Chapter: 229
“Long time no see, Eva.”
A girl with purple hair, who suddenly appeared, smiles faintly in front of me.
Among the many monsters I’ve encountered in this world, she’s definitely one of the top three most dangerous beings.
I jump back like a startled cat, increasing my caution to the max while conjuring flames in my hands, shouting at her.
“Witch of Sloth…!”
“There’s no need to be so scared. I didn’t come here to fight you, Eva.”
The girl stands there with her arms raised, palms open, as if to show she means no harm.
She doesn’t seem to have any intent to fight, but I can’t extinguish the flames I’ve summoned in my hands.
She wasn’t an ideal opponent to irritate, but she also wasn’t someone I could just trust blindly.
Seeing me on edge, the girl mutters as if she’s slightly offended.
“Hmm, but I’m a bit unhappy.”
Guess we have no choice but to fight, I think while staying vigilant and ready to respond. Then, she speaks again.
“Didn’t you tell me your name last time? I’d prefer you to call me by my name instead of Witch of Sloth.”
…Name?
I momentarily zone out, thinking a fight was imminent when that statement hits me, recalling the girl’s name I had heard before.
“…Beatrice.”
As I utter that name, the girl nods and says,
“That’s right, Beatrice. You can call me Bea for short. Unlike others, since you’re Eva, you can call me that.”
Seeing Beatrice looking satisfied being called by her name leaves me feeling perplexed.
I simply can’t understand why she’s acting so friendly towards me.
Could it be she thinks I’m Evangeline?
Having that thought, I respond to her.
“…I think you might be mistaken; I’m not the Eva you believe.”
“Oh? You’re Scarlet Evande, right? We met last time.”
But Beatrice tilts her head and mutters.
“Do you think I mistook you? There’s no way I could be confused. If you weren’t that Eva, you would have tried to burn me right away.”
Her clear distinction between me and Evangeline only adds to my confusion.
It’s strange.
While I wouldn’t know about Evangeline, we don’t have any particular connection.
Amidst pondering if there’s something about me she knows that I don’t, Beatrice mumbles.
“By the way, I honestly didn’t expect it to turn out like this. I thought Eva would hate me so much that she’d never let me live until I was dead.”
She talks about Evangeline.
As I silently watch her, I feel something surging inside my chest.
Before I know it, I’m shouting at the being in front of me.
“…Stop.”
“Huh?”
“Stop calling me Eva…”
My heart races.
Since I sensed her presence earlier, my heart has been pounding like a drum.
Just a moment ago, I thought that this pounding was fear of her presence, but now I realize it.
This feeling that makes my heart race is nothing but anger.
It’s the lingering embers of deep, profound anger harbored by Evangeline towards the being that ruined her life, Beatrice.
“Why the hell have you kept calling me like we’re close? You of all people…!”
Having once assimilated with Evangeline’s consciousness,
I carry vivid memories of the times she suffered.
Maybe that’s why.
It felt utterly disgusting that the one responsible for throwing her into that pit of despair, Beatrice, would call her Eva as a nickname.
“Evangeline suffered so much because of you…!!”
As I yell, boiling with feelings, Beatrice gazes at me with a strange expression.
“Hmm, am I the reason?”
She murmurs, pondering while staring at me intently.
“From the way you talk, I see you know what happened in the past. Do you think it was because of me that Eva became like this?”
“Of course! If your demonic beasts hadn’t killed the village children, she wouldn’t have ended up like that!”
“Indeed, that was a trigger.”
Beatrice responds as if acknowledging, then continues.
“But you see, Eva didn’t become like this solely because of me.”
“What are you talking about?! Evangeline became like that because of you!”
“Eh, that’s not it. It’s different.”
As I shout in anger at Beatrice’s attempt to shift the blame, she murmurs in a low voice.
“The beasts killing the children was just a simple trigger. It was merely an incident that could happen at any time. Was it really because the demonic beasts killed the children that Evangeline became like this?”
She shakes her head.
