The Warmth That Dispelled the Darkness
It was all my fault again. Just like the previous parties, we fell into traps, suffered friendly fire, and staggered from unexplained dizziness. A mutant ratman even burst out near the portal. We never even reached the second floor—only I and one vanguard survived the first. Or so I thought.
“Hah, hah… Get a potion from the backpack. Pour it on me. Quick—!”
“Y-yeah.”
I frantically searched the pack, but the two spare potions were already shattered beyond recognition. The vanguard stared blankly at the broken shards in my hands before exhaling a shallow breath and dying.
“Why… why me… sniff.”
Tears poured down like a waterfall from the sheer sorrow. Why did I have to go through this? Why did they have to die because of me? Had I really been clinging to a false hope all along?
I couldn’t even return to the village. Every party I joined was wiped out because of me. If I went back, I’d just burn through what little money I had left and wouldn’t last more than a few months. But I couldn’t exactly get a normal job outside the Labyrinth either. Who would ever hire an Arar?
I barely managed to crawl through the portal and collapse. As I sat there, a shadow loomed over me.
“You’re the witch Ian’s party took in. Why are you alone?”
I looked up at her with empty eyes. A spark of flame flashed across my cheek, leaving it stinging.
“You bitch! Why are you the only one who came back alive?!”
Too drained to speak, I simply lowered my head and dragged myself toward the guild. Behind me, I heard a pitiful sobbing.
I didn’t care anymore.
After reporting and settling accounts at the reception desk, the clerk spoke coldly.
“I know I shouldn’t say this as a receptionist, but… you might be better off leaving Labyrinth City.”
“…”
Without a word, I took the money and headed to the inn.
“Lumia. Are you all right?”
Grandpa said something, but I couldn’t hear it. I just lay there. Like a corpse.
For weeks I remained motionless, only forcing myself to eat and wash when sheer survival instinct moved my body, then collapsing again. Revenge, growth—I forgot it all. Then one day, a spark ignited in my chest. As if telling me to do something spectacular before I died.
After washing and dressing neatly, I went downstairs. Grandpa greeted me warmly. I ate a simple meal and spoke.
“I’m going to the guild.”
“All right. Take care.”
No. I might not come back. Don’t wait for me.
Leaving the smiling old man behind, I stepped out of the inn.
When I arrived at the guild and opened the door, stares poured over me.
“Ugh, she’s back again. That witch.”
“Disgusting. She’s going to wipe out another party this month.”
“Come on, let’s keep our distance.”
I ignored them. As I approached the shortest line, the people ahead clicked their tongues and switched lines as if afraid her curse would reach them.
…Well, fine. Thanks to that, it was my turn right away.
Before I could even reach the desk, the receptionist snapped at me.
“Something urgent has come up. I won’t be able to assist you right now. Please go to another window.”
“What do you—”
A sharp sensation. Huh? For a moment, it felt as if someone was peering into my body—into my very essence. I flinched. This time the gaze was clearer. It was seeing… the darkness wrapped around me.
Forgetting the receptionist entirely, I turned toward the source of the gaze.
It was that man!
A strikingly handsome man with black hair and golden eyes. He was staring straight at me.
Can he really see the darkness?
“You… can you see it?”
He read my lips and slightly averted his eyes. So he could see it.
I ran toward him without thinking. If he could see the darkness, maybe he could do something about it.
As I dashed closer, the darkness vanished completely, as if it had never existed.
“Ah… ah.”
For a moment, I couldn’t believe it. It felt like the chains binding my body had snapped. Like every rope that had held me immobile had been cut away. Liberation.
While I stood frozen, the white-haired woman beside him grabbed his hand and tried to pull him outside.
No. No no no.
“Don’t go—!”
Like a flying squirrel, I threw myself at him and clung on desperately. Pressed against his chest, feeling his warmth, I spoke.
“Really… I can’t feel the darkness anymore.”
He tried to pry me off, but I could endure it. This man… he’s unconsciously adjusting his strength so he doesn’t hurt me, only trying to detach my limbs.
“Ngh, I’m not letting go.”
I would never release him. After struggling, he sighed and lifted me by the thighs, carrying me outside.
When people started staring, he told me to get down.
“No.”
The white-haired woman yanked at me, furious.
“I’m never letting go.”
