Chapter 34
“Wha, what?! The, the, the… Great Silent Witch?”
Seeing Lena tilting her head, I shut my mouth.
The Great Silent Witch was one of the routes in Ragnarok.
She was a mid-boss who appeared in the story of the female knife-using character, Lacey.
A villain who, from her appearance to her exit, doesn’t say a single word and randomly fires all kinds of dark magic to hinder the protagonist.
She’s a beautiful woman with silver hair and blue eyes, but due to her vicious dark magic, offbeat patterns, and magic spam with no cooldown, she was considered one of the worst bosses by players.
Could it be just a coincidence in name?
Considering that merciless dark magic combo, she doesn’t seem like this kid who can’t even speak properly and just blinks her eyes.
But the overflowing talent, as well as the silver hair, blue eyes, and the name Lena, bothers me.
Sigh. Why is a villain choice coming up again?
If I accept her as my disciple, it’s like another route flying away, just like with Sowol.
Then, there’s only one route left. If I consider stability, it might be better to just give up and find another kid.
But the kids I’ve been searching for in the church and information guild so far haven’t met my standards.
If they don’t exist even after investigating that much, I can say they don’t exist, but…
“Um, excuse me…”
Watching Lena hesitantly speak to me, I sighed.
Yes. It would be better to accept her rather than waste time trying to find another talented disciple.
“W-why are you. Doing that?”
“It’s nothing!”
“Eek!”
Let’s think positively.
The Great Silent Witch appeared not only in Lacey’s route but also in other characters’ routes and randomly fired dark magic.
If I win her over well in preparation for that, I won’t have to see that dirty, dark magic spam pattern.
I’ve already accepted the twisted story by teaching Sowol. What would change by adding one more here?
“Hiiieek…”
I looked at Lena, who was trembling like a newborn fawn. Her long silver hair was covered in dirt and grease, and her pretty face was smeared with sweat.
Her hands were full of wounds, and her body was as thin as a rail as if she hadn’t eaten properly.
In short, there’s no kid as pathetic as this one.
“You. Do you live alone?”
“Huh? Yes.”
“I see.”
Originally, if kids don’t grow up under adult protection, they shrink back and act like that. Then there’s one thing I should do.
Raising her with love and affection.
If I raise her to the point where she can function as a person, I can properly teach her magic and achieve my goal.
Yes. Let’s try that for now.
“Where do you live?”
I asked Lena as kindly as possible.
The place I arrived at, following the hesitating Lena, was a cabin in the woods.
It’s called a cabin, but it was no different from a collapsing haunted house.
Can a person live in a place like this?
“He-here.”
But as if she considers it her own house, Lena looked proud.
I stared intently at the haunted hou–no, the cabin–and Lena hesitated before cautiously opening her mouth.
“I, I, I. Lo-lost consciousness.”
“Hmm?”
“When I woke up, I was next to that ca-cabin…”
It was a voice that started out strong and then got smaller. Rambling on, Lena chattered diligently, and summarizing her story, it was as follows.
Lena had no memories of the past except for about two years ago when she came to her senses in this forest.
She remembered her name as Lena Stella, but without knowing why she was in the forest or how she had been left there, she started living alone in it.
She also found this cabin at that time. It seemed to be a cabin where the forest keeper who left the forest used to live. She settled down here, found somewhat edible things in the forest, and sold them in the village to make a living.
This time, she found me on her way back from selling medicinal herbs and mushrooms.
“How did you distinguish between medicinal and poisonous herbs and between edible and poisonous mushrooms?”
“That, I just seemed to know…”
“You don’t know who your parents are, where you lived, or why you were here, but you know that?”
“Eek, I, I’m so-sorry…”
There’s no need to apologize, but why is she so self-deprecating?
I looked at Lena, who was shrinking her shoulders and trembling again and nodded.
She doesn’t know, but I do. Of course, it’s a setting you can learn by playing the game.
Lena the Great Silent Witch was originally from the Dark Church, a faction of the Asura Cult.
The Dark Church secretly gathered orphans and conducted numerous experiments on them. The girl who survived those experiments to the end was Lena.
The Dark Church, which tried to create Lena as a merciless pawn to destroy the Asura Cult and become the center themselves, was eventually massacred by the Asura Cult.
In the process, the Dark Church spirited Lena away for future plans.
In the game, she is later retrieved by the Asura Cult and becomes a pawn following the Asura Cult’s orders.
But most importantly, I found her before them.
