Chapter 167
Yoon Si-woo’s sword pierced down.
Freede, who had been trembling for a moment, soon stopped moving, as if her breath had been cut off.
And right after that, without a moment’s hesitation, Yoon Si-woo turned his eyes away from Freede and ran towards me, who had been leaning against the wall and watching.
“Scarlet! Are you okay?!”
As Yoon Si-woo shouted while running, I couldn’t help but smile. Where had that cold expression he had shown while facing Freede gone? His worried and concerned expression eased my heart.
He might have turned from a white puppy into a black dog, but I felt relieved that he hadn’t changed at his core. I gazed at Yoon Si-woo’s now darkened eyes and said.
“…I’m okay, so just calm down a little.”
“Calm down?! Your physical condition is like that, how can I…”
“…It’s fine. Even though I look like this, I have a sturdy body, so don’t worry too much. I just lost some blood and feel a bit dizzy.”
Honestly, my state was rather ambiguous to claim that I was completely okay. It felt like I had lost enough blood to have died a while ago, but while I was dizzy and in pain, I didn’t feel like I was about to die, so perhaps that was a good sign.
I understood why Yoon Si-woo was so anxious, though. If I had a friend in front of me who was bleeding heavily with only one arm left, I wouldn’t have been able to calm down either.
Still, seeing Yoon Si-woo so worried, I wanted to reassure him, so I tried to smile normally when suddenly, Yoon Si-woo mumbled while making a crying face.
“…It’s because of me.”
“…Huh?”
Not understanding what he meant, I looked at Yoon Si-woo, who answered with a face filled with guilt.
“…I shouldn’t have said something silly like as long as you’re alive, even if your arms and legs are cut off… It wasn’t something meant for you…”
I didn’t really catch what he was saying, but I guess it bothered him that he had said something like that somewhere.
By the way, does he think that I ended up like this because of him saying that? What a fool he is.
“…You didn’t do anything wrong. This isn’t your fault, so don’t say that.”
“No, it’s my fault… If I had only arrived a little earlier… If I hadn’t been late, Scarlet, you…”
I told Yoon Si-woo that he wasn’t at fault, but he kept blaming himself, believing that my limbs ended up like this because he hadn’t arrived soon enough.
Seeing him like that, I sighed in frustration and called out his name.
“…Hey, Yoon Si-woo.”
Then, with my remaining arm, I grabbed his hand, placed it on my chest, and asked.
“How is it? Do you feel it?”
“…Huh? Uh…?”
“Can you feel it? It’s beating fine.”
When I asked again, I saw Yoon Si-woo slowly nod his head, returning to his senses. I spoke to him, whose eyes wobbled.
“Yoon Si-woo, if you had really been late… If you hadn’t come, my heart wouldn’t be beating like this. But you came, you saved me. Like you promised, you did what you could.”
Honestly, I believed he would come, but I had thought about whether he might not make it.
But Yoon Si-woo kept his promise. I didn’t know what method he used, but he really came to help me when I was in danger.
Because of that, all I felt towards him was gratitude.
With that feeling in mind, I sincerely said to Yoon Si-woo.
“You weren’t late. Just like every time you came to help me, you came this time too. So don’t blame yourself.”
At that, Yoon Si-woo nodded, but I could still see guilt in his eyes as he looked at me.
After he pulled his hand from my chest, I noticed him slowly looking at my left arm, the part that had been cut off, with pity in his eyes.
If he had to change all his limbs to be like my left arm, he would think it was all because he had been late.
If that were to happen, it was clear that he would blame himself every time he looked at me.
I didn’t want to see that, and just as I was contemplating this, I thought of asking Yoon Si-woo something.
“…Hey, Yoon Si-woo. Can you just touch the part of my arm where it was cut off?”
Then I saw a bittersweet expression cross Yoon Si-woo’s face. Look at that, you still have lingering feelings about the arm that was cut off, huh?
Even so, he couldn’t refuse my request, so he picked up my severed arm from the floor and placed it against the cut part.
“…! Scarlet, your arm!”
He soon shouted in shock, his face paling.
When I frowned at his loud voice, he quickly lowered it, but I couldn’t help but let out a chuckle at the shocked sight Yoon Si-woo was witnessing.
The severed limb was slowly reconnecting with the stump, crawling back together in a ridiculous but shocking spectacle.
Damn, this actually works…
As I muttered internally, Yoon Si-woo, looking bewildered, asked.
“…Scarlet, what the hell is this…?”
“…Since my body has turned half into a witch, my recovery abilities have increased. I wanted to see if the severed limbs could grow back, and it really works… I guess the clean cut was thanks to that guy’s ability too.”
“…Then, that means you can reattach the severed limbs? Thank goodness…”
“…Yeah, it’s a relief.”
I agreed with Yoon Si-woo, who was relieved.
However, I felt a complex mix of emotions.
Being able to reattach my limbs wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but…
It’s not like I’m a clay figure that can just reattach a cut-off arm if I touch it.
