The Witch and the Doll Swear

Archaeological excavation is a serious and laborious business.

On the second day in Letopolesta, Tina understood this.

When Ai got up and awakened Tinna by the sound of waking up the witch, the sky outside the porthole was still as dark as ink, the summer desert changed from day to night, and changed from scorching sea to deep cold snowfield. The wind before dawn was as cold as early spring.

Excavation work began at this time.

This is also helpless, once the Saigon Sun rises in the name of Amon Ra, the desert that looks like a silver-white snow field under the moonlight will boil rapidly, and unbearable heat will emerge from the depths of the earth, scorching every day. individual skin.

Even relying on some temperature-regulating magic, Tingna and Ai still find it unbearable. It is even more impossible to equip every staff member with such alchemy props for such a large excavation site.

In contrast, the cold in the early morning and evening, and after nightfall can only be combated by wearing more clothes. Therefore, in summer, the outdoor working hours in Sinai are generally from before dawn to noon, and then from evening to late night.

"Miss Tingna actually doesn't have to force her to come with you. After all, there's nothing you can do at the excavation site."

"And Lily and Ai may be too busy. Miss Tingna only needs to use the kitchen on the sandboat to cook some food and bring it over at noon. Walking around the excavation site casually may cause trouble."

"Eh? Well... that's what I said..."

"...Sorry, Miss Tingna, the days here may be boring..."

"No, it's all right."

Of course, there is no Adventurer's Association in this city, so Tina has nothing to do. After a long absence, she lay lazily on the bed until noon. After the sun began to lick the earth like a torch, the girl got up from the bed, washed slowly, and came to Shazhou's kitchen.

After liaison officer and secretary, the third job Tina did for Liliana was cook.

"Miss Liliana's food reserves for the "Light Seeker" are too abundant..."

Opening the heavy cabinet door covered with the scales of an ice-scaled lizard that is said to be common in the north, the girl fell into thought as she looked at the expensive alchemy freezer full of meat and vegetables.

Of course, there is no problem with cooking alone. Although it is not to the extent that one can be proud of it, one's own craftsmanship is not too bad.

The only problem is that in Yansha City, the girl cooks back and forth with fish, fish, fish, and fish, but in the freezer, since Miss Witch's recipes are more biased towards the earth rather than the ocean, all the food is stored is beef, Mutton, venison, chicken, duck, goose and plenty of fruits and vegetables.

This is also the recipe that Liliana prepared for them during the trip. However, Tina has no cooking experience for these ingredients. Since she wants to cook for Miss Witch, emotionally speaking, Tina does not want to serve mediocre food. Or poor cooking.

On the side of Lietopolesta is Nero Klei. I also saw fishing nets yesterday. Although it was a bit late, I went there to see if there is anyone selling fresh river fish...

Tingna's helplessness didn't last long. When she was worrying about the food in the freezer, a book by the oven caught the girl's attention.

There was a note on the book, Tina turned the note over, and on the paper, a series of neat notes wrote such a sentence.

"If necessary, please use this book. This is the recipes from various places that I have collected during my travels in the mainland. The complete recipes and production methods are recorded in the order I learned by myself. If necessary, please use it well. "

Liliana's words, opened this thick leather-bound notebook, and the same handwriting was written inside, each recipe was recorded like an alchemy recipe.

Each recipe also comes with some experiences and precautions written by Miss Witch herself, outlined with colored borders of stars or hearts—I don’t know if these are Liliana’s own masterpieces, or Alice added them later. Going up, it looks... surprisingly cute.

"...People can't always just do what they already know."

Holding the note, Tingna spoke uprightly.

So, today's lunch is decided to be the honey mustard chicken breast on the first page of the recipe.

…………………………………………………………………………………

With the support of a strong internal drive, people always have an illusion of omnipotence, and cooking with simple steps is not enough to disillusion this illusion.

It was the first time the girl made food according to the recipe, and it got a good evaluation from the witch.

Although it was only two short words, it was enough to make Tingna feel elated. The fact that Ai ate up her portion after shyly saying "not bad" made the girl feel a certain kind of feeling. A wonderful sense of superiority.

Even in a place that he couldn't set foot in, the anxiety brought about by the fact that Ai and Liliana worked with Alice all morning has subsided a lot.

"If Ms. Tingna and Ai have to work late at night, I will also cook and bring them over."

What's more, Miss Witch and Alice's work is document translation and arrangement, and Ai's work is the identification of artifacts, and the work area is not very close.

"...Miss Tina, please."

"Miss Liliana always cooks for us during the trip, so it's okay."

