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Chapter 53: Wintering (4)

The witch\'s cabin was heated by adding firewood to the furnace, which also warmed the interior and the bath.

\'Maybe it\'s because I\'m used to staying at places with boilers? It\'s a bit inconvenient that someone has to add firewood when the bath cools down.\'

Still, it felt wrong to ask the little girl, who was already preparing meals, to handle this as well.

\'Wait, I\'m a Summoner. The noblest of the noble!\'

Arzen figured out a trick using the Void Bugs.

He made the Void Bugs throw more firewood into the furnace.

The worker bee performed the task flawlessly.

After finishing a warm bath without the water cooling even once, Arzen stepped out just as the girl was moving a pot onto the table.

"Oh, this... smells amazing!"

"I used scorched rice with turmeric powder. Master has trouble digesting, so rice is better suited to her body than wheat."

"Rice, huh? I\'ve been wanting to try it."

The northern and western parts of the Empire, as well as the Iron Islands, were famous for their rice-based cultures.

Since rice was their staple, a food culture completely different from wheat-based cultures had developed.

This scorched rice dish was famous in the northern Empire.

"I’ll bring Master."

The girl soon knocked on the witch\'s workshop and went inside.

After a few instances of loud yelling, typical of someone hard of hearing, the witch appeared, supported by the girl.

Arzen quickly stood up and pulled out a chair for the witch to sit in.

"Arfen, have you eaten?"

"I\'m about to. And it\'s Arzen."

"Eat a lot! At your age, you need to eat plenty to grow."

As part of his efforts to gain favor, Arzen grabbed the ladle.

When the girl sat down after seating the witch at the head of the table, both folded their hands quietly.

Arzen also clasped his hands and closed his eyes.

"Father of Light, we thank you for providing us with our daily bread today."

"......"

"Please bless Eren, who has prepared this meal with care, and bestow the grace of the Light upon Arzen, who has joined us today through a new connection."

"......"

"All glory and radiance belong to You, Father of Light, Dursiel."

Something felt... strange.

During the prayer, the witch, oddly enough, didn’t shout. Instead, she clearly pronounced both Arzen\'s and the girl’s names, as if her senses had returned.

\'Could she be pretending to be hard of hearing? I’ll need to be more cautious!\'

However, as the meal started, the witch sloppily ate her porridge.

Each time, the girl wiped the witch’s mouth with a tissue.

Amidst this, the witch yelled at Arzen, "Eat more!"

She even scooped more porridge from her bowl into Arzen\'s.

If he kept receiving more, he felt his stomach might burst.

\'This situation itself is... strange. No, not strange—familiar?\'

It was because this sad, mundane scene was reminiscent of the year his mother had fallen ill and died.

"......"

Now that he thought about it, his sick mother had also never skipped her pre-meal prayers.

"I’ll clean up. You can use the guest room to the left of the kitchen. I\'ve laid out bedding on the bed, and there\'s a desk as well."

The girl then helped the witch back to her workshop after they finished the meal.

Arzen felt strangely unable to easily get up.

Normally, he would’ve just said, “Lucky~” and headed to his room to reflect on the day’s training and rest up for tomorrow.

However, there was something about the companionship between the witch, who was nearing the end of her life, and the young girl, who had only just reached the starting line…

It felt almost sacred, something he couldn’t treat lightly.

‘No, maybe it’s not something sacred…’

The boy might have been remembering the despair he felt the year his mother passed, when no one came to help.

‘Hmm, maybe I’ll train the Void Bugs.’

Arzen summoned the Void Bugs.

With his current energy, he could summon up to five without feeling dizzy, and that was enough.

The Void Bugs devoured the food scraps, even cleaning up the burnt rice residue stuck to the bottom of the pot.

‘Yes, this is Void Bug training. No, it’s favor-building! This is just a task to get into the client’s good graces. Nothing more!’

All that was left for Arzen to do was wipe things down with salt water.

He’d already done hard labor like this back in the Divine Guillotine days, where his hands blistered and even tore open.

The cold water didn’t particularly feel painful.

Since the difficult parts were taken care of by the Void Bugs, the rest was simple.

With only three people, there weren’t many dishes to clean.

By the time the girl emerged from the workshop, the washing up was nearly done.

