Chapter 80: Pest Control
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 80: Pest Control
The picnic was cut short. It was impossible to enjoy the autumn leaves when more than half of the scenic forest was ablaze.
Evangeline began to grind her teeth at the arsonists who had ruined her perfect plan. Though he didn't know who the culprits were, Yohan sent them his regards.
‘You foolish bastards… Of all the days to cause trouble…’
Making their long walk here pointless, the group immediately returned to the cabin using Margaret's magic. Back at the cabin, his Teacher tossed all their belongings aside and immediately began to search for the culprits.
“Let's see what kind of bastards they are! I need to see their faces for myself!”
This was the Forest of Magic Beasts, a place she had lived in for over several hundred years and made her territory. Her magic power was densely spread throughout the entire forest, which meant the whole forest was like an extension of her own limbs.
Normally, she blocked off her senses and was unaware of what was happening in the surrounding woods, but if she wished, she could find out the exact number of magic beasts living in the forest, right down to how many legs the crawling insects had.
And so she did. Soon after, she identified the number of humans who had wandered through the forest and the body odor they had left behind, and then she began to retch.
“Ugh—!”
“Teacher!? Are you okay!?”
“Ah, yes… The downside to this is that using it for too long gives me a headache…”
Evangeline gulped down water, forcing back the vomit that had risen to her throat. After wiping away the stream of water trickling from the corner of her mouth, she pinpointed the location of the bastards who had dared to set fire to her territory.
“Haha, these bastards… They’re playing a fun game, aren't they?”
Unfortunately, it seemed the ones who set the fire had doused themselves in holy water as soon as they left the forest. She couldn't track the body odor of those who had escaped. Instead, the disgusting scent of holy water assaulted her sense of smell.
However, this told her that the ones targeting the forest were from the Church. After all, holy water was something clerics could only produce in very small quantities through blood, sweat, and tears. There couldn't be many factions who could afford to pour it all over the ground.
“Yohan.”
“Yes, Teacher.”
“Sorry to ask, but would it be okay if your Teacher destroyed a nearby city?”
“...What do you mean by that?”
Hearing her talk about destroying a city, Yohan stared at her in bewilderment. Evangeline opened her mouth with a bright smile, as if it were nothing.
“It seems there are some kids who hate me for no reason—so I thought I’d give them a reason to hate me.”
“...So you’re going to make a complete enemy of the Church. Things will get a little inconvenient, then.”
“Yep. That’s right. A whole city will be gone. We won’t be able to get meat easily nearby, and we’ll have to rebuild all the credit we’ve built up…”
As she spoke, Evangeline began to watch Yohan’s reaction. It was true she was angry at the Church members who had suddenly set fire to the forest and fled, but it was the kind of anger one feels upon finding a cockroach has laid eggs in their house.
It was a level of anger she could overlook if her disciple, who cherished those cockroaches, asked her to just let it be. She might let out a few disappointed sighs, but she wouldn't act against his wishes.
“I’m fine with it.”
“Really? People are going to die, you know.”
“It’s fine. If it’s what you want, Teacher…”
Yohan recalled what Regina had told him a while ago.
You are just like a witch.
Just as she’d said, he felt more familiar with the witches than with the people here. When humans hadn't treated him like a human, only the witches had treated him like a person.
He felt more kinship with the witches than with humans. Far more than with the uncivilized residents of this medieval fantasy world, he felt it for the pretty and beautiful witches—.
“Hmph— Our Yohan has grown up so much. I was so startled when you were talking about becoming a Holy Knight and all that…”
Evangeline smiled brightly and looked at Margaret. Their eyes met, and Margaret, realizing what Evangeline wanted, immediately began to stretch her body.
“Alright, then. Your Teacher will be back in a little while. You stay here, Yohan.”
“...Take care.”
“Is there anything you want to eat? I’ll buy it for you if there is.”
“No, not really.”
“Really? Just wait a little while!”
With those last words, Evangeline and Margaret vanished. Yohan stared blankly at the spot where the two had disappeared, then belatedly sat down on a chair and fell into thought.
A deep contemplation over what he had done, wondering if he had truly done the right thing...
The moment the two beautiful women appeared in the city, the people didn't rejoice at the sight of beauties, but began to flee in terror.
