Chapter 16: Mina’s Answer

Chapter 16:
Mina’s Answer

 

THIS MORNING, I’d dragged Ejil to the meadow to look after the medicinal herbs and pick what we needed for the lab.

While we headed home, he asked, “So, Doctor, you grow the ingredients for those delicious potions yourself, right?!” He literally held a piece of paper and a pen so he could jot down notes.

“Yup,” I said. “If I don’t, I can’t get that refreshing flavor.”

I was just kind of making things up; herbs from the forest didn’t work any differently. I couldn’t help feeling a little guilty watching the boy take fervent notes.

It was cooler now compared to the summer, but there were still really hot days, like today. Ejil and I sweated buckets as we walked home chatting.

Noela was watching the drugstore for me. She came over with a towel. “Welcome home, Master! Wipe sweat.”

“Oh, thanks.”

She watched me towel off, then nodded. “Hard labor sweat! Manly.”

“You think?” I tilted my head inquisitively.

Ejil, meanwhile, wiped his sweaty face with his hand, trying his hardest to act cool. “Noela! Wh-what about my sweat? Me, the man’s-man demon king…?”

“Hm?” Noela exuded apathy.

I’m not sure it’s possible for her to care less.

Ejil extended his left hand to Noela “smoothly.”

I don’t think she’ll ever put a towel there, I mused. “Is Mina cleaning? Or cooking?”

“Dunno.”

She doesn’t know? If Mina had gone shopping, she would’ve said something to Noela. And if she were doing chores, she’d be nearby. What was going on?

Ejil was still frozen in the same pose. I tossed him my towel. “I’ve barely used it, so…uh…there you go. Noela’s the one who washed it last.”

“A towel full of Noela’s love…?!” Ejil rubbed his cheek against it.

Wait. Noela was in charge of the laundry two days ago. Yesterday was me…whoops.

“It’s so soft,” Ejil murmured. “It smells so pure. That…that’s Noela’s work! I-I’m so happy!”

Sorry about that, Ejil, I apologized internally and then entered the house to look for Mina. Tomorrow, I needed her to head to the meadow alone, so I wanted to let her know.

If Noela’s not sure where she is, Mina’s probably in spirit form. And if she isn’t in the kitchen or the living room…

I knocked on the door to the girls’ shared room. Since I got no response, I headed in. Mina was sleeping on one of the side-by-side beds.

“Hunh. That’s rare. Mina usually doesn’t oversleep.”

She rolled toward me, and I noticed that her face was oddly red. Her breathing was also shallow, and the breaths were coming faster than they should.

“Mina?”

She seemed to hear me; she slowly opened her eyes. “Ah… Mr. Reiji. Good…morning.”

Mina tried to sit up, but I quickly stopped her, placing my hand on her forehead. Whoa! She’s feverish! Can humans even get this hot?! I guess she’s a ghost, not a human…

“Are you feeling okay, Mina?”

“I’m…totally fine.” She gave me a weak smile and once again tried to sit up.

I made her lie back down. “Today, you’re resting. No—for the next three days. I bet running yourself ragged this summer has caught up to you. Leave the housework to Noela and me—and that oddly useful demon part-timer.”

Mina had been doing all the chores, even while helping in the meadow. It was clear that she’d been working too hard.

“But…chores are my life’s work!” she protested.

“You’re already dead.”

“Meanie,” she sniffled.

If she’d caught a cold, I could whip up some meds. Unfortunately, I was no doctor, and I didn’t know whether ghosts could catch colds. I decided to make Mina rest for the next few days until I figured out what was going on.

I took some of the icy gel I’d made the other day and rubbed a bit on Mina’s forehead. It seemed to work; she closed her eyes with a slightly more relaxed expression.

I’m gonna skip today’s lab work and focus on chores. Noela and Ejil can watch the store.

I headed to the kitchen and prepared lunch for Mina—rice porridge, since she was sick. I tasted it, but I had no idea whether a talented cook like her would like it.

Informing Noela and Ejil that lunch was ready, I took a bowl of porridge to Mina’s room. I placed it on the dresser, dragging a chair next to her bed and sitting down.

“Mr. Reiji?”

“Ah—sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you, but I made some lunch. Think you can have a bite?”

“Yes,” Mina murmured.

I helped her sit up, placing the tray in her lap. She pulled her blanket up to her face.

“Could you spoon-feed me?” she requested, gazing at me.

“Huh?” I said self-consciously. “Can’t you eat it yourself?”

“It’s not that I can’t. It’s just that, at times like this, I’d like to be doted on a little.” She covered her face with her blanket. “So, please…?”

“I guess that’s not too much to ask. Come on, stop hiding under that blanket.”

I brought a spoonful of porridge toward Mina’s face. She closed her eyes and opened her mouth, taking a bite.

