episode_0273

In the end, Prince Antonio’s suspicions about Lala’s mother were soon confirmed.

Shortly after guiding her to the accommodation introduced by Lala’s mother to stay in the witch’s forest, her reaction towards me did not seem like she was wary of a stranger, to anyone’s eyes.

“Excuse me.”

“Hmm?”

“Um, please. Our, daughter….”

The moment when the woman grabbed my hand out of the blue and mumbled with her head down, everyone’s attention was focused on her.

It was a whispering voice smaller than an ant crawling, but the voice that came out of her mouth was clearly a welcoming one towards me, and because everyone was focused on Lala’s mother, the surroundings temporarily quieted down enough for me to hear clearly.

Perhaps others roughly understood as well. If so, at least the misunderstanding that Lala’s mother did not welcome us would have been cleared up.

“Oh, no need to worry.”

-Nod.

Nodding as if she had conveyed everything she wanted to say, Lala’s mother turned back with difficulty.

Her trembling back was filled with anxiety to the point where even if it wasn’t me, one could tell, so with this, others would have roughly grasped what kind of people the witches living in the witch’s forest were like.

“Hmm. Are all the witches living here similar to her…?”

“Oh, shall we divide the rooms first, organize our belongings, and then gather again? Since Lala Maychilling’s mother gave us two rooms, we can live separately in a men’s room and a women’s room, what do you think?”

Before Prince Antonio could create a strange atmosphere in front of Lala, I quickly interrupted and naturally organized the situation.

“Hmm, okay. Let’s do that.”

“Then how about we all meet in the men’s room in about 30 minutes? Since the men, like me and the prince, cannot enter the women’s room.”

“Well, if that’s the case.”

“Yes, understood.”

“Lala, what do you think? Can you meet in the men’s room in about 30 minutes?”

“Uh, um… th-thirty minutes might be… tight… maybe….”

By the way, for Lala, this ‘tight’ meant time to prepare herself mentally.

For her, a communication-disabled person, facing five strangers at once required a big decision in many ways.

When facing it in a game, it was a part to just observe and skip, so I didn’t know well, but seeing it like this, she seemed quite frustrating in many ways.

“Well then, see you all in 30 minutes.”

So, I watched as Ethan and Prince Antonio went to the end room of the corridor, Agnes and Colt to the room next to it, and Lala hurriedly entered her own room at the opposite end of the corridor, quietly thinking.

Although I said we would meet in 30 minutes, it might be difficult to gather on time after 30 minutes.

***

Watching Lala disappear as if she was fleeing to my room, I had some expectations, but as expected, Lala did not appear at the agreed meeting place at my scheduled time.

There was a high probability that she hadn’t even realized that the agreed time had passed. Perhaps she was delaying the time to write a new ‘script’ to stand in front of many people.

Although the protagonist of the event did not show her face, I did not go to the room on the opposite side of the corridor to find her. Besides, there were some things I wanted to talk about with only us.

“Agnes, you mentioned that you visited the witch’s forest before.”

“Yeah. And don’t call me Agnes. Call me Blaze.”

“Just out of curiosity, was the atmosphere like this when you visited the witch’s forest before?”

“What atmosphere?”

“That, including Miss Lara and her mother, there seems to be a communication barrier to continue the conversation, doesn’t it?”

“…Similar, roughly.”

If we were to categorize them by MBTI, the individuals corresponding to extreme Introversion formed a community and lived together. Among such people, the personality is inherited, and growing up among such personalities, it was inevitable to become that kind of personality due to the living environment.

The witches, who had converged in a negative direction over several generations, were extremely reluctant to speak to outsiders unless it was among themselves.

It’s fortunate that they have a common interest in being witches, so they can communicate among themselves and maintain their society.

“When I was young, it felt like this. Even when I tried to ask for directions, everyone would run away if I approached them, or they would speak in a hushed voice, or when I went to find the house where a witch named Natiya lived, I had to visit three times before she finally opened the door.”

“Hmm, listening to Agnes’ words, it seems like most of the people living in this witch’s forest are quite shy individuals.”

“It was already 10 years ago. It wasn’t even like today where several people visited. I came with only one female escort sent from the Elizabeth family mansion. But I never expected it to be the same after 10 years.”

“Witches generally have longer lifespans than other people. I wonder if those who lived here 10 years ago are still alive.”

