Elina made it into the mansion, but with Melona around, anything's a toss-up?
Enjoy!
Chapter 4: At the Witch’s Den (Part 1)
Protean Assassin Melona (2)
“Aaand~, that’s all I had to say~”
Menace’s voice echoed through the divination room. In front of her was a screen with luxurious decorations, completely hiding the figure behind it.
“That’s good, that’s good. Princess Menace, reviving thee was worth the effort.”
A dignified voice was heard beyond the partition.
“It was wonderful to be able to form a relationship with Aldra, the current Queen~”
“The result of the fortune-telling seems to show that fate is proceeding in a good direction.”
The voice behind the screen was now lively with joy.
“You can’t show yourself yet?”
“The fortune-telling revealed that it’s not the time to show myself to thee yet.”
The woman beneath answered Menace’s question flatly.
She was the owner of that mansion. The “Swamp Witch”, as she had made herself known throughout the Continent.
In order to avoid Heaven interfering with her plans, she used fortune-telling to decide on what actions to take.
For the moment, it tied her to the swamp. That was why she had to resort to people like Menace and Airi to obtain information on the current events, given that she couldn’t leave her land.
“If you would excuse me.”
A bespectacled maid with a calm air to her entered the room.
“A guest came with Lady Melona. She’s hoping for an audience. How shall I proceed?”
“An interesting wind blows... the fortune-telling predicted as much.”
The witch behind the curtain had a fond smile on her lips... or at least, that’s how it sounded to Menace.
“Let us meet her then... Meena, prepare the audience room.”
***
Led by Melona, Elina stepped into the witch’s mansion in the swamp.
Betraying the uncanny outside appearance, the inside was well maintained. The highly decorated floor covered in tiles was polished off, reflecting the figure of all passers-by like a mirror.
“Hey, you know the witch, is she free today?”
The bunny-eared girl called out to the maid in charge of guiding guests.”
“I’m afraid that depends on the results of the fortune-telling?”
“Fortune-telling?”
The Vance girl’s whisper made Melona smile.
“That’s the Swamp Witch’s shtick. She decides what to do with fortune-telling.”
“Fortune-telling, huh...”
‘Another weirdo to add to the pile?’, thought Elina.
[If she was someone reasonable, there would have been plenty of room for negotiation. However, factor in some unknowns like fortune-telling, and the whole thing goes out the window. At this point, it’s anybody’s guess as to how this will play out.]
“It’s cool. I don’t think it’ll go badly.”
The slime girl spoke as if she could hear Elina’s thoughts.
“Listen, Melona.”
“Nh? What is it?”
“Why are you being nice to me?”
“Oh, I’m totally gonna use you.”
Elina’s tense features relaxed upon hearing Melona’s clear remark.
“Hearing you say that to my face is refreshing, in a way. But, I don’t know what you’re after.”
“You don’t need to.”
“Eh?”
“It’s more fun that way.”
***
The two were guided to the so-called audience room, even if the room itself felt just a bit too cramped.
On the stage, raised one step higher, there was a throne with sinister decorations, flanked on both sides by the pair of maids that had greeted Menace and Melona earlier on.
“The Swamp Witch will be making her appearance now.”
At the same time one of the maids declared so, there was a subtle change to the air.
A screen rose to cover the whole throne, and the moment it was completely hidden from view, a figure appeared, a mighty magical power within her.
“S-So, the Swamp Witch gives off this kind of presence...?”
No comments:
Post a Comment