Awakening

I flung the kitchen tools aside, hoisted Seria onto my back, and ran.

We couldn't go out through the restaurant door.

I meant to jump from a second-floor window.

A dozen or so people came after us.

I pounded up the creaking stairs, threw the window open—

And my body cut through empty air.

Thud!

"Aaagh!"

I twisted my ankle on the landing.

Even so, I had to keep running. We had to get away—

"Get them!!"

With Seria on my back, I ran with my eyes fixed straight ahead.

I was fairly quick on my feet.

I was lean enough, and I wasn't completely hopeless at exercise.

Even with a sprained ankle and a child on my back, I managed a pace just fast enough that they couldn't quite catch us.

"Hah… hah… hah… hhng…"

My ankle had swollen purple and blue. Every step sent a jolt of agony through me.

It hurt so badly that tears blurred my vision.

"Uncle Raon… Uncle… hhng… Just give me to those people…

Then you… you can live…"

"Seria! Be quiet! Uncle's going to save you, I swear…!"

For a split second I saw the blade of a guillotine falling, severing Seria's neck.

No. No. No. No.

I would never—absolutely never—

I would never let that happen to her.

I kept running on an ankle that was coming apart beneath me.

"There they are!! Grab them!!"

I knew. I was getting slower.

But… but… I couldn't stop.

"Uncle Raaon… sob… please… please… leave me and go…"

I ignored her and ran with my eyes locked forward.

I crossed a stream and plunged deep into the forest.

"Hah… hah… hah… hhng… hhk…"

My ankle hurt so much the tears came freely.

My lungs felt ready to tear open; my heart hammered as if it would burst.

"Hhng… hhk… haah…"

I couldn't run any farther. I went down.

Six or seven of them were still coming after us.

"Seria, run."

"W-what?! Uncle?"

"I said run. Please. Just you."

"No!! I… I am absolutely not leaving you behind!!"

"Please… Seria… I'll buy you time… please…"

"I won't!! Sob… I won't!! No! No! I don't want to run away and leave Uncle Raon!! No!! I won't!!!"

Seria clung to me, weeping, begging.

"Seria?"

"No! Sob… I'd rather die!!"

"Seria…? Listen to Uncle."

"Hhk… sob… hhk…"

"Uncle isn't going to die. I'll be fine. You just have to come back and save me later."

"Huh…?"

"If they catch you too right now, Uncle would be so sad. Okay? It's Uncle's wish."

"Y-your wish?"

"Yeah. It's Uncle's wish. Won't you grant it for me?"

"B-but…"

"You get super strong, beat all the bad people, and come rescue me. How about that?"

"What… does that even…"

"I'm asking you, Seria. If they catch you… Uncle will really hate you."

"You'll… hate me…?"

"Yeah. I'll hate you for real. So you have to run. Don't look back. Just run."

"But… but… sob…"

"I said run!! You stupid little brat!!!"

Seria flinched hard.

"You dumb Blood Eyes brat. You know what? I always hated filthy Blood Eyes like you! I only helped you because I felt sorry for you…

I'm sick of watching you cry and whine, Uncle~ Uncle~.

So leave me and get the hell out of here already!!!"

"H-hh… hhk…"

"Run!! You idiot!!"

Shock written across her face, Seria turned and fled.

"Don't look back!! Keep running!! You stupid little fool!!!"

I watched her vanish into the depths of the forest.

"There… that should do it."

I drew the kitchen knife from my belt.

"Pwahaha… Letting a Blood Eyes brat escape and sacrificing yourself? How touching."

"What do you think you're going to do with one little kitchen knife?"

"Shut up… you sons of bitches…"

The six or seven men who had chased me all the way surrounded me.

"How much do they pay if you turn a high traitor over to the tribunal?"

"Pwahahaha! At least a dozen silver, easy!"

"Well now… split that among us and we could buy meat and drink till we drop!!"

"Forget the Blood Eyes brat… let's just take this one in."

"Now that's a fine idea!!"

The men closed in on me slowly.

And then—

"Hyaaah—!"

A cold blue blade drove toward my side.

I barely twisted clear—and the instant I looked up,

Crack!

