Ch. 42 The Two Witches (22)
by Afuhfuihgs
Witch – Chapter 42- The Two Witches (22)
“I must apologize for the late greeting. You’re the mage who solved the harvest issue this time, right? I had faith in you. Did the Marquis’ request go well?”
“Yeah… more or less.”
Now that he had a moment to look around, Nicks politely greeted me.
I hadn’t expected the lie I told to persuade Nicks to come back to me like this. I was slightly flustered by Emily’s puzzled expression, as if she had no idea what I was talking about, but I managed to brush it off. Next time, I shouldn’t make up lies like that. It could lead to serious trouble later.
More than that, Nicks’ excited behavior and attitude toward Emily felt oddly familiar.
Just looking at Josie, who was subtly holding Leo’s hand and pretending not to notice, reminded me of the time when I was full of curiosity about the opposite sex.
What was I doing at her age?
I was studying magic under Dorothy, researching dark magic, and scavenging for potions and weapons to survive, all in effort to catch glimpses of the original story’s romantic moments.
“Lady Estelle, hiring Nicks is fine, but given that Venetia is currently under frequent monster attacks, it’s a bit difficult to hire a Stella-ranked adventurer for an extended period.”
Emily explained the current situation in Venetia.
Even though we had exterminated the Death Worm swarm, Venetia was still under threat from monsters. With the increased strength of the monsters, many adventurer parties had been injured, leaving the Adventurers’ Guild short-handed. Even if it wasn’t cost-effective, leaving a Stella-ranked adventurer idle would be a loss for everyone.
Venetia wouldn’t collapse just because Nicks was gone, but I could understand Emily’s concerns.
“Don’t worry. It’s not as concerning as you think. The quest involves including Leo in Nicks’ activities.”
“Me… you mean?”
“Yes, you.”
Leo looked bewildered when his name was called.
Why did you think I dragged you out of bed and brought you to the Adventurers’ Guild?
There were clear limitations to me training Leo. First, I didn’t know how to wield a sword. Second, my fighting style was different from Leo’s. Third, I didn’t even want to imagine the scolding I’d get from Josie if I wholeheartedly trained Leo. She seemed more focused on taking care of Leo than me these days.
“I’m not worried about Leo’s skills, as I saw them during the harvest. But are you sure about this? In fact, we’d like to make a request of our own.”
Emily asked again.
It seemed she felt burdened by the fact that the person who had saved Venetia from the harvest crisis was now offering to help again.
“But there’s a condition. Nicks must treat Leo as his disciple. If he notices any shortcomings, he should point them out without hesitation. No special treatment. Leo is still lacking. If he were to fight Nicks now, he’d lose every time. If he’s going to be Josie’s guard, he needs to get stronger.”
Leo needed to become stronger than he was now.
My intuition was sending me warnings. Even with his enhanced body from potions and the support of the Holy Eye, without experience and skill, he’d just be a durable punching bag. As long as he carried the title of prince from the Holy Kingdom, conflict with the Holy Kingdom was inevitable.
The problem was that Josie might get caught up in it, so we needed to prepare in every way possible.
“I see. Lady Estelle, you really care about Josie. Nicks, did you hear Lady Estelle? Don’t even think about going solo for a while. It’s too dangerous. With the number of injured adventurers increasing, if you get hurt, I won’t let it slide.”
“Yeah, of course! It’s been a while since I’ve worked in a party, but with Leo, it’ll be fine. Don’t worry too much.”
Even though Leo looked strong and capable, he’d probably be a huge burden.
Nicks reassured Emily with a confident voice.
It was fascinating to see Nicks transform from a 15-year-old boy in love to a Stella-ranked adventurer in an instant.
“Who said I was worried about you? I’m worried about the Adventurers’ Guild. And if you let Leo get hurt, you’ll die by my hand.”
Emily was good at handling Nicks, but Nicks was also good at handling Emily.
