Crimson Flame (3)
The fox. Sometimes she wondered. What if. What if she had been stronger back then? Could she have prevented all those tragedies from the past?
—I can no longer remain by Master’s side… and I must not.
—So this is goodbye.
The sight of her master walking away in silence, back turned, was filled with regret. If only she hadn’t let him go alone that day. If only she had possessed enough power to protect him.
—Please, live on.
Everything felt like her fault. So she drove herself relentlessly. She swung her sword, broke into a sweat, and hardened her tattered heart until it turned cold. All with the vow that she would never break again.
‘But.’
She wasn’t sure if that had been enough. Simply giving her all didn’t always guarantee a good outcome.
The girl was still powerless. She could only move forward. Even within that deep sense of helplessness.
She sought the star her master had spoken of.
—You must find your own star.
The fox often wandered through pitch-black dawns.
A sky dyed in dark light. Thick clouds that had gathered in an instant swallowed the sun whole, then began to shed raindrops one by one. Was a storm coming? The wind carried an ominous feel.
Huuuuuu—.
The fierce sea wind whipped violently, and the thin streaks of rain gradually thickened. It was, without question, the worst possible weather for sailing.
Rain poured down with savage force. Yet even in such terrible conditions, a standoff continued atop the ship’s deck.
Sharp impact sounds rang out.
Thud!Crack!
The hound’s fist slammed into her abdomen. While she groaned from the dizzying pain, a follow-up kick drove into her shin. The fox staggered for a moment.
“Ugh…!”
A pained breath escaped her. She tried to steady her stance, but her battered body looked ready to collapse at any second. Irene barely clung to consciousness. Before her stood a man in a gray robe.
“Told you~ Why didn’t you just behave yourself?”
The mocking hound. A sneering smile played on his lips. He even hummed a little tune, clearly enjoying the current situation.
The hound lightly rotated his wrist.
“Do you like getting hit or something? Why do you keep giving me reasons to beat you?”
“…….”
“What? Not answering?”
Wham—!
Though she had called it a standoff, it was closer to a one-sided beating. The fox was only barely holding onto consciousness. Her exhausted stamina meant she couldn’t even lift her sword properly. It was only natural. After being hit with a sleeping drug, she had sprinted at full speed, cut down dozens of guards, and still reached the deck. There was no strength left to resist.
“Stubborn bitch… How is this kid still not passing out?”
Any normal person would have already fainted from that condition. Irene was enduring purely on willpower.
“Thanks to you, this is actually fun! Your endurance is still the same after all this time, huh?”
Grab—.
The hound seized the girl by her hair. He gripped it tightly to hold her in place, then slapped her across the face with his palm.
Slap—!
Burning pain. A red handprint bloomed across her pale cheek. Her lip must have split—blood dripped steadily from between them.
The hound laughed openly.
“You know it, right? You can never beat me.”
“…….”
“You haven’t forgotten who captured you and your little siblings, have you? This is the second time you’ve fallen into my hands.”
The fox couldn’t refute the mockery. Because it was all true. Irene had already lost to the hound once before. When she had tried to sneak out of the village with her younger siblings, the man before her had relentlessly pursued them. In the end, he had beaten her down and thrown her into a cage.
“Just accept it. What can you do? This is your fate.”
It was the same now. With her exhausted body, he was an opponent far beyond her reach.
“Well then… shall we continue?”
The hound raised his hand again. Just as he cocked his fist, a voice suddenly stopped him.
“That’s enough.”
A neatly dressed young man. The one referred to as the ‘guest,’ who had been watching the situation from behind until now. He politely intervened.
“If you damage her any further, the product’s value will decrease.”
“What? I told you not to interfere.”
“I’m merely offering a rational judgment. If she ends up with scars, the employer will be displeased.”
“……Tsk. I know.”
The mention of the employer must have worked. The hound clicked his tongue and stepped back. The moment he released her hair, Irene’s barely standing posture collapsed. The girl dropped to one knee.
“…….”
“Hm? Is the drug finally kicking in?”
“She held out for quite a while. It’s a sedative strong enough to knock out even bear beastmen in one shot. Frankly, the fact that she stayed conscious this long is astonishing.”
“Anyway, it’s pretty much over.”