A fist smashed into my jaw.

My head spun. I lost the kitchen knife and went down hard.

"Wow~ All that swagger, and you can't even fight?"

"Ugh… shut up… you pieces of trash…"

"Pwahaha! Still got enough left to curse, huh?"

My vision flickered. My jaw had gone numb.

"So he can't run—let's cut his Achilles."

"W-wai—"

Shhk—

"AAAAAAGHHHHHH—!!"

Pain like every nerve set on fire.

"Huh. Loud, isn't he."

Thud!

A boot drove into my stomach,

and I blacked out.

"Uncle… sob… Uncle Raon…"

I ran and ran without looking back.

I said run!! You stupid little brat!!!

"He was acting… he was acting… he was just trying to make me hate him…"

You dumb Blood Eyes brat. You know what? I always hated filthy Blood Eyes like you! I only helped you because I felt sorry for you… I'm sick of watching you cry and whine, Uncle~ Uncle~.

"It was so obvious he was acting… sob… Uncle…"

At some point my breath burned so fiercely I couldn't run another step.

"Hah… hah…"

Face a mess of tears and snot, I collapsed onto the ground.

Tap— tap—

Raindrops began to fall, one by one, then a cold rain poured over my whole body.

"Uncle… sob… Uncle… because of me…"

If only my heart would stop right now—right this second.

A filthy Blood Eyes like me… should just die.

Maybe Mom and Dad were right… maybe I really am nothing but a dirty stain on this world…

"Sob… hhk…"

I don't want to live anymore…

I'm so weak… and without Uncle I can't do anything…

I…

I…

In that moment, I saw a small Eldmore Mushroom on the ground—one that looked as if it had only just begun to grow.

Ah, and one more thing you have to be careful about. You mustn't eat the little baby Eldmore mushrooms. Those are toxic. An Eldmore Mushroom only loses its poison once it's fully grown.

"Poison… poison… poison mushroom…"

If I eat that… I can die.

Trash like me… garbage the world doesn't need…!

As if in a trance, I crawled to the little Eldmore Mushroom and tore into it like a mad thing.

On my knees, I barely chewed—I just forced it down.

How many minutes passed like that…

"Bleeegh—"

My head spun. The world wheeled around me. Everything in my stomach came heaving up.

"Bleeegh— bleeeh— khh… bleh—"

My belly hurt so badly I thought I would faint.

A horrible pain, as if my insides were being wrung inside out.

"Bleeeegh— khhek… bleh—"

Even after ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠every scrap of food was gone, I kept vomiting up stomach acid.

My head felt ready to split.

I could barely breathe.

I want to see Uncle Raon.

I want to see Uncle Ra—

I toppled sideways.

Every muscle in my body ached as if it were being torn free.

My eyes drifted shut.

Uncle… Uncle…

Uncle Raon… I'm… sorry…

My eyelids grew so heavy… heavier…

My vision filled with black.

Fwaaaash—

In that instant, pure white light fell from above, and the world around me flared as bright as a lightning strike.

That single fleeting glimpse was the last thing I saw before my eyes closed.

A ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠kind, fragile child. Seria.

Looking back, I still don't fully understand why I was so good to her.

Good enough to throw away my own life to protect her.

Why ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠did I do that?

Two years ago, when I first fell into this world… I had cried and begged the old man who owned the restaurant for help. She looked so much like that version of me.

I couldn't bring myself to turn away a pitiful, fragile child.

I had simply thought that, just as Grandfather had helped me, I ought to help Seria.

That was all.

But.

Then why.

Why had I been so desperately, so completely sincere? I could have abandoned her somewhere along the way… so why did I choose that path instead?

Pity? Simple affection?

Or maybe… maybe…

For an ordinary restaurant owner like me…

she had given me a reason I had to protect her. A reason to keep living.

The wish to make Seria happy—that much, at least, had been real.

"Ugh…"

Consciousness returned. I opened my eyes slowly.

"Awake, are you? Traitor to the realm."

A knight who had me bound and slung over his shoulder spoke down at me.

"Trying to protect a Blood Eyes… disgusting."

