Ep.3 - Arwen (4)
Ep.3 - Arwen (4)
If asked whether he was kind, his close friends would have said, 'That bastard's a complete piece of shit!' while inwardly sighing, 'That kind-hearted dumbass.'
Other adults would have simply offered the standard line: 'Ah, him? He's a good student. Yes~ very well-behaved~'
Delin was that kind of man. Of course, plenty of people in the world receive the same evaluation from those around them as Delin did.
So, perhaps 'ordinary' suited him better than 'kind.'
He was an ordinary man.
From the moment he was summoned to another world, Delin committed all manner of mistakes, too preoccupied with worrying about his own safety to do otherwise.
His dull, sluggish mind likely bore a great deal of responsibility for all those mistakes.
But if asked whether he deliberately chose only evil acts, perhaps we would have to shake our heads.
In the struggle to survive, he made truly frustrating and foolish decisions, but probably no one would curse him as a wretched piece of trash for it. Calling him a moron, maybe.
All humans naturally worry about their own safety first.
When placed in a situation where even basic survival rights and needs cannot be properly met, their lives become endlessly impoverished, and their spirit crumbles along with it.
A weakened spirit pushes consideration and sacrifice for others to the back burner, forcing one to think of their own survival first.
And we don't call that 'bad.'
Of course, if in that barren situation you stabbed someone else in the gut to steal their meat, you'd be condemned by everyone.
But a tired office worker discreetly closing his eyes rather than giving up his subway seat to the middle-aged woman in front of him,
or a student late for school jaywalking to catch the bus—arrows of criticism don't fly at these things.
Some may define even those as evil acts, but ordinary people inevitably commit wrongs now and then in daily life.
Delin wanted to survive.
So he tried to run from Philmark,
and tried to escape from Neva's bed,
and closed his eyes when he saw Arwen being dragged away.
It wasn't particularly strange. Even in the Philmark bandit troop's hideout, hadn't he briefly felt sorry for the men being dragged in, but ultimately closed his eyes because his own treatment would be better?
Of course, some bad memories of that young-looking boy did resurface, making him snap at Chichi.
The memories of his infinitely small and weak self from his original world.
Small, frail, only ever hearing that he was cute, the days when he heard from everyone that he suited being a woman more than a man.
His mother bought him a dress for his fifth birthday, saying it would look good on him.
His friends made him sing cute, aegyo-appeal songs on stage at every retreat or school trip talent show.
Those days when he was always led around by the girls' hands, his hair managed and his cheeks kneaded to their hearts' content...
Those times seemed to come flooding back when he saw Arwen's face.
So, it seemed he couldn't hold back his anger for a moment and defied Chichi.
Of course, he was immediately subdued and allowed the boy named Arwen—who so closely resembled his old self—to be taken away, but he thought he'd done his best in his own way.
What could he do? He had no power to help, and if he'd stepped in recklessly, wouldn't he have ended up in trouble too?
It was a rational decision, and it couldn't be helped.
It was just that a tiny bit of guilt made him call out a Save.
At a point where he couldn't even properly control Save or Load anyway,
he figured he'd just Load when Chichi returned to avoid whatever punishment she'd inflict... that's what he told himself.
If asked whether he had no concern at all for the boy who departed so cluelessly, it would be a lie, but Delin called out the Save believing with all his heart that it wasn't the case.
Buying a little more time this way to train endlessly...
praying that someday he'd grow strong and escape not only Chichi, but Neva and Philmark too.
He thought he had picked a very wise Save point.
Free time he could spend alone, with no one watching him.
A point in time where, if things went wrong, he could return immediately and put another plan into action.
It was absolutely not because Arwen was on his mind.
That's what he thought.
With that thought, he diligently meditated, hoping he'd awaken quickly and become a master of magic.
And in the now-vanished events of that timeline,
Delin beat the ground and wept.
One might say there's no point in talking about events no one else remembers,
but Delin saw a sight that will never be erased from his memory. So it must be told.
