Wearing the Mask of a Witch (1)
Wearing the Mask of a Witch (1)
"Thought it was someone else..."
Through narrowed eyes, Olivia peered past the blizzard.
It was a man wrapped in a black face-covering. The outfit instantly brought assassins to mind, but the thick slabs of muscle hidden beneath it flatly denied that impression.
Olivia turned a cold gaze on the woman beside him.
Hair red as flame. She knew that red hair was a distinctive trait of southerners, so she recognized her instantly.
"Calliope..."
Calliope, the commander of the Night Crows. The muscular man beside her was probably Seth.
'Bastards who ought to be in the Imperial Princess Palace.'
No way they had gone mad and broken an imperial command just to run all the way out here. Far more likely that Aria had coaxed them into it.
'I've been made.'
Olivia's expression creased.
If Aria, of all people, got the idea that Olivia had also regressed, the whole thing would go spectacularly wrong.
The Imperial Palace maintained close ties with the Gold Tower, so word would reach its Lord, Melina. Melina would then put out an alert to every Magic Tower, and if word spread beyond the Towers that they were scrambling, the other regressors would finish piecing the situation together, and then—
'No end to it if I keep thinking like this.'
Olivia shook her head.
Hardly two days had passed since the possession. Tearing through the City of Beginnings and racing all the way up north in that brief span of time was pure nonsense.
Calliope was a woman with good instincts. Her ability might have been lacking compared to the other captains of the Imperial Palace, but she was far from weak. Her overwhelming intuition and the innate combat sense that came with it more than made up for any deficiencies.
Her arrival in the north was probably driven by the same intuition.
Without a single hesitation, Calliope was heading straight for the lair.
'This is bad.'
If all she had to worry about was the lair, Olivia could simply take Glacia and run. Dragons sometimes left their lairs empty to go off on their own amusement—those two would be able to accept that explanation.
But if she kept going this way, she was going to run straight into Kiel in the middle of the road.
Of all things, it was because Kiel had attacked her on the way to the lair. If she'd known this would happen, she should have stashed him somewhere even more out of the way.
Finding a person buried under ice in a blizzard like this was nearly impossible—but the one doing the searching had to be Calliope, of all people.
With her intuition, Calliope would discover not only the signs of a fierce battle, but also Kiel lying unconscious.
And she would immediately return to the Imperial Palace to report it to Aria.
"A witch who abducted three mages of the White Tower" and "a witch who brought down Kiel the Sword Saint" carried a wholly different weight.
If that happened, Aria would assume that Olivia had returned with her power fully restored.
Once she was made, there would be no turning back.
"Shit."
Olivia came to a quick decision.
Her body descended slowly to the ground. By the time both feet touched the earth, an enormous witch's hat had settled over her head.
Whooosh.
Her hair whipped wildly with the wind.
The deep blue of the robes set against her snow-white skin gave off a dreamlike atmosphere.
[Blue Moon Hat]
- A hat imbued with the coldest moon's power.
- While worn, exudes a bewitching presence.
[Blue Moon Robe]
- A robe imbued with the coldest moon's power.
- While worn, increases Dignity.
[Blue Moon Mantle]
- A mantle imbued with the coldest moon's power.
- While worn, increases Refinement.
Cash items that went all-in on appearance. They didn't even carry the most basic stat-boosting effects, but Olivia had equipped them for good reason.
For one, the color was different from what she used to wear. The old set had been a pale green, while the Blue Moon set was a deep, dark blue.
And above all else, the Blue Moon set practically oozed the feeling of a "witch."
'Better this way.'
No one would believe her if she tried to explain that she was a mage, anyway. If that was the case, she might as well openly play the part of a witch.
'This way I won't have to hold anything back.'
She'd just have to throw her weight around a few times, and people would be happy to pin the witch label on her themselves.
This would certainly cut down on approaches from ordinary people, even if the regressors still came after her.
'Just like a dragon's lair.'
It was the same principle dragons used when they controlled access to the mountain range where their lair was located.
No human was going to look kindly on a dragon that occupied an entire mountain.
And yet, no human was insane enough to invade its lair, either.
If she methodically crushed every idiot who came at her blind to their own standing, she'd naturally earn the same treatment.
'Hit them till they don't dare set foot near me.'
Having settled on a course of action, Olivia strode forward.
***
"Captain. You sure we're going the right way?"
Seth's tone was full of doubt.
On an ordinary day maybe, but on a day like this with a blizzard raging, it was a struggle just to find the way back, let alone the way forward. He could tell just by looking: their footprints behind them were vanishing in an instant.
"If you've got time to complain, keep your eyes on our surroundings."
"Can't very well keep my eyes on anything if I can't see a damn thing."
The wind was so fierce that just keeping his eyes open was a struggle. Even monsters couldn't move around in weather like this.
A lair, was it? A lair.
In the first place, did it make any sense that a witch could control a dragon?
Honestly, he wasn't even sure she really was a witch.
At the wrecked White Tower, the first thing they'd investigated was the residual mana.
A witch who borrowed magical power from demons would inevitably leave behind traces of it.
But there hadn't been any such traces.
Therefore, the intruder was no witch. That had been Seth's conclusion.
'No, I told you it's pointless. From the sound of it, a dragon just went on a rampage.'
What the hell was the captain thinking...
