The Promise I Kept Ten Years Ago
I ran away after saving her.
“…… How did you get here…”
The words I barely managed to squeeze out were ridiculous even to myself.
The boy answered as if asking the obvious.
“I just followed the fire you started.”
“How did you put out the fire…”
“Simply.”
“Lie…”
“Would you lie about something like this.”
“You told them to bring me from outside, right…?”
“Does it look like that? Would I have heard you say to bring me in?”
“………….”
“You’re wrong.”
The boy said firmly.
Hearing that, Elysia felt a sense of relief on one hand, but she couldn’t help but waver.
Already prepared to die, she had caused the Witch’s Red Eyes to erupt in front of countless professors and students.
In this place where she barely escaped, the remaining flames were spewing out, but the Witch’s Flame that wouldn’t go out would now spread regardless of her will.
The control of the Red Eyes had left Elysia’s hands.
Now, she didn’t care what happened.
She thought to herself that it was something she didn’t know even to herself.
She didn’t need the help of anyone else, and she hadn’t wanted it.
She hoped no one would come…
At least she wanted to spend the last bit alone.
It must have been like that……
Elysia was seized by the impulse to rush to him immediately.
She bit her lip and shook her head.
She couldn’t be lonely.
She couldn’t show it or act like that.
She had lost the right to do so long ago.
“…… Do you even have the ability to think?”
Sharp words spilled out on their own.
The tone with which she habitually sharpened her thorns to protect herself carried more emotion than ever.
“Are you saying that because you don’t know what would happen to you if you stayed with the ‘Witch’? Sorry, but I’m no longer your bodyguard or the daughter of the Cadeliz Ducal family. Don’t get the wrong idea. Don’t approach me pretending to be close.”
“I see.”
“The Church sent you out to monitor me, right? To prepare for a situation like this. It’s all over now. So hurry up and do what you came for! If you’re going to kill me, do it already!”
“If you were going to do that, you would have waited outside. You wouldn’t have come all the way here in this state.”
“What?”
“You know, right now, the Empire’s regular troops are surrounding us with the flames as a barrier. They came to capture ‘Witch Elysia’. If you completely erupt, you might be able to take me with you in mutual destruction, but in the end, you’ll die too.”
“…… I know that much.”
“If you know, stop talking back and come here quickly.”
Gray extended his hand calmly.
Elysia’s head felt like it was about to explode from his unusually calm demeanor.
Was he angry?
Or was he bewildered by actions he couldn’t understand?
Perhaps the situation itself was causing irritation to bubble up.
The situation where she couldn’t confirm anything about why Gray was here or what his reason for coming was was confusing, and the fear of even the future where she would be hurt if she realized he hadn’t extended his hand out of goodwill was terrifying.
Her heart was fluttering, and her emotions were so heightened that she was about to burst into tears and curses, but instead, the emotions that rose all at once made her mind go blank.
“…… I don’t know.”
“What?”
“I don’t know. Really… I really don’t know… Even other people, but among them, you are the one I don’t know the most. I’m angry. I’ve been thinking about it every day, and it’s really irritating. From beginning to end, I can’t understand any of it. Why…? It doesn’t make sense. I’m not stupid. But I don’t understand this. I don’t understand you. I don’t know. Why did you come to me? Why are you here beside me? What’s the benefit? Is there something I don’t know? It doesn’t make sense logically. I’m irritated. Irritated. Irritated irritated irritated! Why do you always speak harshly but never complain once? I always run away, but you always come to me. Even though you’ve never treated me kindly, you’ve always treated me kindly. Why do you always listen to my words like a fool? Even while being pointed at by the surroundings? Why me? Why did you take on my bodyguard? Money? No. With your skills, you could have earned more elsewhere. Or, you… pity me…?”
It felt like a heavy stone was weighing on her chest as she spoke.
Elysia bit her lip and barely continued.
“…… I don’t need that. Hurry up and go.”
“That won’t do.”
“Go! Go away! Who told you to help? If you’re going to give cheap pity, you don’t need to go!”
“…….”
“Why! Why! You came here? I really don’t understand! I don’t get it. Go! Go! Leave me alone! Why! Why! Why…! Why are you doing this to me? Is it because my appearance is funny? Did you become disgusted after hearing Father’s words earlier?”
“…….”
“Don’t laugh as much as you want? That’s right. I killed our mother! With these horrible eyes! Did you hear it for the first time? No, right? You didn’t know that rumors were circulating behind your back?”
“… Really? I feel bad for you. By the way, I didn’t know. I just heard it for the first time earlier.”
“Then now you know well! Listen well! Your arm! You can’t move properly anymore, right? Because of the Witch’s Flame! Yeah! Because of me! But you came here after going through that? Are you stupid? Do you have no thoughts? You’re going to help me? Don’t make me laugh!”
“You don’t want the people around you to get hurt? That’s why you always choose to be hated in that way.”
“Don’t speak as if you know everything. You… you will never know. Do you know what it feels like to have your parents die by your own hand?! You don’t know. People like you who grew up in a noble temple seeing only good things with flower-like people won’t understand.”
“That’s right. I don’t understand at all.”
“…………….”
“I don’t have parents.”
A wooden pillar crumbled with a crunch. If Gray hadn’t pulled her up, she would have fallen.
Elysia thought for a moment if she had misheard. The boy’s expression was too calm to be a joke. She didn’t have time to worry about miscommunication.
She asked him one by one.
“…… But you… were in the Astasia Church… high-ranking……”
“Church? There must be a misunderstanding. I’m neither a priest nor a believer.”
