Chapter 103: Anxiety
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 103: Anxiety
Yohan threw the tracker in his hand to the ground and yelled at Linne.
“Then how are we supposed to find my master!?”
“W-we can’t find her…”
“What!? Do something!”
“B-but if it’s not possible, it’s not possible… Besides, is this really something to get so angry about…?”
Linne looked at Yohan, unable to understand. But Yohan’s hands were trembling slightly as he stared back at her.
She wouldn’t understand. She couldn’t possibly grasp what it meant for his master, Evangeline, to be crying.
“Hoo—listen carefully. My master is a witch. Got it? A human weapon.”
“…Yes, I know.”
“In the kingdom, witches are hunted down without question. Do you know why? Because they’re dangerous! The very existence of a witch is a threat to human survival!”
Witches may possess dangerous powers, but they aren’t so different from humans. They cry when they’re sad, get annoyed when things happen to them, get angry when treated harshly, and feel fear when they see something scary.
For a witch like that to be crying meant she was in an extremely unstable psychological state.
A being who could crush a person like an ant with a single gesture was now wandering the Empire in an unstable state.
‘There are already three other witches in the Empire… If they find out my master is a witch, a fight will break out…’
He wasn’t afraid of a simple fight against monsters. Beasts that were merely strong were bound to be hunted by a stronger witch.
But he was afraid of a fight against humans. Like ants swarming to bite an elephant, advanced humans would eventually find a way to kill his master.
‘What if my unstable master clashes with another witch? It would end in one of two ways: either my master would be hurt, or the Empire would be destroyed.’
He supported his master, but he didn’t want her to become a mass murderer who had killed hundreds of thousands, or even millions.
He didn’t want her to accumulate so much needless resentment that she would eventually have no place to set foot on this planet.
“Let’s go.”
“Huh? Where to…?”
“Where do you think? We’re going to find my master.”
Fortunately, Yohan had a way. He remembered Linne mentioning that she had scattered the witches in various places before coming here.
She’d said it was to search for Yohan from all directions. Looking back now, it seemed Margaret had put some thought into monopolizing him.
Linne had said she couldn’t remember where his master had been dropped off, but she did remember the general locations of the other witches.
He would find them in reverse order.
“Hold on tight. Don’t let go.”
“Y-yes…”
Linne carefully took Yohan’s hand. As she held it, she recalled Margaret’s words.
‘She said she’d kill me if I did anything weird with Yohan…’
Holding hands isn’t weird, right? With that thought, Linne squeezed his hand tightly, and Yohan teleported, feeling the tremor in her grip.
A short while later, Margaret returned to the restaurant, only to realize she was one step too late.
“Sob, sniffle—! Yohan, Yohaaan…”
A white-haired witch was walking down the street.
She was a stunning beauty, so some men had shown interest in her.
All of those men were now lying in hospital beds.
It didn’t take long for news to reach the police that a woman walking down the middle of the street was sending every man who approached her to the hospital.
“What’s with that crazy woman?”
A police officer scratched his head as he watched the weeping Evangeline. She looked like nothing more than a madwoman with a flower in her hair, yet the moment anyone touched her, their limbs would twist in unnatural directions.
It was as if her body was telling them not to touch her.
Eventually, the police decided to use a method that didn't require direct contact. The moment they threw a net from a distance, the net writhed as if it had a will of its own before flying far away.
“…Did I just see that right? I didn’t, did I?”
“I-I saw it too, Inspector.”
The officers immediately realized she was not human, but a witch, and promptly called for the Empire’s special forces.
A special unit created by Makina under the Emperor’s command, specifically for capturing witches. Soldiers armed with all sorts of special weapons quickly surrounded Evangeline.
Evangeline, who had been ignoring them, finally found their constant blocking of her path bothersome and slowly turned her head to look at the special forces.
“Fire—!”
With that command, a special oil that could not be extinguished by any ordinary means sprayed toward Evangeline.
A weapon similar to the flamethrowers said to have existed in ancient Rome was thus recreated in this other world.