Because they had appeared suddenly in mid-air without any warning, the people realized that the two beautiful women were witches.
It was a known fact that nothing good ever came of a witch revealing herself. At least, that had been the case until now.
Watching the people scream and run away at the sight of them, Evangeline started to grumble.
“How rude. They see a beauty like me and they scream and run away?”
“Because you’re a witch before you’re a beauty. If I were them, I’d run too.”
“Ritz, be quiet.”
While the two were shopping in nearby stores for bread, meat, and other foods not easily found in the forest, Holy Knights, alerted by the people's reports, appeared.
They appeared holding consecrated swords and wearing pure white armor, but they froze stiff upon seeing the two women's faces. This was especially true for Elesis.
“...You two.”
“Heyo.”
Evangeline cheerfully greeted the stiffly frozen Elesis, who had recognized her. To save Elesis's face, and also to hide the fact that she had been in contact with them, Evangeline immediately explained why they had appeared.
“Hey. You know there’s a forest near here, right? The one called the Forest of Magic Beasts.”
“...I know of it. So what?”
“Yeah. You guys set that forest on fire. So I came to do the same to you… but just killing you all felt a little… you know?”
Evangeline placed a finger on her cheek cutely and, with a beaming smile, declared to the Holy Knights.
“One hour from now, I’m going to wipe this city off the map—so take the people and get the hell out, will you?”
“...And why should we do that?”
“Oh my, and here I thought I was being considerate… Or would you rather all die right here?”
Evangeline stared at the Holy Knights with cold eyes. Although she had threatened to kill them all, deep down, she hoped the Holy Knights would just take the people and disappear.
Killing people creates grudges. Unforgettable grudges. All of humanity would share that grudge, and they would come seeking her life.
From the perspective of Evangeline, who lived cooped up in the forest, this was like two-legged cockroaches periodically visiting her home.
But the task of hunting down and killing every single human was just too bothersome. Just as there are people who will find and kill every last bug that laid eggs in their house, there is no one who would wander outside their home with the goal of driving that bug to extinction…
Therefore, the most rational method was one that would leave a warning for the humans without earning their grudge. Fortunately, it seemed the proposal didn't sound too bad to the Holy Knight, either.
“...I need some time to think.”
“Sir Elesis!?”
“No. Decide right here, right now.”
As the other Holy Knights stared at Elesis in shock, Evangeline threatened them by conjuring a sphere of magic power above her hand.
After a long moment of troubled deliberation, Elesis nodded. Was it because she had witnessed the terror of Evangeline and Margaret firsthand, or because she had concluded their forces were insufficient to face two witches at once?
Elesis immediately returned to the Church. Watching her go, Evangeline let out a rather relieved sigh.
“What a relief. Right?”
“Why? You don’t like killing people?”
“But the smell of human blood is so hard to get out. I roll around with Yohan every day, and he wouldn’t like it if I smelled like blood…”
The two witches chatted idly like that.
And then, the promised hour had passed.
Evangeline took a bite of the bread she had bought in the city and flew up above it.
That day, an entire city completely vanished.
“I’m back!”
Evangeline returned about an hour after she had left.
Realizing how much time had passed, Yohan quickly got up to prepare dinner.
“I’m sorry, Teacher. I’ll get dinner ready right away…”
“Ah, it’s fine. I bought some food, so let’s just make do with this.”
As she spoke, Evangeline held out things like bread and meat. Civilized things. Items that made him wonder if, perhaps, the matter Evangeline went to resolve had ended peacefully.
As he cut and warmed the bread, Yohan asked Evangeline.
“Did everything go well?”
“Yep. I destroyed it all.”
“...What?”
“They probably won’t mess with this forest again. Well, in a few years they’ll probably forget and do the same thing all over again, but…”
Watching Evangeline calmly state that she had destroyed a city, Yohan thought he must have misheard her.
For someone who had just wiped out a city, she was far too serene. As if, from her perspective, it had been nothing special.
‘...What if it really was nothing special to her?’
Watching Evangeline casually make a sandwich with the bread, Yohan realized that if she put her mind to it, she could lay waste to the entire planet.
At night, she was a delicate woman who whimpered in his arms, but within her, she held an unimaginable amount of magic power...