Editing Kami-sama no Inai Nichiyoubi:Volume7 Chapter2 (section)

===Part II===
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Last night, Shaun appeared shown up at the meeting for the dumb reason that he could not hold back his laughter. That was not the only reason however. His actual motive was to ‘help bury Madame’.

Ai was curious about that.

"Why would you want to bury Miss Madame?"

Three hours after Dee's briefing, the three of them were gathered in an abandoned building close to the area of iron bugs. It was already late afternoon.

Ai asked Shaun, who was sitting next to her, as they waited for the moment to spring into action. His appearance was as grubby as the previous day, but he looked a little refreshed, perhaps because he was sober.

"I guess even I have an enlightened side to me. I can’t take it seeing that law-loving old hag end up ‘selfish’ and causing trouble for everyone, so I thought I should send her off permanently.

"I see…"

"Do you understand?"

"Yeah…I feel that you have the same smell as Mr. Alice."

"Oi."

"Hmm? Hmm? Hmm? What's that about? What do you mean?"

"What you said isn’t a lie, but it's not true either."

"Oopsie, young Alice is so adorable yet despicable. But you know what, little Ai? It doesn't matter if what I’m saying is true or not, right? That retired Ghost next to you feels this is fine too."

"That's true, but…"

Since Dee gave the go ahead, it did seem Shaun was not lying. Or perhaps he was lying, and Dee felt his lie was beneficial.

"Since you two are going to be pawns, just play along—oh, it’s starting. Right on time."

Suddenly, Shaun's eyes peered out from the rubble, his gaze grim.

At the two o’clocks and ten o’clocks directions, the smoking iron bugs reacted immediately and swarmed over by flanking.

"Good good, keep them close. Look over there, both of you. Those are the old hag’s hands."

"Her hands?"

"That's right, she's still based on human anatomy even though she's that big. That's why, Ai, we can only scratch two itchy spots of hers."

He said and stood up proudly.

"She’s not going to notice right now, so let’s climb up her ‘back’."

The sober Shaun hopped up with startlingly quick pace, and Ai looked over at Alice.

"Do you know what that means?"

"No."

"What are you two doing? Hurry up!"

Shaun, who was already standing at the border, called out towards them. Alice shrugged and started running.

However, Ai only stood up and did not try to move.

"Hurry up, little Ai!"

"Mr. Shaun. You seem to have misunderstood something. I’ll say this first."

"W-What? Hurry up."

"We're not pawns."

"Just for that reason!?—Fine, I get that!"

"So, as your equal, I'm going to ask you for two conditions."

"Fi-fine. I'll tell you where all the treasure we've confiscated so far is, and I'll tell you anything you want to know about the bad guys..."

"First of all, please stop drinking."

"Huh? I'm not doing that no—"

"Secondly, please stop calling Miss Madame 'old hag'."

Shaun fell silent.

"I don't know what your relationship is with Miss Madame, and I won't force you to say. Just please stop calling people names in front of me."

"……Yes."

Shaun replied quite obediently.

"Got it, I'll stop drinking…and I won't call her old hag…"

Shaun sounded as though he was defeated and finished off, and revealed the desperation he had been hiding.

"So, please…put the old hag—my stepmother to rest…"

Ai nodded her head and gently rubbed the shovel back.

It was her turn to be tested.

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"…It will burn up soon. It’ll be weird otherwise…"

The border between the town and iron bugs divided the area tightly. Alice stood there, waiting for the flames to pass by as he said so. According to his prediction, the flames should have died down by now and Madame should have begun to recover. But the flames had not lost their initial momentum and were still burning the iron bugs, expanding and contracting like an amoeba.

The townspeople seemed to think this was a fortuitous event, but Alice had a different opinion.

"Let's go…"

As if they had been waiting for the train to pass the crossing, the three of them stepped past the flames and into the realm of iron bugs.

<i>“…….”</i>

They were speechless.

The town had been reduced to ashes. The streets that had once existed, albeit in ruins, were gone, and the places they remembered only remained in their memories.

Alice was devastated. Surely the shock he felt was many times more than Ai. It was out of necessity, but he had burned down his birthplace.

"This is awesome…young Alice, you're not half bad."

Ai glared at Shaun to shut him up, and silently reached her hand to pat Alice’s back. The latter recovered and took a step forward, "I’m fine." as if to say so.

"Let's go up a little further."

Alice said, already sweating.

"Are you okay? If we get surrounded by the flames…"

"No need to worry. That fire’s not going to burn anything but the iron bugs. That's how I threw it."

