The Witch's Trial (5)
Roy double-cast Psychic Bind in rapid succession.
His aim was to pin both magical beasts at nearly the same moment with invisible force.
The captured creatures snorted and struggled without pause.
It's a race against time!
Their aggression might have been mild, but both beasts held mana equal to Roy's—or greater. Drag things out and they would break free and flee before long.
"No matter how grand a magical beast you are, you're still just animals in the end."
"What are you going to do now? Even the witch would struggle to handle two at once."
"Stop chattering next to me and stay quiet. I've got a plan."
"What did you just say!?"
Roy ignored Lily and wrung every last drop of mana from his body. But the Opinincus, thrashing and beating its wings, slipped its bonds first and bolted.
"See! What did I tell you?"
Roy didn't panic. With the mana freed up, he simply reinforced the unicorn's bindings.
"Just hang on a little longer. I'm not going to eat you."
He drew the sword at his waist, fed mana into the blade, and approached the restrained unicorn at a measured pace.
"Sorry. But this grows back anyway, right?"
A unicorn's horn regrew even after being cut. It took a very long time, he had heard—but right now, Dragon's Breath came first.
"It's a horn, so it shouldn't even hurt, right?"
With a single stroke, Roy severed the horn. He snatched the floating piece out of the air before it could hit the ground. Enraged, the unicorn lashed out with a hind kick—only for the amulet to flare in a burst of brilliant light. Roy took no damage at all. He even diverted the amulet's force elsewhere, worried it might wound the unicorn.
Having a horn stolen that had taken decades to grow—the creature must have wanted to weep from sheer grief. Roy held the horn, as long as his own sword, and offered the unicorn a polite apology. Whether it accepted or not, the beast vanished beyond the dimensional veil after the Opinincus.
"You got the unicorn, but what about the Opinincus?" Lily asked, watching him with her soaked body.
"What about it? I already have everything."
"Huh?"
"Look over there. It dropped that many."
Where Roy pointed, dozens of feathers the Opinincus had left behind lay scattered across the ground.
"The condition was to get the feathers without killing it. That should be plenty, right?"
"Well... I guess so..."
Lily, who had thought Roy had simply lost the Opinincus, watched him calmly collecting feathers and wore a complicated expression.
Hmm...
This boy was different from anyone the girl had ever seen. She had occasionally followed the witch into nearby villages, but among people—especially children his age—there had never been anyone like him.
The witch said the world is wide and talents like mine are everywhere, but...
Until now she hadn't believed it. Yet this boy was clearly superior to her in many ways.
Are there really that many kids like him out in the world?
For the first time in her life, Lily began to wonder about the world beyond the forest.
Roy carefully collected the Opinincus feathers into his bag. The horn was too long, so he lashed it to the bottom with cord. Then Lily approached from behind, humming a strange little tune.
"What's that imitation supposed to be?"
"It's a song!"
"A song? So you're done with surveillance duty?"
"You told me to make my presence known when I approach!"
"Ah—so that's why..."
In Lily's hand was the sword Roy had used to cut the unicorn's horn. She must have picked up the one he'd tossed aside while catching it. Roy held out his hand, glad to have it back—only for Lily to suddenly hide the hand holding the sword behind her back.
"But this sword—can't I just keep it? You basically abandoned it. You didn't even try to find it right away."
"I was just about to go get it, miss."
"Hmm... Say 'please, big sister.' Then I'll give it to you."
"Don't tell me! You've finally decided to trade for your spirit? Is this because I dunked you in the water earlier?"
Lily insisted that absolutely was not the case and immediately returned the sword.
"Absolutely not! Shady is mine!"
"Okay, okay. But are you fine like that? Aren't you cold? You'll catch a cold."
Roy pulled the blanket he had slept under at night from his bag and draped it over Lily's head.
"Don't get me scolded too. Dry off already. And you should take care of your own body yourself."
"Yeah... thanks."
Lily secretly blushed under the blanket. She had finally noticed—the secret she had been hiding all this time. That the boy had long since seen the pointed ears concealed by that neither-pretty-nor-comfortable cloth and veil.
He saw everything and just pretended not to notice...
The boy standing before her suddenly felt entirely new.
"I should thank you too. You found my sword, and you even approached while making your presence known, just like I asked. Since you listened well—if you come find me later, I'll enchant any weapon you want."
"Really? Is that true?"
"Assuming I pass all of the witch's trials, of course."
Roy intended to plant a little insurance with the girl, just in case.
"You'll pass. I guarantee it. I've been watching you this whole time, and you were really amazing."
"Is that so? Thanks for saying so, at least."
Lily's expression was sincere. Her wide-eyed explanation was pure and clear.
"But can I ask one thing? You don't have to answer if it breaks the rules. About the magical beasts—I waited forever and they never came out, then suddenly appeared. Do they have some connection to you or that one over there?"
"That one" meant the shadow spirit drinking from the pond across the way.
"Well... when I took the trial, dozens of them were wandering all around this area. Maybe it's because it's winter?"
"Really? Then why did they appear all of a sudden?"
"Hmm... I don't know either."
