LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 34
“Y-Yes?! T-The Witch of Silence…?!”
I shut my mouth as I stared at the tilting head of Lena.
The Witch of Silence is one of the routes in Ragnarok.
She was a mid-boss in the story of Lacey, a female character who mainly uses daggers.
From her entrance to her exit, she never said a word and blasted all kinds of dark magic to disrupt the protagonist, a true villain.
Beautiful with silver hair and blue eyes, but thanks to her dastardly dark magic and off-beat patterns, plus her magic spam having no cooldown, she was considered one of the worst characters by players.
Could she be a namesake?
Considering her ruthless dark magic combos, she doesn’t seem like the kind who stutters and blinks like that.
But then again, there’s the overflowing talent, silver hair, blue eyes, and the name Lena hanging like a bad smell.
Sigh. Why is another villain showing up as an option?
Let’s think this through.
If I take her as my apprentice, it could mean another route down the drain like with Sowol.
Then there would only be one route left. Considering stability, it might be better to just give up and look for someone else.
But the ones I’ve found so far in the church and the Information Guild haven’t met my standards.
If I searched that much and still didn’t find anyone, then maybe there just isn’t anyone…
“Um, um…”
I sighed as I watched Lena fumbling to speak to me.
Yeah. Instead of wasting time looking for another talented apprentice, it’d be better to just take her.
“W-Why would you… do that?”
“It’s nothing!”
“Eek!”
Let’s think positively.
The Witch of Silence appeared in routes other than Lacey’s and blasted dark magic all around.
If I can cleverly take her under my wing, I might avoid witnessing her filthy magic spam patterns.
I’ve already taken the hit by teaching Sowol, so what’s one more addition going to change?
“EEEEK…”
I saw Lena trembling like a newborn deer.
Her long silver hair was covered in dirt and grease, and her pretty face was smeared with grime.
Her hands were full of wounds, and her body looked like it hadn’t eaten properly for ages.
To put it simply, she was the kind of beggar that even a beggar wouldn’t want to be.
“You. Are you living alone?”
“Y-Yes?”
“I see.”
Kids tend to become meek when they don’t grow up under an adult’s protection.
So, I had one thing to do.
Raise her with love and affection.
If I raised her just enough to be a proper person, I could teach her magic and achieve my goals.
Yeah. Let’s try that first.
“Where do you live?”
I asked Lena as kindly as I could.
Following Lena, who was stumbling, we arrived at a cabin deep in the woods.
Calling it a cabin felt generous; it was more like a dilapidated haunted house.
Is it really possible for someone to live here?
“Y-Yeah, here.”
But perhaps thinking of it as her home, Lena seemed proud.
I gazed steadily at the haunted house, and after fumbling around, Lena cautiously opened her mouth.
“Um, um… I… lost consciousness and…”
“Hmm?”
“When I woke up, I was… beside this cabin.”
Her voice started strong but grew faint.
Lena blurted out what sounded like gibberish, and when I pieced it all together, it turned out like this:
Lena had no memories of her past.
About two years ago, when she regained consciousness, she found herself in this forest.
She remembered her name, Lena Stella, but had no clue why she was in the forest or what led her to be left here, so she had to live alone.
This cabin was somewhere she discovered at that time.
It seemed like it might have been a cabin where a previous forest guardian lived, and she had settled here, gathering whatever edible things she could find in the forest to sell in the village for a living.
And she said she discovered me while going back after selling herbs and mushrooms.
“How did you tell the difference between medicinal herbs and poisonous ones?”
“I-I just knew, I think…”
“You don’t know who your parents are, you don’t know where you lived, and you don’t know why you were here, yet you know that?”
“Eep. I-I’m sorry….”
No need to apologize; why was she being so submissive?
I shrugged my shoulders and looked at Lena shivering again, nodding.
She doesn’t know, but I do.
Of course, it’s a setting you can figure out while playing the game.
The Witch of Silence, Lena, originally hails from the Dark Sect, a branch of the Asura Sect.
The Dark Sect conducted numerous experiments on orphans secretly collected from the Dark Sect, and the girl who survived it all was Lena.
They intended to turn Lena into a cold-blooded monster, bringing down the Asura Sect to become the center of their ambitions, but ultimately they were wiped out by the Asura Sect.
