Ventorino Kingdom - The Witch and Reunion (2)
“So… you’re saying you’re completely different from how you were eighteen years ago.”
The Great Witch fell into thought.
If his confidence was genuine, then the continent really could fall into the hands of the demonfolk. Even if only half of it did, that would still be a victory for them. The return of the Great Demon King, who had existed a thousand years ago, would usher in a world ruled by demons.
Looking at the boy’s body, he didn’t seem to have fully awakened yet. The two years he had mentioned must have been the period after his final awakening. If he was this strong now, then by that time he would surely be far stronger than she was.
Stronger than me… a man stronger than me….
It was an unsettling feeling.
After centuries of life, and after becoming the Great Witch, she had never seen many opponents who were as strong as she was. Part of that was because she had lived almost entirely in the forest and only rarely went out, but it also meant the realm she had attained was truly sublime.
And now, the existence of a man who had reached a similar level had awakened a brand-new sensation in her.
I don’t like that look in his eyes….
The first one to notice that was Irena. But there was nothing she could do. She couldn’t afford to be rude to someone who had come here to make an alliance.
“Then what is the price?”
After much deliberation, the Great Witch finally asked about the price. It was a positive sign.
“I’ll give the witches an autonomous district.”
“…What?”
“We’ll have to discuss the exact location, but I’ll give the witches a piece of land of the size you want, in the place you want, as much as possible.”
Valdes’s answer shocked more than just the Great Witch. Irena, Yueli, and Ruri were all stunned as well. Everyone except Rachel, who lacked the background to understand the situation, was taken aback.
In any case, Valdes was the next Demon King, and the Demon King had already arranged things so that he could delegate everything to him. So whatever proposal he made would not be a problem. That was why Irena had had no idea he was considering this kind of offer.
“...I don’t understand. Witches hate being crowded together, and they hate being interfered with. So why would you make an offer like that?”
“That’s a lie.”
“What….”
“You hate being crowded together? That’s a lie. You spread that rumor on purpose, didn’t you? To escape persecution from humans.”
“!!”
“The witch persecution incident by the Church of the Goddess, about five hundred years ago. It probably started then. That’s when you began living as dispersedly as possible and hiding your identities.”
The Great Witch was taken aback.
Five hundred years was a very old incident, so old that records had become sparse. It would not have been a short span even for a witch, much less for a human. He was a demon now, but he had not even lived fifty years in total; this was not the sort of thing he should have known. And since even the Church of the Goddess treated it as a black mark and kept it secret, there was even less material to study.
“…….”
“You spread those rumors to emphasize that you’re harmless and to avoid useless persecution, right? As for hating interference, well, most races do. You’re not especially lonely by nature, either, but… witches in particular have a strong sense of kinship.”
“…Ha!”
“That’s why you’re so protective of your disciples, too.”
She couldn’t help a dry laugh, and even that quickly turned into disbelief.
Where in the world had he learned all that? It was knowledge that would be difficult to obtain unless one was a witch, and even then the younger witches themselves didn’t understand much about their own kind. They simply assumed that way of life was the norm because their elders had lived that way.
“Amazing. You seem to know witches better than most witches do.”
“Of course. I did a lot of research. And there are witches who’ve defected to the Demon King’s army, too.”
“Even so… whew. Fine, let’s say that’s true. But not all witches are like that. And if we have such a strong sense of kinship, then our hostility toward other races is pretty strong too.”
“Witches have many different traits, but the most important thing is that they place their own safety, their family’s safety, and the safety of their kin above everything else.”
“Who doesn’t kno— wait…? ...So that’s why you want an autonomous district.”
“Exactly. No matter what happens, I’ll protect you all. Of course, that’s on the premise that you don’t recklessly oppose us and that you cooperate.”
“…….”
It was a more attractive condition than she had expected.
Probably most witches would agree once they heard it. An autonomous district guaranteed by the next Demon King, who might become the ruler of the continent. If safety could be secured, then more than half of all witches would likely prefer to live together.
That was how important safety was to witches. In fact, they were willing to scatter and hide their identities just to stay safe. Becoming a witch guaranteed a long life, but living long did not necessarily mean becoming strong. Most of the magic witches used was non-combat in nature, and only a small number of them studied magic with the aim of becoming stronger.
