Crown of Thorns

The trainees, who were exposed to the atmosphere, were busy talking about it whenever they got together.

“Will there really be a war?”

“Who knows, but I hear they’re also hiring a lot of mercenaries in Genadio County. Maybe they’re trying to fight Count Phyletto.”

“Is it true that Count Genadio had taken away the woman of Count Phyletto?”

“Then isn’t Count Phyletto supposed to prepare for war?”

“Perhaps…”

“The Marquess of Tyran is a bigger deal than that. If he’s involved in the war, then it’ll be bigger.”

“No, Count Phyletto and Count Genadio are more urgent. The other ones wouldn’t be in such a hurry, since the most likely suspect, Marquess Tyran, is claiming innocence.”

“But I heard that Marquess Garrence found the sword of Marquess Tyran. And with blood on it at that.”

“But think about it. There was no blood in the mansion. Who can pull that off? It would be impossible even if it were Evan. Isn’t that right, Evan?”

Evan sat absent-mindedly and came to his senses at the sound of calling him. There was a clear light in his dimly locked eyes. He blinked his white eyelashes a couple of times, and soon said, bending thinly.

“Why’s my name mentioned there?”

“Because you’re the strongest out of all of us.”

Evan twisted his lips and laughed as if dumbfounded. During the time when Evan, the boy, turned into a young man, his tender lines became manly and thick, and his nice eyes became sharp. Nevertheless, the smile, which he flashed with a little frown, looked just like the young Evan’s.

My heart ached a little at the thought of Evan at the time. Evan, who was looking at me and calling me a witch, grew up like this. He was so close, and yet, so far away. I think I could touch him if I had reached out, but I should never do. The world of the warrior was here, and my world was inside a tower that had been stalled ever since the day that Evan left. The day we met again, the day we faced each other again, it had to be that day, the day when his sword would be aimed for my heart.

So, now I had to settle just watching him from a bit far away. I had to be thankful for being able to see him like this. I’ll have to watch more and more until I close my eyes, then I’ll have fewer regrets on that last day.

I glanced at Evan with a smile.

“Even if it were you, not me. No matter how much poison or skill, there’s no way to clean up all those bodies without a trace. It’s impossible.”

“Yes, it is very much so impossible.”

When a very low and powerful voice came out of the gap between the young voices, everyone turned their eyes in its direction. There came Yohan, the leader of the Knights. He strode along and continued his speech.

“It wouldn’t make any sense for the corpses to be put in a wagon, and even if they did, they would be caught while on the move. It would be a waste of time if they were to erase the traces of so many wagon wheels and footprints.”

“Then, do you have any idea as to what had happened?”

Yohan replied with a cold face.

“No.”

Taking his eyes off of those who lowered their heads in disappointment, he called Evan.

“Come see me for a moment.”

As he said so, he took the lead by moving his steps first.

“…yes!”

Evan answered belatedly. Following his footsteps, he entered Yohan’s ordinary-looking room. However, when he looked closely, he could see that the place was not at all ordinary; it was full of traces, including soot, which was hard to understand. Neriano, Evan’s sorcery teacher, was there, too.

“Have you arrived?”

Evan greeted Neriano by bowing his head slightly to him. He rummaged through his poach and pulled something out. At first glance, it seemed to be a plain shoe.

“What is this about?”

“Please see if there’s anything wrong with it.”

Evan accepted the shoes with a curious look. He soon shook his head and asked, as if he could not feel anything special after carefully examining it.

“It’s just a regular shoe, but why do you ask?”

In his reply, Neriano and Yohan expressed regret. Neriano, by sighing almost inaudibly, and Yohan, by linking his arms together. As Evan’s curiosity grew bigger, Neriano’s answer continued.

“You’ve also heard the rumors, so you must know. About what happened to Marquess Garrence.”

“Oh, yes. I’ve already heard.”

“A lot of people disappeared out of nowhere. No matter how hard I think about it, that’s something no ordinary man can do. Whether Marquess Garrence is alive or not.”

“That’s what I thought, too. Is there a secret passage in the mansion?”

“I don’t think so.”

Yohan spoke on.

“I’ve already taken architects, thieves, and others to investigate, but they didn’t find anything. The only thing they found was the basement that had a hidden entrance. And they found this shoe there.”

Evan looked again at the shoe he was holding. The shoe reminded me of something. I almost passed by without knowing that there was a basement, but I felt a presence there. Even if the door was locked tight, the Shadow and smoke could penetrate even through tiny crevices. And I found Marquess Garrence shivering in there. He abandoned everyone and hid in the basement so he alone can live. Similar to a mouse, he hid quickly and sensibly, so much so that no one knew when and how he had run away. Their ability to preserve their own lives was nothing short of admirable.

He must have accidentally dropped a shoe while I was killing and moving him. But even if my hands touched that shoe, there was no way they could feel my strength or find anything from it.

“I thought you might feel something from it, Evan. That was why I picked up the shoe.”

Evan looked at them with his eyes slightly surprised. But he quickly spoke with a serene expression that was no different from his usual self.

“Is it magic, after all?”

“What else could it be? No trick can do this, if not magic.”

Neriano, who had memories and experiences of using magic, was linking this impossible thing to magic. But the only people who could currently use magic were Evan and those who hid in the dark.

Evan looked over at the shoe again. He shook his head, saying as if he could not feel anything. Disappointment spread over Neriano’s face. Yohan nodded his head, as if to convey that he had expected it to an extent, and said.

“You don’t feel anything, either. Well… and I don’t even think there’s a sorcerer alive who could use such great force. It couldn’t have been easy, even if you have someone to teach you, but how would anyone learn this by themselves? I’ll look into it with the possibility of another secret passage or escape in mind.”

“By any chance…”

Yohan’s and Evan’s gazes fell on Neriano as he stretched his words.

“… Is it not the witch?”

Their faces shook slightly. But soon, Yohan spoke with a sneer.

“No way. It’s just an illusion created by the Emperor.”

But Neriano couldn’t get rid of his uneasiness.

“There were rumors going around that the Death God or the evil were responsible. They said the witch doesn’t die, so she might still be alive. No, there must be a witch somewhere. She was a great sorcerer. Whether she was a witch or not, she was using great magic.”

Neriano said that he was a sorcerer who had lived for a long time, but he showed a very different reaction from those who called these rumors nothing but a fairy tale. No matter how much I experienced when I was young, there was a difference between what I experienced and what I heard.

Yohan’s face also became quite serious. It was then that Evan, who was still looking into the shoe, opened his mouth.

“Not a witch.”

“…what?”

Evan said to Yohan, who asked back with a curious look.

“…not a witch.”

“How can you be sure of that?”

Indeed, how are you sure of that? With Yohan’s question, I glanced at Evan with my heart in my throat, but he just spoke again with a firm look.

“No, it’s not. It’s just not.”

I felt a part of my heart falling apart.

He still hadn’t forgotten the fairytale from his childhood. He still believed in the witch. Stupidly. It’s very easy to turn faith into doubt, but he ended up saying that it was not the witch.

Not the witch.

The witch doesn’t do this.

Even now that time had passed, I was very grateful to him for believing in me. But on the other hand, I was also ashamed of having to betray his faith. It was inevitable.

Furthermore, I was relieved. To think that on the day he learned all these truths, he would hate the witch as much as he was disappointed with her.

That witch whom Evan trusted and followed, she stayed only in his old memories.

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