"Hyung, hyung?"
But then Delin opened his eyes.
What immediately entered his vision was Arwen looking down at him, his face flushed bright red as if he'd been crying the entire time,
"..."
and Chichi, seated at a considerable distance on a chair, silently observing Delin and Arwen.
And the interior of Chichi's house, looking eerily empty,
along with one massively overstuffed, large bundle.
"...Nothing happened, right?"
The first thing Delin did, carrying the weight of the vanished past, was worry about Arwen's well-being.
"Yes, I'm okay..."
Their conversation didn't continue.
Instead, Chichi's heavily choked voice filled the space between that mournful exchange.
"We're leaving soon. Get ready."
Seeing Chichi equipped with a large bundle and traveling clothes, Delin realized what had happened.
[Banishment]
"I can't stay here anymore."
Chichi lifted the bundle with blue mana and walked out the door.
The colleagues jealous of her talent and ability, the archwitches and elders who viewed her as a threat,
the disciples disappointed in her...
They would no longer let her live in the witch city of Raftel.
Those who truly valued her ability were far too few, and they couldn't easily oppose public opinion.
Chichi's banishment proceeded swiftly, decreed on the very night Delin was brutally taken. Originally, talk of execution had even surfaced, but in consideration of her past contributions, it ended at banishment—there wasn't really anything to object to.
The greatest genius.
The chosen witch.
A living legend, evaluated as the most outstanding witch since Raftel's founding.
A woman even granted the alias [Maganiti], meaning Archwitch.
Thus Chichi was banished from Raftel and lost her alias.
Having lost even her life's purpose and will in an instant, she simply stood there gloomily, clutching a single broom.
"Haaah..."
The moon was bright.
The unusually blue moon tonight seemed to weep on Chichi's behalf.
Blue tears for a woman who didn't know tears well.
"..."
Chichi, amidst emptiness and confusion,
simply gazed at the moon endlessly.
"...Chichi-ssi."
The one to intercept her gaze was, once again, Delin.
Whenever she looked at that blue moon, he always came into Chichi's view.
"Take us."
Delin spoke with restrained emotion, in a slightly cold voice—
a voice perhaps a little colder than the moonlight itself.
"Take this kid first."
He pulled the boy in front of himself and spoke firmly toward Chichi.
"..."
Chichi looked at Delin.
Countless questions rose right to the tip of her tongue,
"...Alright."
but in the end, she swallowed all her questions, bowed her head, and complied.
On the very night one of Raftel's great stars vanished.
On the night when, in the vanished timeline, Delin would witness Arwen hanging from a tree with his own eyes,
three [humans] flew through the sky toward a small, quiet rural village.
Of course, a village that had lost its precious boy was so full of weeping and fury that 'quiet' was hardly the word,
but upon seeing Arwen returned to them, it soon regained its original character.
"Thank you. Truly, thank you! How can we ever repay this debt..."
Arwen's parents prostrated themselves completely flat before Chichi and Delin, bowing and desperate to somehow compensate them for bringing their precious son back.
But Delin just shook his head a few times, wearing a slightly sad smile,
brought himself to Arwen's eye level,
and left behind a few words before departing.
"Take good care of Euril, and Ersha too."
Hearing this, Arwen was momentarily puzzled, wondering when he'd ever mentioned his sisters' names,
but soon nodded with a bright smile.
"I will!"
At that composed voice—not the lifeless eyes and despairing voice from the vanished timeline—
Delin nodded back and hugged him tight.
----------------------------------------
5 hours, 32 minutes before Arwen hangs himself.
Inside an alley in the entertainment district.
"That bastard. Right?"
"It seems correct. I saw it too, this time."
4 hours, 14 minutes before.
"There. So what will you do?"
"Hah, I surrender! I surrender! Please, just spare my life...!"
"Yeah. Good. I've been waiting to hear that."
Neva yielded the spot to Philmark.
This time, Philmark climbed onto the fallen witch's back and shoved her hand deep into the woman's mouth.
