Episode 5: Imperial Assassination Squad Black Serpent (1)
Episode 5: Imperial Assassination Squad Black Serpent (1)
Valentine the Witch of Flowers.
She is one of the witches representing each region of the Witch Council, along with Priscilla-nim.
She is not a witch with outstanding combat abilities.
However, even so, as she is a basic Grand Witch, ordinary enemies are no match for her.
The fact that such a witch was injured so helplessly gave a rough idea of how serious the situation was.
"Priscilla-nim..."
My worry for Priscilla-nim came first, but I thought that for now, treating Valentine-nim in front of me and hearing the whole story was the priority.
I lifted her up and headed for the bedroom first.
After laying her down on the soft bed, I hurried to the storage room and took out Priscilla-nim's pouch of medicinal herbs.
'Since I can't use healing magic, I have to provide first aid with this.'
I mimicked what I had seen Priscilla-nim do when preparing herbs from behind.
Crush the necessary herbs and put them into an alchemy vessel.
Then boil them together with various concentrates, and a basic Mana Recovery Potion is completed.
I gathered the prepared potion, bandages, wet towels, and such, and returned to Valentine-nim.
As if she had exhausted her strength, her breathing was growing weak, and there were numerous wounds all over her body as if she had been slashed and stabbed by blades.
Basically, if witches recover their mana, they can recover quickly, so I carefully opened Valentine-nim's mouth and made her drink the Mana Recovery Potion.
After that, I removed her torn clothes, disinfected the wounds, and wrapped them with bandages to stop the bleeding.
Even though I had finished the basic treatment I could provide, Valentine-nim's body temperature was still extremely low, and she had not yet recovered her strength.
'I think I heard you need to warm the body in situations like this...'
After thinking for a moment, I immediately took off the clothes I was wearing and lay down side by side on the bed where Valentine-nim was lying.
And then I pulled up the blanket to prevent heat from escaping, and wrapped my arms around Valentine-nim's cold body, sharing my body heat.
Swamp Witch Mansion Bedroom
Valentine the Witch of Flowers, with her rose-red hair, slowly opened her eyes as she felt warmth.
"Hmm... Where is this?"
Valentine realized her body was being held by something.
"What's going on!!"
She tried to sit up, but she couldn't move an inch.
"Valentine-nim, are you awake?"
At the somehow familiar, deep voice coming from her bedside, Valentine raised her head to check.
Only then did she realize in whose embrace she had been sleeping.
That it was Ban, whom her close friend had raised since childhood and who had often spent time with her as well.
"Ba... Ban!! What is this about?"
"I had you drink a Mana Recovery Potion and bandaged your wounds. And since your body was cold, I directly provided body heat to maintain..."
"Ah, I get it, so let go now!!"
Unbeknownst to her, Valentine's hair, which had been rose-red, had changed to a cherry-blossom-like pink.
Valentine the Witch of Flowers possessed the peculiar constitution where her hair color changed according to her mood.
Fitting the name Witch of Flowers, it changed to the colors of flowers.
Among them, the meaning of pink hair, to cut a long story short, meant that she was feeling good right now.
Only then did Ban release the arms that had been holding Valentine.
Valentine immediately sat up on the bed, and as if she had just realized she was naked, she shyly covered her body with her arms.
"First of all, thank you, Ban. You saved me... even sharing your body heat. It's been a long time, but your body has really become solid and big... No, ahem!"
"Not at all. Between Valentine-nim and me, something like this is nothing."
"Is that so. I guess we are close, since I've seen you since you were little..."
Valentine, still sitting on the bed, looked at Ban while exuding a subtle atmosphere.
Just as the arm that had hastily covered her chest was about to subtly lower, Ban asked.
"Valentine-nim, more importantly, what happened at the Empire? What about Priscilla-nim?"
As if she had just realized something in that instant, Valentine's hair color changed back to rose-red.
"Right, this isn't the time for this. I need to inform the other witches and convene an emergency Witch Council meeting."
"An emergency meeting? What on earth happened?"
"I'll explain while writing a letter to send to the Witch Council members. Just a moment..."
Valentine snapped her fingers, and a strangely shaped pen appeared.
And then Valentine began to quickly write letters in the air.
"Priscilla and I were invited to a dinner by summons from the Walpurgis Empire... it was all a trap. They had laid Mana Sealing Stones all over the place and prepared all sorts of experts and monster hunters."
"Those trash bastards... Don't tell me Priscilla-nim is...?"
Ban's expression darkened.
He looked like he was about to kill someone right then and there.
