“Are you keeping a pet somewhere?”

At the Witch of the East’s sudden remark, Dorothea’s expression became dumbfounded, “A pet? What are you talking about?”

“A being that eats the food given by its owner, is protected under the owner’s shadow, and wags its tail excitedly when it sees the owner’s face. That’s what I’m talking about.”

“So what…”

Dorothea’s mouth closed.

Realizing “what” the Witch of the East was referring to, the girl’s face turned fierce.

“He’s my friend. Don’t talk about him like that.”

Despite receiving an angry glare, the Witch of the East merely shrugged nonchalantly, “Then shall I call it a slave? No, this expression isn’t very good. A slave is labor and also property. In a relationship of give and take, a slave sometimes gives more to the master than what the master gives. That relationship might be unfair, but it’s not one-sided. Indeed, pet is better suited. Though, I hear that children these days mercilessly eat even pets if necessary, so it seems a bit different from my notion.”

“Teacher!”

Terrifying mana erupted from around Dorothea’s body.

Mana that, if she had become a wizard, could incinerate a mountain in one strike, if an alchemist, could instantly reconstruct an entire palace, and if an enchantress, could cover an entire city with a barrier.

When that mana manifested in the form of necromancy, all sorts of evil spirits in the surroundings began to go berserk.

They didn’t just make their presence clear, but merged with corpses buried underground and soon transformed into the shape of a giant monster.

A chimera, made by combining a lion’s head, a bear’s body, a lizard’s tail, and various other corpses, spewed black poison from its mouth, threatening the Witch of the East.

Dorothea glared at the Witch of the East with resolute eyes.

Of course, she didn’t think for even a moment that she could do anything to her teacher with just this much.

But it was also impossible to just nod, as if nothing had happened after hearing such a great insult.

At least this much anger, she wanted her teacher to acknowledge.

That was her thought, so.

Crunch!

When the summoned undead actually bit the teacher’s neck and splattered her red blood, the one most surprised was none other than Dorothea herself.

“Huh, huh…? Huh!?”

Crunch, crunch.

The sound of bones breaking and crumbling echoed.

The undead chimera, which had achieved the feat of injuring the Witch of the East’s body—something that would astound anyone who knew her—moved its jaws as if it couldn’t resist the deliciousness, savoring the Witch of the East’s flesh.

“Stop! I said stop!”

Dorothea hurriedly issued a stop command, but the chimera undead didn’t even pretend to listen.

Since Dorothea had poured too much mana into creating the undead, driven by emotion.

With good quality materials and abundant mana, one could certainly create powerful undead, but ultimately, controlling such undead depended on the caster’s skill.

Dorothea had given birth to a monster that she herself couldn’t handle.

Dorothea gritted her teeth and this time summoned multiple undead simultaneously, lowering the mana for each one.

They attacked the undead chimera according to Dorothea’s orders, and only then did the undead chimera stir as if annoyed.

Its muzzle was covered in blood.

The battle that unfolded afterwards was close to a one-sided devastation.

The newly summoned undead were crushed too easily before the undead chimera, and the undead chimera turned its ominous gaze towards Dorothea.

Dorothea had long since cut off the supply of mana to the chimera, but she would be defeated faster than the undead chimera would disappear.

It was then, as Dorothea gulped.

“My apprentice, my apprentice, my immature and foolish apprentice. Even this clown act no longer brings forth laughter.”

The Witch of the East, who had somehow risen, was looking at Dorothea with a sneer on her face, contrary to her words.

Serious wounds had appeared around her neck and shoulders, exposing bone, but as the Witch of the East’s mana changed into something like pure white clay and stuck to the wounds, they disappeared in the blink of an eye, replaced by smooth skin.

The undead chimera seemed to instinctively sense danger and took a defensive stance, but the next moment, its body crumpled like a paper cup squeezed in both hands.

A feat of such a high level that Dorothea couldn’t even guess what magic was used.

Only then did Dorothea stagger as if her legs had lost strength, but even so, she struggled to endure without sitting or falling to the ground.

“Foolish one. How many times have I told you not to use magic crudely with just mana? Well, do you now feel like heeding your teacher’s advice?”

“…If it’s punishment for attacking my teacher, I’ll take it. But this is this, and that is that.”

“Tsk, such a stubborn one.”

The Witch of the East clicked her tongue.

The next moment, Dorothea’s body floated into the air as if caught by something.

Facing Dorothea, who looked like a cat caught by the scruff of its neck, the Witch of the East made eye contact and said, “Once upon a time, long ago, there was a hero. This hero was so stupid that he kept giving one-sidedly without properly securing compensation. How do you think people received him?”

“They were grateful, weren’t they?”

“At first, yes. But later, they took his dedication for granted. Even later, it turned to mockery and contempt.”

Various emotions like intense hatred, anger, and contempt swirled in the Witch of the East’s eyes.

Facing that dangerous and ominous color up close, Dorothea involuntarily trembled.

“A witch’s techniques are often seen as an all-powerful treasure box to ordinary people. However, that’s why you shouldn’t carelessly bestow that power. Humans don’t show reverence for things obtained without proper compensation. At the end of that are one of two things: livestock that waits for sweet honey to drip from above without trying to do anything themselves, or fools who mistake kindness for a right. Do you want your so-called friend to become like that?”