I was wrong to expect anything.
Roy gave up and prepared to move on in search of the next beast. Then Lily's spirit, Shady, tugged at the blanket over her head with its mouth—as if it had something to say.
"Can you two communicate?"
"Of course! It's my spirit..."
Trailing off at the end—looks like a lie.
Roy carefully observed the spirit called Shady, trying to figure out what it wanted to say. But no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't tell what it was trying to communicate. Realizing it couldn't get its meaning across to either of them, Shady soon simply wandered over and licked their cheeks with its dirty tongue.
"Alright. If you're done drying off, go do your job. I need to get moving again. Not much time left in the trial."
"I was going to anyway."
Lily stuck out her tongue with a "bleh—" and vanished.
Roy ended up spending one more day in the forest before he succeeded in collecting every last material. Even after discarding most of his preserved rations, his bag was stuffed full—plus the horn and vines lashed outside it. He carefully gathered everything and headed for the witch's house.
With the trial over, it would have been nice if she'd let him ride the black wolf on the way back.
"What's so hard about giving me a ride? You're so stingy."
"Shut up. Shady is my spirit."
Lily was controlling her spirit so tightly Roy couldn't even get near it, afraid it might be stolen. But Roy, with mana to spare, crossed the forest with light steps. He returned to where the barrier around the witch's house began far faster than expected.
"You go in first. I'll follow soon."
"Why? What is it?"
"Want to watch me pee? Wait—come to think of it, you didn't spy on me peeing for three straight days, did you?"
"Blech. Absolutely not... Hmph."
Lily vanished first in a swirl of cold wind. Before entering the witch's house, Roy wanted to reorganize the contents of his bag. He took everything out and did the necessary work. Only then did he step into the witch's barrier.
Thanks to the amulet, he reached the house without losing his way. Lily was waiting for him, leaning against the wall without going inside. The black wolf was nowhere to be seen.
"Were you waiting for me?"
"It's my mission."
She clearly intended to go in with him.
"Hmm. Fine. Let's go in together."
When he knocked on the witch's door, the one who appeared was not the witch but the baron. The baron warmly welcomed his son, who had finished his ordeal and returned.
"I never imagined you'd pass the trial in just three days in this freezing winter... I'm truly proud of you, my son."
Why is this man acting like this?
"Whose son do you think I am, Father?"
"Haha, right, right. Well done."
After a warm embrace with Roy, the baron met eyes with Lily, who had followed him in. The girl who knew nothing couldn't quite handle the baron's complicated expression. Finding even that endearing, the baron approached Lily and suddenly ruffled her hair.
"Thank you for watching over Roy, Lily."
He couldn't bring himself to embrace her. He didn't want to suddenly shock his daughter who still knew nothing. Meanwhile Lily flushed in confusion. Whether from unfamiliar praise or the warmth of his hand, she didn't seem to dislike it.
"I-It was nothing... It only took three days, unlike expected. And Shady helped too..."
"No. You both did splendidly."
"......"
Roy grasped why the baron was acting this way. He must have heard the truth directly from the witch—that Lily was the child born from the seed he had planted. Roy's shoulders slumped as he let out a long sigh, like a man whose strength had completely drained away. With the trial over and the tension released, fatigue suddenly crashed over him.
Roy went straight to the witch and laid out everything he had gathered.
"Amazing. To think you'd collect everything in that young body. And in just three days? Was it hard?"
"No. Aside from waiting for the beasts being a bit boring, it wasn't particularly difficult."
Ilia gazed at Roy's face with sparkling eyes. There was no fear in the boy's eyes. Nor was he puffed up with pride at finishing a difficult trial. He was simply calm. A touch of greed showed—but that was natural, given what he was about to receive as reward.
"What a remarkable child."
"Um, if I may—when might I receive the Dragon's Breath..."
"It's not Dragon's Breath. It's an elixir."
"Yes, well... that thing, anyway."
"You're tired today, so rest well, and we'll meet tomorrow morning."
Roy quickly shook his head.
"No. You said you would brew the elixir, right? May I watch the entire process? I must insist."
Ilia didn't answer, meeting the baron's eyes instead. The baron quietly nodded. Having spoken with the baron extensively over the past three days, Ilia roughly knew what kind of child Roy was. Her eyes sparkled again. A good idea had struck her.
Her only blood relative and disciple, Lily, was a very good child—but she lacked the will to learn barrier techniques or elixir brewing. Living alone without peers, she seemed to lack ambition and competitive spirit. She was a child of exceptional natural gifts, not only in mana but in intellect as well. As a mother and as a teacher, Ilia had been deeply saddened to see such precious talent going to waste.
But look at this child with the radiant talent. Not only gifted, but so greedy for knowledge. He seemed intent on watching and stealing the method of brewing the elixir from her. The greed reflected in his eyes clearly ran deeper than the elixir itself.
"I like you. Very well—I'll show you the entire process. No, I'll teach you."
Roy's eyes went wide. Lily's expression behind them was much the same.
"Lily, what about you? Will you join us?"
At the witch's question, Lily nodded vigorously again and again.