Witch's Time (2)
Two corpses lay sprawled across the floor. Blood seeped from their bodies, slowly soaking into the ground. The spreading crimson turned black beneath the purple moonlight, as though the warmth of life once held within it was scattering into the air and vanishing.
With a soft swish, the sword in my right hand disappeared. At the same moment, the strange exhilaration that had filled my body faded away. Only then did I realize what I had done. I had killed people.
"…Ugh!"
The metallic scent of blood drifted into my nose. The lingering sensation of flesh parting beneath my blade clung to my fingertips. As the realization sank in, nausea surged upward.
"Doyun-nim, are you alright?"
At that moment, a hand gently caressed my back. I turned to see the woman who had introduced herself as Gretchen standing there. Her eyes were filled with genuine concern and apology.
"Gretchen… was it?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"Can you explain what the hell is going on?"
"Yes, of course. However…"
Gretchen glanced around, her posture suggesting she was being pursued.
"We should move first. We may encounter another witch."
"But…"
I looked down at the corpses. Leaving them here would undoubtedly cause an uproar. Yet Gretchen regarded them calmly.
"They will be fine. The 'Shadows' will handle them shortly."
The moment she finished speaking, something began to rise from beneath the two bodies. It looked as though the shadows themselves had come alive. The Shadows greedily devoured the corpses, then merged back into the dark ground and vanished along with them.
Watching the entire process, a chill ran down my spine.
"What… was that?"
"Something like… cleaners. They consume lives that perish during Witch's Time and erase their existence. They do not harm the living, so you need not worry."
Even if she said not to worry, seeing that scene made it impossible to feel at ease. Gretchen took my hand carefully and looked at me with urgency.
"We must go. There appear to be no other witches nearby at the moment… but we cannot be certain."
"…"
Unable to resist her urging, I left the dark alley behind. Outside, the town remained dark and silent. Only the purple moon watched over us. Gretchen led me back to my rented room. After climbing the stairs and stepping through the open door, she closed her eyes.
"Construct."
A ripple of light emanated from her body.
"The overlapping dimension, the pitch-black silence, the vanishing point beyond perception. 【Concealment】"
The light spread throughout the room at her declaration.
"What did you just do…?"
"A barrier to erase our presence… would that suffice as an explanation? It will hide us from other witches."
"Other witches… right."
Hearing my muttered words, Gretchen sat me down on the living room floor. She took a seat across from me and began to speak.
"Then allow me to introduce myself properly. My name is Gretchen. I am a witch from Sabbat."
"Sabbat?"
"Well… to put it simply, it is the world of witches."
"Witch…"
The word felt utterly foreign. How often did anyone use "witch" in everyday life? It belonged to fantasy novels or games.
"Difficult to believe, is it not?"
"Honestly… yeah."
If I had heard this story right after returning from my part-time job today, I would have dismissed it as nonsense. But…
"…"
"…Doyun-nim."
I lowered my gaze to my right hand. Only minutes ago, I had used this hand to kill two people. Their bodies had been swallowed by those bizarre Shadows and erased without a trace. After witnessing that impossible scene, denying it would have been absurd. Even if I wished to reject it, I could not.
"But I have no choice but to believe it."
I nodded lightly, signaling my readiness to listen. Gretchen continued.
"Sabbat is, as I mentioned, the world of witches. And within Sabbat… the Walpurgis Night is held at regular intervals—a grand festival across the entire realm to select the Sun Witch. Everything you have experienced stems from this Walpurgis Night."
"Walpurgis Night…"
The term itself was familiar from games and novels. But the Sun Witch…
"Our world has night for 364 days out of 365. Only one day does the sun rise."
"What kind of…"
It sounded absurd, yet with magic existing, there was little point in questioning it. I could only accept it. A sun that appeared but once a year… Living beneath such endless darkness would surely wear anyone down until they withered away.
"The Sun Witch is the one who brings the sun to Sabbat, this world of eternal night. In truth, it means ascending to the position of a Great Witch who leads a family."
"A family, huh."
"Yes. Regarding the families… you need not know for now. You may simply think of them as gatherings of witches."
I nodded. The story so far was already overwhelming. If it was unnecessary, there was no need to hear it yet.
"In any case… the Walpurgis Night is a festival in which witches fight one another according to the rules to become the sole Sun Witch. And you, Doyun-nim, have been drawn into it."
"Drawn into it…"
I pressed a hand to my head. A faint throb pulsed behind my temples. Come to think of it, when I first met Gretchen, she had warned me not to go out at night. …Half of this was probably my own fault.
"I am sorry… If I had been stronger… you would never have become involved…"
"No. I ignored your warning. That was my mistake."
I shook my head at Gretchen, who was blaming herself.
"Then what exactly is this contract?"
"Well… to explain that, I must first outline the rules of the Walpurgis Night."
The core rules, aside from the finer details, were as follows.
1. Every witch participating in the Walpurgis Night must form a contract with one human contractor.
2. Should a contractor disappear for any reason, the witch must secure a new one within seven days. Failure to do so results in disqualification.
3. Witches and their contractors may only fight during the three-hour window from 00:00 to 03:00 Solaris time. Any conflict outside this period leads to immediate disqualification of the witch who initiated it.
And finally…
"When the contracted witch emerges victorious and becomes the Sun Witch… the human contractor may make a single wish."
"A wish?"
"Yes. Any wish at all… you may ask for anything. No matter what it may be."
Gretchen's trailing words carried a subtle weight, but I set it aside for now. Simply absorbing the flood of information was already difficult enough.
"Why do they need contractors at all?"
"It is due to the rules of the world. For a witch from Sabbat to wield proper magic in Solaris, a contractor is required. Think of it as a kind of filter. Through the contractor, the witch converts Solaris's mana into a form she can use. Without one, magic remains possible, but its power and variety become severely restricted."
"…You've been saying Solaris this whole time. What is it?"
"Yes. We witches refer to your world as Solaris. It is the name of our deepest longing—the world blessed by the sun, which those who dwell in eternal night yearn for."
Witch. Walpurgis Night. Contractor. Sun Witch. After hearing everything, acceptance remained difficult… yet one truth stood clear.
"From now on, I will have to kill people again, just like before. Is that it?"
"…"
Gretchen could not answer. Only silence remained. In place of her reply, purple moonlight spilled through the window into the room, as though affirming my words. Yet she quickly shook her head.
"Th-that said, we can still break the contract."
"We can?"
"Yes. There is a penalty, but… it is possible."
"A penalty? What kind?"
At my question, Gretchen spoke as if to reassure me.
"It will not affect you, Doyun-nim, so there is no need for concern."
"Then the penalty falls on you?"
"…"
She offered no reply. That silence was answer enough. Avoiding my gaze, she spoke in a small, shrinking voice.
"If witches continually sought only strong contractors and discarded them, it would become a problem. Should a participating witch break her contract, she cannot form a new one for six days."
"Six days? Earlier you said…"
"Yes. A witch without a contractor must secure a new one within seven days. Yet she cannot form another contract for six of those days. That is the penalty—the six days during which a witch is most vulnerable to others."
"…"
"B-but it is fine! Escaping is my specialty…"
I recalled our second meeting. She had been covered in wounds after fighting another witch and her contractor alone. If I had not helped—if I had not formed the contract—it would have been Gretchen swallowed by the Shadows. We were not close. Whether she lived or died should not have mattered to me. But now that we were bound like this, the thought of her breaking the contract for my sake and dying during those six vulnerable days left a bitter taste.
"I'll… think about the contract."
"Pardon?"
"I said I will think about it. For now… do not break it."
So just a little longer. I needed a little more time to decide.