When I was at home, my mother hated me for not being able to learn her fish-cooking skills. Occasionally, I cooked to feed myself. It was the first time that a girl knew that cooking to feed others would be such a satisfaction when she was in a foreign land. feel.

Miss Liliana said it was delicious.

Even Ai said "not bad" frankly and ate up all the food.

Walking out of the side hall of the excavation site, Tingna felt that her footsteps were much lighter on the scorching sand, and she felt a little buoyant.

The girl didn't return to the sand boat immediately. If she went back now, she would definitely go back into the kitchen without hesitation and start studying the dishes on the next page of the recipe. She was so happy that she couldn't help humming the songs of her hometown softly, letting herself be driven by satisfaction and joy, and shuttled around the excavation site.

Now is the time to rest, and the excavation site has almost turned into a stove under the sun at noon. Not everyone has the magic amulet given by the witch like a girl, so the excavation work is almost completely suspended. There are only a few areas where the last work is still being done.

On one side of the temple hall, close to the scholar's residence where Liliana is, a thick rainproof cloth covers the sky between the wall and the top of the temple hall, forming a shadow from the sun. Scholars and excavators half-naked Under the sand dunes that have been reduced a lot, use brooms and brushes to clean up the road leading to the temple and the murals on the walls that have been buried for thousands of years.

The excavation of the ruins in Lietopolesta basically follows this sequence: the excavation site is determined, the workers use shovels and carts to dig out the dunes, and when the sand covering the ruins is reduced to a certain extent, it is transferred to professionals. take over.

According to the customs of Sinai, the walls and floors of the ancient temple are covered with murals from the ancient times of the kingdom and unique characters called holy scriptures. In order not to destroy these precious historical relics, the excavators rarely used hard tools. Brushes with different hair quality are the most important, followed by small brushes similar to paintbrushes, and then there is a rubber balloon for each person. As long as you pinch it, a strong airflow can be blown out of the small pointed tube to blow away the hair. Grains of sand between crevices where even the tiniest bristles find it difficult to penetrate.

The hired workers have gone to rest, but these scholars are still tirelessly digging. Although the black cloth above the head provides a shade, the heat still enters from all directions. Their scorched skin was covered with sweat, but apart from wiping it occasionally to keep the sweat from falling into their eyes, everyone didn't care about it. This morning they removed a mural that was still intact from the sand grains at the base of the wall After cleaning it out, they cheered, and someone immediately recorded it with an expensive imaging crystal, and then another round of meticulous cleaning began.

While watching their sweaty work from a distance, Ting Na was also a little puzzled while feeling admiration.

She thought of the gray rain in Salt Sand City last year. .

At that time, in order to deal with the stagnant water in the city, the magicians of the Magicians Association used a kind of magic to turn the rainwater into water golems that could move on their own, and walked along the streets to the Sea of ​​Tranquility. From the basic knowledge, if I remember correctly, the making of these golems is not limited to water or mud.

"Why not use magic..."

After talking to herself, the girl shook her head and grinned uncontrollably.

Liliana and Alice are not around, so even if I talk to myself, no one will hear and answer.

"It's not that it's not needed, it's that it's not enough."

"...???"

However, the voice came from above the girl's head.

Tina raised her head subconsciously.

Above, a black flower bloomed under the blue sky, getting closer, getting closer, before Tina could react, the black linen cloth had already covered Tina's face, carrying the fragrance of nuts and fine wine .

Then, as a figure fell in front of the girl, the wide skirt fell down again, covering a pair of tight and healthy slender legs. The owner of the skirt raised his face and looked up at Tina, his amber eyes faintly Displeased.

"It's really rude."

"...Who is it that is rude, suddenly jumping off someone else's head?"

"People who can be approached like this should have knelt on the ground and trembled because of the honor, so they said that it is really rude, why are you so tall..."

In the standard lingua franca, the girl whose crown only reached Tingna's chest including the wildkin beast, spoke a strange syllable, and the last sentence became softer and softer.

"...Before I feel inferior about my height, I think it's better for a girl to put on underwear first."

——When I was in Yansha City, I didn’t think, why is my height always said that after traveling to the north and west of the mainland?

Tingna looked at the girl in the black linen dress with complicated emotions.

In Sinai, where white is regarded as the pure color of the soul, black used to be the color only for witches.

But that was hundreds of years ago, and now fashionable girls and ladies will also wear black clothes to add a touch of mysterious charm to themselves.

