The lifestyle pattern of Small Olga is, as previously explained, quite simple.
After finishing a task that wasn’t even considered work, Small Olga would report to a few elves assisting her about the day’s events. Once she got a decent management of the tasks and schedule for tomorrow, she would cover herself with a leaf blanket and settle into a comfortable night, which was the basic routine of her life.
Today was no different.
In the evening, she sent a gift set of corn from Daesanrim to Shia through Yeonseo. While leisurely watching a broadcast, Small Olga excitedly watched Shia catch a Fugu Dove through a girl student and eliminate an Elder Mandragora. In the end, she even enjoyed the scene of making Fugu Dove Mandragora Corn Soup.
Though she hadn’t directly advertised it to Shia, the fact that Shia was using corn in the broth was, after all, the first time for the elf corn to be presented directly to ordinary humans. So, she thought it would have a promotional effect.
“Ahhhh! Teresa, don’t die!”
“I’m not dying… Uweeeek…!”
“Black Witch, can you breathe?”
“I said I don’t need to… Uweck…!”
“Uwaaaah! Teresaaaa!”
Small Olga was a bit confused.
No, it wasn’t just a bit confusing.
At the end of the broadcast, they had shown how they wonderfully made the broth. Small Olga, who had been monitoring Shia’s broadcast just in case, felt relieved as the broth was finished and had gone to bed, but suddenly, in the morning, Shia came to her, crying.
Thanks to this, Small Olga had to greet Shia and Menelapie in her sleepy, disheveled state without even having time to prepare as a member of the Mangchi Squad.
“What on earth happened?”
When Shia arrived, carrying Teresa with Menelapie through the power of Yeonseo, Small Olga had quite grave thoughts.
Teresa was Shia’s companion and her witch.
Knowing well Shia’s strength, Small Olga thought about the possibility that if Teresa, Shia’s witch, was suddenly carried in a state resembling death, it could mean the Demon King had begun to invade Earth and Teresa had been injured while trying to stop him.
But…
“Teresa ate your Green Landscape… Uwaaaaah!”
“……..”
Well, that’s a big problem…
“The Spirit Nuke that I made with Big Olgania… No, the Spirit Nuke we made together won’t explode unless the trigger is tampered with, right…?”
“……..”
“Hey Menelapie? Can you explain, please?”
“Uhh, well…”
“Explanation aside… Uweeeek…!”
Just as Teresa, who was carried on Menelapie’s back, was about to say something, a long stem and a bunch of flowers spilled from her mouth.
“Hmm, so… you guys accidentally ate the Spirit Nuke, and everyone else is fine, but only the Black Witch is feeling weird… And the Seongnyeo tried to do something, but it only made things worse…”
At Small Olga’s words, Shia nodded tearfully.
“Uweeeek! I told you not to, you big-headed Seongnyeo… Uweeeek!”
Teresa, even if she wanted to rage, seemed to be speechless due to the numerous flowers popping out of her throat.
“Actually, the basic principle of the Spirit Nuke is not to take life, but to create it, you know?”
“I heard there were quite a few casualties…”
“That’s because those who were in the fallout area of your Green Landscape were pierced or devoured by the newly grown lives, but the Spirit Nuke itself isn’t lethal, you see?”
“……”
Since Small Olga was the one who made and designed the Spirit Nuke, she knew it best.
“But to conclude, just like you worry, there’s no way the Black Witch would die.”
“Waaaaah! Teresa….. Huh, really? Not dead?”
“Hey you stupid brat! Just stop crying! Uweuk!”
“Ahaha… but as I said earlier, as long as you don’t mess with the trigger, you can cook it without any problem. Since the body of the Black Witch is still a body… there might be a bit of a twisted phenomenon happening, but…”
“Small Olga, does that mean there’s really no problem?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Uweeeek! I’m vomiting flowers from my throat and you’re saying there’s no problem… Uweuk, damn it!”
“Well, just to be safe, I think it’s better for you to stay here for a night, just in case.”
At Small Olga’s words, Teresa’s already furrowed brows deepened even more.
“Hey, no way…! I just met that girl again, shouldn’t I be able to sleep together for a night… Uweck!”
“What kind of sleep do you think you can have in that state? Black Witch, don’t worry and sleep here for a night. Your doll-like body is already unstable, and if that breaks, it would be trouble, wouldn’t it?”
“You damn girl, if you hadn’t tried to mess with me… Uweuk!!”
“Teresa, I’m sorry…”
But there were no other choices.
Teresa could only vow that she would make Shia pay for putting her in this mess later.
○○○○
It burns.
The world I know is burning.
The people I know are burning.
And the fire is approaching me too.
But why are you, who set fire to me, smiling?
[Ha ha! It’s a witch!]
[Filthy witch!]
[Evil witch!]
[That’s not the Seongnyeo! It’s a witch!]
Ah, did you bring this upon yourselves… or did I bring it upon myself?
My hero.
My witch.
Will you answer me?
Did I do something wrong…?
Am I the one who is wrong?
Am I wicked and evil like the authors say, leading to this?
I thought I had good intentions for others.
Though I wasn’t born a Seongnyeo, at least I tried to live like one.
I tried…
It was never an act for self-satisfaction.
But…
[Kill the witch!]
Why can’t things change?
Why do I hear the same voices from all directions?
With a flame that can’t even burn me, how come those who can’t do anything to me…
Those I tried to protect cast themselves aside for greed and interest.
Not just casting aside, but going as far as to reject me.
And beyond just rejecting, they betray and slander me.
It’s okay if you curse me. I can forgive you for hating me…
But… why…?
