episode_0094

After seeing off the Herbalist Hero, Killua-nim chased everyone else out of the room and checked if the door was tightly shut.

Watching her back, I belatedly realized that her appearance had changed significantly.

“Killua-nim’s hair…”

Her hair, which had always flowed with a mysterious silver-white sheen, had turned into black hair, shimmering with a gentle luster as if spun from thin threads of black pearls.

Hearing my words, Killua-nim ran her hand through her now black hair and spoke with a hint of regret in her voice.

“I used up all the source magic remaining in the pendant. I’m truly ordinary now.”

Her mysterious silver-white hair seemed to have been due to the magic from her days as the White Mage, which had still remained in the pendant.

Since she had used up all the source magic pooled at the very bottom of the pendant, the silver-white color maintained by magic had disappeared.

“How is it? Does it suit me?”

However, Killua-nim, as if not disappointed or frustrated, smiled confidently and, as if showing off, lightly shook her head, letting her black hair flutter before my eyes.

“It suits you better than I could have imagined.”

The silver-white hair had given her a mysterious aura befitting her epithet as the White Mage.

But her deep black hair, which matched her profound black eyes, enveloped her in a calm, settled nobility.

If she wore a serious expression and set the mood even slightly, one encountering her for the first time might mistake her for nobility or royalty, such was the sense of dignity she exuded.

“Alright… then, shall we start our truly private conversation, just the two of us?”

Killua-nim, who seemed pleased with my compliment, nodded contentedly. After checking once more that the door was tightly shut, she approached me with calm steps.

“How serious is this private conversation that you’re setting such a mood?”

I also slowly raised my body from the bed.

Perhaps thanks to the World Tree’s sap’s amazing healing effects, my entire body felt light and comfortable, moving as if my broken bones and torn muscles had merely been a bad dream.

“It’s about various things, such as our future plans, schedules, and the nature of our relationship.”

Killua-nim, who had approached me with calm steps, pulled a small chair next to the bed and sat directly in front of me, who was perched on the bed, facing me.

Sitting close enough for me to see my reflection in her dark eyes, Killua-nim’s subtle apple-scented aura permeated my nostrils.

“What are you going to do now?”

The first topic she brought up was future plans.

However, her question left me utterly speechless.

According to the original plan, Killua-nim was going to leave with the Hero to find the pendant fragments, and I was going to set up a new life in Eaton Village with Ariel.

But unfortunately, due to the intervention of the otherworlder Hero, my relationship with Ariel was shattered beyond recovery…

Killua-nim had also used up all the source magic of her pendant, becoming an entirely ordinary person.

“Well…”

When I couldn’t answer immediately, Killua-nim nodded slightly, as if she had expected it.

“You could get support from Tom Bolt and create your own merchant guild. Or, you could stay in Eaton Village, where you have strong support, and aim for the position of the next Village Chief.”

Since I couldn’t give an answer, Killua-nim kindly offered a few examples of choices I could make.

As she said, Tom Bolt, who had received my help as the Fox Merchant in the past, and the people of Eaton Village would now actively support me.

With Tom Bolt’s help, I could form a merchant guild again to restore the Fox Merchant’s renown.

Alternatively, I could use my influence and merchant’s eye to splendidly revive Eaton Village, which now had new special products.

However, there was one thing that bothered me.

“Then what about Killua-nim?”

It was Killua-nim’s plan.

“Well…”

This time, Killua-nim couldn’t answer immediately.

And with a bitter smile, she looked at me, as if asking me to suggest examples for her decision this time.

Under her gaze, only one possibility came to mind.

To settle down in a small village or city using her mysterious knowledge and live a stable life.

However, the faded pendant hanging and swaying around her neck caught my gaze.

Even when Killua-nim had almost no magic, we worked together to overcome a crisis and recovered one pendant fragment.

Since we succeeded once, a second success wouldn’t be impossible either.

If only we could recover the second pendant fragment…

“I’m not interested in fragments anymore.”

Noticing that I was staring intently at her pendant, Killua-nim cupped it in her hand, hiding its presence from my sight.

“I told you. You’re more precious than my magic or power.”

“Killua-nim…”

I looked at her with bewildered eyes at her answer, saying that I alone was precious, forsaking all the glory, power, and status she had enjoyed as the White Mage in the past.

Then, Killua-nim fiddled with her pendant and continued speaking.

“When we miraculously recovered one pendant fragment, what do you think I felt?”

At her question, I recalled the time we faced the slime monster.

The moment she pulled out the fragment embedded in Ariel’s body, she regained some of her power from her White Mage days and, in a single strike, not only vaporized the slime monster but also most of the slimes throughout the Lime Forest, demonstrating her overwhelming presence.

But at that very moment when she had recovered the fragment and was displaying her presence and power,

I couldn’t see what expression she was making due to the brilliant light emanating from her hand holding the fragment.

“Joy… or relief? Wouldn’t you have felt something like that?”

I thought that if she recovered even a part of her lost power or resources, she would probably feel such emotions.

