The Black Mage of the Black Mist Forest 3
{The Black Mage of the Black Mist Forest}
Pale moonlight filtered through the dense canopy of leaves.
The light illuminated the mossy forest floor, softly glowing in the dark night.
Han Seol-ah stood silently behind a tree, holding her breath.
She gazed at the woman in the black robe—a black mage.
'She beat them all.'
Dozens of pursuers lay scattered around the woman, unconscious without a single drop of blood spilled.
She had bound their bodies with vines before forcing them into a magical slumber.
Han Seol-ah had witnessed the black mage overpower them in an instant.
The gap in skill was overwhelming.
If this mage named Esmi had willed it, she could have ended their lives with a single word.
"Um, excuse me."
Han Seol-ah approached cautiously.
Esmi startled, snapping her head up.
Her eyes were like amethysts.
But those amethysts trembled as if they might shatter at any moment.
"Why… didn't you kill them?"
Han Seol-ah asked carefully.
"They were trying to kill you. With your power, you could have wiped them out easily."
Esmi shrugged and shook her head at the question.
She clutched her hands together, her body shivering.
Then, in a quavering voice thick with fear, she replied,
"I-I… d-don't like… p-pain…."
"Pardon?"
"I hate pain, s-so others must hate it too. G-Getting stabbed hurts, s-slashed stings, right? S-So… I just put them to sleep…."
Her words hit Han Seol-ah like a dagger to the heart.
This woman was a genius black mage, born with overwhelming talent for dark mana.
Yet she empathized too deeply with others' suffering.
She didn't want to hurt anyone.
Not even those who sought to kill her. It was a foolish, pure innocence.
'Someone like her exists.'
Han Seol-ah's chest ached as she watched Esmi's trembling shoulders.
The world called her a witch and pointed fingers.
Yet she had a heart more fragile and warm than anyone.
Perhaps the title of Saintess suited her better.
Han Seol-ah couldn't just leave this pure woman alone.
Like her pre-regression self, Esmi must desperately crave someone's help.
"Um…."
"Eek! D-Don't hit me!"
Seeing Esmi's terrified face, Han Seol-ah smiled gently and extended her hand.
"Would you… like to be friends with me?"
"P-Pardon?"
Esmi's eyes widened like a rabbit's.
Han Seol-ah laughed at the sight.
She wanted to be the warm light extended to this lonely, rabbit-like woman huddled in the darkness.
Han Seol-ah knew better than anyone the position of one begging for salvation.
That was why she decided to become the savior.
Her white fingers gripped the doorframe, trembling nonstop.
'Is this the Esmi from the original story?'
Kang Jin-ho looked down at the woman shivering before him.
Esmi, the genius black mage.
From the mid-story onward, she became the heroine Han Seol-ah's steadfast ally and friend.
"Hey."
"Y-Yes? E-Eek…!"
Esmi trembled in terror.
Kang Jin-ho crossed his arms and asked her,
"What's your name?"
"I-It's Esmi…."
No doubt about it.
Her voice was a tiny crawl, but she had clearly said her own name: Esmi.
It matched the timid personality from the original perfectly.
"P-Please don't hit me… I-I hate… pain…."
Esmi collapsed to the ground, shaking violently.
Kang Jin-ho frowned in disbelief.
He hadn't even exuded any pressure yet.
And here she was, collapsing on her own from fear.
'Hitting something like this would just piss me off more.'
He hadn't planned to hit her just because she was a black mage anyway.
She hadn't attacked him.
Nor had she done anything to grate on his nerves.
There was zero reason for him to strike.
"Hey."
"E-Eek…! Y-Yes…!"
"I won't hit you."
"Y-Yes…? Hic!"
"I said I won't. You think I'm crazy? Beat someone for no reason?"
"Hic!"
Esmi kept hiccuping.
"Hey, stand up."
Esmi shot to her feet.
He grabbed her shoulders as she rose.
"E-Eek…!"
Her face looked ready to burst into tears from fear.
She resembled a terrified rabbit on the verge of sobbing.
Kang Jin-ho spoke at the sight.
"I'm going inside."
Without waiting for her reply, he stepped into the hut.
The interior was surprisingly cozy.
