Who hid My Corpse!

"Time for dinner." Outside the warehouse, Ina poked her head in and looked at the girl inside, revealing a rather unnatural smile, "Ju... right?"

Ju looked up at Ina. Hesitating for a moment, she finally nodded and followed her out.

Outside the warehouse, Gerard had already set up a small table with a few loaves of bread that he had just bought. The bread wasn't very fresh and looked rather hard.

"This is all we could get," Ina said softly, "the people out there... they're too excited to care about their regular business."

Ju pursed her lips without saying anything, but she understood what Ina meant.

After the resolution to execute the Lyra God was passed, the whole of Lyra fell into a state of extreme euphoria.

It felt as if they had been suppressed for many years but had finally gained independence today.

So the celebration began. People put down their work and started to revel, and the hard bread on the table was proof of that — under normal circumstances, selling such bread would be against the rules.

But now, the Lyra God would die, and the rules that bound them like chains would no longer exist.

"I was thinking of going further away to buy some," Ina said to Gerard, "but the gear train had also stopped running, so we could only get these."

Gerard shook his head and replied softly, "It's alright, having food is enough."

Compared to the problems they were facing now, having less desirable food was the least significant issue.

Ina hummed quietly, then stuffed the bread into her mouth. The dry and hard texture suddenly made her feel a little dazed.

When was the last time she had a meal with her father?

She could hardly remember.

Ina tried to recall, remembering it was ten years ago. She had already decided to join the newly formed Devil's Army to seek the truth, so she had her last dinner with her father.

The atmosphere at home was already bad by then... no, more precisely, since Ian hadn't been able to return, it wasn't a home anymore. They didn't speak a word during that dinner, and Ina left Gerard right after finishing the dry loaf in her hands.

And just like that, ten years passed.

Thinking of this, Ina couldn't help but look at Gerard again. The even more aged and tired expression on his face made her heart skip a beat harshly.

"What's the matter?" Gerard noticed the odd expression on Ina's face and put down his bread to ask.

"No... it's nothing." Ina took a deep breath, "I was just, um..."

She suddenly turned her head to look at Ju, who was quietly chewing, almost making no sound.

"Ju." Ina called out gently. When Ju looked up, Ina asked softly, "Would you leave this place with us, okay?"

Ina's words made Ju's expression turn somewhat vacant: "Leave this place?"

"Yes." Ina nodded, "To be precise, leave Lyra and live somewhere else."

"Somewhere else?"

"Yes, like Rhein, like Holy Sound... anywhere is fine," Ina said kindly.

Her meaning was clear: as long as they could leave this place, any destination would do.

"I'll take care of you from now on," she added.

Ina had assumed that Ju would agree quickly since, for so many years, Ju had been alone, and now she finally had companionship. Logically, there would be no reason to refuse.

But to Ina's surprise, after hearing her words, Ju did not agree immediately. Her face didn't show the slightest hint of joy. She just silently bowed her head, silently finished her bread, said, "I'm full," and then stood up and left, returning to her cramped warehouse.

This baffled Ina. She couldn't help but turn to Gerard and ask, "Does she really dislike me?"

"Of course not."

"Then why didn't she agree?"

"It's not that she disagrees," Gerard said, "she just doesn't know how to accept. She's been here for too long and is used to living alone. To suddenly ask her to accept a completely new life at her age, it's difficult."

Gerard's words surprised Ina even more. She hadn't expected that Gerard, a grown man, would have such a deep understanding of Ju, who seemed to be a very reclusive little girl.

Ina was about to ask Gerard how he managed to do that when she noticed Gerard looking at her, triggering a sudden recollection. She flashed back to many years ago when she hid behind her brother, cautiously peering out at a young Gerard who was there to take them away from the orphanage.

In that instant, she understood something and couldn't help but laugh.

"It seems it's the experience I gave you," Ina said softly, "was I really such a difficult child to deal with back then?"

"It wasn't that bad." Gerard also revealed a long-lost smile, "but you were indeed much harder to approach than your brother. After all, at that time, you only trusted your brother."

"...Yes," Ina said, "but I must have accepted you pretty quickly, right?"

"Not too quickly," Gerard said, "about half a year, I guess."

"Was it really that long?"

"Of course."

Ina teased, "You remember quite clearly."