"…I remember that’s the case."

"But I should say this first, that’s if the flames aren’t altered…"

"What~ever~, let’s hurry now. I’m dying from heatstroke."

The trio walked in silence. The heat was overbearing, and the soles of their shoes were already warm. The only thing moving were the flames flickering in the distance. The streets had all burned away, leaving behind the stone, and it appeared to be a completely unfamiliar town.

"Huh?"

That was why they did not do it right away.

It did not 'appear’ to be an unfamiliar town.

"…Don’t you feel something’s amiss?"

Alice noticed too.

The streets around here were not devastated by the flames, and had not suffered a decade of wind erosion., their appearances remaining the same. The stores eaves and the grocery store boxes were covered with ashes, but they still retain their shape.

No, that was not it.

They were not covered with ashes.

They were made of ashes.

"What is this …?"

Everyone noticed the anomaly.

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This was not Ostia.

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[[Image:Kamisama v07 Illustration 07.jpg|thumb]]

"What’s going on…?"

The ashes, the remnants of iron bugs, were moving like amoebas, moving so slowly that it was noticeable, awkwardly mimicking the buildings and cobblestones, badly.

On a closer look, they found themselves in the middle of a beautiful downtown area with a historical vibe.

"… Where are we?"

Alice called out confusion. The cobblestones in Ostia were not laid out in straight lines like this, and the roofs and bay windows were elegantly decorated in a different style.

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"Almheim…"

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Shaun said.

"Where is that?"

The sober young man murmured with a look of impaired judgment.

"It's the city of my stepmother, our city…"

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The silhouette of the city of ashes intensified as they climbed the hill.

<i>There’s a place I want to go to first, </i>the other two obliged, and they moved through the city of ash. Shaun took the shortest route to his destination without once getting lost. The ash density increased with each step, and eventually even the people began to reappear.

They arrived at what appeared to be an eccentric hut.

"…What do you want to do here?"

It was no pleasant place by any stretch of the imagination. The men of ash were all armed with weapons, and the women were leaning against the walls of the alley dressed like poisonous flowers. The bulges lying in the darkness were clearly corpses.

They were all made of ashes and the past, and they were powerless to do anything about it, but Ai still felt forlorn

"Come with me…."

Without answering directly, Shaun entered one of the huts. He plowed through the disguised hut out front and kicked in the tightly sealed door. The gray man who seemed to be guarding the place did not interfere at all. They felt as though they were invisible.

On the other side of the door, there were several children squashed in like objects.

"…Stepmother's "

Shaun collapsed to his knees in front of one of them, a girl who had a blind right eye and a missing left leg.

There was no explanation.

Time merely flowed.

"What’s going on…?"

Ai asked. Shaun paused for a moment, then blurted out.

"…Do you understand that this is a recreation of the past?"

Ai nodded.

"This is the first place my stepmother recorded…as per the investigation."

"Investigated…so you don't know about this place yourself?"

"Of course not. It was at least seventy years before I was born…"

"Then what are you…?"

"Shh."

Shaun held up his index finger.

"I'm sure…that’s going to be shown soon."

At that moment, a chubby man entered the room from behind the trio.

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"Who bought these useless things?"

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The ashes finally began to reproduce even the sound.

"The right eye and leg are crushed. I can't help it."

The man appraised the girl with the eyes of a professional inspecting a product and paid no attention to the rest.

The girl, whose mortality had been decided, was, however, not not in despair, for she did not know what hope was.

"Hey, dump this one."

Ai wanted to kick aside the man before her, but she could not save the girl before her, for this incident happened a long time ago.

But then, a miracle happened.

"Police! Don't resist!"

Men with guns rushed into the small tattered house. They pinned the man to the ground and rescued the trapped children one by one.

"Eh? Eh? Eh?"

"Time to go…"

Shaun urged Ai, who could not keep up with the change of situation, and followed the children who were led out. The time and space in the city changed accordingly, and the scene shifted to that of a hospital.

The girl sneezed a little as she was doused with many inoculations, disinfectants and lice repellents.

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"I feel like a princess."

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The girl said, and the staff gave a wry smile.

"Do you?"

"Yes, are you prince charming?"

"I'm not suited to be prince charming."

"…Then who saved me?"

The girl asked.

The staff member hesitated.

"I don't know. I'm not pious enough to say that god saved you, but to say that it’s the mayor who wanted to rezone the city so that money goes to his family business is…"

"…You cannot answer?"

"Ah, no, let’s see …"

The staff pondered, and finally answered,

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It was the law that helped you."

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"The…law."

