Crown of Thorns

CHAPTER 11

Translator & editor : Cuties

After sending the boy away like that, I sat back against the wall and looked at the dreary darkness. At one point, the floor wavered and another darkness appeared anew. Although it was no different from the one engulfing the inside of the tower, it was clearly distinguishable as another kind of darkness. And the new darkness, which took a human form, seeped back into the floor and faded away.

After looking at the emaciated darkness for a while, I closed my eyes and began to empty my mind. There was nothing difficult about it because it had been a constant task until I met a young warrior. However, there was a new hesitation this time around.

I’m scared. I don’t know exactly what’s scary. Am I afraid that everything I’ve built so far will fall apart? Or am I just not confident enough to look at it? Am I worried that the darkness might never leave me or that I might go back to wanting to die soon?

“But I can’t do anything at this rate.”

Determined to protect the young warrior, I had to hover around him. At least I had to know what I didn’t know, what was going on around the boy, and how he would change in the future. Only then could I find a way. Knowing his present would change the future.

And to do that, I had to follow the young warrior.

I began to look at the world through the darkness that I had just dispersed. But what I see in front of me was not the damp, dreary interior of the tower as usual. I could see the endless steps. And I saw the back of the young warrior going down the stairs. The stairs were steep and messy, as if they were not made to be used, and the occasionally staggered while difficultly to descending. Each time he tripped, the boy clicked his tongue, displeased.

I followed behind and looked at the boy. The white hair was stained with a dull grayish color, and the surroundings were all dark and hazy. The boy walked a little faster and I got a little closer just in case I missed him. Whatever he felt, the boy stopped walking and looked back. The boy’s red eyes also looked gray, close to black. The world I am looking at now was made up of only black and gray.

“Who’s there?”

The boy’s cry echoed and hovered for a long time. The boy, who had been standing still for a while, moved again and I followed suit. The steps made of the same stone that molded the inside of the tower, continued for a long time before they ended. But there was nothing at the end of the stairs. No doorway or windows. Just like up where I’m staying, there’s only a wall of stone.

As if too obvious, the boy standing in front of the wall crouched down and began to kick a stone. Every time the boy’s small feet connected, the stone began to slide little by little and light permeated through them. I took a breath for a moment without realizing it. It’s just a light gray sun that doesn’t shine and doesn’t feel warm, but it looks blurry and hazy enough to make it feel darker than the boy’s hair, but I’m not confident of getting out of the tower and going through that shining light. I had a ridiculous idea that it might melt me away.

While I was hesitating, the boy succeeded in pushing out a stone and a space emerged for the little boy to barely get in and out. And contrary to my expectation that he could get out right away, vines full of sharp thorns blocked the boy’s way. The boy casually reached out to clean up the prickly vines. The thorn vines inflicted minor wounds on the boy’s hands and arms, but even so his expression remained unchanged.

And as soon as it was organized enough to get out of, he held out his upper body without hesitation. The untidy vines scratched the boy’s face and body. Bloodstained thorns came into his eyes. I was reminded of the young man who had also been coming in and out using the same method.

While I was hesitating, the boy went outside, licked his wounds and began to tuck the stone he had pushed back into place. Standing motionless until the light that had been seeping in gradually diminished and darkness filled me, I rushed into the stone wall.

The boy came to me despite the thorns, walls and stairs that stood in his way, what am I hesitating about?

When I came out, I could see the back of the boy already walking far away. I tried to follow him in a hurry, but I couldn’t.

The whole world was covered in bright gray. I can’t look straight, even though it didn’t blind me. Funny enough, the witch’s tower looked so peaceful. The sun was mellowing gently. A light wind shook the plants that had grown long. The smell of grass, clear wind, and warm sunshine were being conveyed to me, who could only use my sight and hearing. The world, even painted black and gray, looked to beautiful that I stook still for a while.

The colorless world slowly began to color. It started from as far as I could see and gradually, colors seeped closer. The blue sky, the white clouds, and the leaves of the dark green plants were disturbing my eyes. The gale tickled my cheek. It also smelled fragrant.

I heard laughter from somewhere. The girl’s clear laugh shook me somehow. I looked back in a hurry, but I could only see a world of black and gray again. The world that had been painted with the colors that remained in my memory was gone.

I looked at the tower where I was locked up. Surrounded by thorn vines, the tower looked like one giant tree. Some flowers were seen poking their faces between the vines to show off their figure, perhaps because the seeds that flew in the wind dug in. Unlike the interior, where everything was dying, the outside of the tower was brimming with new life. Unlike the tower, which had nothing but the past, the world was moving toward the future.

I knew it already, but I couldn’t move for a while because it was different from what I saw in person. After barely snapping up, I turned around looking for the boy who was already turning almost invisible. He was covered with large trees except for a certain part of him. It was a witch’s forest surrounding the witch’s tower.

In this huge forest lived monsters growing up feeding on darkness. It was not a place for humans to enter. While I was in the tower, the forest would have grown bigger and bigger and now I couldn’t even tell how many more monsters were living in it.

Besides, there was nothing like a village around here before I got stuck in the tower. It was not until I crossed a few mountains blocking the forest that I could see where people lived.

The young warrior always had to cross this forest to meet the witch. Alone with his small body.

But now that we met again, he was crossing them with the witch. The boy may not know, but he was going to be together with me forever. I’ll protect the boy.

I found him walking and hurried to catch up. The boy, who was holding a small sword, was very nervous. The scenery around the witch’s tower changed dramatically as we entered the forest as if it were a dream. This place is not much different from the inside of the tower. It was dark and gloomy and full of death.

Most of the trees took roots in sticky mud were rotten, and yet they grew high and large, so no sunlight could come in and even small lives couldn’t sprout. Black fog was blocking the view, and not only the signs of wild animals, but also the sound of common birds was not heard.

The boy walking through it seemed to have a very keen sense and looked around, held his breath, and stopped still. Every now and then, he turned around a little bit, but I was surprised to find out why.

The boy was running away in advance, sensing the existence of a distant monster.

It was impossible for humans. Monsters used to rush in before humans could even notice because they approached silently with excellent sense of smell. But the boy ran away before the monster’s nose even found him. I didn’t notice it because of the lack of touch, but when I looked closely, he was going in the direction of the wind.

Moreover, the black fog around him would not allow ordinary humans to move a step forward, but the boy dug into the forest, as agile as a wild animal. He was a boy who saw me clearly even in a tower that didn’t permeate a single light. Like a witch who is familiar with the darkness and has nothing to worry about. Why didn’t I notice this fact before?

The young warrior, whom I thought he was too weak to kill the witch, was born with an appalling gift. I finally learned how a young warrior could pass through the forest of the witch to the witch’s tower.

The young warrior was in fact capable of greater things than just killing the witch and removing the darkness.

Perhaps the young warrior can save humans who from suffering. He may not just make the darkness retreat, but may light up the world and make everything change.

The witch followed the young warrior and began to picture the future he would create.

–––