“Of course.”
Yoon Si-woo, smiling, readily agreed to help me when I asked for his assistance.
Seeing him respond so naturally stirred a whirlwind of emotions within me.
I felt a pang of regret for needing to ask someone who had just recently awakened for such a task.
Yet, I couldn’t shake the guilt of asking him to make sacrifices.
Those emotions tightened around my heart, almost bringing me to tears, but I bit my lip to hold back the urge to cry.
Yoon Si-woo, who must have faced the most challenging choices, showed fortitude in such a composed manner, while I couldn’t allow myself to display weakness.
After all, it was I who had asked him for this.
So, what I should do was not to feel sorry or sad, but to respond to the determination he had shown.
I wiped my tears and looked directly into Yoon Si-woo’s eyes.
His gaze, shining with resolute determination and will, seemed to hold a flicker of flames within it.
Watching that flame ignite my heart, which had been crushed in my fight with Beatrice, awakened me from the fear and helplessness that had engulfed me.
…Right. If you’re not giving up, if you’re willing to fight,
I’ll find the strength to keep going until the very end.
With a whoosh, the flame that had been extinguished blazed back to life.
The heat spread through my body, breathing life into my weary form, enabling me to stand once more and fight back against despair and fear.
So, I rose from my seat and faced Yoon Si-woo, nodding vigorously.
There was still hope.
And as long as that hope did not lose its light,
I too would not give up until the very last moment.
*
After Beatrice disappeared, the first thing Yoon Si-woo and I did was head back to the city to explain everything that had just happened to everyone.
“…Damn it, the Witch of Sloth? What kind of mess is this?”
As expected, those who were briefly informed about the situation wore troubled expressions. It was certainly bad news to encounter yet another formidable foe while already dealing with the Witch of Gluttony.
“…But the Witch of Sloth promised that if she is defeated, she’ll reveal the location of the sacred relic, right? Well, if we think positively, we might be able to eliminate multiple headaches at once if we can take her down. Assuming, of course, that she’s not lying.”
At least, a breakthrough had emerged regarding the search for the sacred relic, for which there was previously no means to locate.
As Captain Martina managed to calm everyone down with those words, she shifted the focus to the composition of the hunting party.
“Anyway, what we need to consider now is how to structure the hunting party that will go after the Witch of Sloth. If anyone has suggestions, feel free to speak up.”
Since we had already organized a hunting party to deal with the Witch of Lust, it was naturally the most significant issue, but…
With a serious expression, I opened my mouth.
“Um, Captain Martina.”
“Hmm. Do you have something to say?”
“Well, regarding the hunting party… Yoon Si-woo and I will handle the Witch of Sloth ourselves, so we won’t need anyone else this time.”
“…This is a fight that could determine the fate of humanity. There’s no way I can put such an important battle on just the two of you! That’s not realistic…”
“It’s precisely because humanity’s fate is at stake that I’m saying this. Honestly, anyone other than Yoon Si-woo would be of no help in the fight; they would just be a hindrance.”
Upon hearing my words, everyone except Yoon Si-woo stiffened.
But what could I do? Realistically, this was the best option.
Having been through the battle against the Witch of Lust, I understood well how many people in the hunting party could contribute, but against Beatrice, numbers meant nothing.
In fact, having to protect more people would only serve to distract Yoon Si-woo.
Thus, I was saying that the attack would be limited to Yoon Si-woo and me.
Since this was a prior agreement with Yoon Si-woo, I nodded to him, reminding the others about Beatrice’s strength as I added:
“The only one capable of penetrating the abilities the Witch of Sloth holds and injuring her is the witch power Yoon Si-woo possesses. Others won’t even serve as meat shields. I include myself in saying that Yoon Si-woo will not be of any help in the battle.”
“…So, the Witch of Sloth is that formidable, huh? Coming from you, who defeated the Witch of Lust?”
“Yes. Honestly, it’s frustrating, but I’m the one who’s made this wager against the Witch of Sloth, so it’s my responsibility. If only Yoon Si-woo goes, I doubt she’d reveal the location of the sacred relic even if Yoon Si-woo defeats her…”
As one of the top powers in the city, my words seemed to clarify for everyone just how much of a threat Beatrice represented.
“…So, ultimately, our fate rests on Yoon Si-woo alone? Damn it, does that even make sense? Yoon Si-woo, are you okay with that?”
Captain Martina murmured with an exasperated expression.
“There’s no way I could be okay with that…!”
Simultaneously, Sylvia, who had been listening to our conversation with a pale face, let out a scream of despair.
It was understandable why she had to shout.
If Yoon Si-woo were to use the witch’s power, his life would be in danger.
Only I, Yoon Si-woo, and Sylvia were aware of this truth.
For Sylvia, our words must have sounded like a sentence that would lead to Yoon Si-woo’s demise.
“Scarlet! Yoon Si-woo! What are the two of you thinking saying such things? Yoon Si-woo…!”
However, at one point in her shouting, Sylvia suddenly stopped speaking, letting out a sigh with an indescribable expression as she looked at Yoon Si-woo, who was smiling wryly at her.
She realized that he had already made that resolve.
As the surroundings quieted down, Yoon Si-woo spoke to Sylvia and the others.
