CH 25

“I’ll carry you to the knights’ dormitory,” Lulurun said.

“No, you don’t have to…” Rhynes said.

“Don’t be shy,” Lulurun said.

“No, but…” Rhynes said.

Lulurun smiles as if she’s ignoring Rhynes, Lulurun wonders if it’s alright to spoil her a bit.

“Is it… really okay?” Rhynes asked.

“Just leave it to me,” Lulurun said.

Then, Lulurun walked with Rhynes on her back.

“Ah……” Lulurun said.

“What is it?” Rhynes asked. “Do you want to say I’m heavy?”

“No, I think you’re pretty light,” Lulurun said.

“Are you complimenting me?” Rhynes asked.

“I thought you’d be heavier,” Lulurun said.

“That’s not a compliment,” Rhynes said.

“I am complimenting you,” Lulurun said.

With smiles on their faces, the two head home. They walk leisurely talking about nothing in particular, on this quiet night they act as if the fierce battle they’d fought had never happened.

“Hey, Rhynes?” Lulurun asked.

“Yeah?” Rhynes asked drowsily.

“Sorry, were you asleep?” Lulurun asked.

“No, I was not,” Rhynes said.

“You’re not pushing yourself?” Lulurun asked.

“I’m not,” Rhynes said.

She tried to compensate in a hurry but it was obvious she had fallen asleep.

“I have something to ask you,” Lulurun said.

“What’s the matter?” Rhynes asked.

“Ah, why are you, or rather, the Knights of the Holy Empire trying to subdue the witches?” Lulurun asked.

“… I told you before, it’s because witches are a threat to this world,” Rhynes said.

The story is that the world may be destroyed on a whim by those four mighty witches, which Lulurun had heard from Reines earlier.

… But Lulurun has been a little wondering about the “purpose” of the witches in this world.

“What exactly are the witches trying to do?” Lulurun asked.

“What do you mean?” Rhynes asked.

“You know, do they want to rule the world, want to study the strongest magic, want to sacrifice the lives of the people of this world to get eternal life, that sort of thing?” Lulurun asked.

“I don’t know,” Rhynes said.

“You don’t know?” Lulurun asked.

“You asked me what their goals are, and I don’t know,” Rhynes said.

Lulurun expected it somehow, but it was still an unconvincing answer. Although the goals of the witches, the world’s common enemies, are unknown, the world’s people all believe that witches must be defeated.

They don’t know their goals… why do they need to subdue them? The cloudy mysteries become even more obscure.

Lulurun talks about the possibilities, albeit in terms of “maybes.”

“Then, why did you decide, ‘the witches must be subdued’?” Lulurun asked.

“That’s,” Rhynes started.

“You don’t even know what they’re up to and you’re saying you need to defeat them like it’s a reflex, I’m like, why?” Lulurun asked.

“It’s because… I have a reason for it,” Rhynes said.

“If that reason isn’t clear, I think we should consider having another dialog,” Lulurun said.

“Ah,” Rhynes started again.

“Maybe there are other witches who have a similar situation to me,” Lulurun said.

Rhynes suddenly grabs Lulurun’s shoulder as she speaks.

“Rhynes?” Lulurun asked.

“… My parents were killed by a witch,” Rhynes said.

Lulurun stops dead in her tracks.

The words from Rhynes’ mouth were short and simple enough for anyone to understand. The vague threat of witches suddenly became a clear reality in Lulurun’s mind.

“… I’m sorry, that was thoughtless of me,” Lulurun said.

“It’s alright,” Rhynes said.

“No, I was speaking from ignorance… sorry,” Lulurun said.

Lulurun looks down as she apologizes for her thoughtless words. Rhynes tells Lulurun not to look like that and speaks her mind:

“I want you to hear this, Keisuke…” Rhynes said.

“Mm,” Lulurun said.

“… No one knows the goals of the witches, because the four are not the same…” Rhynes said. “The witch who killed my parents suddenly appeared 15 years ago.”

“Suddenly?” Lulurun asked.

“She suddenly appeared and burned down four cities, I don’t know why, she suddenly appeared and set fire to all the buildings, humans, animals, everything was in flames. No one escaped, everything and everyone was swallowed up… I couldn’t understand what was going on and I was crying the entire time. I remember very little, the only vivid memories were the heat of the flames, the screams of those I knew, my parents burning to death right in front of me, and what the witch said to me after I was robbed of everything I had and was laying in despair:

“I curse you, your power will feed me.”

“I don’t know why the witch let me live, I don’t know what she means, or how she did it… I just know I survived because of her whims… I was powerless, I could only watch in horror, couldn’t help as my father and mother burned to death before my eyes, they were too hot to touch… I hated it, I wanted to die because I couldn’t stand my helplessness. So that’s why I wanted to become strong, to subdue the witches with these hands…”

Lulurun could not speak, only listen, her ideas and thoughts were of an outsider who didn’t know the circumstances.

“Keisuke?” Rhynes asked.

“… It was so frustrating, wasn’t it, that feeling?” Lulurun said, weeping so many tears at Rhynes baring her heart.

“Why are you crying, Keisuke?!” Rhynes yelled.

“Of course, I’d be crying!” Lulurun said. “You’re being an idiot, Rhynes!”

“Don’t call me an idiot!” Rhynes yelled.

“I’m sorry!” Lulurun yelled. “You’re not an idiot, I’m sorry.”

With her parents maliciously killed by a witch, right before her eyes, Lulurun was starting to understand Rhynes’ obsession with killing witches and her reaction the first time they met.

Rhynes’ strength was to avenge her parents.

The amount of effort she’d put into it was painfully obvious to Lulurun, after they’d crossed swords and fists. Rhynes willpower was far beyond Lulurun’s understanding, her tears wouldn’t stop, and she regretted and cursed how shallow she was.

Thinking about what the witches had done to this world, who they are to Rhynes, and what she has done because of them, Lulurun’s heart tightens terribly and is overflowing with emotions.

“Don’t cry, stupid,” Rhynes said.

“Don’t call me stupid!” Lulurun said.

“Sorry.”

“Sorry.”

“Sorry.”

Their voices overlapped, and their conversation under the starry sky faded with the wind.

T/N: Chapter 1 has been revised in the original raw. I will be changing the uploaded version here by Chapter 26’s upload.