Ventorino Kingdom - The Witch and Reunion (1)
[Ventorino Kingdom - The Witch and Reunion]
"As expected, they didn't grant permission."
"Y-yes, that's right...."
"I see."
Mercede gave a small nod to the castle guards, then turned on her heel and left. Only after the princess from the neighboring kingdom was gone did the men around her finally let out the breath they had been holding.
"Wow, I can't believe the princess came herself."
"Seriously. For a mere attendant, too... they must really value him."
"But where's that half-blood bastard?"
"No idea. She came alone, didn't she?"
"She dumped him on the knights? That's impressive."
While they gossiped among themselves, Mercede trudged back toward the royal castle and muttered in disappointment.
"Ugh, I knew it would probably turn out like this, but it's still disappointing."
It had already been a full week since she had last seen Valdes. Since he had left the capital briefly to carry out work as the Demon Prince, she likely wouldn't see him for at least another week. That was far too painful.
If only permission had come through... I'd have used it as an excuse to make him come back right away.
"Sis~!"
As she drew near the castle, her younger sister Mari came running while calling her name. Even with heels that weren't exactly low, she was hurrying along while holding up her dress with both hands, so Mari must have been every bit as desperate to hear the result.
"Careful. You'll hurt yourself."
"Huff, huff... So? How did it go?"
"Well... it went exactly as we expected."
"Aaah.... I wanted to see my older brother...."
At her sister's answer, Mari's face fell at once, and she lowered her head, dejected.
"If I'd known this would happen, I never would've taken that offer. I came thinking I'd be with my older brother, but instead I got nothing but an annoying little brat hanging around me...."
At her sister's grumbling, Mercede couldn't help snorting with laughter. It wasn't exactly wise to speak so carelessly in a country where that "annoying little brat" was the prince, but she had her own stress piled high and didn't feel like scolding her for it.
Besides, she knew very well how much Mari was suffering.
"That little prince seems absolutely crazy about you."
"So what? Even if you handed me an entire battalion of brats like him, I'd still say no."
Alfonso Ventorino, who had fallen for Mari at first sight, was a prince. His father had once been a warrior in the Hero's party that saved the continent, while his mother came from the current ducal house that had poured enormous wealth into the kingdom's restoration. Both sides had exceptional looks and overflowing talent.
So naturally, Alfonso himself had been adored by the people of the Ventorino Kingdom since childhood for his handsome face. This was the first time he had ever been captivated by anyone, and he was throwing himself at Mari with all the fervor of someone determined to return the love he had always received.
But while Alfonso had fallen for Mari, Mari loved Valdes even more deeply.
To Mari, the ardent advances of a boy in his first love were nothing but a nuisance.
"He's unbelievably devoted, though. I hear he brings you gifts every single day."
"Exactlyyy... I can't even refuse them, seriously...."
Both of them were princesses of high standing, which meant a single wrong move could be interpreted as a diplomatic insult. Of course, Mari didn't care much about that. Even as neighboring countries, the influence they could truly exert over one another was smaller than people imagined. A mere prince being turned down wasn't enough to start a war or cut off trade.
Still, at the very least, they needed to keep dragging this out until Valdes returned. If possible, they should stall until his operation—or rather, his plan—began. Valdes hadn't asked her to do it, but Mari wanted to. For the sake of the man she loved.
"A week... I don't know why it feels so long."
"I know. If it's this bad for us, I can't imagine how the others are holding up."
"Ugh, I don't even want to think about it."
"Heh. I just hope Vald comes back soon."
"Me too...."
The two sisters were still lamenting the absence of the man they loved when they fell silent at the sight of Alfonso running toward Mari from afar, calling her name.
At that same moment, Valdes had just arrived in front of the witch's house with three women in tow.
"There it is."
A single house stood lonely in the middle of the forest. Other than that, there was nothing about it that seemed especially witch-like. If anything, it looked so ordinary that one could easily believe it belonged to a woodsman or a hunter instead.
"Hmm, is this really the place? I can't sense anything at all...."
Because it looked so plain, Irena, who had guided them here, gave an uncertain reaction as well.
"It is. I can feel it clearly."
"I'm glad, Master! I was exhausted from wandering through the forest all day. Right, Rachel?"
