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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Mod7
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“Why does the curse not work only on me?”
Hearing Johan’s words, Marguerite stiffened as she looked at him. She’d just been told not to let him know about his curse immunity, yet he’d figured it out so quickly?
No matter how perceptive someone was, it should have been impossible to notice this fact so quickly. Unless Evangeline had told him various things…
‘That damn woman-.’
She’d threatened to kill Marguerite if she told him, yet apparently she herself had already revealed all the secrets about curses and everything else?
Before even calling it hypocrisy, it seemed suspicious enough to wonder if this was a trap – telling Johan the secret then trying to kill her.
“…I’m not sure what you’re talking about?”
Marguerite tried playing dumb first. No matter how certain Johan was, he had no physical evidence. If she, a witch, simply denied everything, even he wouldn’t be able to prove anything…
While she was thinking this, Johan casually raised his hand to call the owner.
“Owner.”
“What is it?”
“Can you see anyone sitting across from me?”
“…No one’s there.”
“I see. Thank you.”
Having instantly secured evidence by calling the owner, Johan smiled gently at Marguerite sitting before him.
“Could you explain?”
“─When, when did you figure it out?”
“I started noticing around when Master told me about curses.”
Just as expected- Marguerite sighed at hearing Evangeline had revealed the secret, then nodded slowly while looking down at the steak before her.
Then she immediately placed her hand on the iron plate holding the steak. Even after some time had passed, it was still burning hot- but her expression didn’t change at all.
“How’s that?”
“How’s what… Isn’t it hot?”
“Of course not. I’m not actually here in the first place.”
“…What do you mean you’re not here?”
“I’m isolated from this world. That’s why other people can’t see me.”
This was the curse of Marguerite, the Witch of Space. Not only could others not see her, but this was also why her voice couldn’t reach them.
“…So- even though it looks like you’re touching things, you’re actually not?”
“Oh, you understand? You’re smarter than I expected, apprentice-kun.”
Watching her try to pick up the fork and steak as she said this, Johan finally understood why she had entrusted everything to him.
She couldn’t interact with this world. A dimensional exile who couldn’t even eat or move things by herself.
Only magic served as her sole means of connecting with this world.
“No one can see me. Even other witches can’t see me unless I want them to. Well, that’s not to say they absolutely can’t see me…”
“What do you mean…”
“Exceptional witches like your master can sense my presence through magic alone.”
This was one reason she’d become friends with his master. Though she couldn’t see her directly, she could sense her and communicate with her.
After revealing her curse like this, Marguerite grinned and deflected:
“In my opinion, the reason curses don’t work on you probably has something to do with your master.”
“…With Master?”
“Yes, normally you shouldn’t be able to see me, but if you can see me despite having no magic, wouldn’t that mean Evangeline did something? She may not look it, but she’s actually a very powerful great witch.”
It was quite plausible reasoning. Even Johan found it fairly convincing. Well, it was easier to accept that someone powerful had done something to him than to believe he had some special power himself.
Having roughly guessed Johan’s thoughts, Marguerite started swaying his mind with casual conversation.
“Ah, you know that bookshelf in your master’s room? I made that for her.”
“The one where books appear automatically every day?”
“Yes, that’s the one.”
The bookshelf that endlessly produced books. Recalling that bookshelf, Johan started finding Marguerite’s words more credible.
Something that could never be made with science. If a witch capable of making such a thing praised someone as a great witch, they might well be able to cast magic that could pierce through a witch’s curse.
However, this created one contradiction.
“Yet Master refuses to show me her face, saying I’ll be cursed.”
Hmm- Marguerite breathed out through her nose and shook her head helplessly at Johan’s determined expression.
If he was going to be this direct, she’d have to reveal one piece of information too. Information that might make him want to run away in fear.
“Well, you see.”
“What?”
“Maybe she doesn’t want to show her face to someone from another world?”