In that process, the Dark Sect aimed to secure the future by whisking Lena away.
In the game, she later gets retrieved by the Asura Sect and becomes a monster obeying their commands.
So, right now, she can be seen as not yet reclaimed by the Asura Sect.
“W-Why are you looking at me like that…?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
If I leave her be, she’ll turn into the ruthless Witch of Silence that enjoys destruction under the Asura Sect without knowing a thing.
But since I’ve taken her under my wing, I can’t let that happen.
Now that she’s my apprentice, I plan to make sure she becomes a proper human being.
“Shall we go in for now?”
“Y-Yeah…”
*
“W-Whoever walks in here for the first time!”
I occasionally heard such things when I visited the village.
When inviting guests to your home, there are things you must do.
First and foremost, serve them tea.
Thinking this, Lena opened the cabin’s door and hurried inside.
“There’s a medicinal herb that’s good for tea!”
“Y-Yeah. Just sit for a moment. Please…!!”
Pointing at a nearly broken wooden chair, Lena hurriedly spoke as she rushed inside.
There was definitely some tea leaf she hoped to brew for a friend one day.
She ground those pitiful leaves, placing them in a chipped kettle.
Then, using a clean cloth, she brewed the tea and served it to Lee Hyun in an old cup.
“Here you go.”
Will he like it? I hope he doesn’t get mad for serving something like this!
“Thanks. Hmm… By the way, living here doesn’t seem easy.”
“Eh?”
“It’s dirty, cramped, and there’s a lot of junk.”
“Eh? Y-You mean you want to live here?!”
With sparkling eyes, Lena looked at Lee Hyun.
Lena, who had always lived alone until now.
But now, someone was going to live with her.
Is this what they call family?!
I had seen siblings hanging around together when I went to town, always together unlike her.
Since Lee Hyun wasn’t too much older, she figured it was fine to think of him as a big brother.
“Eh, hehe!”
“From now on, you can call me Ren.”
Eeeek, a nickname!!!
I had heard that when friends get close, they share special nicknames.
For Lena, who couldn’t even communicate well, such a nickname was something she deeply desired.
Is that why? Her expression started to melt like butter.
“E-eh, hehehehehehe! I-I’m Ren now…”
She hoped to hear it one more time. Clenching her fists, Lena’s eyes sparkled.
“Ren. First things first, let’s clean up.”
Catching onto her hopes, Lee Hyun took a sip of the tea and stood up.
Seeing him, Lena began to move busily.
Cleaning. She never really paid attention to it before.
She never thought to dislike being in a damp, dark place.
What she usually did was either sit blankly or watch the ants scurry about.
Just the day before, she would have been lost in thought in a corner during this time, but not anymore.
Now she had a master, family, and an older brother in Lee Hyun.
It’s our joint effort!
What a monumental occasion.
Lena beamed with complicated thoughts but then froze.
What if she messed up cleaning?
What if she disappointed her master with even a small mistake?
Fear paralyzed her hands.
As she hesitated, Lee Hyun took her still hands in his.
“You clean from the top down. Not here, but start over there.”
“Okay…”
“It’s fine to make mistakes, and it’s okay to fail. I’m your teacher. If you go astray, I’ll help bring you back, so don’t worry and give it a try.”
“Uuuhhh…”
Nodding her head, Lena started cleaning.
It was incredible how much weight was lifted off her soul just knowing it was okay to mess up.
I must work hard!
She couldn’t let her mind wander.
Lena grabbed the cloth and dived into cleaning.
After finishing their monumental first joint task, the cabin cleanup, Lee Hyun sat Lena down.
“I’ll teach you magic from now on.”
“Wow, wow!”
“The first thing you need to do is…”
Gulp.
Lee Hyun placed a thick book in front of the nervous Lena.
The thick books began to stack up one by one.
“Study the Understanding of Magical Power and the Fundamentals of Spells.”
“…..”
“Studying! Only studying can lead to life!”
At his resolute words, Lena remained silent for a moment before finally raising her hand.
“Um, um… I-I can’t read…”
Fumbling as she bowed her head, Lee Hyun chuckled.
I guess I have more work cut out for me than I thought.