But the black linen, the golden ribbons and multicolored glass hanging between the jet-black hair, the most important thing is the gorgeous and complicated crown that raised her height-it was obsidian And dark glass, carved in black gold with owls, ravens, and life symbols, surrounded by snakes and plane trees - after the conflict with the people of the Temple of Isis in the Great Library of Alexandria, Ai told Tina about Sinai has some knowledge organized by the magician association combined with religion, so girls know that these are symbols of mysterious ladies, and women wearing black linen clothes with such head crowns and holding snake sticks in Sinai There is only one kind on the land.

Sorceresses of the temple of Isis, daughters of the mythical lady of mystery.

...Anyway, it is not surprising that I would meet a woman of high status.

"Pants? Isn't that hot in Sinai during the day?"

But this high-status witch didn't seem to care about Tingna's faux pas. After her eyes painted with dark blue eyeshadow filled up and down Tingna, who was speechless for a while, she spoke again on her own.

"As for magic? In this area, I am the only official priest of Isis, and the others are apprentices. I can only use 7 or 8 magic spells every day, and I use them up early in the morning. The progress has become much, much faster, but in the end it is not enough, more than one-third of the sand transported out every time will be blown back, and the group of Sobek guys are not allowed to pour the sand into Nirokle."

It took half a minute for Tingna to realize that the lady witch was talking to herself before answering herself, and she also figured out by the way that the strangely pronounced word might be "I".

Always feel... unexpectedly easy to talk?

"...Then why don't you help?"

"I need to be ready to deal with more important developments at all times."

"more important?"

"like this."

The snake stick in the witch's hand suddenly lifted, and the brown-red magic light spread out the round wheel of complicated runes from the stick.

""Son of the night owl, the mysterious lady endows you with invisible power. Hidden sun, great Amon Ra, daughter of Isis, may your brilliance cover the owl's claws!""

"The Hidden Hand of Isis"

Read and sing.

A man who was carefully cleaning up the murals on the stone wall suddenly screamed. The gravel around him was grabbed by an invisible force, and a long snake with the same color as the sand grains was pulled out from it. The lurking monster was held by invisible hands, and then it was thrown far away on the wall, like a whip, one, two, three, four.

When the snake was caught by the girl swinging the staff, it had already turned into a dead snake.

"No one knows how many poisonous insects and poisonous snakes are hidden under the sand, and no one in the temple or the royal family is willing to bear the high cost of insect repellent incense. There is no way, in order to reduce casualties and medical pressure, I have to watch these careless idiots us."

He took out a bottle and put the dead snake in it. The witch with amber eyes took a last look at Tina.

"Although it's troublesome, it's better than the other compatriot who got into the pile of rubbings and papyrus, the city of a thousand towers, huh? That's really suitable for those old pedants in the sky."

"Miss Liliana is—"

Her smile was somewhat contemptuous, and before Ting Na could finish speaking, she shook the black feather shawl on her shoulders, her black hair was fluffy and the wide skirt blended into the shadow, and soon disappeared in front of the girl.

…………………………………………………………………………………

"...Miss Liliana, I always feel that that witch is not very friendly..."

this night.

After Ai, Liliana, and Alice returned to the sand boat, Tina told them about her encounter with the witch who hadn't mentioned her name at all today.

"...It's natural to be hostile."

However, both the witch and the puppet had a familiar expression.

From what they and Ai said, Tingna knew that there is a huge gap in the quantity and quality of magicians in different regions, because the borders of culture and customs are different, and there are also different attitudes towards magic.

"There is a big difference between the Tomil dynasty and the ancient rulers of Sinai. Although in name the pharaoh is still the son of Ra, the god who walks in the world, and the leader of all the temples, in fact, the Tomil dynasty is constantly Reduce the power of the temples everywhere, establish an administrative agency directly under the pharaoh, and intentionally separate the royal power from the divine power."

Especially in this land, the long-standing belief brought the Association of Magicians and the Temple of Isis together. The fusion of the mystery of magic and faith, mixed with a little bit of theocratic power and royal power, the sameness of the past and the inseparability of the present, produced a subtle reaction .

What's more, the mysterious lady is in charge of fertility, which is related to the proliferation of Nerocle. She is not only the patron saint of women, but also the wife of God Ra. She is also a wise and powerful magic and witchcraft who obtained the real name of God Ra in mysterious ways in mythology. God, which led to the position of the magicians in Sinai closer to the priests on the side of theocracy. Historically, the temples were the ruling class of the kingdom, possessing secular rights and interests, and symbolizing a political force that cannot be ignored.

They have been vigilant against the Association of Magicians until the Holy War that completely reshuffled the power of the mainland three hundred years ago.

