The Witch of Sloth's Interest
A rocky mountain, devoid of a single blade of grass and scattered with sharp stone fragments. A girl with deep violet hair walked across the summit, her eyes closed, her feet bare. Yet, despite the perilous terrain, not a single scratch marred her skin. To an outsider, it would have been a bizarre phenomenon, but to her, it was entirely natural. And why wouldn't it be?
Even the peerless, legendary swords forged with the utmost effort by the most skilled race in the world—swords that remained unscathed even when buried deep beneath the earth alongside their subterranean cities—could not harm her. How could mere shards of stone inflict damage upon a body such as hers? She had been that kind of existence since time immemorial. Even if the world were to perish tomorrow, she alone would undoubtedly remain unscathed. For centuries, the only pain she had ever felt was the endless boredom born of a life without crisis. She was a being that could neither be stopped nor harmed by the will of others. That was why people called her the Witch of Sloth.
And Beatrice, the Witch of Sloth, had been keeping her eyes closed ever since she slipped out of the human city after finishing her requested task, savoring a feeling that was neither the usual boredom nor the familiar annoyance. Evangeline—or was it Scarlet Evande now? She was an existence that had piqued her interest for the first time in centuries. Just the anticipation of what she might become by the time they met again was enough to wash away her profound ennui. For the first time in a very long while, Beatrice was in a remarkably good mood. That was precisely why she didn't feel the slightest bit of displeasure at the familiar presence that suddenly manifested nearby.
Beatrice half-opened the eyes she had kept shut for days and muttered toward the empty air in front of her.
"Hey there, what is it this time?"
As Beatrice muttered, a black hole tore open in the air before her. A hooded woman popped out, crossed her arms, and shouted at Beatrice in a petulant voice.
"'What is it,' she says! You handle the task I asked for like that and then try to play dumb?"
At the woman's outburst, Beatrice tilted her head and replied.
"'Like that'? I did exactly as I was told, didn't I?"
"I told you to release them somewhere inconspicuous! If you'd hidden them properly, there's no way they would've been discovered so quickly!"
The woman hopped up and down exaggeratedly, as if trying to express her irritation with her entire body. Beatrice watched her, continuing in her usual languid tone.
"I hid them properly. It was a contract, after all; there's no way I wouldn't have done it right."
"Ugh, I know that! But then why were they found so fast! I don't get it!"
For witches, a contract—no matter how trivial—was something that had to be honored. The woman knew this, which was why she shouted in confusion. Beatrice replied as if it were no big deal.
"Well, that's because I told someone where I hid them."
"...Huh?"
At Beatrice's answer, the woman let out a strange noise and wore a blank expression. Unable to find words due to the absurdity, the woman just gaped within her hood before coming to her senses. She pointed a finger at Beatrice and shrieked in a shrill voice.
"You! You! Why on earth would you do that! Why are you doing things you weren't asked to do!"
Seeing the woman who had burdened her with such troublesome work getting so angry felt strangely satisfying. Beatrice curled the corners of her lips and muttered.
"You didn't tell me *not* to reveal the location. You only asked me to release the magic beasts somewhere out of sight. What I did after that is my own business, isn't it?"
"...Now that I think about it, you're right! Aaaargh!"
With a ridiculous cry, the woman slumped to the ground. She hung her head and began to mutter in a nervous, agitated voice.
"One girl, I told her not to give them any reason to be suspicious, but she plays with her dolls as she pleases, gets caught, and then just goes on a rampage without a care in the world. Another one takes a precious favor I'd been saving and turns it into a complete waste. Ah, my plan. My plan to manipulate them one by one whenever the time was right, to plunge the city into constant chaos, to watch the humans filled with distrust and worry, wondering who to trust and if their neighbor was being controlled, and then to deliver a cool line like, 'Heh, you ignorant humans. You have no idea this is all part of my plan, and you're dancing right in the palm of my hand!'—that plan of mine!!! Ah, it's annoying. It's annoying, annoying, annoying!!!!"
Just then, the woman, who had been muttering like a madwoman and raising her voice to shout about how annoying everything was, suddenly snapped her head up. With a bright, sunny smile, she shouted at Beatrice.
"...Just kidding~!"
The moment the woman, who had been throwing a tantrum, sprang up as if bouncing off the floor and said that with a laugh, Beatrice twisted her face as if she had just seen a lunatic. The woman seemed satisfied with Beatrice's reaction and burst into laughter.
