Chapter 477: The Suspicion on the Witch

Petra, Aegis, and Kouhei were now traveling from Aegis’s apartment toward Petra’s mansion, with Petra behind the wheel while Kouhei sat nearby and quietly watched the two of them. The ride itself was fairly uneventful, but Kouhei’s attention kept drifting toward Aegis because he still could not believe how quickly she had agreed to come along with them.

Kouhei stared at Aegis for a while, wondering how she could trust Petra so easily just because Petra had promised to teach her something she wanted to know. He understood that Aegis was probably excited about the opportunity, especially after learning that she was supposedly the Holy Book, but he still thought she should have at least questioned Petra’s intentions before agreeing so quickly.

For all Aegis knew, Petra could have had some completely different reason for bringing her along, and there was nothing stopping the situation from eventually turning into something dangerous. Kouhei knew Petra well enough to understand that she was rarely straightforward about her intentions, which made Aegis’s complete lack of suspicion somewhat concerning.

"S-So I am this Holy Book person?" Aegis asked, still sounding like she was having trouble accepting what Petra had told her.

Petra had been explaining things to Aegis while driving, filling her in on what she was currently carrying within herself and what it meant to be the Holy Book. According to Petra, Aegis was the person who possessed knowledge concerning the history of the universe, which was obviously not the sort of information someone could casually hear and then immediately process like it was nothing.

"I am that kind of person," Aegis said while looking down at the palm of her hand as though she had just discovered some incredible power hiding inside her.

Kouhei had to admit that the sight was pretty funny.

He tried his best not to laugh because Aegis was obviously taking the revelation seriously, but watching her stare at her own hand like she was expecting some dramatic magical effect to suddenly happen was difficult to ignore.

It reminded Kouhei of the time when he had discovered that he was the Child of Anti-Prophecy.

His reaction had been considerably less dramatic than Aegis’s current reaction, but he could still understand what she was feeling. Finding out that you were somehow special was a strange experience, especially when the information came completely out of nowhere and suddenly changed how you viewed yourself.

In a way, it was almost like discovering that you had secretly been carrying an absurdly important title without knowing it.

"I don’t really feel any different, though," Aegis said, turning her hand around and examining it from another angle as though she might find an answer written somewhere on her skin.

"Well," Petra said while keeping her eyes focused on the road, "it is going to take quite a lot of training before you can properly understand and access the knowledge of the universe."

She spoke about it so casually that Kouhei almost wondered whether she was talking about something as ordinary as learning how to cook.

"But it should become easier for you eventually since you are going to be learning directly from me," Petra continued.

"Um, can I ask you something?" Aegis asked after hesitating for a moment.

"Of course," Petra replied.

"I have been afraid to ask because it might be a little rude, but... we met back when I was ten, right?"

"We did," Petra answered without hesitation.

"H-How are you still this young?" Aegis asked, sounding genuinely curious. "I really want to know your secret."

Kouhei glanced toward Aegis after hearing that.

Rather than sounding suspicious or frightened by Petra’s strange lack of aging, Aegis seemed genuinely fascinated by it. She had apparently been thinking about this for a while, wondering how Petra could have looked essentially the same despite the considerable amount of time that had passed since they first met.

Aegis was ten years old when she had met Petra, yet Petra still looked almost exactly the same now.

It was enough to make Petra seem practically ageless.

Considering that Petra was a witch, Kouhei supposed that it was not exactly the strangest thing about her.

"Well, I would be more than happy to teach you the secrets behind it," Petra said with a small smile. "Although, there is one little problem."

"What problem?" Aegis asked.

"You do not seem to have any mana in you right now."

Aegis’s expression immediately became slightly confused.

"However, I believe we could make that work," Petra continued. "It would require quite a lot of effort on my end, naturally, but if you are genuinely willing to see it through, then I believe you can eventually achieve it."

Petra briefly glanced toward Aegis.

"But are you really certain that this is something you want?"

"W-Well, if it is not going to cost me anything, then I would love to learn," Aegis replied.

"You do not have to worry about that," Petra said calmly. "It will not cost you very much."

Kouhei immediately looked toward Petra after hearing those words.

Something about the way she had said that sounded incredibly suspicious.