“………….”
“I didn’t grow up in the Church, and I’ve never properly believed in a god. I won’t do that in the future either. … To put it bluntly, I don’t like it either.”
“…… Lie.”
“There’s no reason to lie to you. Until three years ago, I was living on the streets stealing. I’ve suffered a lot. People like me who are far from gods have no choice but to be dissatisfied with nine out of ten things the Church does.”
“………….”
“Does it sound like a lie? Let me count one. I don’t remember the name of the Church, but there was a Church that would offer food not meant to be passed to the gods, let it rot meaninglessly, and then scatter it in the mountains as a ritual. … The god of abundance and… what… what god was it…”
“………….”
“Anyway, I got irritated by throwing away food like that and caused a ruckus in front of the temple several times. The discarded food was still eaten without complaint. Gathering food was quite competitive.”
“…… I can’t believe it…. I……
“The parents who were supposed to be mine were said to have abandoned their child at the gate of a wealthy house’s door while abandoning it. Were they trying to relieve their guilt? The one thing those humans overlooked was that the owner of the wealthy house wasn’t a stupid fool who would fall for the tricks of a cuckoo-like idiot. I was thrown into the river wrapped in a bundle, handed over by a merchant at the river, sold by the merchant to a circus troupe, and the circus troupe… wasn’t a normal place. It took some time to escape, but it was fortunate that I was able to learn some trap techniques.”
“……….”
“Don’t listen with such a serious expression.”
“… I’m not serious?”
“Then it’s fortunate.”
“… That alone doesn’t answer it. If what you said is true, then what is the connection with the Church? What was the reason you wanted to be my bodyguard?”
When Elysia asked sharply, he answered with a loose smile.
“Are you curious?”
“This is a secret,” he whispered in her ear.
“The goddess Astasia has given me a task. In other words, a human chosen by the goddess. My luck was really bad.”
“Did the goddess directly… to you…?”
“What? You believe that too easily. It sounds like a lie even to me. What’s the standard?”
Before I knew it, he was right in front of me.
I had never tolerated such close proximity to anyone. Because no matter who the other person was, I would feel inexplicable displeasure.
But now it was different.
I didn’t feel displeasure from him.
“Even that goddess Astasia is passing on the message on her behalf.”
Elysia stared at him blankly, unsure if the words were sincere or a joke.
He said.
“It’s good to remember, cherish, and regret, but who would want to be tied up and whipped like that?”
“.............”
“Your deceased mother?”
“… No! It can’t be!?”
“There, you see.”
“But… Mom is…… Mom is…………”
"…………."
"……… Mom is……."
“It’s okay. Tell me. I’m listening.”
At the words that I was listening, tears welled up momentarily.
When was the last time someone listened to me? When I came to my senses, I was spewing out unrefined complaints at will.
“…… Mom… only Mom…”
“……….”
“……… Mom…… only Mom was on my side. No one… is there. No one is looking after me. No one loves me. I know. It’s obvious. It’s something I did to myself. It can’t be covered even with the word ‘mistake’. This Red Eye is a curse. Mom is… so… I will be… for the rest of my life…”
“I can’t understand the feeling of being driven to death by your own parents, as you said earlier. I can give pity, but it’s not what you want, and even if I do, it won’t help at all. It would be even more so if you continue to be like that.”
“.......... I….”
So, from now on, believe in the sweet lies I’m telling, he said.
He told me that my mother would surely want that.
“Remember this well. The fact that you harmed someone with the Witch’s Red Eyes is true both in the past, now, and in the future. One of my arms is enough. That’s it.”
“...........”
My mouth twitched, but no words came out.
“I made a promise. To resolve your Witch’s Red Eyes.”
Gray gently covered Elysia’s eyes and said.
“Relax, close your eyes.”
Elysia couldn’t resist and obediently accepted his touch.
“Release as much mana as you can to shoot out the flames as much as you can.”
I couldn’t understand why I was obeying his words.
“After all, the problem is the mana contained in that Red Eye. Don’t worry about extracting it all… No, extracting the eyes, so don’t worry. The eyes will remain red for the time being, but still. You won’t need to hide anymore.”
“How can you…”
“I don’t know either. It’s the first time I’ve heard it. … The words ‘you’ll know when the time comes’ meant this. … A spiteful goddess… It would be nice if she told me in advance what would help.”
“Eh…?”
“Don’t worry about what I said to you.”
“U… uh-huh…”
“From now on, I’ll count to three. When you open your eyes, go to the parish of the Astasia Church beyond the valley over there. There should be Bishop Boris or Priestess Lucia there. When you tell them my name, they’ll take care of the rest.”
A sense of unease suddenly came to my mind, which was turning white.
… Then you?
I wanted to ask, but the words that came out of Elysia’s mouth were a bit more blunt.
“I… I… alone?”
“............ What? Do I have to feed you that too? Sorry. I’m busy, I can’t. I have to go somewhere right away.”
No.
Don’t go.
Don’t leave me alone.
I don’t like it anymore.
I don’t like it.
I don’t like being alone.
Stay with me.
Don’t go.
Don’t go. Don’t go don’t go.
Don’t go.
Don’t go don’t go.
Don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go don’t go
Like a baby bird flapping its wings in panic.
Because my eyes were covered, I couldn’t see anything, but it was easy to grab his sleeve in front of me.
But losing consciousness came faster than that.
“If the opportunity arises, we can meet again.”
This was the last appearance of Gray ten years ago that Elysia remembered.