It was an evil ritual belonging to the Barbarians.
With the aid of an evil power, mud plastered over the wounds of the dead, whose bodies had been cleaved in two.
No blood dripped down. Only half-faces stared out in despair.
One half gazed at the bonfire, the other at the deep night.
Brown's sister clamped a hand over his mouth, and the two of them lay together in the mud.
They had smeared thick layers of mud over their faces, leaving only two breathing holes and a tiny seam to peer through.
They didn't even dare shed tears, afraid that the tears would break through the mud on their faces and give them away.
That had been Brown's eternal nightmare.
He had never thought he would see such a scene again.
It had been years since it happened.
He had thought he'd forgotten all about it.
Brown trembled as he grabbed his head, covered his ears, and squeezed his eyes shut.
He didn't dare look at the feet, each pointing in the opposite direction, and wonder whether the bodies above them had been chopped in half.
His right hand still clutched the black cord connected to Little Fragrant Bead. He could only hope it would work its magic and banish this horrifying memory as soon as possible.
"Brown."
Suddenly, a familiar voice sounded beside his ear.
"It's all right now, little brother."
The trembling stopped. Brown slowly lifted his head.
"Si... Sis..."
The plain-looking village girl, far from pretty, gave her little brother a warm smile.
Seeing how pale he was, she continued to comfort him softly.
"It's all right now, little brother. They're all gone."
"Clatter, clatter, clatter..."
But Brown's teeth began chattering. The color drained from his lips, leaving them ashen and deathly pale.
"Si..."
The village girl looked confused. She took another step forward and reached out to her little brother with a mud-covered hand.
"Little brother, what are you afraid of?"
Brown dropped onto his backside. He wanted to back away, but his limbs were stiff. He couldn't move even an inch.
How could he not be afraid?
His sister hadn't survived that calamity.
No, his sister hadn't died in that calamity.
She had died at the hands of her own little brother—him.
The siblings hiding in the mud hadn't escaped the Barbarians' keen sense of smell. But before they were discovered, a group of Wizard Apprentices arrived by chance, interrupting the slaughter that was about to begin.
They came riding in from afar.
The Barbarians spotted them in the distance and scattered in a panic, fleeing in a hurry. They didn't even manage to take all their sacrificial offerings with them.
Luckily, they didn't get away with it.
One of the Wizard Apprentices suddenly took flight and chased after them.
After a peal of thunder and a flash of lightning, Brown watched the Barbarians, who had just been strutting around with cruel grins and seemed impossible to resist, turn into piles of charcoal.
Brown's eyes widened. Even when muddy water ran into them and stung terribly, he couldn't bear to close them.
He endured the pain, watching as the Apprentice flew back to the carriage, then slowly walked over to him and his sister.
Brown and his sister climbed out of the mud and knelt before the Wizard, thanking him for saving their lives.
But along with his gratitude, a new, uncontrollable thought rose in Brown's heart.
The turning point in his fate had arrived.
If he followed the man before him, might he have a chance to become a Wizard?
Brown could almost see himself soaring through the sky, effortlessly killing his enemies with his own hands.
Becoming a Wizard—that was the life he was meant to live!
But Brown's beautiful dream didn't last long before it was cruelly shattered.
After his sister begged him, the Wizard Lord agreed to take them back.
But he agreed to take only one of them.
The other would be left behind.
The carriage could only squeeze in one more person.
Brown couldn't understand.
They had two carriages. One carried more than a dozen children, while the other, much roomier one, carried only two Wizard Lords.
The carriage that could squeeze in another person was the little one already packed with more than a dozen children.
No one else was allowed to ride in the Wizard Lords' carriage.
It would be sacrilege.
The Wizard who had summoned lightning turned to his companion and asked, "Let's take the boy. He looks pretty capable."
But the other Wizard Lord, whose face was pale, pointed firmly at Brown's sister. "No. I want a maid."
The lightning Wizard was helpless. "A maid can do so little."
But the pale Wizard was even more adamant. "What would you know? Maids represent justice."
The lightning Wizard shook his head but didn't argue further. He actually agreed to the pale Wizard's decision.
Brown's face turned even paler than the pale Wizard's.
Was he going to be left behind?
Brown looked helplessly at his sister.
Say something, Sis! Hurry and tell them to take me and leave you behind!
Say something! You love me so much. Every time there's something good, don't you always let me have it?
Say something! Tell them to take me. Once I become a Wizard, I'll come back for you and give you a good life!
But the girl who had always taken care of her little brother only lowered her head, twisting the hem of her clothes in her hands.
His sister was actually hesitating!?
Brown couldn't believe it.
He slowly crouched down, as if he had already given up hope.
His sister caught sight of his despairing, crouched figure from the corner of her eye. At last, she made up her mind.
She opened her mouth, trembling, her voice thick with reluctance.
"L-L-Lord, I... please... take my little brother..."
"Thud!"
She didn't get to finish.
A stone struck the back of her head with brutal force, knocking her to the ground.
Brown stared at his sister in shock.
Lying on the ground, she clutched the wound gushing blood and looked back at her little brother in disbelief.
The surprise in her eyes was turning to anger.
His sister was angry.
Brown felt that his mind was clearer than it had ever been.
His sister was angry, so she wouldn't give him this chance.
He walked forward without expression.
How much strength could a poor boy have?
Brown straightened up, gasping for breath, and gazed hopefully at the Wizard Lord standing before him, who had quietly watched the entire thing.
"Lord, now I'm the only one left."
The pale Wizard covered his nostrils with his fingers, as if Brown were giving off some sour stench.
"Heh. We came out to recruit Apprentices and ended up seeing a beast."
The lightning Wizard offered no comment.
The two of them turned and walked back to their carriage, but they didn't stop Brown from climbing into the carriage full of children.
Memories flooded back, scene after scene. His sister, once torn to pieces by his own hand, had appeared before him again with her face perfectly whole.
"This is an illusion," Brown told himself. "My sister can't still be alive. After all these years, her ghost couldn't possibly come looking for me."
He thought he was no longer the little boy who could only hide in his sister's arms.
A mere illusion—and it thought it could scare him to death?
Brown raised his head, looked his sister straight in the face, and swung his fist.
"I'm not afraid of you. What else can you do?"
His sister only smiled.
That's right. How could her lips be ruined?
Seeing those red lips, Brown swung again.
A hand caught Brown's fist and held it firmly.
Brown looked up and saw Sid standing before him, watching him coldly.
So it really had all been an illusion!
It must have been a test from Sid. That was why the Little Fragrant Bead Sid had given him hadn't worked.
"My lord!" Brown grinned. "Did I pass your test?"