Chapter 114
Lucy Philiase
“You ask whom you killed?”
Lucy grinned as she placed the pipe between her lips.
“Hmm. It would be wonderful if I could see something that convenient, child. Then this maiden could have helped whenever these little ones came seeking advice.”
Lucy tapped the ash from her pipe into an ashtray.
“However, I do know the name of the person you killed most recently.”
Lucy snapped her fingers.
Snap—!
At once, a pillar wrapped in several layers of vines covering the garden began moving toward the pavilion.
Once it came close enough to Lucy, the vines slowly unwound.
Only then did Ferda realize that it was not a mere pillar.
It was a crystal.
Inside the transparent crystal was a woman, trapped like a mosquito preserved in amber.
“Child, do you know that girl’s name?”
It was a very simple question.
“Echidna Philiase.”
It was Echidna.
She wore a peaceful expression, as though she had been placed in an open coffin before her funeral.
“The rune you created did that to her.”
Lucy pointed at her.
“If you have anything to say, say it.”
Her tone clearly implied that he should choose his words carefully.
Ferda looked at Echidna and asked,
“Did she die without suffering?”
His voice was utterly indifferent.
Lucy’s laughter reverberated throughout the pavilion.
“Hohohohoho…”
The witches tensed at the sound.
Demonic energy spread outward.
It stimulated Ferda’s entire body with a force comparable to Dragon Fear.
“Child, you are truly—truly shameless.”
Lucy rose from her seat and descended the stairs.
“You killed a child of Philiase, and the only thing you have to ask is whether she died painlessly?”
She stopped before Ferda.
It had been difficult to tell from a distance, but now he was certain.
She was shorter than Luri.
“A witch’s grudge is like frost that falls for a hundred years. It does not merely mean that you alone will die in agony.”
Mana filled her voice.
It assailed Ferda’s five senses.
Rather than simply threatening him, it felt as though she were showing him the future awaiting him.
“We shall slowly destroy everything around you, prevent you even from choosing suicide, and break you down completely, until the very last moment, leaving nothing behind.”
Many people had indeed lived and died in such torment.
The records spoke of them.
Ferda, however, remained unfazed.
He already knew.
She was bluffing.
“Are we not equally shameless, Mistress of the Pavilion?”
“What?”
One of Lucy’s eyebrows shot upward.
Ferda gestured with his chin toward the crystal in which Echidna had been preserved.
“You claimed someone still alive was dead and sealed her inside a crystal. If that is not shameless, what is?”
The moment Ferda said that, the atmosphere changed.
Lucy’s threatening demonic aura faded.
As though her anger had never existed, all fury vanished from her voice.
“How did you know?”
“Did you not say it yourself? A witch’s grudge is like a century of frost, and your curses pass down through generations.”
Ferda turned toward the crystal.
He looked at Echidna’s peaceful face.
“If she had truly died because of me and you intended to curse me for it, I cannot imagine you would preserve her with such a peaceful expression and present her before me.”
“Hoho. You seem to know witches rather well.”
Lucy levitated into the air with a satisfied look.
Her clothes fluttered as she flew toward the crystal containing Echidna.
“Echidna, you pitiful thing. I warned you again and again that loving a man would bring nothing but tragedy, yet you stubbornly refused to listen.”
“You pity her despite being the one who cast her out?”
“She merely did not suit the name Philiase. That does not change the fact that this maiden treasures her.”
They were words that did not suit the leader of witches who hated all men.
Lucy stared up at the crystal for a moment before speaking.
“Child, she died because of your mistake, so this maiden shall take her back.”
It was a unilateral declaration.
Ferda answered immediately.
“I refuse.”
This time, the other witches seemed offended.
Demonic energy erupted from them.
“How amusing. Do you truly think you are in any position to refuse?”
“It seems we have been too lenient, and now you are getting arrogant. Perhaps we should give you a taste of pain?”
Their cackling laughter rang chaotically through the pavilion, yet beneath it Ferda could feel hatred and rage.
“Quiet.”
Those emotions vanished at Lucy’s two-syllable command.
Seeing her restrain these masses of malice made it clear just how firmly Big Sister controlled the witches.
“Do not worry. This maiden is not so foolish that she cannot distinguish personal feelings from official matters. If something is lost, something must also be gained.”
“Hmm…”
Lucy deliberately exhaled as she puffed repeatedly on her pipe.
Then she spoke.
“How about this?”
Sparks danced above her small index finger.
Red sparks.
Heaven-Defying Lightning.
Lucy Philiase was casually releasing the pure power she had left behind—a force impossible to wield without a medium.
