Crown of Thorns

21-25

CHAPTER 21

Translator and editor : Cuties

I turned my eyes to the seat nestled in the dark. It was a place that had been prepared in advance. But the boy didn't reveal his curiosity towards it as if he hadn't yet found it lying on the floor. Just as I was opening his mouth, the boy asked the question first.

"Are you really trying to teach me something?"

I looked at the boy, wondering what he meant. Didn't he come here because I offered to teach him? Didn't he say he would be taught?

The boy hesitated for a moment and continued to speak, perhaps noticing my wonder.

"No, I... I thought you were just bored."

"What?"

"I thought you wouldn't teach me because there was nothing in it for you. I thought that you were just a little interested in the boy that appeared when you were bored and decided to tease and harass him a little to alleviate your boredom..."

I was speechless and slammed my mouth into a thin line. Surely there was logic behind the boy's thinking. It was the reasonable line of thought when facing a witch. It was strange to do such useless things when you might be in danger. I was portrayed as an evil witch who feasted off people's misery in the outside world after all.

When I understood the reasoning behind the boy's words, another question arose this time. Doesn't that mean he came here thinking I might hurt him?

"You came here thinking you might be hurt by me? Why?"

The boy kept his mouth shut as if it were difficult for him to say, and then he grudgingly continued.

"You were so different from the witch I imagined so I thought you might be honest."

"Then what if I were really a bad witch?"

Throughout the conversation, it occurred to me that it wasn't a story that a warrior and a witch can talk about. Isn't it more like the image of a mother who teaches her child who acted unreasonably? The warrior is still very young, so I can't help it. The innocent and honest boy makes me reveal my inner feelings. He's a boy with a really strange ability.

The boy buried his head with his folded arms, perhaps in shame. He said, "I came here, but I don't know what I was thinking when I did." He must have been worried. No matter how strong he wanted to be and how much he wanted to be recognized by people, I was not an easy person to trust. Indeed, it would have been more painful and tormenting than it is now. He might have simply nodded his head, even to a demon rather than a witch, but he could never have simply went to look for them.

He looks up at me and opens his mouth, seemingly having organized his thoughts. Those red eyes are so clear and clean that I think I can trust whatever he says.

"Well, you don't want to kill me, do you?"

"How can you be sure of that?"

"If you had intended to kill me, you would have done it at once.

I didn't answer. The boy's words continued.

"You want something from me, don't you? I don't know what it is. I don't know what you can gain from helping me. you won't tell me even if I ask. You're helping me because it's not a bad deal for you."

Oh, was it? The boy seems to think he's making a deal with me. I guess he thought I had something to gain from making him strong and saving the world. Yeah, I'd rather have him think so.