Witch Lara (1)

Ultimately, Prince Antonio’s suspicions about Lara’s mother were quickly dispelled not long after.

After guiding her to the lodging introduced for her stay in the Witch’s Forest, the reaction Lara’s mother showed me was clearly not that of someone wary of an unfamiliar outsider.

-Grab.

“Huh?”

“……Ta, ……take care.”

“Pardon?”

“…Please, take care… of my daughter…”

It was the moment when everyone’s attention focused on the woman who suddenly grabbed my hand and muttered with her head bowed.

Though spoken in a voice quieter than an ant’s footsteps, the words from her mouth were unmistakably friendly toward me, and since everyone had momentarily quieted to focus on Lara’s mother, it was audible enough.

The others probably understood roughly too. At the very least, any misunderstanding that Lara’s mother didn’t welcome us should have been cleared up.

“Ah, yes. You don’t need to worry.”

-Nod.

As if having said all she needed to, Lara’s mother nodded and laboriously turned away.

Her retreating figure trembled with such visible unease that even without me pointing it out, the others would have grasped the general nature of the witches living in the Witch’s Forest.

“Hmm. Maybe all the witches living here are similarly…”

“Ah, shall we first divide the rooms and settle our belongings before regrouping? Since Lara Maychilling’s mother provided two rooms, we can separate into male and female quarters. How does that sound?”

Before Prince Antonio could ruin the mood with strange remarks in front of Lara, I quickly cut in and smoothly took charge of the situation.

“Hm, hmm. Right. Let’s do that.”

“Then how about we all meet in the men’s room in about 30 minutes? Since as men, His Highness and I can’t enter the women’s quarters.”

“…Sure, whatever.”

“Yes, understood.”

“Lara, will you be able to join us in the men’s room in about 30 minutes?”

“Ah, u, um… 30 minutes might be cutting it close… Ah, maybe…”

For the record, “cutting it close” for Lara meant the time she needed to mentally prepare herself.

For someone with communication difficulties like her, facing five strangers at once required significant resolve in many ways.

When encountering her in the game, it was just a one-time scene you’d skip after watching, but seeing it like this made me realize how frustrating her personality truly was.

“Then, let’s all meet in 30 minutes.”

Watching Lara hastily retreat to her room at the far end of the hallway after assigning Ethan and Prince Antonio to the room at the very end, Agnes and Sir Colt to the adjacent room, I quietly reflected.

Though I suggested meeting in 30 minutes, I had a feeling it would be difficult for everyone to gather on time.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

Having seen Lara flee to her room, I half-expected it, but as anticipated, Lara didn’t appear at the meeting place on time.

There was a good chance she hadn’t even realized the appointed time had passed. Perhaps she was too busy crafting a new “script” to face so many people.

Though the event’s protagonist hadn’t shown up, I didn’t bother fetching her from her room across the hall. There were things we wanted to discuss among ourselves without her anyway.

“Lady Agnes, you mentioned visiting the Witch’s Forest before, correct?”

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

“Just to be thorough, when you visited before, was the atmosphere similar?”

“What atmosphere?”

“Well, like Lara and her mother-there’s this sense that communication is difficult if you try to hold a conversation.”

“…Similar, roughly.”

If we were to use MBTI terms, it was like a community of extreme introverts. Living in such an environment, where such traits were passed down and reinforced over generations, it was inevitable they’d develop such personalities.

After decades of convergent evolution in the worst possible direction, the witches had become so averse to speaking with outsiders that they’d only converse among themselves.

At least they had their shared identity as witches to bond over, making their society somewhat functional.

“It felt like this when I came as a child too. If I tried asking for directions, they’d either flee or answer in whispers. Even when I finally found the house of a witch named Natia, it took three visits before she opened the door.”

“Hmm, hearing Lady Agnes say that, it seems most residents here are quite shy.”