“If you don’t clean the dishes thoroughly, there will be hygiene issues. Master’s body is sensitive to hygiene, so you’ll have to redo it.”

“Hah! Really now? Do you really think you can clean better than me, Arzen? Look at these plates! Gleaming and shiny!”

“Huh?”

The girl inspected the pot, and her expression quickly shifted.

At first, it was disbelief, but soon turned to surprise.

“Wow, how did you…?”

It was the first time such genuine amazement came from the girl’s mouth, and Arzen was quite pleased.

His lips curled up in satisfaction.

“Ha! So, it turns out you were bad at dishwashing! Go tell the witch that from now on, I’ll handle all the dishwashing. Make sure you add that ever since Arzen took over, daily life’s gotten a lot easier!”

“I see you had some ulterior motives. Just kidding.”

“Doesn’t sound like a joke to me.”

“Well, if that’s how you feel, I can’t help it…”

The girl suddenly let out a faint chuckle.

Her smile was always like that—subtle and soft.

“But really, it’s much easier now. This way, I’ll have more time to study.”

It was as though she was telling herself not to laugh, just like Arzen used to do.

“Fine, I’m going to rest too, so don’t be noisy.”

Arzen entered the guest room next to the kitchen.

The room was cozy. There was a bed, a desk, and a bookshelf.

It seemed like herbs had been stored there before, as the scent of herbs lingered in the room—a pleasant smell.

Arzen lay down on the bed.

It was incredibly soft, as if made from feathers.

‘It feels like… a full day.’

Had he been missing human conversation?

When traveling between the Red Mountains and Aurelinople, after checking into an inn and ending the day, the silence would envelop him like a heavy shroud.

But now, something felt… fulfilling.

‘I’m not sure why…’

Arzen soon fell asleep, and unexpectedly, he dreamt of something he missed dearly.

His mother, who often couldn’t sleep due to her illness, would stay up late reading the scriptures.

While he liked watching her do that, he could never understand it.

‘Why does the Light of Creation only bring her pain, even though she’s so devout?’

It made no sense to him.

That was also the moment he swore he would never depend on a god.

The chill of tears in the dream slowly brought him back to consciousness.

The song he heard in the winter forest wasn’t from insects but from owls.

He also heard faint voices through the crack in the door.

Peeking out, he found the voices were coming from the witch’s workshop.

Through the gap, he saw the witch and the girl sitting across from each other at a desk, reciting a spell.

The witch would first read out a passage, showing the girl the proper pronunciation, and the girl would then repeat it, gradually mastering it.

When the girl repeated the passage well, the witch smiled with satisfaction... and the girl, though calm, smiled brightly as well.

That peaceful scene overlapped with a memory from a time before sorrow cast its shadow over the boy’s life.

‘Maybe I should start bringing in firewood tomorrow…’

After all, chopping wood would naturally yield firewood.

If he had the Void Bugs help, there wouldn’t be much effort involved.

In the end, this was just another task to build favor.

If he not only did the dishes but also brought firewood, the witch’s evaluation of him would surely rise.

‘I’m not doing this for their sake. It’s just a practical choice that benefits me…’

---

“Priestess, the barrier is about to break!”

In the depths of that land of oblivion, deeper than the sea itself… the ocean trembled.

The ancient sea, which sought to engulf the current waters, raged with ferocious storms and waves, violent and merciless.

If it weren’t for Priestess Serna and the witches under her command putting all their strength into maintaining the barrier, this ship would’ve already been swallowed.

“Master, what’s happening?” Yuz shouted.

Her hair and clothes were soaked by the rampaging sea.

The winter ocean roared with freezing cold, and all the witches were trembling from the extreme chill.

“We accounted for all risks when we chose this coastal route, not far from land…!”

The wedge carrier was en route from Aurelinople to Tervenople, sailing along the coast with the Papal Office as its destination.

The fastest route through the open sea was rejected due to the unknown dangers lurking there.

The land route, while also perilous, was far too slow and was similarly dismissed.

Thus, they had chosen this coastal path.

But now, even here, they were facing such danger…?

“Wait, what is that?”

One of the witches suddenly shouted.

Something… something that made the hair on everyone’s neck stand on end… was moving on the dark horizon.

“What, what is that?!”

Even if they saw it, explaining the writhing mass of shapes was impossible.

It was a fragment of madness.

