CH 28

Chapter 28: In Order to Fight the Wolf Witch Part 7

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And then Dietrich-sama also fell to the floor at the same time. He was bleeding profusely from his neck. 

To think he became gravely injured in order to protect me…

I could feel my chest tightened and hurt. 

“Uuugh!”

“Dietrich-sama!”

“Big brother!”

This was not the time to feel upset. I needed to close his wound quickly. I immediately began chanting recovery magic spell. 

“Melodia….”

“Big brother, please stop speaking.”

“I have something that I need to tell Melodia….”

“Big brother!”

“Gilbert, just for a little bit… Please let me talk…”

Just what is he trying to tell me when he’s bleeding profusely from his neck?

“Melodia… You are a good natured girl… You’re kind…. You have a strong sense of justice… You’re really an honest kid… I’m sure… You can become happy….”

“………”

“That’s why… Don’t say things like… You want to live alone… And other sorrowful things… Go to the place you like… Eat plenty of things you like… Just like a bird that flies freely in the sky… And lastly, even without me… I wish you could build a warm… Family…”

At this point, Dietrich-sama’s consciousness was starting to fade away. Tears were welling up in my eyes but I couldn’t afford to wipe my eyes. I had to do the things that only I could do. 

“Gilbert… You too… Be happy….”

“BIG BROTHER, BIG BROTHER!!!!”

At the same time that Gilbert-sama started to cry out in sorrow, I had finished chanting my recovery magic. A magic circle floated on top of Dietrich-sama’s wound but then, the magic circle suddenly disappeared in a snap. 

“Wh-Why?!”

“Apparently, there’s a curse implanted on the wound.”

Up until now, they still couldn’t be entirely sure what was the cause of death for the people that died during their fight against the Wolf Witch. 

“So the wolf’s bite invoked a curse that prevented the wound from getting healed?”

“Apparently so.”

“Th-That…. That can’t be!”

This was not the time to be surprised either. I tried to cast recovery magic once again. We weren’t still entirely sure that the curse was behind it. 

But… Even after I tried to cast the recovery magic the second, the third and the fourth time, everytime I tried it, the magic circle kept on disappearing in a snap. When I tried to invoke the magic for the fifth time, my staff became bent. 

“-Ugh!”

I was hit by an impact that felt like a gunshot. I let my staff go but I was too late. Sharp pain ran through me. The palm of my hand turned bright red. But I couldn’t afford to grimace in pain either. Dietrich-sama was in much more pain than I. 

I drew a magic circle from the blood on my palm and chanted the incantation for the recovery magic but the result remained the same. The Wolf Witch’s curse repelled the recovery magic away. 

Meanwhile, Dietrich-sama’s blood was spreading on the floor. Dietrich-sama’s breathing, which had become rough just a while ago, gradually became weaker. I touched his hand and his hand was surprisingly cold.

I put my hand over his chest. His heart was still beating but his heart wasn’t as strong as before. The beat was faint. 

I need to chant recovery magic once again-

I thought to myself but the moment I began chanting, I began to cough violently. I spit out the things that creeped up my throat. It was blood. The bright red blood started to drip onto the floor. 

“Melodia-san, you need to stop now.”

“Bu-But…”

“IF YOU KEEP ON GOING, YOU WILL DIE!”

I was startled by Gilbert-sama’s words. The word that I had tried to cross from my head, flashed in my mind.

Die-

I shook my head, trying to drown that word out. 

If I could still afford to think, I should chant recovery magic instead. I tried to do that but the incantation wouldn’t come out. I was slowly losing my consciousness. This was the telltale sign of me running out of magic power. 

I can’t afford to lose my consciousness here. 

“Dietrich-sama… Wake up… I beg you….”

Dietrich-sama showed no reaction to my plea. 

Everything is my fault. Because of me, Dietrich-sama is….

Regret rushing in like a storm. 

Why didn’t I close the door behind me? Even if I didn’t, standing with my back behind a door is way too dangerous.

At that time, I wasn’t fully aware of the danger I was in. My mind was too preoccupied by the Wolf Witch that I had failed to imagine the possibility of other looming dangers.

In the first place, why did Dietrich-sama risk his life to protect me? Not only was he the head of a ducal family and he also had the responsibility to fight against the Wolf Witch. 

“Dietrich-sama…!”

When I called out to his name, his mouth which had been gasping as he breathed, slowly closing. Dietrich-sama’s hand, that I had been holding on, fell limp to the floor and I couldn’t feel his heartbeat when I put my hand over his chest. 

“Ah! Big brother!!!”

It was as if I had been hit on the head by a hammer. 

Dietrich-sama is… Dietrich-sama is……..

Gilbert-sama’s wails pierced my heart like rain of arrows that were shot one after another.

Then I… Prayed to God. 

“I don’t need my life… In exchange for my life, please save Dietrich-sama……!”

I thought I had been shouting from the bottom of my stomach but all that came out was nothing but incoherent muttering. 

“I beg you… Please…. PLEASE!”

I kept on wishing and wishing, for a miracle. 

All of a sudden, my chest felt hot. I couldn’t even open my eyes as I was enveloped in a light. 

“Melodia-san, this is?”

I don’t know.

I thought I had answered Gilbert-sama’s question but it turned out I hadn’t answered him out loud. Even though my eyes were tightly shut, I could see the image of something that looked like a crest. A crest with an image of a snowflake in the center, surrounded by stars shaped into a circle. 

Just what is this?

I opened my eyes after the light subsided. The blood that had been covering the floor was gone. In exchange for the blood, there was a man that I had never seen before, lying still on the floor. He had silver hair with a lean but muscular physique and…. For some reason he was naked. 

“K-KYAAA!!!”

As I screamed, I could feel my consciousness slipping off to somewhere. While I had no understanding of what was happening, I fell to the floor.