A Kiss from the Obsessed Witch
Bianca. 'What the hell is this...?'
There was no time to get lost in thought. A sweet taste spread across my lips.
"Mmm, yeah... It's definitely still a bit clumsy... But that part is even better... Hehe."
When she tried to slip her tongue in beyond just pressing her lips against mine, I hastily pushed her away.
"W-wait a second!"
"Why...? Y-you're the one who begged me to do it first...! Y-you have to take responsibility!"
Watching the girl stomp her feet in anger, I finally realized there had been some kind of misunderstanding. I quickly pointed at my ears and explained.
"Right now, there's a spell on my ears, so I can't hear any sound at all."
"Huh? What do you... Oh."
She made a puzzled face, then glanced at my ears. Suddenly, her eyes changed. Her hazy pupils became clear in an instant.
Tap—
The girl muttered something and snapped her fingers. Finally, I could hear proper 'sound' again.
"...It's layered with Sound Nullification magic. The technique is decent, but the immaturity can't be hidden. High chance Philia cast it. The mana efficiency must have been terrible, so she probably poured most of the devil's power into it and sacrificed some computational capacity."
"Ah, I see..."
To be honest, I didn't understand a single word, but I nodded along anyway.
'She seems pretty smart, contrary to her appearance.'
Just looking at her, she seemed timid and fragile, but surprisingly, she spoke with incredible fluency.
"For a natural-type devil, her mana capacity is abnormally high compared to others of the same rank. Has she stepped into the realm of the abstract or conceptual? It would have been nice if I could get a sample of the same species for a proper comparison... What a shame."
After muttering to herself for a while, she soon snapped back to her senses.
"Ah. S-sorry, Ian... C-can you hear properly now?"
'Hmm.'
It looked like I'd have to take back what I said earlier.
***
Maybe it was because she showed her clumsy side more than I expected. Even though it was our first meeting, the conversation flowed surprisingly smoothly.
"A-are you really okay now?"
"I'm fine. By the way, your name is...?"
"I-I'm Bianca. Bianca!"
"Ah, I see. Bianca. That's a pretty name."
"Hehe... Thanks."
'Even after hearing the name, it doesn't ring any bells. She's not a character from the original story after all.'
Still, the fact that she knew my name...
'Another regressor, then.'
A regressor who didn't appear in the original story. I had no idea what kind of relationship we'd had in the future, but judging by her current attitude, it didn't seem like we'd been enemies at the very least. Though the kiss was a bit much.
'...But why the kidnapping?'
If she really had been my comrade or someone close to me, would she have needed to go through all this trouble to summon me? There must have been a much more 'gentle' way.
'I should hold off on pointing that out right now.'
I wasn't clueless enough to start nitpicking like an idiot here.
'Who knows what might happen if I provoke her...'
No matter how sloppy she seemed, she was still a regressor. Letting my guard down could easily put me in danger.
'First things first—gather information.'
"Bianca. So where exactly are we?"
"Don't call me that. Just Bianca."
'Hmm, weird.'
Why wasn't she stuttering this time?
"A-and we're the same age. Y-you can speak casually with me!"
'How would you even know that... Wait, if she's a regressor, that makes sense.'
In a way, without the keyword 'regression,' communicating with her would have been nearly impossible. How would anyone feel if a complete stranger approached them and started reciting their personal information? If I hadn't known she was a regressor, I would have gotten serious chills.
Since speaking casually wasn't particularly difficult, I simply followed her request.
"...Alright. Bianca. Where the hell are we?"
She fidgeted for a moment at my question before finally opening her mouth.
"The Forest of Nightmares."
"...What? Did you say something?"
I thought I must have misheard.
"Th-this is the Forest of Nightmares."
'Fuck?'
One of the continent's Ten Forbidden Lands that only appeared in the mid-game of the original story. The places called Forbidden Lands were areas where ordinary common sense from the rest of the continent simply didn't apply.
'The difficulty is off the charts, obviously.'
The Forest of Nightmares was even a place where the protagonist of the mid-game had nearly died several times. And now she was telling me I was there?
"We need to get out of here immediately."
All sorts of powerful monsters swarmed the Forest of Nightmares, but the true 'predators' were something else entirely.
'Anomalies.'
Beings that defied normal laws. These entities, far beyond what people usually called evil spirits, possessed immeasurable power and commanded countless subordinates. If even one of the anomalies holed up here escaped to the continent, it could turn half the land into ruins. Their strength was beyond imagination.
