A few days later, it was now Aoi who was bound in that same plaza.
Light white snowflakes danced about. The chill air froze her skin, her exhaled breaths turned stark white. Yet the crowd surrounding the plaza was far greater than at the witch trial days earlier.
The previous trial had sent massive ripples outward. The fact that the judge had wielded magic, inadvertently causing many to light candles without fire, had spread to surrounding regions – drawing multitudes hoping to witness the notorious witches themselves.
While many were averse to being accused of witchcraft merely by association, more were drawn by curiosity than caution.
“Do you have any final words?”
“…………”
Like Irias and the others before, Aoi was tied to a wooden post, with oil-soaked kindling at her feet. The trial seemed destined to reach a swift conclusion. To prevent any further disruption from prolonged proceedings, they were even more forceful in determining Aoi’s guilt and intent on executing this witch before them immediately – far quicker than Irias’ group.
The judge presiding was different from the previous one, who had suffered grave physical and mental wounds requiring long-term treatment.
“…I don’t…”
Asked for final words, Aoi slowly opened her mouth. Haggard from the long journey, her ragged body looked on the verge of death without any further abuse.
“…seem to harbor as much anger, hatred or resentment in my heart as one might think. Of course I resent it – the enmity towards the nation that drove us all to death, the fury at those who backed us into this corner, the pain of that grueling journey.”
“…………”
“But if this was the natural course of the era, while my heart may reject it, reason allows me to understand. For magic is something that lives by heeding fate’s calls.”
Light snowflakes drifted down, a few specks clinging to Aoi’s chestnut brown hair. Not a heavy snowfall, but a sparse, tear-like scattering that melted upon hitting the ground.
“More than that, what fills my heart is…”
She trailed off mid-sentence, flakes still stuck to her body. Aoi closed her eyes slowly for a few seconds, seeming to swallow her original thought before weaving different words.
“…If the natural course decrees magic’s disappearance, so be it. Though I lament it, as one involved with magic, I will gladly accept whatever fate the divine has woven.”
Those surrounding held their breath listening to Aoi’s words. This witch who had tried disrupting the trial, causing great mayhem – perhaps in that moment, they sensed the vague premonition that an era was changing.
“However, if I could have one wish granted, I would ask that my final words be preserved eternally, passed down to the next generation and the next and the next forevermore. To be recounted endlessly throughout later ages, my heart’s sentiments lingering eternally within the human spirit.”
“…………”
“That is my one wish now.”
The air was bitingly cold. As time passed, the surrounding temperature dropped further, the commoners shivering. Aoi too felt the intense chill, but bound to the post, she could neither fidget nor tremble. Aware that death loomed imminent, an inner coldness seeped in – yet a small, crimson flame burned within to deliver her final words.
The snowflakes drifted silently down, impartially dusting witch, clergy, and commoner alike.
“And those words would be?”
The judge inquired.
Aoi gave a slight smile, then slowly opened her mouth.
“–May you all be cursed and die.”
And with that, Aoi was engulfed in flames. A great blaze consumed her whole body, taking her life.
Thus ended the conflict between the church and the witches. The church succeeded in nearly exterminating all the scattered witches, effectively eradicating the culture and techniques of magic-users. Unable to resist the church’s vast power and the world’s tides, the witches were rendered virtually extinct.
However, that series of trials altered history. Memories of the witch turmoil did not fade, passed down from person to person to swell into a great epochal shift. The magic circles left behind by those witches truly did ignite any who touched them, continuing to function unchanged even after the witches’ demise. And they would undergo repeated verification time and again.
Raising doubts about prior common knowledge regarding magic’s existence, voices began claiming – as that witch insisted – that perhaps magic could be wielded by anyone. Most who accidentally lit candles by touching those circles at the first trial fervently argued as much, loathe to be branded as heretical magic-users themselves.
Such claims did not find easy acceptance, but as verification progressed over time, that witch’s assertions transitioned into general consensus.
And so magic evolved into a commonplace technology supporting human life – beginning with medical techniques and pharmaceuticals, slowly verified until centuries later where it became vital for powering machinery. Magic grew into an intimate part of ordinary society.
And that [Progardia Witch Trial] was deeply etched into history as a heroic tale of a courageous witch.
Many around the world came to know the facts, included in history textbooks globally as an event studied by countless children. The witch’s brave actions were lauded for preserving magic into the modern era, benefiting the present day.
However, Aoi’s final uttered curse never spread to the world.
Her words were swiftly struck from the trial records, those involved keeping silent out of fear of the witch’s curse. Only the witch’s image as a valiant heroine was passed down, her malediction forgotten by all.
The contents of her heart never made it into the historical record.
A peculiar phenomenon occurred as Aoi breathed her last.
Aoi herself does not know why it happened. She does not understand any of the reasons. The people around her did not even notice that it had happened, and the only one who did was Aoi herself.
From within the flames, a newborn’s cry rang out. She opened her eyes, wondering if she was mistaken.
–The reincarnation spell had activated.
In a far-distant future where none from that era still lived, Aoi was reborn with memories of her past life intact.
It was around that transition from autumn to winter, when the brilliantly red leaves gradually faded before scattering away.
A certain girl in a classroom gazed out at the hazy, overcast world outside rather than towards the blackboard.
“So the [Progardia Witch Trials] of 319 marked a turning point toward harnessing magical energy…”
The history teacher conducted the lesson while writing on the blackboard. In a flat tone, she explained past events as the students transcribed notes.
This was a school approximately four hundred years after the Progardia Witch Trials. Sunlight filtered through the clouds, casting a lukewarm illumination halfway warming the room. At this transitional season, the sense of the weather was ambiguous – some students dressed for winter’s chill while others still wore autumn’s lighter attire.
“Due to the witch’s claims in that trial, societal perceptions of [magic] began to shift. The notion that magic could be wielded by anyone spread, invigorating efforts to explore what exactly could be achieved through magical power.”
Today’s history class covered the [Progardia Witch Trials].
The teacher calmly lectured on this nation’s history from four centuries prior, as documented in the textbooks.
“In the wake of the [Progardia Witch Trials], the church’s power temporarily waned. That incident was passed down among the commoners, eroding the authority of King Gresdley VII who had prioritized witch hunts. This allowed young nobles to rise, leading to two feuding factions within the church…”
The history teacher turned back to the blackboard, chalk scratching out more notes. The class faced the board and their notebooks, transcribing the writing.
Among them, one girl averted her bored gaze from the blackboard out the window.
“…………”
That girl was Aoi, the witch from four hundred years ago. The witch executed at those trials had been reincarnated into the present day.
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” ………… “
The girl was listening to the lesson with complex feelings.
History portrays the witch from the trial as a brave woman who did not submit to the great power, but her final words of resentment were never passed down.
History does not accurately convey her inner thoughts.
The girl turned her gaze within the classroom. Her friend Tiffy was sleeping soundly and happily. Another friend, Yuki, was diligently copying the notes, brimming with motivation. The top students, Tuli and Rain, were calmly attending the lesson.
She averted her eyes from the class. Hazy clouds covered the sky. The girl gazed out the window with a melancholy expression, harboring a gloomy feeling within.
The girl is the reincarnation of the witch from four hundred years ago.
She herself does not understand why the magic of reincarnation was activated. She cannot explain the reason at all.
The only thing she knows is that there is no one here who knows her former self. Reborn in an era where her old comrades no longer exist, she now lives as an ordinary girl.
In a world where she has nothing left to protect, the girl lives on.
Aoi, who achieved reincarnation, was given the name Kasumi by her parents.
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