Isolene laughed heartily at Gremory, who was munching on the dragon's tail, as if she were a bamboo forest.
"There's Catherine Ortega, a young lady from one of the four great ducal families of the Empire. When the diamond mine was discovered in the Ortega duchy, she treated me like a maid and made me work for her. But now it's time for revenge! Mori! Let's have a tea party right now! It's time to show off the loot of the ancient dragon! There's something more valuable than a diamond mine!"
"I hate it. I really hate crowds."
"Just for one day! Yes? I'll just call twenty important ladies! Yes?"
"Do I really have to attend?"
"Of course. You're my friend. How can I have a party without my friend?"
"I don't want to be friends."
"Oh, don't do that!"
It was at that moment that the two women were arguing. A nice-looking couple passed by. The couple looked at the picnic scene, discussed something, and then came closer.
"Thank you for always protecting the territory, Saintess."
The couple took two fresh apples out of the basket they were holding, placed them on the table, bowed to the two maids, and went their way.
Isolene watched the couple walking away, then picked up a clean, colorful apple.
"That's a really good apple. But Mori, are you really a Saint?"
"Think whatever you want."
"Wow, look at that arrogant attitude. Did you run away because you didn't want to follow the rules of the Great Hall? I heard there are a lot of Saints like that these days."
"Yum."
Instead of answering, Gremory ate the apple the couple had given her. Isolene scolded Gremory for eating the apples given to her by others.
"Hey, if there's poison in that apple, why are you eating it so carelessly? Be careful when you eat it. If you're a Saint hiding your identity, you should know a lot about the world, but why do you act like a child left out on the water's edge?"
"Why are apples poisonous?"
"So, what I'm saying is that a bad person who holds a grudge against you could put poison on an apple and give it to you."
"It's okay. The person who gives you food is good."
"...What would you do if someone told you to follow them and offer you something delicious?"
"I should follow. It's a good opportunity."
"What the heck! What if a sly looking man asks you to touch his body in exchange for goat meat?"
"I think it would be okay to let me touch his hand."
Isolene began to diligently educate Gremory about the ways of the world. Gremory did not listen at all and just munched on an apple.
At the same time, Chession, sitting a little further away from the two women, was still reading a book related to the language of the ancient demon tribe.
"Interpretation of the Ancient Demon's Text."
Chession clearly remembered the shape of a couple of letters that were on the magic circle written by Gremory. Chesion searched through the dusty old book and found the letters.
'Found it.'
À. The meaning of the letter was 'fire'.
'Why does it have to fit that situation so perfectly...'
It was a dizzying experience. Everyone around him was telling him that Mori wasn't a witch, but the possibility that she might be a witch kept creeping up deep inside him. Was it just an illusion, or a sharp intuition?
'Should I just ask Mori directly?'
Yeah, that method... would be good. If he asks her, all he'll hear is that she's not a witch. Mori isn't a witch.
No, even if she's a witch, it's a problem. Mori goes around showing off too much that she's a witch.
'Hey, let's stop thinking about it. I don't want to continue to doubt the family I brought. Besides, I can't trust this book either. It's just a collection of folktales.'
But it's a little scary. What if the person he accepted as his family eats all his other family members? Based on her behavior so far, it doesn't seem like that's likely...
At that time, there was a scene that flashed through Chession's mind. It was Mori's eyes that had sparkled innocently when he had taken her to the city and the green forest. Would someone with such eyes really try to eat all of his family members?
'If Mori were a woman with dark intentions, Charlie wouldn't have let her into the Forest of Fresh Green. And didn't she save me when I was about to take my own life a few days ago?'
While he was deep in thought, Gremory tapped Chession on the shoulder.
"What are you doing?"
"Ugh!"
Chesion was so surprised that he almost dropped the book. Gremory sat right next to Chession and read the book roughly.
"It's a book on deciphering the Demonic Language. Why are you looking at this?"
"Well, just as a hobby."
