Verdi’s arrow pierced the head of the leading guard. The man fell limp, never to rise again. The blood flowing from his body was absorbed into the ground.
While holding another arrow, Verdi quietly spoke to Aoi and the others.
“I’ll buy you some time. You need to let everyone escape.”
“…B-but! Verdi has to get away too. ……! “
“Being stupid was my complex…”
“…?”
Verdi lowered her voice, but started speaking a little faster and more calmly.
“I couldn’t keep up with your magic talk at all. I’ve known since I was a kid that I was stupid. In this mage’s village, I always felt like I was being left out.”
“W-what’s wrong, Verdi? At a time like this…?”
“To be honest, I was jealous of you, Aoi…”
While talking, Verdi released another arrow. It hit the chest of the next guard, defeating another enemy.
“When we chased out of our village, I even thought about running away from everyone. I’m not a witch, so I thought if I stayed away from everyone, I wouldn’t be chased.”
“…………”
“……I’m ashamed to even think about it for a moment.”
The enemy is still a little far away. Yet Verdi accurately pierces through the enemies. Aoi listens to her friend’s words in astonishment.
“Y-You should run away…! Verdi, you can live strong even by yourself!”
“…Don’t say such sad things.”
“…………”
Verdi directed a gentle smile towards Aoi. Seeing her face, Aoi’s heart tightened. She felt an urge to cry.
“…Teach me magic next time, Aoi. Make it simple enough for even a fool like me to understand.”
“Verdi…”
“Can’t just be jealous everytime. I’ll study properly, I want to become a witch too.”
Aoi was speechless at Verdi’s soft smile. Then Verdi averted her gaze from Aoi and took a few steps forward. She turned her back on Aoi.
“Don’t worry. I’ll scatter them and catch up soon.”
“Verdi…”
“Don’t worry about it. You know I’m strong, right?”
Verdi, despite being a woman, was one of the strongest in the village. Everyone respected her strength. They were grateful for her hunting and bringing back plenty of food. Even without magic, no one looked down on her.
Though often troublesome, everyone trusted her.
“…Got it. I’ll be waiting. Definitely catch up!”
“Yeah, leave it to me!”
“I’ll be waiting! I’ll be waiting!”
After a short conversation, Aoi turned her back on Verdi. Aoi faced the direction of the forest, while Verdi faced the direction of the enemy. Their backs drifted apart.
“Everyone! Over there…! Let’s run…!”
“Aoi…!”
Aoi commanded everyone and gave instructions to those left behind.
Many of the men able to fight became diversion forces. Verdi joined them. Most of those fleeing were women and children. Aoi shouted loudly to guide everyone into the forest, where the view was obstructed, once they ran a little further through the plain.
“Run! Run…!”
“Everyone…! Run…!”
Encouraging the frightened crowd as best as she could, Aoi successfully led everyone into the forest. Thanks to the diversion forces, there was a significant distance between the guards and themselves.
As their comrades fled into the forest one by one, disappearing into the trees, Aoi and Irias, including the children, hid within the forest.
And then the two looked back and witnessed it.
“Ah…!”
“…!”
At that moment when the two looked back, far behind, Verdi was pierced by the spear of the guards. Although she managed to fend off the enemy’s attacks despite being surrounded by several soldiers, she was finally pierced by their blade.
“…!”
Verdi’s voice, which had been loud until then, suddenly stopped, her body bending and falling to the ground. She, who had always been so strong and had helped everyone so much, lay motionless on the ground, blood flowing from her body.
“…………”
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Aoi and Irias’ minds went blank. If they looked closely, there were many corpses lying around them. Most of them were familiar faces to the two, people they had relied on since birth, important people from the village.
Those who fought as diversion forces were mercilessly trampled upon. Each one was killed.
“…”
Aoi braced her legs, feeling her strength leaving her, and turned her body forward. Without saying anything, she just bit her lip tightly and took Irias’s trembling hand, who was shaking all over, and ran.
“…………”
“…………”
Those who fought as diversion forces were beyond salvation. That much was certain.
Leading those left behind, Aoi ran forward and forward. In the forests and mountains, the group from the village was much better than the town’s guards. Erasing their footprints, outmaneuvering the enemy, they disappeared like smoke. The soldiers who were kept at bay eventually lost sight of the village group.
The diversion forces were ultimately successful, and the women and children from the village managed to escape. However, out of the thirty or so members of the group, ten died.
Leading the group and running desperately, Aoi thought. She had seen the sight of the comrades who had kept the enemy at bay being killed, but not a single one of them had triggered the resurrection magic. The magic circle engraved on their backs did not activate, and they all died normally.
“…………”
She sensed that none of the resurrection magic had been triggered. The resurrection magic had failed.
“Uwaaaaaahhh!”
In the dark night of the forest, Irias cried. After desperately running and finding a place to rest, and setting up a sleeping area for everyone, Irias cried.
“Verdi! Verdi…! Uwaaaaaahhh!”
“…………”
Aoi stroked Irias’ back gently. She bit her lip tightly, simply rubbing her friend’s back slowly. Irias was just sobbing.
And after Irias cried herself to sleep, now it was Aoi’s turn to cry silently.
“Sorry, sorry……”
She quietly shed tears so as not to wake anyone up. Through the gaps in the branches of the trees, bright stars were shining.
“Verdi, I’m sorry……. Sorry……”
The night air was cold. The harsh winter was almost there. Aoi silently wept to herself. Her tears fell into the soil, disappearing.
Aoi knew well what would happen to Verdi, who had been detained that day.
“Sorry……sorry……”
The night wind mercilessly struck Aoi’s body. The branches of the trees, dyed in the darkness of the night, swayed. The stars in the sky were beautiful, but they did not reach Aoi’s heart at the moment.
Even during the journey thereafter, there were casualties one after another. Children without the strength to survive from hunger and exhaustion fell first and died. In the long life of fleeing, it wasn’t just the children who broke down physically, but also middle-aged people, and eventually even young people with stamina.
The seasons passed, overcoming the harsh cold of winter and embracing the gentle season of spring. The hot sun of summer mercilessly drained their strength, and the cold of autumn seeped into everyone’s skin, causing illnesses. Snow piled up, rain fell, and thus, they continued their life of fleeing for a year.
While moving, they searched for things to eat in the mountains, but the state of constant food shortages continued, and even the horses carrying the load starved to death.
In the long journey, the group had become ragged. Even the survivors were all emaciated, stumbling as they walked towards the country’s border. When they were attacked by the guards that day, Aoi and Irias, who were entrusted with leadership, felt the pain of their own powerlessness as they watched the state of the group.
Many died, but no one’s reincarnation magic was activated. Everyone knew that this magic would not succeed, but they couldn’t hide their disappointment.
“…………”
And Aoi stared blankly at the bodies where the reincarnation magic did not activate, as if her mind had flown away somewhere.
Even such a long life of fleeing was finally approaching its greatest difficulty. The group had reached the border.
“…………”
“…………”
Everyone watched with deep emotion, looking at the town with a checkpoint from afar.
There were more than thirty people in the beginning, but now there were only five left at this time.
“…………”
Everyone gazed at the town in silence. To cross the border, they had to pass through the checkpoint. However, as witches, they could not cross the border through official means, so they had to either deceive the officials to break through or hide and cross the border without being noticed.
There were sturdy fences at the border, and guard posts were built here and there. It was not easy to pass through the border.
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