"No. I don't know the detailed reason, but it seems they wanted to use us in preparation for a future war. Because of special restraints, Priscilla was captured."
Valentine continued speaking as she wrote the letter.
"But even at that moment, to create an opening for me to escape, she even went on a rampage to deal with the Empire's elites, and thanks to that, I barely survived and made it here."
"It's hard to believe Priscilla-nim could be captured to that extent."
"Same here. Priscilla is... the strongest among us."
As if she had finished writing the letter, Valentine gathered the letters floating in the air into her hand.
And then she immediately went outside the mansion.
As the sun gradually set and twilight began to fall, Valentine released the letters in her hand and blew on them with her mouth to send them flying far away.
The letters floated through the sky and quickly scattered in all directions.
"Good, I told everyone to gather here immediately."
"Valentine-nim, I will head straight to the Empire to rescue Priscilla-nim."
Ban, who had followed her out, said with a dark expression.
"No, Ban! The Empire has gathered all sorts of powerful individuals from the continent in preparation for war. Moreover, the place where Priscilla was captured was the central royal castle of the Empire... Going like this would be suicide."
Valentine shook her head and grabbed Ban's hand.
"It doesn't matter."
"Ban... Let's convene the Witch Council and respond together. If we inform the Papacy and other nations that the Empire has crossed the line with its provocations, they will lend us their power."
Despite Valentine's dissuasion, Ban seemed to have already made up his mind, his expression firm as he went back into the mansion.
Not long after, Ban came out wearing light leather armor and a black cloak, then grabbed a massive Great Sword.
As Ban was about to leave the swamp right away, Valentine grabbed his hand once more to stop him.
"Ban! At the very least, talk with the Witch Council members before going. Since they've heard the incredible news that Priscilla was captured, they'll all assemble within a few hours."
Ban, ignoring Valentine's plea, tried to move forward but stopped his footsteps.
Soon, Valentine's hair color also changed to a deep, unfathomable, empty black.
"Sorry, Ban. It seems we've been tracked."
"It's fine. Please rest."
Ban motioned for Valentine to step back with his palm, then drew his Great Sword.
From within the darkening forest, dozens of assassins appeared.
"The Imperial assassination unit, Black Snake. I've heard even individual agents are all powerful individuals. You have to be careful, Ban!"
"Understood."
The group of assassins, walking slowly toward Ban and Valentine, stopped maintaining their distance.
"Valentine-nim, how could you ignore the goodwill of the continent's sole hegemon, Balthazar-nim, and play hide-and-seek like this?"
The one who appeared to be the captain of the Black Snake assassination unit stepped forward and shouted.
"Shut up! How is that goodwill? It's about locking us up and then using us!!"
"It's not using, it's cooperation. Please speak properly."
"Disgusting bastards."
As if unable to hold back her anger, Valentine summoned numerous flower petals.
And with a gesture, the petals flew toward the group of assassins as fast as bullets.
"Attacking during negotiations... I wonder if witches are always this rude."
Before the petals could reach them, the assassins instantly vanished into the shadows.
The swamp fell silent.
But from somewhere, the voice of the Black Snake captain could be heard.
"This is the final proposal. Please return with us. If you refuse further or resist, we will use force to take you."
"Get lost!!"
Simultaneous with the shout, the Black Snake captain leaped out from Valentine's shadow.
And at the moment he tried to stab Valentine with a blade that came from his sleeve
-KWANG!!
A huge and heavy sword, a Great Sword, descended with enough force to obscure Valentine's figure within its shadow.
"Valentine-nim. Please step back now."
"Ban. I can feel you've gotten stronger, but the opponents are not to be taken lightly. Be careful."
"It doesn't matter."
Beneath the descended Great Sword, the assassin's corpse was not visible.
"It seems you've acquired a bodyguard..."
Once again, the voice of the Black Snake unit captain echoed from an unknown place.
Ban looked around for a moment, then shouted.
"What happened to Priscilla-nim? Is she safe?"
"Priscilla... Well, she should be safe for a while. Since preparations are still ongoing."
As soon as the words ended, a group of assassins appeared surrounding Ban.
"I see... So that means time is short."
Ban's expression flipped as he lifted his Great Sword.
"Thanks for the information, but I've decided not to leave a single person from the Empire who caused Priscilla-nim suffering alive."
"The Empire's army numbers in the millions. You're going to kill them all?"
The Black Snake captain spoke mockingly.
"Yes. It's annihilation."
Immediately after, with the sound of cutting wind, the Great Sword was swung.