"Yes, the Special Child Protection Law. And you see, the law gave you this too."

With that, the officer gave her a prosthetic eye and leg.

The girl put on the prosthesis with trepidation.

<i>"Law…."</i>

Ever since that day, the word was her god.

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The memory of the city was rather flimsy, the time and places were not exactly recreated with accuracy.

The three of them continued to walk alongside the girl's life. The girl went from the orphanage to school. She apparently got good grades and later became a qualified lawyer specializing in child welfare.

She got married late in life. Her partner was that staff member. Perhaps because of the scars from her childhood, she was not blessed with children, but the days that followed passed peacefully.

The girl had reached an age where she could be called old. At that moment, she had retired as a lawyer and settled into the position of director of the orphanage where she had been taken in.

"She looks…happy…"

There were children playing in the courtyard of the stone building, and an old woman rocked in a rocking chair, watching with sleepy eyes. The orphanage, made of ashes, looked like a scene from a black and white photograph.

"……Mr. Shaun?"

Ai glanced at Shaun, who had not responded halfway through the recreation of the story.

"…What do we do, Mr Alice…Mr Alice?"

She looked at the similarly hapless Alice, and saw him looking around, acting strange and alert.

"What's wrong?"

Finally, he noticed that Ai was calling him.

"Ah, no, it's nothing…"

"You're lying."

"Wh-What’s that about?"

"I told you, didn’t I? I’m not going to let such things slide. When you say ‘there’s nothing’, that means there’s something. Now, tell me everything."

"Ugh, you’ve become quite the troublesome one…I’ll correct what I said about the nothing part, but I still don't know what's going on either. I just have this really bad feeling…"

Alice was looking around with the eyes of a herbivore who had scented upon a beast.

"What’s with this strange feeling…?"

At that moment, it began to snow.

It was ashy snow that was about to turn into root snow.

"…What do we do now? Miss Madame is like this and Mr Shaun is like that."

"Winter's here before we know it."

"Hachoo! Uu, it certainly does feel colder."

The area was quickly covered with snow, and the city was personally decorated by the people.

It was formed from ash.

The city was abuzz. The streets were decorated with ribbons, and wreaths celebrating the birth of the saints were hammered on the windows and doors.

"…Eh…"

It was then, for the first time in a long time, that Shaun reacted.

"…No way …."

He looked at the snowflakes and murmured in a daze.

"Mr Shaun?"

He did not have a drop of alcohol till this point, but his body was shaking.

"Is this …that day?"

"Mr. Shaun! Please calm down! What's wrong?"

The unhealthily thin body trembled, and he stood up and grabbed his face.

"No way…stop it…STOP!"

Amidst the streets brimming with happiness, Shaun was the only one who seemed to be scorned as he was stained with despair. He grabbed his face with both hands and stared at the ashes of his past, unable to even look away.

And then,

The city was engulfed in flames.

With a swoosh, the flames that had been burning elsewhere came to burn the city. Ash buildings were burning down. The people of ash were being struck down in a flurry.

The old girl threw herself down to protect her children from the flames.

"STOP———!!"

Shaun shouted.

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<i>"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"</i>

The city was on fire. The people were on fire. The orphanage was on fire.

The children were on fire.

Everything that the girl had built was on fire.

<i>"Aaah, aaah, aaah!"</i>

The girl was crying out as she held the corpses of the orphans.

<i>"Why! What have we done? What law did we break!?"</i>

The girl did not doubt the law even as her body burned.

What she should have doubted was the reality.

<i>"Why…does nobody follow the law? Why does this world not obey the beautiful law? The law has always protected the world and people, but why does the world and people not protect the law… Why … why …?"</i>

The girl kept asking until the very end, turning to charcoal.

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<i>"Mom! Mom! Stop! Stop it!"</i>

"Please calm down! It's in the past! We can't save her now!"

Shaun knew this very well, but the moment he saw those flames before him, he lost his mind.

"Mr. Alice! Please help me!"

"This is bad…"

Alice, however, was frozen in shock.

Strangely, the flames destroying the city did not approach them. The Buzzer Beater was indeed still at work.

But the change had definitely begun.

"Stepmother…"

Soon after, the flames burned out and Shaun collapsed on the spot.

Ai stood there with no words to say. The only thing she could do was pat him on the back.

"I couldn't…save her ."

"It's not your fault. That was a long time ago, and the flames belonged to Mr. Alice…"

"No! That's not true!"

But to Shaun, it sounded completely different.

"Everything! It's all my fault! I was the one who burned it all down!"

"What do you mean...?"

