Remil
Inside the old mansion that looked like it was about to collapse,
the interior, contrary to its outward appearance, resembled a very luxurious banquet hall.
The uncanny feeling, truly reminiscent of a witch's house, further emphasized the fact that this was a Witch Coven meeting place.
And as Leira and Rie opened a deeper door and entered, guided by Mineba—
「··········Tsk.」
「··········You're damn late.」
At the witches' voices, which immediately struck her as unpleasant from their first encounter, Rie began to sharpen her guard even further.
Just as Rie, who had steeled herself before entering the Witch Coven not to stand by if any injustice befell her lover, tensed her abdomen to retort—
「Shut up, Remil.」
「··········Ugh.」
Mineba had done something to the witch who had said 'You're damn late,' and she began to move as if her entire body was being crushed by gravity.
Of course, Remil was desperately enduring a weight that felt like her whole body would be squashed by Gravity Magic.
—*Flinc*.
At that sight, Rie trembled for a moment.
She felt a ruthlessness and power that was unimaginable from her lover, Leira, who was also a witch.
Are all witches inherently capable of casting spells without incantations, and even using Gravity Magic without lifting a finger?
When she looked up at Leira with eyes that held either doubt or concern, Leira shook her head as if to say, 'Absolutely not.'
At the same time, Rie caught a glimpse of a small fragment of fear residing in Leira's eyes.
Thus, Rie was able to realize a few things.
The woman who introduced herself as Mineba.
More precisely, the Witch.
That she had the strongest voice among the many witches present here.
—*Smile*.
「Come in and take a seat.」
When Mineba, who had silenced the gathering, finally sat at the head of the table and spoke to Leira and Rie, both instinctively flinched.
They felt as if they were standing before a predator.
##
There were a total of seven witches who came to the Witch Coven.
And including one outsider, there were eight people participating in the Witch Coven.
The outsider was, of course, Leira's lover, Rie, and the other witches cast disapproving glances at Leira, who was akin to a traitor.
They also sent hateful glares at Rie, who had no talent.
「···············Ugh.」
Rie had thought she was used to people's gazes, but feeling criticized even by strangers she was meeting for the first time, her instincts inevitably made her shoulders hunch.
However, that strange atmosphere only lasted for a moment.
—*Whoosh*!
「··········!?」
Mineba, who immediately changed the flow of the air, began to speak.
「Well, it seems everyone who was supposed to come is here, so shall we begin?」
As Mineba announced the start of the meeting, Remil, who had taken a seat nearby,
「·····She's so damn formal··········.」
had a small grumbling incident like that, but it quickly died down as soon as Mineba gave her a look.
「First, hmm··········. It seems no one came back crippled, at least.」
If one were to translate Mineba's words, it could be interpreted as, 'It's a relief to see you all healthy and unharmed since we last met.'
Of course, the other witches, who knew Mineba's way of speaking, didn't react much, but there was one person who was seeing Mineba for the first time in this place.
Rie, at least, was extremely flustered right now.
And for good reason, witches are clearly a minority, numbering less than twenty, combining the seven here and a few who didn't attend this meeting.
Therefore, she had understood witches to maintain very close relationships··········,
「??」
But just by Mineba's tone, it felt like people who held grudges against each other were meeting.
Rie began to raise her guard with all her might, thinking a fight might break out,
「···············」
but no particular incident occurred no matter how much time passed.
And Mineba, as if nothing was amiss, continued to speak.
##
「··········Hey, Leira.」
「Hm?」
Inside the meeting, where various discussions were taking place.
Rie whispered to Leira so that others wouldn't hear.
「···············I can't join the conversation at all.」
「··········Yeah, me too.」
As the witches were currently sharing information, Rie, who knew nothing about magic, and...
Leira, who was practically ostracized by the witches, heard many stories for the first time or didn't know them at all.
Of course, they didn't only discuss things unknown to them until the very end.
After some discussion, there was one moment when Rie's ears suddenly perked up.
