Chapter 20
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Scene 020: Wendy
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Wendy first used magic when she was ten years old.
Born the eldest daughter of a poor farming family, Wendy had helped her parents with the farmwork since she was little.
Like any farmwork, it was incredibly grueling for a young girl like her.
She followed her parents to the fields, plowing the land and picking out stones from dawn until late at night.
The plot allotted to her family was absurdly large.
Even with Wendy's small hands helping out, there seemed to be no end to it.
There wasn't a single day without wounds on her hands.
Wounds formed over old wounds, again and again.
Each time, it was her brother who treated Wendy's little hands.
-Are you okay?
The eldest son of the family, and her one and only brother.
Though he was young himself, he worked as well as any adult.
He was the pillar of the house.
At the same time, Wendy's pillar of support.
While doing his own work, he would secretly help with hers.
That was why his clothes were always dirtier and sweatier than everyone else's.
Seeing him like that, Wendy thought he looked incredibly dependable...
Then one day, a severe drought struck.
The land cracked dry, and the tenant farmers' hearts burned black.
As the drought dragged on, even the rations of food ran short.
Her young siblings cried every day from hunger.
But Wendy didn't cry.
Because she was the eldest daughter.
Because she was the big sister.
...Because she had her brother.
One day during the ongoing drought, Wendy found her brother in the field.
He was on his knees, mumbling something.
-Brother, what are you doing?
-I'm praying.
-Praying...? To who?
-I'm praying to God. To save our fields.
He looked desperate.
She knew he hadn't eaten for days.
His noticeably thinner arms.
His hollowed cheeks.
His listless eyes.
She wanted to be a strength to her brother.
-I'll pray too.
Beneath the scorching sun, the young girl knelt beside him.
And she prayed fervently.
To save their fields.
To let rain fall on the dry land.
To please help her brother...
Plop.
That was when it happened.
Was it that heaven was moved by Wendy's prayer?
A single teardrop fell onto the parched earth.
Plop. Plop.
One drop became two, then three... and soon, countless droplets poured down.
It was a downpour.
A miracle had occurred.
-Brother!
Drenched to the bone, Wendy hugged her brother in joy.
I've helped Brother!
She wanted his kind praise.
She wanted him to stroke her hair.
But no matter how long she waited, her brother said nothing.
There was no warm touch.
No kind praise.
Wendy looked up at him.
And... she realized her thoughts had been wrong.
The way he looked at her held some complicated emotion she couldn't quite place.
Brother...?
Is it because I prayed on my own...?
Do you hate me now...?
Wendy would only later learn that it had been magic.
....
The drought ended.
Rations of food resumed.
Farmwork started up again.
Everything returned to how it had been.
Except for one thing.
-Brother......
No matter how much Wendy called, her brother gave no reply.
She was bewildered by his sudden cold attitude.
She racked her young mind for what she might have done wrong, but she couldn't guess.
Tears welled up.
He didn't comfort her.
He didn't tend to the wounds on her hands.
The brother who had been Wendy's pillar of support was gone.
Not long after, her brother decided to leave home.
He said he would follow a traveling merchant to the city to earn money.
Wendy grabbed her departing brother.
-Br-Brother! I'm sorry...!
If she didn't hold onto him now, she felt like she'd never see him again.
Wendy begged.
-I... I did wrong... Sob... I won't pray again... I won't use magic or anything... So please... don't go....
-Wendy, it's not your fault. It's just....
He trailed off there, swallowing his words.
What had he been about to say?
Without answering her question, her brother bid her farewell.
-Take care....
-Brother! Don't go!
Wendy couldn't hold onto her departing brother.
She could only watch helplessly as he walked away.
She wanted to pray.
To keep her brother there.
To bring back her kind brother.
But Wendy didn't.
She couldn't.
She was afraid that if she did, she'd lose him forever.
She decided not to pray.
She vowed never to use magic again.
Rustle.
Something inside her shattered.
Thinking of it made her voice tremble and her heart race.
How much time had passed since her brother left the family?
A man in expensive clothes arrived in her village.
-The Ruelverta Count family is hiring servants. Is there anyone here who wants to apply?
The Ruelverta Count family... It was probably the noble house right by the imperial capital, Luddrow.
Becoming a servant for a noble family would be a huge step up from their poor village.
-Is there no one?
Yet not a single person raised their hand to apply.
