Chapter 66 – Witch

Witch

“Pfel isn’t coming back.”
“Sha…”
Cherni and Saya look out the window like dogs waiting for their owner who has left home.

They even left their lunch unfinished, which they always used to clean up completely. This shows how worried Cherni and Saya are about Pfel.
‘…This won’t do.’

“Ariel-nim…? Where are you going?”
“To find my runaway sister.”
I’ve been thinking a lot during the few hours Pfel has been gone. And the conclusion I’ve reached is that Pfel is an irreplaceable presence in our home.

You might think it’s a bit selfish, but even if Pfel forgives her mother who abandoned her, I won’t let her go easily.
I should appeal to her emotions, asking her to reconsider just once. I don’t mind being clingy.

‘Should I take Saya along? Seeing Saya’s cute face might change Pfel’s mind.’
“Sha?”
No, let’s not. I can’t involve Saya too. Let’s save that as a last resort.

“Ariel-nim, do you know where Pfel went? It only says Lonzville here…”
“…I have an idea.”
I’m sorry to Pfel, but when the shop owner handed her the letter last time, I peeked at the contents.

‘It definitely said to meet at the house where Pfel used to live.’
As far as I know, the house where Pfel lived before meeting me is near the outskirts of Lonzville’s city walls.
According to Pfel, her old house was in the forest… so it shouldn’t be too difficult to find.

‘There’s only one forest near Lonzville’s city walls.’
As I prepare to leave, Saya and Cherni look at me with expectant eyes.
“Kids, I’ll be back.”

“You must bring Pfel back! Even if you have to kidnap her!”
“That’s right! Kidnap Pfel!”
‘Kidnapping is a bit…’

I left Saya and Cherni, who were urging me to kidnap Pfel while holding my hands, and teleported to the front of Lonzville’s city gate.
‘It should be around here…’

Arriving at the forest near Lonzville, I’m greeted by lush grass and trees. I doubted if there really was a house here.
“Pfel! Can you hear my voice?!”

I called out to Pfel loudly just in case, but all I heard was the echo.
…It seemed I had no choice but to enter deeper into the forest.
Just as I was about to take a step into the forest…

“Kyaaaaaah!!!!!”
A scream came from inside the forest.
‘No way…!’

An ominous feeling started to grow in my mind. What if this scream was Pfel’s…?
“Pfel!!!!!!!”

My body moved before I could finish thinking.
I cleared the trees blocking my way with Wind Cutter and moved towards the direction of the scream.
Without knowing the exact location of Pfel and Undine, all I could rely on were my two legs enhanced with acceleration magic.

After running for a while, a small, shabby house came into view.
“Pfel!!!!!!”
“U-Unni?!”

The scene that appeared before my eyes was…
“I-I’m sorry… Ububububu…”
…a man kneeling before Pfel and Undine, being subjected to water torture.

“Um, Pfel. What’s going on here…?”
“W-Well… Undine! What on earth are you doing?”
“What do you mean! You ordered this, didn’t you!”

The situation far exceeded any imagination I had before entering this forest.
Fortunately, the screams didn’t seem to be from Pfel or Undine, but from that man… but what on earth happened? I can’t even begin to guess.

“Pleasesparemeiwaswrongiwontdoanythingbadagainpleasestopthewaterijustwanttobreathe.”
Judging by his appearance, he seems to be a bad character for sure…
The tattooed man was begging Pfel and Undine for forgiveness in a half-crazed state.

‘How much did they put him through…?’
As I was blankly watching their situation, Undine approached me.
“U-Um. Ariel-nim. This really wasn’t my will. Pfel ordered it!”

Undine appeals to me with clumsy semi-formal speech, seemingly scared of being scolded by me. She looks terrified as if anticipating punishment.
‘Is she still afraid of me?’

I might have been a bit harsh during our first meeting, but it seems that memory has remained as trauma for Undine.
“Well, that guy must have done something wrong. Anyway, Pfel. Weren’t you going to meet your mother?”

“…That’s right.”
But why has this scene unfolded? I asked Pfel for an explanation again, but she avoids my gaze as if troubled.
With no choice, I called out to Undine, who was secretly preparing to return behind Pfel.

“Undine. Come here.”
“Wh-Why are you doing this! Didn’t I say I didn’t do it!”
Undine panics and tries to move away from me. Her retreating figure looks like a frightened cat.

Regardless, I approached right in front of Undine.
Undine, who is taller than me, automatically lowered her eye level to mine.
“Undine. Tell me everything that happened here. Everything you remember, without missing anything.”

“P-Pfel told me not to say…”
Undine hesitates to speak, looking at Pfel’s reaction.
“…Huh? Are you really not going to tell me?”

“Hiiieek!!! I-I’ll tell you! Don’t look at me with those eyes!!”
…Of course, her resistance didn’t last long.

“So that’s what happened…”
After hearing the explanation from Undine about what had happened, I wanted to see the face of Pfel’s so-called mother.

