Dorothea fished out the indigo gloves floating on top of the puddle of water created by the melted Witch of the West..

[The ‘Tin Knight’ evaluates that the gloves have a strangely grandmotherly feel!]

“…Shut it. What does the appearance matter?”

Though she said that, Dorothea’s expression wasn’t very good.

It couldn’t be helped, since these were the gloves she would have to wear from now on.

It was then that the gloves emitted a faint light.

As if gulping down Dorothea’s obsidian-like mana, all the dirt on the gloves disappeared and their design and size changed.

“Oh.”

Looking over the gloves that had changed as if new, Dorothea let out a short exclamation.

She already knew from Adelaide’s Belt of Amaryllis that the eight sacred treasures had user-customized effects, but she only now realized that even the basic form changed according to the owner.

As she put the gloves on her right hand, her eyes twinkling slightly as if pleased with the changed design, it happened.

Flinch.

Dorothea’s body shook greatly.

Her companions entered a state of alert, thinking something might have gone wrong, but Dorothea stopped them as if everything was fine.

After about 30 seconds of this. Dorothea, who had been silently concentrating on something, finally opened her mouth.

“…This is ridiculous. No, I understand the intention, but—really.”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ says that speaking cryptically causes discord among companions!]

[The ‘Tin Knight’ requests information sharing, saying to quickly tell if Dorothea has found something out!]

“I got it, so stop nagging! It hasn’t even been a minute, you know?”

While grumbling complaints, Dorothea complied with the Tin Knight’s request.

In a way that showed seeing was believing.

As Dorothea stretched her hand forward, the surrounding space seemed to ripple and something came out of thin air.

No, it poured out.

Clink clink clink!

The unique sound of metal as coins and ingots collided. The golden glow boasted a brilliant presence under the sun.

Enormous. Truly mountain-like treasures poured down before the party’s eyes.

“Uh, uhh.”

Faced with a hill of gold and silver treasures about twice the Tin Knight’s height, Adelaide stuttered as if broken.

Even for her, coming from a well-off family, this was wealth she had never seen before in her life.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ evaluates that as expected of a big shot, the reward is also impressive!]

Although the party had acquired quite a lot of treasure in the Taros Labyrinth, even that paled in comparison to the mountain of treasure before their eyes.

Sophia nodded in understanding, saying, “Ah.”

“It’s the Witch of the West’s wealth. Indeed, it would be much more convenient than creating and storing in a treasure vault. She could take it out and use it anytime. The risk of theft would also be relatively low.”

“When she was alive, that is.”

It was quite a vicious joke for those who had just finished off the Witch of the West.

Franka, listening nearby, actually snorted, “As expected of have-nots, your eyes are rolling. Killing the owner and taking their property, there’s no better robber.”

The companions thought Dorothea would get angry, but she was unexpectedly calm.

“Ha.”

No, rather, a sardonic smile even peeked at the corners of her mouth.

“W-what?”

Franka took a small step back seeing that smile.

And soon, as if realizing something, her eyes widened.

“Wait, don’t tell me. Silencing… Are you saying your business with me is done!?”

The thought of that terrifying strategy of using and discarding made Franka’s face fill with fear.

Even the two familiars who had been lying limp, showing how exhausted they were, jumped in surprise and stood guard in front of Franka.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ expresses admiration for the perfect villain roleplay!]

“M-Miss Witch.”

“Indeed, a thorough cleanup.”

Even her companions showed reactions mixed with admiration and shock towards Dorothea.

“No, I didn’t say anything, why are you all misunderstanding and making a fuss!?”

When Dorothea glared with angry eyes, those who had been giving her suspicious looks all averted their eyes at once.

No, to be precise, all but one averted their eyes.

[The ‘Tin Knight’ advises that this is why one’s usual conduct is important!]

Clang!!

The Tin Knight, with a U-shaped dent in his head, fell backward.

At that strike that seemed like it would soon reach the realm of staff striking techniques, the little lion gulped.

Dorothea, having finished the execution, turned her gaze to her peer alchemist.

“Franka Aglaia.”

“W-what is it?”

“You called me a robber earlier, didn’t you?”

“No, that’s, well. Um.”

“So, are you not going to take any?”

“Huh?”

After blinking a few times for a moment.

The slightly hunched shoulders straightened again, and the unstable, darting eyes regained stability.

She had understood the meaning contained in Dorothea’s words.

“Are you saying you’ll divide the shares?”

“I’ll take these treasures. But, there’s no way the Witch of the West’s possessions end with just gold and silver.”

That was true.

Alchemy was fundamentally a study of money.

It required enormous investment to hone, but once one succeeded in mastering it, one could gain tremendous wealth.

Not to mention Elphaba, who had been known as a master of alchemy for at least hundreds of years.

Besides material wealth, there were various tangible and intangible rights, and as an alchemist, she had left abundant legacies such as surviving homunculi and various research materials.