“…The important thing is not whether I’m okay or not, but whether this is something that must be done. And it absolutely must be done.”
Listening intently with bated breath, everyone bit their lips at his calm declaration.
“I will go and do what I must. So please, trust and support me. If you do, I will surely succeed and return.”
When Yoon Si-woo smiled while asking them to believe in him, the crowd paid their respects to the resolve shown by the young hero with various salutes.
After that, the discussion about the composition of the hunting party concluded without any significant disagreement.
“…If the two of you defeat the Witch of Sloth, you’ll likely be exhausted. Asking you to search for the sacred relic in that state would be unreasonable, so I’ll follow up shortly to assist in the search. Is that acceptable?”
Though Sylvia’s fervent request meant additional backup was provided,
it was clear her true intention was to say she would come to rescue us if we found ourselves in a dangerous situation…
But that probably wouldn’t happen.
Given Yoon Si-woo’s constraints on using the witch’s power, I knew the battle’s outcome would certainly be decisive in the short term.
However, her offer to assist in the relic search was a reasonable one, so I asked Sylvia to follow us at an appropriate distance.
I didn’t need to add that if things seemed dire, she should abandon us.
I didn’t even want to entertain the thought of what would happen if Yoon Si-woo were to lose.
Anyway, Yoon Si-woo and I had set off on our journey to save the world, just the two of us.
*
Not knowing when the Witch of Gluttony would awaken, Yoon Si-woo and I decided to leave the next day.
The reason it took two days was that…
-■■■■■■!
Ari, who would handle our transportation, needed time to recover her strength.
Because her wings had been torn completely by the demonic beasts of Sloth, Ari quickly returned to full strength, aided by my support and the properties of the fury demonic beast.
Though for someone else it might not have mattered, Yoon Si-woo could withstand Ari’s flames if he activated the Holy Sword of Protection and donned it as armor.
-■■■■■■…!
“…Hey, what did you just say to me?”
“Ahaha, well… Ari is looking forward to it.”
Ari didn’t seem thrilled about having Yoon Si-woo aboard,
‘Having this brat ride me… what a humiliation for a lifetime!’ she seemed to think…
What had happened for her to be so prickly with Yoon Si-woo?
Yet, she didn’t refuse to let him ride, so it seemed she recognized that it was Yoon Si-woo who saved her.
“Let’s go, Ari.”
-■■■■!
Ordering Ari to take off, she fluttered her wings and soared into the sky, carrying Yoon Si-woo and me.
We headed east toward the city.
Initially, I wondered if we would have to search for Beatrice, who might be hiding, but there was no need to worry about that at all.
“…That guy hadn’t even thought of hiding from the beginning.”
“Exactly. If she was going to show up like this, she’s practically announcing her presence. What an audacious woman. Well, she’s probably confident in her strength.”
Beatrice was releasing a tremendous amount of energy as if she were advertising her presence.
Thanks to that, with a witch like me and Lucy present, we didn’t need any navigation.
So later, I entrusted the Sword of Truth to Sylvia to catch up with us.
Anyway, while exchanging comments with Lucy, Yoon Si-woo, who was sitting behind me, suddenly muttered as if a thought had occurred to him.
“…By the way, it feels strange being out of the city like this with just the two of us. Scarlet, remember what we talked about that time in the sewers?”
“…The sewers? You mean when I lost my limbs? What did we say back then?”
“…You really don’t remember?”
“Um…? Wait a sec… I’ll try to recall…!”
It was surprising to me that I couldn’t remember it at all!
It had been quite a while, and I was still out of it when I lost my limbs!
While I was flustered, Yoon Si-woo chuckled lightly, indicating he was joking.
“Just kidding, you don’t need to struggle to recall. Basically, we said that if we ever got discovered as witches, we’d run away to a place where no one could follow us.”
“Ah… now that you mention it, I guess that sounds familiar…”
“At that time, I’d have never imagined our first trip together would look like this. Right? Who would have thought we’d cross into battle against a witch after revealing our identities?”
I couldn’t help but smile and nod, realizing he had a point.
Then, a sudden thought occurred to me, and I turned to Yoon Si-woo.
“By the way, thinking about it like that feels a bit disappointing.”
“Hmm? What is?”
“That our first trip together turned out like this. It’s hardly a trip, right? We’re going into battle, risking our lives; what kind of trip is that?”
“Well… that’s true.”
“So, let’s plan a proper trip later.”
“…A proper trip, afterwards?”
“Yeah, after all this is over. Once there’s no need to fight anyone anymore, we can travel, whether to the mountains or the sea. What do you think?”
I asked Yoon Si-woo that question.
He didn’t respond immediately.
The notion of later,
of winning, surviving, and finally having the chance to think about it.
With that thought, I was essentially making a request to Yoon Si-woo.
To fight, to win,
and most importantly, to survive.
Yoon Si-woo pondered for a moment at my request.
“…Yeah. Later.”
Then, he nodded and responded.
-■■■■■■!!!!!
“Ugh?!”
“Whoa?! Ari, what the heck just happened?!!”
At that moment, Ari tumbled in mid-air and cried out.
I had no idea why.
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