episode_0272

Episode 272 #

“Your Majesty! What do you mean?”

“Didn’t you hear? I already said she wasn’t in this castle. I made them leave by my command.”

Adrian stood in front of Luke as if he did not understand the meaning of those words. Luke said, looking out the window, not at him.

“Wouldn’t that be enough? Enekra has no ambition. It wasn’t a child worth bringing into battle in the first place. Don’t bother her… me anymore.”

“No, no, Your Majesty.”

Luke quietly turned around. Unlike when he was galloping his horse on the battlefield, his face showed deep fatigue.

“Adrian, my King Mage. I adore you very much. It is true that you have made great contributions to establishing this country. But the king will fly. Not you.”

“That’s why I’m telling you this. Because Your Majesty is the king, you must have a broader perspective.”

“Your argument that Enekra must be killed is a broad opinion? That’s probably not it. Don’t you just hate Enekra?”

“I won’t deny that I don’t like it. But it is also clear that she is dangerous.”

“No, it’s not dangerous. Enekra… isn’t dangerous at all… Don’t you know that he’s a delicate child who would never have killed someone if it weren’t for my orders?”

“It has nothing to do with personality. It’s even stranger to say that a witch who can instantly drive hundreds of people crazy and tremble with fear is not dangerous. Depending on how you use it, the ability to control people’s minds is more dangerous than a fire-breathing dragon.”

Luke had no choice but to keep his mouth shut.

It was certainly true that Enekra had great power. Luke had clearly confirmed its strength in the process of establishing the kingdom.

However, the human named Enekra was too weak to wield such powerful power. Luke also noticed that something inside her was slowly breaking down as she cast curses on people.

After a war ends, a new war begins. The name of the new war was politics. Enekra was a man who did not fit in at all in a place where evil was more sinister than the bloody battlefield.

That was the reason Luke sent Enekra away. It’s not just Adrian. There were many people who hated Enekra, even among public figures. The only one who took Enekra’s side at all was Luke himself.

“In areas where superstitions are already rampant, beliefs that regard witches as saviors are rampant. Even at the Goddess Church, they are openly showing their discomfort. Besides…”

“Adrian, my King Mage.”

Luke looked at his loyal right arm with a sighing expression.

“You have been my best friend since childhood. This is not an order, but a request as a friend, not as a king, but as a Luke. Leave her… alone.”

Luke is sincere. Adrian realized it right away. He bent down, bringing his clenched arms into his arms.

“I understand. I promise.”

“Okay… If you don’t have any other business, I’ll just leave.”

Adrian straightened up and stood up. He thought to himself as he turned and left the room.

‘Your Majesty… is already under that witch’s spell.’

* * *

“Who are you?”

“I, I…! Oh, it’s witch Enekra! No one, don’t come any closer! I will drive you crazy and kill you with a curse!”

I was just trying to pass through the forest. But the witch in the forest seemed to believe they had come to get her. The arm stretched out towards Luke, who was standing in the center of the soldiers, was trembling very much.

“Hmm, a witch?”

Luke walked toward Enekra without listening to the voices around him trying to stop him. Enekra just stood there with a confused look on his face, unable to run away or use magic.

Luke’s large hand grasped Enekra’s small, trembling hand.

“Huh?”

“If you are really a witch… won’t you come with me? I really need a strong mage right now.”

“You need me?”

“Uh, um. That’s the way it is.”

“You’re not trying to deceive me, are you? Either they try to set me on fire by tricking me with such sweet words… or they use it as they can and then betray me…”

Enekra seemed completely unaccustomed to receiving attention from others. It seemed difficult to even look at Luke’s face.

Luke assured with a cheerful smile on his face.

“Hahaha! don’t worry. I will never betray you. I promise so.”

“Well, really…? If you promise… it’s fine. But what is your name?”

Luke looked around awkwardly and said.

“My name is Luke Lustier. This is the man who will build my kingdom on this earth in the future.”

* * *

It was a great victory.

On the battlefield, that means one-sided slaughter.

But this victory wasn’t even carnage.

Enekra’s magic caused internal strife among the enemies, and they killed each other with more brutality than fighting against the enemy.

Luke’s camp, which won with little blood shed, was in a festive mood.

Except Enekra himself.