"Y-yes? No, I, um, I'm fine...."
"Fine? What's fine about it? You suffered just getting to the forest, didn't you? Those annoying bastards kept ambushing us."
Valdes ignored Yueli, who was teasing Rachel behind him, and walked up to the house with Irena. The moment they had taken only a few steps, the door opened and a woman appeared.
"Oh? You found me pretty quickly, didn't you~? I thought it would take a few days."
"Young master, that woman might be...."
"Hmm."
She was a beauty with dark, sun-kissed skin. Over her long black hair, which fell in loose waves, she wore a wide-brimmed pointed hat. She had black hair, but she wasn't a demon. If anything, she seemed more like one of the barbarian tribes that lived in the northern continent.
She also wore the kind of outfit that screamed I'm a witch at a glance. Her clothes were highly revealing, exposing the upper curve of her chest and the area above it, and her figure was undeniably generous. By contrast, the lower half of her body was concealed by a skirt that fell all the way to her ankles.
The witch looked Valdes up and down, then spoke again.
"Did you come here looking for me?"
"No."
"Hmm?"
"Young master?"
The witch and Irena both stared at Valdes in surprise at his denial.
"I came to meet the Great Witch, not you."
"So I'm...."
"No, you're not the Great Witch. If I had to call someone the Great Witch for a mere level like yours, I wouldn't have needed to come all this way."
"......"
At that blunt reply, the witch said nothing at all and took a slow drag from the pipe in her left hand. Because her movements were so unhurried, the three women other than Valdes and the witch remained wrapped in the tense atmosphere until she finally exhaled the smoke.
"Hoo... and you knew this was the home of the Great Witch, yet you still show up so rudely...."
"I only said you weren't the Great Witch because you're not the Great Witch. How is that rude? Introducing someone else as the homeowner when guests come calling seems a lot ruder to me. Besides...."
Valdes turned his head and fixed Rachel with his gaze.
"...the heir to the ancient covenant came as well."
"What do you mean by tha...."
"Enough."
Before the witch could finish, a voice came from inside the half-open door. It was unmistakably different from the witch's own, and much younger—clearly that of a girl.
"Looks like you've already figured everything out."
"...Master."
"Master?"
While Yueli was still blinking in surprise at the sight of the witch calling someone younger than herself "Master," the owner of the voice finally appeared.
"Oh."
"So this is the... Great Witch?"
"Isn't she just a kid?"
At the figure that emerged, Valdes gave a low murmur of admiration, while Irena and Yueli were openly stunned.
It was a truly unexpected sight. The person the witch had called her master was a girl barely tall enough to reach the witch's chest. And it wasn't just her height; standing side by side, the two of them were opposites in almost every conceivable way.
The Great Witch had pale skin and light blond hair. Even the length of her hair was short, unlike her disciple's. The color of her clothes was different as well. While the disciple wore something in dark tones, the Great Witch wore a bright dress with pale blues and reds woven into it.
"That's amazing. How did you know?"
"Because the atmosphere spilling out from inside was so ominous it'd be stranger not to notice. Weren't you deliberately making it obvious so we'd catch on?"
"Ah, I was just getting a little angry while scolding my disciple. Looks like it leaked out after all."
"M-Master!"
The disciple witch flinched at her master's casual exposure of her own embarrassment, but the master simply gave her a sharp tsk of warning. More than master and disciple, they somehow felt like mother and daughter. Of course, their builds and heights were complete opposites.
"Still, to notice it like that is impressive. There should be a powerful barrier set up around this house. It's not broken, either... hmm, I see. You're just incredibly strong, then?"
She muttered to herself and nodded.
"Yes, I was slow to catch on. Just how much power do you have? You don't seem very old, either. As for your race... huh? What's with this odd ratio? You're definitely a human-demon hybrid, but... the demon part is strangely small. Less than a quarter, more than an eighth? About one-sixth? Hmm...."
The Great Witch's eyes flashed. They were the eyes of someone looking at an interesting specimen, a research subject. The look of someone clearly seeing not an equal life form, but something lower than that. The kind of gaze a noble might cast on a commoner or a slave.
"That look... disgusts me."
