episode_0021

The eventful night passed, and a new morning sun rose again.

I, who had overexerted myself swinging an ax last night and with difficulty pulled my body off the bed, walked out to the open ground for stretching, which had become the start of my daily routine.

“A bit late, aren’t you?”

“Good morning.”

Killua and Rai were already in the open ground, standing side-by-side and lightly stretching their whole bodies.

“Killua. Is your body alright?”

I first asked about Killua’s physical condition.

Killua, as if to show off, lightly twisted her waist left and right, demonstrating to me that her body was perfectly fine.

“I’m fine thanks to Rai.”

And she looked at Rai, smiling brightly, and answered my question.

At her smile full of goodwill, Rai also returned a good-natured smile and replied.

“Next time, I’ll definitely accompany you, so if you need to go deep inside, tell me the day before.”

Rai, who had promised to accompany her, strapped his pre-prepared bow and arrows to his waist and shoulder.

Killua waved him off as he left for the dangerous Lime Forest for hunting and exploration, without resting even today.

Between the two, a sweet and warm aura was visibly flowing.

Killua’s actions and reactions, which had become excessively close to Rai, strangely bothered me, and my brow automatically furrowed.

“Alright. Shall we start our work too?”

Once Rai left, Killua rolled up both her sleeves, burning with fierce motivation and will.

Unlike her, I, whose body hadn’t recovered from the overexertion of last night, was merely patting my shoulders and waist, where muscle aches lingered.

“What happened to the fruit I asked you to juice yesterday?”

“Here it is.”

At Killua’s question, I brought the liquid I had juiced beforehand and stored in a glass bottle, showing it to her.

Killua, receiving the glass bottle from me, held it up to the morning sunlight, peering inside to check how much residue or debris remained.

“Oh… the juicing has almost no impurities, does it? Your skill has improved a lot, hasn’t it?”

At the nearly invisible impurities, Killua let out a genuine exclamation of admiration, praising me.

“Because I learned under you for a long time.”

“…Huh?”

Was it because her close relationship with Rai had irritated my nerves? Or was it because of the annoying muscle aches that felt like they were gnawing at my entire body?

For the first time, instead of Killua’s name, the casual term “you” came out of my mouth when referring to her.

At my address, Killua, who had been examining the glass bottle, froze solid.

“What? Didn’t we say we’d speak casually?”

“Ah… th-that’s right, wasn’t it? Ahahaha.”

Startled by her own reflexive exclamation and hearing my curt reply, Killua clutched the glass bottle I had handed her and simply let out an awkward, forced laugh.

“Alright… then let’s finish our work. The finishing touch is quite simple.”

She made an effort to act as if nothing had happened, vigorously leading the way to the workshop.

Following her into the workshop, we stood before the jar we had prepared yesterday.

“The slime and sawdust should have mixed well overnight. Put this fruit juice in, press it for about a day, and all the preparations will be complete. After that, time will take care of everything.”

As Killua instructed, I opened the tightly closed lid of the jar.

Inside, just as Killua had said, the sawdust and slime were unified, mixed together like a thick paste.

“Alright. Now put the fruit juice in here. Just pour it in, roughly making a circle.”

Killua, unable to open the glass bottle with one hand, handed me the bottle containing the fruit juice.

“Last night. Was everything alright?”

Receiving the glass bottle, I slowly opened its lid and asked about what had happened with Rai last night.

Killua then stopped moving as if frozen in a still frame, staring at me.

“Well… honestly, it wasn’t exactly ‘nothing happened.’”

To my sensitive question, which had an obvious answer, Killua frowned as if uncomfortable answering, then replied.

As if I had expected it, I nodded curtly, then opened the lid of the glass bottle and slowly began to pour the liquid inside into the jar.

“Are you angry because of that?”

Killua, who had been quietly observing me acting and responding more curtly and coldly than usual, suddenly threw a question back at me.

My body flinched at her question, which precisely hit the mark. I found myself holding the now empty glass bottle, staring at her.

“There was no such ‘sticky affair’ as you’re imagining. Rai, unlike someone else, has strong patience and self-control.”

At my actions, implicitly expressing anger by picking a fight about yesterday’s events, Killua shook her head from side to side as if looking at a pathetic creature.

Her tone was no different from usual.