“...For now, I’ll bring it up at the next regular gathering. It’s not urgent anyway, is it? And I can’t promise the outcome, of course.”
“That’s more than enough.”
A smile formed on Valdes’s face.
Even that alone was a satisfying result. Just bringing it up at the gathering was, in essence, already most of the game won. Even if she refused here, he had several other conditions he could still use.
Originally, he had planned to bring them out when war broke out and the witches suffered heavy losses, to console them—or when he needed their active help. But giving them the offer now didn’t seem like a problem.
And he still hadn’t even used the oath of the former Ventorino dynasty. The witches were ultimately fated to ally with the demonfolk.
After the rough negotiations ended, the atmosphere relaxed, and small talk flowed more easily.
It was dinner time, so they ate together as well.
“Hmm. It really is strange. This isn’t the first body created through reincarnation magic, but something about it is very different.”
“Is that so? I only know one other case, so I can’t really tell the difference.”
“This is the sort of thing you can only tell if you’re able to analyze the body more deeply and observe it with detachment. Your magical ability seems fairly impressive, but you’re still no match for me.”
As she said that, the Great Witch, Dorothea, looked brimming with confidence and pride. She even set her hands on her hips and lifted her chin a little, but because she looked so much like a little girl, it came across as cute rather than dignified.
On appearances alone, anyone would have guessed that she was the disciple and Ruri was the Great Witch.
“By the way, when is the next gathering?”
“Two months from now.”
“What?”
He had expected gatherings to happen more often, so that came as a surprise.
“Still, you’re lucky. Witch gatherings only happen once every six months. If you’d had bad luck, you’d have been waiting four or five months.”
“Hmm. What about holding an emergency gathering?”
As far as he knew, it was also possible to hold an emergency gathering to ask for the witches’ opinions or consent. He had heard that from a witch who had defected to the Demon King’s army, so it couldn’t be false.
“Not many witches show up to emergency gatherings. They’re sudden, after all. For something this important, a regular gathering is better. Unless you’re in a real hurry, but you’re not, are you?”
“I see. Then I’ll hear your answer separately later.”
“Huh?”
“We, or rather I, don’t have much time. I have to leave tomorrow.”
“Ah, really? That is a little disappointing.”
Dorothea clicked her tongue as if she truly regretted it.
A day was far too short.
There were so many things she wanted to do with Valdes. First of all, she wanted to discuss magic with him. For someone who had only studied magic for less than fifty years, Valdes possessed a surprising breadth and depth of knowledge. Above all, he had a sharp wit and excellent analytical ability. With that level of skill, he had probably created one or two spells already, and she wanted to analyze them.
She also wanted to study his body. She wanted to examine the mixed-blood body born through reincarnation magic. It could lead to new knowledge, and if she was lucky, perhaps even to a great revelation. In that sense, Valdes’s body was extremely appealing to Dorothea from a research perspective.
“If we started discussing magic today, I’d probably never be able to send you off tomorrow, so I guess I’ll have to postpone it.”
“Agreed. Though… when did I say I’d let you research my body?”
“What!”
Startled by Valdes’s words, Dorothea shouted.
When the others’ gazes turned to her, she lowered her head in embarrassment and grumbled under her breath.
“That’s cruel! What was that just now!”
“It was a teaser to arouse your interest.”
Dorothea had been wearing a sulky expression, but after a moment of thought she opened her mouth again.
“……The price. Come to think of it, I don’t think the price is enough.”
“Huh?”
“The autonomous district for witches is the price for the whole witch race to ally with the demonfolk, right? But that’s an alliance that would require us to participate in war. Then you should give me a price, too, since I’m the one who has to work for it.”
“What?”
“That’s how you make a deal with a witch. Hurry up and give me the price.”
Valdes smiled with his eyes at that shameless remark that was nonetheless not entirely without logic. He had reacted as if he were surprised, but this was already within expectations. To raise the odds of an alliance with the witches and to pull her in more actively, he had intended to trick her a little, if only because he had to.
“...Let’s make it postpaid.”
“What?”
“You can’t finish it in just one day anyway, can you?”
“Hmm….”
“Besides, the alliance hasn’t even been decided yet, so I can’t pay you now. Who knows whether you’d just take the payment and half-ass the work?”