Ai was about to ask.

But at that moment, the city began to revive again.

The buildings, streets, and people began to regenerate in much the same way as before.

But in the same manner…

"I think I know why the flames aren't burning out…"

Alice stifled a shuddering voice.

"This place was built to be burned. The flames aren’t an enemy to the ashes anymore, they're just part of the predetermined scenes."

Alice's power was transforming Madame's iron bugs, and Madame's iron bugs were transforming Alice's flames.

"My flames were consumed by her…."

At this moment, the city of ashes was still shaking in the slumber of the past.

But no one knew what would happen when she woke up.

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"Ugggh!"

"Ah, Mr Shaun!"

In a split second, Shaun ran out of the orphanage and towards the top of the hill.

The ashes around Shaun warped strangely, forming a screen around him, trapping him in the middle of it.

It was another scene.

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Room 203, it said.

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"Stop—!"

Shaun noticed the scene immediately and basically leaped over to attack. The scene was centered around him however, and he was basically chasing a dangling carrot before him. The further the horse moved, the further the carrot.

The boy was left alone in the apartment, staring at his parents outside.

Ai had the urge to look away. This was definitely Shaun's memory.

The ashes that recreated the past had changed further, dragged along by Shaun's memory. A closer look would show a mountain scenery beneath Ai's feet, and the little streets of Ostia started reappearing around Alice on a smaller scale.

<i> </i>

<i>"We promise we’ll be back in a month."</i>

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With that, the boy's parents left, closing the door behind them.

"Stop! Please don’t!"

The boy waited. He marked the date on his calendar and waited. It was also the birthday of an old saint, and there was a big mark on the calendar to congratulate him.

He marked each date on the calendar with an X and waited. There was nothing much left in the house to eat, and he spent days drinking water. His hunger was satiated by sleeping. He spent most of the month in bed.

And so a month passed.

The city beyond the window was covered in white snow and in a festive mood, as if the whole world was celebrating him.

The boy stared at it with his dying, dry eyes.

The boy waited. He waited for that one day, just as he had waited for a month.

And the day simply ended without a hitch.

At midnight, staring out the window at the never-ending festivities, the boy was finally convinced.

He was abandoned.

The glass in front of him reflected the events of a different world. The world was full of light, and it was a place separated from the boy.

<i>… I wish they'd all burn.</i>

No words could be spoken. No tears came out. He did have the energy to do that anymore. The boy was only looking forward to the end of the world.

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On that day, Almheim disappeared.

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And the past and the present began to blend together.

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"Mom!"

Shaun shouted as he climbed the hill.

"Mom! You’re there, right!? Come out!"

His voice sounded like the cries of a young child.

"P-please calm down, Mr. Shaun! We’re stopping this mission! Wait!"

The wall of illusion finally disappeared, and Ai pulled Shaun along, but the unyielding ground of ash caused their feet to slip, and the light bodies fell forward.

Shaun and Dee's plan was for a small, elite force to enter the heart of Madame, for Shaun to summon the main body of Madame, and Ai to bury it.

<i>"How are you going to call her?"</i> Ai asked, but Shaun was unwilling to say anything more, "What, I’m her son. She’ll definitely show up.".

But maybe.

Perhaps he was serious about it.

At the very least, that was what he really thought.

"Mom!"

Atop of the hill, there was not even a shred of school left, and Madame's huge body was gone. The only thing that remained was the burned out image of an unfamiliar city and the black surface that continued to float as if nothing had happened.

"Mom!"

Shaun shouted to the point his voice was hoarse.

"Mr. Shaun!"

"Don't do this, Ai…."

Alice tapped Ai on the shoulder to stop him. He had no intention to stop Shaun in the first place.

"Let him…"

"But..."

"Please."

He appeared to be somewhat empathizing with Shaun’s mental state.

"Mom…please…come back…just like that time…look for me... "

Finally, Shaun ran out of steam and clutched the ashes, which were still hot from the waist down.

Neither Ai nor Alice could say anything. They had no idea of the fate and past between him and Madame. They kept quiet at least so as not to interfere.

"Mom…"

The same tears that fell fourteen years ago fell on the ashes.

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<i>"…Is there…someone?"</i>

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The voice echoed.

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The girl who had turned into charcoal woke up the next morning.

She widened her eyes, trying to stand up, but collapsed as she did so. She was burned all over, and everything was useless aside from her right glass eye and prosthetic left leg. The girl had no choice but to supplant herself with items that had fallen next to her, using them as limbs. Her condition instantly improved.

