Menace accompanies Elina in her search of the witch, and a couple fellas from Rebellion no one was really expecting appear again?
Enjoy!
Chapter 4: At the Witch’s Den (Part 1)
Towards the Swamp Witch’s Residence (2)
She had a really good time on her trip with Menace.
She really couldn’t have asked for anything more; travelling on a magic carpet, a smooth ride with no shaking whatsoever, easily bypassing any obstacles on the road on their way, and with on-route meals as fitting for a royal family as Menace liked to claim.
The castle where the Swamp Witch lived was located at the end of a highly toxic zone, one current fold wouldn’t dare enter.
A swamp flooded with miasma, blocking the way of any living being; a bottomless sludge that entangled one’s feet; wraiths preying on all those travelers who went astray; and a multitude of monsters inhabiting it, such as swamp goblins.
There was no way a sane man would try to fare further inside to reach the witch’s house. In fact, calling it a hellscape miles away from any trace of a trading route would be no exaggeration.
Had she not counted on the help provided by Menace and her flying carpet, one could only wonder how Elina would have even begun to make her way there.
“Now, we have arriiived~”
The magic carpet stopped in front of a huge mansion, that towered over them.
“This is the Swamp Witch’s residence.”
The building had a unique European style to it, with a structure like spirals joined together, which gave it quite the ghastly atmosphere.
Will-o’-the-wisps floated around, illuminating the surroundings; creepy statues lined up atop the roof, so lifelike one wouldn’t be surprised if they suddenly started to move; and the old, rundown ivy-covered walls acted as a reminder of its history.
“By the way, Miss Elina, I will be excusing myself here~”
“Eh?”
“After all, from here on is no domain of mine~”
With a chuckle, the brunette held out her ring towards the mansion’s gate. As if acting like a key, the door opened without a sound.
“And, only I can proceed from this point on~”
“What if I was to enter by force?”
“Would you have a spar with these maidens, Lady Elina~?”
Elina could had sworn there was nobody else there, but two maids with the same clothes as Airi were now inside the gate, bowing at Menace as if welcoming her.
“They are Miss Mime and Miss Meena. I hear both are as strong as Miss Airi~”
That sounded to Elina as if Menace was implying: ‘if you want to meet the witch, figure out a way in on your own’.
“I understand. Thanks for bringing me this far.”
Pressing the issue didn’t look like a good idea there. And risking breaking her friendly relationship with the Amaran princess made the thought even more unsavory.
“In any case, just who are you really, Menace?”
“Just a princess of the Amara Kingdom, which was the greatest country in the world~”
Leaving those words behind, she proceeded ahead into the witch’s mansion, sashaying her hips as she went.
***
More than a week had passed since he was kidnapped.
As Echidna herself had once stated, he wasn’t really being treated badly there. It’s not like he was catered for as if he was an esteemed guest, but it also didn’t get to the point where it felt like he was in prison. If anything, one could argue he was treated like a pet companion.
He was served proper meals, and didn’t experience any hardships. At the beginning, he was cautious about possible poisons or drugs, but it proved to be an unnecessary worry.
As the elf had put it: “All the meals I make is stuff I want to eat, so how could it be bad? You sure you got your head screwed right?”
In other words, it seemed she was the actual person doing the cooking, a surprisingly good cook at that.
In the meantime, the all too important flute was always in Echidna’s hands, so he wouldn’t be retrieving it any soon.
The silver lining was that she didn’t appear to have taken any of his other personal effects, as she purportedly wasn’t interested in anything but the whistle. However...
“Don’t think we’re dropping our guard.”
Irma warned him.
“I’ll leak your every move to Echidna.”
When Echidna was away, Irma was the one guarding him.
He hadn’t actually seen anyone but those two ever since he was brought here. And with no windows in that treasure vault he was using as a bedroom, it wasn’t like he could know where in the world he was anyway.
Regardless, calling for help just didn’t seem possible.
Even so, Michel wasn’t just spending the time twiddling his thumbs. He was able to confirm that Echidna went out at regular intervals.
While she was out, Irma was there to guard him, but apparently she wasn’t that much interested in him as her master was, and was content with watching him from outside his room most of the time.
All in all, Michel did have a lot of time to organize his thoughts. During which, he formulated a plan.
A talisman from Hinomoto was among the few possessions he was carrying with him when he got kidnapped. It was an item Elina had received from Tomoe as a reward, a way to contact the Warrior Priestesses if their help was ever needed.
If he could just record a message in the talisman and entrust someone with it, that would be his one-way ticket out of there.
The problem was, there was no one to entrust that item with. Echidna and Irma would be suspicious right away.
“Think, and think carefully.”
He racked his brain to come up with a strategy. Fortunately, time was on his side.
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