Volume 2 Chapter 49: Sophie Charmille

The half-demon girl, Sophie, could not grasp what “love” truly meant.

Sophie was born in a small countryside town, far from the Capital City of Elist. It was an ordinary, unremarkable place, but it was her mother’s hometown.

Her mother loved to travel, and it was said she met the man she loved during one such journey. The two humans, deeply in love, married and set out on their honeymoon… only to be attacked by bandits.

Her husband lost his life, and she—she became pregnant with Sophie.

Sophie was not born of joy or blessings.

Her mother, burdened with unbearable emotional scars, gave birth to her not out of love, but to direct her hatred and rage onto the child—a product of her nightmare.

Conveniently, Sophie inherited strong demonic traits.

Her mother neither allowed her to live freely nor granted her the peace of death. Instead, she subjected her to constant abuse.

It was the only way her mother could continue to survive.

In Sophie’s memories, her mother was always hitting her, hurling insults, glaring at her with eyes full of resentment. With a face twisted in madness, her mother laughed as she tortured her, driving her to the brink of death again and again. Living in such conditions, Sophie learned to use healing magic at an early age, out of sheer necessity. By being brought so close to death so often, she instinctively understood how to wield mana to keep herself alive.

Even after being beaten all day, her injuries would heal by the next morning. Her mother, upon witnessing this, would scream that Sophie was truly the child of a demon, and her torment only became more severe.

Sophie could do nothing. She endured the abuse without resistance, without emotion, listening numbly to the screams of hatred. By the time she could no longer feel pain, her mother slit her wrists.

Her mother’s mind had long since shattered.

The only thing her mother left behind was the word “Die,” scratched out desperately with her nails onto a surface.

Sophie, who had taught herself to read by matching the words in books with her mother’s speech, understood the meaning of her mother’s final message. Yet, she felt nothing.

She didn’t know what to do next, so she simply sat in the corner of the blood-soaked, foul-smelling room, hugging her knees.

With empty eyes, she stared at her mother’s lifeless body, doing nothing. When she grew hungry, she ate a little of the food that remained in the house, then returned to her corner. Having never stepped outside since birth, Sophie had nowhere to go.

Several days passed like this. Then, one day, she heard laughter from outside the window.

With empty eyes, Sophie slowly raised her head.

The last time she had tried to look out the window, her mother had beaten her unconscious. Since then, she had never dared to look outside.

But her mother would never move again.

In the dim, stinking room, Sophie wobbled to her feet and approached the window, peering out through the gap in the curtain.

What she saw was an unknown world.

A town bathed in the hues of sunset. Two figures walking together.

A girl around her own age holding the hand of a woman who seemed to be her mother.

The two were laughing together—mother and child.

What was that?

“Mommy, do it again!” the girl outside shouted.

Mommy.

“Oh, fine, just this once,” the woman replied.

The mother crouched down and gently held the girl’s cheeks between her hands, pressing their foreheads together.

“I love you, Daisy! You little rascal!”

“Ahahaha!”

The woman gently pressed her forehead against the little girl’s, rubbing it affectionately. The girl squealed with delight, her laughter echoing in the air.

“Mom… my…”

Sophie, who had been watching the mother and daughter from the window, murmured softly as she turned her gaze back into the dark room. Slowly, she stumbled over to the lifeless body of her mother and sat down beside it. She lifted her small hands, gripping the cold, decayed arms. The skin tore with a sickening squelch, but Sophie didn’t care. She pressed the severed limb against her cheek.

“Mom, do that thing.”

“Oh, alright, just this once.”

“Mom, you…”

Her murmuring trailed off. Sophie didn’t have a name. She had never been called by one, nor had her mother ever given her one to begin with.

“…Love you! You little rascal!”

She brought her forehead against the rotten head of her mother’s corpse, mimicking the scene she had seen through the window.

“Ahahaha!”

And she laughed. Her voice was devoid of emotion, her smile awkward and forced. For the first time in her life, she laughed. Maybe, she thought, by doing this, she could understand what that scene outside had been.