"...After the 13th Holy War, the temple, which was restored with the help of the Magicians Association, had to accept the supervision of the Association and concluded an agreement to send the best apprentices and magicians to the City of Thousand Towers. However, due to the Magicians Association Not getting involved in secular power, if they fully accept the control of the city of a thousand towers, it means completely giving up their power and power in the world, which is exactly what the Tomil dynasty wants to see, so they have been seeking independent."

"So, being hostile is also expected..."

Halfway through hearing it, Tina became dizzy.

Theocratic power, royal power, and conflicts between different political forces are honestly more complicated than imagined.

"...It's better than being constantly harassed and persuaded to join the Temple of Isis. After all, the temple, the royal family, and the association have not yet torn apart, but if she is desperate to make trouble, there is no need to be afraid. "

Finally, Liliana ended the topic with such a sentence.

After a period of time, Ting Na did not meet that witch again.

Just like every previous trip, after settling down, daily life will become regular and rhythmic.

Get up earlier than usual, cook breakfast for Liliana, Alice, and Ai with the ingredients prepared the night before, and wait until they go to the excavation site to clean the kitchen utensils, study the cookbook, or go to Letopolesta City In the morning market, buy some fresh ingredients.

During this time, other immigrants came here one after another. Every day, new houses were dug out from under the yellow sand and lit with warm lights. Therefore, merchants also gathered. The fresh fish of Nero Klein, The fresh vegetables on the riverside, the birds and gazelles that hunters rowed to the oasis on the other side of the river to hunt, all made this sand-colored city more alive.

As people gathered, excavations in other areas of the city were also put on the agenda. Occasionally, Tingna would walk around other excavation sites in the city, watching the workers dig out the houses filled with yellow sand, Because some of the clay pots and statues that are still intact or even faded are screaming.

According to the current laws of Letopolesta, these ancient artifacts must be handed over for identification after they are unearthed. Some city guard soldiers who know Tina will call her to come with her when they see her. If so, you can save some cumbersome procedures.

Then at noon and night, prepare the food and send it to Liliana, Alice and Ai, enjoy it with them or wait for them to return to the sandboat to eat together, although the problem of going to the toilet is still very troublesome and embarrassing , but unexpectedly, Tingna felt that she was quite adapted to such a life.

Compared with Tina, Aike has worked much harder.

The identification work is quite hard, especially after the number of people in the city has increased and the number of excavation sites has increased a lot. Every day, things that need to be identified are piled up in a corner of the side hall.

These statues, amulets, all kinds of pots and utensils, according to Mr. Hef Canaan, the most precious part of these ancient artifacts will be preserved and put into the museum in the future, and the less valuable cultural relics will be sold as The method of "paid gift" was donated to museums all over the mainland, and all the proceeds were used to build Leto Porestina, so the requirements for identification were very high.

Every day when Ai returned to the sand boat, his face was full of exhaustion, and he always went to sleep in a room by himself after taking a shower alone.

"Is Ai okay..."

"...Although it's hard work, if you have enough rest and nutrition, if you don't have any physical problems, mental hard work will be beneficial."

"is that so……"

So, during this period of time, in the bathroom where the four of them were always together during the trip, only Tingna, the witch and the doll were taking a leisurely bath.

Of course, also when sleeping.

However, on a certain day, beside Tina who packed up the tableware and watched the setting sun reflect the magnificent outline of the pyramid in the distance on the deck, it was rare for Ai, who came back earlier than Liliana and Alice because there were fewer utensils to be identified. , spoke up.

"The next thing, after you listen to it, forget it."

"Eh?"

"Recently, I've been provoked by magic all the time."

"……Eh?"

"Sudden mental shock and the like, the greasy technique that was set on the ground and activated as soon as I stepped on it, the curse that made people itchy all over the body or bad breath came from nowhere, obviously by something Humans are in control, and if bitten, the muscles of the whole body will temporarily relax, leading to a loss of strength. Snakes and the like... Although I know that many people are hostile to me, these sneaky provocations really show that they are powerful enough. .”

The black-haired girl spoke quickly with a tone of disgust from the bottom of her heart.

"Some guys are really not easy to deal with. I set up magical traps on my chair that I will get caught if I don't pay attention and are difficult to disarm. I add messy potions to my ink bottle to make the ink lose its effect... How should I put it, They are all ways to make people look ugly if they are not handled well, I also met these guys when I took the exam at the Dragon Academy, and I didn’t expect there to be many of them in Sinai.”

"Well, is it all right... Should I tell Ms. Liliana or Mr. Heffcanan..."