But her single remark, comparing me to Rai, strongly provoked me.

“Lie! You said it was a simple medical procedure! But the time you two spent together… was more than enough time for you to lie together!”

To somehow express my anger about her actions, I found all sorts of faults and forcibly unleashed my fury.

But unlike me, who had suddenly become agitated without warning, Killua looked at me with unchanging, calm eyes and listened to my words.

Soon after, she, still in her usual tranquil voice, offered a reply to my outburst.

“That’s right. Honestly, my reason was clouded by alcohol withdrawal symptoms, and I was in the arms of a man I liked, so a few true thoughts slipped out unintentionally.”

The few words she uttered so dispassionately felt like sharp daggers piercing my heart.

“Despite that, Rai didn’t touch my body more than necessary.”

“Lie.”

I scrunched up my face and unilaterally denied her words without any basis or evidence.

My emotions, already twisted beyond repair, absolutely distrusted her words.

But as if she had expected my strong denial, Killua nodded and then tilted her head slightly, saying,

“Yes. Actually, it was an incredibly passionate and ecstatic night. It was a time when we, like beasts, surrendered everything to lust and explored each other’s bodies.”

“Ah…”

At her incredibly brazen and nonchalant reply, as I stupidly let out a gasp with a pale face, Killua smiled with her eyes and added a remark.

“Is this the kind of answer you wanted to hear from my mouth?”

“No… that’s not…”

When the worst words I hadn’t wanted to hear came out of her mouth, I could only gape foolishly and miserably, unable to believe I had just unleashed such fury.

Killua, who had been quietly watching me, opened her mouth with a small sigh.

“Why are you so angry?”

She, still in a calm and composed tone, asked again why I was angry.

Meeting her deep, black eyes that seemed to pierce through me, I lowered the arm holding the glass bottle and answered her question.

“You and Rai have only known each other for three days… but getting close so quickly was…”

“Rai saved my life and healed me. And he tried to help me with the injustices of the village. Moreover, unlike you, he protected me even when I was weakened. Aren’t these sufficient reasons for me to be attracted to him?”

As if my answer, drenched in ugly, possessive jealousy, wasn’t worth listening to, she cut me off and revealed her honest feelings.

At her frank and unadorned expression of feelings toward Rai, I couldn’t help but be speechless.

“Saying it out loud like this, I feel certain. Yes. I like Rai. I want to settle in this village with him. Wasn’t this what you wanted?”

“B-But…”

At her answer, which spoke only undeniable truths and facts, I could only stammer uselessly, irresponsibly biting my lip due to the jealousy boiling within my chest.

Killua, observing my reaction, let out a small sigh.

“Alright. I admit I didn’t meticulously consider your position.”

With one hand, she slowly began to unbutton her top.

Startled by her sudden action of trying to remove her top, I hastily threw the glass bottle I was holding aside and grabbed her hand, which was unbuttoning her shirt.

“W-What are you doing?!”

“The White Mage you so reverently served and attended to is merely becoming one man’s woman… You couldn’t easily accept that, could you?”

At my action of clutching her hand that was unbuttoning, Killua, fearlessly, looked directly into my eyes, which were close to her face, and said,

“As a reward for helping me by my side all this time, I’ll grant you one wish. Even though it’s quite obvious what that wish is.”

“No… that’s… what are you talking about?!”

I was flustered by her sudden action. But despite my outburst, Killua’s eyes remained still and calmly fixed on me.

“The White Mage is dead. Now, all that’s left here is a girl named Killua.”

“Stop… please stop.”

Unable to bear her declaration that the White Mage was dead, I inadvertently used the same honorifics I normally used when addressing the White Mage.

Killua then scrunched up her face and said,

“Don’t play games.”

“Killua-nim, *you* are the one who should stop with these excessive games!”

I personally, with my own hands, firmly re-buttoned her top that she had unfastened.

Killua struggled to stop my hand from forcibly re-buttoning her clothes, but she could only move her left arm, and her strength was far too weak compared to mine to stop my hand.

“Ow?!”

As I was buttoning the last button, Killua, unable to stop my hand with her own strength, sharpened her fingernails and dug them into the back of my hand hard enough to draw blood, forcefully halting my actions.

