Chapter 5
A few days ago,
Rarely did the chilly wind blow fiercely around the temporary barracks of the Lucian Order.
Returning from reconnaissance, a knight of the order approached Winter, who was guarding the entrance to the barracks, sensing the completely changed atmosphere and quietly asked,
“Commander, what’s happened?”
“We missed her.”
“What? What do you mean? A deer? A wild boar? Are we not having meat for dinner?”
From commander to commoner.
Winter looked at the knight, who was obliviously only thinking about dinner, with pity.
Before long, he sighed and said,
“Besides that, we missed our target for this mission, right in front of us.”
“What? You, our capable commander, missed the target you’ve caught?”
Winter chuckled at the knight’s clueless repetition of his words.
‘Is he really the commander?’
Catching his bewildered expression, Winter scolded the knight, leaving him to stew in his own thoughts and telling him to go help out elsewhere.
Having chased away the utterly useless knight, Winter stood with his arms crossed, gazing at the barracks where Yushen was holed up.
Even without going in to confirm, he knew. His superior would be blaming himself.
Even so, there was nothing he could do. Thinking back on the days spent with Yushen, offering feeble comfort would be less helpful than leaving him to sort through it himself.
‘He’ll pull himself together soon enough.’
Winter didn’t worry too much and left.
But inside the barracks, Yusen emitted a gloomy aura that was a bit different from what Winter had anticipated.
Rather than picking himself up and moving on, he found himself reprimanding himself once more due to the clueless remark of a knight from earlier.
‘How… could I miss her so carelessly right in front of me?’
It was shocking because he had never made such a mistake before.
It felt as if the three years spent chasing after Witch Leana had all turned to shreds of tissue paper.
Despite several days passing, Yusen’s mental state didn’t improve. Seeing this, Winter eventually sought help from the central temple and headed towards a nearby shrine.
‘Restoring strength is the first priority if we’re going to chase after the one we missed.’
Winter thought of this as a break for rest and replenishment of energy before engaging in another pursuit against the witch.
Most of the other knights thought similarly, but there was one exception. In fact, there was only one person in the Lucian Order who didn’t think that way.
Lucian Order Commander Yushen Willen.
“He had been feeling uneasy in a corner of his mind all along. It was natural for him to wonder if it was okay to feel comfortable when he hadn’t even done his job properly.’’
As he himself knew well, Winter had intended for him to at least rest comfortably in his body… But since the day he came to the temple, he felt uncomfortable gazes as if being watched.
“It’s strange. I only feel it when I’m with you, sir.”
As Eugene quickly glanced around, Winter mentioned the gazes he had been feeling for the past few days.
Not only himself, but Winter also couldn’t figure out who it was, which meant the other party was an extraordinary skilled individual.
“It’s uncomfortable.”
“Even in this small temple, sir, your popularity shows no signs of diminishing.”
“It doesn’t feel like that… ”
“No, you’re right. Just considering the women I’ve seen, they could count up to five.”
Eugene chuckled. It felt distinctly different from the usual gazes he received.
But Winter simply concluded that it was because the women who fell for Eugene’s appearance were attracted to him.
Normally, Eugene would have brushed it off, but strangely, he felt oddly embarrassed to do so now.
Meanwhile, someone entered Eugene’s sight.
It was precisely a novice priest, holding a pile of beddings as if they were a mountain, passing by quickly as if they had waited for Winter’s mention.
“…A witch?”
The words escaped Eugene involuntarily.
The novice priest bore a striking resemblance to Leana, the witch who had slipped away from Luche’s grasp right before his eyes.
Her hair, tied up high in a bun, and her silver eyes.
He wanted to take another look to confirm, but the woman resembling the witch had disappeared as suddenly as she had appeared. It was as clean as mistaking a mirage.
The persistent gazes following him for days and the woman resembling the witch.
“Is this really a coincidence?”
“Hm?”
“A coincidence… is a very rare thing.”
“A coincidence?”
Ignoring Winter’s question lightly, a sly smile crept up on Eugene’s lips as he slightly tilted his head.
He was certain. Even though he hadn’t confirmed her face properly, the woman who had passed him moments ago was undoubtedly the witch who had escaped in shackles.
With a solemn gaze, Eugene emitted an unfamiliar aura, vowing not to miss this opportunity that had come knocking once again.
The threat Eugene made to me wasn’t just empty words. So, I silently followed his lead.
Instead of the entrance, he slipped out of the building through the small back door behind the sanctuary.
