."

"Not human... That's obvious, isn't it? She's like something out of a fairy tale."

"Right. That's it. But technically speaking, this girl isn't a bluebird or anything."

"Not a bluebird...?"

Phil seemed to be overwhelmed by all this information, and his mouth simply hung open. Not surprising, having all these truths dropped on him rapid fire. But what he really needed to hear was yet to come.

"...She's a dragon."

This made Phil freeze completely. As I suspected, even he didn't know.

"...A dragon, like Miss Efi...? Where is your proof?"

"First up, the wings. All dragons have horns and wings. There are also these wing-like things coming out near her ears, but I suppose they're her horns."

As I explained, Phil's gaze wandered between the bluebird's wings and body.

"One doubt I had was, when Efi met the bluebird, she introduced herself as "the bluebird," and Efi didn't detect it as a lie. Once we talked about it, though, it made sense."

"You called me the bluebird back then, so... that's what I thought I was, too."

In other words, the bluebird herself hadn't realized the fact that she was a dragon. This allowed for a situation where she could say something that wasn't a fact, but it wasn't a lie, meaning no lie monster appeared. I figured that out while talking to her earlier.

"Sounds like you're the one who called her "bluebird" from the start. So I can only assume you know all about her birth?"

"..."

Phil listened to my question in silence. He showed no intention of answering.

"I don't suppose you saw her come out of a giant egg that suddenly appeared? 'Cause I saw dragon Efi here be born the exact same way."

Phil's mouth faintly trembled. Sure enough, this bluebird's... dragon's owner was Phil.

"At this rate, you and Mischa will just remain unhappy."

"Y... You know nothing!" Phil exploded into an objection. "How do you think I feel greeting Mischa with "nice to meet you" every three days when she loses her memory?! Holding in my welling emotions, treating her as if I were a stranger... Or even... how I feel for Mischa at such a time..."

"Right, I don't know, because I'm not you. And you don't know anything about me, either."

"Of course I wouldn't!"

"Yep. But more than just me. You don't know Mischa either. Nor the bluebird."

"Huh?" The color of Phil's face changed. "What do you... mean?"

"What do you know about her power?"

Phil glanced over at the bluebird, then back to me.

"...Isn't it the power to make people happy?"

"That's the bluebird in the fairy tale. Like I said before, she's not the bluebird, but a dragon. Dragons have unique abilities. In her case..."

"The power to show illusions," said the bluebird.

"Eh...?" Phil weakly uttered.

When I talked to the bluebird, I recalled what Neil told me yesterday and the theory I had put together then.

Before leaving Neil and Brett in town, my final question was "What's the source of the force covering the town?", and this was Neil's answer:

"The power of a dragon is enveloping this town. Of this, I have no doubts."

That answer matched up with the theory I'd been considering.

So, what precisely were the mysterious phenomena happening in town?

We have the extremely happy and extremely gloomy townspeople, each suspecting the others of being monsters. The gloomy ones claimed they saw dead people, or people who shouldn't be in town...

Putting together the stories from the gloomy townspeople, I established my first theory: were they only seeing an illusion?

It was unbelievable and questionable in its own right, but since the events were limited to this town, the idea that a force over the town was creating illusions felt most reasonable.

In that case, what about the cheery citizens?

They all seemed perfectly happy, and I heard not a peep about seeing ghosts or anything. Perhaps they were being shown separate illusions, and that's why they seemed so happy.

I felt like things were lining up, but what I absolutely couldn't figure out was why the citizens saw different illusions.

After the bluebird made her "request," I aired this doubt to her. And she had a most unexpected reply.

"...The truth is, it was only supposed to be a little bit around Mischa. The plan was using my power to make "illusionary citizens." For the sake of Mischa, who had no friends because of her memory loss, I had them visit her every day so she wouldn't be lonely. Those "cheery townspeople," as you call them, were all illusions made by me."

I was deeply shocked when she gave me that answer. After all, she was telling me those very human-like happy people I'd seen were all illusions. I hadn't noticed in the slightest.

"To be exact, it's an ability that can give form to people's memories... I guess. The happy townspeople were created from the memories of the many real residents of this town. I just used those real people as a base for the illusionary ones."

That would explain why the illusions seemed so realistic, I thought.

"I see. So wouldn't it be possible to show Mischa the memories sleeping in her mind?", I asked naively.

If you could summon something up from memory, couldn't you give form to lost memories which she couldn't remember herself? If you did that, even though she may forget them, she could recall them again and again.

"My ability won't work on lost, long-forgotten memories. I can only make an illusion of something someone remembers clearly. If I did try to do it on something deep in their memory, they'd only see something warped unless they could remember it. The extent of my ability is really pretty puny..."

