Chap 70-The Witch

 

“…What am I looking at right now?”

Emilia Gale doubted her own eyes.

She had only rushed here after receiving a call from the young lady…

But the scene unfolding before her was something she couldn’t possibly comprehend with common sense.

In the hallway in front of the infirmary, two female students were lying unconscious on the floor.

And next to them, Yeon Bennet, her new mistress, was holding the cheeks of a snow-white cat, stretching them out with both hands as she scolded it severely.

“I told you clearly! Don’t cause trouble!”

Yeon was pinching the cat’s cheeks and giving it a stern lecture.

“If you keep disobeying me, I’m really going to lock you in the dormitory from now on! Do you understand, Nabi?”

“Nyaaaooow!”

The cat let out a long, peculiar cry filled with emotion, as if it felt wronged.

It looked exactly like a child being scolded for causing trouble.

Emilia was speechless.

That cat that Yeon was tormenting…

The true identity of that cat was…

‘…I didn’t see anything. Yes, nothing at all.’

Emilia tried her best to maintain a calm expression.

Just then, Yeon, noticing that Emilia was watching them, turned her head.

“Ah, Professor! You came at the perfect time!”

Yeon waved her hand casually and pointed to the two female students lying on the floor.

“These girls, Nabi suddenly attacked them and they fainted. Could you take a look at them?”

“So… um…”

Emilia stammered involuntarily.

“You’re saying… Nabi… attacked them, young lady?”

“Yes! This one, I don’t think she’s an ordinary cat!”

Yeon said, her eyes shining as if she had made a great discovery.

“She knocked the students down in the blink of an eye! Besides, it’s like she understands what I’m saying!”

“Ah… yes… I see…”

Emilia replied in a weak voice, forcing a smile.

But her eyes were already glazed over, as if she had begun to escape reality.

Amidst all this, Yeon continued to speak excitedly.

“I don’t think she’s a magical beast… Could she be some kind of spirit? I read in a book that there are sometimes animals with special powers!”

At Yeon’s words, Nabi, who was sitting at her feet, seemed displeased and raised her front paw, scratching the hem of Yeon’s school uniform.

“Don’t be rude!”

Thwack!

Yeon frowned and lightly flicked Nabi’s head.

“Nyaang…”

The cat let out a short cry as if it felt wronged, and eventually kept still with her paws gathered.

Emilia could only stare blankly at the scene with her mouth open.

…

In the infirmary, filled with the warm scent of tea.

Emilia quietly poured fragrant herbal tea into a teacup and carefully handed it to Yeon.

The female students who had fainted in the hallway earlier were fast asleep on the bed.

Fortunately, they weren’t seriously injured, and they would recover quickly with simple Healing magic.

“Hoo…”

Emilia put down her teacup and looked at Yeon, who was sitting across from her.

Yeon was just fiddling with her teacup, her eyes filled with unease.

After a moment of hesitation, Emilia spoke carefully.

“So, what exactly happened, young lady?”

At those words, Yeon was startled and looked up.

She glanced at Emilia, hesitatingly.

“What, what happened…? Well… Nabi suddenly attacked…”

“Young lady.”

Emilia gently interrupted Yeon’s words.

“The cat I know, um… ‘Nabi,’ wouldn’t attack someone without a reason. Please tell me honestly, young lady. That way, I can accurately assess the situation and deal with it.”

Emilia’s eyes were serious.

At Emilia’s questioning, Yeon fidgeted and avoided her gaze.

She wrung her fingers and hesitated for a long time, before finally confessing in a small voice.

“Well, it was just… really… just a little fight…”

Her voice grew softer and softer.

“As you know, I’ve been… messing up my academy life… so the other kids don’t really like me.”

Yeon lowered her head with a gloomy expression.

“That’s right. It’s all my fault, really. Nabi was just trying to protect me… I was really awful, wasn’t I…”

Yeon’s voice was filled with deep self-reproach.

“…I see.”

Emilia listened to Yeon’s words, and before she knew it, she was glaring at the female students lying on the bed with cold eyes.

‘just a little fight?’ she thought.

Now that she knew the truth about her through the record, even those words didn’t sound sincere.

Those female students must have started it first.

Daring to harm the Grand Elder’s disciple. It was unforgivable.

Emilia’s mind began to race coldly, wondering how she should deal with them.

Perhaps sensing Emilia’s cold gaze, Yeon began to tremble slightly, looking uneasy.

She seemed worried that Emilia might do something to those students.

Just then, Nabi, who was quietly curled up on Yeon’s lap, slowly raised her head and began to gently lick Yeon’s cheek as if to comfort her.

“Eugh, that tickles! Stop it!”

Yeon frowned slightly, but she didn’t seem to dislike it as she stroked Nabi’s back.

It was the picture of an ordinary girl and her pet cat.

“Haa…”

Emilia let out a short breath and finally came to a conclusion.

In the first place, back when she knew nothing about her, she had done the same thing…

No, she had committed something far more cruel.

At least for the current her, she had no right to express any anger or reproach.