"Hmph, how could I not be able to deal with it? I am Liliana's apprentice, and I have been taught by Ms. Akuya and Ms. Aonian. I can't deal with these guys no matter what!"

...Is it because I have been suppressed for too long and have nowhere to vent? The staring Ai looked exactly like a cat with fur.

"I probably know who instructed it. It's the bald priest of the Temple of Isis. Every time he sees Liliana and me, he has a disgusted expression. Those idiot apprentices who attacked me with backward magic are also with him. I’ve met him before, and I’ve also seen him and that demon goddess talking about it mysteriously, is she next? Well, let’s try it out.”

After raising the volume to completely cover Ting Na's words, Ai let out a long sigh of relief.

Her expression seemed to be a little more refreshed, and she looked at Ting Na with wine red eyes.

"Have you forgotten what I just said?"

"Eh? Ah, that..."

"All, forgot, dropped, did it?"

"Forget, forget!"

If you don't forget it well, I will use magic to force you to forget it——Tina nodded hurriedly while staring at Ai with such an expression on her face.

"In that case, it's fine... hmm..."

After finishing speaking, Ai stared at Ting Na for a long time, and then went to take a bath with fatigue all over her body.

What a proud boy...

Tina thought of that contemptuous smile again.

Are these things also done by that short witch?

I don't know if it's because she has been with someone like Liliana who is often expressionless and hard to guess what she is thinking for a long time, but Tingna always feels that her ability to perceive words and expressions has become much stronger.

Just like now, although Ai has such an expression, the girl feels that she actually trusts her, so she confided to herself as if she was half-venting, and what she wanted to say was more like a spoiled child.

Similarly, the unknown witch, the girl always felt a subtle sense of disobedience.

I always feel that the expression and eyes of that witch have something special...

"...I think I'm thinking too much."

Thinking of this, Tina put the matter to the back of her mind.

In the next few days, Ai always had a gloomy face, and sometimes looked a little embarrassed, and the degree of fatigue seemed to have deepened, and sometimes, there were more scars on his body.

It is impossible for the witch and the puppet to not notice such a change, and even so, they did not ask.

It's just that when Ai asked them about magic, they were more patient than usual.

"Miss Ai, is it really okay..."

"Geniuses always encounter jealousy and criticism. The brighter they are, the more intense the darkness that wants to engulf them. Many famous geniuses disappeared in the end. This is why, under the protection of Alice and Lily , It’s good to experience more, Lily has also grown up step by step in this way.”

"ha……"

"Is it hard to understand?"

"No, I've read a lot of such things in novels, but...it really happened in front of me, but I feel complicated...Those novels are not all fiction..."

Every time this happens, I can feel a certain insurmountable distance more personally, even though I have warned myself countless times not to force it.

Alice didn't answer. That night, the last conversation between the girl and the puppet was to say goodnight to each other.

However, in the middle of the night, the girl opened her eyes.

"...?"

Is this... a dream?

The stars are brilliant.

Above the endless desert, the moon's disc is within reach, hanging from the starry night sky, on the top of the sand dunes.

And she is below the dunes, submerged in the soft waves of the oasis.

Is this... a dream?

The girl asked herself again, she had never seen such a brilliant starry sky and a huge bright moon, not to mention the oasis spring water that gave people warmth in this cold night.

It should be a dream, but why do you have such a dream?

Just as such doubts arose, Ye Xiao's voice sounded strangely like a ghost above Ting Na's head. The dark-brown owl stared at her with its faintly glowing owl eyes on the dead tree branch of the hot spring.

No sound or words.

But Tingna seemed to hear some ancient words, lingering in her ears and trying to get into her mind, Tingna subconsciously wanted to go to Mosuo Baiyu's finger wheel, but in the dream, there was nothing on her fingers. No.

"——!!!"

The night owl's chatter was suddenly interrupted, and it let out a sharp and ear-piercing cry. Suddenly, another kind of light appeared in the gorgeous night sky full of stars. It was accompanied by starlight, but it was more brilliant than the twinkling stars. The changing seven colors were like the goddess Feiyang. Like the crony of the sky, the vast and impossible to ignore flickers above the oasis, between the sea of ​​stars.

...Will there be aurora in the desert?

"……Miss……"

Just at this time.

"Ting...Na...sister..."

Another voice gradually became clearer.

"Tina!"

Ting Na opened her eyes abruptly, sat up from the bed, and then lay back down with stares in her eyes as her forehead collided with another cry of pain.

"What are you doing sitting up all of a sudden!"

