The Witch and the Doll Swear

When I woke up in the morning, the quilt I held in my arms turned into Miss Witch at some point.

"Ah... Liliana..."

It was soft and warm, and it was very reassuring to hold. Ting Na couldn't help but hugged that petite body closer and closer.

--so cute.

The side effect of the black dragon's blood turned the skin color into a slightly dark coffee, but this did not affect Liliana's cuteness at all. Rather, this skin color made the witch who was already a bit fragile look healthier, an inexplicable way The charm made Tingna, who was watching Miss Witch, feel her body temperature slowly rising.

"..."

Liliana twisted instinctively in Tina's arms.

The witch in the city is not good at getting up. Even though the sun has risen high and shines on the faces of the two through the drawn curtains, she still falls asleep peacefully like a snoozing kitten. , breathing steadily and lazily.

... so cute, so cute, so cute, so cute...

Is this also [Magic Charm]?

Maybe it's really what Miss Alice said, I have been completely eaten away by this incomparable charm.

Thin, sweet lips, the distance between Tina and Tina is just a little closer.

Joyful love and hesitation began to fight against heaven and man in the girl's heart, and the words of the blood clan sealed on the grassland were like haunting nightmares, whispering in Tingna's ears.

——The relationship between immortals and short-lived species will end in tragedy.

—So, in order to avoid the end, do you refuse the beginning?

——Don't be too selfish! Human beings will die in 100 or 120 years at most, but if Liliana is moved by your feelings, what awaits her after your death is the emptiness and mourning forever!

——Isn’t love a good thing once you have it?

——Is love something that makes the loved one suffer endlessly? !

The girl's thinking seemed to be divided into several parts. Tingna, who was holding Liliana, held the girl in her arms righteously and did not let go. Liliana, who was holding the gold ring whose ring was wiped off, tried her best to separate them.

Another Tina flipped through social ethics and said, "Sure enough, it would be strange for a girl to like another girl so much." Beside her, her father and mother were moaning.

"..."

Finally, Tingna reluctantly covered Liliana with a quilt, and walked to the bathroom in the room.

Tina's argument seemed to last forever, but at least she would never allow herself to stain Liliana's flawless figure with her unwashed mouth.

I don't know if it was because of the "evil thoughts" in the morning. Tingna, who took extra time to wash up, looked at her slightly bleeding gums in the mirror, grinned dumbfoundedly, and took another cup from the tap beside her The hot spring gurgled and rinsed her mouth, and when even the coating on her tongue looked clean, Tingna patted her face and returned to Liliana's bedroom.

"Ah, good morning, Miss Alice, Miss Liliana."

"..."

Liliana is already up.

He said he was getting up, but he just managed to sit on the bed. Those eyes as deep as the night sky are still dazed, squinted because of the dazzling sunlight, and the wobbly body seems to be caught by the monster called [Warm Bed] at any time, and swallowed into the warm abdomen.

Alice was holding a silver-white comb to comb her little master's sleepy hair. The platinum-blonde hair became more silver-white against Miss Witch's brown skin, and Tina couldn't look away.

"Good morning."

After combing her sleepy hair neatly, Alice said good morning to Tina in an indifferent tone, and then.

"positive."

Said the word again.

Does this mean that I am too active, or not active enough?

Although Miss Puppet seems to be encouraging towards my feelings, but what does Alice think now, after I have caused them so much trouble...

Tina's sneaky "intentions (attempted)" to Liliana, obviously can't be hidden from the puppet that doesn't need sleep.

Ting Na was not sure what the significance of Alice, who was originally incomprehensible and cherished words like gold, was even more unpredictable.

"...Miss Alice and Miss Liliana, do you have any reservations for today..."

There was no other way, so the girl had no choice but to change the topic.

"Rest, in the next few days, visit people, and then, leave, the goal is."

Alice floated to the desk in the room and gave Tina a roll of parchment.

"An ancient country on the edge of the Great Sand Sea, Sinai."

"The one that claims to be the oldest kingdom of mankind... Sinai?"

This roll of parchment is the information obtained by Alice and Tingna when they went to the Institute of Ancient Languages ​​of Cetillin.

The content that has been deciphered is the correspondence between the two magic emperors of the ancient magic empire. It is said that this is the translation of the document in the ruins that made Liliana immortal. After that, Tingna went to the research institute several times and got the More deciphered information.

"...the magic emperor [Immortal] Sandro, the builder of the ruins, these letters are his communication with [Tsar] Ekateria, in which he mentioned the majestic pharaoh tower, the ancient local myths and corpses anti-corrosion technology, and believed that it was the first place where human beings studied immortality."

Perhaps because of the dialogue between the puppet and the girl, Liliana rubbed her face and took a deep breath.

Sylph sent a gust of cold wind at the right time, and when the elf of the wind mischievously passed between Tina and Liliana, Miss Witch's expression no longer had the laziness of snoozing.

"...Unfortunately, in the deciphering part, there is no direct mention of what the ruins are studying. Although judging from my physical condition, at least it involves immortality in the field of [law and reason], but it is determined by Undead magic, black magic, curse magic, ritual magic, or some other method... These differences will cause the truth to be very different."