At those words filled with conviction, Dorothea shook her head.

The next moment, Dorothea’s body fell to the ground.

Bang!

As Dorothea let out a silent scream from the impact of her bottom colliding with the floor, the Witch of the East laid back on the sofa again and said, waving her hand, “Then, next you must pay for the crime of rushing at this teacher without knowing your place.”

“Ugh… W-what do I have to do?”

“Survive.”

“What?”

As the Witch of the East flicked her finger, a black bead from the shelf moved above Dorothea’s head, then burst, sprinkling powder on Dorothea’s body.

“I’ve inscribed a mark that attracts evil spirits and curses. Nearby corpses and souls will all turn into undead and attack you. You just need to survive them.”

“Wait, how long does this effect last?”

“A necromancer of equal or higher rank than the one who inscribed the mark could remove it. In other words, either you become better than me in skill, or I remove it.”

Dorothea’s face turned pale.

A smile appeared on the Witch of the East’s lips.

At the same time, several ghosts wearing pure white, fluttering clothes grabbed Dorothea’s limbs and lifted her into the air.

“Teacher, wait, calm down, at least let me gather some catalysts and travel equipment, Teacher, Teacher! Hey!”

“Let’s see, last time I threw you into a forest full of trolls, didn’t I? This time, the sea beyond that would be good. Go for a swim in the cold seawater. The water ghosts will play with you, so don’t worry about being lonely. If you happen to die, I’ll make you an undead servant, so don’t worry.”

“You crazy old ha—“

Dorothea’s words didn’t continue to the end.

Her body flew into the air, leaving only an afterimage.

Afterwards. It took about 4 weeks for Dorothea to return to the Witch of the East’s house, and during that time, Dorothea experienced about 67 near-death crises.

This was generally how the Witch of the East’s education went.

***

“Dorothy! I was worried because I hadn’t seen you for so long! Did something happen?”

After surviving the Witch of the East’s arduous education, Dorothea visited Glückstadt after a long time.

The one who welcomed such a Dorothea was Tip, who looked like he was about to run out barefoot.

Dorothea, while shuddering at the days she had experienced for 4 weeks, waved her hand instead of voicing complaints or lamentations.

“It’s fine. I was just busy running some errands. More importantly, you, somehow your complexion seems to have improved?”

“Of course, that’s thanks to Dorothy! Now no one in this city bullies me. Rather, they’re scared and watch their behavior around me, you know?”

Tip smiled cheerfully.

Unlike before, when he was dirty and had wounds all over his body, now Tip’s clothes were neat, and his skin was clean too.

Perhaps because he was eating much better than before, he had a delicate beauty that could be mistaken for a girl if not for the hat on his head and loose clothes.

Seeing this, Dorothea let out a sigh of relief.

“Yeah, that’s good. With this, you should be fine even without me now.”

“Huh?”

Tip’s smiling face hardened like stone.

With trembling pupils, Tip asked Dorothea, “W-what do you mean by that?”

“What do I mean? I can’t keep coming in and out of here forever, can I? Anyway, I’ve learned as much as I can from the tailor shop, too.”

If Tip’s condition had become a mess during the time Dorothea hadn’t shown herself, Dorothea would have hesitated to leave Tip behind.

But belying such worries, Tip looked fine.

It seemed that because Dorothea had frequently used magic to “support” Tip until now, he had reached a level where others wouldn’t touch him even without Dorothea’s separate help.

Well, he seemed to have endured well on his own even before meeting me. He should be able to endure now that the situation has improved compared to before.

“Then, does that mean we won’t be able to meet again in the future?”

“If I have a reason to stop by this area someday, we might meet again. But not as often as now.”

Glückstadt was a fairly large city in this area.

However, if one expanded the radius of activity a bit more, there were plenty of cities larger, more splendid, and with stronger characteristics than Glückstadt.

Once the clothing issue was resolved, there was no need to visit this place, which wasn’t even that close, several times again.

“I see. Then, it can’t be helped.”

Tip hung his head low.

It was a dejected appearance for anyone to see, but Dorothea ignored it.

Her teacher’s words that relationships that were too dependent on one side weren’t good were engraved in her mind like an imprint.

That day, there were no particular incidents.

She learned techniques from the seamstress as usual, ate while talking with Tip, and then left the city, that was all.

And, the next time she visited the city.

When Dorothea went to the tailor shop, she heard shocking news from people near the store.

“The seamstress here? I heard she was taken away by soldiers?”

“They say she made and presented underwear for the lord’s beloved young lady to use, but she delivered it with sharp, small needles stuck in the clothes. The young lady was injured, and she’s imprisoned for that crime.”

“They say they won’t take her life considering her past contributions and excellent skills, but well. I don’t know how long she’ll be held.”

Towards the shocked Dorothea, Tip approached and comforted her.

“I’m sorry, Dorothy. I tried to help somehow, but of all people, it was the lord… But, they said visits are okay, so if you go often and bring food or something, it should be fine. Yeah.”

“…I see.”

When Dorothea nodded, Tip’s face brightened for a very brief moment before hiding that light.

However, Dorothea’s eyes were already coldly frozen.

***

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