/
The crowd lifted her onto the railing of the ship. Henry and Rosen struggled as best they could, but they couldn’t stand against the power of many. She didn’t know if it was the crew or the passengers who were holding her right now. The only people she could recognize were Henry, with his bright blonde hair, and Joshua Gregory, who was smirking down at her.
Rosen yelled at Gregory, who looked the most excited.
“Are you stupid? Did you forget already? I passed the magic test in front of you! If you have any doubts that I’m a witch, try again!”
“The stone is not on this ship. We don’t even need it in the first place. If we throw you, we’ll know. It is a very traditional method of identification. If you sink, you’re not a witch, and if you float, you’re a witch.”
“How many centuries ago are you living in? You still believe that? Do you think that makes sense? And if I were a real witch, would I have been waiting for you in prison like an idiot? I would have already run away!”
“…We have to try it to know whether it works. If you sacrifice yourself and all the beasts disappear, you’re a witch, and if you are eaten, you aren’t. Neither harms us.”
“You sick b*stard. Either way, I’m going to die!”
No matter how many times she had been surrounded by an angry mob, it was always useless. But no matter what happened, she was able to stand more calmly than an ordinary person. Henry, who was captured along with her, was frozen in fear.
Rosen leaned against the railing, her hands bound, and looked at the crowd. She wanted to see what the atmosphere was like. But sadly, there seemed to be no hope of turning the situation around.
She saw horror in their eyes.
Of course, not everyone standing on deck wanted to drown her in the sea. But there were people like Joshua Gregory who were eager to turn her into a witch… She had to remind herself that not everyone in the world was that bad.
There must be crew members who sympathized with her… tossing her into the sea was overkill.
But she also knew how easily conscience and goodwill were broken in the face of fear.
“Everyone!”
Gregory screamed as he stepped forward.
“Who doesn’t know Alex Reville? He’s led fleets for decades, securing numerous victories in wars, and even after his retirement, he became the Captain of a passenger ship and now carries passengers safely ashore. That very Alex Reville’s ship has stopped. Is this possible?”
“The Captain is against this.”
Someone carefully refuted his words.
“Oh, isn’t he covering for the witch? But think about it. Why is he suddenly doing this as someone who values his passengers more than anyone else? Isn’t it strange?”
Gregory grinned and pointed at Rosen with an exaggerated gesture.
“If it’s not a witch’s curse, it can’t be explained!”
Hundreds of eyes stared at Rosen at once. She remembered this feeling. When she was first tried. When she failed her first and second jailbreaks and stood in court.
[I hereby declare Rosen Howarth as the murderer.]
[Prisoner number 24601, Rosen Haworth, is faced with additional charges for breaking out of prison!]
“I’m not sure yet, but throwing a person into the sea recklessly…”
Another mumbled, but that voice was suppressed again by Gregory’s words.
“Then are you just going to wait like this? What if the beasts drill a hole in the bottom of the ship? Are you going to put your friends, family, and children at risk because of one b*tch?”
Rosen had to carry on. She couldn’t die from being thrown into the sea. Victory was imminent.
How hard was it for her to get here?
When Rosen opened her mouth to say something, she looked into people’s eyes. People hid their children behind them to protect them, and others desperately avoided her gaze. At that moment, she lost all her strength.
Seventeen to twenty-five years old. No, maybe all her life she had been screaming for help, hopelessly.
“I am not a witch!”
Yes, they knew.
It didn’t work then. It didn’t work now.
It was nothing short of shouting at a brick wall.
If she were going to be treated like a witch anyway, it would have been better if she were a real witch. Then she could have run away from here.
Feeling driven to the edge of a cliff, she desperately looked around.
The deck was jammed with people; sailors on both sides were binding her with inhuman power, and the black sea churned behind her.
Their own witch trial seemed to have already been completed.
Over the past few years, she had countless moments where she wondered if this was the end. But then, there was at least some time to spare. A glimmer of hope shone in front of her.
Holding on to that hope, she climbed down a cliff with her bloody hands, and walked barefoot through a forest infested with beasts. Luck had ironically followed her, and she had come this far, surprising people.
But it seemed that all her strange luck had been used up. Finally, she made a mistake. She, too, underestimated the malice of people towards her. She didn’t know they would break the prison lock and throw her into the sea.
Rather than squatting quietly in prison, she should have been hiding like a mouse. Even Ian, Henry, and Alex were at a loss.
[The only keys to the prison are with him, Ian Kerner, and the Captain. Those three will never open the prison door even if people beg for it.]
Rosen suddenly realized. The real weak-hearted fool was her. She subconsciously believed that they would protect her, so her judgment was paralyzed for a while. Weakened by their sincerity, she didn’t want to cause trouble, so she acted kindly.
She falsely began to believe that everyone in the world would be like them.
That momentary weakness was what killed her.
‘D*mn.’
Sadly, this seemed to be her last chance. She stood up and bit the sailor’s arm that was holding her.
The sailor screamed.
‘Emily, I’m sorry. We promised to meet again…’
A gust of sea breeze swept down her spine. She was now hanging onto the railing with both arms. Still, she tried her best not to fall. Her mind was aware that it was time to give up, but her body moved on its own.
This was a habit of those who had lived as prison breakers for a long time. Struggling even though you knew it didn’t make any sense.
“Rosen!”
Then, she noticed a familiar face amongst the crowd. Ian Kerner, wearing a red scarf with a deathly pale face, was calling out her name. It was a look she had never seen before. A look like his world was falling apart.
He ran to her desperately through the packed crowd. The gazes that had been directed at her quickly changed direction. She thought the scene was a vision. Because there was no way Ian Kerner would run to her through a crowd.
Did it make sense for him to call her ‘Rosen’ when everyone was listening? That was a very friendly name. She had many other names.
‘Rosen Haworth.’
‘The Witch of Al Capez.’
‘24601…’
Anyway, people were always watching Ian Kerner. And he could never hold her hand under those gazes.
‘Ian Kerner can’t save me.’
A hero shouldn’t be on the witch’s side. It was cruel, but he couldn’t turn his back on the whole Empire because of her alone.
“Rosen Walker!”
In the meantime, she was concerned about the way people looked at him. She was a little afraid that people would look at him suspiciously just because he called her name. He must have really liked her.
Regardless of her worries, he came closer and closer. People grabbed at him, but Ian Kerner desperately climbed onto the railing with his arms outstretched. His red scarf fluttered in the wind. His large hands reached out to her.
At that moment, someone stepped on her hand, hard. Just like that, she slipped.
She crashed into the sea.
Ian Kerner was leaning over the railing and screaming like a madman. Unfortunately, she didn’t have a knack for reading lips.
‘Well, what’s the use of all this now?’
The wind whipped at her cheeks. It must have been very quick, but the moment when she fell from the boat to the surface of the water felt like an eternity.
Belatedly, she thought that she should have learned to swim.
‘How would I have learned to swim after living in Leoarton all my life?’
So, this was unavoidable.
‘I did my best.’
‘Emily, I really wanted to win…’
‘But, I tried for a very long time.’
‘It’s not a win, but it’s close, isn’t it?’
‘Because I’ve troubled those who have been tormenting us for so long…’
After that, everything was blurry.
As she fell unprepared, the current hit her entire body and a strong pain spread.
Her body sank into the deep water.