The Witch's Three-Day Playground
The spirit-form Vesta had called the white-haired girl a witch back in that dangerous place. I still wasn't entirely sure what a witch actually was, but Eos had mentioned them once before. She'd said they were beings capable of turning people into monsters. If that was true, then maybe I hadn't stolen Vesta's sorcery at all. Maybe I'd taken the witch's instead. The possibility wasn't zero. Magic was said to have its roots in dragons and the demon race, but the mana I'd felt from Margaret told me sorcery itself began with witches. That white-haired girl had also claimed every last black-haired royal died a hundred years ago. Which meant this witch was no actual girl. She was an ancient thing wearing a child's skin. And if she'd survived that long, her power as a sorceress had to be immense. There was no reason she couldn't wield an S-rank sorceress's techniques. 'This villa was probably her creation too.' Now that I thought about it, the grotesque hobby of taxidermying male corpses wasn't something any human would indulge.
"Why are you frozen solid? Did I strike a nerve?"
"You stole Vesta's body, didn't you."
"What? That's all you're curious about?"
The witch had clearly wanted me to say I'd come from another world, but I refused to take the bait. Asking about ways to return home or whether she could send me back would only give her leverage. She'd demand something in exchange, and I'd never escape her grasp. That was probably how she'd taken Vesta's body in the first place. I decided right then that I could never hand her any weakness she could exploit. If I grew strong enough later to capture her, I could ask my questions then. For now, survival was the only priority.
"As a sorcerer, I can't help but be interested in astral projection."
"So you're into spirit magic? What~ Were you hoping to become a woman~?"
"No. I was simply curious what a witch's body feels like."
"A witch?"
"It's a body that doesn't age even after a hundred years, yet still looks like a young girl. I'm only human, so immortality interests me."
"..."
The white-haired girl glared at me.
"You filthy human. Stealing my sorcery wasn't enough. Now you want my body too?"
"In exchange, it looks like you've had plenty of fun collecting human men."
I glanced at the preserved male corpses as I spoke.
"Insolent. Insolent. Insolent. Hehehe."
Her words dripped with disgust, but her face wore a bright, cheerful smile. The contrast was jarring.
She's definitely enjoying this.
The witch didn't seem to like obedience or kindness. She got far more pleasure when someone talked back and bared their teeth. That much had been obvious in bed. She had a peculiar taste for acting arrogant only to be put in her place. A strange hobby, even for a witch.
"As expected, all you black-haired ones are entertaining."
She must have already encountered the fallen black-haired royalty. There had probably been conflict between them and witches for a very long time. Yet now those with white hair were called royalty. In the end the black-hairs had lost, and this white-haired witch clan had survived to rule as kings. That was the only conclusion that made sense.
"I'm entertaining too. After all, I watched it emerge from inside a human body, wearing human skin."
"Heee... Interested? Want me to show you?"
"You won't tell me for free."
"Correct. I'll shove you into a woman's body, rip your cock off, attach it to myself, and fuck you senseless."
"Then I decline."
"Why? Weren't you the one who wanted to enter a woman's body?"
"The ability itself looks interesting, that's all. And like I said before, I'm interested in immortality."
"Hmm? You don't want to enjoy it that far~?"
Her mind seemed packed with grotesque fantasies. Living so long must erode one's sanity. Or perhaps immortals simply grew numb to small stimulations and constantly chased greater ones. No wonder people called her kind witches.
"Come on, I'll tell you... You should experience firsthand just how incredible your cock is."
Having slept with me, she clearly wanted to share that knowledge.
"I have no desire to switch places."
"Don't worry. It's only difficult at first. Once you get used to it, you'll love it~"
Mana flowed from the girl's voice. This was sorcery. A curse that corrupted the mind. So this was how witches manipulated emotion. I suspected many people, including those from The Ear, had fallen victim to this exact trick.
Consciousness Sorcery
"Hmph..." Watching the tip of the slowly approaching white sorcery, I summoned flames.
"Huh?"
The moment I began dispelling it, the curse burned away from the edges and faded into nothing.
"How did you break my sorcery?"
"It's fascinating. A spell that corrupts both body and mind. I've never heard of anything like it."
"Heee..."
"If I learn it, I suppose I could use it on you."
"Wow... Wow~ Want to try it?"
"How does it work?"
"Do what I asked earlier and I'll teach you."
"Since I'm such an interesting person, can't you just tell me anyway?"
"Nope~"
The girl kept laughing. My reactions seemed endlessly amusing to her; the smile never left her face.
