Chapter 75
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: Whale and Shrimp
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Thud.
"Eek? Wh-what is it?"
Kiki, who had been walking ahead, tripped.
"Sis!"
Pat pat pat.
Cherry rushed over to help Kiki.
Thud.
Of course, she ended up tripping too.
"Hng... "
Who would ever think these two were witches?
Even if they were just apprentices, anyone seeing them like this would have to rethink their image of witches for the better.
"Ow ow. Cherry, you okay...? Huh?"
The fallen Kiki spotted a mushroom in the corner of the wall.
"I found two mushrooms!"
"As expected of sis! It was all part of your plan!"
They got lucky.
They carried emergency rations, but not in great quantities.
Being able to supplement their food like this was great news.
Of course, if a certain crow had seen them, it would've smacked them on the head for being insane and snatched the mushrooms away, but the apprentice witches didn't think twice.
They never even considered they might be poisonous.
"If my memory's right, these are cloud-pattern mushrooms."
"Cloud-pattern mushrooms! I've heard of them! They're supposed to be so delicious when grilled..."
Of course, the mushrooms they picked weren't cloud-pattern mushrooms at all.
They were the stereotypical oversized, suspicious-looking kind that would make any crow wonder if they were joking.
And cloud-pattern mushrooms didn't even exist as a species.
There were only mushroom-cloud mushrooms, a type of toxic fungus.
"Well, since it's a rare chance, how about a meal?"
"Hehe, sounds good."
Kiki and Cherry prepared their meal.
Whatever it was, it was best to eat sooner rather than later.
Having often gone hungry during their penniless apprentice days, they knew to eat food the moment it appeared.
Mushrooms were best cooked.
Starting a fire in the labyrinth was no easy task.
There were light sources at regular intervals, but the structure made it incredibly hard to reach them physically.
Without wings to fly or the ability to absorb fire, no one would even think to use them.
But luckily, Kiki and Cherry were witches, even if apprentices.
They could manage a spell to spark a flame, albeit with difficulty.
Whoosh!
A simple campfire sprang to life.
Cherry clutched her hand, and Kiki her stomach, for a moment.
Crackle, crackle.
Kiki cooked the two mushrooms just right, without burning them.
"Here, dig in quick!"
If these had been poison mushrooms, they would've collapsed without even a scream, but instead, the warm, chewy texture greeted them.
"Mmm, it's so good?"
"Yeah, sis. And this is just grilled..."
They were lucky girls.
As Cherry finished eating, something shiny caught her eye.
Pat pat pat.
The two apprentice witches picked up a coin from the floor.
"Whoa, a coin here?"
It was a single silver coin.
Clearly dropped by someone.
That meant others were nearby, and for their perpetually empty wallets, it was a windfall.
"As expected of sis! Let's buy some dried frogs with this later!"
"Hehe, we're on a roll with luck today? Mmm. Our big break has finally come!"
The apprentice witches were thrilled over two mushrooms and a single coin.
It felt like their financial luck and general fortune had ticked up a bit.
It wasn't just a feeling; it was real.
They were truly happy, but that happiness didn't last thirty minutes.
Clank.
A chain sickle wrapped around their ankles, and they came face-to-face with a blonde woman whose eyes gleamed coldly.
Hung dangling by the chains, they let out shrill cries.
"Hieeek..."
"Hyaaak..."
Cherry and Kiki.
They were witches, even if apprentices.
So despite their clumsy actions, they had some combat ability.
Yet they lost all will to fight.
They instantly recognized who had appeared.
"Ch-ch-ch-chain sickle...!"
"Executioner...!"
The master of the chain sickle.
Executioner Jenny.
"I should've caught you two from the start."
Jenny.
To put it bluntly, she was pissed.
And with good reason.
She had deliberately left the apprentice witches alone, boasting she'd capture the mastermind witch behind them too.
But what happened?
She hadn't caught so much as the witch—or even the massive crow presumed to be her familiar.
And it didn't end there.
That crow had triggered the ruins' mechanisms, turning them into a labyrinth in an instant.
Unlike these giggling apprentices, if they didn't find a way out in time, everyone here would starve to death.