The air was filled with the scent of dried herbs and brewing tea.
No cauldron bubbling with poison, as one might imagine in a black mage's home.
No cursed dolls or skulls hanging from the ceiling.
'Nicely kept.'
Kang Jin-ho scanned the hut.
The furniture was decently furnished.
But everything was worn out.
The chair had clear patches from a broken leg.
The table was rickety old wood.
The curtains on the walls and carpet on the floor showed heavy use.
It looked like she'd scavenged discards.
"U-Um…."
Esmi followed cautiously, closing the door and fidgeting nervously.
Kang Jin-ho plopped onto the sturdiest-looking chair nearby.
"Hey. Come here."
"Y-Yes!"
Esmi hurried over, her fear-filled eyes darting carefully.
Then, unprompted, she dropped to her knees on the floor.
And raised both hands high.
'Weird.'
He knew what the pose meant.
It was a mage's sign of surrender—no intent to resist.
Mages cast with hand gestures, so showing open palms meant disarmed.
Like a knight discarding his sword.
'But she looks just like a kid standing in the corner for punishment.'
Crying Esmi evoked a student punished by the teacher, despite her mature beauty.
It was oddly charming.
"H-Ha… I surrender. P-Please just spare me."
"Oh? You'll do anything if I let you live?"
"E-Eek!"
Her terrified shudder at his light teasing was amusing.
But she seemed so fragile, like she'd shatter if stepped on—he felt awkward even touching her.
"Hey."
"Y-Yes!"
"From now on, just answer what I ask."
Kang Jin-ho tapped the table with a finger.
Each light press left dents in the wood, like clay under his touch.
Esmi's face drained of color at the sight.
She looked on the verge of fainting from terror.
"Heard the village livestock's dying and they're in a panic. Did you do it?"
Esmi shook her head furiously.
Her long black hair whipped against her cheeks.
"N-No! I didn't!"
"Ho? For real? Not lying?"
"I-I… c-can't even stand the smell of blood! I-It's scary! Sniff…!"
Esmi whimpered, indignant and teary.
No lie in her words.
Kang Jin-ho hadn't suspected her anyway.
"Fine. We'll say that's true. So what do you normally eat?"
"F-Foraged herbs and mushrooms from the forest… s-sneak into the village for scraps…."
"……."
Even Kang Jin-ho was speechless for a moment.
The original mentioned poor meals.
But beggar-level? He hadn't expected that.
'Her energy's pure, though.'
The aura he sensed from Esmi was remarkably clear.
Dark mana, yet transparent.
Like it reflected her heart.
Kang Jin-ho, bored as usual, thought this was perfect timing.
He'd ask the question that bugged him from the original.
"Hey, Esmi."
"Y-Yes!"
"You're pretty strong, right?"
He sensed her power: a 7th Circle black mage.
Considering her original age, she was just 20 now.
Later, she'd surpass 8th Circle, eyeing 9th.
A genius who could become a grand black mage.
Yet hiding from a rural village.
"Even if the villagers came to kill you, you could wipe them out with a flick. Don't you feel wronged? What'd you do wrong to hide like this?"
Kang Jin-ho couldn't empathize with her thinking.
Since falling into this world, he'd grown ruthless to survive.
Crush threats with force.
That was his way in this barbaric world.
"B-But… if I attack… they'll get hurt…."
"Hey."
Her answer fit her perfectly.
But Kang Jin-ho found it frustrating.
"They're trying to kill you. Do you need to show mercy to those who want you dead?"
He crumpled a nearby chair like paper.
"If someone's out to harm you, they should be prepared to die."
"E-Eek! K-Kill…?"
Esmi's frightened look was cute, endearing even.
It stirred protective instincts.
But Kang Jin-ho felt a deeper clash of values.
"This world's survival of the fittest. The weak bow to the strong—that's normal. If the weak defy the strong, death's the natural order."
He placed a hand on Esmi's head.
"Having power but not using it? That's just stupid. You little fool."
"But…."
"Before pitying others' pain, pity yourself first."
Kang Jin-ho recalled the village.
The mad mob screaming for Esmi's death.
"They tried to kill you without even confirming. You have every right to kill them."