The Reaper Finds a Golden Flower – Part 04

[previous_page]

[next_page]


Translator: Kell


The sun was setting on a particular early-summer day.

“Um, are you free lately?” Cecile, gazing at the white feathers of the migratory birds flapping in the garden pond, asked the huge, old gardener.

“What?” the gardener, a gray-haired old man in overalls, uttered in a thick voice. He was fairly large in size. “A stupid question. Of course not. I tend to this vast garden day in and day out. I’m very busy.”

He was a vulgar fellow, but Cecile had known him since her school days.

Cecile adjusted her round glasses. “I need you to make something for me.”

“Don’t tell me it’s another toy sailboat. You ask me to make all sorts of difficult stuff.”

“No, nothing of the sort. Just a flowerbed.”

“A flowerbed?” The old gardener, holding a pair of huge shears, paused from trimming the hedge. “Where?”

“You know that little candy house that was built recently?”

“Yeah.”

“I want you to build a flowerbed around it. You know, like the hedge mazes common in the gardens of the nobility in the Middle Ages. It goes round and round, and only those who knew the way could get inside. Something like that.”

“A flowerbed maze?!” The gardener rose to his feet. His body, huge as a hill, rocked. “Hmm. That sounds fun. Do I have full creative freedom?”

“Yup!”

“Okay, I’m in.”

Cecile breathed a sigh of relief.

She looked toward the small house. A wind stirred the white flowers. The sun was setting, and darkness was blanketing the garden. It seemed as though the darkness inside the house had encroached upon the outside world.

From evening to night.

The pale moon was rising in the eastern sky.

Under the skilled hands of the old gardener, a flowerbed maze was steadily built around the dollhouse.

A circular pattern surrounded the little house, growing higher as the days went by, keeping the students’ curiosity at bay.

Around the same time, an incident occurred.


Mr. Jenkins’ belongings were still in his room in the male faculty’s dormitory, located right across the female dormitory where Cecile lived. The room was closed and dark. A bleak room with the strong presence of something.

The harp in that room began playing eerily night after night.

That night, Cecile was in her room polishing her nails and shoes, and, unable to stop, started polishing her friend’s shoes as well. Spending a relaxing evening alone, humming to herself, she caught a faint, inviting melody from outside the window.

“Hmm?” Cecile lifted her head and listened carefully.

Nothing. She couldn’t hear it anymore, so she resumed polishing shoes while humming.

It sounded again.

“Huh?”

Cecile got up and opened the window.

She looked at the dormitory across the street, at the window upstairs. The lights were off in Mr. Jenkins’ old room, and it looked empty. But…

“The harp is playing!”

Cecile shuddered.

She woke up her friend, who was sleeping in the next room. She then put on a coat over her nightwear and ran out with her grumbling friend.

“Mr. Jenkins is back!” Cecile said.

“For real?”

“He’s playing the harp!”

“In a dark room?” Her friend laughed. “Sounds like a ghost to me.” Then her breath caught, and she exchanged glances with Cecile.

“A ghost…”

“N-No way.”

They shook their heads.

“It can’t be.”

“I agree.”

They entered the men’s dorm, walked up the stairs, and knocked on the door to Mr. Jenkins’ room. But no one answered.

The lights were off.

The harp continued playing.

“Mr. Jenkins?”

“Sir?”

They called for the man together.

Soon people began gathering. The teachers were abuzz. As the harp continued to play, someone went down to the admin room and got the key and handed it to Cecile.

Fearfully, she unlocked the door and opened it.

“Mr. Jenkins…?” she called.

No answer.

The harp stopped playing.

“It wasn’t coming from here,” someone said. “It can’t be. Someone else was playing in a different room.”

Cecile’s friend walked over the soft carpet and turned on the lamp in the middle.

Orange light illuminated the room.

There was no one there.

The moment they all exhaled in unison, Cecile’s friend let out a yelp that sounded like a cat that had its tail stepped on.

“What’s wrong?!” Cecile exclaimed.

Her friend pointed to the harp with a trembling hand.

Cecile squinted, and her breath seized.

The strings of the harp were quivering faintly, as though someone had been sitting there playing until moments ago.

“I-It’s a ghost!” Cecile’s friend screamed. “It’s the ghost of Mr. Jenkins! He was here just now, playing his harp. I’m sure.”

“No way.”

“Everyone loved his solo, so he must’ve wanted to play for us one last time. Oh, no. Sweet Mr. Jenkins must have passed away!”

“I don’t believe it.”

A stir ran among the teachers.

Cecile weaved through the crowd and padded downstairs. Grabbing the phone, she told the operator to connect her to a hospital in Saubreme. She then asked the hospital for Mr. Jenkin’s wife.

“Ah, Cecile. The terrible piano player.”

The woman’s rude remark slipped through Cecile’s ears.

