23 - Chapter 20: Episode 20 [Recovery]
"Looking at you, one question comes to mind."
"..."
"You wish for death, don't you?"
"The atrocities you committed against Yuria, they must be connected to your death."
"..."
"It seems you have no intention of answering. You'll find out anyway."
She released more Holy Power into her, spreading it throughout her entire body.
"This time, I'll definitely break you."
With the Sacred Realm deployed, there's no way she'll die.
Death is impossible in this domain.
Burning all her nerves to the extreme, her...
Bang!
The door burst open violently.
Could it be Cynthia?
She hadn't come along for this assistant work, but deep down, she might have been curious.
"Cynthia?"
I called out to her, but
there was no answer.
What's wrong? There's no reason she'd ignore my call.
Something is strange.
I turned my head to look at the door, and
Huh...?
An unbelievable figure stood there.
Yuria?
How could this be...
In the brief moment Yuria came into view,
a myriad of thoughts flashed through my mind.
Why is Yuria here?
Has he already regained consciousness?
No, His Holiness the Pope said he'd wake up soon, so there's nothing strange about it.
But Ella's reaction suggested Yuria wasn't supposed to wake up.
But wait...?
Ella doesn't even look surprised.
Then what on earth was she trying to hide...?
No, more importantly, right now,
everything I was doing, the torture, was seen by Yuria.
Ah, what should I do?
I've never shown him this side of me.
This is a disaster.
No, I'm certainly happy that Yuria has woken up,
happy, but...
I didn't want him to see me like this.
I don't want him to see my broken self like this.
My appearance must be a mess right now.
To show such a shameful sight.
How did things come to this?
Ah...
I want to deny this reality.
Even if all of this was an effort to save him,
it would just be an excuse.
I could have acted more rationally,
but I lost my mind and acted like a madwoman.
Yuria's eyes still shine with integrity.
Eyes are the windows to the soul. It's hard to face his pure, upright gaze.
As one who became the Saintess,
to show such an unseemly sight in a torture chamber...
This situation,
how...
Ah...
It's unbelievable, truly...
What should I do now?
As I fidgeted, he spoke to me first.
"Aria..."
His beautiful voice, unfitting for this gruesome torture chamber.
They say darkness fears light, don't they?
It's common knowledge, but today I truly understood.
I could personally experience the meaning of those words.
I'm even afraid to stand before him in this state.
"Ugh..."
What should I answer?
I don't know.
The room was already filled with
gruesome bloodstains too horrific to behold,
Ella was nearly out of her mind,
and there were traces of her female ejaculation...
It's hard to even imagine what he must have felt when he spoke to me after seeing all of this.
Honestly, I'm scared.
I'm so afraid that the relationship he and I built up until now will collapse in an instant.
"Aria..."
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
"What are you sorry for?"
"For showing you this side of me... a side that's not befitting a Saintess."
"No, this isn't something Aria should apologize for, is it?"
The answer came back in a bright voice.
I'm afraid to look up at him.
So afraid.
Still, I gathered my courage and looked up at him.
Afraid that if I didn't face him now, I would lose this chance forever.
And what met my gaze was
Yuria, looking at me with a warm, embracing smile, like gentle sunlight.
Ah...
That angelic Yuria drew closer.
My heart pounds so violently it hurts.
Even seeing me like this, he still...
"Aria, you've really been through a lot, haven't you?"
At his single, warm word of comfort,
the anxiety that had driven me to the edge of a stormy cliff,
the heart frozen as cold as frost,
my body taut with urgency,
all slowly absorbed the warmth of Yuria, like sunlight.
The storm subsided,
my heart melted,
and the taut muscles throughout my body relaxed.
And so, I lost my strength and slumped to the floor.
Yuria, seeing me in such a pathetic state,
approached more warmly than anyone else
and embraced me in his arms.
Ah...?
His warm hand stroked my head.
At his touch, my frozen heart
melted completely, as if it had never been frozen.