"Now. You know what happens if you don't drink it all in one go and spill even a drop, right?"
The witch nodded desperately. She didn't want to die.
"Can't we hurry this up? Instead of wasting time on such talk..."
"Ah, come on! You're so damn uptight. How many times do I have to tell you, you have to include these lines for them to obey properly!"
"No, I'm allowed to express an opinion...! This is absurd. I can't understand it."
"Whatever. I'm not asking for your understanding anyway. Alright. This time, for real..."
3 hours, 59 minutes before.
"Ah, fuck... what the hell is with this narrow-ass broom! I swear, witch bastards make no sense to me!"
"Those fellows likely won't ask for your understanding either. Ride carefully."
"This is really!"
38 minutes before.
"Alright. From here on, let's move with a solid plan. You handle the distraction, and I'll sneak in, find Delin, and pull him out..."
"No! That is impossible! You might grab Delin's hand and run away!"
"Dumbass, you can't even hide properly! So damn slow..."
"Slow...? Take that back! Right now!"
1 minute before.
"He doesn't seem to be here."
"Shut up for a moment!"
Philmark's eyes carefully scanned the entire witch city.
"I can definitely smell something somewhere..."
"You're not a dog, finding Delin by smell..."
"I told you to shut up. I'll seriously kill you."
"..."
"Let's go that way. Quickly."
The knight and the thief carefully headed toward where Delin's scent was growing stronger.
Avoiding the witches' gazes, the place they finally arrived at was Chichi's house!
But.
"Huh?"
"Wh-what!"
The moon turned back,
and it was the time when the sun that blankets the whole world had risen.
"What, what the hell did you...!"
"No! I didn't do anything...!"
The two, who'd been facing each other in utter panic, soon realized.
"...This can't be."
"Ah, aah... no way...! No! This is...!"
7 hours, 18 minutes before Chichi, Delin, and Arwen would ride the broom to Arwen's hometown.
The two noticed that Delin had used his ability.
The problem was...
"Th-then, the original plan?"
Neva's face drained of color.
According to her plan, she was supposed to quickly rescue Delin and return to his bed,
but if it turned out like this?
"Wh-what about... me?"
They remained like that in the back alley, spaced out and dazed, for roughly thirty minutes.
Philmark still remained at Neva's side.
"Ugh, come on! Let's go already! We have to rescue Delin first...!"
"Even if we rescue Delin, I no longer have a place to embrace him... We'll be chased for the rest of our lives... If it's going to be like that, I'd rather kill Delin and myself..."
"Then die by yourself, seriously...! We've already seen that even if you kill Delin, he just goes back in time!"
"Right! He went back after suffering your inhuman abuse! I saw it clearly with my own two eyes!"
"No, I mean... we agreed to set all that aside and rescue Delin, so we should go rescue him. Okay? Pull yourself together, for fuck's sake! I swear, these sheltered bastards all lose their minds the moment the plan goes sideways. Tch..."
"Sheltered? Sheltered? You...!"
Neva shot to her feet and glared at Philmark. As if you know anything about me!
"What, you wanna fight? Be my guest, if you're that pissed. Fuck's sake, the fact that I've been sticking around with this dumbass..."
Philmark glared right back at Neva. They needed to hurry and rescue Delin!
Doing it alone might be tough, so she needed to drag this idiot knight along to at least use as a magic shield!
"The idle chatter ends there. I had intended to let you finish your final conversation, at least."
But,
the plan gets slightly derailed.
A narrow alleyway.
Someone who had silently approached now blocked its entrance.
"The one with the eyepatch is Philmark. The white-haired one is Neva. Correct? I had wished to test myself against you at least once, but I didn't expect to meet so suddenly."
Quite fierce-looking eyes and sharp ears.
Ears on top of her head! They even twitched!
And a woman with an enormous sword strapped to her back.
"...I bear no ill will, but you will have to die. Right here, right now."
Ep.3 Witch City Raftel
end.