The fiancées were all silent. After the sudden loss of the man they loved, being told that his death was strange before they could even come to terms with their grief was too much. All they could do was look at each other.
Kunai ignored this. “His soul should be wandering somewhere, like a ghost. The soul is a condensed form of a person’s memories and personality during life. Normally, it partially dissipates on death, with some residual amount remaining in the body—meaning the portion of the soul that leaves the body is an incomplete existence with only a vague sense of self. In Dr. Glenn’s case, there is a high possibility that he is thinking clearly and fully aware of himself.”
Kunai was one of the people most intimately familiar with death in Lindworm. If she said it, it must be true.
“Therefore, if we can get his soul back, Dr. Glenn will return to life.”
It sounded ridiculous—like trying to catch a cloud.
“Let me say this,” Cthulhy said in tones of disgust. “In medical science, the existence of the soul has never been proven. The fact that undead live in the Graveyard City means there must be some truth to the theory—but even if I were to accept the existence of a soul, is there actually a way to get it back? We have been debating this for some time.”
“And Cthulhy just won’t be convinced, so…” Skadi added.
“And why would I be convinced? No one returns from death,” Cthulhy insisted.
“It did happen sometimes, in the age of myths,” Skadi pointed out.
“So what?” Cthulhy sounded exasperated. “Whether there is a soul or not, Glenn’s body is dead. If left alone, it will start to decompose. That’s why Lime is protecting him for now. But if his soul doesn’t return, are we just going to keep him like that?”
“Well, that’s true.” Skadi agreed.
“If there is a way to bring a soul back, I’d like to hear it,” Cthulhy insisted.
Kunai remained silent. She had to be telling the truth. But in the end, the biggest problem was how to bring back the soul.
Then Skadi raised her hand. “It was the first-generation Molly who warned me that something might happen to Glenn,” she offered.
“But the first-generation Molly disappeared,” Sapphee pointed out.
“That’s right. The first-generation Molly cut her connection to her body and went to the Underworld, but she came back at the Harvest Festival to warn me. She didn’t go into detail, but I believe this is the matter she was warning me about,” Skadi said, her eyes fixed steadily on Sapphee’s.
Of course, there was no way any of them could know that Molly had taken Glenn’s soul to the Underworld.
“I’ve done a great deal of research on ways to bring a soul back from the Underworld, but I haven’t found anything definitive yet,” Skadi said.
“This is Skadi’s position. There is not a doubt in her mind that Glenn will come back. We debated it for a long time, but in the end, I can’t dismiss the fact that the first-generation Molly came all the way here to warn her,” Cthulhy disclosed, looking at Sapphee. “From where I stand, though, I have to say that Glenn is deceased. That’s why I want to hear all of your opinions.”
“Ours?”
“If his survivors—meaning his fiancées—wish it, we can store the body for a while longer. If keeping him like this is too painful, we can start to prepare him for burial. Whichever you decide… As the president of this hospital, I will do whatever I can to respect that decision,” Cthulhy explained.
Skadi’s theory was a pipe dream, with no proof to back it up. But she did truly seem to believe Glenn would come back to life—a belief likely born of her trust in Kunai, who could hear the voices of souls, and Molly, who’d come to warn her.
Sapphee closed her eyes. What was she supposed to believe?
As his mentor, Cthulhy was of the opinion Glenn’s corpse should not be left as it was without good reason. With no evidence to prove otherwise, she did not find it logical to leave the body untouched. But then again…
“Ms. Skadi, there is a chance, right?” Sapphee checked.
“At the very least, I believe there is,” Skadi confirmed.
“Understood.” Sapphee nodded. “I will trust Miss Skadi. Glenn’s soul will return. If nothing else…if this were Glenn, as long as there was a chance, he would believe that his patient could recover. No matter how small that chance might be.”
“I see. That’s true. Thank you.” Skadi gave her a small smile.
Apparently, Tisalia and Arahnia felt the same way. There was no need to argue.
“Then I have no choice,” Cthulhy sighed.
But Sapphee, who had known her for many years, noticed there was also a small smile on her lips. Cthulhy wasn’t the type to just give up on her beloved pupil. She couldn’t bring herself to believe that he would recover without conclusive proof, but if that proof was missing, they could bring it into being through their own actions.
“Then it’s decided. Everyone, I would like to request your cooperation in bringing back Dr. Glenn’s soul,” Skadi said.
“Is there anything we can do? Is…there even a way to bring back a soul?” Arahnia asked.
“I don’t know. But there is someone who might,” Skadi said with confidence. “The second-generation Molly, manager of the Graveyard City, has disappeared. Given how responsible she is, it’s unfathomable that she would just go off somewhere at a time like this. She clearly knows something about Glenn’s death.”
“Molly…”
First-generation Molly was the one who gave the warning about Glenn. Second-generation Molly had disappeared. It certainly was suspicious. It seemed clear that something was happening in this town that even Skadi couldn’t fully comprehend yet.
“I’d like Tisalia to use her legs to search every corner of the town. If she is hiding somewhere, Sapphee’s vision will also be helpful. Will you help me?”
“Y-yes.”
”Of course, we will!”
Sapphee and Tisalia answered quickly.
“Well, I’ll stay behind and take care of Dr. Glenn. We can’t let him rot now, can we? I just need to keep him clean in a cool room, yeah?” Arahnia volunteered.
“Slurp! That will be helpful! I can’t just sit here holding Glenn forever… I can’t even eat like this!” Lime answered from her liquified state, where she was currently enveloping all of Glenn except his face. She looked at Glenn, inside her, with a concerned expression.
“You’re lucky, Dr. Glenn. There are lots of people awaiting your return,” Skadi said emotionally as she looked at Glenn’s corpse. “Come back soon.”
Naturally, Glenn’s body did not answer her.
Sapphee didn’t know where his soul was, but she felt her heart light up.
Glenn…just when I thought we were finally connected, here we are, apart again.
She’d been a hostage in the Litbeit residence, before they were separated. They met again at the Academy, but due to his accident, Glenn lost the majority of his memories of the good times they’d shared in the lab. Then, during the water-canal-poisoning incident, Sapphee had left Glenn for some time.
They’d been repeating the same pattern, over and over again. When she finally thought they’d be married, they were only separated once more.
In that case…
It’s fine. If that is our fate, I will follow you anywhere.
Her sadness transformed into a burning rage and passion. She wouldn’t let him go this time. Once Glenn’s soul came back, Sapphee resolved, she would wrap her long snake tail around him and never let him go again.