GDTEA Ch 73

When You Hear a Voice

The mages of the Magic Tower whispered among themselves.

“……Master?”

“Perhaps a slave……?”

“But it seems like…….”

When someone wore a blindfold and called someone “Master,” there was another type of relationship besides master and servant.

The Magic Tower mages’ gazes toward Sharti grew peculiar. Noticing this, Sharti’s face turned bright red.

In contrast, Ren maintained a calm expression without showing any sign of embarrassment.

“I don’t want to be touched by anyone except my Master.”

“……!”

At this statement that could easily be misunderstood, Sharti glared at Ren with disbelief.

Ren feigned innocence and subtly retreated behind Sharti. This inadvertently made it look like Sharti was standing guard to protect him.

“So anyway, this master is the owner, right?”

“But will they let us have him?”

Since Ren called her Master, and with the large-built man hiding behind Sharti who had her face covered with a hood, the situation looked quite unusual.

“Or should we offer extra money to buy him?”

“Do you have any money right now?”

“No, I don’t.”

Sharti frowned at the mages’ whispers.

Though it was a false identity, hearing them treat Ren like an object to be bought and sold pierced her heart.

“I don’t need that.”

“Eek……!”

The mages jumped at the sudden terrible voice that echoed around them.

The words, tinged with displeasure, sounded even more grotesque than usual as they reverberated.

Unintentionally, this had only added to the intimidating atmosphere.

“We-we’re sorry!”

The mages apologized immediately, trembling fearfully.

By the time Sharti realized her mistake, the mages had already fled the scene.

“…….”

Sharti quietly placed her hand on her forehead.

Regretting having carelessly used her voice, she swallowed a small sigh.

‘I shouldn’t make this a habit.’

At some point, her thoughts had begun to come out without passing through her mind first.

While conversing with Ren, who kept reassuring her it was fine, she had become accustomed to using her voice without realizing it.

However, she didn’t think it was particularly positive that she no longer felt aversion to her own voice.

“Thank you, Sha.”

“……!”

Startled out of her dejected thoughts, Sharti turned around with a jolt.

Ren, who had been hiding behind her, gave a slight smile.

“For using your voice for me.”

“…….”

For a moment, her ruby-colored eyes trembled.

But soon Sharti gave a bitter smile and turned her head away.

“My voice is effective when threatening people.”

Originally, Sharti used her voice as a threat, like she did in Dodindt. This time, the result and reaction were the same. Trying not to feel newly hurt, Sharti nodded her head bravely.

“It wasn’t because of your voice.”

The voice that immediately denied this was very firm.

“They were overwhelmed by your charisma, Sha, as you stood up for me.”

“Ch-charisma, what do you mean……”

Sharti hesitated at the unfamiliar word.

In that moment, Ren wanted to remove the annoying blindfold. He wanted to look directly at Sharti while speaking. Every time he watched the courage Sharti displayed from behind her back, he wanted to tell her how reassuring it was.

The courage Sharti mustered with all her might was always full of charisma. That’s why everyone couldn’t take their eyes off her, and their hearts were naturally drawn to her.

“Come to think of it, I must have been the same.”

Ren recalled the day he met Sharti.

Realizing he was pretending to be asleep, Sharti had gripped a long staff and stood guard. And when Ren threatened her, Sharti had swung the staff at him without hesitation.

The first day he saw Sharti’s face. The first day he made a promise with her.

That day, Ren must have been drawn to the charisma of Sharti, small in stature and seemingly fragile.

“Sha-.”

Ren slowly pulled the cloth, removing his blindfold.

And then he opened his eyes slowly.

“…….”

Because she was looking up, he could see Sharti’s lips inside her hood.

Sharti probably wouldn’t know what emotions were stirred by her lips, the only part of her fair, clear face that he often got to see.

Ren closed his eyes tightly and opened them again, trying to calm his surging emotions.

“I’m handling it.”

“……!”

Looking at Sharti’s slightly parted lips, Ren smiled.

Asking to be taught, making a contract with Shukadi—it was all part of the process of managing his feelings for Sharti.

“But I think I need to try harder.”

Every time he observed the small changes in Sharti, Ren felt something indescribable.

Could the feeling of one person liking another grow like this day by day?

How deep could such a seemingly simple emotion go?

“But if there comes a moment when I can’t handle it anymore…….”

Then he would probably be hopelessly drawn to Sharti.

His emotions and feelings might grow too large to contain, and finally come out of his mouth.

[Ren, do you like me?]

Wouldn’t he end up blurting out the answer to that question, a confident affirmation?

“-So Sha, even if I end up making you flustered, I hope you can understand me just once.”

Even if he confessed clumsily before becoming a dignified and decent man, he hoped she wouldn’t be upset or disappointed. Even if she found the confession of an unremarkable and naive man distasteful, he hoped she would forgive him a little.

Ren looked at Sharti with a gentle smile.

“Because from the moment I decided to handle this—no, even before that—there hasn’t been a day when I didn’t cherish you, Sha.”

“……!”

Sharti stepped back with a greatly flustered face. The flow of conversation had changed too suddenly, and Ren was saying embarrassing things without hesitation.

Moreover, Ren’s expression and tone, which were usually nonchalant or stiff and expressionless, were so soft that they made her heart flutter.

By now, Sharti knew that Ren’s gentleness was special treatment reserved only for her.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t noticed the emotion behind it.

“……Ren, did you eat something wrong?”

Sharti chose to avoid the topic, rolling her eyes around.

“Or maybe you hit your head earlier…….”

Sharti didn’t yet have enough immunity to look Ren straight in the eyes.

“……I still have a long way to go.”

Ren let out a small, dejected laugh.

Even that laughter made Sharti’s heart pound, causing her to clench her fist tightly.