"It's not that Ai is shouting so anxiously!"

"How could I be so anxious!"

"It's just that urgent!"

"No!"

"have!"

The feeling of being hit with a hammer just after waking up is not good. Of course, it is the same for Ai who kindly came to call her but was avenged by revenge. The pain on the forehead and the dizziness on the head completely forgot the age Differences, like two children who just learned to speak, repeat meaningless quarrels.

"Okay, Ai, Miss Tingna, stop, now is not the time to watch two people who have a good relationship quarrel."

It was Alice who stopped them from wasting more time, and the little puppet gently tapped on their heads, interrupting this low-level language repetition:

"Lily caught the little mouse that sneaked into Miss Tina's dream."

"……Eh?"

A few minutes later, in an unoccupied cabin on the Lightseeker, Tina saw the "little mouse sneaking in."

"……It's you."

Although Liliana seldom shows this part of power, with her blood, the witch has been able to travel to and from the dream world since ancient times. Whether it is exorcising nightmares, spreading nightmares, or giving omens, these stories in various parts of the mainland are all Strongly connected with the witch.

What's more, in Sinai, the owl is a symbol of the witch, so after seeing this witch who looked shorter because the crown was taken off, Tina was not too surprised.

The witch looked at her with a sluggish expression, probably because she was severely beaten by Miss Liliana. Thinking of the vast aurora that almost merged with the starry sky and the screams of night owls, Ting Na Not surprised either.

"...So now, can you tell me what are your plans?"

Liliana in the cabin, after Tina was brought by Ai and Alice, nodded lightly. She got up from the bed and kept the clothes she wore when she fell asleep. A luxurious silk pajamas wrapped in a dreamy Physically, her voice was not loud, but echoed majestically and clearly in the bed cabin.

"……snort."

The witch just turned her head to the side. Although she has been reduced to a prisoner, her contemptuous expression still has no restraint.

"..."Morgoth's Plunder of Mind". "

And here, Liliana is not interested in having sex with her either.

A certain sounding very bad magic was sung by Liliana. I don't know if it was instantaneous or had been sung silently beforehand. The seeds disappeared into the aurora-colored triangular magic circle, and the expression of the bound witch immediately distorted with pain.

"you this……"

She seemed to be in great pain and wanted to curse, but Liliana just frowned, and the little doll snorted, and opened its mouth in doubt on Ai's head.

"The seal of Isis, why are those idiots in the Temple of Isis still using this?"

"Curse seal?"

"...a kind of protection is also a kind of imprisonment, which is a bit troublesome."

Before she finished speaking, Liliana raised her hand and let another magic circle be constructed in her hand.

"But it's just a little troublesome."

"Great Fear"

The clarification of interpretation rang out together with Alice's disdainful voice, and the witch's face suddenly revealed an expression of incomparable horror.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!"

A terrible scream.

Tingna couldn't help covering Ai's eyes, because this scene is really not suitable for children to see, even the activated rope that binds the witch is deformed by her rolling, she is like a dying fish in the scorching drought She was beating desperately on the ground, and she couldn't see her pupils with her rolled-up eyes, only a terrifying scream that didn't sound like a human voice echoed in the room.

Keai slapped off the girl's hand—but she didn't let go of her hand. The girl looked at the witch who fell into fear and frenzy under the two spells. Her clothes were messed up and her hair fell out. During the screaming and struggling, blood oozed from her eyes and ears. When the painful tumbling and screaming came to an abrupt end, Aurora's tentacles protruded from her facial features, like a doll's hanging strings making her upper body stiff. rise.

A gruesome scene, while comical because of the witch's shiny scalp, still leaves a bit of a bone-chilling chill.

Liliana frowned tightly.

After a while, she released the magic, and the witch immediately fell limply on the ground as if her bones had been pulled out.

After a moment of silence, Liliana spoke softly.

"...This is why you showed contempt and mockery to us, and kept harassing my apprentices."

"..."

"...Because you still couldn't get the desired results from Ai, your boss urged you, so you took the risk and wanted to attack Miss Tingna."

"..."

"... Everything now is in your arms."

"……Eh?"

"What?"

Ai and Tingna were stunned.

There seemed to be a different meaning in Liliana's words, especially when she looked at the witch who was supposed to be the enemy with admiration, which made them a little confused.

"Hey... really... merciless..."

At this time, the witch struggled to barely sit up from the floor.

"If you show mercy, you won't be able to break the curse seal, and you won't be able to tell Lily your real purpose."

Although Tina and Ai were at a loss, Alice seemed to have understood.