For an Executioner like her to make such a blunder.
A mistake demanded correction.
That's why she captured these apprentice witches.
"Pl-please spare us...!"
"We don't know anything..."
They trembled with utterly innocent expressions.
Jenny could only sneer at them.
She was born with eyes that could see magic clearly, and she spotted the hidden power in these apprentices.
She sensed the crow's magic from before.
One on the hand.
The other on the lower belly.
"I know you're apprentice witches. If I didn't, you'd already be dead."
At those chilling words, Cherry and Kiki clamped their mouths shut.
Having heard all the rumors about the Executioner, their fear only amplified.
"The giant crow. You're definitely connected to it. Right?"
"Hah... Hng..."
Too innocent to lie, the girls simply chose not to answer.
Squeak!
Rats scouting the surroundings darted off somewhere. Jenny ignored them and continued.
"Is that crow your familiar? Or your master? Well, we'll find out from here on."
Step, step.
The Executioner approached them slowly.
As if keeping silent wouldn't help.
Yet Kiki and Cherry kept their mouths shut.
They clung only to the hope of that one day.
The crow they'd met was their lifeline.
It hadn't been a long encounter, but they'd received what could be called a favor.
So innocent were these witches that, even facing death, they only trembled in silence.
Click, click.
Footsteps echoed from the opposite direction.
Heeled shoes.
Hearing them, Jenny gripped her chain sickle tighter.
She sensed the newcomer was no pushover.
"Combat's not my specialty, but I just overheard something I can't ignore."
Black clothes.
A black crow mask.
A witch.
"You..."
Jenny growled.
She knew who it was.
"Witch of Pestilence. So you were the culprit after all."
Jenny's speech shifted.
She'd used polite language even before the apprentices, but now it turned rough.
Her expression, her muscles.
Everything changed.
This was the true face of the Executioner.
"Hiyaaak..."
Bound by chains, Cherry and Kiki let out quiet screams and trembled.
"Oh my, am I more famous than I thought?"
"Shut up. You think I wouldn't recognize the Witch of the Night?"
"Hmm, I'm not the Witch of the Night, and I don't talk to those kids much. This was a special case, so I had no choice but to come here."
Through the mask, the witch's red eyes gleamed.
Unlike her voice, they brimmed with killing intent akin to Jenny's.
"Special case?"
"A chance to tame the perfect familiar I've dreamed of. I came gladly. But what's this mess?"
Her killing intent shifted—not to Jenny, but to the two apprentices.
"You dare take the crow's first time?"
Someone had beaten her to contracting the crow.
Though it was the exact opposite of what the Witch of Pestilence imagined, that didn't matter now.
What irked her was that mere apprentices had claimed it first.
Clank.
The chains moved.
Naturally, the sound came with it, and Cherry and Kiki, bound by them, shifted slowly too.
"Hieeeuk..."
"Hiek!"
The Witch of Pestilence averted her gaze.
She knew to eliminate the biggest obstacle before revenge on the apprentices.
Executioner Jenny.
And the Witch of Pestilence.
She'd tried avoiding confrontation, but now she had to remove her.
"Hoo. Fine. Might as well make an Executioner my minion while I'm at it."
The Witch of Pestilence drew her weapon from her sleeve.
At the same time, Jenny prepared to hurl her chain sickle.
Shrieeeek!
The chain sickle tore through the air toward its target, but another sound rang out simultaneously.
Whirrr.
A sudden high, chilling whistle.
Crack!
Jenny's chain sickle shredded the target before her eyes—but it wasn't the Witch of Pestilence.
Just a massive rat that had rushed in at the sound.
The witch tilted her mask slightly, blowing a flute.
"Gather, all of you. You have work to do."
Rumble rumble rumble.
A black wave converged.
The march of countless beasts bearing the name of pestilence.
The power said to turn a city to ruins overnight.
By playing her flute, she controlled those infected by pestilence.
Beasts and humans alike.
"Hamelin's Plague...! I'll end you!"
Groooar.
Unleashing her full power, Jenny swung her chain sickle against the black tide.
The battle between witch and Executioner truly began.
"Hiek..."
The two shrimp watching the whales fight could only cling to each other and tremble.