“Wh-why are you looking at me like thaaaat…?”
“No. It’s nothing.”
If left alone, she will unknowingly become the cold-hearted Great Silent Witch who enjoys destruction by the Asura Cult.
But now that I’m in charge, I can’t let that happen.
Since she became my disciple, I intend to make her function properly as a person.
“Shall we go in for now?”
“Yeeees…”
***
Lena’s POV
‘No, no one has ever come in here before!’
I had heard it a few times when I occasionally went to the village.
About things to do when inviting a guest to your house.
First, serving tea is the priority.
With that thought, Lena opened the cabin door and swiftly went inside.
‘I had medicinal herbs that are good for tea!’
“He-here. Si-sit down for a moment. Staaay…!!”
Pointing to a collapsing wooden chair, Lena hurriedly spoke and went inside. There were definitely dried tea leaves she had kept to serve a friend if she ever made one.
She finely ground the bone-dry leaves and gently put them in a chipped kettle. Then, using a clean cloth, she brewed the tea and poured it into an old cup before bringing it to Lee Hyun.
“He-here.”
‘Will he like it? He won’t get angry that I served this kind of tea, right?’
“Thank you. Hmm… By the way, living here must not be easy.”
“Huh?”
“It’s dirty, small, and there’s quite a lot of junk.”
“Huh? Then, does that mean you’ll li-live here, Master?”
With sparkling eyes, Lena looked at Lee Hyun.
Lena had been living alone all this time.
But now she’ll have someone living with her.
‘Could this be what they call family that I only heard about?!’
She had seen it several times when she occasionally went to the village. Unlike herself, who was always alone, siblings who always got along well.
Since Lee Hyun had little age difference, she thought it would be okay to consider him an older brother with a big age gap.
“He-hehehe!”
“From now on, I’ll call you Len.”
‘Ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-nickname!!’
She had heard it a few times when she occasionally went to the village. It was a way to address someone you’re close to.
For Lena, who couldn’t even speak properly, let alone get along with anyone, such a nickname was something she really wanted.
She wanted to hear Lee Hyun say it one more time. Perhaps because of that, Lena’s expression started to melt.
“He-hehehehehehehehehehehe! Le-Len…”
With her two fists clenched tightly, Lena’s eyes sparkled.
“Len. Let’s start with cleaning for now.”
As if noticing that, Lee Hyun, who immediately called her by the nickname, drank the tea and got up from his seat.
Seeing him like that, Lena also moved busily.
Cleaning. It was something she didn’t usually pay attention to.
She never thought she disliked being in a damp and dark place. Usually, all she did was sit blankly or pay attention to ants crawling around. Until yesterday, she would have been in the corner having delusions at this time, but not anymore.
Isn’t Lee Hyun, her master, family, and older brother, with her now?
‘A, a joint project for j-just the two of us!’
It was a monumental occasion. Lena tried to move with a silly smile but froze stiffly.
What if she cleaned wrong? What if she made a mistake and disappointed her master?
Her hand, frozen in fear, wouldn’t move.
Staring at her flinching like that, Lee Hyun held Lena’s stiffly frozen hand.
“You clean from top to bottom. Wipe starting there, not here.”
“Yeeees…”
“It’s okay to make mistakes. I’m your master. I’m the one who will set you straight if you go down the wrong path, so don’t worry and give it a try.”
“Uuuuh…”
Nodding her head, Lena started cleaning.
She had no idea how much those words, “It’s okay to make mistakes,” lightened the weight on her heart.
‘I, I have to work hard!’
She couldn’t let her mind wander.
Lena picked up the cloth and started cleaning frantically.
And so, the monumental first joint project with Lee Hyun. Cabin cleaning was finished, and Lee Hyun had Lena sit down.
“I will teach you magic from now on.”
“W-wooow…”
“The first thing to do is.”
“Gulp.”
In front of the nervous Lena, Lee Hyun placed a book.
Thick books started piling up one by one.
“Study focusing on the Understanding of Mana and the Fundamentals of Spells.”
“…..”
“Study! Studying is the only way to survive!”
At his resolute words, Lena was silent for a while and then raised her hand.
“Yes. Questions are good. Ask anything.”
“I, I, um. Don’t know how to re-read.”
Staring at Lena, who was stammering with her head bowed deeply, Lee Hyun grinned.
‘This is going to be more work than I thought.’
Translator’s Corner
I made accidentally skipped the next chapter, so the comments starting from this until 60 might be in the chapter after.
-Ruminas
