SWNOVELXO Chapter 14
**Chapter 14**
Good Child.
What does it really mean to be a good child?
The girl sat quietly in the sunlight during the day, pondering this until the moon rose at night.
Good.
Being good probably means being Ain.
Ain was good.
Others might not understand, but at least in the girl’s heart, that’s what it meant.
Even though no one wanted to help her, there was that boy who appeared out of nowhere, came to her aid, and then left just like that.
“Ain.”
She could hold her belly and not sleep because she wasn’t hungry.
The food the boy had been giving her was still left.
“Ain.”
It was good that no new wounds had appeared and that the scars that used to burst had healed.
The sadness from the children who had hated her was gradually fading from her heart.
“Ain.”
It might be just a shabby wooden board to someone, but it is a house that protects her from the rain and wind.
A precious home that the boy had worked so hard to build, even injuring his hands.
“Ain.”
As she diligently recalled such things, the girl soon found herself smiling.
Emotions began to bloom.
All the various emotions that had been faint started becoming clearer and more vivid over time, gnawing at the girl.
The memories stacked up, linked to the candy, now resurfaced just at the mention of the boy’s name.
“Ain.”
Even the little attention he offered was so nice.
Even when she gazed with indifferent eyes, she couldn’t help but want to see him smile.
When they were together, her lips would naturally curl upward.
Despite the painful wait for a long month, the girl quietly sat day by day, passing the time.
“Ain.”
In the quiet alley.
In the now peaceful alley of the girl, the murmuring of that one word could be heard again today.
“Ain.”
It was just the name of any boy, like an extra.
“Ain.”
That was a twisted cog that slightly changed the flow of the story.
“Ain.”
Thus, it had become a glimmer of hope to alter the gray conclusion.
So the gray witch makes a vow.
Good child.
She swears to become a good child, one that the boy wouldn’t hate.
She thinks she might not become a good person like the boy.
To ensure he wouldn’t leave her side, to keep him interested in her.
To never be abandoned again.
She resolves to become a well-behaved girl.
********
A stage with the lights out.
While not quiet enough for silence to flow, the lines and actions never continue.
The background, where the protagonists of the novel had vanished, also begins to stall and pause.
Unable to follow the ongoing story, it becomes stagnant and slowly eroded by the phenomenon.
Until it regains their attention and reaches the scene of their appearance, the place becomes just an ordinary, subpar location.
Thus,
The capital of the empire, from which the hero and the holy girl have departed, becomes a theatrical stage where the lights are dimmed until the next event occurs.
Sometimes, just as the readers begin to forget, it appears for a moment only mentioned in a few lines about the news from home.
What remained in the capital of the empire was merely a backdrop of the emperor, the guards, and countless subjects of the empire, all penned in a few lines.
And among them, the gray witch barely held any significance at all.
Even in such a young age, her role was so weak and faint that she couldn’t even board the flowing narrative.
Yet, at least she had a guaranteed role.
So perhaps the reason I am continually seeking the witch is in pursuit of the flow of the narrative.
To avoid being forgotten.
To not remain as a mere background character.
To not meet death by being swept away by the storm of the novel.
In this way, I believe I am clinging to the witch, striving to survive.
Gripping this slender, long thread of life, I persist in the quiet peace to connect to the next.
Creating the new role of a guardian for the witch, assigning meaning to myself as if I have survived the storm.
Now, I’m beginning to prepare to assume the role of a traveler wandering the world.
***
It was a peaceful afternoon.
A time when it was fine to sit blankly at the counter after the peak time in the grocery store.
Had it been normal, I would have been bustling around doing something even in this time, yet I was burning time, neglecting my duties as an employee.
“…”
Perhaps it was because of the departure ceremony.
I thought to myself that it wasn’t as thrilling as when I was five, and yet, it felt amusing.
Soaking in the story of the novel too much.
Touching vividly what had only been seen as bundles of words.
Perhaps I am recalling the forgotten truths, one by one.
The travel funds were piling up nicely.
I hadn’t counted them precisely, but aside from the expenses spent on the witch, everything was collected, so there were no concerns.