The bluebird had a sorrowful look. I was sure she had tried all sorts of things, but to no avail.

"What do you want to do, then?"

"Like I said before, help Mischa. I mean, well... I'm making Phil and the townspeople unhappy, too. So I want you to save them, and her."

"You asked that already. What about you?"

"Huh?" The bluebird tilted her head as if to say, "what about me?"

"I could save you too."

"Huh... How good-natured."

That was definitely not accurate. I just couldn't bear to see things get any worse with these guys.

"Using your power any more will just ruin your body, I'm sure. Either get things to a point where you don't need to anymore, or end up rendering yourself unable to use it anyway. Same result."

The bluebird lowered her head, striking a thoughtful pose.

"Right... Either way will be the same in the end. All right, I guess I'll have you save me."

I nodded. And we left the garden to look for Mischa together.

"Then... the people who came to see Mischa were illusions. What's more, damage from this has spread beyond this mansion...?"

"Sorry, Phil," apologized the bluebird. "My bad for not saying so as soon as I realized. I couldn't control my power well, and I couldn't say anything... and things slowly dragged on until today."

"I want to go with you to see Mischa."

Phil looked like he still couldn't accept it, and was refusing to cooperate.

"Please... While you're keeping me here, Mischa's driving herself further into a corner. Even if it's too late, I think we can do something with you there. You can save Mischa."

That seemed to the key to unlocking Phil's shackles. He sighed and turned his gaze to me.

"Understood. Mischa's room is this way."

Heading further down the hallway where I bumped into Phil, I saw a door.

Phil knocked three times and called through the door. "Mischa, it's me."

He waited a while. But even after a long while waiting, we didn't hear Mischa's voice.

"Mischa...?"

Usually she would reply right away, I supposed. Phil craned his neck and reached for the doorknob, and suddenly, it opened with a click.

From inside leapt not Mischa, but Efi.

"Ah! You're here! Um, miss singer's in a real bad way!"

With that, Efi grabbed my hand and pulled me inside. Sensing Efi really meant it, Phil and the bluebird followed behind us.

"VvvV..."

Something monstrous was sitting on a big white bed, making a beastly moan. It had a human-like shape, but was somehow incomplete, not all one thing. Its expression seemed slightly sorrowful.

"We didn't make it in time...?"

As I'd predicted, it was the worst-case scenario.

"Efi, how is it?"

"Umm... It'll just keep pouring out like this, so I can't eat it all..."

Indeed, the thing before us was overflowing head to toe with a black mud.

I took a few steps closer, but it only moaned. It showed no sign of attacking us.

"Hold on a moment... What's happened to Mischa...? Did that monster devour her?!", Phil asked in a panic, pointing at the monster spewing mud.

"...Nope. That is Mischa."

"!"

Yes, this was Mischa. Though her form had decayed almost beyond recognition.

"Mischa was always lying, too. Because Efi was with her, all the many lies haunting Mischa took on form. And then... they overflowed like crazy, resulting in this."

"Lies...?"

When Efi approaches, lies take form. If it's one or two, you get cute-looking weak monsters like what was wrapped around Phil's foot the other day. Something Efi could easily neutralize and process as food.

But as lies get bigger, they overtake the host, and ultimately swallow them up like this. At that point, even Efi can't eat them.

"You know, Phil, the whole time I was fearing this would happen to you. Every time Mischa lost her memory, you'd been telling her "nice to meet you." But once I heard from the bluebird, I realized Mischa's lies were the real concern."

"What lies are those...?!"

Phil grabbed my collar roughly. He hardly seemed able to control himself from impatience and uneasiness.

"This is one thing even the bluebird didn't seem to notice. Because when you really don't want a lie to be found out, you obviously won't tell anyone else. So... here's my guess."

"Yes...?"

I put it in simple words to make it as easy on Phil as I could.

"Mischa remembers you."

The moment I told him, the energy left his hands.

"What do you... mean by that...?"

"The bluebird's been talking with Mischa often. And you come up a lot, it seems."

"Yeah, Mischa was dying to hear about you. Especially the days she lost her memory," added the bluebird.

Phil made no attempt to hide how lost he was, listening silently while sweat formed on his brow.

"If she really forgot everything about you, she wouldn't do that every time. So your appearance, your name, maybe both... Some part of you, she still remembered clearly even when she would lose her memory."

"Then what need was there to hide it?"

Phil's voice trembled. Because of the secrets they'd kept from each other, Mischa was taken by lies. He was probably starting to realize that himself.

"Same reason as you, I'm sure. She "didn't want to make you sad"... Because she may remember how you look or your name, but nothing about the times you had together."

Phil gulped.