“This is your last chance. For one hour, I’ll humor you as you wish. That’s the only compensation I, as I am now, can give you for all your service and sacrifice until now.”

“……”

I slowly raised my gaze from the last button and met Killua’s two eyes, which were staring at me.

As always, her black eyes, calm and deep to an unfathomable extent, were looking at me.

Eyes so mysteriously deep and beautiful…

If I missed this moment, these beautiful eyes would only pursue Rai and try to capture him.

This was the only chance for me, an ordinary nobody, to briefly monopolize her eyes, which were so beautiful and noble that they were more than I deserved.

“Don’t worry about the aftermath. I won’t tell anyone. You and I. It will remain a secret between just the two of us, forever.”

In her black eyes that met mine, my face, hideously stained with jealousy, anger, and possessiveness, was reflected.

“I…”

Unable to face my ugly reflection through her clear black eyes, like a mirror, I squeezed my eyes shut.

Then, the image of her from when she possessed absolute power came to mind.

With infinite magic and immense talent, she had felt like such a transcendent being that I couldn’t even ask her name.

However, the Witch was endlessly generous to her subordinates and followers and enjoyed sharing everything she knew.

Indeed, even I, who had no talent for magic, was able to manifest even the most basic magic missile because I had been trained in pure magic personally developed by her.

Teaching me, who was terribly untalented in magic, was not an easy task, but the Witch never gave up and continued to educate me and other untalented followers.

That process must have been truly tedious and boring, not only for me, who lacked magical talent, but also for the White Witch who taught me.

But after agonizing and training alongside other followers who also lacked magical talent, when everyone successfully cast the magic missile spell in front of the Mage-nim who had taught them.

The Mage-nim smiled more brightly than ever and genuinely congratulated us.

“I’m sorry.”

Finishing my brief recollection, with a short apology, I moved my hand, where her fingernails were dug in, and firmly fastened her last button.

Killua, who had been watching my hand, began to relax the strength in the hand where her fingernails were dug in.

“You’ll definitely regret this, won’t you?”

“Definitely… I definitely think so. But…”

I wiped the back of her hand, where her fingernails had dug in and blood was flowing, with a cloth.

And then, I exhaled the pent-up lust and jealousy in my chest with a long sigh, and said,

“I don’t have the courage to kill the White Mage-nim with my own hands.”

“……”

The moment I embraced her, she could no longer be the White Mage.

She would merely remain a single girl, Killua, pitifully weakened compared to her past.

Having learned so much and accumulated so many memories from the Mage-nim, I didn’t have the courage to destroy the White Mage-nim with my own hands.

“Don’t use honorifics.”

At my honest confession, Killua slightly raised the corner of her mouth as if amused, and changed the subject, pointing out my use of honorifics.

However, I, who had served and attended to her for years by her side, knew well that her uncharacteristic act of changing the subject first meant she was feeling a bit shy or embarrassed.

“How many points was that answer? I thought it was pretty good?”

“Zero points, zero points. There were too many negative elements.”

“As expected, I suppose.”

At her answer, shrugging her shoulders and treating it as a natural zero, I couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

As I coolly accepted her scoring with a laugh, a deep smile also spread across Killua’s lips.

“But are you really going to keep using honorifics?”

“Yes. I will continue to do so until the moment the White Mage-nim disappears.”

Indeed, using honorifics felt more comfortable when dealing with Killua.

The moment she truly became Rai’s lover.

If she naturally became just a girl instead of the White Mage, the honorifics would naturally disappear.

“Then let’s finish the work. If we need to press it, we just close the lid and prepare a pressing stone, right?”

Embarrassed by my feelings that had erupted into useless jealousy and possessiveness towards her, I tried to conclude the conversation and handle the task at hand.

Then, looking at me, Killua said,

“Thank you.”

“Huh?”

I, who couldn’t help but doubt my ears at her expression of gratitude, stared at her with wide eyes.

Then Killua looked at me with a brightly smiling face, as if to confirm I hadn’t misheard.

“I won’t say it twice. Alright. I’ve spotted a good stone over there for a pressing stone, so hurry up and move.”

“Ah… Understood!”

At her urging, I hastily moved.

As she instructed, I closed the lid of the jar and pressed it down with a pressing stone. And by moving the heavy jar to a shaded spot, our work would be complete.