"Hmm? Ah, sorry. That was a mistake. I've just never seen someone like you before in my life, so I got a little carried away."
Her expression returned to normal. But Irena and Yueli couldn't shake off the unpleasant feeling that lingered in their chests. They had heard that the Great Witch had lived for an extraordinarily long time and was eccentric and odd, but seeing her in person was even more unsettling than they'd imagined.
What was more, it left a bad taste in their mouths to have her stare at the man they loved, their master, like that. As for Valdes himself, he remained utterly unruffled.
"Let's go inside and talk, shall we? Are you going to keep us standing out here?"
"Should I? Come on, everyone, get in~."
Receiving the Great Witch's less-than-warm hospitality, the four of them entered the house.
Inside, the space was far larger than it had appeared from the outside. It was spatial expansion magic. Valdes was impressed that she could use such a high-level spatial spell to this degree. As expected of a Great Witch. He doubted even the Demon King or a great archmage would be able to pull off craftsmanship like this.
"Now, now, everyone sit over here. Ruri, could you bring some tea?"
"Yes, Master!"
The disciple witch called Ruri headed for the kitchen, and the rest of them sat down across the table from the Great Witch.
"Hmm. One strange human-demon hybrid, one succubus, and one human... or is it just one human? This one's a little strange too. She's definitely human, but I can feel a strong spirit presence from her. What an interesting group."
"There's no point wasting time, so I'll get to the point. My name is Valdes. I'm the Demon Prince, and the next Demon King."
"Demon Prince?"
It was a strange thing. Even with that much power, he wasn't the Demon King. More than that, the fact that he was a Demon Prince despite being neither pure-blood nor half-blood but something awkwardly mixed with more human blood than demon blood was odd—and oddly amusing.
"My request is one thing: an alliance between demons and witches."
"An alliance? Why should we?"
"We're going to start another war within two years. The plan is to unify the continent under demons. If possible, I'd like to borrow your strength when that time comes."
"So why should we? Is there any reason we have to side with one of you? Wouldn't it be better to take a massive reward from the losing side and help them instead? And you know what witches are like, don't you? Witches hate banding together. We don't like meddling in the affairs of the world, either. If it's just moving independently for a price, that's one thing, but even if I am a Great Witch, I can't speak for the whole lot. ...Oh, Ruri. Thank you."
The Great Witch took a sip of the tea her disciple brought her.
"The war that's coming is one we'll overwhelmingly control. And even so, I'm asking you for an alliance because I want to minimize our casualties and eliminate variables."
"Overwhelmingly in control? Heh. That's what you said eighteen years ago, too, and look how that turned out. You swallowed a quarter of the continent and still got crushed."
"This time is different. Because... I'm the Hero who broke that demon."
"Huh? What in the world does that...."
The Great Witch's eyes widened at the absurd expression on her face. Little by little, her features filled with astonishment, disbelief, and excitement. Her vast experience and countless pieces of knowledge were combining in her mind, and from them, she was already deriving an answer that fit the present situation.
"...Reincarnation Magic? One of the three forbidden magics of the demons?"
"Correct."
"Ha. That's ridiculous... no, there's nothing impossible in magic. If it's Reincarnation Magic, that strange ratio of blood makes perfect sense. You wouldn't have learned it yourself, which means you tampered with the caster's side of the formula? ...Interesting. Very interesting."
As its name suggested, one of the three forbidden magics of the demons could not be cast without demon blood. That was why she assumed he had altered the formula on the caster's side, and in truth, that was exactly what had happened.
"And the caster is still alive. Though she has lost quite a bit of power."
"...The Demon King. So the caster is the Demon King. That's why you're the Demon Prince. Hm, this is really fascinating. But does that make your side overwhelmingly favored?"
"Right now I'm infiltrating the continent in secret, carrying out both revenge and a campaign of seduction. I've already got the Ulsro royal family in my hands."
"That's true, isn't it? And now that I see Ventorino blood sitting right beside you, your next target is there. Hmm."
"That's right. I guarantee it. Within a month, I'll break the queen and the princess, and completely shatter the king's mind. After that, I can either turn him into a puppet, or lock him in his room and have the queen serve as regent in his place."
"I see... so this really is completely different from eighteen years ago."