Etude of the Melancholy Sunflower | Chapter 4

[healingbonds]

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Lennox: ....Bianca from Landsberg....?

It’s Lennox. The Southern wizards have just arrived at the dining hall; they stand behind Shino and Heath.

Mitile: Hello, Sir Sage!

Rutile: What a surprise — all the Eastern wizards are together!

Figaro: Oh, you’re right. I haven’t seen you in a while, Faust.

Faust: .............

Faust does not respond. Instead, he simply casts a concerned gaze at the astonished Lennox.

Heathcliff: ...Lennox, do you know about the man-eating witch of Landsberg?

Lennox: If this so-called man-eating witch is Bianca, who was executed in the sunflower fields of Landsberg....

Heathcliff: ....Yes, it’s probably her. I hear she was executed about four centuries ago.....

Lennox: ....I see. Then it’s definitely her.

Faust gasps quietly and turns to Lennox.

Faust: ....Don’t tell me it’s her. Bianca with the braids, who dearly treasured her grandmother, her parents, and her little sister.....

Lennox nods solemnly. Faust falls silent, at a complete loss for words.

Akira: ....Did you know her?

Lennox: Yes.... She was a Central wizard, and an old comrade of mine.

Heathcliff: A comrade...? Can you tell me more, Lennox?
Because of this man-eating witch... No, because of Miss Bianca’s curse — it looks like a riot is about to break out in a peaceful village.

✦✧☾✧✦

Lennox tells us about this man-eating witch of Landsberg... This lady named Bianca.

Lennox: Bianca was a serious, gentle lady who loved flowers and treasured her family.
Central Country was fragmented at the time, and there were power struggles breaking out all across the region. Bianca was from a small village....
"I’m going to help create a peaceful country so that my family can live a better life. I need to stand on the front lines in order to make that happen — I’m a witch, after all."
That’s what she would always say.

Lennox recalls quietly.
If Lennox calls her a comrade, then maybe Faust and Figaro know about her too.
But Faust’s gaze is fixed downwards and his fingers are locked together, while Figaro pretends he doesn’t know a thing.

Rutile: So she was a kind witch who loved her family.... Why is she called a man-eating witch, then....?

Lennox: We wizards joined forces with a human army, but.... After a certain incident, our relationship completely broke down.
One wizard attacked humans; another was persecuted and resisted them, while yet another ran away and disappeared....
The witches and wizards completely dispersed — including Bianca.
She could not forgive what the humans had done to us. She mourned and suffered, cursed and loathed humans — and was completely overtaken by her own curses.
By the time I heard rumors about her and managed to find her in those sunflower fields, she no longer seemed to recognize me.

Shino: ....You can get overtaken by your own curses?

Shino furrows his brows and asks Faust. Figaro is the one who responds.

Figaro: It happens to weaker wizards from time to time. Though it can also happen to more powerful wizards too.

Mitile: Why do weaker wizards get swallowed by their own curses?

Figaro: Because we use magic with our hearts. A wizard can use powerful spells only by controlling a reliable heart.

Heathcliff: ....If you’re weak, you lose sight of yourself and get swallowed by your own curse?

Figaro: That’s right. That can be for better or for worse, though.

Shino: Why.

Figaro: Sometimes it’s easier when you just lose yourself. Being able to control yourself even when you’ve fallen into complete despair — that’s not necessarily a blessing, you know.

Figaro steals a glance at Faust. But before Faust can open his mouth, Lennox replies.

Lennox: It is a blessing. At least for the people around you.

Figaro: ....I guess that’s one way of looking at it? So what happened to Bianca after that?

Lennox: When I found her, Bianca’s execution had already begun.
She had completely exhausted her magic and was standing atop the gallows; the noose was being placed around her neck.
I rushed to stop the execution, but I didn’t make it in time.....
And with an overwhelmingly terrifying smile upon her face, she was hanged and turned to stone.

Faust grips his hands together tightly and furrows his brows as if trying to endure the pain.

Faust: ....I see.....

Faust looks acutely distressed. Sorrow, loathing, self-admonition and reproach... Various emotions float into his eyes and disappear.
Among those are an apology and solicitude for Lennox, who was witness to this tragic affair.
Lennox seems to catch on to his feelings through his gaze and softly shakes his head.

Lennox: ...I couldn’t do anything to save her. That’s all I know. Heathcliff, what did you hear?

Heathcliff: ....According to the Lord of Landsberg, they’ve had bizarre incidents happening since the day the < Great Catastrophe > approached.

Akira: Bizarre incidents....?

Heathcliff: Yes. Sunflowers have begun to bloom off-season, and.....
A noose hangs from the empty sky above the sunflower field, swaying back and forth.

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