Becoming a Hunter in a Dark Fantasy - Chapter 86
Only Noblemtl
Episode 86: The Witch’s Children
That day was the coming-of-age ceremony to celebrate Calix Tutatio Zahard’s 18th birthday.
-Brother, brother! Am I finally getting a sword?
– Then. Only Calix will have a sword. But keep in mind, Calix. When entering the ‘Hall of Swords’, there is one rule that Zahart must follow.
-Huh? What is that?
-That’s right… … .
But the stupid Calix broke the rules.
The results were disastrous.
Knock, knock, knock.
There was silence all around.
The only sound I can hear is the sound of blood falling from a high place. It is the sound of life fading away like a waterfall.
-Carl, Rick?
My dear brother’s voice was thick with pain. Everywhere I looked was red.
Blood, blood, blood-!
Burying his face in his hands, Calix gritted his teeth and distorted his expression.
“Mr. Calix?”
Yana noticed this and carefully touched his shoulder. It was the moment when he returned from the past to reality.
“Mr. Calix. Are you okay? You don’t look well.”
“… … Ah. It’s okay. It’s not a problem.”
Calix straightened his posture as if nothing had happened and changed the subject.
“I think it would be best to join up with those guys. Yana, can you find the location?”
“… … Yes, of course. Leave it to me.”
Yana nodded slowly.
Hwaaaaah!
The shadow that had been swaying beneath her instantly spread out and stealthily hid in various places in the tunnel.
“I am the body of the Umbra clan’s white moon. I am the god of death who rules over the place where darkness has fallen. And… … This place is the bottom of the earth where darkness covers all sides.”
For a moment, Yana’s eyes shone brightly without a shadow.
“Under the shadows, there is no place I cannot go.”
* * *
Swish!
Gale, Sercia, and Hake. The four people, no, including the ‘horned lizard’ who was in a deep sleep, moved to the outer part of the Bateville tunnel.
There, materials and construction tools were strewn about, either because the area was underdeveloped or because development had been abandoned midway.
Unlike the bright and bustling downtown area of the tunnel, there was an eerie atmosphere.
“It’s creepy.”
Like a cemetery.
Unlike Gale, who looked around with a sense of ominousness, Hake focused on Sercia.
“I thought about it even in the labyrinth, but Sercia is truly amazing. To be able to move with other people in an instant like this.”
“What? This is basic.”
Sercia shrugged her shoulders at Hake’s soft admiration.
It was neither modesty nor humility. It was truly taking it for granted.
For Hake, who was somewhat familiar with the wizarding world, that calm attitude was not only surprising, but also appalling.
‘Even if you exclude yourself as the moving subject, as each additional person moves, the time and amount of magic power consumed also increases… … .’
That’s common sense.
‘But Ms. Sersia didn’t show any sign of difficulty in moving three people, even though it wasn’t a very long distance.’
The effectiveness of regular space magic decreases as the distance to the target movement location increases and the number of companions being moved increases.
Because moving others consumes a huge amount of horsepower and time.
That is why large-scale movement magic was often used by drawing a ‘magic circle’ on the ground or walls.
Even that required mobilizing a large number of space wizards to proceed smoothly.
And one more surprising thing.
‘No way… Sercia-san’s magical powers have three attributes?!’
Fire, space, and even healing.
Even though the fire attribute is classified as elemental magic, the space and healing attributes are extremely rare.
Sercia may be the only wizard who possesses both of these attributes!
‘But even magic with spatial and healing properties, as well as elemental shape magic, are notoriously difficult… … Ms. Sersia used her magic very skillfully.’
Hake remembered that she was able to freely use spatial magic and healing magic in the labyrinth, and that she was very skilled in controlling flame-shaping magic during her training in the airship.
So what this all means is:
‘……genius!’
Sersia Odelweiss was truly a genius! She might one day make her mark on history!
‘Are you not fully aware that you are a genius?’
No, that’s not it. Sometimes I see him expressing great pride in his outstanding magical skills, so it seems like he knows it but doesn’t really care.
How great a wizard you are, and how high a level you have reached compared to other wizards.
‘There may be some blind, unavoidable goal that must be achieved… … so much so that worldly standards may not even register.’
Hake could understand. Hake, an assassin raised in Depicio, would never understand… … .
Having experienced the bond between colleagues for a short time, ‘Hake’ was able to notice.
Because he also had something he earnestly wished for.
‘loss.’
Sercia Odelweiss lost the person most precious to her.
So you’re angry at ‘someone’ who created that void.
‘You don’t know your roots like me. … … Don’t you have any memories of your childhood?’
And Sersia Odelweiss, like Hake and Gail Garib, has no ‘memories’ of her childhood.
Of course, it wasn’t as malicious or extreme as being thrown into the world as a blank slate when her body and mind were fully developed like Gale’s.
‘Besides, you were sensitive about Melissa, no, ‘the witch’, right?’
I guess you had some kind of connection with a ‘witch’ in the past.
The memories left by those scars were so deep that they must have put chains on her that she could never break free from.
‘Maybe Ms. Sercia’s witch is… … .’
He might be dead.
Haque, who had lived so close to death and lived a life similar to hers, instinctively realized this and soon quietly buried it inside him.