“On behalf of everyone here,” Cecile said between sobs, “please accept our sincere condolences.”

“What?” The woman sounded confused. “Condolences? For what?

Cecile wiped away her tears. “Huh? I thought Mr. Jenkins was gone.”

“What are you talking about?! He just recovered and is gobbling down food like crazy. How rude!”

“What?!”

Cecile quickly apologized and hung up.

The new music teacher walked in. “What’s wrong?”

“I called the hospital about Mr. Jenkins.”

“The hospital?” There was a note of wonder in his voice.


Work was steadily being done on the flowerbed maze by the old gardener. The next day, Cecile headed to the candy house with a pile of books. She was rubbing her eyes drowsily; the disturbance last night had prevented her from getting enough sleep.

“Oh, no!”

Just when she thought she was lost inside the maze, going around in circles, she arrived at the house in the middle. Cecile, too exhausted to speak, set the stack of books down on the cabriole-legged table.

She heaved a deep sigh. “So heavy!”


Later that night…

In the faculty dormitory, the same thing happened again.

The harp kept playing in the empty room, and when they hurried to the door and opened it, no one was there. The windows were also locked from the inside.

Cecile’s friend approached the harp and pointed at it. “The strings are quivering again.”

But a call at the hospital revealed that Mr. Jenkin’s health was gradually improving.

The following night, the harp played as well. Cecile, the scaredy-cat that she was, eventually found herself unable to sleep.


Several evenings later.

Cecile had brought today’s books, placed them on the table as usual, and was about to leave when she was stopped by the Gray Wolf.

“What is wrong?”

Cecile stopped, then turned around curiously. She doubted her ears. The little Gray Wolf had not once spoken to her.

As was always the case, a beautiful doll, trapped in ruffles and laces, lay sprawled deep in the darkness. At some point, the girl had started smoking, and from the white porcelain pipe in her slim hand, a wisp of smoke slithered toward the ceiling.

“D-Did you say something?” Cecile asked shakily.

“Something’s been bothering you the past few days.”

“How did you know?”

The girl scoffed. “Elementary,” she said in a husky voice. “My Wellspring of Wisdom told me so.”

“Is that so…”

Victorique’s cold green eyes gleamed. Cecile swallowed. The girl, who until now had done nothing but lie on the floor skimming through books with grim eyes, was now giving off a frightening, enigmatic energy, as though possessed by something. The girl had been nothing special. But now, at this moment, she was looking at Cecile as though she was something powerful. Fear and awe paralyzed Cecile.

“W-Wellspring of… Wisdom?”

“Yes. I sometimes gather fragments of chaos from this world and toy with them. Out of boredom. And then reconstruct them to determine the truth. Talk to me.”

“T-Talk to you about what?” Cecile’s voice was trembling.

“About the incident that’s happening near you.” Victorique’s voice quavered irritatingly. “Speak to me. You will relieve me of this boredom, if only temporarily. Speak, now!”

Cecile gasped at the sheer disrespect and selfishness coming from the girl’s mouth. She almost tried to say something back, but fear had overpowered her, forcing her mouth shut.

Losing her patience at Cecile’s silence, Victorique sniffed sharply. “Is it something silly perhaps?”

“Huh?”

“For example, you’re craving the touch of the opposite sex. In which case, I will refrain from pressing the issue further.”

“Th-That’s not it!”

Cecile scuttled close to Victorique. And then she found herself telling this strange girl about the harp, complete with gestures.

“So us teachers have been terrified for a while now. My friend said that it was Mr. Jenkins’ ghost, but he’s still alive. What’s going on here?”

“Move the harp,” was all Victorique said.

Cecile came to her senses. “What? Why?”

“…”

Victorique did not speak another word. She buried herself back into the golden darkness made of books, thoughts, and ennui. When she didn’t respond to any of her words, Cecile gave up and quietly left the candy house.


[previous_page]

[next_page]


Become a VIP
Question icon
Become a VIP and enjoy the benefits of being able to read chapters in advance of the current release schedule.

  • Read +1 extra chapters (inc. Ad-FREE experience)
    $5 / month
  • Read +2 extra chapters (inc. Ad-FREE experience)
    $10 / month
  • Read +4 extra chapters (inc. Ad-FREE experience)
    $20 / month

RELEASE RATE

Gosick

Speed up schedule by 10 hours

0 / 45000

Current schedule: Every 90 hours

SPEED UP SCHEDULE
Question icon
Use Krystals to speed up the schedule of this novel. When the bar is completely filled, the schedule will be updated manually by an admin and the chapters will release at a rate 10 hours faster. E.g. 70 Publish Hours will be reduced to 60 Published Hours. Any excess Krystals donated will be credited to the next speed-up schedule if available or refunded to your account

Novel Schedule

Gosick

Schedule will be reduced when the goal is reached

Balance: 0

Comment (0)

Get More Krystals