Another knight walking alongside added his own contempt.

"You're the disgusting ones—trying to kill people just because their eyes are red.

In twenty-first-century Korea, you couldn't even imagi—"

Crunch—

My ruined right ankle was twisted hard.

"Aaaagh!"

"You talk too much. Can't even understand what you're saying."

"Quiet. We're before Her Majesty now."

Clack—

A door opened,

and I was set down in a chair.

I clung to my spinning senses and looked around.

It seemed to be a courtroom.

On the throne ahead—

"Her Majesty Queen Aurelia. Bow your head."

Radiant blonde hair and sapphire eyes.

Queen Aurelia sat before me.

"I believe I told you to bow your head, traitor."

I did not bow.

"Hmm. Looking straight up at me, are you."

"You're the one who proclaimed that law, right?"

I glared at the queen as I spoke, and the air in the courtroom froze solid.

"You're the one who proclaimed the law to kill everyone with red eyes. Right? You piece of trash."

Thud!

A fist drove into my stomach.

"You filthy traitor! How dare you speak to Her Majesty—"

"Enough. Stop."

The queen gave a small, amused laugh.

"Begin the trial."

She crossed her legs and looked me over with those beautiful eyes.

The knight at her side opened his mouth at her command.

"Han Raon, traitor to the realm, who sheltered a red-eyed child.

This is the crime of embracing a seed of calamity sown by the Witch whom the Hero of a thousand years past struck down; of defying the laws of the kingdom; and of endangering the lives of millions of its people.

This is a most unholy offense, and a violation of the kingdom's order—"

"Hey, enough. Cut it there. I'll just hand down the verdict myself."

"Y-yes, Your Majesty Queen Aurelia."

"That one's already messed up his right ankle anyway. Just chop off the right leg so he can't run, and lock him in a solitary cell."

"Pardon? You mean to spare him?"

"Your Majesty, that is—"

"It's my call. I'm the one who delivers the verdict, aren't I?"

"B-but… to spare a traitor of this magnitude—"

"Shut up. Before I start with you."

The air in the courtroom turned to ice.

"Well? You heard me. Cut the leg. Now. Then throw him in solitary."

"Y-yes, Your Majesty!"

Hours later…

I lay bound hand and foot in the public square, under the jeers of the crowd.

A royal knight stood over my right leg with a massive axe.

The axe rose high,

then came whistling down through the air—

CRACK—!

Steel shattered flesh and bone together.

My vision flashed white. In the instant my leg was torn away, my whole body felt as if it had been thrown into a fire.

"AAAAAAGHHHHHH!!!"

My ears rang. A raw scream tore out of me before I could stop it.

In that moment of unbearable agony, I found myself resenting Seria without meaning to.

Maybe… I'm not as good a person as I thought, Seria.

Blood fountained upward, and I lost consciousness.

When I opened my eyes, I was in a pitch-black solitary cell that reeked of iron.

In front of the closed door's feeding slot sat a single bowl of thin soup.

Uncle… Uncle…

Uncle Raon… I'm sorry…

Uncle Ra—

"Hhng!"

I woke from a nightmare with a gasp.

The cold air of the forest.

The sky had grown quite dark.

"I… I'm not dead…?"

I had eaten so much of that poison mushroom… and I still wasn't dead…?

"Was it… a dream…?"

I pinched my cheek. It hurt a great deal.

"But why does my body feel so fine?"

I felt so full of energy I wondered if I had ever been this lively in my life.

"Grrrrrr— grrrrr—"

"Huh?"

I turned around. A massive wild boar was pawing the ground, facing me.

"W-what? Go away?!"

I stumbled backward in fear, caught my foot on a root, and fell.

"GRRRRRRR!!! GRWAAAH—!!"

The boar charged. A black shadow swelled in an instant before my eyes.

"Aaaagh!!"

I couldn't breathe. My heart felt ready to stop. Time crawled—

"NO!!!!! I said no!! I can't die here!!!"

Fwaaaash—

In that moment, light split the forest and lit everything around me brilliant white.

From my hand, a sword shining pure white drove straight through the boar's heart.

"I have to go save Uncle Raon!!!"