Don’t Be Holy! - Chapter 173

Chrome slowly began to tell the story about himself.

“It’s true that I was driven out of my home when I was young. My mother hated me. At that time, I was completely abandoned and couldn’t really live properly. Being a child who had inherited a witch’s bloodline on top of that, it wasn’t unreasonable that I’d soon be hunted down and killed. But somehow, Grandma found out about my existence during that time, came looking for me, and that’s how I ended up in her debt for several years.”

He conveyed just the most important fragments of truth, omitting various explanations as simply as possible.

To be honest, even amidst this situation, moments of suitable anecdotes that he had experienced flashed through his mind, as he considered how best to evoke Eir’s sympathy.

Like how before meeting Hecate, his identity as a witch was discovered and he was nearly hung upside down and bled by people from the temple; or how he barely escaped and went to a nearby village just to get treatment, but was driven out and beaten.

There were many such unfortunate stories he could pour out just by opening his mouth. But Chrome decided not to resort to such tactics. For some reason, he didn’t want to do that right now.

“Grandma taught me simple spells, but she never taught me anything beyond that. I pretended to be what Grandma wanted me to be so that I wouldn’t be abandoned.”

He pretended to stay away from magic, and even said he would eventually live like a completely normal human. When he pretended to go to the capital and start a business, Hecate was overjoyed.

But that joy was poison to Chrome.

Like his mother who abandoned him because he had no value, he felt that Hecate too saw him in that way, as incapable.

The vengeful feelings rising from within grew stronger by the day, and soon became intertwined with his identity.

He wanted to show someone, anyone, what he was capable of at least once in his life.

He didn’t want to end his life as a worthless, unremarkable human being.

So Chrome stole witchcraft techniques from Hecate and also studied on his own, striving to become a true witch. When he first went to where Freidis was and received recognition to become part of Alphadem, he felt uncomfortable, as if he had betrayed Hecate who had saved him. But when he realized that Hecate was internally in danger, even that feeling disappeared.

“I broke my promise not to learn spells, but I thought becoming an Alphadem member and helping Grandma had its own meaning. So I continued to live that way.”

“Then how did Granny end up dying?”

Sensing the resentment that seeped into her voice, Chrome uncomfortably pulled at the clothing that tightened around his neck.

“Even for me, it was beyond my ability to prevent Grandma’s location from being revealed. The other witches of Alphadem weren’t idle either. Moreover, Freidis didn’t really trust me much from the beginning. I…….”

I did my best.

He was about to say that, but unsure if he had the right to say those words, Chrome closed his mouth.

Eir looked at Chrome with resentful eyes, then sighed and lowered her head. Though Chrome had initially deceived and approached her, she felt it would be unreasonable to blame him for everything regarding his relationship with Hecate.

With a headache, she pressed both hands firmly around her temples. Chrome furrowed his brows as he noticed something glowing behind Eir, as if doubting the situation he was seeing, and lowered his head.

“What’s this?”

Eir turned sharply.

“It’s nothing.”

“Are you seriously stealing items while trying to escape in this situation?”

“Stealing? The witches were the ones who stole it first!”

“Are you in your right mind? You’re planning to take that out with you?”

As if finding it absurd, Eir twisted Chrome’s words, deliberately interpreting the worry in his voice, and continued walking forward with a prim face, looking only ahead.

“If you’re worried about betraying the other witches, just pretend you didn’t see me. You don’t need to help me escape from here.”

But as soon as she finished speaking, Chrome quickly grabbed her arm.

After pressing her tightly against the wall, Chrome extended his hand and raised a thin veil-like darkness up to the ceiling. Then a small bird could be seen flying away quickly beyond the veil.

“It’s not just about avoiding people. Did you encounter any on your way here?”

“I d-don’t think so.”

When a startled Eir stammered her words, Chrome let out a sigh.