Drunkard (1)
Selena Drunkard.
If I were to sum up her actions in the original story in a single word, it would be this:
‘Traitor.’
What other words could be added or subtracted?
Every choice was her own.
There was no coercion or pressure in the process.
Simply, for her own purpose, she betrayed the Academy and joined hands with those she should never have approached.
None other than the dark mages who worshiped slaughter and greed.
The endless path of ruin.
Of course.
She didn't intend to betray from the beginning.
Just as villains have their own circumstances, drunkards have their own.
Perhaps she could have become a better educator.
If only she hadn't clung so foolishly to the past.
‘Memories.’
For adults, memories are regrets, or liquor.
A void that makes life wander aimlessly.
And this… was the foolishness and intoxication attached to the name Selena Drunkard.
The story goes back to when she was very young.
-Lianne! Look what your sister brought!
-It's bread that hasn't gone bad…! Today's begging was a complete success!
Selena had a sister five years younger.
Lianne.
A younger sister she raised like her own daughter.
-My sister is the best!
-It smells so good! Like it just came out of the bakery!
-Heehee… My mouth is already watering.
There was no other family.
Their parents passed away when their memories were still faint.
Selena, as the older sister, had to take responsibility for her younger sister.
Although they lived a life wandering through the slums, relying on the mercy of others, the children never gave up hope.
Because they had each other.
In a way, it was ordinary.
Beggars were common in the slums. Their lives were no different.
In difficult moments, they leaned on each other for support.
Even in the desperate, cold, and hungry winter… the girls survived, their strong affection their only warmth.
Their dependence on each other deepened as they grew older.
-I love you the most in the world, Sister!
A life at the bottom, where even a faint light couldn't reach.
A life constantly chased by misfortune.
Nevertheless, a life filled with hope.
Perhaps as a reward for their hearts, a ray of sunlight pierced through the days covered in darkness.
-You… you have talent.
-Would you consider learning magic under me?
-I will also take in your younger sister.
An old man appeared one day.
He introduced himself as the head of a prestigious educational institution and offered Selena and Lianne the chance to become his apprentices.
He had recognized Selena’s magical talent.
Hesitantly, the children accepted his hand.
-Call me Master from now on.
An unforgettable moment.
Afterward.
Color was added to the girls’ lives for the first time.
New experiences accumulated one by one. A comfortable home, soft clothes, warm food, and a fluffy bed.
A miracle that came overnight.
-Master! Master! Can you teach me the magic my sister is learning?
-I want to be a great wizard someday too.
-Like the sage in the fairy tales!
-Lianne… Master said you couldn't because you're weak.
-Besides, it's not even that fun. Do you really want to drown yourself in the swamp of homework?
-Yes! Because my sister is working hard!
-I want to be strong enough to protect my sister!
-So please teach me!
-Haha. There’s no reason why you can’t learn if you want to.
-It will be difficult to be like Selena… but Lianne, I will teach you magic too.
-Yay! Hooray for Master!
The children learned the meaning of peace.
Smiles that never left their faces.
A life where they no longer had to go hungry, cry in fear, or shiver in the cold.
The morning that arrived after a long dawn was so precious.
Therefore, they wished and believed that only happiness would fill their days ahead.
However.
-Three months.
Misfortune did not let them go.
When Selena turned twenty and Lianne fifteen… Lianne received a sudden terminal diagnosis.
The exact cause was unknown. They could only guess. They assumed her body, weakened from life in the slums, had finally given way.
Tragedy shattered even their fleeting dream.
-Don't worry.
-Your sister will definitely cure you… Somehow, without fail, I won't let you die.
-Master is also looking into it. There must be a way.
No.
There was no way.
It was an incurable disease.
Every doctor they met frowned, priests shook their heads, and in the end, even their Master put down his pen.
The girl in the sickbed simply faded away.
Holding the hand of her beloved sister.
-I'm sorry… Sister.
-I wanted to stay, by your side, a little longer… I wanted you, to be by my side…
-I'm sorry… I'm sorry I couldn't stay by your side…
Lianne murmured with a breath that seemed ready to fade at any moment.
Her endlessly flowing tears and constant apologies overflowed with emotion.
As if about to spill over at any second.
-······.
Selena was powerless.
There was nothing she could do for her sick sister.
She could only hold the warmth in her hand tightly.
Until the thin thread of breath stopped… and even the warmth that signified life cooled.
The older sister couldn't leave her younger sister’s side.
-Lies… It’s a lie.
A lump of flesh with the soul gone.
The girl held onto what was once Lianne and wailed.
The colorful world instantly reverted to black and white.
-Lianne… Please open your eyes.
-We were finally happy, why, why does this only happen to us…
Your death only leaves behind a cold world without you.
Only after losing everything in her life did she realize.
The light that had come to them was not the dawn.
Just a meteor that shone briefly before disappearing.
Happiness, for Selena, was such a vain and false concept.