“I will take good care of these students and send them back. And this matter… I will handle it appropriately.”

She didn’t want to burden Yeon any further, or create unnecessary commotion within the academy.

At Emilia’s words, a bright smile bloomed on Yeon’s face.

“Really? Thank you, Professor!”

That innocent and pure smile was so different from the gloomy expression she had seen just moments ago.

Facing that pure smile head-on, Emilia blushed slightly and panicked without realizing it.

“Oh, it’s already this late.”

Yeon looked out the window and stood up, saying that it was almost time for class.

“Then, please take care of those kids and… Nabi.”

She bowed her head lightly and walked towards the door of the infirmary.

“Don’t worry, young lady.”

Emilia called out after her, but Yeon was already opening the door.

Emilia watched her disappearing figure through the closing door with a complicated expression for a while.

She felt like she could understand, even if only a little, how unfair the world she was facing was.

“You were laughing so much yesterday, Emila.”

A cold, youthful voice came from behind her.

Emilia flinched and stiffened.

This voice was…

Slowly turning her head, she saw Nabi, the snow-white cat who had been quietly curled up on Yeon’s lap, now sitting on the bed with her arms crossed, narrowing her eyes and glaring at her.

Her appearance was definitely that of a cute cat, but her eyes belonged to a completely different being.

The problem was…

Even that appearance looked cute, and Emilia hurriedly lowered her head, barely suppressing the smile that was spreading across her face.

“I-I’m sorry, Your Majesty! I didn’t realize…”

“It’s fine.”

Anaide waved her hand dismissively, as if she was annoyed.

“Why are you making it so difficult? You’ve already seen me at my worst.”

Was it her imagination, or were Anaide’s cheeks slightly flushed?

“Th-that’s…”

Unlike the Guardian Witch or the Flame Witch, who often interacted with the outside world, Anaide, the Witch of Destruction, was the ‘Queen’ of the Witch Clan, a being whom no one dared to treat lightly.

Her immense power, capable of destroying an entire continent with a single gesture, was a source of fear for all Witches.

Perhaps a few of the older, more experienced Witches might be an exception, but for Emilia, who was just over 100 years old and considered a young Witch, Anaide was an incredibly difficult and frightening being.

But right now…

The image of her being scolded by Yeon earlier kept popping into her head, and Emilia once again barely managed to suppress her smile.

Anaide, who was glaring at Emilia as if she was displeased, eventually decided to drop the subject and changed the topic.

“So, that child… Yeon Bennet, I mean. What do you think of her?”

Emilia paused for a moment, lost in thought, before carefully opening her mouth.

“To be honest… she is a difficult person to be with.”

“Oh… why is that?”

Anaide asked, sounding intrigued.

“Every time I am with her… I feel my own powerlessness.”

Emilia’s voice trembled slightly.

“I want to alleviate even a little of the pain and sorrow she carries… but as I am now, all I can do is stand by and watch…”

At Emilia’s sincere words, Anaide chuckled and said.

“There’s no need to worry too much.”

Then, she looked towards the door that Yeon had left through and added.

“That child is… a much stronger child than you think.”

“I know, Your Majesty. But even so…”

“Ah, those kids are starting to wake up.”

Anaide suddenly cut her off and turned to look at the bed.

Then, she quickly slipped under the bed and disappeared from sight.

“Ugh…”

As Anaide had said, the female students lying on the bed began to groan one by one and wake up.

“Wh-where is this…? The infirmary…?”

“My head… feels like it’s splitting…”

Emilia quickly composed herself and approached the students.

“Are you awake? Yeon Bennet brought you here. Fortunately, you are not seriously injured, so please lie down until you feel better.”

However, despite Emilia’s kind explanation, one of the female students suddenly became agitated and shouted.

“Professor! That damn witch is the culprit! I’m sure she did something! Otherwise, why would we suddenly faint…”

At that moment, a chilling red light flashed from under the bed.

Emilia was so dumbfounded that she let out a hollow laugh.

Who did these young ones think they were talking to, and what were they saying?

“Did you just… in front of me… call her a ‘damn witch’?”

Emilia’s voice sank coldly. The warmth disappeared from her eyes, and a cold rage flared up.

“No… that’s not what I meant…”

The female students stammered, flustered by Emilia’s sudden change.

“That’s a very… discriminatory remark.”

Emilia said coldly.

“Don’t you know that such remarks are strictly prohibited within the academy?”

The negative connotations associated with Witches, which had become customary in the world before Terra was born.

She knew that it would be difficult to change that easily…

But at least it was polite to be careful in front of a real witch.

To insult a witch in front of the Queen of Witches, no less. These audacious students seemed to have no idea what they had done.

Emilia closed her eyes for a moment.

She was going to let it go quietly because of the young lady’s request, if possible…

Unfortunately, it seemed that she couldn’t just let this pass.

If she did, the one under the bed wouldn’t stay still.

Emilia quietly walked over to the medicine shelf and began to prepare a very ‘special medicine’ for them.