After a while, the passersby began openly showing disgust at my appearance again. Normally I would have ignored it, but seeing them insult this man too made me feel ashamed and sorry. My body trembled uncontrollably.
Then he sighed… and hugged me tightly.
“Huh…?”
Was he… comforting me right now? Here?
Not only that—he gently stroked my ears and hair.
“…Haa.”
My mind went hazy and my legs gave out. After Mom and Dad died, after Levia, after the other witches, even Grandpa—no one had ever held me with such gentle hands or stroked me so tenderly.
Tears slipped out unbidden. He looked flustered at my sobbing, then told me to listen carefully…
No one can hurt you now. No one will suffer because of you either. Just forget the garbage people throw at you as they pass by. Letting strangers’ words control you only hurts yourself.
He comforted me with all kinds of words while pressing my ears and tidying my hair. My body grew hot, and for some reason my lower abdomen twitched.
When I promised with linked fingers that I wouldn’t run away, he finally let me down. The white-haired woman beside him pouted, demanding to be petted too, but I paid her no attention. My eyes were filled only with his face—his playfully raised lips and warm golden eyes.
After that, I took them by carriage to Grandpa’s inn and begged him to let me join their party. Grandpa just laughed heartily, happy that I had returned.
Once we were in the room, the man asked if I was only acting this way because of the curse—if the darkness disappeared simply because I was near him. I firmly told him that wasn’t all of it.
“In all my life, I’ve barely ever felt anything positive. But today, when you hugged me and calmed me down… I felt something strange.”
And that feeling—
“It was definitely… much hotter and more pleasant than any positive emotion I’ve ever known.”
Ever since I was cursed, my life had been flipped upside down. It was truly hell.
“Everyone treats me the same. They hate even standing near me or letting my clothes brush against them. Like I’m not a person, but a walking plague.”
Yet into that dark hell, a single ray of light had entered and shone warmly upon me.
“The only one who held me gently and stroked my ears was you. So I want to stay by your side.”
That light is you.
“I may be a witch who specializes in black magic, but I’m also a cat-beastman with good senses and decent stats. I want to stay in a party with you. Is that not allowed?”
If I was rejected even here… I might as well just die. I no longer had the strength to endure being alone, revenge or not.
“Yeriel, what do you think? It’s just the two of us in the party right now. If you don’t want her, I’ll refuse.”
He left the decision to the woman beside him. So they trusted each other that much? I found myself biting my lip without realizing it.
She closed her eyes in thought, then asked me,
“I only have one question. You said you use black magic? Then can you use curse magic too?”
Could I use curse magic? Of course I could.
“Then can you use the Curse of the Tracking Arrow as well?”
Right. She specifically named one curse, so she must need a tracking curse right away. Let me see… Curse of the Tracking Arrow. …Fortunately, it was within my capabilities.
Yeriel, hearing my answer, told him to accept me. Though she made it clear she didn’t like me and found my clinging unsightly, she still agreed.
Well, whatever. As long as he accepted me, that was enough.
Thus my joining was decided, and the three of us introduced ourselves.
Aren. Aren. Mmm, even his name sounded cool.
Yeriel… I didn’t like how prickly she was, but since she’d approved my joining, I’d have to play nice if I wanted to look good in front of Aren.
Aren said he’d treat us to celebrate my joining the party.
“Lumia, want to change into something comfortable and come down? We’ll order ahead and wait.”
Change into comfortable clothes? Fine. I’ll show her an overwhelming difference, Yeriel.
I changed into the outfit from my luggage that best emphasized my cleavage. After checking for any flaws, I went downstairs looking neat…
Aren saw me. For just an instant, his eyes definitely flicked to my chest. Though he quickly changed the subject, asking Yeriel if priests were allowed to drink, I was satisfied with even that much.
“Then pour drinks for both of them. To our new party member Lumia, and to the future of our party!”
We lightly clinked our orc-barrel mugs and drank deeply.
Whew. My head felt a little fuzzy. So my first drinking experience belonged to Aren, huh?
We spent time chatting idly over drinks.
“Then Lumia, let’s meet at the guild tomorrow morning.”
He was leaving? …Ah. Of course he had his own inn.
“Yeah. See you.”
…
Ever since coming to Labyrinth City, this was the first time I’d looked forward to the next day.
I hoped tomorrow would come quickly.