-It was all a lie.
After death.
The girl wandered endlessly.
As if she had given up on everything.
The light disappeared from her pupils.
Her expression gradually hardened.
She drank liquor, which she had never liked, straight from the bottle, and the time she spent drunk grew longer and longer each day.
It felt like she was rarely sober.
-Lianne…
Even though she had lost her childish innocence.
Even though she was now called a woman, not a girl.
Selena lived on, chewing on memories.
Buried in the happiest moments of her childhood.
As these meaningless days continued.
-Won't you join hands with us?
Certain individuals approached her.
They were none other than cultists.
Planning to use the wandering Selena, they whispered a proposal she, as an older sister, could never refuse.
The devil's whisper that her dead sister could be revived.
-Don't you want to see her again?
-Your beloved sister.
The woman couldn't refuse.
Her mind was not sound enough to make proper judgments.
She just wanted to see the departed girl again.
In the end.
Selena decided to become their puppet.
She even had a mana contract placed on her heart.
Perhaps she was drunk.
Her mind was filled with the single thought of reviving Lianne.
The woman, who had killed her emotions, participated in all the tragedies.
-Just follow our instructions.
-Anything beyond that… we will take care of it.
Their demands were simple.
To periodically hand over the Academy's secrets and information.
As the headmaster's top disciple and a head professor, it wasn't a difficult task for Selena.
It was also her who handed over the map of the underground passage to the cultists.
-Wait for me, Lianne… I will definitely.
-When that time comes, will we be able to be happy again…?
The woman knew she was covering herself in evil.
But her precarious steps did not stop.
Like a truck with broken brakes, the damaged accident drove on blindly.
Selena drove her life like a drunk driver.
However.
-Th-this is… what is this?
Even such a terrible drunkenness eventually wears off.
After regaining consciousness, she had to face it.
All the tragedies she had committed.
-Kuooooooooh!
A ferociously roaring dragon.
Disaster stood tall, centered around the collapsed main building of the Academy.
Hot flames and death poured down like rain.
The surging hatred seemed ready to destroy the entire world.
Corpses were scattered around.
The students she had taught.
Fellow faculty members who had always bothered her.
A place that was once her home, but now a landscape more fittingly described as a living hell.
The woman’s choices had buried countless lives in the flames.
-Ah.
The woman belatedly realized.
Her foolishness and the sins she had stained herself with.
-What have I, I, done…
-I didn't intend to do this, I, I just… just one more time, that child…
-No-No… I didn't want this!
In the desolate ruins, all that remained was a pool of blood and flesh.
And a void that could fill that pool and more.
Screams, sorrow, fear, pleas.
Selena watched the crimson landscape.
Sitting blankly in place.
-It was all… a tragedy I caused.
Tears flowed.
As she was lost in her despair.
Thud-!
Something pierced through her chest from behind.
It was a sword.
-You've worked hard.
Looking back.
The cultist she had been cooperating with was standing there.
With a wicked smile, he had thrust a sword into Selena’s heart.
As if he had intended to do this from the beginning.
-It's right to dispose of a pawn that has outlived its usefulness.
-As you can see, the plan was a success.
-Now we can finally hasten His resurrection.
The Drunkard collapsed, coughing up blood.
She stopped her wretched breathing along with the burning Academy.
Perhaps it was a fitting end for a traitor.
'…The details revealed afterward are even more shocking.'
Selena Drunkard.
According to the settings revealed later, she too was merely a pawn in the hands of the cultists.
Lianne, who suffered from an unknown incurable disease… the cultists were behind her death.
A spiderweb spun from the beginning to ensnare Selena.
Her sister’s death was thoroughly fabricated, and the promised resurrection in exchange for cooperation was also a lie.
The woman could not escape her fate.
'In the end… it was a story where no one was happy.'
A bleak ending.
I cleared my distracting thoughts and met the woman's gaze.
"······."
"······."
Sitting on the hospital bed was the traitor, or perhaps the victim.
Only a chilling silence filled the room.
As I slowly savored the gloomy atmosphere, the woman suddenly smiled bitterly and asked.
Her voice was subdued.
"······Since when did you know?"
"Hmm?"
"That I betrayed you."
"Well. Call it a hunch."
"A hunch… I see. Student Judas is quite secretive."
"Besides, isn't it a meaningless question now?"
"That's true."
The conversation flowed like water.
Similar to usual, yet different.
Shaking off that sense of dissonance, I spoke.
"There are many stories I want to hear. And many I need to hear."
"······."
A complex expression returned.
What emotions are you feeling right now?
Resignation?
Despair?
Sadness?
A sense of loss?
Or perhaps…
"······Do you regret it?"
An uncharacteristically hesitant question.
As if reacting to it, her red eyes wavered.
I waited quietly for the woman.
It seemed I could only decide what to do next after hearing her answer.
I waited for you.
'Please.'
Hoping you are different from me.
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