Daddy-Long-Legs
Jeffbery was growing brighter by the day.
In place of the woman who had driven herself into a corner with regret and guilt, a smiling, healthy woman had settled in.
But I had not forgotten.
That the person Jeffbery truly loved was Dwight, and that the spot beside me was only a place she was lingering for a while before she moved on.
She had been so exhausted, after all.
I knew so much about her.
What she liked, what she hated. What pains she carried, and how to soothe them.
Of course, I could not claim I had never indulged my own selfish desires along the way. But I never crossed a certain line, and that was exactly what frustrated Jeffbery.
Right now Jeffbery had her arms around my neck and was puckering her lips toward me.
As always, I pressed a finger to her lips and pushed her away.
“Mm? Again! Are you seriously doing this?”
She made a nasal sound, twisting her body and thrusting her face forward once more. I cupped both her cheeks in my hands.
“If my baby keeps this up, she's going to need a little scolding.”
I smiled at Jeffbery, whose lips were sticking out like a duck's bill.
The original bad-boy concept was honestly losing its appeal more and more. How was I supposed to be cold to someone so cute and pretty? If I had stuck to that concept, I really would not have held out this long.
After fretting over this pathetic state of mine, I came to a conclusion.
I would become her Daddy-Long-Legs.
I would soothe the wounds Dwight had inflicted and care for her by her side until she realized her own heart. That had been my original goal anyway.
The reason she was wavering now was probably because Dwight had broken her so thoroughly that her pride as a woman was scratched raw. Of that I was certain.
Besides, originally she had never even understood her own feelings well. Whether what she felt was love or friendship, hatred or obsession… she was always getting confused. I vaguely felt that her feelings toward me were some strange sort of trust born amid that confusion.
Of course I loved and cherished Jeffbery passionately, but I never forgot that the place she ultimately needed to go was by Dwight's side.
I pressed my lips to her forehead instead of her lips. And I laced our fingers together.
Still dissatisfied, Jeffbery buried her face in my chest and whimpered like a puppy, but I held firm. Though there was plenty of internal conflict, of course.
Roll.
Jeffbery pushed the top of her head against me again and burrowed into my arms. What was she, a pet?
I grabbed her chin and said,
“Jeffy, aren't you going out?”
“Mm?”
Only then did the focus return clearly to Jeffbery's pupils.
The place we went was a shabby warehouse on the outskirts of the city.
It was where a washed-up male witch lived. His name was Tokamillan. The Charcoal Witch.
Among witches he had already lost the light of his prime and was a toothless tiger, but I knew he was a lion with hidden fangs.
One of the Emergency Response Headquarters' duties was managing welfare-recipient witches—providing necessary care in advance so that witches in difficult circumstances would not turn to crime.
Today Jeffbery was going to visit Tokamillan, so I decided to accompany her. Having watched him for a long time, I intended to settle things today.
The warehouse, overgrown with brush from the entrance onward, was not a livable environment.
“Is he already dead?”
Jeffbery muttered.
But my eyes took in every detail of the ditches dug around the warehouse and the wire-like lines extending from the chimney.
There's a smell. There's a smell.
Pushing through the brush, we shoved open the rusted warehouse door.
Creak.
Along with the sharp scrape of metal hinges, a chill air brushed our cheeks. Sensing an abnormal convection of air, I glared at the plastic door deeper inside the warehouse.
“Is anyone there?”
Jeffbery peered inside and called out.
Rustle.
A man with short stubble like thorns staggered out from behind the plastic door.
“Who's there?”
His clothes of animal skins and shaggy hair made him look no different from a barbarian. This male witch, charcoal smudges all over his face and arms, looked at Jeffbery with sly eyes.
Aren't you going to look away, you bastard?
Suddenly pissed off, I glared at Tokamillan with blazing eyes.
“We're from the Witch Welfare Division of the Emergency Response Headquarters.”
Jeffbery took out her magic pad and began writing a log. I scanned Tokamillan's condition amid the fishy smell coming from inside the warehouse. His cheeks, white with ringworm, twitched unpleasantly.
“If you need any supplies, please let us know. We send daily necessities from flour to sugar.”
“Alright then.”
Thud.
Tokamillan sat his butt on the floor next to Jeffbery, chewing corn husks. A sudden reek of blood hit me.
What the hell had he been doing inside?
Tokamillan bared his yellow teeth and snickered.
This bastard's not right in the head.