But she understood nothing.

Soon, her smile faded. She let go of her mother’s arms and returned to the corner of the room, hugging her knees as she closed her eyes.

What is love, really?

◇

Several days later, Sophie found herself in the mansion of the town’s lord.

She was dressed in a clean servant’s uniform, standing in line with several other children around her age. Some had nervous expressions, others looked excited, their eyes gleaming with anticipation. Sophie, however, remained blank-faced, unmoved.

“Well now, you all will be working here from now on—”

The voice belonged to a middle-aged man seated on a luxurious sofa. Smiling warmly, he exuded an air of kindness. With a slender build and gentle features, this man was the lord of the town.

Several days ago, Sophie had been discovered by townsfolk after they noticed the foul stench coming from her home. She had been taken into custody but, with no relatives to care for her, had nowhere to go. She was supposed to be sent to an orphanage, but this man had chosen to take her in instead.

The lord was known for his compassion, often mingling with the townspeople and addressing their concerns with sincerity. He was respected and loved as a benevolent ruler.

“You’ll be cared for and loved—if you prove yourself worthy. So try not to die too quickly.”

But only on the surface.

“What is… love?”

While the other children fidgeted nervously at his words, Sophie spoke up in her halting speech. Her question earned her a sharp crack of a whip to her cheek, sending her small body sprawling onto the floor.

“Questions are not permitted,” the lord said, still smiling.

Holding a long, snake-like whip in his hand, he looked down at her with a venomous gleam in his eyes.

“You deserve punishment.”

The Magis Gear, Pain Whip of Agony, coiled in his hand as he gave orders to a servant standing nearby. This particular servant was one of the few survivors among the children who had been brought in like Sophie before.

“Take the rest of them out of here and teach them their duties. If any of them try to run, bring them to me.”

“Yes, my lord,” the servant replied without emotion, bowing deeply before leading the trembling children out of the room.

Left behind were Sophie, writhing on the floor in pain, and the lord, whose eyes gleamed with twisted anticipation.

“Ah… ah… ngh…”

“This whip doesn’t leave visible wounds,” the lord explained with a sickeningly cheerful tone. “Instead, it delivers unbearable pain. The only problem is, most of them die from the shock almost immediately… but you seem promising.”

His smile widened as he struck Sophie again with the Pain Whip.

“AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!”

A sharp, searing pain tore through her small body, as though needles were piercing and twisting every inch of her flesh. Sophie screamed, thrashing violently on the ground, clawing at her own skin as tears, saliva, and urine flowed uncontrollably. Even as her consciousness began to fade, the whip lashed her again, offering no respite.

She screamed again, her voice cracking with anguish.

The lord, appearing thrilled, struck her once more.

“Marvelous! Yes! Incredible! You’re simply wonderful!”

The punishment continued for hours.

◇

Three years had passed since Sophie was taken to the mansion of the town’s lord.

The other children were gone. None had been able to endure the pain inflicted by the whip. Only Sophie remained.

Every mistake was met with the lord’s whip. To survive, Sophie desperately learned her tasks and taught herself to speak. She worked tirelessly, making sure to never displease him, remaining obedient and competent.

“Well then, it’s time for the final test. If you pass this, I’ll officially keep you by my side.”

The lord clapped his hands with a cheerful smile as he spoke.

Sophie no longer understood why she was alive.

“Will I… be loved?”

That was all she wanted to know.

“Oh, of course. Hey, bring her in.”

At his call, a servant woman stepped forward, her body trembling slightly.

“From now, the two of you will take turns receiving Pain Whip of Agony. Whoever lasts longer without fainting wins.”

“And the loser?” Sophie asked quietly.

“They’ll be whipped until they die.”

Sophie glanced at the servant woman. Her body trembled again.

This was the person who had spent the last three years with her. She had taught Sophie her work, her words, and everything she needed to survive. Though their exchanges had been minimal, she was the only one who had ever treated Sophie with a semblance of normalcy.

For the first time in a long while, Sophie felt hesitation. She lowered her gaze.