Of course, it wouldn’t be easy to devour and absorb all of that, but if one succeeded, the benefits would be enormous.

The Aglaia family, already one of the wealthiest in the federation, would soar even higher, and Franka herself would reach a higher level as an alchemist.

“I don’t know about tangible things, but anyway, rights like that aren’t easily taken. I don’t plan to stay here for long. The same goes for the alchemist’s legacy. It might be worth referencing, but it doesn’t have much meaning. So you can have all of that.”

Dorothea’s words were truly a sweet temptation.

However, that only made Franka all the more suspicious.

From her experience, Dorothea wasn’t the type to bestow unconditional kindness.

“What’s your purpose?”

“Just agree to two things. First, conceal Elphaba’s death.”

It was the end of one of the Four Great Witches.

While ordinary people might be one thing, there was no way the powers of each country wouldn’t be interested in this news.

They would try to collect related information with their eyes wide open, and soon they would learn about Dorothea’s party as well.

Since they didn’t directly witness the witch’s death, it would only be a “speculation”, but even that speculation alone would clearly make their future journey more difficult.

Franka seemed to realize this much as well, as she nodded obediently to this.

“That’s fine. It’s more convenient to pretend my old master is still alive for a while to take over the legacy, anyway. But, even if we hide it, it will probably be revealed eventually.”

“I just need to buy some time. The more ambiguous the time of death, the more suspects there will be, and the suspicion towards us will decrease.”

“And the second?”

“That’s…”

Dorothea started talking at length, and while Franka seemed quite reluctant at first, she eventually accepted Dorothea’s proposal.

Next came a belated exchange of information.

While the Tin Knight and Dorothea had some time to briefly understand each other’s circumstances while moving by boat, Adelaide and Sophia hadn’t even had time for a leisurely conversation.

Former disciples of the Witch of the West.

Franka seemed quite surprised by Sophia’s words about a city-state where their descendants lived together.

“You didn’t know at all?”

“I told you before. I had only directly seen an area about the size of the cities around the main castle at most… Creating an entire country just to delegate calculations and research instead of doing it herself. What an insane scale.”

“Then, are you the only remaining disciple now?”

“No, there are a few outside, too. Most of them are just riffraff who took the title of ‘Witch of the West’s disciple’ in exchange for huge donations.”

The next topic was Adelaide’s story.

Adelaide cautiously opened up about her bloodline, that was, the Lion Duke’s lineage, but Dorothea’s reaction was light.

“So, according to the Witch of the West, your ancestor was a homunculus? Hmm, well, that could be possible.”

“I-is that all?”

“Anyway, it was 200 years ago, right? Even if your ancestor’s blood is mixed in you, it would be a tiny fraction of a fraction, and the rest would all be human, so what’s the problem? It’s not like having a homunculus ancestor has any side effects. Besides, you’re already hanging out with these two, so what’s new?”

“Oh, my.”

[The ‘Tin Knight’ admonishes that pointing fingers is not good!]

“These” and “two” each reacted.

They also seemed to have little interest in Adelaide’s secret of birth, similar to Dorothea.

Adelaide inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.

While expecting her companions to react like this, she felt the anxiety that had remained in her heart saying, “But what if,” melting away.

***

While the Tin Knight’s party was thoroughly enjoying the sweetness of victory with legacy distribution and after-party celebrations.

Outside the island, there was someone ruminating on the bitterness of defeat.

It wasn’t the Witch of the West or her Mk.2.

They had long since departed from this world to be agonizing over the pain of defeat.

“Damn it, damn it! This is bullshit!!”

In other words, the man ruminating on defeat here was not a being who had departed from this world.

Even if his appearance was bizarre, looking like moving bones, he was still a living being.

That was why he was angry.

“99 years!! I’ve lived with a leash on my neck for 99 years! And I couldn’t even fill the last 1 year, just 1 year!”

The man, Cap’n Bill, felt the contract binding him to the Witch of the West shattering into pieces.

The restrictions binding him disappeared and freedom returned, but he couldn’t be happy.

What good was freedom when he couldn’t receive the reward he was supposed to get!? His 99 years had become wasted years!

He wanted to rush into the barrier right away, but he couldn’t move now.

His proud golden ship was buried upside down on the peak of some deserted island, his crew were skewered on protruding rocks like kebabs, and Cap’n Bill himself had his lower body crushed under a huge rock.

It was a spectacle created by some mage with snow-white hair.

They didn’t die due to the curse of immortality placed on him and his crew, but it seemed it would take quite some time to regroup.

“Just you wait, I will never, ever forget this grudge…!”

The white-haired witch who had blown him and his comrades away.

And Franka and her companions who had probably taken down Elphaba.

Recalling their images in his mind, Cap’n Bill vowed revenge.

This, too, was a legacy, if one could call it that.

The legacy of wealth left by the witch that forcibly came to find its owner even if they didn’t want it.

***

https://ko-fi.com/genesisforsaken