1. The First Letter (19)
Helplessness is a miserable feeling.
Seria had been acutely aware of that fact since childhood. It’s been this way since she was six years old, when her mother was expelled from the lord’s castle for being lowly.
It was the Yurdina family who valued noble lineage. There was no way a little child who was only six years old could do anything. Besides, isn’t she also born in heaven?
Mother crying, father standing with a grim expression. And even her half-sister, who was watching her indifferently.
All her memories always started from that point. It was a nightmare nailed to her life like a curse. From that day on, Seria was determined never to be helpless again.
I thought that only then would I be able to overcome the memory of that day.
Her father’s eyes, which were cold like frost at dawn, and her stepsister’s eyes, which looked down on her pitifully, were still following her like a painting.
Remembering that time, Seria was breathless. Every time she had a nightmare, she opened her eyes as if suffocating.
So I swung my sword like crazy. Still, she couldn’t beat her half-sister. Her life was a history of defeat.
Yurdina’s sun, her older sister, had to win by any means, and the target of comparison was always her, who was born in heaven.
There was no chance now. If her stepsister went out into the world, Seria would never be able to stand on the same level with her again. In the world, the difference between ancestry and birth was so extreme.
so i was in a hurry In order not to feel helpless, I did not want to recreate the misery of that day, so I trained to the point of overdoing it.
But, is this the result?
Seria gasped for breath. I was barely able to take a step, but my ankles were sore that I couldn’t move properly. The heat she felt from the sprain had long ago consumed her sense of pain like a fireball.
A cold sweat broke out. However, Seria gritted her teeth and moved on. Sometimes her sword became her staff.
That sword, the path of kendo he had devoted his whole life to was powerless.
A man was supposed to be fighting in her place. I didn’t know if there were several or more than 10 even if I could only feel the presence.
No matter how low-level monsters it was, dealing with 10 monsters alone was a daunting task. What if it wasn’t a low-level witch?
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Just imagining that what-if possibility, Seria’s heart swelled with guilt.
Staggering, she tripped over a tree root and fell. Dirt and grass were smeared on her body.
I felt like crying. From that day on, I swore I would never cry.
So far, no one has been with her. From birth until now, all the way.
Since her mother, who was on her side, had already been taken away, the family did not even tell her whereabouts as if to erase even traces of her from her life.
I grew up with contempt. Even after being recognized for her sword talent, she didn’t have anyone by her side.
Because I couldn’t believe it. Everyone in the family enjoyed watching her, harassing her, or secretly slandering her. Then, from one day, humans bowed their heads and treated her as if they were their masters.
It was boring. So she couldn’t build relationships.
At least it was until recently. Now, for the first time, I have someone I can call a ‘friend’.
‘Originally, friends don’t talk like that.’
Ian-senpai, who said that, seemed sincere.
How could that be?
Seria knew. In his first sparring with Ian, he showed terrifying skills, but not after that.
It has a sharp side to be in the middle and lower ranks, but it is still lacking in basic skills and mana to climb to the upper ranks.
The human named ‘Ian Percus’ whom Seria observed while they were together for a few days was definitely like that. And I wasn’t the type to be reckless by overconfident in my skills.
But on the road to death, he stepped in for her. It was completely incomprehensible to her.
Isn’t it her responsibility? So it was her responsibility. Even if she died, he had to live.
However, Ian broke down these clear propositions at once. So Seria couldn’t understand Ian, but she had a vague feeling.
Thinking that a ‘friend’ might be such a relationship, Seria thought so and stood up as if crawling on the floor.
There was Seria who didn’t want senior Ian to die.
To do so, Seria was here, thinking that it would be nice to have a splintered ankle, and that she had to inform Professor Derek somehow.
So she got herself up, scratching, crawling, and staggering.
How much time had passed, a presence was felt in front of her. My mind was clouded by running and rolling with all my might.
Maybe that’s why, it was the opponent who sensed the presence first. There were whispers, and soon three people appeared in front of her.
Professor Derek with a bumpy body, and the dark-haired girl flirting beside him. Come to think of it, he looked like senior Ian’s friend.
I couldn’t remember the name. Another sophomore who seems to have teamed up with her.
Seria said, slicing away Professor Derek’s hand as he approached her in surprise.
“Masu… … .”
Professor Derek’s puzzled gaze turned to her. So did the other two.
However, it didn’t take long for the three to freeze.
“The Witchbeast attacked… Senior Ian is in danger… … .”
While panting, Seria looked at Professor Derek with earnest longing. Professor Derek said nothing and turned his gaze to the direction Seria had been running.
And left a word.
“… … Good job.”
At the same time, Professor Derek walked away without even leaving an afterimage. A girl with black hair followed after him. The girl who was left alone, stomped her feet, turned her back and ran somewhere.
And soon, in the direction she ran, the sound of current students buzzing was heard. They each grabbed their weapons and started running out somewhere. It seemed like he was trying to join in.
Please stay alive.
As Seria prayed like that, she let out a rough breath.
My head was dizzy because my brain wasn’t getting enough oxygen. So she didn’t know.
That it was the first prayer in her life for someone else.
The lonely girl was allowing someone to be by her side before she knew it.
**
The two wolves zigzag and attacked. It seemed to be the result of a combination of their own. Because there was no twisting of each other’s strides.
My eyesight was blurry. But in the end, the moment when he ran into me was set.
At the end of the last moment, the moment when the wolves stop for a moment to gain momentum like a cannonball.
He held his breath and closed his eyes.
I had to find a ‘sense’. They were just demons. They must have been more immature at hiding their muscles and intentions than humans. Even more, the senses of the whole body were more sensitive than ever.