In other words, no matter how much of a regressor Bianca was, inside the Forest of Nightmares she was nothing more than slightly stronger prey.
As I tried to leave right away, Bianca grabbed my wrist and shook her head vigorously.
"Th-that won't work..."
"...Why not?"
"B-because you have to live here with me forever, Ian."
"Huh?"
'Fuck?'
Tap-tap—
The moment I heard those words, I instinctively ran in the opposite direction from Bianca. Only after I started running did I feel a little regret...
'...No choice. I'll think about the rest while I run.'
Whether my body had reacted on instinct or that 'sense' had kicked in again, staying there felt like her words would actually come true.
Just before I could plunge deeper into the forest—
Thud—
"Ugh..."
Something suddenly blocked my path.
"A barrier...?"
Looking closely, an opaque barrier enveloped the area in a perfect circle. It had to be magic cast by Bianca.
She slowly approached and spoke to me.
"Y-you can't do that, Ian... It's dangerous outside."
"Th-this is where we'll be living from now on, so you'll get used to it too."
"......"
I had no idea where to even begin refuting this.
'Living in the Forest of Nightmares is insane enough, but saying we have to spend our entire lives here...?'
What kind of crazy nonsense was that?
"We only met today... Suddenly saying we have to live here together—what are you even talking about?"
"W-well... That's true 'right now,' but maybe in our past lives we were lovers? A-and it's common sense for lovers to live together, right...?"
A conclusion that completely skipped over any logical steps. I roughly understood what she meant by 'maybe,' but to anyone who didn't know about regression, Bianca would sound no different from a lunatic.
'She doesn't even seem aware of what she's saying...'
It was an extremely one-sided conversation, not a two-way exchange. Overall, she looked severely lacking in experience talking to people. It felt like dealing with a hikikomori with zero social experience.
If I tried to interpret what she was saying... it seemed like...
'In the first round, I was Bianca's lover...? I can't even picture it.'
Thinking back to my encounter with Serena, she too had clung to me with a familiarity that suggested we'd known each other for a long time. If both Serena back then and Bianca now were abnormally comfortable with physical contact with me, then maybe...
A disturbing hypothesis crossed my mind, but I tried to ignore it and opened my mouth to persuade her.
"Bianca. Honestly, I don't believe in past lives, but even if they do exist, shouldn't we leave those connections in the past and try to build new ones in this life?"
"Ian. You..."
Shiver—
What was that? Her voice was trembling and sounded similar to before, but for some reason it sent a chill down my spine. Like she was about to swallow me whole...
Bianca leaned in close, staring directly into my eyes. Her pupils were so empty they were almost serene. They looked incredibly hollow. Though I couldn't feel a single emotion in them, paradoxically, her clear eyes somehow felt like staring into an abyss.
"D-don't say things like that so carelessly..."
"M-my body isn't fully grown yet, that's why... If it were, I would have eaten you right away... Okay? I'm holding back a lot too..."
Eat me? Surely she didn't mean...
For a moment, a horrifying thought flashed through my mind.
"You don't mean... cannibalism?"
"N-no!"
Then what the hell did she mean? Suddenly, goosebumps erupted all over my body.
"I-I really didn't mean it like that..."
Despite her cute appearance, there was no doubt that Bianca was a very scary woman.
***
The lowest floor of the Magic Tower.
Unlike the high-level spells on the top floors, most of the magic on the lowest floor was closer to useless junk. This place, filled mostly with failed manifestations or ancient spells from before improvements, was where the man stayed up all night reading books in search of the magic he wanted.
The nearby mages kept glancing at him out of curiosity, but every time, the man would notice with eerie precision and reach for his sword, causing them to flee quickly.
How many days had this daily routine repeated?
"It's not here either."
After closing the last book, the man decided to head to another Magic Tower.
As he prepared to leave, one of the mages jumped in surprise and stared at his retreating back.
'Me too...!'
She wanted to say Take me with you, but the words wouldn't come out. She knew better than anyone that he wouldn't listen.
In the end, she would have to move on her own.
Gulp—
The place she hadn't left even once since entering the Magic Tower. The room that had always confined her—she had to leave it now. Not because someone asked or forced her, but by her own will.
Step—
And so, for the first time, she took a step toward the 'outside.' It felt better than she had expected.