Chapter 17: Mirabelle Lives Here
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 17: Mirabelle Lives Here
Karami tossed Mirabelle’s shackles aside without a second thought and began to walk, passing her indifferently.
Mirabelle, who had been standing there as if struck by a hammer, barely managed to pull herself together. She started to run toward Karami—
But then she changed course, scrambling to retrieve the shackles he had thrown far away.
She needed to pick them up, but her hands were full.
Her right hand held her staff.
Her left, the grimoire.
With every moment she hesitated, Karami grew more distant.
Mirabelle tossed the grimoire behind her and snatched up the shackles. Then she scurried after Karami, who was still walking away.
“Master? Master?”
She called out to him again and again, but he didn’t stop.
She tried to block his path, but he simply stepped around her.
The dream of liberation was slipping away.
The anxiety of being left all alone once more.
A small spark of fear ignited, spreading uncontrollably until it consumed her very soul. The color drained from her already pale skin, leaving it as white as a corpse.
As her vision darkened and her mind grew faint, Mirabelle finally realized just how terribly wrong things had gone.
“Master—!”
She tried to run again but stumbled and fell flat on her face. Without even brushing off the dirt, she scrambled back to her feet. Tossing aside everything that got in her way, she wrapped her arms around Karami’s waist and clung to him with all her might.
“Master, I was wrong! I’ll never do it again!”
“No. From now on, live as you please. You are no longer my slave.”
“I don’t want to! I want to be your slave! I’ll be a good slave! I’ll listen to everything you say from now on!”
But Karami didn’t stop.
Dragged along, Mirabelle begged and pleaded, tears and snot streaming down her face.
Could this truly be the same girl who had been unleashing a catastrophe just moments ago?
She looked so much like a child being abandoned by her parents that even those whose lives she had just threatened clicked their tongues and watched her with pity.
“I’m sorry! I just wanted you to praise me! I won’t overstep my bounds again!”
“…”
“Please don’t abandon me! I don’t want to be alone again!”
The moment those words left Mirabelle’s lips…
Thud.
Karami finally stopped walking. He turned only his head to look back at her. Mirabelle, who had been dragged along, was clinging to him at a forty-five-degree angle. From that position, she looked up at him.
Their eyes met askew.
“Will you really listen to me?”
“Hic… Yes, sob. I’ll listen, I’ll listen to you.”
“You won’t use magic recklessly?”
“I won’t.”
“Do you promise?”
“I promise, hic… I… promise.”
Karami helped Mirabelle to her feet, then bent his knees and held out his pinky finger.
“Promise.”
“P-Promise.”
“Seal it.”
“S-Seal it.”
“Sign it.”
“Sign it…?”
Only after they had finished did Karami seem satisfied, letting out a small smile.
“Since you’re begging like this, I suppose I have no choice. Very well. I will trust you one more time, Miss Mirabelle.”
“Th-Thank you…”
Karami gave a light wave to Myra, who was watching from a distance. She seemed to be in deep shock, her eyes wide and blank.
Meanwhile, Karami let out a sigh of relief, quiet enough for no one else to hear.
Wow, it actually worked.
*
I had never expected Mirabelle to awaken as a witch at this point. That’s why it had been practically impossible to stop her rampage.
If this were a game, it would have been a game over.
But this was reality now.
I wasn’t forced to act within a predetermined framework. The possibilities for interaction were limitless.
If something happened that wasn’t in the game, I just had to use a method that wasn’t in the game.
What I came up with was a plan that exploited Mirabelle’s own unique trait.
[Mirabelle, the Abandoned Witch]
Having been abandoned before, Mirabelle’s dependency on her master was high enough to drill through the sky.
It should have taken a significant amount of time for her affection to reach that level, but for some reason, her affection for me was already maxed out. So, I decided to use that.
Operation Name:
“Mirabelle Live Here, Master Is Leaving.”
The moment I put the plan into action, Mirabelle reacted immediately. When she fell, my heart truly felt like it was tearing apart.
I almost couldn’t stop myself from hugging her. It’s a miracle I held back.
I checked Mirabelle’s condition. Her maid outfit was stained with dirt, and her face was a mess of bodily fluids. I gave a wry smile and brushed the dirt off her.
Next, I took out a handkerchief and held it to her nose.
“Here, blow.”
“Hnng!”
“Good girl. The other side now.”
“K-hnnng!”
