This isn't the first time I've had these kinds of hallucinations.
Though...
Witnessing someone's death, and having it feel so real…
Are they really memories from Raum?
Raum, who are you really?
I looked at my reflection in the mirror. A month had passed since I was possessed by Raum.
The tail that appeared in my head was still there, but after that, I couldn't hear Raum anymore.
Usually, every time he died, he would tell me the number of deaths he had had; that helped me know how much this body could endure in different types of deaths with Liam's help.
But when I help her and die…
His voice disappeared.
I asked Frederick, and he said it was because it was sealed in my heart, so if someone stabbed me in the heart, I would surely be able to hear it again.
But there was also the danger that the seal would break, after all, Frederick accepted that he had not made it perfect.
And with everything that happened, something else also happened.
"Anser, Frederick said he would stay a few more days, since he is still a little weak from Raum fight and his mana is a little—"
"Fine."
Yeah.
He's been ignoring me.
Even on missions he wanted me to go on to prove I was trustworthy...
"Yoon Hee. Mission."
He's taken Liam, even though she still dreads those missions, and worse yet...he seems angry with her too.
What exactly happened to make him angry?
The only times I wrote it angry was...
Huh.
I don't remember.
But I'm sure it wasn't because of anything I did!
I've just been helping Liam train and chatting with Frederick!
At least that's it? Talk to Frederick more than to him?
"Huh…" Still, he seems too busy now with Walpurgis Night being tomorrow and the fact that he has to eliminate the demons from the nearby areas. "I should sleep now…"
No! Ji Noo! Get up and investigate; what's wrong with that idiot?!
No one dares to ignore Ji Noo....
I got up, and with great determination I went to his room and knocked on the door.
"Anser! Are you there?! There's been an emergency!" I knocked several times, but there was no response from the other side.
Wait a few more minutes.
Nothing.
"…"
I never should have written it so quietly.
So as a last resort…
"HIYAAAA!!"
I knocked down the door.
"Why the fuck don't you answer?!" I said, but seeing him standing near the window...shirtless...no, not just shirtless...
Gulp.
"…"
"Why are you naked?"
Anser turned to look at me, angry, then grabbed a robe from the corner of his bed and opened the window, about to stick a foot out there, I went towards him.
"Now you're trying to kill yourself to escape?! Don't run away, coward!" I wrapped my arms around his waist and pulled him in with all my strength, even using my tail to get him back in.
With all the strength with which Anser was holding onto the corner of the window, I could hear it creak…the window is going to break.
Anser realized, so he let go. But all his weight fell on me.
So we both fell backwards, him on top of me.
"Aghh…you are heavy..." I said, as I tried to lift him off of me.
Soon, Anser got up from on top of me, then grabbed me by the neck of my shirt. He lifted me up with one hand, then dragged me towards the door.
"Hey! I'm not leaving until you tell me what's wrong!" I said, clinging to him.
It would be a hug, if only Anser wasn't shaking me trying to get me off of him. "Get off."
"I said no! Until you tell me why you've been ignoring me for a whole month!!" I said, about to be pulled out, I grabbed the corner of the door.
For the next few minutes we continued pulling each other, until a bullet grazed us.
Anser let go of me, and I let go of him, and seeing Frederick in the hallway...
"Why are you so damn loud? It's almost the witching hour."
Anser growled, then returned to his room, just as he was about to put the door back on I went in with him.
"I said I'm not leaving," I said, taking the door away and setting it aside. "What the hell is going on with you?"
"I said stop fighting, dammit..." Frederick stood outside, arms crossed, keeping his gun at his waist, and his right arm disappearing.
"SHUT UP." We both screamed.
At least on that, we agreed.
Anser then grabbed my arm, and dragged me out of his room, but before we could leave, Frederick grabbed his wrist and grabbed me by the shoulder.
"I'm tired…" Then, with his now mana arm again, he dragged us inside, sitting us both on the bed, and standing in front of us, like a mother after checking her children's grades... "The few days I decided to stay, you guys were fighting, and now that I've only come to see Liam...ARE YOU ALL STILL FIGHTING?! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU TWO?!"
Anser and I looked at each other sideways, silent...
Frederick then looked at us, his fingers tapping his mana arm.
He was waiting for an answer.
"I don't know, he started ignoring me." I said.
Then Anser snorted. "...He…"
He was going to tell the reason already?!
Seriously?!
"…He is now a demon..."
"…What?" I blinked, my ears didn't fail me, did they?
He...ignored me because of my tail?
He thinks I'm a demon and I'm not me?
He is despising me for being a demon?
Frederick looked at me, not so surprised, on the contrary, he seemed to want to go home already.
"I disgust you for having a tail, idiot?"
He looked away.
Ignoring me, again...
"You're breaking my heart."
"…"
Blackmail doesn't work either?! What is this man made of?!
Then I heard the door close, Frederick was gone.
Damn it…
What more can I say?
Anser has always hated demons. Having a demon sealed inside me will never change his opinion of them. And I don't blame him. A month ago, I lost control and hurt everyone…
Even the next day Frederick helped Liam recover and Anser...
Anser never left his room until he recovered. He didn't even let me see him, and apologize.
I think I was overconfident that Anser was okay with me as his ally.
Very confident...
"So that's why you were ignoring me?" I looked at him. "Did you think I'd lose control again and try to kill you all?"
And again, he said nothing, just looked at the window.
Do I even really understand him?
The first time I met him I was able to understand what he felt, because I felt empathy when I learned about his suffering.
But now, why is it so difficult to see through it?