He was concealing it with a magic field, but he could not fool my eyes. Detecting the faint scent of blood spreading from Tokamillan's wrist as he scratched his cracked white skin, I stood up.
Shall we start moving?
While Jeffbery carefully filled out the items, I walked around inside the warehouse.
“How long have you lived here?”
“Oh, it's been over ten years already. I don't know how grateful I am that they prepared a place for a powerless witch like me to stretch my legs.”
As I poked around here and there, roaming the warehouse, Tokamillan stood up with wary eyes.
Hey, even if it's a remote place, if you poured this much concrete alone, you should have been prepared for your tail to get stepped on.
“For living here so long, you don't have much stuff?”
“It's all just trash… For someone like me, who knows when I'll kick the bucket.”
“Come on… Witches live past a hundred and fifty at least. Let's take this chance to overhaul everything.”
Tokamillan said with a dumbfounded expression,
“Overhaul what?”
“We gotta clear out all the shit you've buried, you son of a bitch!”
I flung open the inner plastic door.
Inside, elderly people and children with their eyes and mouths blocked by charcoal were held hostage. Tokamillan was committing indiscriminate killings here that even most witches would not do. Foul water mixed with corpse stench drained from the ditches, and the wires from the chimney were set up to catch anyone trying to escape. Neutralizing the terrible stench and blood smell with charcoal, Tokamillan had been carrying out merciless slaughter.
The elderly and children were swaying, half-intoxicated by magic. Jeffbery's face twisted in shock at the sight of the emaciated humans withering away.
Tokamillan snickered nastily and floated up into the air.
Whoosh. Whoosh.
Black charcoal pellets rained from his fingertips. I quickly threw up a magic circle to erect a barrier. Jeffbery spun her body fluidly and aimed her magic revolver.
“Don't move!”
Seeing her suddenly like that after only watching her nasal-whimpering and wriggling was so cool. As expected, Jeffbery was a true heroine!
But Tokamillan's pellet, twisting his body like a rat in the air and digging in at an angle, grazed Jeffbery's shoulder.
Bang!
“.....!”
I quickly covered Jeffbery with a barrier and charged at Tokamillan. Jeffbery fell into a corner and lost consciousness.
“Jeffy!”
Clang.
Tokamillan, completely covered in charcoal, snickered and closed the warehouse door. If he covered the outer walls with charcoal now, we would be completely trapped.
I lunged at Tokamillan and tore off the plastic door with telekinesis. Fully baring his fangs, Tokamillan wrapped his whole body in charcoal like a powered suit and flew rapidly around the warehouse like a bat.
Whoosh.
The sound of wings brushing the wind echoed eerily through the warehouse. Watching Tokamillan flapping frantically, my mind was busily calculating formulas.
Blending
The magic of one—able to mix with anything—was densely engraved on the framed plastic. The plastic door spun like a shuriken and flew toward Tokamillan.
As if it were laughable, Tokamillan tore the plastic door apart, but his form stuck from the wings due to the sticky viscosity.
“You idiot!”
“What the hell are you, you bastard?”
Tokamillan shouted in a voice filled with rage.
“I'm Double Crown, the one who chews up witches like you.”
“Too late. The warehouse is already completely covered in charcoal. You guys are as good as dead.”
I snickered and spoke to Igrian.
Bang.
The warehouse door opened and Igrian strode in. She was carrying a tank on her shoulder that looked like a pesticide sprayer.
“This guy?”
Looking up at Tokamillan thrashing like a bug caught in a spiderweb, Igrian smiled wickedly.
“Take care of him.”
At my words, Igrian lifted the corner of her mouth and said,
“The wing bones are mine!”
“When have they ever not been?”
I wrapped Jeffbery in my suit jacket and said,
“Jeffy, open your eyes.”
Igrian eyed me and spat out,
“I'll handle the cleanup, so go!”
Nodding at Igrian, who winked and smiled, I scooped up Jeffbery. Then I teleported her to my mansion.
Red blood was welling up from her shoulder in bubbles. Laying her on the sofa, I took a deep breath and tore her blouse. Pressing hard on the wound, I poured mana into Jeffbery's entire body. Jeffbery's body was enveloped in glowing light and grew warm.
“Jeffy… open your eyes.”
Jeffbery did not move a muscle. The toxicity in Tokamillan's pellets was fatal to humans. Even a graze on the skin could poison the whole body.
After hesitating a moment, I steeled my resolve and looked down at Jeffbery. I put my mouth to her wound and sucked out the poison.