Witch fights with witch, a universal truth!
Witches basically just can’t stand each other.
Each of them has their own reasons for becoming witches, lived in different eras, and in extreme cases, were even born in completely different worlds.
Of course, it wouldn’t be fair to say that they quarrel only for those reasons. It’s one of the ‘reasons they dislike each other,’ but there’s actually a more fundamental reason behind it.
Is it a rivalry over their loyalty to the demons they serve? Or is it jealousy, thinking that someone else has received more favoritism? Those could be reasons, but they still feel a bit lacking when you call it a ‘fundamental’ issue. Even if it seems so, the demons are quite fair. Someone else’s rice cake might look larger, but deep down, they have confidence that they won’t be cast out, so they won’t feel jealous for that reason.
If you really want to pin something down, there is one thing, but she is no longer a person of this world.
So why do they hate each other so much?
The reason is surprisingly simple.
It’s just that each witch’s personality is horrible when it comes to understanding and loving others.
Resentment, hatred, desire.
Just looking at the names of those emotions, it’s strange that they don’t hate each other. Above all, witches live faithfully to their own emotions.
Mix this with the time and place they were born, and with the ideologies and thoughts they had to have, plus the competition of loyalty to demons, and it’s just strange that they don’t hate each other.
Because of this, witches usually didn’t cooperate. They preferred to resolve situations by their own power, even if it was a bit more difficult. Of course, the result was the worst humiliation, with three witches dragged off to face divine judgment and one captured by humans.
Such were the witches, and yet—
“You have a rather interesting face for someone who met the Saintess directly. Guess hiding away in a corner of the continent helped with your skincare?”
The one who didn’t bother hiding her scorn was a woman with white hair and skin just as pale. She didn’t even want to give the other witches at the same table a glance, fixating her bright red eyes on the tips of her nails.
“You were just sitting there doing nothing while I was risking my life asking for information! What right do you have to say that!?”
The one shouting and banging her remaining fingers on the table was the only one among them with a different race. An elf with sharply pointed ears.
The Witch of Resentment.
Facing the witch of resentment glaring at her with burning eyes, the white-haired woman shifted her gaze and shot a look back. No, maybe saying ‘shot a look’ was too gentle to describe it. Her gaze was no less fiery than that of resentment darted at her.
“Speaking unnecessarily and spilling useless information. Thanks to you, we know all too well what that brat did, right? If you hadn’t butted in, the Elven District would’ve fallen apart on its own.”
“Who do you think it is that knows the true identity of that being? It’s because I peered into it through my consciousness.”
“And if you hadn’t done that, you’d still have the residual consciousness inside Arlil and could still use that consciousness.”
“What do you think I heard from what I said? You think a witch’s magic can remain where a divine angel sent by gods passed by? If I had done nothing, I wouldn’t have gained this level of results and would have wasted the opportunity. Be grateful!”
“Is there any meaning in the information revealed only after so many witches were drastically killed off? And even if you learned just that much, it doesn’t change what we need to do.”
“How can you say that when you flat-out refused to talk to me when I suggested discussing it!?”
“Enough, you two.”
As if he had the power to say so, a man with his arms crossed watched their bickering with indifference. That man looked like he had three times more muscle than any of the witches at the table. His crossed arms looked as thick as sturdy trees, and the muscles bulging like rocks seemed impervious to a knife’s stab. Though, with his armor on, a knife wouldn’t get through either.
He had healthy bronze skin and was donned in armor as if preparing to head into battle. The only part of him without armor was his face, which he had removed his helmet and placed on the table.
“We gathered here to have a somewhat productive discussion, right? I don’t see any productivity in what you two are arguing about.”
At his words, resentment scoffed.
“And what could you possibly tell us that’s productive? I’m the only one doing the work here. You two just need to listen to me and follow along. Is that really so hard? Have your brains finally started to develop muscle and your comprehension is lagging?”
“Well, if I wanted, I could directly extract information from you right here.”
At the man’s declaration, resentment narrowed her eyes.
Among the witches present, not a single one had imagined losing to another witch. Each thought they could exclude other witches with their confidence. The same went for the man who said that, and for the witch of resentment glaring at him, as well as the indifferent-looking white-haired woman focusing on her nails.
Therefore, the typical outcome following such remarks was that one witch would take action, and the others would respond, causing the meeting to fall apart, but—
“…Fine, even though your words are annoyingly infuriating, I’ll let it go this time.”
“…Hmm.”
When resentment gritted her teeth and said that, a spark of interest crossed the man’s eyes.
“That means you’re in a hurry.”
