While the eastern part of the continent was nominally ruled by the Ionia Kingdom, the reality was different.

The royal family was certainly the largest force in the east, but their base was too far to the east, and because of that, even slightly to the west, there were many lands where the royal family’s influence didn’t reach.

The cities in such places had become semi-warlord forces, wielding authority no different from kings in their ruling territories.

The Friedel domain was in a similar situation.

They pledged loyalty to the royal family and paid taxes regularly, but this was just a matter of the lord’s personal inclination.

The domain’s operation itself was completely independent from the royal family, and Friedel protected its domain not through protection as a member of the kingdom, but solely through its own military power and reputation as a branch of the Lion Duke’s bloodline.

But did the royal family have a conscience, or was it because they calculated that if they showed such a despicable appearance of eating everything and then wiping their mouths when it mattered, other nobles wouldn’t stand still?

After Friedel’s main force was annihilated and Friedel began to be plundered as a favorite target of bandits, the royal family also sent support in their own way.

This continued even after Giselle took office as acting lord, but instead of readily accepting and using the kingdom’s support, Giselle stacked it up in warehouses, treating it as the lord’s family’s private property.

This was because the support coming from the main family was sufficient without receiving such support, and she didn’t want to see the royal family exercising various influences using this as an excuse.

She wanted to return it saying it wasn’t needed at all, but no matter what, she couldn’t refuse support sent with the king’s own seal in such a way.

There was also a calculation that treating the property as the lord’s family’s share would help stabilize public sentiment.

But now, Giselle was in quite a difficult situation.

“You want to… take the lord’s wife?”

“That’s right.”

The man with an impressively upturned mustache nodded quite confidently.

Giselle knew the man’s identity.

Marquis William Heming.

The head of one of the most historically prestigious families in the kingdom, once the leader of the noble faction, but now called the king’s right hand, a core power in the Ionia Kingdom.

While Giselle, backed by the Lennart Ducal family, had enough authority to look down on ordinary lords of Ionia, when faced with a big shot counted among the top five in the kingdom, she couldn’t help but be somewhat outmatched.

Especially since Giselle’s current official position was a subject of the Ionia royal family.

Therefore, she was flustered.

“That’s quite a sudden statement. Currently, the lady has lost consciousness due to the shock of successive tragedies, with her mind and body weakened. She’s in a state that requires extreme stability, so it’s impossible for her to move around carelessly.”

“That’s right. That’s precisely why I’ve come personally,” Marquis William Heming continued speaking as if giving a speech with exaggerated gestures. “His Majesty was deeply saddened by the death of Lord August, who was the kingdom’s proud sword, and his subordinates, and spared no support to comfort their bereaved families. But hearing that his wife still hasn’t regained consciousness, His Majesty shed tears of jade while grieving.”

Giselle’s expression remained strictly businesslike, showing no sign of wavering, but her inner thoughts were quite confused.

The rational part of her denied William’s words, thinking, “Surely they wouldn’t go that far,” but given that king’s reputation for eccentricity, there was a possibility he might have actually done so.

“His Majesty originally wanted to send his personal physician and dedicated priest to cure the lady’s illness, but there are many problems with diverting those responsible for His Majesty’s well-being elsewhere, even temporarily. So, instead, I’ve come here to escort the lady to the royal capital. Of course, preparations for any unfortunate incidents that might occur during the journey are perfect.”

“…I see.”

Giselle realized she was cornered.

When none other than a country’s king sent his right hand to treat the lady’s illness, refusing to send the lady, saying she couldn’t be sent, would cause many problems in various ways. In the worst case, there was even a possibility of dishonorable rumors spreading, like, “Isn’t the acting lord reluctant for the lady to recover?”

…But to think that a man considered the leader of court nobles would personally come to a place like this, even if it’s an order. It seems his loyalty to the king is quite deep.

While Giselle was reassessing the loyal—questionably—subject before her eyes.

Marquis William Heming was thinking inwardly.

Damn that accursed witch!

He was the connection between the Ionia Kingdom and Dorothea’s party.

He hadn’t particularly wanted to become so, but somehow it had turned out that way.

When he received the witch’s letter from an ominous crow—it might be a prejudiced statement, but seeing a crow moving with a cold, dead body without any body heat, there was no other way to express it—he soon had to scream at its contents.

Secure the Friedel domain lord’s wife. Use the excuse of escort and service to bring along a female knight named Ronnie Roxley and the people she recommends. After that, you must act immediately upon receiving this letter as time is short, and you must absolutely not hand over the lady to the Lennart side until we contact you.

It was truly an abrupt and unreasonable demand.

To go to someone else’s domain, and moreover a domain occupied by the Lennart family, and bring out the lord’s wife?

Does this damned witch mistake me for some phantom thief rather than a noble?

He wanted to ignore the letter and everything else, but the witch was truly cunning, as villains in fairy tales often were.

“If you successfully accomplish this task, in return, I will settle our existing bad blood and release the blood oath as well.”

The reason William had to continue playing the unwilling role of the king’s confidant.

The cause for which he had to keep defending the witch while being pointed at as a traitor by his former comrades.

That terribly unequal contract that said his body would immediately turn into a frog if he interfered with or acted hostile towards the witch!