Wipe, wipe.
I neatly folded the used handkerchief and put it in my pocket. I’d have to wash it later. If I threw it away here just because it was dirty, how hurt would she be?
Finally, I wiped away her tears. Only then did Mirabelle begin to look more like her usual self.
Her eyes were still bloodshot and red, and she was still sniffling, but… well, she was so pretty that it wasn’t even a flaw. It just stimulated my desire to protect her.
Now, it’s time for the cleanup…
I wasn’t sure where to even begin, but I knew I just had to tackle it one step at a time. I was about to turn back to the wary crowd.
Tug, tug.
Mirabelle pulled on my sleeve.
“What is it?”
“Th-This…”
Sniffling, Mirabelle held out the shackle with a trembling hand. She must have wiped off the dirt, because it was gleaming.
She wanted me to put it back on her. I had considered using this chance to get rid of it, but it was something she treasured, so I couldn’t just do as I pleased.
In the end, I once again fastened the shackle around Mirabelle’s neck. She fumbled with her hands, checking to make sure it was secure. Only then did her trembling stop.
After calming her down, I took her to the crowd and had her apologize. Mirabelle bowed a full ninety degrees.
“I-I’m sorry… I won’t cause any more trouble.”
“Trouble…? This is…?”
The people stared, dumbfounded, then looked at me. Their eyes seemed to ask, Are you serious?
Well, yeah. This was just a bit of trouble. Considering a whole city could have been wiped out, losing just a few buildings was a small price to pay.
Mirabelle offered her apology, but it seemed her cuteness alone was far from enough to resolve the situation. Their gazes were all murderous.
Well, this is where the master steps in.
“My, I had no idea my slave was so talented with magic.”
“How can you say that right now? How in the world are you going to clean up this mess! Not even your lives would be enough to pay for this!” the lord of Delphine shouted, spittle flying from his mouth.
I gently patted the head of Mirabelle, who was cowering as if she wanted to crawl into an ant hole, and reassured her.
“First, let’s assess the damages. Then we can discuss how to handle it.”
“Hmph…”
The lord left a few men to watch us and sent the rest to survey the scene. Before long, they returned to report their findings.
“From what we’ve confirmed, the damage is mostly to property. Casualties are negligible. It’s truly a stroke of heavenly luck.”
Mirabelle must have controlled herself, even amidst her rampage.
Her way of thinking was that you shouldn’t harm innocent people. Though killing her dad was fine. Yep, yep.
“The problem is the mages… They aren’t getting better even with treatment. It seems their souls have left their bodies.”
So those really were souls.
I told her to learn magic to commune with souls, and she learned how to rip them out instead? They say kids grow up fast, but she always exceeds my expectations.
I wanted to praise her, but unfortunately, now was not the time.
“Miss Mirabelle, what did you do with their souls?”
“I-I have them. I was going to liberate them if you ordered me to…”
Liberating souls means killing them.
She says such terrifying things so casually.
Honestly, who taught her this?
“Can you put them back?”
“J-Just a moment…”
As Mirabelle moved her hands, souls popped out of thin air and flowed back into their respective bodies.
Huh…?
With that, could I get gender-bent into a cute girl? Should I ask her?
While I was contemplating this life-altering question, the collapsed mages began to stir one by one. Their minds still seemed foggy as they looked around with dazed expressions.
“What… what was that just now?”
“I was flying. Soaring through the sky like a free bird…”
“Ah, all the learning I crammed in my study was for naught. I must start my studies anew. The topic… yes. Liberation.”
The mages wore expressions like enlightened sages. One of them was even shedding tears.
Then, their gazes all fell upon Mirabelle at once. Their eyes widened as if they would pop out, and they knelt before her.
“Child, where did you learn such magic?”
“Little one, would you cast it on me just one more time? If you want money, I’ll give you as much as you want!”
“Me too, just once! Ah, no, twice!”
These magic-obsessed lunatics. I should have just let them have a permanent out-of-body experience.
Still, thanks to them, it seemed Mirabelle wouldn’t be blamed for pulling out a few souls.
Clap.
The situation was chaotic.
I clapped my hands to draw everyone’s attention.
“Now, all that’s left is the property damage.”
*
Thud.
I placed a pouch of gold coins on the table in front of the lord.
The lord opened the pouch, checked its contents, and then looked back and forth between the pouch and me, his head moving so fast it left afterimages.