“It’s because Ren is saying things he doesn’t usually say.”

“True. It wasn’t like me.”

Ren readily agreed.

“But I couldn’t just listen without saying anything.”

Ren felt Sharti’s gaze as he covered his eyes again with the cloth. After securely tying the blindfold, Ren raised his head.

“I don’t like it when you disparage your voice that I love in that way.”

“Ren is… Ren is being strange.”

Everyone except Ren had shown the same reaction when hearing her voice.

Vireta was similar. Even though she could control her expression, the pitying look in her eyes never disappeared.

‘I didn’t hate it.’

She had just realized the reality.

The harsh reality that a voice that even Vireta’s family found pitiful would never sound normal to anyone.

“Usually, everyone dislikes my broken voice.”

The faint sound of laughter carried the resignation and acceptance that had accompanied her for five years.

“Sha, does listening to your voice cause hearing problems?”

“What?”

Konk-! Suddenly, Ren lowered his head, causing their foreheads to bump through the robe. Using the blindfold as an excuse, Ren kept his forehead pressed against Sharti’s inside the hood, tapping it gently.

Startled, Sharti raised her hands to protect her forehead, and Ren stopped.

“Is there a curse in your voice that brings misfortune to those who hear it? Or do people who hear your voice stay up all night and die? Does blood flow from their ears when they hear your voice?”

“No, not that extreme…….”

Sharti was shocked by these terrible examples.

Ignoring Sharti’s reaction, Ren continued speaking with a serious expression.

“They might pause momentarily, surprised by a voice they’ve never heard before. They might find it unfamiliar because they’re not used to it. Yes, they might dislike it. Just as people have preferences for appearances, don’t they have them for voices too?”

Ren squeezed Sharti’s hand in his.

“When you’re not causing them any harm, why hurt yourself by putting yourself down?”

“……!”

“Sha-.”

Sharti had the illusion that the teal eyes behind the blindfold were wavering.

“You’re too precious a person to inflict such wounds on yourself.”

“…….”

It happened in an instant.

In an instant, her vision blurred.

Sharti bit her lips firmly. She didn’t even blink.

If she relaxed, tears would pour out.

As always, she couldn’t lower her head or turn away.

Because it hurt so much, because it was painful yet joyful, because it was happy yet sad, she could only stand still.

So Sharti looked at Ren and quietly, without moving, swallowed her tears again and again.

‘Ah.’

“I want to be someone who doesn’t make myself feel small.”

‘This person sees me as precious, even when I think of myself as shabby.’

It was a day with full winter weather.

But at this moment, Sharti couldn’t feel the cold.

A warm spring breeze blew in Sharti’s heart.

Ren was trying to be the only spring in her perpetual winter.

****

Habsan, with its impressive giant waterfall, presented a spectacular view of white mist below the endless cascading falls.

“This is crazy.”

Looking down from the cliff of Habsan waterfall, the Tower Master had a headache.

No matter what tracking magic he used, he couldn’t detect any traces below the cliff.

“The residue gathered here is interfering, but this is a bit extreme.”

On top of the cliff, there were patches of abnormal magic residue scattered about. It was dirty and messy, as if someone had deliberately tried to erase the traces but left the job unfinished.

Moreover, it seemed that ordinary mana hadn’t been used; an unpleasant magic power could be felt.

“This isn’t an ordinary case.”

The corner of the Tower Master’s mouth curled upward.

The twisted magic power felt at the cliff, where he had tracked Leodelt Gwendhill’s death, reminded him of forbidden magic practices at the Magic Tower.

“Someone must have really wanted to kill him.”

Originally, mana, magic power, and magic were forces that couldn’t and didn’t need to mix with anything else. It was like a power given by nature to humans.

But human greed, foolish and vain, craved for greater power, eventually leading to the creation of forbidden magic.

“What does that mean?”

Behind the Tower Master stood three knights.

The emblem of sword, shield, and wings embroidered on their uniforms indicated they were knights of the Gwendhill Grand Duchy.

“Was our master assassinated here?”

One knight with long gray hair tied back stepped forward and asked.

He was a knight with a sharp and cold impression.

“Well. What’s certain is that someone used dirty magic here.”

When the Tower Master snapped his fingers, traces of battle that were invisible to ordinary eyes began to appear clearly.

Connecting the scattered magic residue was nothing to the Tower Master.

“It seems a strong explosion occurred here.”

A knight with mint-green hair and a friendly appearance examined the traces.

“Ah, don’t touch that. It feels like something quite poisonous was mixed in.”

The deliberately left magic residue still carried a terrible murderous intent.

Even if the investigation team were lucky enough to discover it, there was enough malicious power left in the traces to silence them forever with death.

“Have you investigated below the cliff?”

The Tower Master looked down the cliff.

A Sword Master of Grand Duke Gwendhill’s caliber would surely have sensed the malicious power in the enemy’s magic.

If the enemy had tried to use explosion magic, he would naturally have thrown himself down the waterfall.

“Yes. There were no traces.”

The well-built knight with teal hair shook his head.

They had considered the possibility that he might have been swept away by the valley waters, but the search had made no progress so far.

It was as if Leodelt Gwendhill had fallen from the cliff and simply disappeared; his existence couldn’t be found anywhere.

“Hmm.”

The Tower Master, arms crossed and tilting his head from side to side, snapped his fingers again.

A blue magic circle appeared, gathering the malicious power that remained on the cliff.

“Digging into this will reveal a stench.”

Someone who used forbidden magic once wouldn’t have stopped at just that.

“Ah, did you bring what I asked for?”

“Here it is.”

The gray-haired knight handed over a scroll from his breast pocket.

It was a portrait of Leodelt Gwendhill.