“You are a mage, and you appear to possess an aptitude for lightning. With a little instruction, I believe you would quickly grasp the trick. What do you say? This maiden will personally teach you.”
What did he think?
It is an enticing offer.
Heaven-Defying Lightning was a legendary element whose mysteries Ferda had still failed to uncover.
He had conducted endless research using the branch of the World Tree struck by the Heaven-Defying Lightning Lucy had once cast, yet he had not even found a clue.
He had studied it repeatedly through the staff made from that branch, but there had been no progress even after generations of research.
If I could possess that power…
He would become stronger.
Just as he had been when he reached the Eighth Circle and became an Archmage.
That was why Ferda answered,
“I refuse.”
Lucy’s hand flinched.
She had clearly believed it to be suitable compensation and had not expected him to reject the offer.
“Oh? Child, is that girl truly so precious to you?”
“She is important.”
“More important than Heaven-Defying Lightning?”
It was the magical element best suited to making Ferda stronger.
Ferda had always needed strength.
“She is important.”
But for the Ferda of the present, becoming stronger was only the second most important matter.
“There is someone who needs to learn what happiness is.”
Because Valdrova had always been Ferda’s first priority.
“And for that person to be happy, I need Echidna’s abilities.”
“So you mean to use her, child. As Big Sister and Mistress of the Pavilion, I am not foolish enough to hear that and simply let it pass.”
“Do humans not use one another by nature? Just as that girl makes use of me, I make use of her.”
Ferda worked the innocent Echidna hard, but it was not as though she was being exploited without realizing it.
Zed and Mori could both testify to that.
“Yes. I suppose that is what society amounts to.”
Lucy exhaled smoke as though sighing.
Then she snapped her fingers.
Snap—!
At that moment, the transparent crystal began melting into water.
The watching witches asked in surprise,
“Oh my, are you going to release her?”
“I thought it was an attractive offer, but he says he does not need it. What else can I do?”
It was strangely unlike a witch not to cling to what she wanted.
Lucy kept her gaze fixed on Ferda.
The lower half of her face, faintly visible beneath the black cloth, could not conceal her interest.
Before long, the crystal had completely melted away, awakening the person inside.
She seemed only half-conscious, yet somehow remained standing on both feet.
Echidna’s eyebrows trembled as she woke from her peaceful sleep.
“Huh? What in the world happened…?”
She rubbed her head with both hands and looked around.
The first person her eyes landed on was Ferda.
Perhaps because he had been subjected to so many gazes filled with hatred and disgust, her gloomy smile seemed almost heavenly by comparison.
“Oh, Regent. You look handsome again today. Hehe…”
Her eyes then drifted around the area.
“Huh? This place looks familiar… It kind of feels like the Rose Pavilion…”
Her words abruptly stopped when she noticed Big Sister Lucy standing beside her.
“H-Hieeeek!? B-B-B-Big Sister!?”
Echidna jumped in fright.
She was so startled that she nearly bit her own tongue.
Her reaction bordered on disrespect, but Lucy responded as though she did not mind.
“It has been a long time, child. Have you been well?”
“Y-Yes! O-Of course! I’ve been doing perfectly well!”
“I may have excommunicated you, but I clearly told you to contact me regularly. It seems my words went in one ear and out the other.”
“Th-That’s because I couldn’t contact you from inside the castle…”
“Oh? Then you are saying it is the Regent’s fault? Should I deal with that Regent over there?”
“What? No! Of course not!”
Echidna whipped her head toward Ferda.
“That is absolutely not what I meant!”
Whether it was or not, Ferda did not care.
“I understand that my presence may make you uncomfortable. Even so, we are practically family bound by blood. Should you not at least let me hear your voice?”
“U-Uncomfortable? Never! I have never thought that even once!”
She forced a smile as she spoke, but it was not convincing in the slightest.
The other witches chuckled at the sight and began chiming in.
“Oh my? That was a lie.”
“A lie? Sisters, I really never thought that…”
“Come now, just be honest.”
“You have already been excommunicated, so what does it matter? Even Big Sister cannot punish you for speaking your mind.”
“Besides, it is important to hear how she appears from an outsider’s perspective, is it not?”
Voices chattered beside Echidna.
Ferda immediately saw through their intentions.
They were luring her into a trap like hunters coaxing prey.
Echidna shrank like a frightened turtle and glanced around before finally opening her mouth.
“I… suppose she can be a little uncomfortable sometimes?”
Lucy’s hand froze around her pipe.
“A-And honestly, whenever someone older than my own grandmother calls herself a maiden, I find that uncomfortable too…”
“Pfft…”
“Kikikik…”
The witches who had egged her on struggled desperately to suppress their laughter.
Lucy’s response was very simple.