Johan stared at Marguerite with a shocked expression, as if asking how she knew.
There, now we’re even. Marguerite smiled leisurely as she seized control of the conversation.
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“Maybe she doesn’t want to show her face to someone from another world?”
The moment these words left her mouth, I stared at her with wide eyes in shock. This was on a completely different level from her deducing that I was immune to witch’s curses.
‘How on earth did she know?’
I hadn’t given any hints about being from another world that either she or Master could have picked up on.
The village people had taken all my items from Earth, and afterwards I’d become solely responsible for village interactions.
This meant Master hadn’t had time to ask villagers about my origins.
Even at the cabin, I’d tried to act like a simple country youth without showing any peculiarities.
“…What do you mean?”
“See- even you react like that? Whether human or witch, everyone has secrets they can’t talk about.”
Indeed, only after hearing her words did I realize I’d given the same flustered response she had earlier.
Let’s admit it. This reaction alone was as good as confirming I was from another world.
“…Did you hear it from Master?”
“Yes. Just like with you.”
“So Master already knew.”
That was a relief. If Master hadn’t known, and this witch had discovered the secret through some other means- I would have had to worry about her revealing this fact to Master.
The fact that Master knew I was from another world and hadn’t driven me away told me quite a lot.
‘At least she won’t drive me away immediately.’
I’d thought that if people learned I was from another world, who knew what would happen to me in a world that discriminated against outsiders and rejected foreigners.
It was a pleasantly wrong assumption. Master, having lived hundreds of years, didn’t seem to care about such trivial matters. Whether I was an outsider or from another world…
If the worry about being driven out was gone, there was no reason to hide being from another world.
However.
“─Whether that’s true or not, this doesn’t seem like the place to discuss it.”
“True. Hehe. Did you know that person’s been watching you with a very strange look? We might get reported the moment we leave.”
“…Isn’t that bad?”
“What’s there to worry about? They don’t know where we came from or how we got here.”
Hearing her words, I realized she was right. What did it matter if we looked suspicious? We could just teleport away.
I finally understood why Master had accepted her. If I was immune to witch’s curses, there would be many witches coveting me.
No matter how broken Master’s abilities might be, she couldn’t protect me from so many witches, but with a space-controlling witch it was different.
We could just run away.
No one could chase us.
Then build another cabin somewhere in another forest and live there.
That was how witches lived.
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Leaving the restaurant, I walked around the city with Marguerite. I must have looked obviously like a country bumpkin, as some thugs tried to jump us.
I didn’t need Marguerite’s help. Though my skills were poor enough to lose to monsters, I was still a witch’s apprentice who had awakened mana.
There was no way I’d lose to untrained back-alley thugs- after I easily subdued them, Marguerite started clapping in amazement.
“Ooh, impressive, apprentice-kun.”
“No, this much is nothing… You could have won without even touching them, right?”
“Hm? Well of course, I’m a witch and you’re human?”
“Ah, yes…”
Feeling her casual contempt for humans, I continued exploring the city with her. Though soldiers gave me strange looks for apparently talking to myself, they didn’t stop to question me.
They probably figured I must be legitimate since I’d made it into the city. My clean clothes probably helped too.
While walking around like this, we noticed a crowd gathered in the city center.
“I wonder what’s happening.”
“…Apprentice-kun, let’s just go.”
“Huh? Why? Let’s watch for a bit. How long could it take?”
When I showed interest in the gathered crowd, Marguerite shook her head and opposed going that way.
But her reaction only sparked my curiosity more. No matter how medieval this fantasy world was, they wouldn’t be publicly executing people in the street, right?
As we pushed through the crowd to get closer, a soldier in full plate armor raised his sword and shouted:
“Now! We execute this wicked witch follower!”
Surprisingly, these uncivilized fantasy residents were indeed putting on an execution show.
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Johan gets to view his first execution and what awaits him if he is discovered to be associated with witches.