“That’s why I don’t understand. Why do even older witches get so flustered just by outsiders talking to them? Even when I visited 10 years ago, I was just a kid.”

“….”

He almost blurted out that even if it wasn’t 10 years ago, he still had a childlike appearance. He had to be careful.

Anyway, for the witches living in this forest, whether someone is a child or not is not a significant factor in distinguishing people. From the beginning, almost everyone living here had the ultimate communication disorder, so even a newborn baby would be avoided by women covering their faces.

What mattered to these people was whether someone had grown up in the witch’s forest from a young age or not. It was the most significant factor that divided people. It was similar to when quiet kids at school suddenly became talkative when they talked about something only they knew.

“I think we now have a good idea of why the royal family only sent Lady Sera for regular visits to the witch’s forest. If it wasn’t for her level of friendliness, it would be difficult for other witches to even have a conversation with her.”

“I don’t think you need to worry too much, Prince Antonio. After all, the reason we visited here was to help Miss Lara with her witch trial. If we actively help Miss Lara, wouldn’t others gradually open up to us as well?”

“What exactly is this witch trial? Isn’t it usually a test to determine whether someone is qualified to be a witch or not? Can we help?”

“It should be fine. Probably, it’s more like assisting in the test itself rather than directly affecting the outcome.”

“How do you know that, Lillith? Did you hear it separately from Lara?”

“…Just, it’s just a feeling. If we were really causing a problem by interfering in the test, we wouldn’t have been asked for help in the first place. And Lara’s mother wouldn’t have let us in so easily.”

“…I guess.”

In reality, I knew what we should do and even knew the contents of the test, but I just pretended to guess and offered some suggestions.

Agnes and Ethan have already been informed that I am a saint, so there should be no problem speaking confidently to them. However, I have not yet revealed to Prince Antonio and Count Colt that I am a saint, so I must keep future predictions a secret.

While waiting for Lala to arrive, we chatted among ourselves for about 10 minutes. Suddenly, the door to the men’s room opened with urgent footsteps echoing down the hallway, and the final visitor of this gathering appeared.

-Click!

“Uh, sorry for being late…! I-I’m so sorry…! F-For making you wait, I’m truly apologetic….”

“It’s okay, please come in, Lala Maechilling. We haven’t been waiting long, and we were in the middle of our conversation, so we didn’t even notice the time passing.”

“Oh, w-we were in the middle of a conversation…? Th-then I’ll step aside for a moment to let you continue….”

“…Don’t waste time, come quickly and explain. Don’t think about leaving again.”

“Eek…! I-I’m sorry…!! I apologize for wasting your precious time…. Uh, uh, uh….”

“…Agnes.”

“……I got it. Just keep your mouth shut.”

Agnes, who unnecessarily raised Lala’s tension, pursed her lips and quietly turned her head, and I approached her cautiously, suddenly finding myself prostrating on the floor towards her.

“I-I’m sorry…. I-I was nervous because of suddenly having to speak in front of so many people…. I-I apologize for being late due to preparing myself mentally….”

“It’s okay, Lala Maechilling. No one here is angry, anyway.”

“B-But just now, the r-red-haired lady scolded me for being late…. If I don’t apologize properly….”

“Agnes isn’t really angry, she just has that kind of personality. She may seem angry, but she’s not really. Right, Agnes?”

“…Yeah, that’s right.”

“O-Okay…. I-I’m relieved….”

If this were during a playthrough of ‘Luminor Academy,’ I would have long pressed the X button and skipped the scene due to the frustrating situation, but in order to smoothly progress the event, I suppressed my emotions and calmed Lala down.

Thanks to the trollish behavior of the mysterious guy, we ended up in the Witch’s Forest, but as a hardcore player of ‘Luminor Academy,’ I wasn’t inclined to just gloss over the event I was assigned.

…I remember doing something like this to calm Lala’s emotions in the game.

-Swish.

“Eeek?!”

“I’ll hold your hand, Lala. Take deep breaths slowly to calm your emotions.”

“C-Calm my emotions…?”

“Yes, try it. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale.”

“Ugh! Hoo…. Ugh! H-Hoo….”

Who would have thought that a snowball fight with MacHeart would lead to taking care of an emotionally unstable character in the Witch’s Forest during summer vacation.

Seeing an adorable character in a work of fiction is one thing, but realizing that they become an endlessly annoying character in real life was a process of enlightenment.