Snap—
The roots that had carried the crystal wrapped around Echidna’s entire body and restrained her.
“Echidna. Our foolish little Echidna.”
Her voice contained genuine anger.
It was entirely different from the performance she had put on for Ferda.
“You have gone too long without being beaten by your elder sister, so now you are spouting words you do not even mean. You must not say such frivolous things in front of others.”
“Aaaagh! My arm is coming off! My arm! My arm!”
“Do not worry. If your arm comes off, I shall pull out your legs as well so they do not feel left out, then display them together.”
“I’m sorry! You’re not small, Sister! You’re a very tiny maiden! A beautiful maiden!”
The witches burst into laughter as they watched Echidna being tortured.
Only after the thorny vines had tormented her thoroughly did Lucy finally release her.
With her hair disheveled and her eyes red with tears, Echidna trembled as she crawled toward Ferda.
“Waaah, Regent. My arms and legs hurt so much. It hurts, so I need a hug. A hug—urk!”
“Stay away.”
Ferda pushed her head back.
The witches erupted into outright laughter.
With nowhere left to go, Echidna whimpered and lowered her gaze to the floor.
“Do you truly intend to take that idiot with you?”
The question now sounded as though Lucy was genuinely worried about him.
“If that were a flaw worth rejecting her over, I would never have brought her with me in the first place.”
“If that is your decision, then so be it.”
Lucy gave up without resistance.
Everything seemed to be ending suspiciously easily.
Was she plotting something?
Ferda did not let down his guard until the very end.
“Go back, Echidna. You are to contact me at least once a week.”
“Yes, I will. Regent, shall we return?”
As Echidna tried to extend her hand, Lucy forcibly pushed it down.
“The Regent will remain with me a little longer.”
“What? Alone here?”
For Echidna, it was an alarming proposal.
This was the stronghold of witches who treated men as playthings.
Ferda was no different from defenseless prey.
Lucy scolded her as though she were pathetic.
“He has already walked into the very center of this place. What difference would your presence make?”
“Ah… I suppose that’s true…”
Echidna fidgeted like a prairie dog watching an approaching storm and glanced at Ferda.
Ferda read the expression on her face and answered.
“There is no need to worry. Return and deliver a message to Luri.”
“W-What should I tell her?”
“Tell her I will return soon. That will be enough.”
“Yes! Of course…”
At a gesture from Lucy, Echidna’s body broke apart and vanished.
She had likely been returned to the study where she had originally been.
Lucy watched her disappear before speaking to Ferda.
“Let us walk for a while. I would prefer to have this conversation with you alone.”
Leaving the quietly seated witches behind, she led the way.
The two left the Rose Pavilion and walked through the garden.
Nature did not truly exist there.
Everything had been created entirely through Lucy’s will.
That was why the colors and shapes differed from those found in the natural world.
The leaves were sky-blue.
The sky was violet.
“Is this not a truly beautiful garden?”
Lucy asked.
“It is grotesque.”
“Then that is fortunate.”
She placed the pipe between her lips.
“It means I have not gone completely mad yet.”
The smile accompanying those words made Ferda tense.
Just as he tried to discern its meaning, he sensed movement from the rose vines.
Using the Shadow Hand concealed beneath his clothes, Ferda yanked his own head aside.
Something shot through the place where his head had been.
Whoosh—
A giant’s cavalry lance.
No—
It was an enormous rose thorn, so large that comparing it to such a weapon would not have been an exaggeration.
Ferda quickly widened the distance between them.
“…What is the meaning of this?”
“There is no need to overthink it. It is exactly what it looks like. I attacked you.”
“Why?”
“Because directly attacking you is more efficient than wasting time on shallow provocation or conversation.”
In other words, she was trying to draw him into a fight.
Just as she expected, Ferda refused to take the bait.
Engaging her would be madness.
He might once have been an Archmage, but now he was only a Fourth-Circle mage.
His opponent was the leader of witches whom even Eighth-Circle mages would not know how to handle.
And this was her domain.
Besides, Lucy is not someone so obsessed with battle that she would provoke me for no reason.
There had to be a purpose behind this.
What was she planning?
“Are you curious about my intentions?”
Lucy was a mage who had lived for an immense span of time.
Reading Ferda’s thoughts was likely effortless for her.
“Rather than telling you, I shall give you a reason that leaves you no choice but to act.”
She pointed with her pipe as though wagging a finger.
The vines throughout the rose garden writhed like thorn-covered worms.
“If you do not attack me, I shall erase your existence from that wretched lizard’s life.”
A cruel smile curled across her lips.
It was yet another painfully transparent provocation.
A fierce light erupted from Ferda’s eyes.
He could not back down.