Ch.89Chapter 89

The Red Rose Dawn Society… despite its grandiose name, was in reality an armed group under the control of Isabel and a few executives.

Warriors and mercenaries who were fascinated by witches’ power and coveted its convenience became their puppets.

And witches who were deceived by pleasant words about joining forces with other witches were treated like slaves by the true witches.

They were mobilizing all their personnel to pass through one of the gateways of a certain tribe.

Naturally, the guards who inspected them should have thoroughly examined them, but…

“You may… pass.”

“Thank you.”

The guard’s pupils were dilated, staring blankly into space; he couldn’t harbor any doubts about the beings he was inspecting.

Ellen, the leopard beastkin, flashed a smile at the guard who had met her eyes as she moved away from the gateway.

Isabel looked at her with contempt. To think that someone who would become nobility in the new world would sell her smile so easily.

“A woman who is to become nobility shouldn’t smile so easily. A smile should only be given when bestowing rewards or when truly happy…”

“Our esteemed Grand Witch, unfortunately I’ve lived a life far removed from talk of nobility and dignity, you know? Expecting me to understand such things seems rather unreasonable.”

Ellen mocked Isabel and ignored her demands.

For Ellen, who had grown up on rough streets her entire life, talk of nobility and dignity didn’t resonate with her at all.

Ellen tapped one side of her face and said:

“I don’t care whether you’re a fallen noble or a delusional madwoman. I’m not curious about why you wear that mask either.”

Grind.

Isabel glared at Ellen while grinding her teeth. However, she couldn’t ‘educate’ Ellen like the other witches.

Born as a leopard beastkin, famous for their beauty among beastkin, and specifically as a snow leopard beastkin, the most popular among them, Ellen was a witch with the power to enchant people.

More than half of the Red Rose Dawn Society’s followers were essentially her puppets.

If she tried to discipline Ellen, this organization that hadn’t even properly taken root would collapse instantly.

“Let’s not worry about it as long as we each perform our roles well. Okay?”

Ellen, confident that Isabel couldn’t afford to abandon her, boldly made demands of Isabel.

Isabel quietly glared at Ellen before turning away. While she would need to show Ellen the power hierarchy someday, now was not the time to fight.

As Isabel boarded her luxurious carriage, suppressing her anger, the Red Rose Dawn Society slowly began to move.

It was time to head toward the forest.

* * *

The followers of the Red Rose Dawn Society were either puppets enchanted by Ellen or those who coveted the power of witches.

While the puppets had clouded minds and felt ecstasy in following Ellen’s orders…

“Shit, was the forest always this eerie?”

“It’s creepy how everything looks exactly the same in all directions.”

Those who had come seeking to leech off witches’ power at least had minds to assess the situation.

A forest filled with ominous darkness and cold that couldn’t be blocked even with quilted clothing.

The atmosphere, which seemed like ghosts could jump out at any moment, made even the followers with mercenary backgrounds uneasy.

One follower with a mercenary background, Mals, took out tobacco from his chest and lit his pipe. He felt the need to calm his extremely tense mind.

Mike, a follower with a hunter background, frowned and scolded him.

“Are you crazy? What if enemies detect the smell or light?”

Mike’s point was quite valid.

The flame lighting the tobacco was very small and faint, but it produced light, and the smell was acrid enough that beasts would surely notice it immediately.

However, Mals frowned at Mike’s criticism and strongly rejected it.

“What nonsense. Are you saying I can’t even smoke in this damn forest? And did we come to this forest for battle?”

Other followers nodded at Mals’s complaint. Without tobacco or alcohol in this cursed forest, they felt they might go mad with anxiety.

Mike looked at their dull eyes and held his tongue.

Unlike Mike, who could hide under the soil for hours when hunting, he realized most followers lacked such patience.

As Mike backed down, Mals snickered and pointed ahead with his pipe.

“Don’t worry too much. Before anything happens to us, those empty carts will be the first to suffer.”

“Empty carts” was a derogatory term the followers used for the puppets.

Unlike those who were waiting at the border, reluctant to enter the ominous forest, they had already entered deeper into the forest.

Well-dressed and armed with good weapons, but blankly waiting for orders except when eating or sleeping…

“What fools. Just bewitched by a woman… Gack!?”

Mals grabbed his throat, dropping his pipe. But there was nothing he could do about the arrow that had already pierced him.

As his body collapsed with a thud, the followers around him felt their hearts sink.

Who had shot the arrow?

“My, are you jealous that my puppets are more gallant than you?”

“L-Lady Ellen!”

“No! This was just Mals talking nonsense by himself!”

The arrow’s owner was one of the twin knights escorting Ellen.

Ellen approached with a smile, but the followers hastily prostrated themselves while making excuses. They had no loyalty to defend someone who had died for running his mouth.

The twin knights, Dylan and Cole, despised them.

“Not a trace of honor to be found.”

“What did you expect from men who mock a lady behind her back?”

The twin knights pushed aside the followers with a shout, and soon Isabel’s carriage arrived near the forest.

As Isabel stepped out of the carriage and saw the kneeling followers, she asked the twin knights:

“What’s this about?”

“Vermin who were caught insulting Lady Ellen. We’ll remove them immediately.”

Shing.

As the two knights drew their swords, the followers trembled in fear.

Isabel looked at the followers for a moment, then raised her hand to stop the knights.

“Wait. It would be foolish to reduce our number of soldiers when we have immediate tasks at hand.”

“You mean…”

The twin knights looked at each other with perplexed expressions. They immediately understood the hidden meaning in Isabel’s words.

They had come to this forest to persuade the Witch of the Forest, but… it was clear that Isabel intended to kill the Witch of the Forest if negotiations failed on her terms.