Dorothea was dumbfounded. Witches valued promises more than demons did. And yet he was suspecting her with such absurd reasoning.
“I’m the Great Witch! There’s no way I’d break a promise!”
“How do I know that? My body’s going to be pretty tempting, isn’t it? If the alliance is made, I’ll lend you my body for three days. How about that?”
“Three days? That’s too short.”
“I’ll extend the period depending on the results. And if you provide other help to the demonfolk, more specifically to me, I’ll extend it again.”
“...I let myself get carried away.”
Only belatedly did she realize she had made a mistake. He was such an enticing research subject that she had let her greed show. Even though there was still nothing definite to study, his attitude had made her misjudge the situation. It had been too long since she last negotiated with someone.
“Can’t be helped. Fine.”
“Good.”
To make sure this time, Dorothea took out a witch’s vellum and drafted a contract. Worried that he might be up to some other trick, she hurriedly wrote out the terms and sealed the vow with magic.
After confirming that the contract magic had been completed, Valdes spoke.
“Ah, by the way, I might be too busy to come back here again. You’ll probably have to come to me.”
“...What?”
“We haven’t decided on the exact place or time, have we? If not, it can also wait until after the war.”
“You bastard….”
She was an idiot. She had fallen for such a basic scam. Her heart had grown impatient, and she had made one mistake after another. She regretted not having her disciple review the contract for her.
“Sorry, sorry. When you’re the one being researched, I’ll treat you really well.”
“...You’re really pissing me off.”
“But wasn’t that way too easy to fall for?”
“……It’s been almost a hundred years since I last made a contract. Besides, who would ever think of tricking the Great Witch? Everyone would be too terrified to even try.”
“I see.”
That was a reasonable explanation. It wasn’t as though the Great Witch signed contracts often in the first place, and anyone who made a contract with her would naturally know exactly who they were dealing with. There probably weren’t many people bold enough to try deceiving her. Even if the contract was a little unfair, they would likely bow their heads and accept it anyway.
“Ugh, this really pisses me off. You were planning to drag me and Ruri outside and get help from us, weren’t you?”
“Well, if possible. I’m the type who uses everything I can.”
“...Hmph. Once the autonomous district is established, I’ll make sure to use you down to the bone.”
“I’d welcome that.”
Still, she wasn’t so angry that she was ready to explode. Studying Valdes’s body should only take about a week. That meant she needed four days. If she could somehow secure three days by helping him produce a good result from the alliance, then the remaining time would be manageable. She could probably provide a few minor forms of assistance and make the deal work.
And since he had tricked her to begin with, he didn’t seem like the type to be petty about it. Even if they formed an alliance, he could still break it if the situation turned sour. She didn’t know whether he had overlooked it or had done it out of consideration, but the clause about breaking the alliance had been left fairly loose in the contract.
In other words, he had no intention of toying with her too cruelly, either.
Dorothea decided that was enough.
“…….”
Without answering Valdes, she turned her head and looked at her disciple, Ruri. She was chatting with Rachel and Yueli.
It had been quite some time since she had taken Ruri in, but because the two of them had lived together alone since childhood, Ruri had always been the type to feel lonely more often than not. Dorothea couldn’t tell whether their ages were close, but seeing her so happy that she had two people she could talk to properly made Dorothea, who was her teacher and basically her mother, happy as well.
Besides, Ruri should get to see the world outside, too. She goes out to nearby villages sometimes, but she needs to see a wider world.
With that in mind, going outside the forest didn’t seem like such a bad thing after all.
Perhaps that was why she wasn’t all that angry.
“Sigh… what a day this has turned out to be.”
Seeing Dorothea sigh like that, Valdes felt a touch of guilt. In truth, there was one more trap hidden in the contract. But he would need at least a few more months before he could use it.
If she still hadn’t noticed it by then, he would use that clause without hesitation.
Alliance or not, that isn’t really the point….
Valdes smiled faintly as he thought of what would happen later, then asked the question that had come to mind.
“I noticed the rooms were assigned separately. Are they soundproof?”
“...Of course they are.”
“Really? That’s a relief.”
It truly was a relief—for Irena, whom he hadn’t properly looked after on the way here.