A manifestation of the king that had once ruled the ancient sea, before the dawn of time.

“Abandon the ship! Each of you, take the captain and sailors, and fly up on your brooms!”

Priestess Serna shouted urgently.

The barrier was on the verge of breaking, so there was no choice, but it was a decision that was driving them toward disaster.

As soon as the witches took to the sky on their brooms... the tendrils of madness surged up from the depths of the sea.

"This, this is... Aaaah! No! Help me!"

The witches caught by the ancient frenzy were dragged into the deep ocean, their dying screams echoing in the air.

"This can\'t be…"

Serna unleashed a torrent of flames that exploded above the water’s surface.

【Hehehehehehahaha...】

From within those flames...

Beneath the foul and murky water...

Hundreds of eyes stared directly at her.

【I can feel... the madness in your soul...】

Blink, blink, blinkblinkblinkblinkblinkblink...!

The eyes were not only eyes—they were also transmitters of an ancient dream, an embodiment of madness.

The voice of the king reverberated directly in Serna’s mind.

No mortal comprehension could withstand such overwhelming wisdom and knowledge, and it was only natural for the mind to label it as madness.

The moment the absolute insanity made contact with her brain, Priestess Serna’s head exploded.

"Ma-Master────!"

Yuz screamed in shock.

Fragments of her master\'s skull had embedded themselves in her cheek.

“Aaaaahhhh!”

Letting out a scream that couldn’t even express her grief, Yuz sharply turned the course of her broom.

Her master\'s headless body wobbled a few times on the broom before plummeting toward the ocean.

Unable to bear the sight of her master\'s body being consumed by the unknown abyssal entity, Yuz acted instinctively.

"No, Yuz! Come back!"

Grand Witch Ceylon called out in desperation.

Yuz, Serna’s first direct disciple and second-in-command of this convoy, was caught in a moment of despair.

Even in that moment, the night of madness continued.

The rampaging tendrils continued to drag witches into the sea, one by one.

Yuz deftly maneuvered her broom to dodge the tendrils and caught her master’s body.

"This… I can’t… I won’t give this up!"

What Yuz clutched in her arms wasn’t just her master’s remains—it was also the Abyssal Wedge.

‘The fact that this corrupted power is enough to shake the very ocean proves how important it is.’

Only five witches remained alive.

But even in the face of annihilation, they remained faithful to their mission.

The surviving witches began chanting incantations, ensuring Yuz could escape with the wedge.

“Protect Yuz! Stop those tendrils from reaching her!”

Though powerless to resist the ancient madness, their desperate efforts managed to grant Yuz a brief reprieve from the frenzy.

The price, however, was their lives.

Yuz pressed forward at full speed, gasping for breath.

Her gasps were laced with sobs.

【Do not fear... hehehehahahaha...】

The silence of the sea and the absence of any voices confirmed that the other witches were all dead.

She dared not look back.

‘But I can feel it.’

Her skin convulsed.

Her brain felt like it would explode.

Yuz could feel the ancient madness chasing her, closing in right behind.

【I will grant you the honor of becoming the incense of my kingdom, deep within this ocean...】

Yuz made a choice.

To escape the relentless pursuit, she had to let go of one of the two burdens currently weighing down her broom.

With a cry that refused to become a full sob, she let go of her master’s remains, keeping only the Abyssal Wedge as the body plummeted into the sea.

‘I have to deliver this. If I can just get this to the three DragonLords... everyone’s deaths won’t be in vain!’

She justified her choice to herself. She soothed her grief this way.

But...

Even so...

At the very moment when all her will, life, and resolve were about to be dragged into the madness...

【!】

A radiance descended.

In the shape of blades, the brilliance tore through the storm clouds above and plunged down to the sea.

One, two, three, four... in total, seven.

A dazzling cascade of lightning bolts descended, quelling the storms, the tidal waves, death, madness, and screams alike.

【.......】

The ancient madness let out a displeased murmur.

And soon...

The presence that had stretched its tendrils of madness into every corner of Yuz\'s mind faded, and the sea grew calm once again.

Yuz let out a sigh of relief.

The darkness was being driven away, and light was approaching from the sky.

"Ah..."

Yes, it was light.

One of the three legacies left on this land by the Dragon Lord, much like Akirea of the Crimson Flame.

The era called that light Setsunen of the Thunder\'s Echo.