"Then I'll learn it myself and demonstrate it for you."
"Oh~ You think you can manage that~?"
"Give me a few days and it should be possible."
I had no real interest in the witch's mind-corrupting sorcery. What I needed was time. With enough time I might find another escape route, or Vesna's older sister might arrive at the villa. If I could survive this conversation, an opportunity would come.
"Hmmm... Fine, okay~"
She was actually going for it. Of course the witch knew my intentions. Yet she had chosen to give me this chance. She could have killed me, the intruder, at any moment, but instead she continued the conversation. It was an unpleasant, horrifying exchange, but I was still alive. I would stretch this survival time as far as I could.
"But just doing it normally would be boring~"
-Snap-
The witch clicked her fingers. Someone immediately walked through the doorway.
"Syucali... Eos... Vera..."
My two slaves and the apprentice knight Vera entered the room of preserved corpses with vacant eyes. They didn't react at all upon seeing me. They were clearly already under the witch's sorcery.
"I'll give you three days~"
With those words, the girl pried open Syucali's mouth and kissed her.
-Shwooop!
The white-haired girl was sucked straight into Syucali's mouth. Syucali's body twisted grotesquely for a moment before she lifted her head and stared at me with sharp, clear eyes. Soon she was perfectly mimicking the white girl's distinctive expression.
"You understand what will happen to me if you fail, right, Kang Seo-ja-nim?"
She gazed down at me lovingly through Syucali's face. It was a truly repulsive ability. Yet against people it was terrifyingly effective. A brutally cruel sorcery that turned someone you cared about into both a living hostage and a parasite.
"Hehehe..."
Syucali licked her lips and approached Eos.
-Squeeze...
"You seem to treasure this demon quite a bit. Look at how hard you tried to undo her mana seal~"
She slipped a hand inside Eos's robe to fondle her chest while the other slid downward to stroke between her legs. Eos showed no reaction whatsoever. A domination-type sorcery must have been driven deep into her mind.
"Very well. Within three days I'll learn the mental corruption sorcery and use it on you."
"Hehe... I'll be waiting, Kang Seo-ja-nim."
The witch now inhabiting Syucali's body left the room with Vera and Eos on either side of her.
-Creeeeak... Thud.
The door closed, leaving me alone in the room full of male corpses.
I'm completely trapped.
The witch wanted to spend time with me and enjoy herself. She probably had a rough grasp of who I was and where I came from. After all, she had faced black-haired people a century ago. She must believe she stood far above me. Or perhaps she thought lowering her guard didn't matter. What could one black-haired man possibly do? To her I was nothing but a toy. Behind her stood the royalty of the continent, this villa was saturated with sorcery, and she held three of my lovers hostage. The witch was simply playing leisurely in her own playground.
"Mental corruption sorcery..."
It was impossible for me right now with the consciousness sorcery I'd learned. My opponent was a witch who had lived more than a hundred years. The only thing that offered any hope was... the spirit of Vesta trembling beside me, and her physical body collapsed near the entrance.
The only one I can bet on is Vesta.
"Vesta."
"Th-the witch came again... again..."
"Vesta."
"W-what do I do... I just want to die..."
"Snap out of it."
"Ugh... no..."
The spirit-form Vesta had already lost her mind. I couldn't imagine what the witch had done to her to leave her this terrified even after becoming a ghost.
"Do you know about the mental corruption sorcery?"
"..."
"So you do."
"N-no..."
"Haa... I'll give you what you want. Do you want the witch driven out?"
"You can't beat the witch! Everyone will turn into monsters!"
"If you help me, it's possible."
"No..."
"Therefore."
I pointed at Vesta's physical body.
"Return to your body first."
"Th-that's not my body anymore! I don't want to go in!"
Vesta recoiled in horror the instant she saw her own corpse. The trauma ran that deep. Just what had the witch done to break her this badly?
No choice then.
I grabbed Vesta's spirit and dragged it toward the body.
"No! I don't want to go back!"
-Squeeze.
I didn't know the proper method to return a spirit to its body. But I remembered how the witch had parasitized Syucali through the mouth.
"I hope this works."
I seized the spirit by the throat and forcibly pressed its mouth against Vesta's body.
"Nooooo! Ugh!"
The spirit was sucked inside.
"So souls enter and exit through a person's openings."
"Ugh... ugh... haaa..."
Vesta clutched her body, which had been left on the edge of climax, and began to cry.
"You cruel bastard..."
Those were the first words Vesta spoke after returning to her own body.