“No. It was fear and dread.”

“Huh?”

However, the answer that came from Killua-nim’s lips was completely different from what I had expected.

“While holding the fragment and feeling my lost power surge back into my body… when I looked at you, expecting your joy more than anyone else’s, you were already half-eaten by the monster.”

“Ah…”

As soon as Killua-nim recovered the fragment embedded in Ariel’s body, the slime monster, whose magic supply to maintain its body was cut off, immediately tried to devour everything around it.

That target included Ariel, all the surrounding grass and trees, and even me, who was in close contact with the slime monster.

“The moment I thought I could lose you, my mind went blank. Tears welled up at the ominous thought… and the idea that even a slightly wrong choice could lead to irreversible consequences seized me.”

“Surely… that’s why you poured all the fragment’s power into that one strike?”

The moment my body was about to be swallowed and devoured by the slime monster.

Killua-nim had unleashed a destructive magic so immense that it consumed all the magic of the fragment she had barely recovered.

“That’s right. If I had tried to conserve power and failed to save you… I probably…”

Killua-nim seemed to not want to even imagine the ominous thought, trailing off her words gently without finishing the sentence.

Then, as if to calm her emotions, which were slightly shaken by the grim imagination, she took a deep breath.

“After that day, I was certain.”

Killua-nim, swallowing the tears that had briefly welled up, looked at me with serious eyes.

“You are my everything.”

“Uh… is this… a confession…?”

At my bewildered reply, Killua-nim, who had been looking at me with serious eyes, let out a chuckle.

“Interpret it however you like. You can see it as a confession… or as a pledge between close friends. Even as a suggestion to become sworn siblings, almost like blood relatives, is fine.”

Her words carried a genuine sincerity of caring for me and thinking of me.

Certain that this was not just a prank to tease me, I also looked back at her with serious eyes and asked,

“Are you saying I’ve had that much impact on Killua-nim’s life?”

“Just as a god needs followers who believe in them to exist, the White Mage needs someone who believes in them to exist. That person was you.”

Killua-nim continued, recalling the moment she had lost all her power and fallen into the Lime Forest.

“Even though I had lost all my power, you still called me the White Mage, respected me, and believed in me.”

Then, Killua-nim raised a single index finger right before my eyes.

“Just one person. Thanks to that one person, the White Mage didn’t despair.”

The index finger she raised so conspicuously clearly pointed to me.

At her heartfelt words, openly revealing that I had been a great help to her, I felt my chest swell with emotion.

“So, from now on, I…”

Killua-nim, who had been fiddling with the pendant around her neck for a moment, then tucked it into her bosom so it wouldn’t be seen, as if intending to cut off her interest in it.

“I want to be by your side as Killua, not as the White Mage.”

Though she seemed to speak nonchalantly, a faint blush slowly began to bloom on her face like a spring flower.

“Are you completely giving up the White Mage’s power?”

I couldn’t help but be surprised by her decision to casually abandon the overwhelming and absolute power she possessed as the White Mage.

“Even without such power, I think it will be enough if only you are by my side.”

Killua-nim, smiling with full conviction, rose from her seat and walked towards me, who was sitting on the bed.

“What do you think?”

“It’s me who wants Killua-nim…”

“Killua.”

When I naturally added the honorific to her name, Killua-nim smiled subtly and corrected my speech.

Unlike when I was frustrated from the slime poison and she corrected how I addressed her with a voice filled with defiance and venom, her voice now was infinitely soft and peaceful.

“It’s me who will feel more secure than anyone if Killua is by my side.”

As per her request, filled with the desire to be called normally, I dropped the honorific and spoke as if conversing with a friend.

Then, a bright smile of satisfaction spread across Killua’s lips, and she approached me, who was sitting on the bed, perching herself on my thighs as if climbing onto my body.

“Then, what should I call you now?”

“Are we… are we deciding on pet names first?”

Startled by Killua’s sudden bold skinship, I answered her question while my entire body stiffened.

Then, Killua gave a playful smile and threw a few examples at me to make my choice easier.

“As a lover, should I call you ‘honey’? Or as a friend, Jazel? Or… you don’t possibly want me to call you ‘Oppa’ as a sworn sibling, do you?”

“Uh… hmm… well…”

Speechless at the difficult choice, I could only roll my eyes left and right in embarrassment, avoiding Killua-nim’s gaze that was now right in front of my face.

Then, as if telling me not to avert my gaze, Killua cupped my cheeks with both hands and made me look into her eyes.

Facing her two eyes, sparkling with excitement as if anticipating my decision, and instinctively knowing I couldn’t evade this moment without an answer, I hurriedly stated my choice.

“Pl-Please call me Jazel…”

“No. Honey.”

But perhaps I never had a choice to begin with.

The moment I chose the most ordinary option, a friend, instead of a lover or sworn sibling.

Killua abruptly called me ‘honey’ and, as if to stop any retort from my surprised mouth, covered my lips with hers.