“If I weren’t, I wouldn’t be talking to someone like you.”
Resentment had never imagined she would lose to another witch. In fact, she had so much confidence it was practically impossible to think that way.
…Yet, for some reason, she couldn’t envision herself winning against that infuriating Saintess.
It wasn’t that the Saintess was exceptionally clever, able to discern all the witches’ schemes, nor was she the kind of monster who could alone fight a million troops and endure.
But the Saintess was a being purposely sent by the gods.
That overwhelming holy power making her the ‘Saintess’ was something she simply couldn’t cope with. She had no idea how she could overcome it and kill the Saintess.
Moreover, it had recently been revealed that she served not just a goddess but a Demon God who had created demons in the past.
For a normal opponent, Resentment might have been able to handle it alone, but that monster was not a being she could deal with alone.
The man, who had heard the words ‘you’ with a sneer raised an eyebrow but chose not to respond, silently nodding his head. It was a gesture to continue.
“She was sent directly by the gods. That’s not the problem. Without any past prior to being sent to this world, she might as well have been created by the gods themselves. Thus, the Saintess must be eliminated. Otherwise, we will forever have no chance of winning.”
The man fell silent for a while, finally nodding in agreement. After all, the fact that the Saintess was such a threat was undeniable.
“So what’s the plan?”
“…Just once, even once is enough. I’m talking about us three pooling our powers together. If we each charge in one after the other, it’ll be pointless if the Saintess shows up.”
“Do you think the Saintess will be at a disadvantage just because we show up together?”
“Even if the Saintess is strong, she can’t be in several places at once.”
The white-haired woman asked, to which Resentment replied.
“You all surely have your thoughts about the Saintess, right? Don’t you?”
Resentment glared at the white-haired woman while speaking.
“Don’t you resent the Saintess? If this continues, this fight will ultimately lead to a victory for the demons. All of us could have risen to a winning position, but because of that one Saintess, it all fell apart. Plus, you’ve lost that hatred.”
“What does my losing her have to do with anything?”
The white-haired woman reacted sharply to that statement. Resentment shrugged.
“Well, hatred is never purely about something. You know that very well since you are ‘hatred’, right?”
“……”
The one called Hatred glared at Resentment, but soon looked away.
“And you. You want to ‘have’ her, right? You are ‘desire’. You need her within your grasp to feel fulfilled.”
“……”
The one called Desire didn’t bother responding. He simply lifted one corner of his lips.
“And I resent that woman. So let’s pour out all these emotions. This time, let’s definitely gain the upper hand.”
“Even so…”
It seemed that even as Resentment spoke like this, Hatred still had plenty to say. Resentment glared at her with irritation, but Hatred didn’t even glance in her direction and continued.
“How are we supposed to get to where the Saintess is? Isn’t she living right in the middle of human territory?”
“Don’t worry about that.”
For the first time since gathering, Resentment smiled satisfactorily.
“I don’t know if it’s a divine revelation or what, but wherever we appear, the Saintess will definitely show up.”
Even if it was a divine revelation, it wasn’t always correct. Everyone present knew that well, and in fact, they had occasionally succeeded in killing the Saintess and her companions. Of course, the current Saintess was definitely not the same being as they had dealt with back then.
Regardless, the gods couldn’t exert absolute influence over this world. If they could, the demons would never have existed in the first place.
Even if the Saintess said that souls were immortal beings and, thus, bring judgment before the gods upon death—
Then shouldn’t they just avoid dying?
Just like they had been doing for the past 500 years.
Just like the demons had been doing for thousands of years.
…Although such a thought was quite simplistic.
However, all the experiences she had gone through so far were blocking her from considering such thoughts.
To what extent did Goddess Ariel think about this before sending such a being to the mortal realm, and why was Demon God Baal supporting and lending strength to that plan—
Only about three beings, including the gods, could think like that.
And of those few capable of such thoughts, the only non-god wasn’t even in a place to ponder on them.
*
Though it’s not something I should be thinking about, seeing as I supposedly created this world, all the different races in it seem a bit weird.
I thought about whether the settings for Lamihi, who was supposed to be a heroine, and the elves she belonged to went a bit too far while crafting their settings. I mean, sure, back when I was making those settings, I thought they were good enough. It was only after looking back that they appeared extreme.
But, it seemed that the other races, which I hardly touched, have gone much farther than that.
The beastmen, for whom I had only established the basic background, ended up being a bunch of religious fundamentalists who deny modern civilization, believing in eugenics. The gnomes, who had supposedly formed a friendly relationship with humans due to their technical prowess, turned into mad scientists obsessed with explosions.