Petra sounded like someone trying to convince another person to sign up for something that definitely had several pages of terms and conditions hidden somewhere. Kouhei could almost imagine her pulling out a contract and saying that the first three hundred years were free before casually revealing the horrifying details in tiny letters at the bottom.

He continued staring at Petra suspiciously.

Petra eventually glanced at him and smiled.

The smile seemed to say that everything was perfectly fine and that he had absolutely nothing to worry about.

Kouhei, however, was not convinced.

In fact, the smile somehow made him even more suspicious.

He had known Petra long enough to realize that she was perfectly capable of hiding several intentions behind a completely harmless expression, and the fact that she had suddenly taken such a strong interest in Aegis was enough to keep his guard up.

After traveling for a while longer, they finally arrived at Petra’s mansion.

The moment Aegis saw the enormous building in front of them, her eyes widened.

"Woah, this is where you live, Miss Petra?!" she asked, staring at the mansion with open amazement.

Petra merely smiled as she continued driving toward the massive gate.

Before the car even reached it, the gate opened by itself.

Aegis’s expression somehow became even more amazed.

"Seriously?! I never thought this place would actually be yours, Miss Petra!" she exclaimed.

It was obvious that she was genuinely excited, and Kouhei could not help but notice how quickly her nervousness from earlier had been replaced by pure curiosity.

"Fufufu, you did not know that I owned this place?" Petra asked, clearly amused by Aegis’s reaction.

"Well, I was always wondering who the person living here was," Aegis explained. "I thought for sure it was going to be some celebrity or somebody extremely important, but I never expected it to be you."

"You thought a celebrity lived here?" Petra asked with a small laugh.

"Well, look at the place," Aegis replied, gesturing toward the mansion. "Who else would live somewhere like this?"

Kouhei silently agreed with her.

The mansion was certainly not the sort of place that looked like it belonged to an ordinary person. It was enormous, elegant, and expensive enough that Kouhei suspected simply maintaining the place probably required an unreasonable amount of money.

After a little while, the car finally rolled farther into the property before coming to a complete stop.

Petra turned off the engine, and the three of them eventually got out.

Aegis stood there for a moment, staring at the mansion as though she was still trying to convince herself that she was actually standing in front of it.

"I-Is it really okay for me to enter there?" she asked, still sounding slightly nervous.

"Of course," Petra replied with a relaxed smile. "You can go ahead."

Aegis slowly approached the stairs leading toward the mansion, and the expression on her face made her look like someone who had just discovered an entirely new side of the world.

Kouhei watched her for a moment before turning his attention toward Petra.

He walked over to her and lowered his voice.

"What are you trying to do?"

"Whatever do you mean?" Petra replied.

Her expression immediately became innocent, almost suspiciously innocent, as though she genuinely had absolutely no idea what Kouhei was talking about.

Kouhei narrowed his eyes.

He knew that expression.

Petra was trying to derail the conversation.

"I think you are trying to do something with her," Kouhei said. "Do not bother trying to deny it."

Petra looked at him for a moment before smiling.

"What are you going to do if I am?" she asked. "Are you planning to fight me?"

Kouhei fell silent for a moment.

The idea of fighting Petra was obviously not something he wanted.

Maintaining a good relationship with Petra was much more beneficial than unnecessarily antagonizing her, especially when he still did not know what she was actually planning. Picking a fight with her based purely on suspicion would be stupid, and Kouhei knew that.

Still, if Petra really was planning something harmful toward Aegis, Kouhei could not simply stand by and allow it to happen.

He might not know exactly what Petra was thinking, but that did not mean he was going to ignore the possibility that something could go wrong.

"Kuhihihi..." Petra chuckled quietly.

"You do not have to get so serious," Petra said, sounding almost amused by how cautious Kouhei was being. "I will not do anything to her."

She glanced toward Aegis, who was still standing near the mansion’s stairs and looking around with obvious excitement.

"I mean, how could I possibly do something awful to the Holy Book when she is that valuable?"

Kouhei stared at Petra for several seconds.

Her explanation sounded reasonable enough, and there was no obvious indication that she was lying.

That was exactly what bothered him.

Petra was not the kind of person who made her intentions easy to understand, and even when she told the truth, Kouhei could never be completely certain that she had not left out some important detail.