I realized that my body was becoming something not entirely human and involuntarily smiled wryly.
Noticing my change in expression, Yoon Si-woo asked.
“…What’s wrong?”
“…I just feel like I’ve officially become a monster…”
As I muttered while waiting for my arm to reattach, I saw Yoon Si-woo suddenly raise his sword.
With his sword raised, Yoon Si-woo smiled at me and said.
“Don’t worry too much. Look at me, even I could lose my limbs—”
“…?! Hey, you crazy bastard!!”
“Oh…”
Seeing him suddenly trying to cut off his perfectly good arm made me leap towards Yoon Si-woo in shock.
I forgot that my legs were still a mess and ended up just collapsing into his arms.
Nevertheless, I accomplished my goal of stopping Yoon Si-woo’s actions, and after catching my breath, I yelled at him.
“What the hell are you doing?! Why are you trying to cut off a perfectly fine arm?!”
“No, it’s because I thought if I could lose my arm, I could show you, you know…”
You’re going to shorten your lifespan to do that, you idiot!!!!
Knowing the price of the unyielding holy sword’s recovery ability from the original story, I trembled at Yoon Si-woo’s casual desire to cut his own arm.
Surely with Lucy around, he couldn’t be unaware of the cost of using his abilities.
Was he really going to use that ability just to cheer me up…?
I was grateful but desperately wished he wouldn’t do something like that. I looked up at Yoon Si-woo and pleaded.
“Please take care of your body more… I feel like my heart is about to drop.”
“…Sorry. But Scarlet, it’s really not convincing to hear that coming from you.”
“…I didn’t mean it, but my arm almost reattached because of you…”
…Now that I think about it, I’m not in a position to criticize since I’ve been losing my limbs all the time.
Embarrassed, I shifted my gaze away and replied.
More importantly, how long does this idiot plan to hold onto me?
Feeling small as I was held in his arms, it was humiliating.
So, I squirmed, trying to escape his embrace, when Yoon Si-woo turned my body to face outward and murmured.
“Stay still. It’ll be hard to hold you up until it sticks back, you know. I’ll help you.”
After thinking for a moment, I relaxed and leaned against Yoon Si-woo.
Maybe because I had yelled at him just now, dizziness washed over me, and I felt like I could just let it all go.
With my arm and body entrusted to Yoon Si-woo, I closed my eyes.
With my eyes closed, I slowly felt the severed nerves connecting as I clung to Yoon Si-woo’s strong grip.
When I slightly opened my eyes to look up, I saw Yoon Si-woo staring hard at the junction, worried that my arm might reattach incorrectly.
…After getting so used to white, seeing Yoon Si-woo with black hair and black eyes felt oddly out of place.
Originally, it was strange for someone to have such hair color.
I guess I’ve gotten used to this world.
As I pondered those random thoughts, I casually asked Yoon Si-woo.
“…Hey, Yoon Si-woo. Can I ask you something?”
“Yeah? What is it?”
“…Aren’t you afraid of using the power of the witch?”
At my question, Yoon Si-woo flinched and replied in a small voice.
“Not really, I mean. It hasn’t been long since I learned about my true nature, but I’ve been family with the witch bound in the sword, Lucy, since I was a kid. Using Lucy’s power isn’t scary at all.”
Yoon Si-woo, after saying that, looked at me to gauge my reaction and asked.
“However, the scary thing would be the reactions of those who’ve seen me use such powers. Scarlet… don’t you find it scary that I’m using the power of the witch…”
At that question, I recalled the worries Yoon Si-woo had all along in the original story.
Right, originally Yoon Si-woo had hesitated to use Lucy’s power until the very end because of such worries.
He knew the resentment people felt towards witches.
And he knew how they would react.
So, seeing the anxious look on Yoon Si-woo’s face when he asked me.
I chuckled and answered.
“Scared? Please, we’re both connected to witches the same way.”
With that, I shared with him the thoughts I had hidden away.
“In fact, I think it’s a relief.”
“…A relief?”
“Yeah.”
Seeing Yoon Si-woo look puzzled, I smiled and said.
“We’ve now become the only ones who can share and understand a secret that we can’t reveal to others.”
Saying that, I leaned even more against Yoon Si-woo.
Since falling into this world and learning the secret hidden in my body, I was thankful to have someone like Yoon Si-woo here.
If it weren’t for him, I probably would have lost my mind long ago.
But thanks to Yoon Si-woo, I was able to hold on.
Knowing that there was someone in this world I could confide in about my secret.
Knowing that someone who has grown up with me could look at the existence of a witch without prejudice.
Perhaps it was because of these reasons that Yoon Si-woo had used the power of the witch in front of me without hesitation.
“From now on, we’ll both know each other’s secrets.”
I noticed Yoon Si-woo’s black eyes looking at me.
Gazing into his eyes, I smiled lightly and said.
“We’re secret friends now, right?”
At that, Yoon Si-woo nodded, looking shy yet agreeing.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.