Episode 368

Ozma placed her outstretched hand back on her waist and muttered in annoyance, "I don't know why there are so many uninvited guests coming without warning today. I'm tired."

I blinked in surprise.

A strange aura had enveloped her entire body, but it had softened a lot. It wasn't just her demeanor, but also her facial expression.

Ozma seemed to be watching Seren cautiously. Or was it just my imagination?

Seren said, "I thought I told you not to do anything conspicuous."

"I did not. We are in a space only we can enter, and we are quietly subduing this person," Ozma replied.

"Is that so? So that girl over there is a newcomer to this witch society?" Seren sneered. "How interesting. Then you seem to have found a suitable candidate."

Suitable candidate? Did she mean a candidate for the witch society or something else? Questions rose in my mind like clouds, but I first had to resolve this unpleasant misunderstanding.

"I'm a man," I said.

Seren coughed slightly.

Then, Ozma said, "He may look like that, but you never know what is underneath. It wouldn't be strange if he turned out to be a two-meter-tall, burly man."

"What does that—"

Ozma beat her to it. "He is hiding his appearance with a magic tool. We were just trying to check. We should at least know what he is hiding, right?"

Seren's sharply raised eyebrow was lowered somewhat, but this was still a bad development for me. If Seren turned her back on me now, I would have to resume my troublesome fight with Ozma.

"I admit that I am hiding my appearance. However, that was for a personal reason, not to specifically deceive you." I pointed to Dorothy so she'd sort things out. "We wouldn't have run into each other if that crazy woman hadn't kidnapped me in the first place."

Seren frowned again. "Is this true? He was actually kidnapped?"

"I didn't know that." Ozma quietly avoided Seren's gaze. "Honestly, I'm not interested in what any other members are doing. But this has already happened, so there is nothing I can do. He is a Badniker, after all."

Seren looked at me with a complicated expression. "Badniker?"

Ozma asked, "What is it? Any ideas?"

"Not really... I've just been seeing a lot of Badnikers in the south these days," Seren answered.

"Have they caught onto something?" Ozma asked.

"I'm not sure. Their intelligence network is excellent, but they aren't very influential in distant places like the south..." Seren replied briefly before glancing at me. "Anyway, is that why you tried to silence him?"

"How can that be? I don't want to pick a fight with the Iron-Blooded Lord either. I was just trying to tinker with his brain a bit," Ozma said.

"You mean memory manipulation. The success rate is less than fifty percent." Seren sighed. "Isn't being an idiot better than being dead?"

Her reaction seemed not to make sense. Meanwhile, I was trying to comprehend this situation.

Seren and the witch society are already familiar with each other.When did it start? Did she get involved with them while working as the master of the intelligence guild in the south? Or did she know them before that?

I always assumed the worst-case scenario was true first. I couldn't look favorably at the fact that Seren had a connection with the Abanaham Witch Society, which was currently cooperating with the church.

Could she possibly...?

The Seren Goodspring I knew grumbled a lot, but she always did the right thing. She was a model hero, although she would deny it with a disgusted expression. However, I knew the truth. There were very few talented people willing to risk their lives to save someone they didn't know, so it would be a huge shock to me if Seren had joined the Dark Church.

Seren thought about it before finally saying, "Just let him go."

As expected, I could trust her.

The moment she said that, the atmosphere became tense and cold.

The first person to object was Dorothy. "Just let him go? Without even erasing his memory?"

Seren nodded. "Yes."

"How interesting. What if he goes and tells Delac everything he heard today? Will you take responsibility if the witch society is publicly persecuted by the empire?" Dorothy demanded.

"The reason the Abanaham Witch Society hasn't been targeted despite dabbling in forbidden arts is that it has stayed within certain bounds. This matter isn't something that can be dismissed lightly, but it isn't serious enough to warrant imperial punishment," Seren argued.

I felt a strange sense of unease at the moment.

Not serious enough to warrant imperial punishment? Did she mean cooperating with the Dark Church? No way.

I stayed quiet while observing the situation. Then, one possibility came to mind. It couldn't be...

Unsure, I finally spoke with an incredulous expression. "Ah, really. If cooperating with the church to summon a demon king isn't considered serious, then what counts as one?"

A crack rang out, like the sound of something freezing.

It wasn't a metaphor. It really felt that way.

I saw Seren's robe fluttering, and there was a stinging intensity in her blue eyes.

Is this the blessing of the forgotten god? It seems like the power of someone called Frost or something.

"The demon king's descent? Did I just hear that correctly?" Seren asked gravely.

Given her sharp expression, my guess was correct. Seren had been cooperating with the witch society, but she hadn't known that they had crossed the line.

However, the members of the society didn't seem particularly flustered.

Ozma let out a deep sigh. "Things happened to turn out that way."

"Happened to turn out that way?" Seren echoed. "What are you saying—"

"You know exactly what I'm saying. What can I do? There is no other way." Ozma laughed and continued in a hollow voice, "We searched the entire empire. We consulted with masters of magic, gathered every talented person we could find, and deciphered tens of thousands of records from ancient kingdoms. It was all meaningless. The empire can no longer be a source of inspiration for us."

"So you want to join the church?" Seren asked.