The dignified noble lady I had seen at the mansion was nowhere to be found. Instead, she acted like a cold 15-year-old girl, showing a tsundere side to her childhood friend who was always misunderstanding things… It made me wonder if her interest in Leo was real at all.
Nicks, sensing that he might get scolded if he stayed any longer, quickly took Leo’s hand and led him away.
Josie, who had been holding Leo’s other hand, tagged along. She hadn’t let go of his hand from the start, as if she had planned to go with him all along.
“We’ll head out first. Leo, wake up. We have a lot of work to do. We need to get your weapons, and there are shops we need to visit. There’s a shop I’ve been going to since I was a kid. Their potions are really effective, so it’s a must-visit before leaving the city.”
Nicks’ chatter continued as they descended the stairs to the first floor.
With just Emily and me left in the room, it suddenly became eerily quiet.
“Sigh… I’m sorry. Whenever I see Nicks, I lose my composure and act embarrassingly.”
“It’s fine. It actually looked kind of nice. Nicks seems to really like you.”
“Nicks!? That’s going too far. Nicks and I are just childhood friends. And my type is someone handsome and reliable like Leo, a prince who can protect me at any time.”
Emily’s face turned red as she blurted out what sounded like an excuse.
While childhood friend tropes rarely work out, when they do, the resulting romance is incredibly sweet.
If Emily was like that, then so be it. There are cases where it starts with “Hey” and ends with “Honey,” but I didn’t want to meddle and become a nosy aunt.
“Are you okay, Lady Estelle?”
“Huh? With what?”
“Josie went with them. I know the magic Josie showed was extraordinary, but… adventurer work is dangerous. I thought you’d stop her.”
I had originally planned to bring only Leo to the Adventurers’ Guild. But because Leo made a fuss and screamed, Josie ended up tagging along. If I had intended to stop Josie, I wouldn’t have brought her in the first place.
If I intervened now, Josie would just cling even more stubbornly.
Romeo and Juliet wouldn’t have loved so passionately if their families hadn’t interfered.
Lately, I’ve come to realize that love shines brightest when there are obstacles.
“It’s fine. If it were Leo, I’d worry, but Nicks will protect Josie if something happens. Besides, Josie isn’t so weak that she can’t protect herself.”
The future is uncertain.
Maybe this is a chance for Josie to learn about adventurer work, which could come in handy later.
And who knows? Leo might end up so beaten and battered from Nicks’ training that Josie loses interest in him.
“By the way, can you register Josie and Leo as adventurers? Their rank doesn’t matter.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem. You don’t need to pay for this named quest. It wouldn’t be right to accept payment from you, Lady Estelle.”
“Are you sure that’s okay?”
I took out a pouch of gold coins and placed it on the table, where it made a heavy thud, asserting its presence.
I’d love to accept the favor, but I know what it means to hire a Stella-ranked adventurer.
Right now, Nicks is the guild’s strongest asset.
Even though the named quest only involves helping with Leo’s training, the amount of work Nicks handles solo far exceeds that of other adventurers. Having a burden like Leo will inevitably slow him down.
Gulp.
Emily swallowed hard.
The payment must have been hard to refuse.
But it seemed her pride wouldn’t allow her to take back her words.
“Then how about this? I happen to need some monster byproducts. If you show me the list of byproducts the guild has, I’ll buy what I can with this amount.”
“A-are you sure…? The byproducts are practically useless…”
Adventurers submit monster byproducts as proof of their hunts.
In the original story, byproducts were refined and sold to mages, alchemists, or witches for additional profit.
But now, with no active mages, witches being treated as heretics, and alchemists not attempting to create anything from monster byproducts, the guild’s stockpile of byproducts was likely rotting away in storage, unseen and unused.
“These might become valuable later. It’s a long shot, but Venetia’s Adventurers’ Guild could become the best in the world.”
“The best in the world… Is this what Grandfather meant by the Demon of Laplace… Hehe, rich…”
Emily’s mind seemed to be filled with delusions as she drooled and smiled happily.
Lucent
0 Comments