“U-Unni. Why did you come here? How did you know this place…”
Meanwhile, Pfel hesitantly addresses me.
“…You and I are connected by an invisible thread.”

“Pfft. Wh-What’s that, unni.”
Since I couldn’t say I had peeked at the letter, I made up a sentimental mood forcibly.
Fortunately, Pfel smiled softly, seemingly pleased with my words.

…The thought that I might have never seen that face again makes my heart sink.
“U-Um. Selena. Who is this person? What on earth has been happening to you?”

As Pfel and I were having our emotional reunion, someone emerged from the shabby house.
‘Selena? Ah. Is that Pfel’s original name?’
It seemed to be Pfel’s mother.

…The person who not only abandoned Pfel once but tried to sell her again.
“Kyaaaaaaah!!!!!!”
“U-Unni?!”

I couldn’t hold back anymore and crushed her with gravity magic.
The sight of her casually addressing Pfel after trying to sell her was too disgusting.
“Please spare me!! Selena! Save me!”

As soon as several times the normal gravity pressure was applied, she immediately kissed the ground.
Hearing her call Pfel’s name afterward, an uncontrollable rage boiled up inside me.
“…Unni. Calm down.”

The one who stopped me was Pfel, gently holding my hand. She wore a complicated expression looking at her mother pinned to the ground.
That’s the kind of person Pfel was.

Due to her kind and gentle nature, she was more likely to blame herself than resent her mother who abandoned her.
A child who couldn’t even get angry despite being cruelly betrayed by the mother who came looking for her again.

‘What were you trying to do to such a kind child.’
Blood flows from my lip that I bit to suppress my anger. I couldn’t feel the pain. Because the wound Pfel received must be more painful.

“Se-Selena. I was wrong. It-It was because of the drugs. The drugs made me crazy, that’s why I tried to sell you to those bastards. I-I won’t do it again. Let’s live together, okay?”
Realizing that no amount of begging would work on me, Pfel’s mother started pleading to Pfel instead.

“…Unni. Let’s just go.”
“Is it okay to leave her like this?”
“Yes. It’s fine.”

Pfel maintains an expressionless face and leads me by the hand.
“Se-Selena! Where are you going?!!! T-Tell her to release this!! Selena!!!!”
“I told you. My name isn’t Selena, it’s Pfel.”

Finally sensing that even Pfel wouldn’t lend her a helping hand, Pfel’s mother started spewing sharp malice.
“You ungrateful bitch… Someone like you shouldn’t have been born!”

Fortunately, thanks to me blocking Pfel’s ears with magic just in time, her mother’s voice didn’t reach Pfel… but I couldn’t hold back any longer.
“Just because you have a mouth…!”

That’s not a person, but a beast in human form… no, something less than a beast. At least beasts know how to cherish their offspring.
Walking on two legs is too luxurious for such a creature.

“Kyaaaaaaaaaah!!!!!!!”
Just before the intensified gravity could crush her legs, Pfel hugged me from behind.
“Unni. Let’s just go… please.”

…Pfel, with her excessively kind and gentle nature, seems to show mercy even to such a person simply because she’s a parent.
“Sigh.”

A deep sigh escapes involuntarily. In the end, I decided to respect Pfel’s choice and released the gravity magic crushing her.
“M-My body can move…!”
“…Don’t ever come near Pfel again. Understood?”

“Hiiieek!!!”
Without answering my words, she immediately fled into the forest.
…I hope she becomes food for wild animals or monsters.

“Let’s go. To our home.”
“…Yes.”
I grabbed Pfel’s hand, who still wore a complicated expression, and headed towards the house where Saya and Cherni were waiting.

While keeping her retreating figure in my sight until the very end.

————————-

“Huff… huff…”
Celine breathes heavily in the forest. She hides behind a tree, checking if Ariel might be following her.

Eventually, after confirming that no one was chasing her, she spat out the curses she had been holding back.
“Damn, that bitch who can’t even recognize her own parent. Trash. Just wait, I’ll get my revenge somehow.”

Of course, Celine has no power to take revenge.
Her once decent looks had long since faded, and all she had were debts from buying drugs.
Step, step.

Despite her failure to grasp reality, someone started approaching Celine as she was venting her frustrations.
“You know, I’ve been thinking…”

The one who appeared was a woman with long black hair and snow-white skin – Ariel.
…She had slipped out while Pfel was having an emotional reunion with Saya and Cherni at home.
The reason was, of course, that her anger hadn’t subsided.

“Don’t come near me!!”
Celine’s face fills with terror.
Her legs, as if caught by something, were planted on the ground and refused to move.

“No matter how I think about it, it doesn’t seem right to just let you go.”
“G-Get away!!!!! You witch!!!!”
At Celine’s words, Ariel smiled dazzlingly and said,

“…How did you know. That I used to be called a witch.”
The quiet forest became a bit noisy that day.