“How is it?” I asked. “I’m not too confident about the flavor.”

“Tasty. You got the saltiness just right.”

Relieved, I spoon-fed her another three bites. I feel like a mother bird feeding her chick.

Mina lay back, looking at the ceiling. “I’ve used this room for a very long time. I looked up at this ceiling for so long, I eventually got tired of it. It hasn’t changed at all.”

“No?” Mina had said that she was sickly when she was alive.

“Mom always took care of me,” she continued. “I was quite a burden. It was my fault my family couldn’t go anywhere. Dad, my younger brother…”

Being under the weather is probably making her nostalgic.

“Still, I ended up dying before everyone else.” Mina’s tears began to flow freely.

I embraced her and held her, gently caressing her back. “It’s okay. Everything’s fine. I bet nobody ever considered you a burden. You just feel like that because you’re sick.”

“I got in the way of m-my own family’s happiness!”

Back when I first met Mina, she’d told me, “I just want the residents here to lead happy lives.”

Did she say that because “happy lives” were what she’d wanted for her family? Was that why Mina worked so hard around the house? To prove that she was useful, not a burden? Did her work ethic arise from personal guilt at seemingly robbing her family of their happiness? Why didn’t her own happiness seem to count?

Mina’s tears dripped onto my shoulder. Her hands trembled like a lost child’s. All I could do was gently stroke her blonde hair. “Hey, Mina. I’m not about to let you be sad. If you’re not happy, neither are Noela and I.”

Mina did her best to hold back her sobs.

There’s got to be something I can do or say to help her feel less guilty. At the end of the day, though, the only thing I was good for was making medicine. I hadn’t known Mina when she was alive, so I couldn’t confirm that she hadn’t been a burden or that her family wasn’t unhappy.

After making sure Mina got to sleep, I left the girls’ room and called Ejil. “Hey, mind if I ask you a favor?”

“What is it, Doctor? You sound serious.”

“I’d like you to gather some materials. If you do…”

“I-If I do…?”

“You can pet Noela’s tail.”

Ejil grunted.

“You have a nosebleed, kid. Are you okay?”

“I-I’m fine! It’s finally time to strut my stuff! I’ll get what you need, Doctor, no matter what the cost! I created my army for this very day!”

Even an idiot would’ve known that was a lie. I feel terrible for his army, but whatever. I explained what I needed to Ejil.

“I shall be on my way!” he teleported away using his unique magic.

Since I had stuff to do, I couldn’t just wait for Ejil to come back. Pushing the living room sofa aside, I headed into the basement. Mina had told me a while back that she’d given her mother her brooch, and I’d found it in the basement, so her mom must’ve used the room often.

There’s gotta be something down here.

I searched the bookshelves and tables, and eventually came across a cracked, musty journal. It was so old that the ink had faded, and bugs had chewed the paper. It was basically unreadable, save for a small section. Judging by that section’s contents, the journal had once belonged to Mina’s mom.

Perfect. I headed back to the living room.

Ejil had already returned with the ingredients I’d asked for. “Here you go, Doctor!”

“Oh, that was fast. Much obliged.”

I opened the bag. Great, he got everything. His poor army probably didn’t enjoy running his random errands. The power of Ejil’s obsession with Noela was something to behold.

“Good work, kid.” I grabbed a potion off the shelf and passed it to Ejil. We’re still treating these things like cans of soda.

“Thanks! Um, Doctor, you said I could touch Noela’s tail, right?”

“Yup. Be my guest.”

“Bwa ha ha ha ha!” Ejil hid his face with his hand as he cackled. “Let me pet that saucy tail of yours, Noela!”

With a twisted grin, he dashed toward Noela, who was on store duty.

Oops. I forgot to tell him that I didn’t exactly clear this with Noela. And, uh, why’s he so crazy about her tail? Does he have a fetish? Whatever. Good luck, Ejil.

As I entered the lab to get started, I just barely heard voices coming from the store.

“Pet tail? No.”

“Um, but, er, the doctor said—”

“Pervert!” Wham!

I heard something hard crash into something else, and then a scream like a frog being squished. “Blaaaugh!”

“Arroo! Dead…?”

Noela, do me a favor and tend his wounds, I sighed. If they’re minor, a potion should work fine.

I focused on my work and somehow finished the new concoction. The ingredients only filled one bottle.

 

Three-Minute Resurrection: Materializes the lingering thoughts and feelings attached to an object for three minutes.

 

I decided to wait for Mina to recover before using the stuff.

The next morning, her temperature had dropped, and her color had mostly returned. Even so, she covered her face with her blanket and asked me to feed her again, extending my mother-bird role for another day.

Once Mina finished eating, we chatted a little before I finally brought up the Three-Minute Resurrection, explaining that it could summon her mother for a limited period of time.

