Chapter 110
Chapter 110
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter Title: Ageratum, Flower of Immortality
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Yoon Na-rin, she was human too.
Obvious, but human blood is red, and hers was no exception.
-Thwack!
"Ack!?"
Blood splattered. It was Yoon Na-rin's blood—the one who pulled me out of the quagmire every time, who became my lantern whenever I wandered lost in the darkness.
The gushing blood looked an especially vivid red. My head spun, and my vision seemed to stain red in tandem.
Hallucinations echoed. Not Rena's voice. Not Father's, nor Rockbell's. Not any voice I'd ever heard before.
Voices of varying pitches chattered over each other. Unpleasant, as if machine-modulated, they burrowed into my eardrums.
Tragedy.
Someone cried the word aloud in cheer. It felt as if these events were tragedy for me, but unbearable comedy for them.
Gloomy, overcast weather. Sticky, muddy ground. Streets devoid of all life but me. Or rainy back alleys, building rooftops.
Tragedies were meant to unfold in such bleak, depressing places.
Yet the sun blazed down from this sky.
Noise, intent, strife, blooming crimson hydrangeas, a girl's vanished dream, rage, chaos, gunpowder reek, pitch-black malice, holes pierced through eye and chest, blood-soaked ash-gray dress, spiraling bullets, bloodstains.
All those things cluttered the space, each claiming tragedy, yet the sun stood resolute. High in the heavens' center, it brightly lit the world below.
No cold downpour to wash it all away. No pitch-black night bereft of even moonlight. Not even clouds to dim its glow.
The sky declared:
This is neither bleak nor despairing, no tragedy—just the ordinary. Nay, a comedy.
'...No. No. I didn't...'
"...No! No!"
Finally, my voice forced its way past my lips. Amid the deluge of malice, I denied it aloud in my real voice.
"I didn't...!"
My denials rang hollow; the hallucinations paid no heed to my torment. They traded questions among themselves, hounding me relentlessly.
For a moment, the hallucinations fell silent.
And through the gap slipped a familiar voice.
".........Anis?"
Han U-sol.
It was Han U-sol.
Our eyes met.
"......Anis, is that really you?"
Incredulous, his shocked face asked me cautiously. Our eyes locked only briefly before fear overwhelmed him, and he quickly bowed his head.
"No. No. It wasn't me..."
It wasn't me.
I clamped my ears shut and sank to the ground. The hallucinations kept whispering.
"Anis...?"
"...Sis?"
Following Han U-sol, Reisi Hearts and Daniel spotted me and called my name. But to me, their voices sounded impossibly distant, impossibly high.
"No... It wasn't me..."
"...Anis, what's wrong? You okay?"
Trembling, repeating the same words over and over, Han U-sol spoke in a worried tone. Yet I lacked the courage to raise my head and see his face.
What expression was he wearing?
How was he looking at me?
Perhaps like back then.
"........."
Terror gripped me. Even now, at this irreversible point.
Paradoxically, the hatred of someone once so close terrified me most.
"Healer! Check Yoon Na-rin's condition!"
Aselrika shouted. The few who could wield healing magic hurried toward Yoon Na-rin.
"The rest of you, battle stations. Targets: the three right in front of us."
Aselrika eyed Han U-sol, Betty, and me. Then she muttered flatly.
"Traitor subjugation commencing now."
"Wait! Anis isn't the enemy!"
"How can you be sure? By my memory, the girl you're talking about died three years ago. Any proof that's the same Anis you knew?"
Aselrika remained ice-cold to Han U-sol's plea.
Perhaps her reaction was the normal one. Traitors could have mimicked a dead Anis's appearance with some bizarre trick.
At first, even Han U-sol doubted his own eyes, suspecting an illusion. He even blurted the pathetic question, "Is that really you, Anis?"
But Han U-sol soon became convinced.
"...I'm certain. It's Anis."
