I Was Connected to Earth’s Black Market From Another World With The Skill [Market]! (WN)

Chapter 353

TN: Please read my translations only on my website since I never give my permission to any site to host my translations. And if you like my translations, please support this site on Ko-fi and Patreon to read several chapters ahead!

Enjoy~

Chapter 353 – The Descent of an Angel

Kane died.

When I received the news, for some reason, I felt no emotion. No sadness, no surprise, no pain. I don’t know why. It wasn’t that the shock was too great to accept or the grief too deep to bear. I just didn’t feel anything. Strangely, I believed that I would know when he died, that I would be able to feel something.

I work in the medical field and have no interest in the occult or spiritual matters.

I was raised in a relatively religious family and went to church when my parents were alive, so I believe in God, but… well, it’s more like “a sense of respect for the CEO of the company I work for, who I don’t even know.” Or maybe it’s more like “a sense of respect for the ‘other set of rules’ that make up a society with morals and order.”

So, this feeling is probably just a hunch.

The notice was sent from the office where he was contracted. Kane disappeared with his unit while in transit. A large airstrike was conducted in the area near where he disappeared, and some of the vehicles and equipment (presumably burned wreckage) were found. Although there were no bodies in the wreckage, the unit had not planned to deploy for more than 12 hours and had no potable water. There was no claim of responsibility or ransom demand from the opposing forces, and although we contacted them through a local negotiator, they denied any involvement.

There is little chance of survival.

“Mommy, where is Daddy?”

Ellie, who is just learning to walk, comes running to me with a big smile on her face and gives me a big hug. That’s right. Kane promised he wouldn’t die without this child. Not to God, but to me and Ellie. That’s why he won’t die. There’s no way he’s going to die.

“He still has work to do. He’ll be back soon.”

Definitely.

“Ellie loves Daddy.”

“Mommy loves Daddy, too. And we both love you more than anything.”

When the doorbell rang, Ellie looked at me with a shout of joy. No, that’s not right. Kane always rings and then knocks. With his fingertips, rhythmically.

The visitor was a little different than I expected. It was a deliveryman for international cargo mail. But at that moment, I felt something. A terrible, clear premonition. What I call a hunch. It had been silent, but it whispered in my ear. Kane isn’t dead. But…

It was worse than death.

◇ ◇

“Mommy?”

I regained my senses at the sound of Ellie’s voice and found myself crouched in the dimly lit living room, holding the empty box of a package that had arrived. I hadn’t even noticed the sun had set until my daughter called out to me.

“Mommy, are you okay?”

“I-I’m fine. Ellie, Daddy… Daddy loves you so much.”

More than anyone in the world, he loves you. Where did you go, leaving this angel behind?

Ellie hugged me as I sobbed with a tearful smile on my face. The sweet scent of my little daughter’s body soothed my frayed heart. I wiped away the tears that wouldn’t stop falling. I tried to smile for her, but I couldn’t. He… Kane is alive. He’s alive, but…

He would never see us again.

A letter with stupid content and a photo that looks like a stupid joke. A gift that can only be described as crazy and a bundle of gold coins. I don’t know what it means. I don’t know what happened. But somehow, this time, just this time,

I clearly understood that this was the truth.

◇ ◇

“Ellie.”

I don’t know what to say to Ellie, who is happily sucking on her necklace.

The necklace was a gift from Kane. It’s a delicate design, but the silver chain is made so that it won’t break even if a small child touches it. The stones have a mysterious color and sparkle. The stones are large so that small children can’t swallow them, and they are securely fastened. The designer’s skill and care were evident in the way that all the edges were rounded while maintaining a sharp overall impression. The silver chain was beautifully uniform in diameter and polish direction, but the finish was clearly handmade. This was not an industrial product. It was a work of art created by an artist of incredible skill.

“What is it, Mommy?”

I still haven’t been able to tell my daughter the contents of Kane’s letter.

That the necklace would “grant Ellie’s wish.” I wonder if Kane understands how cruel he is being. There is only one wish that Ellie, who loves her daddy so much, has.

And when she realizes that it cannot be granted, her hope will be gone forever.

“Don’t think you can get away with this, Kane.”

I mutter a curse at Kane in a distant world. The gift he gave me was a silver ring with a mysterious stone attached to it. It is said that it will cast a spell to protect me. I wonder if that idiot really, really, really understands how ridiculous he is being and how insensitive he is talking.

And on top of that, “If you find a new guy to protect you, then dump me”? If this idiot doesn’t stop being so stupid, I’m going to stomp on him with my foot…

“Mommy?”

Ellie looks into my face, overwhelmed by my pent-up anger. I can’t do this. I have to be a good mommy in front of my daughter.

“It’s okay, Ellie. Mommy’s okay.”

I’m fine, but if we ever get the chance to meet again, Daddy’s safety is not guaranteed.