"She knew you were someone important to her, but didn't know how you had lived together up to now. You kept introducing yourself anew to her, so she decided it was best to not make you sad."

"No... Then does that mean Mischa realizes she loses her memories, too?"

"If you only remember a little bit about yourself and your family, of course you're gonna notice there's something up. I'm sure Mischa isn't that stupid."

Phil bit his lip and lowered his head.

Everything they'd struggled to hide all this time had been for nothing in the end. Not only Phil; you could say it about all three of them.

"We'll need your words to strip away the lies around Mischa. Tell her everything."

"What? What would I tell her now...?", Phil asked in a strained voice of regret. Now that he understood everything, he was full of guilt... or something like it. His expression was sullen.

"Ask your heart. I bet there's plenty you want to say. Make it as long as you need to. I'm sure your words alone can save Mischa."

I patted Phil's back and pushed him over to Mischa, whose silhouette grew hazy from the lies eating at her.

Phil shot me a puzzled look, but after seeing I would say nothing, took a slow deep breath with resolve.

"Mischa."

*

I hate myself.

I'm losing my memory. It may be because of an illness, or it may be my fault. Though you will not tell me.

But when you greet me in the morning, I feel myself wrapped up in happiness. I just can't remember what it is you gave me.

When and where did we meet? I remember your face and name, so why can I not remember that?

Maybe you've forgotten me as well? Are we truly meeting for the first time, as you say?

"Why can I not remember...?"

It hurts, deep in my chest. And it's suffocating.

Surely, you treated me preciously at all times. You were kind to me, I'm sure. You smiled for me, I'm sure.

But as much as I search within myself, I can't find your expression.

It's like I've been thrown into a maze where everything around me is dark.

I can remember my name which I love. The precious name my loving family gave me.

I can remember my family which I love. Their faces and names, and just a little bit of the meals I ate with them.

I can remember the songs which I love. Even if I can't recall the lyrics, I remember the melody.

And I can remember you who I love. Though I know you're important, that's all I know.

Why can't I remember anything but your face and your name?

"Phil..."

I tried saying your name. Though there was no reason why doing it now would clear up the darkness around me.

"...s..."

"Huh?"

I heard someone's voice from far away. Is this a voice I know...?

"Mischa."

This time, I heard it clearly. I know this voice well. It's your precious voice.

"Phil!"

I strove to speak. Lately, I had been feeling sickly, and could not even sing very well, so I was unsure if you could hear it. But I raised my voice and shouted your name.

"There's something I need to apologize for, Mischa."

"I need to apologize for something as well, Phil."

It felt like there was something stuck in my throat. My voice was quieter than usual. But I ignored it, and continued to shout into the darkness.

"I've been lying to you. When your parents went away for work and I was entrusted with you, I felt just a little pressured. I wondered if I would suffice. Even when you hired me at the mansion, I felt my chest was about to burst."

"There's no need to feel that way."

Surely, Father and Mother were fond of Phil. That's why they called him to the mansion. Though I can't remember that day anymore.

"I was told your parents explained your illness to you every morning you lost your memory, so I felt I had to do the same. But the first time I told you, you looked so sorrowful. So I lied. I started saying "nice to meet you" instead."

The days when I went empty, Phil always said "nice to meet you." I didn't understand why he would say such a thing. I was uneasy that he had really forgotten me.

But that wasn't it, was it. He said it for my sake.

But.... but.

"I knew that we were not "meeting," either. But I didn't say it. And I was very sad when I couldn't say it."

"So I want to apologize. I'm sorry, Mischa."

"So am I!"

I had to properly apologize as well. And yet, my throat was filled with some kind of mud, and I couldn't speak the words.

I had to apologize... I had to say it to Phil...

(I want to apologize to Phil!)

As I made that wish, a ray of light came through the darkness.

"It's coming off!"

I heard an adorable voice, and the light grew.

So blinding... But I desperately reached toward that light.

"Mischa!"

I could see Phil's face. And in the next moment, I was being held up in his arms.

"Sorry... I'm really sorry, Mischa..."

Phil apologized with a quivering voice. His body was shaking, too.

"No, so am I. I need to apologize myself."

The things that had built up in me, and dragged me into the darkness...

They had fallen away now. So now, I could say it.

"I did know you, Phil, but I couldn't remember. Even though I knew your face and name, I could remember nothing else. So I thought... if I told you that, it would only make you sad. So I didn't..."

"I see... I see now. That's fine. I've always been unremarkable, after all. Even if you just remember my face and name, if you haven't forgotten everything about me, that makes me very happy."

"Phil...!"

As I called his name, tears fell from my eyes.

"I'm sorry..."

I squeezed out one last apology. I wonder if Phil heard it.

After that, the two of us continued to hold each other, and quietly cried together.

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