“Wh-What is all this?”
“Two thousand gold coins. That should be more than enough to compensate the victims.”
I had 21,000 points left.
I think I had around 27,000 when I left the kingdom, but after buying items and staying at expensive inns with good food, it vanished in a flash.
The items are good, but man, are they expensive.
Spending 20,000 points in this situation was a painful expense, but trying to save money here would be a foolish move. Haggling would only make things worse.
I would force a settlement by handing over a sum far greater than the cost of damages.
It’s a guardian’s duty to take responsibility when their child messes up. Besides, I’d get a lot of points when I liberated Mirabelle, so if I thought of it as an investment, it wasn’t a waste.
I’d just have to be a bit more frugal until then.
“Th-This much… well, it’s more than enough to cover the damages, but…”
The lord trailed off.
He clearly wanted something, but did he think I couldn’t read his mind?
“I believe the remaining gold would be best left to you, my lord. I’m sure you’ll use it appropriately where it’s needed.”
“Haha, you’re a sharp one. Well, if you insist, I won’t refuse. I’ll put it to good use.”
The lord chuckled heartily, stroking the pouch of gold as if it were a newborn baby.
With that, 95% of the mess was cleaned up.
Time for a little breather.
I took a walk with Mirabelle around the lord’s castle.
She must have felt bad about the money I’d spent, because she walked with her head hung low like a sinner.
“I-I’m sorry. Because of me…”
“Haha, it’s fine. A few coins are nothing. Your value is many times greater than that, Miss Mirabelle.”
“But it was two th-thousand gold coins…”
“Hmm, I said it’s fine.”
Mirabelle couldn’t easily shake off her guilt.
I hummed to myself, wondering what to do, when a brilliant idea struck me.
“Miss Mirabelle, haven’t you ever been curious while we’ve been together? A pouch of gold coins just appears out of nowhere, even when I have nothing.”
Come to think of it, that was true. Mirabelle nodded.
“This is a secret I’m only telling you, Miss Mirabelle… but I can actually use money duplication magic.”
“Money duplication magic?”
“Yes, watch closely.”
I showed Mirabelle my empty hands, then clenched them into fists. When I opened them again, a single gold coin lay in my palm where there had been nothing before.
“Wow…!”
“Did you see? I have magic that lets me create gold coins at will. So—”
With all my might, I threw the gold coin far into the distance.
Fuck, my precious money.
But it was a necessary sacrifice for Mirabelle’s care.
“It means I can throw it away into thin air like this without any problem. So you don’t need to blame yourself, Miss Mirabelle. Smile. I like to see my slaves smiling when they are liberated.”
Mirabelle nodded. Thanks to the noble sacrifice of the gold coin, her expression became much more relaxed. She offered a shy smile.
I’ve memorized where it landed.
But before I go pick it up…
I had one last thing to take care of.
I retrieved the grimoire Mirabelle had dropped. It looked exactly like a Soul Grimoire.
But when I opened it, I found a picture of some goblin-like creature wielding thunder and lightning atop a mountain.
“Do you know what kind of book this is?”
“It’s a book on how to procure Teacher Go’s soul.”
What?
What book?
As Mirabelle explained, the book’s information became more detailed. The name, which had been [Goblin Shaman's Grimoire], changed to something about Teacher Go.
Teacher Go?
Who’s that?
A goblin teacher?
It was a completely different item that just looked the same. So this was what caused Mirabelle to awaken as the Witch of Judgment.
It was my fault for telling her to read it without checking it properly. I’ll buy you two bags of Slime Fritters later.
I really almost screwed everything up. This kind of dangerous trash needed to be put in someone else’s pocket. If I gave it back to Mirabelle, she might go berserk again.
“Priestess Myra. Here is the grimoire you were looking for.”
I immediately looked for my pocket… no, for Myra. After her run-in with Mirabelle, she was in a tattered state.
“My, Priestess. You went through a lot because of my girl. I don’t think a single meal will be enough to make up for this, will it?”
I addressed Myra with my usual smooth-talking charm. But Myra, who would normally play along, had a dead serious expression.
Why is she being so ominous?
I need to go get that gold coin before someone else does.
“Priestess?”
“You…”
Myra narrowed her eyes and glared in our direction. To be precise, she was glaring at Mirabelle, who stood beside me.
“You… you were a witch?”
Guess I’m not getting that coin back.