The hound brushed dust from his hands. Without hesitation, he turned his back and issued orders to the soldiers remaining on deck.
“Roughly drag that bastard away~ If there’s even a scratch, you’re dead. Got it?”
“Understood!”
“Sigh… Can’t trust these idiot bastards. I’ll come along too, so bring her quickly.”
“Yes!”
Several men swarmed toward the fox. She was in a wretched state. Sprawled out, completely out of it.
“…….”
Irene did not resist. She had given up. This was enough. At least she had done her best, so it felt okay to stop now. The despair was far too overwhelming to hold onto any hope.
—Isn’t it okay to hope for a small miracle?
—You never know!
Words she had once heard from Anne. Back when they were locked inside the dark mages’ laboratory, Anne had said them to encourage her to keep hoping. The fox bit her lip hard.
Yes. The role of the princess in danger. Quietly waiting for a prince on a white horse to come save her had actually been a rather nice experience. It made her feel like the weak version of herself was being rescued.
‘But…’
Again? Just how many times would this make?
If she kept waiting for help every time danger came, exactly how many princes on white horses would her life require?
The girl was skeptical.
‘Maybe.’
This was how it was supposed to be. Even with her mortal enemy right in front of her, she couldn’t take revenge—couldn’t even leave a single wound on him. She had been toyed with, utterly helpless, like a plaything. What meaning could such a pathetic struggle possibly have?
If she couldn’t live without someone else’s help, then perhaps that wasn’t a real life at all. She had no right to wish for a prince on a white horse. She could only bare her neck to the crisis bearing down on her.
“…….”
The fox sank into a deep sense of powerlessness. Perhaps because her body was exhausted, her thoughts spiraled especially darkly. Just as soldiers grabbed both her arms—
A familiar voice brushed against her ear. It was her master’s voice. Her mind had felt hazy for a while now—perhaps she was even hearing hallucinations at this point. Irene blinked with unfocused eyes.
Her consciousness was too foggy to tell what was real. The girl could only answer weakly.
I’m tired. My body won’t move anymore.
Two years is more than enough time to change. So many things happened. After you left us, I don’t even know how I survived that hellish path. I can barely remember how I endured those days.
It’s been so long. Please, just listen to your disciple’s complaints.
It’s just a hallucination anyway.
That’s true. At this point, it doesn’t really matter.
One of the people who killed you, Master. I tried to fight him with everything I had, but with this exhausted body, I couldn’t even put up a proper fight.
Then what am I supposed to do? In my heart, I want to stay by those children’s side too, but simply wanting something doesn’t solve anything.
There have been many crises before, but this time I don’t think I can overcome it.
I remember. You said you didn’t want me to submit. You told me to become someone who never bows.
I tried to live that way. Because I wanted to resemble you. Even if it wasn’t the best path, I believe it was a life headed in the right direction. Maybe even a little too stubborn.
Is it really enough?
My true self…?
“…….”
Irene stood in place. The whisper that filled her ears. As she mulled over the calm voice, her blurry consciousness gradually grew clearer. It felt as if a realization she had been missing all this time had suddenly flashed before her.
—You must find your own star.
For the first time, the girl understood the true meaning of those words. Until now, she had thought of the word “star” as something like “precious people” or “beliefs that must be protected,” but in reality it encompassed a far broader concept.
A star meant life itself.
The direction one wishes to walk throughout their lifetime. Only after establishing that could life truly dwell within the sword. Only then could it hold genuine light.
Irene Foxis. The aspiration carried by that name. The life that followed it. The star it signified. And the sword that would ultimately be bound to it.
After the pitch-black dawn passed, the dawn that finally arrived carried a single name. It was none other than the name of the life dwelling within the girl’s blade.
Hongyeom.
Fwoosh—!
Suddenly, flames burst forth. The scorching heat grew fiercer and fiercer, erasing even the chill of the raging storm. The falling rain evaporated before it could even touch her body. Within the omnipotent sensation of rising temperature—
“……Burn.”
The girl opened her eyes.
Meanwhile, a pair of narrowed eyes had been watching the entire scene.
“The appearance of Hongyeom at last.”
The snake murmured. The voice that had been imitating the fox’s master soon regained its original youthful tone. A sinister smile hung on his lips.
“It is time for her awakening.”
The ominous resonance flicked across his tongue.