Luke entered the tent where the witch lived. In a dark room, Enekra was lying with his body turned around.

“Enekra… are you okay?”

“…Yes…”

Luke also knew exactly why Enekra was doing this. He said it was his first time seeing someone die. They even died due to their own magic.

Luke didn’t expect that the person called a witch would have such a weak heart. But would it have made any difference if I knew? In order to overturn the military inferiority, a strong magician was absolutely necessary.

Adrian, the lieutenant, is also a powerful mage. But Enekra’s power was incomparable. As a military leader, this was a force that could never be given up.

Luke held Enekra’s limp hand.

“I’m sorry, Enekra.”

Enekra turned his head towards Luke. Looking at Luke’s helpless expression, he felt like he had been stabbed with a knife.

Go back, to your forest.

Suddenly, I felt like I wanted to say that. However, it was not a place where Enekra could live happily.

“There will be many times in the future where I will need to borrow your strength. But all responsibility lies with me who gave the order. So… there is no need for you to suffer.”

Enekra silently looked at Luke’s face. Although his face was expressionless, Enekra could clearly tell that he was suffering.

“It’s okay, Luke. I can do it. I’d do anything if you needed me… maybe.”

Enekra looked at his hand that Luke was holding. And I spoke carefully.

“Luke, can I ask you a favor? Since I did as you ordered… it’s okay to ask for a favor, right?”

“What is it?”

“Put your head… not your hands…”

Luke immediately responded to those words, which could not even be called a request. A large hand covered his head and moved awkwardly.

“Hehe… I feel energized…”

A smile completely different from before appeared on Enekra’s face. Looking at it, Luke couldn’t help but sigh deeply in his heart.

* * *

“Ugh, ugh… Ouch, ugh…!”

The shoes had been off for a long time. Because I had been running through the snow, the soles of my feet were so cold that they were painful.

An arrow flies and sticks in a dry tree right next to it. My whole body trembled with pain and fear of death.

Enekra desperately hid himself in a tree stump. There was no place to run to in the forest anymore. The soldiers were getting tighter and tighter, surrounding the entire forest.

They were proudly waving the flag with Luke’s seal and Lustier’s flag. As if Lustier wanted to let the world know that he had defeated the witch.

“Luke… Why…? Why…?”

This is a question that came to mind several times as I ran away. In fact, it was a question I had since leaving Lurie. When I had just been kicked out of the castle, just thinking about it made me cry, but now I could barely hold it in.

“It hurts… Ugh, it hurts…”

Before he knew it, soldiers with sharp swords were surrounding him. Those who surrounded her were all wearing thick armor.

“Found it, witch…!”

“Be careful, the witch uses evil curses! Protect yourself with armor and shield and never make eye contact!”

A person who appeared to be a captain shouted. They were moving carefully as if they were hunting a huge magical beast, not a small woman.

They really wanted to catch the witch.

The plan is to capture it, cut off its head, and parade it proudly by hanging it on the kingdom’s great flag.

“Ahahaha…”

Laughter leaks out.

I shouldn’t have reached out then.

If I hadn’t been grabbed by that big hand, if I hadn’t felt the warmth of another person touching me for the first time in a long time, this ending wouldn’t have come.

There would have been nothing so terribly sad.

Although I may have been lonely, I would never have hated someone like this.

“Why did you break your promise… Luke… you liar…”

Enekra pulled himself up from the stump. In the soldiers’ street, it was difficult to tell whether she was crying or laughing.

“Shoot!”

I gave a loud command, but the arrow did not fly. The subordinate’s knife was stuck in the captain’s face as he looked back curiously.

“I don’t know who’s thinking, but it’s foolish… Even if you cover your body with armor, it’s just a matter of letting mana flow through the cracks…”

Enekra sat down on the stump where he was hiding. The soldiers around her were engaged in a bloody competition with each other.

Their blood and corpses were laid out in a certain arrangement on the forest floor. While the arrangement was being completed, the entire forest was enveloped by Enekra’s magic.

I picked up a branch of mistletoe next to a stump called Enek. Using mistletoe is the simplest and most classic of curses. But that’s why it could be maintained for a long time.

‘I’m sorry, Luke. Now I hate you, your country…’

Enekra’s pitch black magic swirled and engulfed the entire forest.

“Mystilia.”