“Let me make this clear,” the lord added. “Deliberately losing is not allowed.”

“…Understood.”

Sophie, out of courtesy, attempted to bow to the woman—but the lord stopped her.

“What are you doing?”

“…This is the last time.”

“There’s no need to bow to objects. Remember that.”

“…Understood.”

◇

“AAAAAAHHHHHH!”

An ear-piercing scream dragged Sophie’s consciousness back from the edge of darkness.

The sound was inhuman. It came from the servant woman, who was bound by chains and suspended in the mansion’s basement. Sophie, restrained in the same way, realized it was her turn next.

She couldn’t take it anymore. She thought vaguely, This is the end. If I lose consciousness now, the whip will kill me.

No more pain. No more chains. I don’t want to faint. I want to escape. I don’t want to suffer anymore. Please, stop. Please, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop…

If I’m going to die anyway… maybe it’s better if I feel nothing at all.

That thought slipped into her mind.

And then, instinctively, her mana stirred. Her Magis Gear manifested.

It was a grotesque, distorted form of Magis Gear born from pure, primal desperation.

Her heart turned a pitch-black hue, and in that instant, Sophie understood everything.

The pain that had wracked her body vanished, and her hazy consciousness sharpened.

Sophie no longer felt anything. She no longer needed rest.

Strength surged through her frail body, enhanced by mana. Her once weak frame now carried enough power to shatter her restraints.

She also knew this: when her Magis Gear deactivated, her life would end.

This was that kind of Magis Gear.

The lord raised his whip and brought it down on Sophie.

But she no longer felt pain.

The lord’s eyes widened at her silence. He watched in shock as Sophie broke the chains binding her.

“What… what have you done?!”

As the whip lashed toward her again, Sophie caught it effortlessly and yanked it hard.

“Ah…!”

“You are no longer of use to me.”

Sophie, realizing the futility of seeking love from this man, clenched her fist and struck him with all her might.

“Pegu!”

The sound of bones breaking echoed through the room as his face caved in. The lord’s body slammed into the stone wall of the basement, leaving him crumpled and unmoving.

Sophie glanced at the servant woman, intending to release her chains. But her hands stopped.

The woman’s eyes were vacant, her mouth slack. She was already dead.

Sophie’s hands fell limply for a moment before she clenched them again. With a decisive pull, she tore apart the chains binding the woman. Picking up the lifeless body, she walked away without a word, setting the mansion ablaze before leaving.

She left the town, walking endlessly. Deep within a forest, Sophie dug a grave and buried the woman. She placed a stone as a marker, staring at it silently.

A faint sense of being watched made her turn around.

“Was she someone dear to you?”

A voice called out. A woman with hair the color of pale gold and white sat perched on a nearby branch. Her emerald eyes fixed on Sophie.

“I don’t know… I just felt I had to do this.”

“I see.”

The woman gracefully leapt down from the branch, landing softly before approaching Sophie.

“I was here to collect some sheets, blankets, and pillows from an inn where someone important to me stayed. But then I saw the mansion burning.”

Sophie stared blankly. What is this woman talking about?

“I asked the spirits about what happened and followed their guidance here.”

“Will you… arrest me?” Sophie asked cautiously.

“Not at all. I was the one who killed that man.”

“What?”

The woman casually continued.

“He was barely alive when I found him. I made sure to finish the job. The fire? The spirits helped with that. No trace of anything will remain. But… I’m sorry.”

Her emerald eyes dulled with regret.

“If I’d realized sooner… I would have disposed of that garbage long ago.”

Her chilling voice sent shivers down Sophie’s spine. She swallowed hard.

“My name is Elshan Farseed. What’s yours?”

Sophie froze at the question.

“I… I don’t have a name.”

“…I see.”

“Yes…”

Elshan placed a delicate finger on her lips, as if deep in thought. Then, glancing at Sophie, she smiled.

“Then… how about Sophie?”

“Huh?”

“When I saw you, the name came to mind. Sophie. Sophie Charmille. It has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?”