21st Century Necromancer

Every person has their own good nature, even those who seem utterly vicious; deep within their hearts, there must be a place of kindness.

Kindness does not need a reason; it may simply be an instinctive compassion, or the help offered on impulse. To extend help to those in need out of sympathy, and to reach out to those in distress, such sentiment is undoubtedly a very precious quality.

However, the giving of kindness must not be without restraint, or else it will lead the helped to assume that your kindness should be taken for granted.

True kindness should be about assisting those who genuinely need help, yet even then, it must be measured. Helping others is not about limitless giving; it should be about stopping in time, once they are out of trouble, to avoid making them feel as if your help is cheap and expected.

Chen Yu's help for Xiao Sanmao was born from his compassion and empathy for the girl, but this did not mean that he was obligated to fulfill her last wishes in life.

To provide a proper burial for her, and then to fulfill her last wish, what if after fulfilling it, she still felt regrets about life and wanted to resurrect? And what if, after resurrection, she found her previous life too difficult and wanted a better life?

Despite Xiao Sanmao's sacrificial nature demonstrated before her death, Chen Yu believed she was not the type to make such unreasonable demands, but he still needed to consider the possibility of such a situation arising. The human heart is unpredictable and fragile, unable to withstand any testing or probing.

Chen Yu's silence made Xiao Sanmao pause, but she quickly understood. Indeed, he was a stranger to her; him willing to ensure her proper burial was already a great kindness. Why should he help her fulfill her last wish as well?

"I'm sorry, that was presumptuous of me." In Japan's culture, there has always been a tradition of not troubling others, so after realizing her mistake, Xiao Sanmao quickly apologized to Chen Yu.

"It's nothing; you don't need to apologize." Chen Yu didn't mind, and instead explained to her, "Death is final; once you've died, you should not disturb the living. There is a boundary between the living and the dead that neither side should cross, so I can't do this for you."

Chen Yu's words left Xiao Sanmao silent. She knew well that there was a difference between life and death. But if letting go were so simple, what then would be called an obsession?

"Is there really no way? I really want to see the White Night; I really want to see it with Hana-chan! We promised to go together as soon as we left that place, to go see the White Night together after leaving there!" The emotions emanating from Xiao Sanmao's soul were filled with unwillingness and yearning, a strong obsession that even moved Chen Yu.

But even so, Chen Yu did not agree to Xiao Sanmao out of pity; he simply asked for her name and some information about her life so that he could ensure her grave was properly marked when laying her to rest.

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Since there was a cemetery right by his house, Chen Yu didn't go out of his way to find a separate resting place for Xiao Sanmao. He simply bought a plot for her in Kawakami Cemetery.

However, Kawakami Cemetery had been around for such a long time that all the good spots had been taken decades ago. In Japan, unlike in the Celestial Empire, they don't sell cemetery plots with seventy years of rights to use; so the spot Chen Yu prepared for Xiao Sanmao was just a corner of Kawakami Cemetery.

It wasn't known for its feng shui, but it wasn't a bad place either—at least she herself was quite satisfied with it.

It's common for the living to choose their own graves, but it's rare for the dead to pick their resting place—most people don't get this treatment or experience.

But just selecting the site didn't mean Xiao Sanmao could rest in peace right away. Not to mention she still had lingering attachments that had not been realized, even for burial you have to choose an auspicious date and time. Additionally, you had to wait for the cemetery to finish carving the gravestone, which, no matter how you look at it, takes some time.

Although Xiao Sanmao didn't mind being buried in the ground just like that, she still hoped that her final journey could seem proper. Having only one friend and two forensic scientists at her last body viewing was bleak enough; she didn't want her funeral to have not even a single person in attendance.

As for the timing of Xiao Sanmao's burial, Chen Yu didn't know too much about these matters. A Necromancer isn't a geomancer who talks about feng shui and auspicious times—no matter how ominous the location or time, even if a body were to rise from the grave immediately after being buried, to a Necromancer, it would just be another subject for research.

However, since it was tradition and Xiao Sanmao herself wished for a proper funeral, Chen Yu still respected her opinion. He not only contacted monks to chant sutras and help her soul transcend, arranged the burial time, but also specifically invited Misumi Mikoto and Kube Rokuro to attend the funeral and had Misumi Mikoto inform Xiao Sanmao's dear friend Hana-chan about it.

During the time the funeral was being prepared, Xiao Sanmao's ashes were still kept at Chen Yu's home. Meanwhile, her soul stayed within that Black Crystal, which was filled with Negative Energy, an excellent nourishment for souls; Xiao Sanmao didn't want to come out of it. To Chen Yu, it wasn't a big deal—it was just a Black Crystal, and he considered it an accompaniment for her burial.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

While arranging these matters, Chen Yu also finally learned Xiao Sanmao's real name—Saegusa Mikie, a very ordinary name, much like she was. But no matter how ordinary the name was, it was her given name, the first gift from her parents.

Chen Yu also asked Saegusa Mikie about her family: whether she wanted to inform her family or relatives about her death. But the answer Saegusa Mikie gave Chen Yu was disheartening.

Saegusa Mikie wasn't from Tokyo originally; her home had been in Fukushima Prefecture. Although her family wasn't wealthy, her parents weren't destitute either. Besides herself, she had a younger sister and also lived with her grandmother. Their life wasn't luxurious, but it was harmonious and happy.

At the time, Saegusa Mikie was still in high school, and her greatest ambition was to find a good job to contribute to the family finances and meet a good man who loved her, with whom she could build a happy family.

But everything was destroyed by the tsunami that followed the earthquake.

The house was gone, her parents were buried under the collapsed house never to emerge again; her sister was swept away by the tsunami and is still listed as missing; unable to withstand the shock, her grandmother contracted a disease from the tsunami and also departed from this world… Their complete family was shattered in an instant.

She still had an aunt who took her to Tokyo to take care of her, but a few years ago, the aunt also died in a car accident, leaving her alone, drifting and unsupported in Tokyo. This was also why she thought of dying—life was hard, so what harm would death do?

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