The twins’ perplexity wasn’t because they disliked attacking a witch.

Their minds simply couldn’t imagine why anyone would choose to fight an enemy as well-established as the Witch of the Forest.

“Must we fight? From what we’ve heard, the forest and its surroundings were only unified a few years ago.”

“And someone who has secured power so stably in such a short time is unlikely to be easy to deal with.”

The twins had considerable experience serving under nobility.

Naturally, they had often witnessed the nobles’ actions and plans, and through this, they well understood how difficult power was to control.

Why else would nobles desperately try to solidify their legitimacy by invoking bloodlines and divine selection?

Isabel glared fiercely at the knights as they hesitated to fight.

“Do you think I don’t know that? I’m saying be prepared to escape if negotiations fail.”

Isabel was arrogant and dogmatic, but not completely foolish.

Why would she want to attack the opponent on their home ground?

Even Isabel, who desperately wanted to burn Skadi alive, could make at least that much judgment.

The twin knights, now understanding, ordered the followers to check their weapons.

As everyone began to move busily, Isabel approached the nearest tree and placed her palm against it.

Whoosh!

“Hey. Isn’t that fire too big? It might spread to the surroundings if we’re not careful.”

Ellen asked Isabel with a worried expression.

Isabel was puzzled by Ellen’s cautious attitude.

“Since when do beastkin worry about forests? Or do you have elves among your ancestors?”

“Unfortunately, none of my ancestors had relations with those tree-huggers.”

Of course, Ellen wasn’t worried about the forest burning.

If she were the type to care about such things, would she be controlling people as puppets in the first place?

What Ellen worried about was that the fire might spread and provoke the Witch of the Forest.

“Not an entirely wrong thought.”

“What? You knew and still did this?”

“Yes. Sometimes rude behavior can be helpful in negotiations.”

In negotiations or threats, once you start losing momentum, you’ll end up being led by the other party.

Isabel had no intention of being led, only of leading others.

…Of course, she couldn’t deny her personal grudge against Skadi.

Now they just had to wait for the Witch of the Forest to come investigate the smoke…

At that moment, a cold wind blew like a storm from deep within the forest. Isabel reflexively summoned flames and glared into the depths of the forest.

A massive shadow walking through the dense darkness.

Immediately recognizing the shadow’s identity, Isabel clicked her tongue.

“What do you see, my lady?”

“It seems only her servant has come. Ellen, pull your dolls back.”

At Isabel’s instruction, Ellen clapped her hands to command her puppets.

As the puppets retreated in unison, the followers gripped their weapons tightly and stared at the forest.

They murmured as they watched the Wendigo gradually revealing itself.

“Is… is that a giant?”

“Its head is bone, isn’t it an undead?”

“You fools. Didn’t you hear anything on your way here? It’s not a monster or undead, it’s a Djin.”

The muttering followers frowned at the news of a Djin.

If witches were recently emerging troublemakers, Djin were calamities known since ancient times.

The Wendigo inwardly grumbled as it observed the distorted faces visible even from a distance.

‘They’re not afraid of those beside them, but they’re afraid of me?’

However, the Wendigo wasn’t disheartened. It was a good sign that the enemies were trembling with fear.

The Wendigo ignored their gazes and slowly walked toward Isabel.

* * *

The Wendigo was bewildered as it looked at the followers blocking its path.

“Since when do we start dialogue with spears and swords?”

The Wendigo pointed at the followers with dull eyes who were glaring at it and asked Isabel.

Ellen’s puppets were holding out spears and swords to block the Wendigo’s path.

For constructive discussion, it’s common sense to show mutual respect first…

“Has there ever been anyone in this world who spoke with a Djin without weapons? At least as far as I know, there hasn’t been.”

Isabel spoke to the Wendigo as if asking something obvious.

The Wendigo cursed its ability to detect lies. It couldn’t sense even a hint of falsehood in the joke just made.

‘It would be better if witches took all the infamy of Djin… no, that wouldn’t be good. Skadi is a witch too.’

While the Wendigo was lost in idle thoughts, Isabel gave orders with the help of a subordinate witch.

Then one witch stepped forward and used her ability.

Her power was Clairvoyance, with the ability to see through objects and discern their essence.

In case the opponent had an ambush prepared so they could retreat immediately, the witch began to examine the surroundings using her special ability.

After thoroughly examining the area, she reported to Isabel with the help of another witch.

‘…There are no additional personnel immediately visible.’

That meant the Djin before them was the only envoy sent by the Witch of the Forest…

‘Observe the Djin. If you find even one weakness, I’ll reward you greatly.’

It wouldn’t be right to miss such an unexpected opportunity.

After quickly preparing a new plan in her mind, Isabel ordered the clairvoyant witch.

The clairvoyant witch smiled confidently and strongly drew upon her power.

The opponent had approached right in front of them, so if she used her power now, she could instantly discover the opponent’s weaknesses and various information!

…But there was one thing the witches hadn’t anticipated.

“Aaaaargh!!!”

The moment the witch made eye contact with the Wendigo, her blood vessels ruptured and bloody tears flowed from her eyes.

Unable to handle the information forcing its way into her brain, the clairvoyant witch collapsed, vomiting blood.

“…Did you try something underhanded?”

The Wendigo stared intently at the fallen witch for a moment before asking Isabel.

Logically, vomiting blood and collapsing wasn’t a common occurrence.

“……”

Isabel couldn’t answer.

Deceiving an opponent wasn’t shameful at all, but…

Who would have thought such a foolish thing would happen before the conversation even began!

‘Useless woman!’

Isabel glared at the Wendigo while blaming her incompetent subordinate.