It’s not just an affection for explosions; it seems that explosions have become a kind of culture for them, making it almost ordinary to work in that field if you’re a gnome.
They are said to have expertise in explosives not only for military use but also for festival fireworks, engines, mines, and tunnels.
That must be why the fireworks I saw during that evening celebration were incredibly lavish.
The fortunate thing is that these folks seem to be friendly toward me.
They consider me a person who provided a new direction for explosions or something.
…Though to make that happen, I’d virtually have to participate, right?
Could it be that they are treating me like this just because of that?
“So, please, Saintess, if you could give us just a bit more holy water…”
“Oh, sure, I’ll give it to you, but could you please just let go of this for a moment and let me—”
“Wow, truly the Saintess! How incredibly compassionate of you!”
That was how my conversation went with the regional representative.
I was narrowly avoiding the urge to huff right in the representative’s face.
The silver lining was that my power was essential for making that powerful bomb. At least I wouldn’t have to deal with a situation where they were cranking out bombs at the gnome district’s church.
And, well, the technology actually is useful.
“And about Hicks…”
“I know, I know, just try to stay put, would you?”
When the regional representative, who obviously looked like a short and plump middle-aged man, extended his chubby, moist hand toward me, Rina took two steps back, startled.
However, the regional representative didn’t seem to take offense at all. Rather, he was radiating sheer joy as if he had simply managed to secure that promise.
“Alright! That’s great!”
…The sweat running down his face must just be from the heat, right? It’s not like he’s sweating because he’s excited or anything weird, right?
“There’s so much we want to give you, Saintess, but since you’ve turned down everything we’ve offered…”
“Oh, no, really, it’s fine.”
“Don’t you think faith shouldn’t be sold for money? Truly the Saintess!”
As I watched that guy look somewhat touched, my conscience pricked at having thought about profiting from my holy power after retirement, but I couldn’t express that out loud.
Honestly, if I accepted money here, I feel like I’d end up being asked to sell holy water regularly, so saying that wouldn’t work, huh.
It would be better to just give it once as a favor, then come up with various excuses later to avoid doing it again.
“In fact, it’s only right that we should provide you with a better room than the one you’re staying in. However, there aren’t many buildings fit for average humans in the gnome district. Most of the furniture is made for gnomes, so it must be very uncomfortable for you.”
“That’s really fine.”
What I was assigned was a much more lavish and comfortable room than the one I typically stay in. Not that my usual place is uncomfortable, but as I’ve been staying there for a while, it felt more like home, and had a strangely comforting aspect to it.
In contrast, this place feels almost like a simple hotel, adorned nicely but a bit smaller than the guest room of the central church.
I had been informed beforehand that there were no single rooms, so I didn’t mind.
“I’m relieved. I’m grateful for your broad understanding.”
No, really, there’s no need to go that far.
The regional representative was treating me personally as if he were accompanying me all the way to the hotel lobby; isn’t that a bit over the top?
…Or maybe, given my status at the highest point of the church, this treatment is to be expected?
In truth, it was me who asked for such treatment, but since I don’t know much about protocol, I’m not really sure what’s appropriate.
Not knowing, I guess I just better keep quiet.
“Well then, have a comfortable night. Tomorrow you’ll show us a perfect item made from the holy water you prepare. I’ll make sure it’s something that will no longer make us tremble in fear against whatever comes from beyond the wall!”
“Ah, yes…”
In the end, the conversation dragged on, and it wasn’t until a little later that my party could head up to the room.
*
“A four-person room, huh.”
“What can we do? We have a lot of attendants. Not many buildings in the gnome district are made for human sizes.”
“Yeah, I know that much.”
That’s right. The room we were assigned was a four-person room, shared between me, Linea, Aurora, and Rina.
Hmm, now that I think about it, it feels a little awkward to have someone else squeezed in with the three of us.
…Thinking this way really makes me realize how much time I spend sharing a room with two beautiful girls.
Though the other two are minors, so I’m doing my best to minimize any exposure to maintain my personal conscience, it’s still rare that I can completely avoid seeing them.
And now Rina was going to be mixed into that equation.
I’ve seen their swimsuits, and we have tried dressing each other up, but seeing them change clothes is definitely a different issue. Even if it’s just for one night, it’s something to ponder.
Given that it’s come to this, maybe I should just change quickly after washing up.
“Then, first, Clara sister should wash up.”
Fortunately, Aurora said that to me, but—
“Huh? Why does she get to go first? Why?”
Of course, it was Rina who raised a fuss, as expected.
Ah, yeah, I was kinda expecting that.
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