Chapter 165. The Witch of the Night (6)

I was having an endless nightmare.

“Y-you! Why… Ugh!”

The start of the nightmare was always the same.

My father, collapsing while spilling blood.

My mother, looking down at him with cold eyes.

“Ah, I see. So this is how it ends.”

My mother licked the blood-stained hand and laughed.

“I… was a witch who couldn’t be helped.”

Her gaze turned to me.

“Lanes.”

Her gentle voice contrasted with her blood-soaked appearance.

“I’m sorry.”

She hugged me and sobbed.

“I’m sorry… for giving birth to you.”

Her embrace, filled with sorrowful cries, was chillingly cold.

* * *

I was admitted to the Reynaldo Hero School.

Somehow, rumors about me had spread.

Countless eyes were on me during the entrance ceremony.

“Is that her? The daughter of the Archbishop of Frost…”

“Why did they let the child of a Mine into the Hero School?”

“Shouldn’t we kill anyone with Mine blood, regardless of mixed heritage?”

The voices I heard were filled with hatred, contempt, and fear.

There was no place for me in the vast Hero School.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry.”

I apologized countless times.

But no one welcomed me.

Ah, I see.

It can’t be helped.

Because I’m the daughter of a Mine.

A terrible witch.

A being who should never have been born.

“I’m really… sorry.”

They weren’t bad.

They weren’t wrong.

I was the one who was wrong.

“Are you okay?”

Then, someone reached out to me.

Aaron Baek.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that the hand he extended was cold.

Behind his bright smile was hatred and anger directed at me.

It can’t be helped.

Because I’m the daughter of the enemy who killed his father.

Aaron wasn’t bad.

I was the one who was wrong.

Time passed, and I became a fourth-year student.

Even after four years, the way people looked at me hadn’t changed.

The world was still bitterly cold and piercingly chilly.

It can’t be helped.

The world isn’t wrong.

It’s because I was born as the daughter of a witch.

Because I have Mine blood running through me.

So.

“I’m… sorry.”

I was the one who had to apologize.

I was the one who had to seek forgiveness.

I was the one who was wrong.

I was the one who was wrong.

I was the one who was wrong.

* * *

“Why are you just standing there?”

A cold voice reached me.

A familiar voice.

Bella was glaring at me with cold eyes.

A familiar gaze.

I flinched and quickly bowed my head.

“…I’m sorry.”

“Huh?”

“I, I was wrong.”

“No, who wants to hear your apology? Go fight the monsters! You’re a Hero Candidate, aren’t you?”

“……”

I looked at the monster with trembling eyes.

A monster with a snake’s head and a human body.

Its seven gleaming eyes were fixed on me.

I’m scared.

Just looking at it made my legs shake.

Even though I had learned various combat magic over the past four years at school, standing in front of the monster made my mind go blank.

I wanted to turn around and run, but Bella was blocking my way.

“Haa, haa.”

I exhaled roughly and stretched out my hand.

I desperately focused my magic power and unleashed a spell.

Whoosh.

Ice fragments gathered in the air.

But only for a moment.

“Grrrrr!”

“Ahhh!”

As soon as I heard the fierce roar, my magic faltered, and the ice fragments I had created fell to the ground.

“Ha. What are you doing?”

“…S-sorry.”

“Do it properly. The juniors are watching.”

“……”

I turned my head to look at the ‘junior’ Bella mentioned.

A Candidate with dark gray hair and slightly fierce eyes.

I remembered the first time I met him.

‘He was… frowning at me.’

It was a familiar sight.

No one would smile at a witch with Mine blood running through her.

“Ugh…”

Suddenly.

An unbearable chill swept over me.

Clack, clack, clack.

My teeth chattered loudly.

‘…Why?’

This is a jungle where just breathing makes you sweat profusely.

Instead of the scorching heat, I felt an icy coldness.

‘I’m cold.’

I’m cold.

Like wandering naked in a snowstorm.

So cold.

‘Cold, cold, cold.’

My body shivered.

I tried to warm my hands by rubbing them together, but the biting cold didn’t subside at all.

“What are you doing now?”

Bella frowned fiercely as she saw me crouching and rubbing my hands.

“N-no. It’s… c-cold…”

“Cold? You’re cold?”

Bella let out a disbelieving laugh.

“…Ha. I can’t believe this.”

She strode over to me and kicked my stomach as if she were kicking a ball.

“Ugh!”

The sensation of my body lifting off the ground and the shock that shook me.

But more painful than the kick was the cold that felt like it would freeze me solid.

“Haa, haa, hoo.”

I blew on my trembling hands.

But the more I did, the colder it felt.

“This kid is really hopeless.”

Bella frowned, grabbed my collar, and threw me toward the lizard monster.

“Ahhh!”

Thud!

The sensation of the world spinning and the shock of my back hitting the hard ground shook my body.

“Grrrr!”

“Eek!”

I looked up and saw the monster with seven eyes glaring fiercely at me.

