NOVEL WEB Chapter 21
“Then Lumia, let’s meet at the Guild tomorrow morning.”
“Okay. See you.”
After eating breakfast, since I had extended my stay for another day, I decided to return to the inn where I had originally stayed.
It was a bit shabby, but the owner was kind, and most importantly, it was the inn that welcomed Lumia, so I thought it would be better to move my stuff here tomorrow.
“Yeriell, how about we move to this inn tomorrow?”
I slowly listed reasons why it would be good to move.
“While we’ll need to take a carriage to get to the Guild or the Library, it’s also cheaper, and it’s kind of cumbersome to always have to say where to meet before parting from Lumia.”
Yeriell nodded without hesitation.
“Yeah. Since Lumia can’t move, we should go. If we stay at the same inn, it’ll be easier to chat or plan our schedules. Let’s move our stuff tomorrow!”
Right. Since we were now a fixed party of three, it would be awkward if one person was too far away.
We took a carriage back from the lift.
Arriving at the inn, I informed the owner that I’d be checking out tomorrow and dispersed to our respective rooms, saying we’d see each other tomorrow.
Phew, it was another exhausting day.
I quickly washed up and lay down, falling asleep before I had a chance to think about anything.
*
I’m gone.
Wooosh!
“Ugh.”
Alone again.
I felt the familiar and yet hated darkness of the curse wrapping around me once more.
“It’s so annoying…”
When I stood next to Aren, devoid of the darkness.
It felt like I was transported back to my childhood, playing with friends without a care in the world.
Back to the time when my ears and hair weren’t black.
“I miss it.”
They say it’s worse to have something taken away than to never have it, and now that I tasted a world without darkness again, it was hard to bear.
…
…
I wasn’t born cursed with the appearance of Arare.
One day, my hair suddenly turned black, and my eye color changed, making me a rare case of a postnatal Arare, so rare that most people didn’t even know such a being existed.
That was me.
One day, while I was playing with kids my age as usual.
Suddenly, clutching my head as it felt like it was about to burst, I collapsed.
When the pain subsided and I looked around, I found it strange that no one came near to see me in pain.
“My, my hair turned black.”
My friends looked at me as if they had seen a monster.
“I know what that is. It’s Arare! Lumia suddenly turned into Arare!”
“Run away, everyone!”
My hair has turned black?
With trembling hands, I pulled out a few strands of hair. Just as the kids said, it was black, not a light brown.
“Uuuaaaagh!”
In fear, I ran home, sobbing.
“Huhuhu, my daughter has turned into a cursed Arare… How could this happen?! What did this child do wrong?”
“Damn. You know it’s nobody’s fault. What are we going to do? The whole village will know about this by now. If the High Priest finds out…”
“It cannot happen! The High Priest, who lost his family because of Arare, will try to take this child’s life the moment he learns another Arare has appeared in the village.”
“Then there’s only one way. We have to pack up and leave the village right now. We have to take her to the witches’ village.”
The look of fear on the faces of my friends when they saw my changed appearance.
The warm voices of my parents were replaced with tremors of serious concern.
Tears wouldn’t stop flowing at the sudden change of everything.
In a hurry, we packed our things and left the village. We traveled as quickly as we could for several days, and when we felt it was safe, we all sighed in relief.
But that night, everything changed.
“Damn the High Priest! If she left the village on her own, couldn’t we just let her go? What crime does my daughter have to deserve this?!”
“Hmpf. The very fact that she turned into Arare is a crime. Ignorance could save her, but now that I know, this cursed Arare before me cannot live. Attack!”
The High Priest and assassins who had tracked us down for days lunged at us.
“No, Rozelyn! Aaaah─!”
In the end, Mom fell first, bleeding out.
Enraged, Dad fought back, but he couldn’t withstand their superior numbers and fell to murder.
Now, all that remained was me sitting dazed on the ground, watching the blood spill.
Then it happened.
WHOOSH!
A black portal opened before me, and someone stepped out from within.
A witch in robes of black and purple. She looked just like me, an Arare.
“Oh my goodness. The wave suddenly spread, so I rushed over. You’re not just a little baby, are you? Did your hair change color today?”
I nodded, still in shock from her question.
“So you’re definitely a postnatal Arare… Good. You have two choices now. The first: Just die here and follow your parents.”
And the second?
“Second: Take my hand and come to the Witch’s realm. In this case, at least your basic needs will be taken care of. No one will reject you or make you feel isolated because we’re all in the same situation.”
“…”
“What will it be? Your future is something you get to choose. If you want to close your eyes and find peace now, I won’t stop you.”
…I chose.
“I want to live.”
“Good, well chosen. Let’s go. Hold my hand tightly.”
The High Priest shouted.
“Do you think you can escape? I’ll kill both of you!”
THUD!