Seeing the flames flying toward her, Evangeline frowned slightly and waved her hand. A barrier swelled up around her, preventing even a single spark from reaching her.
“…What is the meaning of this?”
“So this doesn’t work either? We have no choice. Throw them!”
The special forces continued their assault, throwing tear gas, smoke bombs, and flashbangs at Evangeline.
By this point, even the placid Evangeline realized these insect-like humans were attacking her, and consequently, that they were hindering her search for Yohan.
All who interfere must be eliminated.
“All of you—get out of my way.”
As she spoke and swung her arm, everyone blocking her path was sent flying far away. It was a complex spell that manipulated five or more concepts at once, yet for Evangeline, it was as easy as breathing.
Having cleared away the police and special forces, Evangeline began to walk again, stubbornly heading toward the place where she was told Yohan would be.
“Ahaha—Hey! You can’t just run away after making a mess like this!”
“…Are you going to interfere, too?”
“Interfere? Sorry, but do you know the word ‘responsibility’?”
Evangeline stared at the witch blocking her path.
Again. Another witch. She was starting to get really annoyed.
‘Ah, right.’
She hadn’t met Yohan yet.
This witch.
I’ll just kill her.
Having made her decision, Evangeline immediately swung her hand.
“Masteeeeer—!!”
I teleported to the location Linne had described. Normally, teleporting to a place I’d never been would have been impossible, but my encounter with Margaret had made it possible.
As soon as I arrived, I instructed Linne to create a device to track magic power. She created a machine that could scan for nearby magic and handed it to me.
Following the tracker, I was able to meet one of the witches who was looking for me.
“…Yohan, Yohan!”
Upon spotting me, Beatrice began to hop up and down with joy, like a baby bird that had found its mother.
She wasn’t the one I was looking for, but I pulled her into a hug and spun her around once.
“Beatrice, where’s my master?”
“Evangeline? She was dropped off to the west.”
“The west?”
Thankfully, it was nearby. I immediately took Beatrice and headed to the place she knew.
The western city. As befitting a city of the Empire, it was bustling with people. The moment we arrived, I caught the sweet scent of pastries wafting from somewhere.
‘…Smells good.’
It was a fragrance so sweet I almost forgot why I was even there, lost in the scent for a moment. But I quickly shook my head, snapped back to my senses, and began to search for my master.
For better or worse, finding her wasn't very difficult.
“That way!”
“Hurry, hurry!”
As if some accident had occurred, police officers were all running in one direction. In a city with witches, police officers flocking to one spot…
It was obvious that something big had happened. Praying it wasn’t anything serious, I followed them.
“—You cannot pass beyond this point!”
“…I have business inside.”
“I’m sorry. A perpetrator is currently on a rampage. You cannot enter.”
But police are police, it seems. The police of this world were blocking the path to the scene and controlling the crowd.
I could fight my way through, but then I’d end up being chased by the police myself.
As I pondered how to resolve this troublesome situation, Beatrice tugged on my sleeve.
“…Beatrice?”
“Leave it to me.”
Hmph—Beatrice puffed out her chest confidently and took out a teddy bear she had made. Then she threw it.
The teddy bear she threw instantly transformed into a giant bear monster. The now-living teddy bear faithfully carried out its creator’s command.
Go on a rampage. Avoid killing the humans if possible, but smash everything else.
—KRAAAAAWR—!
“Wh-what is that!?”
With a giant bear suddenly appearing and causing a commotion, the police could no longer afford to just control the perimeter. I gave Beatrice a quick nod of praise and ran inside.
The deeper I went, the louder the sounds became. Far inside, I spotted my master fighting with someone.
“Mast—!”
The moment I raised my hand to call out to Evangeline, the witch she was fighting threw something. As she always did, Evangeline deflected it with her magic.
And the deflected object flew straight through my abdomen.
“…Huh?”
“…Yohan?”
As the two witches let out gasps of shock, I clutched my pierced stomach and collapsed.