[Kill the wicked witch!]
[Eradicate the records of the tyrant Emperor!]
[Destroy the documents of the Black Witch!]
[It’s taboo. Evil taboo!]
[It’s all because of that girl!]
[Now the world will be at peace!]
My precious ones.
My beloved hero.
My cherished witch.
My dear people… and even the traces of them
Ah, they’re all being erased.
The title of Seongnyeo is sullied.
The achievements made by the hero and the witch will be distorted, buried, and forgotten.
No one wishes to remember this sacrifice.
Yes, but still…
I tried to forgive.
I wanted to forgive.
‘What the hell was I trying to protect?’
[Finally, burn the witch!]
‘What did I protect?’
[Let it be known that through the witch being turned to ash, the wicked evil is eradicated by the citizens of Galatea Duchy!]
[Waaaaah!]
[Burn her!]
[Before you go, shake your bodies a bit!]
‘Did I… protect.. anything?’
‘Ah, I couldn’t protect anything.’
‘Ah, I couldn’t do it.’
‘I couldn’t protect… anything at all…’
Ah, yes.
“I’m not expecting anything from you anymore.”
○○○○
Lirisia’s eyes, glowing black in the darkness, slowly moved.
Although the sun was not yet up, she had woken up early.
“…….. This dream is annoying.”
Sigh, the memories of the past that she wanted to forget occasionally visit her uninvited like this.
No longer the Witch of the Dark Star.
Now just the head of the Daesanrim Terraforming Yagada, one who laughs and cries over stir-fried pork and makgeolli. Yet some clinging darkness still lingers, holding her back.
Indeed, karma and sin are not so easily shaken off.
Whether now or later, repayment must be made.
“By the way, if I wake up this early, I’ll be dead tired during the day…”
Transforming from the Witch of the Dark Star into a human, it was only natural for Lirisia to build up fatigue as the head of Terraforming Yagada.
Her body was tired, but her eyes were wide open.
“Eugh, I’ve slept enough.”
“Fuuu…..”
“Pork, pork, pork…..”
“Hawawa…. Cool…. Corn makgeolli….”
Lirisia looked at her fellow meat-perverted Yagada elves next to her, who were mumbling in their sleep.
She had adapted, but it felt strange to watch elves so thoroughly carnivorous.
“Gulp, gulp. Phew…!”
Lirisia downed the leftover makgeolli from her late-night snack with the elves beside the table.
Though Lirisia had become human, her body still remained beyond the realm of humanity, making it impossible for her to get drunk from just a few cups of makgeolli.
‘If only I could get drunk and not think about anything for a while…’
“Senpai… Huh… burp…… gulp, gulp….”
Lirisia shoved her leftover makgeolli into the mouth of her snoring elf companion Bribie, then stood up.
Since she wasn’t able to sleep, she thought a walk might do her good.
Originally, in the desert area, stepping out at night would have resulted in nothing but sandstorms, but now that terraform was over 90% complete, a refreshing and invigorating night breeze blew.
The pitch-black night sky seemed covered with thick clouds, not a single star visible.
Although the sky of Daesanrim, being terraformed, was generally bright, it was particularly radiant today.
“Damn it, damn it…!”
“……?”
Just then, a disturbing curse echoed in Lirisia’s ears.
‘Who could it be at midnight?’
The crude cursing felt unpleasant, yet the voice itself was as clear as a singing bird, which was a strange feeling, but Lirisia became curious as to who was swearing alone in the middle of the night.
After all, Lirisia was the only one known to curse around here.
It seemed that elves had now experienced swearing corruption alongside meat and alcohol corruption.
As she felt a bit bored, Lirisia decided on a destination and walked unsteadily.
“Ugh, hack! When the hell will this fucking flower stop? At this rate, I might as well have a bouquet blooming from my lower mouth too.”
“Hey, whoever you are under there, don’t curse so much just because work is tough…”
Then, as she turned the corner to look at the source of the curse, Lirisia tilted her head.
‘A child…? Small Olgania? No, their hair color and physical state are different…’
“Huh? You, what…”
“…….”
Lirisia looked once at the sky.
Then again at the owner of the voice.
And once more, back to the sky.
As her gaze returned down, the breeze of Daesanrim made the purple hair flow like a galaxy. When the wind stopped, a girl with a sing-song clear voice met her gaze in silence.
Neither of them spoke.
Lirisia nor the purple-haired girl.
“…………”
“…………”
Why were they both silent?
Why couldn’t she even ask who the girl was?
Ah, why does it feel like this situation, reminiscent of a dream, is happening again?
Ah, why am I unable to wake up from this dream?
Ah, no.
No.
This has to be a dream.
It can’t be reality.
Though once small, she couldn’t be unaware.
She couldn’t forget.
She couldn’t fail to recognize.
The jewel-like sparkling purple hair and the slightly smaller stature, yet the appearance that remained deeply imprinted in her memory as a scar. And even the clothes she wore….
It can’t be.
It shouldn’t be.
Knowing clearly in her mind that it was impossible to meet again, still, Lirisia couldn’t help but utter the name filled with longing.
The bond, like an obsession, turned into chains that ultimately constricted her.
The chains became a curse and a scar that gnawed away at her, ultimately forgotten.
Yet for some reason.
For some reason?
Why, although she thought she had forgotten, upon seeing her again, does the curse and the scar once again forge a connection?
“Ethel… Latia…?”
“………….”
Thus, the black-eyed gaze of the witch met that of the former Dark Star Witch.
And Teresa said nothing.
The silence between them flowed through the depths of the night, quiet and still.