Seth's thoughts went no further. His animal instincts were screaming at him to turn around.
"Captain! Up ahead there..."
"I felt it too."
Chaaak!
Calliope had somehow already drawn her rapier. Her sharp eyes swept their surroundings without pause.
'What is this?'
It wasn't killing intent. If she had to put a name to it, it was more like being scouted. No monster could do something like that.
Monsters might scout, but they couldn't hide their bloodlust.
"Who goes there!"
"Are you speaking to me?"
"..."
At the dignified voice that sounded from behind her, Calliope's head whipped around.
Through the blizzard, a hazy figure was visible. The figure slowly pushed through the snowstorm as it drew near, then stopped at a measured distance.
Tk. Tk. Tk.
Within the storm, a series of clear, ringing sounds echoed out.
A moment later, as if by magic, the blizzard subsided.
In an instant, the world fell silent around them. The overwhelming sight rooted them to the spot in sheer alarm.
Producing a storm wasn't difficult. Even more so if the mage had reached a certain level of mastery.
But suppressing a storm of this magnitude in a single breath was a matter of an entirely different order. Especially when it was not a spell you'd cast yourself, but a naturally occurring blizzard.
The one who had quelled the storm slowly raised her head.
Blue eyes that held an otherworldly light were so beautiful they threatened to draw you in. Her white hair, fluttering as if it held a captured glow, was enough to plunge the beholder into a waking dream.
And yet, no one could simply admire her beauty in awe.
'Now I see why the White Tower Lord called her a witch.'
A witch. Was there any word better suited to this situation?
Only a being like her could provoke such instinctive revulsion just by being looked at. However she had managed to hide her filthy demonic energy, it seemed she couldn't hide her very essence.
'...Seen her somewhere before, though?'
Seth tilted his head. A moment later, a realization hit him and he clapped his hands together.
"Captain! Look at this!"
Chaaak!
In one motion, Seth unfurled a scroll. Then he held it up to compare the sketch Aria had drawn against the witch before his eyes.
'...The real thing's prettier, though?'
Wait—no.
Seth scratched his head.
"...Do resemble her, don't she?"
"Not 'resemble.' It's a dead match."
"What're you saying? No matter how you look at it, this one here is much prettier. Guess Her Highness has no talent for art after a..."
"Get a grip! Mouthing that kind of nonsense with the enemy right in front of you!"
Thwack!
Calliope drove her fist lightning-fast into Seth's solar plexus. Having obviously not expected it at all, Seth slumped forward, drooling and groaning.
"Guh, ghhk. Does it make any sense to beat on your own man with the enemy standin' right there?"
"I hit you because it looked like you'd been bewitched by the witch."
"...That so?"
"Because no matter how stupid you are, you wouldn't pull something like this in a situation like this."
Seth's eyes wavered.
'Is that an insult or a compliment?'
Well, it sounded like she was telling him to get his head on straight, at least.
She had a point—there was nothing more idiotic than standing around rating an enemy's looks.
"I didn't even hit you that hard. Get up."
"Y-yeah, all right."
Calliope hauled Seth to his feet, then turned her head. The witch was still watching them with an unreadable expression.
'I showed a deliberate opening, and yet...'
At the very least, she didn't seem interested in attacking first.
Still, a witch was a witch. In the end, they were beings who had built their power on the blood and flesh of other humans.
She might be watching them now out of simple curiosity, but there was no telling when she might change her mind.
Seth raised a finger and pointed at Olivia.
"You the witch that abducted the White Tower mages?"
"No?"
"...Says she ain't?"
At Seth's words, Calliope's brow furrowed deeply.
What had ever possessed His Majesty to appoint such a numbskull as a knight?
Even if most of the Night Crows had back-alley backgrounds, wasn't this a bit much?
"You. Out."
"She says she ain't, what's the point..."
"Out!"
"Ma'am."
The instant Seth pulled back, Calliope snapped her head around and gave a dry cough.
"Ahem, hm. You've witnessed an unseemly display."
"..."
Calliope's expression shifted to something far more serious than before as she spoke.
"I am called Calliope. What is your name?"
"Olivia."
"Good. I have questions to put to you. By any chance, regarding the White Tower's destruction..."
"Hold up."
"...Hm?"
With a smirk, Olivia waggled a finger.
"We just met, and you're already talking to me like that?"
"..."
"Show some respect. You’re younger than me, you know."
Calliope's face twisted. For an instant, murderous rage surged, but she barely managed to choke it back.
"And just how many years have you lived to be lecturing me so?"
Olivia paused briefly in thought before answering.
"...Twenty-three?"
"I am twenty-nine."
"So you'll be thirty come next year. My, how nice for you to be so old."
"..."
The composure she had kept intact even through years of working alongside Seth was threatening to shatter in this very moment.
Endure it. Just endure it.
She could not kill her. She had to extract information first.
"I will ask again. Are you involved with the White Tower's destruc..."
"No, didn't you hear me just now? Why are you still speaking down to me?"
"I am older than y..."
"Not twenty-three. Ten thousand twenty-three years old. Tsk, tsk. A young thing, and hard of hearing besides."
Ten thousand years?
Not a hundred, not a thousand—ten thousand?
It felt as though something physically snapped in Calliope's head.
Shing!
Her rapier leveled itself at Olivia.
"...You brought this on yourself. Witch."