The High Priest’s attack was easily blocked by a shield.
“Do you think you can defeat me in that weak condition? Your subordinates are already dead, don’t waste your energy.”
“Damn… why a high-level witch of all things?”
ZZZTT!
“Let’s go. By the way, what’s your name?”
“Lumia. It’s Lumia.”
I said my name as I stared at the High Priest.
I thought about how I would definitely return and kill him—while I was urged to step through the portal with a burning glare.
VROOM!
After that, I grew up in the Witch village called Magium, where my basic needs were provided.
However, the witches there were more rational and cold than warm, so it was tough to feel any human emotions.
Moreover, the images of my parents dying haunted me, no matter how much time passed.
I struggled with a burning desire for revenge every night.
Then, when I began to learn the knowledge a witch should know and completely mastered the basics of black magic while being scolded by strict witches, I suddenly had a thought.
Wasn’t there a way to become stronger, faster?
Could I defeat the High Priest just by sticking to black magic in this village? What if the High Priest died in the meantime?
When I hesitantly mentioned these thoughts to Leviah, the one who brought me here…
At first, she said I should just focus on learning in the village and not dream of anything else.
After I kept repeating the same things day in and day out, she reluctantly spoke.
“There’s a city of labyrinths that periodically opens the entrance to the Great Labyrinth in the center of the continent.”
City of labyrinths?
“If you enter the Great Labyrinth and safely return, you’ll gain traits from defeating monsters, achieving feats, experiencing odd events, or transcending your limits.”
“Traits?”
“Yeah. If you’re lucky enough to gain positive traits or powerful traits, you’ll be able to level up at a speed unimaginable compared to your current self.”
Leviah added, “But you’ll also face rejection from people around you due to your curse, and you’ll receive such contempt that you might want to die yourself. Can you handle that? You just became an adult.”
She looked at my face and sighed.
“… It looks like you’ve made up your mind no matter what I say. Fine. I’ll speak to the witches in charge of education and get your things ready.”
At first, the other witches resisted, but eventually, it seemed they realized it wasn’t their business and just tuned out.
A few days later, Leviah packed my stuff, and I received it before she opened a large portal. It was bigger than the one that brought me here.
“Once you leave Magium, if you wish to return later, you’ll have to find your own way. Got it?”
I nodded once and, with my mouth trembling, finally stepped toward the portal without being able to speak.
“Well then, goodbye. I hope your resolve doesn’t falter.”
…
Leviah’s words were right. After taking the straight portal to the city of labyrinths, that was when my hardships began anew.
Just standing still, I was bombarded with severe insults and curses from afar, which was daily life.
As I walked by, people would scream for me to get lost, worrying that monsters would come out from the labyrinth because of me.
When I waited in line or visited stores, people would disperse, treating me like a bug crawling in a waste bin.
Even just opening the inn door could get me kicked out immediately, or beer mugs would fly my way as people noticed my hair color and ears.
I tried to cover my ears, but no matter how hard I tried, it was futile.
Clink!
Fortunately, there was quite a bit of money in the bags Leviah had given me.
Thanks to that, I managed to pay three or four times the rate of the inn, cautiously spending a night before getting kicked out repeatedly.
Somehow, I was able to find Rotten Grandpa’s inn after traversing through District 7 to District 4.
He said he was a high-level retired adventurer familiar with the deeper layers and that he wouldn’t starve even if he didn’t take guests, inviting me to stay comfortably without fear of any curse or misfortune.
It was then that I cried uncontrollably for the first time since becoming an adult.
With a safe place to stay resolved, I went to the Guild to register and planned to find a party after several days of training… but not a single low-tier party would take me in.
In the end, I barely managed to convince a group of novice-level recruits who had just completed their training about the effectiveness of black magic and was able to team up with them.
“Y-you were not supposed to let someone like you into the party! Beg for food…”
Everyone except me died while fighting their way to escape near the portal.
An ally’s stray arrow accidentally shot me in the neck, killing me instantly.
I blocked a monster’s attack, but my weapon broke, and the attack pierced my vital spot, killing me instantly.
Out of nowhere, I twisted my ankle and accidentally triggered a trap, dying at once.
Is all of this my fault…?
I wanted to die.
Having barely escaped the labyrinth, I fled, hearing the cold looks of the receptionist who realized I emerged alone and the whispers around me.
I had locked myself in the inn for nearly weeks.
Then, looking at my dwindling money, fearing that if I stayed idle, I’d starve to death in less than six months, I headed back to the Guild.
This time, it was even harder to find a party.
When I finally found one willing to take me in, I was immediately thrown out as a worthless body.
I pressed on, ignoring the insults, curses, and scorn around me, reducing my share as much as possible, trying to join a party planning to conquer the first layer and challenge the second layer.
Yeah. I was in.