Chapter 349: I'll Take Care of You!
Satella entered her own home, though by now she was beginning to doubt whether this place still belonged to her.
She perched on the edge of the bed farthest from Roy, barely sitting, and placed her basket on the rickety table beside her.
Roy glanced at the basket, filled with the same bitter wild berries he'd tasted earlier. As he'd suspected, Satella survived by foraging these berries daily.
Snap!
Roy suddenly snapped his fingers with his left hand, startling Satella so badly she nearly bolted from the room.
A light appeared in the pitch-black small room. Roy wasn't using any oil lamp, just a simple magic trick.
Satella watched curiously as the firefly-like glow floated in midair, her face showing a girl's wonder and excitement. She reached out her hands to grasp the light, but halfway through, her arms silently lowered again.
"You've never seen magic before?"
Roy asked curiously.
Although the magic in this world should be closer to those in fantasy novels rather than conceptual manifestations like in the Moonlit World, presumably this kind of light-producing spell would be the most basic application of magical power.
Satella shook her head: "...Someone like me could never come into contact with mages."
Roy nodded understandingly. It seemed Satella truly didn't know magic. As she said, how could those living at the bottom of society have the chance to interact with those lofty mages?
"Gurgle—"
Satella's stomach suddenly growled. The half-elf girl lowered her head in embarrassment upon hearing this shameful sound.
She had left home in the morning to travel ten kilometers into the forest, spending the whole day picking wild berries. At noon, she'd only eaten some berries to fill her stomach, then walked another ten kilometers back home in the evening. She was starving.
She lifted the clean cloth covering her basket, about to eat some wild berries.
"Eat this instead. It's more nutritious."
Roy took the basket from Satella's hands and passed over the fruits he hadn't finished eating along with some coarse grain bread—this world's version of peasant food.
Satella sat on the edge of the bed with her legs together, nervously curling up and rubbing her hands. Seeing what Roy offered, she instinctively wanted to refuse.
"Eat!"
Without hesitation, Roy shoved the food directly into Satella's hands, using enough force that the frail girl's body swayed slightly.
Under Roy's insistence, Satella clenched and unclenched her fists before whispering, "...Thank you."
The half-elf girl ate with delicate grace. Though she'd never received any etiquette training, her elven heritage naturally endowed her with an elegant and refined temperament. Combined with her stunning beauty, even eating fruits and coarse bread in small bites appeared exceptionally adorable.
Well, when a girl is beautiful, everything she does seems cute.
Perhaps feeling nervous under Roy's constant gaze, Satella ate very quickly—so fast that Roy wondered if she might choke.
"Aren't you afraid I poisoned this?"
Roy teased.
"You're a good person, sir."
Satella said very seriously.
Roy's mouth twitched. That phrase again. It seemed the passive effect of 『Face That Has Seen God』 had its downsides—it made girls too quick to give him the "good person" card.
After finishing Roy's food, the relationship between the two seemed to have grown slightly closer.
"Sir, it's not that I dislike you, just..."
Satella carefully chose her words, "...I hope you can stay away from me. I...I'm dangerous. It's the shadow...like this...and that..."
Having just eaten the food Roy gave her, Satella felt a sense of gratitude toward him. The half-elf girl wanted to convey her dangerous nature in a way that wouldn't hurt Roy's feelings, hoping to prevent him from coming to harm. However, Satella wasn't particularly skilled with words—the more she tried to phrase it delicately, the harder it became to explain. She gestured animatedly, her movements somewhat comical.
And the more she flailed, the more agitated and nervous she grew.
"I know what you're trying to say—it's about the power you can't control, isn't it?"
Roy raised a hand to stop Satella's frantic gesturing. His gaze shifted to her shadow, flickering under the wavering lamplight. It seemed almost alive, exuding an eerie and ominous aura.
"You... know?"
Satella's voice brightened with surprise. This was something she had kept bottled up inside, something she could never bring herself to tell others.
She was afraid people would call her a monster.
Her identity as a half-elf had already made life difficult for her, but at least in this slum, there were still children who called her Big Sister Satella and eagerly awaited the wild fruits and snacks she brought back each day.
But if this strange power of hers were exposed—if people learned she had killed those who meant her harm—then the name monster would spread like wildfire. Even those children would shrink away from her in fear.
That was a scene Satella absolutely refused to witness.
Life was already hard enough. She didn't want the last flickering flame of hope in her heart to be extinguished—that would make her lose all desire to live.
And now, a stranger had seen through her predicament at a glance. For some reason, it filled Satella with gratitude and a faint sense of reliance.
"Can you tell me how you obtained this power?"
Roy was deeply intrigued by the witch's Authority. It was something entirely different from the Authorities of Campiones and Heretic Gods. The latter stemmed from myths and legends, while a witch's Authority was tied to the very foundation of the world—similar to Divine Protections, yet far surpassing ordinary ones.
"I... I don't know. I've had this power since I was a child..."
Perhaps because Roy was unfamiliar to her—someone outside her daily life—Satella found herself opening up, words pouring out like a flood.
"...I can't control it. It always appears when I'm in danger or when my emotions run high. Even though I'm grateful it's saved me many times, I'm still terrified of it."
"...Every time this power emerges, I feel like I'm no longer myself. It's as if another me is controlling my body. And there's this... this emotion I can't even describe, filling my heart. I... I start resenting others, wanting to take everything for myself!"
Satella's face twisted with fear. For a girl as kind-hearted as her, such emotions must have been horrifying.
"That's Envy..."
Roy succinctly summarized the indescribable feeling Satella struggled with.
"Y-yes... Envy... So that's what it was."
Satella's lips parted slightly as she sat on the edge of the bed, murmuring the word to herself.
Roy pondered for a moment before speaking, "As I mentioned before, some nobles have set their sights on you. Whether for your own safety or the lives of those innocent people in this slum who don't deserve to die, you should leave this place."
"Moreover, you can't control your own power. That's another ticking time bomb. No matter how you look at it, leaving here is the only choice you have."
"But... I'm a half-elf..."
Satella spoke of her mixed-blood identity, something that would be despised by the world.
"That's not a big issue. If you're willing to stay by my side, no one will care about you being a half-elf. The world is like that—people always bully the weak and fear the strong. As long as you're powerful enough, no one will dare say a word. Power can be authority, status, or even money!"
Roy taught Satella a worldview that was utterly shocking to her.
"That sounds like the ideology of the Vollachian Empire..."
Satella muttered under her breath, beginning to suspect that Roy might actually be a noble from the Vollachian Empire. She just didn't know what he was doing in the Lugunica Kingdom.
"But... I don't know how to do anything..."
Had she never thought of leaving the slums? No, Satella had entertained the idea before. But her identity as a half-elf and her own perceived uselessness had always shackled her to this place.
"It doesn't matter if you don't know how to do anything. I can take care of you!"
Keeping a witch as a pet—how amusing.
"Eh?!"