“Whether you use it is up to you, Mina. If you don’t want to, I won’t force you.”

Mina looked through the journal I’d found yesterday. “This is Mom’s handwriting, but I can barely read any of it.”

Since she couldn’t decipher the journal, she couldn’t know what her mother had written. It was entirely possible that the volume was full of complaints. Worst-case scenario, it’s all stuff that’ll break Mina’s heart.

After thinking for a moment, Mina nodded. “I’m going to use the Three-Minute Resurrection.”

With my eyes alone, I asked whether she was really okay with that.

“I want to know what Mom thought about me, no matter what it was,” Mina confirmed. “I’ll have to accept her feelings.”

I explained how the Three-Minute Resurrection worked and then made for the door.

Mina grabbed me. “Mr. Reiji…please hold my hand.”

“You got it.” I knew it. She’s scared to be alone.

Sitting on the chair next to the bed, I clasped Mina’s hand tightly.

With a deep breath, Mina spread the resurrection fluid over her mother’s small journal. The book shone slightly as a human figure appeared in the air. Color filled the image of the blonde-haired woman.

That’s what Mina will look like in twenty years.

The woman furrowed her brow, clearly conflicted. “Just when we thought you were better, it’s something else now? Why?! We don’t have the money to buy more medicine!”

“I’m sorry.” I heard Mina’s quiet voice next to me. I squeezed her hand, trying to show her that I was there.

“Why aren’t you tougher?” Mina’s mother continued.

Mina gasped but refused to look away from her mother’s image.

“We use all our savings on your medicine. We’re lucky Morris never gets sick!”

“That’s right. Morris was a good boy,” Mina murmured. He must’ve been her little brother. “He was always so kind to me, even coming to my room to play.”

Mina’s mother shook her head. “And why does your father leave nursing you to me?”

“Yes…I was bedridden, and it was always you next to me. Caring for me must’ve been difficult.” Mina could barely hold herself together anymore. She began to weep.

I’m sorry, Mina, I thought, wanting to curse the unfair, miserable situation she’d lived with. Why did it have to be her?

Mina apparently realized that her family initially had the money to lead happy lives. Yet because it all went toward treating Mina, as her mother said, they struggled to make ends meet. Mina was aware of that as well; that was why she felt so regretful and guilty.

“I knew it,” she said. “I was just a burden on my family.”

“Why won’t you get better?” her mother continued.

“Don’t ask me that! I wasn’t like that because I wanted to be!”

“Why won’t the medicine work?”

“I don’t know!”

“Even the doctors can’t diagnose you. I just don’t know what to do anymore!”

“That’s why I died before everyone else! That was for the best, right?! I wasn’t a burden to you anymore!” Mina screamed, sobbing.

Her mother hid her face with both hands. “Oh, Mina…why must you die before me?” Her shoulders trembled. Through the gaps between her hands, I saw her crying. “You were supposed to get better. You had so much happiness waiting for you! In the end…I couldn’t nurse you back to health.”

Mina’s face tightened.

“You suffered the most of all of us, Mina…right?” Although her eyes were hidden behind her hands, she seemed to be looking at Mina. “I must’ve loved you with all my heart, my daughter.”

Tears once again flowed from Mina’s eyes. She bit her lip. “Lies…”

“Otherwise,” continued her mother, “how can I explain how empty I feel…how much it hurts?”

A slight gasp came from Mina’s shivering lips.

“We never got to talk about the boy you liked, like two friends hanging out. I never got to help make him cookies, like you would’ve wanted. We never fought because I wasn’t fond of him after you introduced us. I never got to see you off as a happily married bride.”

As the Three-Minute Resurrection’s time limit drew near, Mina’s mother began to fade.

“And that brooch I got from my mother, who got it from her mother…I never told you about its meaning. My mother gave me the brooch the day I married… She told me to do the same if I ever had a daughter. That was when she taught me the brooch’s true meaning…a wish for the owner’s happiness.”

Mina’s mother faded, but even I could tell that she was smiling at Mina. Mina began to sob like a child.

I could barely see anything—the tears streaming down my face obscured my vision. Mina had told me about the brooch. “It was something she gave me originally. She told me only to wear it on special occasions.”

Mina’s mother might’ve considered Mina a burden in some ways, but that wasn’t everything. It wasn’t. She’d cared for Mina, worried about her, and wanted more for her—always and forever.

“Let my daughter find happiness…” Mina’s mother vanished, and her journal stopped shining.

I gently held Mina in my arms until she calmed down.

“Thank you so much, Mr. Reiji,” she wept.

I let go of her, wiping tears from her cheeks. “At the end of the day, she was your mom.”

Mina nodded. Holding my hand tightly, she gazed at where her mother’s figure had been. Tears still on her cheeks, she smiled. “Mom, I am happy.”