Ball of the Witch and the Beast – Part 06
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Translator: Kell
Albus’s expression hardened at the mention of Thirteenth’s name, hatred seeping into her gaze. “Ask Thirteenth for help? Weren’t you listening to me? I’ve told you over and over that Thirteenth is trying to destroy this kingdom! That’s been his goal from the beginning. My grandmother died because of the Magic he brought in. If it weren’t for him, Wenias would’ve been at peace! And you want me to ask him for help? If Thirteenth was going to run the kingdom in the first place, why didn’t he just take over?!” She wasn’t even shouting anymore. She was screeching.
All the anger, insecurity, and frustration she had bottled up inside burst like a broken dam, making her lose her temper.
Albus suddenly relaxed a little. Letting out a sigh, she flashed Zero a twisted smile. “I see. I get it now. You think I lack the ability. You think that Thirteenth should run this kingdom. You want to hand over Wenias to him! You’re no longer on my side. Thirteenth told you—”
“Enough!” Zero snapped. Albus jumped and shut her mouth. “You speak with certainty when you have nothing but suspicions and speculations, and deem anyone who disagrees with you an enemy. You are like a child who does not know reason. Yet you call yourself a Mooncaller Witch? A direct descendant of the great Solena? Absolutely disgraceful.”
The moment Zero mentioned Solena’s name, Albus’s expression changed. Her eyes fell to the floor, trembling. “Grandma… is on my side. She watches over me to make sure I don’t make mistakes. She’s always kind to me. Unlike you, she doesn’t just leave me and go away! ”
“I see. Your illusion of Solena is very soft to you.”
“She’s not an illusion!”
“Enough. Talking about it will get us nowhere. I will search for Thirteenth. You said he snatched the kingdom’s heir, but I assume he will give a better excuse.”
Zero snapped her fingers, and the dress she had been wearing vanished, replaced by her usual long cloak.
I suddenly realized that I was also in my usual gear. Now that’s some handy Magic. Or maybe Sorcery? Sometimes she did supernatural things like it was nothing.
“Calm yourself down until I come back. Remember, lass. I am not on anyone’s side. I simply work for what I want. And I want the Kingdom of Wenias to be at peace.”
She didn’t urge me to go, but I followed her anyway. The priest slowly fell in behind us, and Lily, watching Albus worriedly for a bit, crawled out of the bed.
I could hear Albus breaking down beyond the closed door.
“Why? Why?” she repeated. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Pooch dashed out of the room and bowed deeply towards us. “Please,” he said, his voice a whisper, but my ears caught his words. “Save the young lady… Save my master.”
It was an uncharacteristic, earnest, and desperate plea.
I responded by raising my hand, not turning around.
We packed up and left the castle at night.
We could have waited for dawn, but with Albus in that state, it didn’t seem like a good idea to stay in the castle for too long.
“It looked like she was doing surprisingly well,” I said. “Telling her to count on the person who killed her family was a mistake.”
As we climbed down the long set of stairs that led from the castle’s main gate to the city’s central square, I looked back at the castle towering into the sky.
The city was dark with the lights out, but light still spilled from the castle’s windows. I could even hear the voice of people in an uproar. They were probably searching left and right for the one who let the snake out of the dungeon.
“The lass I knew was not that foolish.” Zero’s words brought my gaze back to the front. “Despite her young age, she was a sensible witch who put logic first. She could have taken a few wrong turns, but Thirteenth would have been able to put her back on the right path easily. Something clearly went wrong somewhere. Even if Thirteenth did in fact turn traitor, we still cannot have a proper conversation with her.”
“I agree,” the priest said, walking a few steps behind me. “She was throwing a tantrum. It’s probably a good thing we left the castle early. The best thing to do when a child’s whining is to leave them alone. With how she was acting, she could have labelled us as traitors the next morning and order our execution.”
“I don’t think she’ll go that far.”
Not like we’d go back to being all buddy-buddy the next day, either.
“So how’re we gonna find Thirteenth?” I asked.
“I have an idea,” Zero answered.
“Sister and brother on the same page, huh?”
The witch raised an eyebrow at me. “You should have an idea as well. The perfect place to make contact with Thirteenth.”
I blinked repeatedly. I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about. I gave her a confused look.
Zero lowered her brow. “You can be terribly slow sometimes, Mercenary. I am talking about the first time you met Thirteenth.”
That time I was forced summoned for the first time in my life and had a life and death experience?
We were on our way to the Coven of Zero’s lair called the campus back then. When we arrived at the town where the lair was located, all the townspeople were dead. We then entered a church where the entrance to the lair was supposedly hidden.
“Oh.” I stopped in the middle of the stairs.
“Do you remember now? Yes, the town that was destroyed by the witches, Latette. That place was under the watchful eye of Thirteenth. And most importantly, there is a Magic circle there for a forced summoning.”
“So if we head to Latette’s Church…”
“Based on what we have experienced so far, there is a high possibility that Thirteenth will summon us.”
“Uh… I don’t have the slightest idea what you two are talking about,” the priest said in a tight voice.
“Oh, uh, there’s this small town called Latette.”
The priest raised his hand. “No, I can guess that from the conversation. I’m talking about this forced summoning thing. Is that what was used to transport us from Moonsbow Forest to Wenias?”
“Yes.” Zero nodded. “If we use that, we can get to Thirteenth without much effort.”
“I’ll pass,” the priest replied firmly.
I was about to ask him why, when I remembered how he was hovering between life and death from the effects of the forced summoning. He was throwing up afterwards.
My mouth curved into a grin. “Come on now, Father. It was rough for me too at first, but you get used to it.”
“Wipe that ugly grin off your face! Unlike you, I’m not a monster. I’ll die before I even get used to it.”
“I was fine,” Lily, who had been silent until now, cut in.
Sure enough, the priest’s mood grew worse. “Exactly! Cause you’re clearly a monster yourself!”
Lily hung her head low, clearly hurt.
The priest froze, then pressed the crease between his eyebrows awkwardly. “You’re supposed to say ‘that monster saved your life’.”
“Huh?”
“Oh, so you’re aware that the squirt saved your life, eh?”
“A swarm of rats caught me. I’m not dumb enough to believe that it was a miracle from God.”
It didn’t look like he had any intention of thanking Lily, though.
Scowling, I looked at Lily. “And why are you acting all embarrassed?
“I thought… I thought he’d be mad at me. I thought he would say I should mind my own business. Or he’d rather die than be saved by a rat.”
“You’re so feeble it’s sickening,” the priest hissed.
How can you be so harsh towards this innocent girl?
“You should be proud,” the priest continued. “Act like you did me a huge favor and ask for compensation.”
He suddenly sounded like a kind churchman. I had saved his life several times, but he never told me to ask for anything.
Lily grabbed the hem of her dress restlessly, confused by the sudden offer. “C-Compensation? But I didn’t do anything important.”
“Are you saying that saving my life is not important?”
“N-No, that’s not it.” She fumbled for words to say.
“The foul-mouthed priest is saying he will reward you,” Zero said. “I suggest you accept his offer.”
“But I don’t want anything… and I didn’t save him for a reward.”
“Then you don’t have to ask for anything,” the priest said. “I’ll wait a few days, but after that, I’ll pretend we never had this conversation.”
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