I crawled away from the monster, desperately looking around.

“Aaron, Aaron…”

What I saw when I turned my head was.

Aaron, standing with his arms crossed, looking down at me with cold eyes.

“…Ah.”

A low sigh escaped my lips.

I knew it.

Behind his kindness was cold hatred.

Even though I knew that, the reason I desperately called his name was laughably pathetic.

Even if his hand was cold.

He was the only one who had reached out to me.

“Ah, uh.”

I’m cold.

It was always like this.

The world was bitterly cold, and the nightmares never ended.

Transparent tears welled up in my eyes and streamed down my cheeks.

Save me.

I screamed silently in my heart.

Please, someone… save me.

Before my desperate plea could even finish.

“Grrrr.”

The monster slowly moved.

I saw its sharp claws and fiercely writhing tail.

“……”

I didn’t even think of running away from the approaching monster, just crouched down and hugged my knees.

Haa.

My breath mixed with white mist.

I know.

No matter how desperately I plead, no matter how hard I struggle.

No ‘hero’ will come to save me.

‘Just once… just once, please.’

Thinking about it, it’s only natural, isn’t it?

“I want… to be… warm.”

There’s no hero in this world who would save a witch.

“Shahhhh!”

The monster roared and charged at me.

The moment I closed my eyes tightly.

“Bloom.”

Fire.

Ignited.

Whooshhhh!

The fierce ash fire burned the monster’s body.

“…Huh?”

I slowly raised my head.

Dale Han.

The junior with dark gray hair and slightly fierce eyes was standing protectively in front of me.

* * *

“Hmm.”

The atmosphere was tense.

Aaron scratched his cheek with an awkward smile.

“Haha. Sorry. Bella’s prank went a bit too far.”

Aaron slowly walked over to where Lanes and I were.

“I’ll apologize on her behalf.”

“…Haa.”

I sighed deeply as I looked at Aaron standing in front of me.

Aaron is someone who will become one of the top five most powerful heroes in the near future.

Even if I don’t join his party, maintaining a good relationship with him will be a great help in the upcoming war against the Devil God’s army.

On the other hand, even if Lanes awakens the “Blessing of Frost,” she won’t be able to handle it properly and will likely be more of a liability than an asset.

One is a guaranteed winning lottery ticket.

The other is a bomb that could kill millions of humans.

It’s clear which side I should take.

Simple and straightforward.

So…

“It wasn’t with bad intentions, but out of a desire for Lanes to do well…”

Whack!

I slapped Aaron’s cheek roughly.

“Ugh!”

Perhaps he didn’t expect me to suddenly swing my fist.

Aaron fell backward, clutching his cheek.

“Hey! What are you…!”

“Bella. Stay still.”

Aaron shook his head at Bella, who was glaring at me with a fierce expression.

“Tsk.”

Aaron clicked his tongue lightly and got up.

As he stretched out his hand, the spear he had placed on the stump floated into the air and flew into his hand.

“Let me ask you one thing.”

Aaron stroked the spear shaft and turned his head toward me.

“Why are you protecting that witch?”

Aaron frowned as if he couldn’t understand.

“I quite liked you, Dale. You’re smart, quick-witted, and skilled. That’s why I suggested you join my party after graduation.”

Aaron continued.

“Even though my family’s situation isn’t great lately, we’re still the most powerful family in the Republic.”

I know.

“It’s a bit awkward for me to say this, but I’m quite confident in my abilities. After graduation, I’ll become a powerful hero who won’t be outmatched anywhere.”

I know.

“On the other hand, Lanes is a witch with Mine blood. And not just any Mine blood, but that of an ‘Archbishop’-level Mine. Even if there’s no problem now, who knows when she might turn into a monster like her mother.”

I know.

“But.”

Aaron looked at me with deep eyes.

“Why are you pointing your sword at me instead of that witch?”

“……”

Why am I siding with Lanes instead of Aaron?

Is that so hard to understand?

To the point of giving a long speech just to ask that?

“Well. I don’t know.”

“…What?”

“I said I don’t know. I don’t even know why I’m doing this.”

I shrugged and shook my head.

I know.

That my actions now aren’t very wise.

Call it cheap sympathy or a momentary whim.

But if I had to give a reason.

“I just felt like holding her hand.”

“……?”

Aaron frowned, unable to understand, as I turned to look at Lanes.

‘Just once… just once, please.’

I remember that day.

In the snowstorm, the witch who was dying with red tears reached out her hand to me.

‘I want… to be… warm.’

The hand I coldly pushed away that day.

The hand that had gone cold.

This time, I wanted to hold it.

“I don’t know what you’re trying to say.”

Aaron clicked his tongue and pointed his spear at me.

“Well, anyway. If you’re planning to keep protecting that witch, you’d better be prepared.”

Prepared.

I let out a small laugh and gripped my sword.

“Yeah, you’d better be prepared.”

Not me, but you.