Hearing what the little puppet said, the witch closed her eyes, and then nodded.

"Yeah, this thing that has been monitoring and controlling me since I was a child has finally disappeared. Only for this, I should thank that idiot who pretends to be an elder."

She spat out a mouthful of blood, but before it hit the floor, it was consumed by the flames that shot out of nowhere.

"……excuse me."

No contempt could be seen on her face, replaced by joy and a distorted smile of the achievement of the goal, the witch looked at her own kind, although the breath was a little weak, but the amber pupils were even brighter.

"And I don't need to say it out, I'm already your slave, you should have seen the reason why I did this, my purpose, everything about me, "Mind Plundering"... Heh, I can't even dream of it Will one day be thankful for this horrible black magic. "

Among them, a cold and dry flame burned.

Leaning back on the soft cushion on the back of the chair, Liliana will gently tap the swan statue on the armrest, staring at the fire in those pupils, her words are as usual unhurried.

The witch's life history is very simple in Liliana's words, not even a hundred words.

Born into a noble family.

He was sent to the temple since he was a child and had high hopes.

However, for several years in a row, she failed in the examination to be sent to the Magicians Association, and later, because she was the best among those who remained, she became a higher-ranking witch in the Temple of Isis.

But she loathes it.

"You don't want to spend your whole life under the statues of the temple, and you hate the temple, so you want to leave. I can understand all of this... People who have learned magic and learned half a bucket of water, although there are fools who are complacent and arrogant, But there are also seekers who are not satisfied with this, staying in Sinai, where the level of magic is backward, in the Temple of Isis, you will eventually miss the gate of truth... But obviously, your family has no interest in the gate of truth."

"Also, for young girls who love beauty, it is too cruel to shave all the excess hair on their bodies every three days and only wear wigs and fixed-style clothes."

Liliana and Alice didn't say this to Tina and Ai deliberately, and Tina couldn't understand the mood of seeking knowledge.

But a girl, when she was young and beautiful, had to shave her head and put on a wig. Every three days, she had to perform a so-called cleansing ritual—shaving off all excess hair, covering her body with spices and olive oil, Incense temples are closed for a whole day - all in keeping with ancient tradition.

Looking at the wig and the girl's smooth scalp illuminated by the light of the magic lamp, Tingna still felt sympathy.

"...But are you sure that this will work? As the god of fertility, Isis' teachings strictly forbid losing virginity before marriage. In addition to being expelled, witches who lose their virginity are more often imprisoned in a remote temple forever."

"That's why I made this plan when I felt you. The arrival of another witch—especially the witch from the City of Thousand Towers will make that guy who has nothing but age restless. He will rely on me and ask me to find a way to get rid of you, and I will use various reasons to delay the time to make him more anxious, and then he will directly order me to let me take radical actions, and then, I failed."

But Tina couldn't understand what happened next.

Liliana's words made the witch smile coldly.

"I can't deal with the witch from the City of Thousand Towers. I reported such a report a few days ago, but that idiot still asked me to solve this matter. Of course, this did not go through that idiot, and that idiot's order confirmed it over that."

Speaking of this, she couldn't help laughing like she was talking about other people, without any smile.

"I am not an opponent at all. In order to protect the secrets of the temple, I would rather die than open my mouth, but she defeated me with terrible black magic, tore apart the curse of the goddess, plundered my heart, and abused me wantonly. Throw it like trash in the streets of Letopolesta for everyone to see."

Laughed.

……very scary.

The words spoken in a cold tone are really terrifying.

But what is even more frightening is the faint, firm awareness when he said these words, the goal of smashing and defiled everything about himself, even so.

Subconsciously, Tingna held Ai's hand even tighter.

The faint tone and the flame in the eyes reminded the girl of the black flame burning quietly in the snow-covered valley high above the sky. She looked at Ai, and the girl who was tightly holding her hand pursed her lips, but there was some agreement in her wine-red eyes.

...Yes, they are the same kind of people.

"The witch of the temple, the noble family background, all these have given me power, and all these have become my shackles. If I want to escape from Sinai, I can only destroy them all, and let all the responsibility be shifted to that incompetent In this way, my parents will do their best to protect me, who is now the best witch of the younger generation of the Temple of Isis. But they will not let me continue to stay in Sinai, because I will become a stain on the family , if it is used by someone with a heart, it will damage the name of the family."

"...They will send you away from Sinai, and once you leave Sinai, with the power of a magician, can you be free...? But for family members who may ruin their family names, nobles may not necessarily choose to send them away. hide."

"Then I can also walk on the reed field with pride."