Faced with the temptation of undoing the tightest and most cursed noose around his neck, William had no choice but to submit obediently.

As a result of telling various sweet words to receive an official order from the king, it seemed he planted some strange misunderstanding like, “Is this consideration for a dead friend!? The friendship between men is so hot and beautiful, how could I ignore this!? Do as you wish!” but it was a minor issue for the sake of curse removal.

After all, he and the former Friedel lord were at best just acquaintances who exchanged greetings when they met.

I don’t know why she made such a sudden request, but once this is over, I’ll finally be free! Hahaha!

Marquis William Heming laughed.

He laughed heartily deep in his heart.

Until rumors about the singing bone flutes reached the kingdom through the Magic State and the Empire, he could laugh to his heart’s content.

After they reached… well.

Perhaps he didn’t laugh?

***

When people used the word “witch”, its meaning was often negative rather than positive.

It could be because witches often appeared as villains in old fairy tales and legends, or conversely, because there were many evil witches in the flow of history, witches were described that way.

Some scholars expressed anger, saying, “Necromancers got mixed up with witches,” because necromancers absorbed various things haphazardly and then dabbled in witchcraft mixing the two professions, but whether that was true or not was unknowable now.

In that sense, the Witch of the North Orin was truly an unwitch-like being.

Her nature was kind, and unlike other arrogant mages, she held quite an open-minded way of thinking that “magic should be used for the benefit of people.”

Also, it wasn’t just that her head was full of flowers; she was excellent as an organization leader, creating a virtuous cycle where benefits returned to mages by opening magic to the public, rather than just advocating idealism.

It wasn’t for nothing that the tower mages respected her as one of the parents of the Magic State.

But as time passed, the Witch of the North Orin’s activities gradually decreased.

The number of her mentees, which used to pour out dozens every year, gradually decreased, and her appearances at official tower events also gradually disappeared.

Some said it was because she had weakened due to the long years, while others said she had fallen into lethargy due to the passing of her acquaintances from the past.

But the mentee produced by the Witch of the North, breaking decades of seclusion, declared that none of these were correct answers.

“Long ago, long before I became my mentor’s disciple, my mentor fought with a witch.

“The witch’s name was Mombi1. She was an evil witch who had lived for much longer than my mentor.

“A master of transformation magic, she lived by stealing others’ appearances and identities, and the next target this witch set her eyes on was my mentor.”

“A great mage respected and loved by many.

“The mother of the nation who played a big role in the creation of the Magic State, a great power.

“For an evil witch, who lived by stealing the lives of others, there wasn’t a more attractive prey than this.

“The two witches fought fiercely, and while Orin won the battle itself, the price was not insignificant.

“The evil witch Mombi succeeded in inserting part of her will and soul into Orin, even in death.

“Affected by Mombi, Orin’s personality and character began to distort, and as a countermeasure, Orin split her mind in two, drove Mombi into one of them, and sealed her.

“This seemed successful at first glance, but in fact, it had a big side effect.

“When the seal was stable, it wasn’t a big problem, but when the seal became unstable, Mombi on the other side began to absorb Orin’s ‘bad aspects’.”

“Wait.”

Dorothea, who had been listening to the story, interrupted, “She absorbed the bad aspects, and that’s a side effect?”

“Hmm, how should I put it?”

Gale seemed to ponder for a moment, then suddenly said to Dorothea, “Dorothea, I’m seriously ill and need money, can you hand over all your assets for a moment?”

“Are you crazy?”

“That’s exactly it.”

Gale placed a card on her finger and spun it.

“Doubt, caution, denial, these things are ‘bad elements’ when considered individually, but they’re not things that should be eliminated. Just as a card needs both a front and back to be complete, negative things have their own uses as negative things.”

Conversely, a human deprived of all negative aspects would have serious problems in their own way.

Enough for a witch who knew both good and evil, balanced both sides while pursuing good, to degenerate into a half-wit with only good aspects.

Dorothea seemed to understand the meaning as well, muttering with a serious face, “So, that’s the result?”

“Usually she’s not this bad, but it seems she was quite shocked by this incident. The seal becomes more unstable when my mentor is psychologically unstable. I guess she was quite shocked that a once cherished mentee became an evil person who carelessly throws away the lives of others as betting money.”

“Any countermeasures?”

“Time.”

It was a simple and clear answer.

“When she regains her composure, and the seal starts to stabilize, my mentor’s mental state will return to normal again. That’s why she lives in semi-seclusion in the first place.”

“…Well, as long as it doesn’t have a big negative impact on the plan, that’s fine.”

In fact, once they received public acknowledgment that the “evidence” they brought was true, and delivered the skeleton that was the Witch of the East’s delivery item, the party no longer needed to be involved with the Witch of the North.

They didn’t need to, but why?

Both Dorothea and the other party members couldn’t help but feel a strange uneasiness.

In the Tin Knight’s words, yes—an ominous sign, or “flag” if you will.

“…Let’s go see your mentor again for a moment. I have a bad feeling.”

Footnotes

1. 1. ED Note: This is the name of the main antagonist of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz's direct sequel. She's a witch who specializes in transformations.

***

https://ko-fi.com/genesisforsaken