"Oh, there's something wrong here. This should be pronounced as 'me', not 'se'."
"Of course, there will be many mistakes. This is a book made up almost entirely of tales...But how do you know that?"
"Because I used to use it a lot."
"Ha, so you mean you used to enjoy reading books like this a lot?"
'I enjoyed it.' Gremory pondered. Did she enjoy studying while she was doing it?
"Yes."
"Whew. Yes."
"Anyway, I recommend you not watch such useless stuff. Ordinary people might lose their minds after watching it."
Chession's head hurts. That cute short hair is making him doubt her words again.
Ah, I don't know. Let me just ask.
"Excuse me, Mori. I have something to ask you."
"What is it?"
"I know this is a ridiculous question. But considering the circumstances so far, it's hard to rule out the possibility, so I'm asking."
"So what the heck?"
"Are you..."
"Ugh."
Mori suddenly collapsed, vomiting blood.
"Moriiiii! Why all of a sudden!"
Chession, who had thrown down the book of the Demonic Language, cried while holding Mori, who had collapsed and vomited blood. Then, from far away, Isolene came running in a hurry.
"I told you not to eat just anything! What on earth did you eat this time? Was the apple poisoned? Or was the dragon's tail poisonous?"
So Gremory was transported to the mansion.
***
Numerous nuns visited, but they were unable to find out what was wrong with Gremory. Isolene recommended that a healer or priest be brought in, but for some reason, Chession left Gremory unattended.
'I had a feeling that I shouldn't touch it carelessly.'
Chession used a secret passageway that only he could enter to go to the underground forbidden book storage room. There, books related to witches were stored. When Iris was suffering from witch hunts, she had collected books to refute witches because she knew them well.
'Found it. "The Witch's Trait."
Chession placed the lamp on the table and opened the book. It was a book he had read a long time ago, so he could vaguely remember the contents.
"A witch's appearance is no different from that of a normal human. The only difference is that the fangs are slightly sharper, and the bite force is strong. However, when a witch is angry or threatens an opponent, her pupils turn red and narrow vertically. The fangs also grow longer, and her nails become sharper."
'... Isn't this exactly Mori in the mine? I might be hallucinating, but anyway, next time.'
"Witches are skilled at seduction. The 'seduction' mentioned here is not limited to seducing the opposite sex. They also gain the favor of those around them, important people, and perhaps even the entire town population. Those who are seduced in this way are often eaten in an instant."
Chession thought of Mori, who was praised as a Saint by the people. His pupils shook without mercy.
"The powers of witches vary depending on their rank. High-ranking witches possess versatile powers, while low-ranking witches have weak abilities and are indistinguishable from humans."
Chession flipped through the useless parts and finally found the useful part.
"When the witch vomits. A witch's weakness is overeating. Sometimes, when witches see delicious food, they get excited and eat it indiscriminately. When they do, their stomachs cramp up, they vomit what they have eaten, and collapse."
"...Our Mori. You just overate."
It wasn't Mori's blood that she vomited; it was dragon's blood.
"Was the dragon's tail that tasty..."
Chession opened the last page of the book. It read:
"This book is based on a folktale. I hope no one believes it to be true."
"Shit."
Chession climbed the stairs and exited the secret space. When he returned, Gremory had come to her senses. She was gulping down the tea that Anna had given her.
"Oh, you're here?"
Gremory, who had worried everyone, welcomed Chession peacefully.
Is that the behavior of a typical 20-something woman? Wouldn't it be normal for a normal woman to be surprised at herself for collapsing?
What kind of young lady in the world would react like that? She's not a veteran who fell in the middle of a war and woke up to greet her juniors.
Eventually, Chession couldn't stand it anymore and kicked everyone out of Gremory's room.
"Everyone, please go out for a moment."
And he grabbed Gremory's shoulders.
"Mori, answer me."
"What?"
"Are you by any chance... a witch?"
"Yes."
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