Volume 1 Chapter 6 Division Of Fate 1️⃣
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
When I asked her the question, Lena didn’t respond immediately. Her lips parted slightly, as if she meant to speak—but no words came. For a long moment, she only trembled.
Then, in a voice so faint it was barely audible, she finally answered.
”…I want to believe… but…”
”You don’t?”
I asked gently. Her eyes welled up, and the tears she’d been holding back spilled freely down her cheeks.
”I’ve… never been saved before. Not once. Not when my parents were killed, not when I was caught by slavers… not even when I was attacked by a beast.”
”That wound… was from that beast, wasn’t it?”
She gave a slow nod.
”Yes… It happened years ago. I was being transported in a cage like some thing, not a person. Then, out of nowhere, a horde of beasts came crashing through the trees. Chaos broke out. The slavers unchained the younger ones of us, probably hoping we’d be bait. I was one of them. We ran, all of us, but…”
Her voice grew quieter, her eyes distant.
”I guess we looked like easy prey. One by one, the others were caught. I was too. I fought with everything I had, but I was clawed and slashed until I collapsed. I thought… that was it. That I’d be eaten. I blacked out.”
She paused, her breath shaky.
”…But I wasn’t.”
”Just in time,” she continued, “a group of adventurers appeared. They defeated the beast. One of them patched me up, just enough to keep me alive. But when the slave trader saw me again, he said, ‘A ruined body like that isn’t worth selling,’ and from then on, I was treated like something less than human. Less than a slave. Just livestock.”
”……”
”There was someone who bought me after that. The village headman. I was cheap, and no one told him about the scars. When he saw my body for the first time, he screamed at the trader, called me disgusting, and beat me over and over. After that, every day, he forced me to…”
Her words caught in her throat. She looked away.
”…He used my mouth. That was all I was worth to him.”
The light had all but drained from her expression. Her face was pale, her tone blank.
”And then… two days ago, when the bandits raided the village, I was taken along with the other girls. They said, ‘This one’s used to it. She knows how to serve,’ and handed me over like I was nothing. I was passed around until… until you arrived.”
She spoke with the hollow tone of someone remembering pain they had long since stopped trying to forget.
I already knew the outline of what she’d endured, but hearing it in her own words—it hit harder than I expected.
”…I see.”
A girl, still so young, her body small and fragile… and yet already forced to bear the full weight of human cruelty.
Of course she couldn’t trust anyone.
”That must’ve been… beyond awful.”
I gently reached out and pulled her into my arms. She trembled, stiff at first, but then—
”U…sniff… sniff… Waaahh… Aaaaaghh…!”
The tears came all at once, breaking like a dam.
I held her close and said nothing, only stroking her hair while she wept.
* * *
”…I’m sorry. I lost control…”
When she finally calmed down, Lena looked up at me, ashamed. Her expression was small, uncertain. The mask she always wore had slipped away, revealing a vulnerable girl whose eyes were far too young for everything she’d been through.
”It’s okay,” I said gently. “And… I understand why you can’t trust people. I really do. But still… I want to help you.”
I met her gaze directly, speaking with quiet resolve.
”But my magic is… different. It’s not like the holy magic priests use. It has its own rules. One rule above all: the person I heal must open their heart to me.”
”…Open my heart?”
”Yes. Without that, I can’t use it. Lena, I know it’s a lot to ask… but could you try? Could you trust me?”
”Why…?” she asked, almost a whisper. “Why would you go so far… for someone like me?”
Why?
Even I wasn’t sure how to answer. Maybe it was pity. Maybe it was something else. But I doubted she’d accept an answer like that—not after seeing only the ugliest parts of humanity.
Still, I spoke my truth.
”You’re hurting because of that scar. And I have the power to take that pain away. Isn’t that reason enough?”
That was all I could say.
Whether she believed it or not… that was up to her.
”…………”
I asked her again, softly.
”Lena. Can you trust me?”
”I… I don’t really know what it means to trust someone,” she admitted. “No one’s ever helped me. No one’s ever been kind… but…”
More tears began to gather in her eyes.
”…You were kind. You took me from that place. You let me eat warm food… take a bath… You even held me so gently…”
Her voice was different now—higher, more innocent.
This was her true self, hidden under layers of pain.
”If someone like you says they’ll help me… then I want to believe.”
She hugged her arms around her small frame and looked up at me with trembling eyes.
”Thank you,” I said softly. “I’ll begin the healing now.”
* * *
”Please sit on the bed.”
”Yes.”
She obeyed, quietly and gracefully.
”I’ll perform the ritual. Some parts may feel strange, but I promise—nothing will hurt. I won’t do anything that causes you pain or fear. Trust me.”
Lena swallowed, then nodded.
”…Okay.”
I undressed quietly, becoming just as bare as she was. Not out of desire, but because it was necessary for the ritual.
I sat before her.
”Will you… h-hold me…?” she asked, her voice trembling.
I shook my head firmly.
”No. I won’t do anything you dislike. Do you trust me?”
”…Yes.”
”Good.”
I smiled gently. Then I picked up the small ritual blade beside me.
Lena flinched at the sight, but said nothing.
I placed the blade against my index finger and drew it cleanly across the skin. Blood welled up.
”Ah…”
Lena gasped faintly.
I leaned forward, kneeling before her, and raised the bleeding finger to her eye level.
”Lena. Will you accept my life?”
She stared, stunned.
”…Will you?”
”Y…yes.”
The moment she answered, I felt it: the link. A connection formed between us, magical and absolute.
”Accept… my life.”
I placed my finger against the long scar on her shoulder and traced it slowly.
Magic surged.
The scar shimmered, pulsing with soft light.
”Ah—!”
Lena tensed. The sensation must have overwhelmed her senses, but it wasn’t pain. It was something unfamiliar… something deeply emotional, not physical.
Each movement of my finger released more energy. My stamina drained rapidly.
The scar began to dissolve into particles of light, fading into the air like dust in sunlight.
The damaged skin healed—no, it restored—until only smooth, unblemished skin remained.
”W-What… what is this…!?”
Lena’s breathing grew uneven. Her body trembled with the strange sensations flooding through her.
I continued the ritual in silence, moving to the second scar, then the third.
Each time, her body reacted. Her eyes widened. Her breath caught.
She gripped the sheets, unable to speak, until finally—
”Nn…!”
With a shiver, she collapsed back onto the bed, her body convulsing faintly as the final scar disappeared in a final burst of golden light.
The ritual was complete.
Warm tears ran down her cheeks again—but this time, they weren’t only from pain.
Notes:
• Lena – Female. A young slave girl in her early teens. Her appearance is emaciated with brown skin, long black hair, and grotesque scars across her face, including one that blinds her left eye. She wears a black collar and tattered clothing. Her relationship to the protagonist is that of a rescued victim. She is silent and appears to have endured severe physical and emotional abuse.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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