"Kya-ha-ha! Look at that face! Did you think I was actually mad? Too bad for you! Actually, this plan wasn't all that important, so it didn't really matter either way! If it had gone well, that would've been fun, but I can enjoy things not going my way, too. If the world went exactly as planned, that wouldn't be any fun, would it? Aha-ha!"
Laughing, the woman leaned in close to Beatrice with a meaningful smile and said,
"By the way, I was surprised. You, telling someone the location of the magic beasts? The you I know would never do something like that. That means there's something in the human city interesting enough to move even you, who finds everything a bother? Aha, I'm suddenly curious. If there really is something like that, I might just want it for myself?"
Beatrice's expression stiffened at the woman's words. If there was one person who would inevitably find something if they were determined to dig it out—even if it meant dragging her out from deep beneath the earth—it was the woman in front of her. If she were to lose the interesting existence she had found after so long because of this woman... Beatrice, having thought that far, twisted her face and swung her hand at the woman.
"Eek?!"
At the hand swung toward her, the woman hurriedly opened a black hole and threw herself into it, narrowly avoiding the blow. Reappearing at a distance from Beatrice, the woman wiped away cold sweat and checked the hem of her hood, which the hand had grazed. Discovering a section that had simply vanished, as if it had never been there, she turned pale and screamed at Beatrice.
"Hiiik! What was that for! I almost died!"
Beatrice glared at the woman, who was shouting as if genuinely panicked, and muttered in a low voice.
"...If you touch her, I'll kill you."
"O-okay! I got it! I won't touch her! I don't know what it is, but I won't touch it!"
Seeing her hold up both palms in a gesture of surrender, Beatrice relaxed her expression and slowly lowered her raised hand. Watching her, the woman swallowed hard and asked cautiously.
"Hey... what on earth is it that you're so obsessed with? Can't you tell me?"
"...Are you asking because you want to die?"
"No! That's not it! I need to know what it is so I don't accidentally touch it later! What if I touch it without knowing?"
Beatrice narrowed her eyes at the woman's defensive words. ...True, if this woman was determined to find it, she would certainly succeed, and as she said, if she accidentally touched it, it would only be a disaster for Beatrice herself. Beatrice withdrew the hand she had been about to raise again and replied.
"...It's a girl with red hair."
"Hey! Do you have any idea how many red-haired girls there are among humans?"
"She's not human, so it doesn't matter. You'll know the moment you see her anyway."
Beatrice answered the woman, who had asked with an incredulous look. She was a witch, after all. Since witches could recognize other witches, there was no need for further explanation. The woman's eyes lit up at Beatrice's answer.
"Hmm, a non-human red-haired girl, huh? Got it! Even if I see her, I promise I won't touch her before you do! Since you won't believe me just because I say so, let's make it a contract."
The moment the word "contract" left the woman's lips, Beatrice felt something connecting between them. No matter how simple, a witch could never be free from a contract. Since this would ensure her peace of mind, Beatrice nodded slowly.
Having finished the contract, the woman smiled once, opened a black hole in the air, and shoved her body into it. With only her head poking out, she said to Beatrice,
"Anyway, I just came to tell you that with this contract, you have one request left, so I'll be going now!"
Leaving those words behind, the woman vanished through the hole.
*
Near the northern border of the human city, the woman who had emerged from the black hole in the air quietly chewed over their recent conversation. A non-human red-haired girl. Among such beings, who could possibly be of interest to Beatrice, a witch? As she pondered this, a sudden, bestial roar echoed from behind her.
[■■■■■■■■-!!!!!!!!!]
As the woman glanced back, she saw a magic beast that looked like a lizard made of flames. The creature, also known as a Beast of Wrath, spewed a violent torrent of fire at the woman before it. However, the flames did not reach her. The black hole torn into the air was absorbing every spark the beast spat out.
"You were quiet for so long, but you seem to be acting up quite a bit lately."
The woman muttered this and flicked her hand. The black hole, which had been growing in size, swallowed the magic beast whole, flames and all. Watching the beast vanish, leaving only tiny embers burning in its wake, the woman thought to herself.
Ever since the Witch of Wrath was killed by the elves five hundred years ago, the Beasts of Wrath had merely lingered near the forests where the elves once lived. Recently, however, they had begun to rampage actively once more. The timing roughly coincided with Beatrice's trip to the human city for her plan. Why had the Beasts of Wrath, which had been dormant for so long, suddenly become active? And who was this non-human girl Beatrice was so interested in?
Well, that was hardly something worth worrying about. The more pieces on the chessboard, the more interesting the game became.
"This looks like something I can use."
The woman looked toward the direction of the human city, a smile of pure delight spreading across her face as she muttered to herself.