“I’m definitely going to punch him.”

Ellie giggled at the sound of my voice that had escaped me.

“Ellie’s going to punch him, too♪.”

◇ ◇

In the end, the gold coins were worth $187,000.

Kirkland, the antique dealer on Medicine Street, was a fellow soldier of Kane’s when he was in the Army, but he was apparently discharged after being severely injured on a foreign mission. In the battle that caused his injury, Kane saved his life. Amid a hail of bullets, Kane ran for several miles, carrying the immobilized Kirkland on his back.

“Kane…”

He knew how Kane had ended up with the private military company. Obviously, Orlando, who had been the commander of Kane and his group and who, according to Kane, had been killed by the Demon King as a hero, had been a senior non-commissioned officer in the army unit the two of them were in, so he probably knew that they had disappeared from their place of deployment.

“Don’t worry, Kirkland-san. He’s far away. I think he’s fine.”

He shook his head with a sad look on his face as he looked at me smiling. Maybe he thought I was mentally confused. No, I’m sure he did. He handed me a check for $200,000. That was a lot more than the appraised value.

“If there’s anything I can do for you or the two of you, just let me know.”

Kirkland was a shady-looking guy who ran a shady store selling shady products, but he was a good man.

Of course, he was. He was Kane’s friend.

In the end, most of the $200,000 went to pay off debts. The money we borrowed to pay for my college tuition and Kane’s car loan, as well as medical expenses for Kane’s sister. She was the only relative we had (and Ellie), but she had already recovered and was able to live independently. However, the debt still weighed heavily on the family finances. Even though we weren’t living in poverty, life was still tough, so the $200,000 was a huge help.

But I didn’t want to trade it for Kane.

It’s a strange thing, but paying off the debt broke something inside of me. It was like a taut thread snapping.

After reading that letter, I’d thought I’d punch Kane in the face if I saw him, but after almost three months had passed, I’d begun to give up hope of ever seeing him again.

The idea that he’d been transported to another world or that he was training to be a magician as a subordinate to an elf was so absurd that I didn’t even feel like laughing, but at the same time, it seemed like it might not be a lie. Kane was sloppy, clumsy, gullible, and sometimes incredibly insensitive, but he was honest with his family.

“…Kirkland-san said that on the battlefield, the more loyal you are, the more likely you are to die.”

I think Kane was probably impatient because Ellie was born. He felt he had to do something, and his motivation and enthusiasm got out of control. I kept telling him that he wasn’t cut out to be a mercenary, so he should quit. He promised me that this time, just for six months, and then he left for a city in a country I’d never heard of…and then he never came back.

I remember the letter he wrote me, apologizing over and over again, like a suicide note, and I fell onto the steering wheel in the car at the traffic light.

If it wasn’t for Ellie, I would have gone crazy. I couldn’t imagine my life without him.

“Mommy.”

I find myself in the passenger seat with Ellie, looking around restlessly. She has a strange look on her face and is listening intently somewhere in the distance.

“What is it, Ellie? Is something wrong?”

“Daddy said, ‘Shirleeyyy.'”

Is Kane calling me? Why? From where? How?

It’s impossible. If she wasn’t already three years old, I’d suspect a stress-induced auditory hallucination.

“Hey, Ellie. Daddy is in a place that is really, really far away. So I don’t think his voice can reach you…”

“Yeah, I love you too, Daddy.”

Ellie answers the voice that seems to be coming from somewhere, although I’m not sure if she understood what I said. Seeing her with an angelic smile on her face, I almost burst into tears.

Ellie is a good girl. She never complains. She never throws tantrums. She doesn’t have likes or dislikes. She’s strong and healthy, and she sleeps well without staying up late. The only time she’s ever woken me up in the middle of the night is when I was quietly crying. Ellie would hold my hand and pat my head, repeating over and over, “It’s okay, it’s okay.”

Such a sweet Ellie leaned over to me.

“Ellie wants to see Daddy. Mommy, please, can I?”

I felt the blood drain from my face. I shouldn’t have said it. There is magic in this necklace. Daddy will grant Ellie’s wish. I shouldn’t have told her that when she asked me why I was crying that night.

Ellie remembered our promise to always make wishes together, and she kept it. That’s why she asked me, looking straight at me with her innocent eyes.

“Please, will you listen to me?”

“Ellie, you see…”

I couldn’t bring myself to tell her that it was a lie, a cruel lie that her father had left behind in the end. If I said it, I felt that something inside me, the last bastion of what I had held on to, would break.

And yet I nodded. If I continued to fall, I would have to let go of her hand at some point. I could never let her get involved in this. So…

――Please help me, Kane.

“Daddyyyy!”

At that moment, the necklace glowed.

If you like my translations, please support me on Ko-Fi and subscribe my Patreon to read several chapters ahead!