“No. Just because they were different, people wrongfully blamed and suspected them, and since nobody stood up for her, that’s how it turned out. Even if the children hadn’t died, if people discovered the fact that Evangeline was a witch, something similar would surely have happened eventually. If anything bad happened, they’d blame the witch.”
“That’s just a fallacy!”
Despite never having occurred, I counter her assertion, convinced of the obvious.
In response, she looks at me with a strange smile.
“Can you really say that would never happen? Look at you, kicked out of the city just for being a witch?”
“Th-that’s…”
Doesn’t it answer your question, looking at your situation?
I feel myself being silenced by her question.
After all, I was indeed in the position of being ostracized and chased away for being a witch.
Beatrice, seeing me like that, smirks as if to say, “See?”
“Isn’t it hard to deny?”
With those words, Beatrice continues.
“Someone could have stood by Eva, but nobody did. People have learned that witches are evil, so blaming the witch is easier. It’s easier to just conform to everything as it has been. No one chooses to take the harder path over an easier one. Nobody. The world is full of such pathetic people. That’s why Eva turned out like this.”
Then, she murmurs with an empty laugh.
“Because the world is filled with filthy, boring people.”
Looking into her eyes as she mutters that, I find myself unable to open my mouth.
Those eyes seemed to reflect the world yet looked devoid of everything.
They seemed as dark as a bottomless abyss, letting no light in.
No red, yellow, blue, or anything else.
There was nothing.
To feel disappointment, one must have some expectations.
To feel excitement, one must have something to yearn for.
From her eyes, which seemed to have long stopped expecting or desiring anything, only a poignant sense of boredom emanated.
As I stared into those eyes, I slowly realized I had stopped breathing.
Because of the overwhelming energy coming from Beatrice’s seemingly bored gaze.
What is this feeling?
No matter how much the difference in strength may vary, to feel such a vast gap between two witches…
A monster among monsters.
If we were to fight now, there’s no way I could win.
As I sense that, Beatrice, finally collecting herself after seemingly letting out the energy earlier, smirks slightly and says,
“Sorry about that. I got carried away. Anyway, you really don’t like me calling Evangeline ‘Eva,’ do you?”
Having been pressured by the atmosphere for a moment, I barely came to my senses at that question and swallowed.
Damn it, she must have seen right through me!
Nodding in agreement with my inner thoughts, she responds with a peculiar expression.
“Then I’ll call you Eva instead of Evangeline, but only if you call me Bea.”
I can’t help but crumple my face at her words.
“I don’t think we’re the kind of people who could call each other using those nicknames. Besides, why do you call me Eva? I’m not the person you called Eva!”
Even though it’s a little terrifying to say that after experiencing her strength, honestly, I don’t want to be forced to call someone I dislike in such a way.
More than that, I couldn’t understand why she calls me Eva, and I didn’t like it, so I frown while speaking. Beatrice just grins and mutters.
“No, to me, you’re now Eva. Just like all the other Evas. Being betrayed by people, getting hurt, and ultimately abandoned.”
At the mention of being forsaken by people, I stiffen my expression.
Though it’s a situation I can’t deny, I felt that if I accepted it, it would truly become so, so I grit my teeth and shake my head in denial.
“…I’m not forsaken. I still have friends who believe in me.”
Then Beatrice bursts into a laugh and glances behind me, mumbling.
“Well, I don’t know how you can think that after seeing that.”
Just as she finishes that line, Beatrice seems to melt into the air and disappears.
I could still sense her energy around, so I knew she simply concealed her presence.
But why suddenly…
Feeling puzzled by her abrupt action, I turn my head in the direction she was looking.
“…Huh?”
And then I see them.
A group of people running towards me, weapons in hand.
Those glaring at me with menacing eyes.
The drawn bow aiming directly at me.
“Everyone, commence firing—!!”
Flowing silver hair.
A rain of arrows.
In that scene, a voice resounded alongside the laughter.
“Eva, Eva.
Even though you’ve changed,
the world hasn’t.”
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