"Aril smiled lightly as he explained what happened but the words he began to think of made me want to just shake him silly. How can he seriously say such things as though they were nothing?! The way he was telling the story, it was as if it didn't happen to him! It made me so frustrated that I couldn't help but clench my fists the whole time."
Raghnall's hands on his face stiffened as he spoke. Then, with a great sigh, he subtly pressed on his eyes as he wishes for tears not to form while he spoke.
"They… those ten men w-were… th-they barged into the room and just immediately grabbed Aril. And he just let them. He didn't struggle or anything because he didn't want to make their anger worse and possibly implicate me as well. But by not struggling, it made them become more wicked with their ideas. They pinned him down and threatened him again and again for him to be subservient to them, giving him the choice of whether to be their slave and continue being in Lily class or to go against them and take the removal exams."
"And they heavily emphasized that if he were to take the exams, they will make sure that he'll be unable to utter any spell again which would make him get kicked out from the academy."
"Aril he… he wanted to take the test. It was his only way out of Lily class. So, rather than becoming a slave, he chose to be strong and defy them, saying that he'd never be someone else's servant because he had a dream. And he will fulfill his dream whether he'd have to cross the paths of hell to get it. All for his family. All for his sister."
"And so, the men did what they vowed to do when Aril refused to do their bidding. Aril tried to cast a spell to protect himself but they gagged him with a cloth before he could let any word out. No longer being able to speak, Aril made his eyes do the talking as he glared at them with all his might. He showed them that he's not giving up. And that despite everything, he will take that test."
Raghnall pressed harder on his eyes as the urge to cry increased in him.
"And one of the men soon grew annoyed at the way Aril looked at him so he figured to rip out his eyes using his vare hands. Then, the man used magic to preserve and keep it, treating Aril's eyes as though it was a medal of victory."
"Then, with his eyes no longer intact with his body, the men laughingly mocked Aril as he writhed in pain. Aril screamed, again and again, disbelief and misery mixing in his cries of pain."
"And another man among the ten men grew tired of Aril's screams. And so, he decided to shut him up. He ordered the men holding Aril to forcibly open his mouth and take out his tongue. Then, one of those… wicked people just grabbed a knife and cut his tongue in half. He did it at such a snail's pace that it was as if he was making sure that Aril deeply felt the pain of the knife slicing through his tongue. Then, the man took the cut part and caressed his face with it."
"Then, one of them took out a m-metal rod and lit it on fire. And he proceeded to burn Aril's tongue to seal the wound, making it impossible to heal unless the closed off wound was to be removed by further cutting the tongue. And, as Aril screamed from the searing pain, the ten men simply just peered at him with wicked and satisfied smiles."
At this moment, Inna could no longer hold back her gasp of horror as she covered her mouth with her hands in disbelief.
What the fuck...
How could someone so evil do that?!
Raghnall didn't seem to notice her reaction as he continued on with increasing quivers in his voice.
"The whole t-time Aril tried to struggle relentlessly but their grip on h-him was so strong that he wasn't able to make them move an inch."
"I could've been there. I could've helped him. If only I tried to fight the men off, he wouldn't have to…"
Raghnall sniffed as he rubbed his eyes. He can tell that the tears were already forming but he still refused to cry. He didn't want for Inna to see him cry. He didn't want to appear weak ever again.
And so, he pressed on his eyes as though he was sealing off the tears as he continued to speak.
"After hearing his story, I… I felt so frustrated that I… I told Aril I would get revenge for him and take his eyes back. I knew I shouldn't have left him at that time. The time where he needed comfort and assurance the most since he just lost everything, even his dream. But I was far too absorbed by my emotions that I let it control me and my judgment. I was too angry to think of anything else other than revenge. I kept thinking back to how stupid I was, relying on my father when I could just have done it myself, even if it would cost me my life."
"And so, with a vow for revenge, I teleported to the dorms where the men were most likely at. I searched for them with my invisibility spell. When I found all ten of them, in a fit of rage, I casted spell after spell until all ten of them would be asleep and unable to move for a week. I… I myself even thought I would've done something more wicked but my mother's teachings just… it just made me instinctively choose a more pacifistic way and I hated myself for that. It seems like no matter how bad the situation got, I can never let go of my mother's teachings that she instilled in me."
"And so, with them immobile, I began to search for Aril's eyes. It was quite difficult to find because I had to go through five dorm rooms and search every nook and cranny to find where they possibly stored it. And by the time I found it, it was already early morning."
"And when I saw the rays of the sunlight seeping through the room I was currently in, I knew that I left Aril alone for far too long. And so, I decided to hurry and return back, casting another teleportation spell that nearly drained me of everything."
"B-but when I entered our room, I… I couldn't believe what I was seeing."
Raghnall inhaled laboriously as tears began to leak out, soaking his hands that desperately tried to hold them off.
"A-aril was… h-he was... d-dangling in the middle o-of the r-room... with a r-rope on his… he… was d-dead... he... k-killed himself…"