The Ruelverta family was infamous for its count with a bad reputation.
Perhaps it was better to be content with their current lives than become playthings for nobles.
-Oh, are you the first applicant?
When she came to, Wendy had already raised her hand.
As if under a spell.
No, in truth, she had harbored some faint hope.
That maybe, if she went to the capital, she could meet her brother again.
And so, she became a servant of the count's family.
She never met her brother there.
But instead... she met him.
"Little miss."
"Yes."
When she looked up, an old cat stood before her.
"This test is one specially prepared for you. Most people want to take it but never get the chance. Keep that in mind."
Director Myoil... no, Sage Myohail....
"Just call me Myoil. Heh heh."
"Is Director Myoil actually far greater than I imagine...?"
Myohail scratched his ear.
"I'm stuck in this wretched body now, but I was once hailed as a sage."
"A, a sage......"
To think the cute cat before her eyes had reached the pinnacle of magic.
Wendy instinctively shrank back.
Seeing that, Myohail chuckled heartily.
"Don't worry. I wouldn't show my true power against a cute applicant like you, little miss. However...."
Myohail's whiskers twitched.
"Before we start the test, there's one thing I want to ask."
"Y-Yes...?"
"What do you think of the count?"
"......!"
Wendy flinched.
"As someone who serves him, you must know well. All those bad rumors about him."
"......"
"He spends money lavishly and looks down on and ignores everyone. He torments nobles and commoners alike for fun, and he's said to have deep ties to the underworld. That's why...."
Myohail's eyes narrowed.
"Some say he deserves to die."
"That's not true."
Gasp! Wendy covered her mouth at the words that slipped out unbidden.
More than anything, they had come out so clearly, unlike her usual self, that she couldn't help but be startled.
"Th-That's not true...."
"Hoo...? So you really think that way. In that case, shall I tell you something you don't know?"
"Y-Yes?"
Myohail hopped up onto Wendy's shoulder.
And whispered in her ear.
"He killed his own father."
"......!"
In that moment, Wendy's eyes shook.
Myohail's whiskers quivered.
"To take the count's position for himself, he shot his father dead with a gun. And he was about your age at the time."
"D-Don't lie...."
"You doubt the words of a former sage? Well, fine. But why would I lie to you?"
"The count... isn't the type to do that...."
Wendy gazed at the man sitting a short distance away.
Tall, fat, and with what looked like a nasty personality.
But the man she believed in without a doubt.
For such a count to have killed his father?
Wendy shook her head.
No way.
The count wasn't the type to kill anyone.
At least, not from what she'd seen.
But Director Myoil wasn't the type to lie either.
So Wendy was confused.
Her heart churned greatly.
In that moment, what steadied her heart was a very brief memory.
-You can't trust yourself? Then trust me.
The words that had let her take one step forward.
Those words were holding her steady now.
So Wendy decided to accept it.
"Director Myoil."
No matter what truth awaited.
Even if she couldn't trust herself.
"Please start the test...."
She would believe in the count.
"Heh heh, right... I went on too long."
Myohail sighed as if in lament, then explained.
"The soil in this arena conducts mana well. It's similar to the magic stones used in shogi."
"Yes. I remember...."
"The test is almost exactly like shogi. You'll infuse mana to summon a golem. I'll summon one too. But...."
As Myoil infused mana, the ground rumbled.
Soon, the soil glowed gold and formed the shape of a giant.
"Pour in your mana to the max. This is a contest of pure power... no, a mana battle."
The golden giant roared.
"I want to see your potential, little miss. Come at me with everything you've got."
"......"
Wendy took a deep breath.
An earnest wish stirred in her chest.
Just like back in her childhood, praying before the parched land.
Because she wanted to repay 'him.'
Because she wanted his pure praise.
Wendy released her mana.
The ground greedily sucked it in.
Rumble rumble rumble.
The earth was splitting.
Far more than when Myohail summoned his golem, the ground shook.
Boom!
At last, a black hand burst forth.
A massive body was emerging onto the surface.
The giant's form grew by devouring all the soil in the arena.
When the giant Wendy summoned finally revealed itself in the arena, Myohail swallowed hard.
"I see... I didn't think of that... You didn't have black; you had 'black' as well...."
The giant she summoned emanated multicolored lights.
Seeing it, Myohail murmured as if in lament.
"You don't mean to say... you're of the hero's bloodline...."