“That was ten years ago. Back then, it wasn’t a group visit like today-just me and one female escort sent by the main Elizabeth family. But I never imagined things would stay exactly the same after a decade.”

“Witches generally live much longer than ordinary people. Those who lived here ten years ago are probably still around.”

“That’s what I don’t get. Why do even the older witches panic just from being spoken to by an outsider? And back then, I was just a kid.”

“……”

I almost blurted out that she still looked like a kid even now. Had to be careful.

Anyway, for the witches here, whether someone was a child or not wasn’t the deciding factor. Most were so socially inept that even a baby would make them nervous.

What mattered was whether someone had grown up in the Witch’s Forest. Like how quiet kids at school suddenly become chatty when talking about shared interests.

“Now I understand why only Lady Sarah was sent as the royal envoy here every year or so. Without her level of social skills, even holding a conversation with these witches would be impossible.”

“You needn’t worry too much, Prince Antonio. Our purpose here is to help Lara with her witch trial. If they see us actively supporting her, the others might gradually open up too.”

“What even is this ‘witch trial’? Isn’t that usually a test to determine if someone qualifies as a witch? Can we even help with that?”

“I think it’ll be fine. We’re not directly interfering with the trial itself-more like assisting in the process.”

“How would you know that, Lillith? Did Lara tell you something privately?”

“…Just a hunch. If our involvement was problematic, she wouldn’t have asked for help in the first place. Her mother wouldn’t have let us in so easily either.”

“…True.”

Though I already knew exactly what we needed to do and the trial’s contents, I played along, pretending to speculate.

Since Agnes and Ethan already knew I was the Saintess, I could’ve been straightforward, but Prince Antonio and Sir Colt remained unaware, so I had to keep my foresight a secret.

After about ten minutes of waiting for Lara while chatting among ourselves, hurried footsteps echoed in the hallway, and the door to the men’s room burst open as the final participant arrived.

-Slam!

“S-sorry I’m late…! I-I apologize…! F-for making you wait, I’m truly sorry…”

“It’s alright, Lara Maychilling. We weren’t waiting long-we were just talking among ourselves and lost track of time.”

“Ah, y-you were talking…? T-then maybe I should step out so you can continue…”

“…Don’t waste time. Just come in and explain. No sneaking out.”

“Eeek…! S-s-sorry…!! I’m so sorry for wasting your precious time… Ah, ahh, aah…”

“…Agnes.”

“……Fine. I’ll shut up.”

Agnes, who’d needlessly escalated Lara’s anxiety, pouted and turned away while I cautiously approached Lara, who was now prostrating herself on the floor in apology.

“I-I’m sorry… I got too nervous speaking in front of so many people… I took too long preparing myself mentally…”

“It’s fine, Lara. No one here is actually angry.”

“B-but the red-haired lady just scolded me for being late… I should properly apologize…”

“Agnes isn’t angry-she’s just like that. She might sound harsh, but she’s not actually upset. Right, Agnes?”

“…Yeah, true.”

“O-oh… That’s a relief…”

If this were during a playthrough of *Luminor Academy*, I’d have long pressed the X button to skip this frustrating scene. But to ensure the event proceeded smoothly, I suppressed my irritation and calmed Lara down.

Though we’d ended up in the Witch’s Forest due to Gyeotmwa Josyegigot’s trolling, as a hardcore *Luminor Academy* player, I couldn’t just breeze through this event.

…If I recall correctly, this was how you calmed Lara’s nerves in the game.

-Gently.

“H-hyaak?!”

“Let me hold your hand, Lara. Take deep breaths and steady your emotions.”

“S-steady my… emotions?”

“Yes, follow me. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out.”

“H-hhuup! H-hooo… H-hhuup! H-hooo…”

Who would’ve thought that picking a fight with Machart would lead to babysitting a gloomy girl in the Witch’s Forest during summer break?

Gloomy girls might be cute in fiction, but having one as an acquaintance in real life was nothing but a hassle.