“How does he know about the loophole I didn’t even know existed?”
I stopped walking when it seemed like we were far from the building. As I did, Eugene also swiftly stopped and looked down at me.
The kind gestures were gone, and the gaze directed at me was chilling. Yes, this is the real Eugene.
“Do you have something to say to me?”
“I thought I should act shamelessly from the moment Yushen found out my identity.
As long as I don’t leave the temple, there’s nothing he can forcibly do to me by denying who I am.
He seemed to know that too, chuckling as he spoke.
“Do you know how agonizing it was for me to lose you that day?”
Oh, look at this? Misunderstanding again? Look at how skillfully he speaks in such ambiguity?
“Who would think I’m your ex-lover?”
“I do believe we’re entangled in a relationship more bitter than that of parted lovers.”
What? He can retort too?
Considering how slippery my real self is, I thought I’d just let his provocations slide rather than engage.
In that case, the longer we talk, the more disadvantageous it becomes for me.
The best strategy I could come up with in this situation was to end the conversation quickly and run away.
“Could we keep this brief? I’m a bit busy.”
He cocked his head slightly at my words.
Despite his reaction, I pushed on.
“I didn’t know you’d be hiding so close by, Witch Leana.”
“Witch? I haven’t been in this temple for long, so I’m not sure who you’re talking about. You should ask someone else.”
I spat out my words quickly, then smoothly turned back the way I came.
But Yushen lightly flew in front of me, blocking my path.
“We’re not done talking.”
“I am.”
“Leave this temple.”
“Why should I quit my perfectly good job just because you said so?”
A mark appeared above Yusen’s head as he added a little lie to my statement.
What! Why! I’m not even a witch! Why should I take your word for it?
And I’m not stupid enough to not know you’re trying to catch me and kill me as soon as I leave this temple, a combat-free zone.
Feeling unjust, I narrowed my eyes at Yushen.
Whether he got angrier at my attitude or not, I couldn’t tell, but he clenched his teeth and spoke.
“Do you dare to think a witch… can dwell in a temple that should be sacred?”
“I think it’s perfectly acceptable for someone who isn’t the witch you’re looking for to stay.”
“Leave when I ask you nicely.”
“Is that what you’re doing nicely right now? Because it doesn’t sound like it to my ears.”
I grumbled as I added a little more spice. Let’s see him get mad.
Of course, I felt unsure as I did it. He might not be the kind to easily fall for such provocations.
But contrary to my expectations, Yushen’s face turned red and green. My insignificant jab seemed to have hit the mark.
I felt a surge of excitement, as if centuries of pent-up frustration were being released.
However, unfortunately, Yusen’s face quickly returned to its original color. Dressing up wasn’t something just anyone could do.
“I have evidence that you are a witch.”
“Really? Let’s see just how impressive this evidence is,” I said mockingly, but Yushen didn’t seem to care, calmly retrieving a neatly folded piece of paper from inside his jacket.
He then unfolded it and proudly presented it before me.
On the slightly faded paper lay… a face identical to mine, except for the hair and eye color.
“What is this?” I asked.
“It’s a wanted poster for you, disguised as montage,” he replied confidently.
“No, I’m not asking because I don’t know about it!”
I snatched the paper from Yushen’s hand and examined it closely.Printed on the paper was undoubtedly the face of Leana, with only the hair color and eye color different. Below the face was a name and a hefty bounty.
But from that picture alone, it was hard to tell that Leana and I looked alike.
Sure, we had different hair and eye colors, but our facial features were so distinct that unless someone had a keen eye, it would be difficult to recognize the similarity.
“Yet Yushen… recognized it?” I wondered.
Is it different for novel protagonists?
“Are you still denying it?”
“…I admit we look alike.”
We’re not just similar because we’re twins; we’re practically identical.
But the moment I admit that, Yushen will surely mistake me for Leana, and I didn’t want that to happen.
“And then she suddenly disappeared. Vanished without a trace, which suggests she used dark magic.”
Damn, there was definitely room for misunderstanding.
But I didn’t use dark magic; it was Leana, who used dark magic, who saved me. It felt unfair.
Ugh… This situation is so frustrating. The protagonist is supposed to be a sweet potato, but to support such a sweet potato-like statement… It’s just frustrating.
So, the conversations between Yushen and me were like a vicious cycle.
Continuing to repeat the same words felt like I was going crazy.
“Argh!”
In the end, I let out a scream as I punched the pillar next to me.