And a strange smile bloomed on my face.
I let out a strange, small laugh.
"Aria, I can't even begin to imagine how hard it must have been for you back then."
No, Yuria, it must have been much harder for you.
To comfort me before yourself.
His touch was so warm,
every time his hand touched me, my head,
every cell in my body rose up and cheered with joy.
Ah...
If only time could stop like this forever,
in his embrace.
Where is this place?
Clearly, I was raped by Ella,
and then my comrades came to save me, so I felt relieved and fainted...
When I opened my eyes, I was in complete darkness, and there was no sign of anyone.
No, I thought I opened my eyes, but
since it was so dark I couldn't see an inch in front of me, with no shapes visible,
I lost all sense of distance, balance, and direction.
No, am I even really opening my eyes?
Just as I was thinking that,
a faint light appeared in the distance.
Through the impenetrable darkness,
I walked towards the light, my only guidepost.
And when I reached that guidepost, what I saw was
a small, young girl with purple hair.
The girl grew up cute and innocent, showered with her parents' love in a happy rural home.
I don't know who she is, but she's cute.
Then, footsteps sounded in the distance.
Not one or two, but dozens, hundreds of people seemed to be approaching,
their footsteps echoing across the ground.
"Dear, surely..."
"Yes... Ella, go into the inner room. You must never come out."
That purple hair and the name Ella... could this scene be...?
Ella's childhood?
Her childhood, from centuries ago.
Why is someone showing me this?
"Bang!"
"Catch the Witch! The Witch!"
"I'm here, so please don't hurt these people."
"Alright, if you come willingly."
A young man grabbed the hair of the woman, who seemed to be the mother, and dragged her away.
"Wait a moment. There's no need to go that far."
"Huh? Are you also cursed because you live with a Witch? How dare you defend a Witch?"
The man, with a devastated expression, tried to protest,
but the woman whose hair was grabbed shook her head frantically.
Begging them not to,
to just leave her alone.
Her husband, seeing this, could do nothing,
and finally dropped his head weakly,
standing rooted to the spot.
And that day, the Witch was dragged away and burned at the stake in the village square.
In front of everyone.
Hit by countless stones.
Nevertheless, her father hid Ella until the very end,
and succeeded in raising her safely.
Despite the world's persecution
as a man cursed by black magic,
even though he couldn't find proper work because of it,
he took on dirty and repulsive jobs,
his body breaking down,
and somehow succeeded in raising Ella safely.
However, his body, worn out from raising her, could no longer be healed.
"Dad... Dad, no, if you just hold on a little longer, I'll find a way."
"Ella, do you remember what I told you?"
"Yes... that humans are fragile, so we shouldn't harm them?"
"That's right. And kindness begets kindness. If you give to someone, it will surely come back to you someday."
But...
His body, worn out from raising Ella, couldn't hold on much longer,
and her father passed away when she was around twenty.
And so, the story before my eyes stopped.
She had such a sad past.
This was another side of her, one she had never spoken of, a stark contrast to the bright self she always showed me.
I feel bad for prying, but who is showing me this and why?
As I was thinking that,
my vision reversed.
The world collapsed, and another place appeared.
Where is this place now?
A large hall made of black marble.
A circular table was visible there.
"From now on, I will open Walpurgis Night."
People sitting in eight seats.
That's...?
Is that Saintess Aria's attire?
A pure white dress,
a white veil on her head,
and the Cross hanging from that veil.
However, she looked different from the silver-haired Aria; she had black hair and black eyes.
"Saintess, is this plan, the ban on witch suppression, progressing well?"
"Of course. We even plan to ban the word 'Witch' itself."
I see, so this is the origin of the Night of the Star Mages,
Walpurgis Night.
According to the stories, it was created by Saintess Walpur,
so that woman must be Saintess Walpur.
Ella was already part of Walpurgis Night back then.
She fought for Witches long before I was born.