“… Uncle.”
“What?”
“Can I keep working here until I become an adult?”
As long as the kind uncle keeps making me work, there shouldn’t be any further issues.
“Do you think that’s possible?”
“Yes.”
“Spit out that jerky you’ve been chewing on and speak, Ain. This brat is now acting like an employee and is just eating the groceries.”
“Oh, come on. This is leftover from yesterday.”
“Ain, when did jerky become a grocery item that you can eat if it’s sold out?”
Well, that is to say…
“…”
Yes, I concede.
Thinking about it, the uncle wasn’t wrong, but I continued to chew on the jerky and grin at him.
“You’re getting a pay cut.”
“Ah, I’ll spit it out right now. Just hold your hand out.”
“… Have you seen this crazy kid? I really will cut your pay!”
“If you let me keep working, I won’t eat it and will work hard! You will keep making me work, right? Yes?”
I was already ten years old, and my cuteness as a child was gradually fading, leading to a slight drop in sales.
I thought about incorporating some new charm to boost the sales again.
But still, I hoped not to be fired and to be able to keep working until I became an adult.
“If you have time to talk like that, pick up that basket and go deliver it, kid!”
Uncle, I’ll keep working hard, so please don’t abandon me.
Anyway.
While there were no problems with the travel funds, the most significant issue, apart from that, seemed to be my physical growth or physical frailty.
I’d already turned ten and time was swiftly moving from spring toward summer, yet I remained a child smaller than the witch.
I thought maybe I was just not growing much because it wasn’t the growth spurt, which felt somewhat okay. I did sleep soundly and eat plenty, yet I was still looking up at the witch.
Seeing the witch looking down at me with her lips curled upward made me feel unfair.
“…”
“… Why is she suddenly standing up lately?”
Just like the witch standing before me now.
In the past, she would always pop her head out from inside the wooden board house, but these days, whenever I went to the alley, she stood up slowly to greet me.
Of course, I know it isn’t solely because she’s grown taller than me, but rather because she welcomes me.
“… It hurts my neck to look up.”
“…”
She still lacked the ability to deeply think about being considerate of others, talking like that.
Damn it.
Am I the only one who is looking up without straining my neck?
So, with that mindset, as I gazed quietly at her, as if sensing my thoughts, the witch’s knees gradually bent until she came down to my eye level.
She must have felt the peculiar displeasure in my gaze and acted accordingly.
But she didn’t seem to realize how subtly it was off-putting.
As her gaze aligned with mine, her already twitching lips smiled wider.
She seemed happy to match her gaze with mine, yet her expression wasn’t quite pleasant, not knowing what emotion she should display.
“… Don’t smile?”
And yet, she couldn’t help herself, ending up inquiring with a kind of exasperation to which I had no choice but to shake my head.
It wasn’t right to tell a happy child not to smile.
So,
It must be for that reason.
“No… you can smile.”
“Okay.”
To that unavoidable question, she nodded and flashed a fairly natural smile.
And I watched her, hiding the anxiety that her emotions were slowly unraveling.
Her smiles became more frequent, and her previously sluggish movements gradually found their rhythm.
The time for another decision was nearing.
The gray emotions were thickening and were inevitably about to overflow, drawing closer to the moment.
Yet even while thinking that way, I kept meeting her gaze.
Despite such thoughts, I found myself thinking that her smile was all the more beautiful, just like my anxiety.
People speak of grayness being dull and cloudy.
Yet gray lights up calmly and charmingly in its own way.
Even in eyes that appear to have a smoky haze, there is a light flowing according to the emotion.
The witch, like now, with her lips curled up and her eyes shimmering, looked bright with joy.
Even slightly, as she smiled at me, the witch held her own brilliance.
And yet,
I found myself thinking of something else as I faced the witch.
She was subtly straightening her bent knees and looking down at me.
Even if it certainly wasn’t meant to tease, her lips rose to a peculiar extent.
It could have become serious; however, seeing what lay right in front of me, that was where my conclusion led.
“…”
I should drink more milk when I get home.
Damn it.