Ozma nodded. "Yes. Perhaps the demon kings and the Dark Pope can give us answers. After all, they are experts when it comes to other worlds. Summoning demons is an act of calling beings from another world."

"This isn't a proper method. If tens of thousands of people die in the process—"

"It will be regrettable, but to be honest, we don't really care. After all, we are outsiders." Ozma tilted her head. "Don't you feel the same way?"

Seren sucked in a faint breath. The fierce intensity around her that had felt like a blizzard had faded slightly.

Ozma shrugged. "Of course, that is just words. I have no intention of standing idly by and letting a massacre happen. The best way to move forward is the method you suggested. On that note, has there been any progress on repairing the OOPart[1]?"

Seren remained silent, causing Ozma to smile like she hadn't been expecting an answer.

"I thought so. No matter how skilled the dwarf craftsmen are, there is no way they can repair something they have never seen before. Now, isn't this enough? Get out of the way. Let's finish this quickly so I can rest," Ozma drawled.

Seren sighed and looked at me. Her blue eyes were difficult to read.

"I will persuade this boy. I will never let this reach the ears of the Iron-Blooded Lord."

"That is an interesting claim. There is nothing more meaningless than a verbal promise," Ozma remarked.

"What then? Should we take the Oath of Mana?" Seren asked.

"What are you talking about?"

"It seems that there is no convenient choice. Damn this world." Seren clicked her tongue, muttering something incomprehensible. Then, she fixed her gaze on me. "Do you see the door behind me?"

"I do."

"If you see a gap, run right away."

Her words were so blunt that silence prevailed.

The people surrounding us let out mocking sighs.

Ozma looked incredulous. "Are you serious? You are going to part ways with us just to save that kid? It isn't like we are going to kill hundreds or thousands of people. We'll just be messing with one child's brain. Is that so unacceptable?"

Seren shook her head. "That isn't the issue. The point is that this person is innocent. You kidnapped him on a whim and now you don't want him anymore, so you plan to erase his memories and send him back..."

The corners of Seren's lips twisted sarcastically. "Are you messing with me right now?"

No one spoke.

Seren continued, "I made an alliance with you because I thought you were a group who knew its own limits. If we start clashing over trivial matters like this one, it will be difficult to work together in the future. Every time this happens, we will clash and we will eventually become enemies. Therefore, I think now is the right time to sever ties."

Dorothy laughed slightly when she heard that. "Ozma, what are you worried about? She is practically asking you to kill them. Just give her what she wants."

"You can't make such a decision recklessly. Shi-Hyeon's knowledge is very unique," Ozma reasoned.

"Then just do what you are good at. Capture them, neutralize them, and squeeze the information out of them," Dorothy shot back.

"Please don't act like this is an almighty skill. Memory manipulation is a very meticulous task. There are bound to be omissions when extracting complex information. By the end of the process, people usually end up broken," Ozma argued.

"Then what? Shall we let the two of them go just like this?"

Ozma sighed. "That isn't possible. It can't be helped. Let's just capture the two of them first and think about it later."

Dorothy smiled with satisfaction and looked at us. "That's what I like to hear."

The rest of the group surrounded us.

A brief silence fell. The situation was worsening, so I glanced at Seren. How strong is she now?

It wouldn't be enough if she was at the same level as when I had last seen her. She would need to be at least on the level of Mir wielding Mjolnir to have a chance of winning in this situation.

In that case, I can just fight as Luan, taking them all down or capturing them... No, wait a minute. My thoughts suddenly halted. Why is it quiet?

The vibrations that had been making the tower shake had completely vanished.

At first, I had assumed the source of the vibration was Seren. However, the more I pondered, the more this felt off. They were on opposing sides now, but Seren and the witch society had originally been allies. There was no reason for her to attack the tower, the hideout of the witches, as if she wanted to destroy it. She probably had some type of access pass.

I suddenly heard a sound that didn't fit the atmosphere. I belatedly realized that it was the sound of someone chewing cookies.

Our gazes, which had been on each other, naturally turned to the side.

In an unusually dark corner of the round table was a presence that felt out of place in this setting. It was as if she had been there from the very beginning.

"I was wondering why it took you so long to buy some cookies," Lise Ladygoth said in a deep voice before looking around. "Thanks to you, my valuable time has been wasted. How are you going to compensate me?"

Silence ensued.

Lise continued, "Try to come up with an excuse. This doesn't look like the De Marlin Refreshments Store, right?"

"As you can see, it is not," I said.

Lise nodded with a satisfied expression on her face. "I thought so. No matter how much the world has changed, a mage would never open a snack store."

Only Lise could speak freely.

No one else could speak so easily, not even Seren. This girl seemed to have some sort of idea of what was happening, so she hadn't shown signs of being intimidated even when opposing the witch society. However, her expression was tense and stiff as she looked at Lise now.

It was only natural. This wasn't some type of ghost story, yet she had actually witnessed a little girl with hair several times longer than her body suddenly appear at the round table without making any noise. Her hair was also curly at the ends, like snakes. Anyone seeing that for the first time would feel numb.

I was very happy with the current situation.

Crunch.

Lise shoved the remaining cookie in her hand into her mouth. The bag she was holding, or almost hugging, was definitely the one I had left at the entrance before stepping through that mysterious door.

Lise glanced around. "By the way, who are these brats?"

1. Out of place artifact ☜