That was, specifically, talk about experience.
In other words, there was a moment to delve into the witches' sexual experiences.
And it was Remil, a witch who seemed to have a bad relationship with Mineba, who brought it up.
If you ask how the conversation suddenly veered in that direction,
it started when Mineba was talking about magic, and Remil suddenly interjected.
「··········So, the 7th-Circle Mana Circuit should be a parallel structure.」
「No, if you split the 7th Circle into parallel, the efficiency becomes shit, I'm telling you!」
「That's something you'd realize if you used the 7th-Circle Mana Circuit more often··········」
「Just like an old maid throwing a tantrum. Your mindset has become completely old-fashioned.」
「—·····What?」
Mineba's expression twisted sharply.
And Remil, seeing Mineba's expression, laughed triumphantly and began to attack further.
「Why, it's true, isn't it? If you haven't broken your Hymen by that age, you're an old maid. Pfft.」
「···············」
「Just looking at you, you're still a virgin who's never dated anyone, aren't you?」
At those words, Mineba unconsciously shot Gravity Magic at Remil—
—·····*Crackle*!
「·····Hmph! If I get hit by the same spell twice, I'd have to give up being a witch.」
Since it was a spell she had experienced earlier, she immediately shattered Mineba's magic with Reverse Calculation.
Before Mineba, who was already angry and now even more furious because her magic had been Reverse Calculated, could do anything,
it was another witch sitting on the opposite side who resolved the situation.
「······But Remil, you're still a virgin who's never dated anyone too·····. And you said you broke your Hymen with a dildo··········.」
「··········Pfft.」
「Hey, you fucking bitch! I told you not to say anything!」
And just like that, the situation was reversed.
It was clearly Remil who had been mocking, but now it was Mineba openly covering her mouth, trying to suppress her laughter.
Remil··········, her face turned incredibly red from embarrassment.
Rie and Leira, who had been listening to this entire conversation, gained an inexplicable confidence.
Unlike them, they had plenty of experience (though for both, the number of partners ended with each other), and they had lovers, didn't they?
Remil, noticing Leira's momentarily puffed-up shoulders, snapped at her.
「Don't puff yourself up, you traitorous bitch.」
「··········Ugh.」
「··········What the·····!」
At Remil's disheartening tone towards her lover, Leira, Rie parted her lips to retort—
「If we were just going to pick any random woman and get married, we would've married faster than you bitches. ··········Tsk.」
Remil cut Rie off and said that.
The surrounding witches, too, seemed to agree with Remil's words this time, not interjecting or even uttering a sound.
Even Mineba, for that matter.
Witches desire a female body with enough talent to carry on their lineage, one that won't melt away even with witch's blood.
Since Leira's lover, Rie, also knew that fact, Rie was the one who bowed her head.
To tell the truth, what Leira and Rie themselves had simultaneously given up by marrying each other was their fruit, 'a child.'
「··········I'm sorry.」
Rie immediately bowed her head to Remil and apologized.
In a way, it wouldn't have been strange at all if Remil had immediately hated them and launched a spell.
「···············.」
Remil was surprised first by Rie's immediate apology,
and surprised a second time because she had never expected her to even bow her head.
Though it wouldn't be visible from Rie's perspective, Remil was making such a strange face that she couldn't control her expression for the first time in a long while.
「You're being silly, Remil.」
「Wh-what·····. *Ahem*, *cough*! Hmph! Fine.」
Eventually, only after Mineba stepped in, did the subsided atmosphere begin to revive.
At Remil's appearance, Rie erased some of her prejudice against Remil.
Remil wasn't bad-tempered.
Of course, that didn't mean she was good-tempered either.
If you thought about it, Remil was like a cat.
A wary cat that acts tsundere-like, always bristling its fur first.
Thinking that, Remil began to look incredibly cute.
「···············You just thought something fucked up, didn't you?」
「Hehe, no~.」
The only one who couldn't follow the current situation was Leira.