Her unique magic beast scent—the one etched in his memory—proved it.
"...Even if it is, nothing changes. Being with them means she's a traitor too."
"W-Wait! There has to be some misunderstanding..."
"Then clear up that misunderstanding right now—convince me. Prove that girl isn't our enemy, that she's no threat to humanity."
Han U-sol glanced at Anis. She clutched her head, bowed low. Occasionally murmuring "No" on repeat.
She looked profoundly unstable. Precarious.
It didn't take long to realize Anis was tormented by hallucinations. He hadn't known before, but now he did—and he noticed.
"Anis!"
He called her name desperately. But no matter how he called, she kept her head down.
Anis had no capacity to reply. Mocking hallucinations clogged her ears; malice-shrouded illusions blinded her vision. Han U-sol could scarcely imagine what she saw or heard.
'...What do I do.'
Call after futile call met silence. Approaching to check on her? Han U-sol and Betty wouldn't stand for it.
In this impasse, as anxiety gnawed at him and he bit his lip, healers' voices rang from behind.
"Cough, cough!"
"Yoon Na-rin Hero—no life-threatening issues!"
"......Relief."
Aselrika exhaled softly. Her face stayed stoic throughout, but inwardly she'd fretted over Yoon Na-rin—Yoon Kang-woo's sister.
"Na-rin!"
Reisi Hearts rushed to the worried Yoon Na-rin's side. Yoon Na-rin hacked up wet coughs amid her daze.
"...Alive...?"
And Anis raised her head.
"Yoon Na-rin Hero—no life-threatening issues!"
The clamor jolted my head up. I pried open my squeezed-shut eyes and dropped my hands from my ears.
The endless chatter trailed off with a final yelp and vanished.
"...Alive...?"
I muttered through a cracked throat. My gaze roamed, seeking only Yoon Na-rin.
At last, beyond the heroes, I found her sprawled on the ground. Her chest rose and fell faintly.
She hadn't died.
Yoon Na-rin.
"Anis."
A clear voice pierced through. I traced it to its source: Han U-sol, staring right at me.
"Hic..."
I reflexively dropped my gaze. For some reason—like a trauma-stricken patient—I let out a pathetic gasp and ducked my head again.
Gazing down, Rena's head stared plainly back up at me.
"........."
"Ah..."
Rena's words bore down heavier, dragging me under. My head sank lower as I inched toward her.
"No... No..."
I shook my head in denial, but Rena crushed me relentlessly. She drew me in.
Truth and lies blurred beyond distinction.
Terror—of lifting my head. Of facing what lay ahead.
Every word from Rena's mouth rang true; I alone seemed the lie, abandoned in solitude.
"No, I didn't..."
"...Anis."
Han U-sol called my name once more.
Even without response, even without a glance his way.
As if he'd call endlessly, he waited patiently.
Waited until my head-shaking denials ceased. Then, softly:
"I know, Anis."
".........Huh?"
In that instant, Rena's voice cut out.
Was it the unexpected gentleness in his tone?
His patient wait without anger?
Or because our eyes hadn't met—his expression unknowable?
Whatever it was.
Suddenly, Han U-sol's voice held no terror.
Slowly, I raised my head.
A short distance away, but clear enough.
"I know. That it wasn't you."
Han U-sol came into view. A resolute expression.
"Because you don't use ranged weapons."
His golden eyes fixed on me.
Eyes we'd met countless times. Familiar.
Academy lunch hour, friendly glances over canteen snacks.
Facing magic beasts, gazes of trust.
"I trust you."
No suspicion in those eyes. No reproach.
Like days gone by, a gaze brimming with earnest faith.
Han U-sol wasn't alone. Reisi Hearts and Daniel watched me too—with eyes yearning for lost daily life and joy, just like mine.
"So come over here."
Han U-sol extended his hand.
Could I go back?
Dare I hope?
For that peaceful routine again.
I stared blankly at his hand—
...
Ah.