The girl began to walk. She wandered in search of something. She felt that she had forgotten many things, she knew that she was looking for something.

However, she did not know what she was looking for.

Still, the girl kept walking.

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"Is there nobody…?<i>"</i>

The boy mumbled in tears. He never thought this would have happened. He never thought that he would end up ostracized by <b>everyone</b>.

"Is there nobody…?"

She mumbled. Her heart was filled with frustration, and she could not find a child no matter where she looked.

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"Is there…anyone…?"

And then they met.

It was a morning, everything was shining, engulfed in light, whether it was the fresh white snow or the black of the purple charcoal.

In the midst of it all, the old woman made of junk met the lonely boy.

"Oh, I found you…"

The old woman showed a smile that was formed out of piggy banks, and reached out the hand that was made of railway moulds.

"It is all right now. Mother is here…"

The boy was not afraid of this monstrous old woman.

It was what he had always wanted.

He grabbed the old woman's hand and stood up.

"Let us go…Shaun."

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From that day on, the boy became Shaun Sullivan.

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It was not until much later that he learned that the name was for an imaginary child, named by an old woman who was unable to conceive.

[[Image:Kamisama v07 Illustration 08.jpg|thumb]]

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"Stepmother…"

A miracle had occurred.

A monster that had gone insane was brought back to its senses by the call of a child.

Such a miracle,

"Is there… anyone …?"

At first, Madame appeared in the form of a child. But as time passed, she gradually became an old woman that was a collection of junk.

The old woman became a demon over three meters tall, with blades and weapons all over her.

"Mom…"

As he had done fourteen years ago, Shaun approached her without fear.

"Mom…it's me…"

But,

"…Who are you?"

Even if the monster had not changed, Shaun had.

"Y-You’re asking!? It’s me! Shaun!"

"No…you are not Shaun…"

The gears on her face twisted in displeasure.

"Shaun is a small child."

At that moment, the young man's large back froze.

"You are an adult now, no…?"

The old woman did not bother with the young man and swayed.

"Shaun…yes, he is gone…no, he is around, right? Hu-huh …."

Madame continued to sway in a daze.

"This is bad, Ai…."

Alice said, maintaining a posture to draw his gun at any moment.

"I'd say half of Madame's body is gathered here right now."

The mission was about to succeed.

"Half? You can tell?"

"I don't know. But according to Madame's ‘specifications’, the previous Madame that was about ten years old is basically 10% of the actual Madame. So that fifty year old lady over there is probably a higher percentage than that."

"……"

"Can you bury it?"

Ai faltered. That might be sufficient to end this issue. For safety consideration, she should destroy the core of the central command.

But

Despite that.

"… Sorry Mr. Alice, I don't want to bury that Miss Madame."

Madame was swaying about, searching for Shaun, not knowing he was before her.

"—It's weird, isn't it? I shouldn’t have any dreams anymore, and I know I should bury Miss Madame for the sake of this town."

Before she knew it, warm water was flowing into a place she thought was empty and parched.

"I see."

Alice did not press her any further.

"I understand. But what should we do then?"

"Let's snatch Mr Shaun and run."

"…Shaun?"

Did she react to the words?

Madame reacted to the words by looming at extraordinary speed.

"Hii!"

"Shaun…oh my, do you two know Shaun?"

"N-Not at all…"

"Oh my, then you…"

Madame pointed at Ai with her chopper finger.

"Are you not Shaun?"

"Eh? Ehhhh!?"

"You look tiny…and soft…yes, very Shaun-like."

"I-I am not that small…I'm 13 years old."

"Oh dear, then you are probably not Shaun…where is Shaun then?"

<i>Where? Where? </i>Madame swayed her head about, murmuring to herself.

<i>…This could be a serious problem. </i>Ai looked up at Alice while cold sweat trickled down her, and found that he had the same look.

"…Let’s get out of here ASAP. Ai, lend me that shovel."

"? What are you doing?"

"Don't worry—I'm not going to do anything dangerous, so don't worry. Grab Shaun and come back. I'll take care of the rest."

"Understood…."

They whispered to each other and began to act.

"Where is…Shaun. Shaun, Shaun, Shaun……"

Madame shook her head as though she was trying to stay awake. Ai tiptoed past her at a brisk pace, and Alice was furiously digging in the ground.

"Shaun, Shaun, Shaun…"

Madame shook her head wildly, looked around, towards the hilltop to the east, the wilderness to the south, the cloudy sky to the north, the lake in the south.

And finally, she looked down at the town below.

"…Where is my baby?"

Madame merely murmured.

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