Sometimes, there are things you just have to pretend not to know.
Who wouldn’t hate it if an unrelated stranger stepped on their precious memories with their dirty feet?
“… …Excuse me, Mr. Hake.”
“… … .”
“Mr. Hake?”
While Hake was lost in thought, Sercia suddenly spoke first.
“Huh? Ohhh, yes!”
A magical glow flashed like sparks above her two hands. The magic circle appeared and disappeared repeatedly, suggesting that she was preparing some kind of advanced magic.
Sercia continued speaking without any change in expression.
“A little while ago… … Excuse me.”
“yes?”
When Hake asked back, since he had no idea where to look, Sercia smiled and said, sighing.
“When we met again in the high forest, I interfered with your duties. Did you feel offended? I am truly sorry.”
“Oh, no! I’m not offended at all! I think that’s perfectly reasonable!”
Hake waved his hands around in confusion at the sight of Sercia bowing her head in apology.
“That, that is… … Ms. Sercia, right? The ‘Witch’s Child’ who was greatly influenced by the witch.”
“… … .”
High mission completion rate and loyalty. Even within the Depicio clan, which consists entirely of assassins, he is one of the best assassins.
In addition, Hake, who can unleash powerful unique magic if the ‘conditions’ are met, was the perfect candidate for the ‘Mediale Collapse Operation’ planned by Depicchio.
But would such a person, Hake, have chosen to betray for such a reason?
If he had betrayed while attending Ruslam Academy, if he had shown even the slightest hint of it, he would have been killed by Deficio before he could even take the Hunter Exam.
And that spot would have been taken by another assassin.
In other words, Hake’s betrayal naturally occurred after he took the Hunter Exam.
Elwin was certain that this choice was purely due to the power of the ‘original work’ and the bond between the five different races… … but of course, it wasn’t only that.
─The witch’s child.
It was a term used to refer to people whose lives, beliefs, and way of thinking were completely changed by the influence of a ‘witch’.
It was a word created by people who were unable to grasp the change, who were living a life completely opposite to their previous life trajectory due to a very brief encounter.
“That’s right. Truly, I will never forget… … I received such a favor. Me too, Mr. Hake, is that the case for you too?”
Sercia answered with a calm expression.
“… … Yes, me too.”
Hake suddenly remembered Melissa’s words. The affectionate sentences that changed his life.
-You don’t have to live the way others want you to. You only live once. Hake, live the way you want.
It felt like a blessing… …as if the heavenly Rampas had poured holy oil over his head, something inside me felt like a layer had been peeled off and set free.
Melissa’s words had such mysterious power.
‘I want to find my roots.’
As an assassin, I have harvested countless deaths and through my dulled senses, desires that had long since died down and been forgotten suddenly begin to pop up!
My mother and father who gave birth to me. My brothers and sisters, if any.
-… …I want to find my family.
Because of that desire, Hake pretended to be dead in order to survive the Emperor’s special hunter.
I accepted Elwin’s offer to become a double spy.
“Ahahaha! The witch’s child, Rani. I never believed a single urban legend like that.”
But it was a force that actually existed.
Of course, aren’t Hake and Sersia the ones responsible?
Witches were a similar but different category of magicians who practiced magic.
Both were beings who wielded powers that defied common sense, but the witch was far more mysterious.
Because they were the only ones who could handle unknown spiritual powers.
“It’s really okay, so you don’t have to apologize anymore, Miss Sercia. I’ll say it again, I think it’s something that can be said between children of the same witch.”
Then Sercia smiled faintly.
“You’re quite a sweet person, aren’t you?”
“Well, well. I’ve never seen anyone say that they’re kind to a former assassin… … .”
Hake also followed her and smiled awkwardly.
“What were you talking about?”
At that moment, Gail, who had been wandering around, approached.
“It’s nothing!”
“Huh, really?”
When Hake denied it in surprise, Gail narrowed her eyes but did not ask any further questions.
Suddenly, Hake thought it was strange that Gail often showed this mature side.
“Okay, that’s it!”
At that moment, Sercia stood up with a small cheer. Gail and Hake looked at her reflexively, and she said.
“I’m all set. I’m ready to search through the horned lizard’s head.”
“… … Hey, something doesn’t feel right? You sound like a mad scientist.”
“Mad Scientist? Ha! How could you say such a thing to me? How could I be that crazy!”
Gale said in a trembling voice. Then Sercia, as if she had been greatly insulted, shook her body like a willow tree and denied it strongly.
“Ahhhhh! I’m not saying that you’re a mad scientist! That’s because… … .”
Gail was at a loss as he looked like he was going to burst into tears at any moment.
Sercia also calmed down quickly, but her face turned bright red as she realized that she had suddenly become agitated.
Gail, who was at a loss, started teasing her instead.
“Hahahaha!”
It was then that an unfamiliar laughter was heard.
“Are you guys having a lot of fun?”
“!!”
“… … !?”
I reacted immediately and turned my gaze, and there it was… … .
“Why are you stopping? You can keep going. Show some more tricks! Come on!”
There was the Horned Lizard, the ruler of the Bateville Tunnels, who smiled and bared his fangs without any hint of alcohol.