Morgana—I cannot remember the name I had before that. In any case, it held no meaning, so I never gave it much thought. The boy who had borne that past name had vanished as he burned in the flames. What exists now is only me, the one who obtained a new body afterward. The boy from that day remained only in memory.
“…”
When I sat quietly with my eyes closed on the subway, there were people taking pictures of me. There were people talking about me, people who tried to get closer to me, and people who moved away. I looked at them for a moment, then rose from my seat. I had no hobby of conversing with such people. Nor was there any need to.
“Are you that witch?”
“A witch… Which witch are you asking about? I’ve heard there isn’t only one witch.”
“It’s you, isn’t it? The Witch of the Black Rose. What are you doing here? Is there some reason you left prison only to come here and act like this?”
“…”
A rude group. Creatures who would be devoured by vines the moment I moved even slightly. I looked at them and ignored them. I ignored everything they said to me and left the subway.
“…The stares sting.”
I ignored the gazes and walked down the street. I looked at the hospital I could see. I believed Yun Seorin was probably there. If she had continued working at that hospital even after I was imprisoned, then she would be.
“…”
I bloomed vines. The vines wrapped around my body. Perhaps because vines had suddenly appeared, the people who looked at them in fear fled. Amid the fleeing crowd, something gleamed. I knew what that was. It was a sniper rifle. Which meant they were preparing to snipe me.
“As if I wouldn’t know that.”
They had not revealed themselves simply to put me on guard. In the first place, they would not even have considered the possibility that I might detect them. That was how everything was. They must have intended to kill me from the start. There should clearly have been other choices, and yet we truly never managed to come into alignment.
“…You ought to understand clearly that you started this first. But I suppose you won’t.”
I manipulated the vines. Vines wrapped around my body, and vines advanced toward the places where they were. At that, they began to move. The first ones I had seen were all snipers, but that likely meant they were not the entirety of them.
“Witch of the Black Rose, cease your attack.”
“Cease my attack? I haven’t done anything in particular, so what attack are you talking about? I merely sent vines to protect my body and toward the group trying to snipe me from far away. I haven’t killed anyone. Not yet.”
“Open fire!”
“You still don’t listen to a word I say properly. Well, I have no intention of listening to you, either.”
If they were going to move like that, then all I had to do was move in kind. Yes, just as always, I could move that way.
I picked up a newspaper. Sitting on a chair in a café, I was reading the newspaper and drinking coffee. A hot Americano. As I drank the coffee, I looked at the things far away. Vines, blood staining the vines, and corpses beneath the vines. Looking at them, I quietly drank my coffee.
They attacked me. I attacked them as well. There was no dialogue between us. It had always been that way. I tried to think back to when it had started, but no answer came. With a sigh, I read the newspaper.
There were stories about me, and there were other things as well. Slowly, I looked ahead. At some point, a man had sat down across from me. A man in clothing I had never seen before.
“Who are you?”
“My apologies. I happened to spot you, you see. Those corpses over there. Did you do that?”
“And if I did? Will you kill me too? Did you come to find me in order to kill me?”
The man shook his head. So at the very least, he had not come to kill me. That did not mean I could let my guard down. There had been no shortage of groups who approached while saying such things, though most did not use that method.
“You wouldn’t die anyway, would you? How could an immortal die? Isn’t that right?”
“…”
He spoke of immortality. There were not many who knew about that. Nor had any group ever spoken to me directly about it. He was deliberately mentioning my immortality to me. He was saying that he knew about me.
“What is your purpose?”
“I don’t know why you suddenly came out of prison, but that likely isn’t important. What matters is what you intend to do from now on, and what you intend to demand of them. Morgana, the Witch of the Black Rose.”
Should I kill him with the vines? No, that would not work. From the way he appeared now, that was clear. Seeing him speak so leisurely, I shook my head.
“What do you intend to do?”
“Nothing in particular? If they don’t ask us for help, there’s no reason for us to move. But you see, there is one thing you must understand clearly. That man you treasure so much. He made you immortal, but how do you think he found that?”
“What are you talking about?”
“The peculiarity of immortality. If you think about it, something simple comes to mind. Immortality cannot be handed over to another person carelessly. And from what I can see, you did not possess immortality from the beginning. In that case, there is only one thing to consider. That the man was immortal. And immortality does not simply end with being given. After all, it is related to life.”
Did I have to keep listening to him? I was beginning to feel displeased. As if he knew what I was thinking, he was smiling.
“Your conclusion?”
“To pass immortality to another person requires the sacrifice of one life. The same goes for creating immortality. In other words, to create immortality for one person, the problem must be resolved either by someone who possesses immortality sacrificing another person, or by giving up their own immortality. What do you suppose that man chose in order to make you immortal? Of course, this can be known from your behavior.”
“…”
“Are you an incomplete immortal? Or a complete immortal? I’m curious about that as well. I wonder where that man is now, and what he is doing. If he were perfectly fine, he would not have been caught by the government; he would have come looking for you. So what happened?”
I moved the vines. Whatever judgment I made now, the answer in the end was one. I did not want to listen to the man before me to the end. No, I had no intention of listening. Continuing the conversation was meaningless.
“Hmm, yes, so this is your answer. Not bad. In fact, I could even say it’s good. Then, lastly.”
Was he planning to do something? The man rose from his chair and bowed his head to me.
“Allow me to introduce myself to the Witch of the Black Rose. I am Mortes. Mortes, the founder of Arma. I came to meet you today in order to learn about you. They are still deliberating, you see. Whether to kill you completely, or to find some part of you they can use and make use of it. Regardless of your own will.”
“You say unpleasant things so casually.”
“I do. Because that is the reality you are facing now. From long ago, you likely were never given a choice or an opportunity.”
“I don’t like it.”
“I look forward to seeing how that anger will bloom. Even if you cut off their breath with these vines, no path will be made for you.”
“Shut up.”
I bloomed vines where he was. He… was not there. He had already disappeared. I could not understand what on earth he was thinking.
“…He said Arma.”
Arma. What exactly was that? Seeing how boldly he acted, he was probably someone famous, but I did not know the details.
No one else came. It would not have been strange for them to move against me after the commotion just now, yet they did not. It was odd, but there was no need to think further about it.
“…My coffee got cold.”
Because I had been listening to him, I had not been able to drink my coffee properly, and it had gone cold. On top of that, fragments had fallen into the coffee, making it impossible to drink again.
I also rose from my seat and walked outside. Some people were looking at me in fear. Someone was angry at me. I simply watched them.
“Ugh… Witch.”
“You were still alive. Are you lucky, or unlucky?”
“You killed everyone completely. You crazy woman.”
“Isn’t there also a problem with the higher-ups who gave orders to kill me? If they had not attacked me, none of this would have happened.”
“…”
Since there happened to be a soldier still alive, this could be called an opportunity. I did not know how much he knew, but since he was a soldier the government had gone out of its way to mobilize, he would know many things.
“You. Do you know about Arma?”
“…Arma? Why would you…”
“A man who called himself the founder of Arma was here just now, but I know nothing about Arma. I thought you people might know. How about it?”
“…”
“Silence, is it? Yes, you can make that choice. But that silence will not help you. It would be better for you to speak properly.”
“Arma is… a mercenary organization. Though it is not an ordinary mercenary organization. If he is the founder of that place… then he is an extremely old being.”
“I’m not interested in that. What I want to know is something else. Is there a possibility the government will join hands with Arma?”
“That depends on how you act.”
He looked at me and laughed. He was sneering at me. I simply watched him. In any case, he was about to die. I did nothing in particular about him sneering at me.