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Volume 2 Chapter 2 Part 1

CHAPTER 2: Omen

Siluca arrived at her destination five days after leaving the Earl of Artuk’s castle.

She was currently in a village in the northeastern part of Artuk. She was sent here in order to meet with the witch elder Zelma, a Shaman, in order to keep learning about the customs of the country of Artuk. Elder Zelma was a person whom Margaret, Vilar’s contracted Mage, claimed that Siluca absolutely had to meet if she wanted to continue being of use to Vilar, and that is why she came here now.

After saying goodbye to Zelma, she planned to visit Clara, the queen of the Werewolf tribe, and Dimitri, the vampire king who has a castle in the Forest of Everlasting Darkness in the northwest. Those two are also two of the other most important people for Artuk that Siluca was supposed to meet.

The air was cold, but not unbearably. Siluca still wore that revealing robe that Vilar gave her, but over it she wore her thick coat and a fur cloak in addition to that. And on top of that, she was also wearing a winter hat.

Like many settlements in Artuk, the witches’ settlement was surrounded by trenches, fences, and watchtowers. Two young girls with spears in their hands stood nervously at the entrance to the village, which had a sturdy gate. The level of vigilance was definitely stricter than in a castle of any run of the mill low-ranked Lord.

Siluca approached the girls guarding the gate and told them that she was an ambassador of the Earl of Artuk, and asked them to intercede with her elders. Then she shows a letter with a unicorn crest engraved on the red wax.

「You may pass. 」

After confirming the letter, one of the guards lead Siluca and guided her to the largest building in the settlement.

Only women were in the village. Many of them were young women and girls. They must have come here from various villages in Artuk to train to become witches.

The eyes of the women and girls were all on Siluca, most probably because she had both Theo and Irvin accompany her on this journey. They were all whispering something to each other and giggled occasionally.
「I feel like I’ve come to the wrong place. 」

Theo strained his body as he looked all around him, clearly uncomfortable.

「Because you did come somewhere where you normally should not be. 」

Siluca nodded. In Artuk, magic is supposed to be used only by women, and there are usually only women in this village.

「Is it really alright for us to be here then? 」

Unexpectedly, even Irvin seemed to be somewhat confused.

「The gatekeepers told us that we can pass, so there should be no problems, don’t you think? 」

「Uhm, w-well, I heard that the women who live in this village often make pacts with demons by… by sleeping together with them. Is… is that true? 」

Priscilla said while choosing her words very carefully.

「Even if it was true… then what of it? 」

Siluca cast a cold gaze at the priestess of the Order of the Crest.

「If it really is true, then they need to know that it is a sinful act and that they should stop it. 」

Priscilla said firmly. It would seem that the Order of the Crest and its minions were as eager to profile everything as either good or bad as always.

「I don’t know exactly what the witches are doing here. However, I have heard that they sometimes summon otherworldly projections, such as spirits and demons, that endow them with wisdom and power. But the one who presides over this village is called The White Witch, and she has sworn to never connect with the demon world. There are some Black Witches who prefer to turn to demons for power, but both The White Witch and the Mage’s Association are cooperating with one another in order to crack down on them whenever they surface, so there is not that many of them around anymore. However, both the summoning of the spirits and the summoning of demons can be done through the use of the same type of summoning magic… 」

「That’s right! Exactly! 」

Suddenly, they heard an arrogant voice, and from Siluca’s shadow, a jet-black cat appeared.

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It is the Cat Fairy Balgary of the world of Tir na Nog. While everyone was travelling in the carriage, he was hiding in Siluca’s shadow all this time.

「I am also a projection from another world. And I have wisdom and power to back that claim up! 」

With a smile as if Balgary just sniffed some kind of a pungent odor, he held out his right hand to Priscilla as if he wanted to lend it to her.

「Hyii ! A demonic cat! 」

Priscilla screamed and backed away in a hurry when Balgary materialized himself and started getting closer to her.

「Ha! This is why you amateurs are so insufferable. 」

Siluca laughs at Priscilla through her nose as she held Balgary close to her chest.

「Just as the men and women of this world are different from one another, so are demons and spirits different from one another. In the first place, demons are things that live in the demon world called the Abyss, while spirits and fairies can come from a variety of different worlds.

Some fairies in Tir na Nog are simply mischievous, while some of them are quite sinister in nature. Such evil fairies are sometimes called youma, and the most famous one is the pumpkin-headed Jack-o-Lantern. To tell the truth, when it comes to the Cait Sith, they are also a somewhat touchy subject, since the ones that are particularly evil are known for being able to swallow a human baby whole if they are going to feel like it. 」

「That is exactly why otherworldly projections should not exist in this world at all. They are symbols of evil and Chaos! 」

Priscilla proclaimed quite bluntly.

「It is precisely because of the Chaos and its unpredictability that these spirits cannot be entirely blamed for their actions, because oftentimes they are going to be projected into our world by accident without a clear intent to do so. Well, that was not the case with His Highness, since I summoned him of my own volition… 」

Because of the chaos, it can’t be helped because it will be projected on its own. Well, I summoned His Highness…「

「So it was the work of the devil after all. 」

Priscilla reluctantly concluded.

「Ugh, devil this, devil that, why is it that despite supposedly being a person of the cloth, all you can talk about is devil? Could it be that you secretly like devils but are hiding your perverted interests? Because if so, then I can summon an Incubus or two and tell them to pay you a visit tonight no problem~~」

While still holding Balgary in her arms, Siluca brandished her magic wand and waved it in front of Priscilla’s face playfully, and Balgary immediately imitated her notions.

「I-Incubus?!!! 」

Priscilla also seemed to know what kind of monster the Incubus that Siluca was talking about was, and her face turned bright red immediately at the mention of it.

An incubus is a type of demon that lives in the Abyss world that has the ability to show nightmares. That’s why it’s also sometimes referred to as Nightmare. They are particularly fond of showing nightmares of the erotic kind to young women.

「Who the hell is making such a racket, and what for?! 」

Just as Siluca’s group reached the building they were heading towards, the door opened with a loud bang and an old woman appeared out of it. Everything seemed to be pointing towards that old woman being Zelma, the elder of the witches who is affectionately called 「Forest Granny 」by everyone who knew her, and is respected by all the witches living in Artuk. She is also on friendly terms with the Mages Association in Elam, and her wise opinions are valued and respected even by the members of the Sages Committee.

「This person is a messenger sent by the Earl of Artuk. 」

The gatekeeper girl who led Siluca and the company to the house of the elder introduced her respectfully, and Siluca followed suit by introducing herself personally.

the Silucas said respectfully.

「Lil’ Villar… That troublemaker again, huh? 」

Zelma then glanced at Siluca and gave her a look that was filled with sympathy.

「I see he is still making his Mages wear those disgusting clothes? 」

「I have gotten used to it already… 」

Siluca sighed. However, starting with Margret, all the senior members of Vilar’s magic division are so beautiful that she was almost mad with jealousy.