How much has he changed this month?
"Do you think the same thing that happened to you before will happen again?" And only then did I manage to make him shudder. I know how much it still affected him... "…Do you think you can't protect Liam from me?"
"…"
And again, he says nothing.
Why is it so difficult to communicate with him?
It makes me feel a little guilty now that I reminded him of that tragedy...
I sighed, then placed a hand on his shoulder. "Sorry," Then, I got out of bed, and went to the door. "Mandeleine will probably be at Walpurgis Night tomorrow, so this will be my last night."
"…What?"
"I'm going on a trip to the third world."
The third world, as we would call it in my original world...
'Hell'.
When I put my hand on the handle, I noticed that it was stuck.
"Huh?" I pulled it a little, it was still stuck. "Frederick jammed the door when he put it back on..." I snort.
That guy was really in a bad mood…
Soon, I felt a presence behind me, and when I turned around...it was Anser, but now he looked...angry?!
"What's wrong with you now?" I muttered, now truly fearing for my life. "If you want me to leave, I can climb out the window..."
Anser frowned, then lowered his gaze, now...
"Eh?"
He was sad.
"I did not mean that..." He murmured, his red eyes threatening to burst into tears. Was he really that sensitive all the time? "You're a demon...because I couldn't stop Raum before he deformed your body..."
Oh.
Oh…
He was referring to that...and I...
"…S-Sorry…"
This time I went too far.
Anser pouted, and without a sound, tears began to flow from his eyes.
He was really crying.
I think I forgot he was depressed.
As well as...
Him.
I immediately hugged him.
I never knew how to comfort someone.
I once met someone.
Marie.
She was a foreigner, and it was hard for her to adapt to life in Korea, I always supported her to help her in school.
But, outside of school...I couldn't do anything.
She was alone, parents absent, no friends, an unknown country…
She always cried, she always regretted her life, but still, she always tried hard to change.
Although in the end, she never achieved it.
And I...I could never save her.
I could have done more for her.
"Forget what I said."
I think...I can do what I couldn't do with her with him.
"I'll stay with you, okay? Don't worry."
I said, really honest this time.
Maybe Randy Bornman wanted to change history to save everyone, right?
I think helping the protagonist first will make everything easier...
At least that will calm my guilt.
For now, I can only hug him, give him the little love I have, but which I know he needs to not die alone.
"I will be stronger..." He murmured into my shoulder, as he hugged me back, hiding his tears.
"No need, I like you just the way you are."
Then he shook his head.
"No…" He murmured, putting a little more weight on me. "Stronger..."
I sighed.
At least now I'm sure he'll open up a little more to me, even if it's not to others.
"Such a brat…"
***
What is the job of a witch?
Curse, create, destroy...
No.
The job of a witch is…
"Madam, tonight will be Walpurgis Night," a frog said, jumping from the window to a desk full of books with pentagrams and spells. "You won't consider joining your fellow witches? They're planning another demon attack on Anarxie's capital."
The witch adjusted her hat, then turned to look at the little frog.
Sure, Walpurgis Night was the day that would kick off the eve of demon attacks, but she...wasn't interested in that.
"My horoscope says it's a lucky day this year. I think I'll stay home."
The frog swallowed a fly, then jumped to the witch's side.
"Luck?"
Something strange. Since this peculiar witch...
"Maybe I'll be able to eat more witch desserts this year..."
…is a cannibal witch.
-
Sunlight peeked through the window.
Without realizing it, I fell asleep with Anser, while trying to convince him that going all muscle wasn't the best idea...
Still, with or without muscles, everyone thought he was handsome.
And sadly, it was even more so in person...
It's not that I'm gay, but I'm aware of beauty.
I yawned, and noticed Anser still holding me, wrapped in my arms, his face pressed against my chest.
I'm not gay, but you know who I think is?
"…" I blinked, I was going to say something to get him to move, but his bed was so comfortable...and his body so warm that I thought twice.
I closed my eyes again, ready to go back to sleep, until I heard a small knock on the wall.
I raised my head, and noticed it was...
…Liam.
"…What are you doing?" I told her, watching her from the hallways, pretending not to see me. "And what did you do to the door…?"
And yet, Liam turned to the side, ignoring me again.
"I have a beast on me, and I won't hesitate to use it if you don't answer me, brat..."
"Okay! Okay!" Then she stealthily ran to my side, sitting on the floor next to me, and then showing me a photo... "I was about to take a shower when I noticed the door was crooked, so I lifted it and it opened..."
It was a photo of both of us.
"And I saw you two...so...I just took a souvenir..."
"Do you think it's a tourist sight?" I growls at her, annoyed. "If you don't want me to burn it, burn it yourself."
She sighed, then put the photo in her clothes.
"No! I'll have it personally for myself."
I snorted, about to pull her, she ran away.
Good...
Now she'll have some blackmail on me...
And despite all the talk, Anser continued sleeping.
"You were really tired, weren't you?" I muttered, then put a hand on his head.
Looking at him like this, he looked like a bunny; he didn't make any noise even when he was sleeping.
Incredible...
And something cute.
I sighed again, then covered him with the sheet. Letting him sleep will help, anyway; today we'll have to stay up all day until Walpurgis Night is over.
Even more so, when the three great witches make their appearance...
And to do that, all hunters must protect our exorcist, Mandeleine, so we can defeat at least one of them.
It's going to be a tough night. And for the first time...
It would be the first battle where all the sect leaders would be present, even the smallest ones, like Anser.
And this time, we were prepared.