"..."

"..."

The witch-to-witch conversation is over.

In the silence, Hu Po and the dark pupils looked at each other.

"Master Liliana..."

Ai whispered, but Liliana looked at her and shook her head slightly.

"...Why should we help you? We are just travelers, and we don't want to provoke the hostility of one of the powerful temples in the kingdom and a noble family."

But the witch just shook her head and pointed to her head.

"If you really cared, you wouldn't break the seal of Isis, or is there any other reason?"

"……Ah."

Liliana didn't answer, she got up from the chair, and looked at Tingna and Ai with starry eyes.

For a moment, Ting Na didn't realize the meaning of that gaze, and at this moment, Miss Doll spoke.

"Don't Miss Tingna and Ai want to see how Lily tortures the enemy?"

"Huh? Ah..."

"Okay, okay, Alice will watch Lily, it's late, you go to sleep."

"Ah, ah, Miss Liliana—"

boom.

The hatch was closed.

A few minutes later, on the deck of the "Lightseeker", Tina and Ai, who were facing each other, were sitting at a table with a parasol, staring blankly at the star-sparse sky.

The door that was closed in front of Tinna and Ai, who were pushed out of the room by the dolls with the magical wind, could not be pushed open even if they held the doorknob and twisted it.

The sound is also completely isolated. After reacting, Ai wanted to use the wizard's eyes to spy, but an aurora-colored enchantment made the girl dumbfounded.

The desert at night is very cold, even with the magic to regulate the temperature, the cold wind mixed with sand grains is still blowing.

"I always feel that I can understand some of Miss Tingna's feelings."

"...Did you say that on purpose to fight?"

"If there is a fight, will Master Liliana come over?"

"...Miss Alice is more likely to come and teach us a lesson..."

"……makes sense."

The two sitting under the moonlight fell into silence.

What the hell is this?

Although I can vaguely understand the reason why Liliana decided to help that witch, and I also sympathize with it—and admire the witch who is willing to give up everything for freedom and knowledge. Miss Alice also said that she will help watch... But what are you looking at?

I wanted to ask through the pearls on the earrings, but the puppet lady didn't respond either.

"I always feel lumpy... I can't accept it..."

Looking at the new moon in the sky, Ting Na let out a long breath, but she couldn't exhale the stickiness accumulated in her chest. She asked Ye Feng and Feisha, but she was just a silent note in the cold night wind .

"Me too... Although my mother once taught me to seize every opportunity on the battlefield of love, but..."

Ai's voice was right next to her ears, and the girl sat on the chair with her knees hugged. Although her voice was clear in the first two words, her words gradually became softer, nervous, and weak. The only whispers left.

"..."

Sylph's blessing didn't make this sentence disappear in the wind, and the girl didn't answer either. It was just that something that she had neglected before was put in front of her again, causing her to fall into deep thought for a long time.

The night deepened.

The next day, the head of the Temple of Isis disappeared from Letopolesta.

Liliana hadn't left the ravaged witch on the streets of the city after all. The priest's disappearance, except for some troubles in the handover of work, nothing happened, and even those waves disappeared after a few days.

Only that day later, the caretakers and scholars who worked to keep them safe became magic apprentices at the Temple of Isis.

And that morning, Liliana, whose skin was much more radiant than usual, noticed that the conflict between her secretary and the apprentice seemed to have eased a bit.

She looked at her partner who had accompanied her for a long time, but the little doll just smiled and told the two girls that nothing happened last night that they need to care about and remember.

Many years later, although neither Ai nor Ting Na are willing to admit it, but.

That day, in a sense, was indeed the initial reconciliation they reached before the conflict intensified, and no one would admit it.

………………………………………………………………………………

Postscript of a certain day:

"Stare..." "Stare..." "...what's wrong?" "No, it's nothing, I just feel that after 'torturing' that witch, Miss Liliana's skin seems to have improved a lot..." "...Timely Venting stress is the secret to skin care." "...In the end, what will happen to that witch?" "It will cause a moderate earthquake in the circle of the temple and nobles. Lily deliberately There are traces of a treasure-level powerhouse on his body, which should make those temples weigh in, after all, the entire Sinai is only a treasure-level kingdom guardian." "There should be no more troubles in the future, right?" , you can concentrate on studying and finding clues." "...That's right...Miss Tina, Ai, why are you so close to me? It's like trying to keep me from running around."

"...No, nothing, just naturally..."

"Yes, it's Liliana's master's illusion, and as a student, it's right to follow the master's side!"

"..."

"..."

"...Let's just treat it like this."