Come, at that moment, a virtual trajectory was drawn in front of my eyes.
It was the realm of intuition. I immediately twisted my body and squeezed the tiny gap between the tracks. The moment when time stopped, the sword swung and spun. My hand gripped the sword in reverse.
Two gray-colored shells glided past me with a sharp sound that pierced the air. The huge body shot at high speed had terrifying physical power. If he hadn’t avoided it, he would have been seriously injured.
I lowered the sword I had prepared in advance. The sword was stuck vertically into the wolf’s back, which flew away without being able to overcome its momentum.
The sword imbued with magical power ripped through the muscles and hummed and cried. Originally, my aura shouldn’t have been this deep, but as time passed, the magical power overlaid on my sword was increasing in saturation.
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Joo Woo-wook said, avoiding the spine, the blade slanted into the back plate spontaneously tore the wolf’s body apart.
It was a fatal blow. The wolf screamed as it poured blood in the same posture as it threw itself.
It was then. The fact that another wolf that avoided my blade attacked me again.
I immediately drew my sword and cut it horizontally. My sword got stuck in the open mouth of the wolf. An angle that could split the neck, avoiding the narrowly protruding molars.
However, perhaps because the fatigue accumulated in the muscles was too severe, the strength in the grip loosened and the sword could not advance beyond that.
Kwadeuk, the wolf forcibly chewed his sword to save his life. Its ferocity was terrifying. I couldn’t pull out the sword right away.
It was then that the wolf, whose back had been torn, made a last-ditch effort. Squeezing out the last of his strength, the wolf opened its huge mouth and tried to bite me.
The sword was not drawn, and it was too late to avoid it.
The moment of despair when the brain, while searching for a quick escape, burns all white.
My hand naturally groped my waist. An unfamiliar feeling caught there.
It was a hatchet. A sidearm that has been hanging from my belt for some time.
My arm spontaneously pulled out the hatchet. As it was a weapon much shorter than a sword, its speed was incomparably faster.
Then, the ax that was raised up was cut down as it was.
With a squeak, the hatchet cut down the wolf’s snout, which was opening its mouth. The mouth closed in an instant, and the wolf’s head sank to the ground.
The desperate struggle of one life ended like that.
The wolf, who was fixing my sword with his chin, tried to get away from me with a bewildered slash. Those black eyes that did not reflect even the slightest light were wet with fear.
That was the last emotion the wolf felt. The hatchet struck the wolf’s skull like lightning.
bang, bang, bang. Pieces of meat and bones flew in all directions with the sound of axes being struck one after another.
The brain was bursting out, and the hunt was over only after the blood soaked the axe.
The two wolves are no more, only two corpses remain.
It was so hard that I felt like dying. I barely resisted the urge to sit down. There was still one trace left.
However, the sign was uniquely peculiar.
There was no movement. After approaching to a certain extent, he calmly remained at the spot. That made me even more suspicious.
Are you digging a trap and waiting? Or, I didn’t even know if I was waiting until I was exhausted. A clever hunter would do just that.
wolves and humans. It was now impossible to tell who was the hunter and who was the prey. I took a short break with my back leaning against a nearby tree, catching my breath.
Still the last wolf did not move. Rather, he even went round and round around the place where he was staying leisurely. As if to come.
At the bastard subject, I was dumbfounded and laughed.
But you didn’t have to fight as you wished. I was tired, and he was brisk. Besides, if you see that they are asking you to come to that place, there must be some ulterior motive.
There was no reason to respond to that childish provocation. After all, he was destined to either roll up his tail and run away when Professor Derek arrived, or become one of the corpses in this clearing.
But when the faint smell of medicine brushed my nose.
I paused. It was a smell I had never smelled before. Few scents were so strong and long lasting.
Even in the middle of this terrible bloody smell, it was a particularly noticeable smell. My body awoke as if possessed.
Then, I walked to the clearing where he was waiting. This smell was definitely the smell from the workshop.
In the alchemist’s workshop, only the students who spend the day smelled like this.
My steps stopped abruptly when I noticed a huge wolf standing in the middle of the clearing.
The size of the wolves he had dealt with so far was formidable, but he was even bigger than that. Even the height alone seemed to exceed 2m. It’s a size that you can barely meet the eyes of by looking up.
The midday forest was silent. The beating sunlight penetrated the leaves and illuminated the large body. In front of that terrifying monster, I looked like a mere dwarf.
But it wasn’t because I was overwhelmed by its size that I was speechless.
The small piece of cloth that the wolf is biting.
The bloodstained cloth was a piece of clothing Emma was wearing that day.
He laughed at the piece of cloth and spat it out. Then, with a smirk, he looked around as if showing off.
There were all sorts of animals lined up there. If there is something unusual, is it that everyone is spilling their intestines because their stomachs are being ground?
It wasn’t because I was hungry. just to have fun.
A witch is such a being. Beings infested with endless malice towards outside life.
I giggled and burst into laughter. The sound of that small laugh soon reverberated through the forest.
Whoa, hahaha, whoa, whoa.
He seemed to burst out with every kind of laugh he could. That smile barely faded after a long time had passed.
The feeling that the brain is ripening with heat. My heart was beating, and my brain was beating along with my heart. It made my head hurt.
Even then, he waited patiently for me. On the contrary, it was an expression of anticipation.
So, I willingly agreed to do as he wished.
Chin, and the sword was directed at him. A growl came from scratching my neck.
“hey.”
A smirk, the corner of his mouth drew an arc. As if you knew that.
“You are in my hands today.”
certainly.
Only then did the wolf take a leisurely step and glanced at me as if observing me.
The eyes of a hunter aiming for prey, but today’s prey will be a gnome.
My eyes sank into a faint light.