"It's useless to be confused."

"...That's right...uh..."

Liliana frowned slightly, walked down from the bed, and came to the low table near the window. Sylph had blown open the curtains of the room with the wind, and the goblet on the low table shone with crystal brilliance.

"...In short, after the final exam, we should leave."

Soon, Liliana used magic to return to the bedside with two crystal cups filled with the white and luscious liquid.

"Ah...thank you..."

Although Liliana turned her back to the girl during this process, just seeing the halo of sunlight reflected on Miss Witch's brown skin, Tingna couldn't help thinking about it, and her face turned red. After taking the cup of drink from Liliana, Tingna was even more in a pilgrimage-like mood, taking small sips, and drank it slowly.

"Very delicious..."

"...I don't know how to respond to such compliments..."

"That's what I said, yes, I'm sorry..."

"...No, it's nothing. In short, I will run around to socialize. Today..."

clack clack clack -

On the stairs, there were sudden hurried footsteps.

"Princess Lily, Princess Lily!"

Before Liliana could finish her words, the flame elf broke into the witch's bedroom, hurled herself onto the bed, and threw Liliana and Tingna down together from behind the girl.

"Huh? Huh?"

Like a warm and soft stove rushing to her back, Tinna, who pressed Miss Witch under her body due to the impact of the Salamanda, hurriedly wanted to leave.

"... what happened, Salamander."

But the witch who was thrown down had a calm expression. She looked over Tingna's shoulders and looked at Salamanda with the expression of "something is wrong".

"There are guests, but they are not guests!"

"...I don't think I have any friends who want to visit...or is it Aonian who never cares about etiquette?"

"No, no, oh."

Salamanda shook his head greatly, and his tail also wagged back and forth, which seemed to be the way it expressed something completely wrong.

"It's a little human girl, even though it's a little girl, it's a mature individual, but, but—"

"...is a girl with an immature appearance but complete physical development...or is she called a woman? In this sense, she is somewhat similar to Princess Lily."

Wright, who appeared from the sunlight falling from the balcony, grabbed Salamanda's tail, lifted her up, scratched her head, but the flame elf, who couldn't find a suitable adjective, clapped her hands after hearing her words, "Yes, that's it." keep nodding.

"...I'm not interested in meeting new people, for now."

"...she didn't come to make friends, Princess Lily."

Wright let go of Salamanda, slightly troubled.

Said so.

"...Also, Miss Tina, please stop pressing Princess Lily."

"Hug, sorry!"

Ting Na hurriedly turned sideways and left from the witch's body. Liliana sat up again, frowning slightly because of the light elf's answer.

"...Then, what is the purpose of her coming here?"

"She said she was going to be Princess Lily's apprentice."

"..."

There was a moment of silence.

Liliana walked towards the balcony.

The balcony of the high tower is as exquisite and gorgeous as this pitch-black and slender building. Tinna, who was leaning against the nameless wrought iron fence and followed Liliana to the balcony, could see it from a distance.

Liliana's tall tower has no walls to delimit it, and only an opening is left between the rows of pine trees next to the white stone paved mountain road as a gate, and the girl stands upright among the snow-covered black pine trees.

She raised her head, her wine-red eyes swept over Tina from a not-so-distant distance, and stared at Liliana who was also staring at her.

That long black hair hangs down to her waist, and she looks about as tall as Miss Witch. The dark elf is not far in front of her. Perhaps sensing her sight, she also looks at the balcony of the tower.

After looking at each other for a while, Liliana turned around and looked at Wright.

"...Did she say anything else?"

"origin?"

"... She didn't say a word of other words, and she didn't give her surname. She just told us that her name is Ai." "Pseudonym?"

"Not sure, hey, Princess Lily, do you want to use Princess Lily's authority to check in the Magicians Association? If you let Sylph go, you will be back soon. Sylph will be super fast!"

The wind elf sat on Salamanda's back with a face full of anticipation, and the thin translucent wings fluttered on her back. Salamanda, who was lying at Liliana's feet, tilted her head and brought her tail closer. The flames burned hotter.

"...No, no. Tell the girl that this tower doesn't need apprentices, and neither do I."

Liliana shook her head calmly, then turned and walked towards the room.

Sylph stopped her little wings in disappointment. There was no wind, and the flame on Salamanda's tail became smaller again. The flame spirit seemed to find it very interesting, and began to flick its tail continuously.

"...But Princess Lily."

Wright turned around and said something silently outside the balcony, then turned around hesitantly.

Having already walked into the room, Noam, who never knew when he appeared there, took a fruit tart from his hand, and the witch who was walking towards the hot spring waterway by the bed stopped because of her voice.

"...Did she say something?"

Seeing Wright's hesitant to speak, the witch asked lightly.

"... That girl said that she has a dream, and in order to gain the power to realize this dream, Princess Lily's teaching is necessary... She uses the title of Einstein's Seventh Seat, which means..."

"...Know my true identity, do you..."

Ting Na saw Liliana's eyebrows raised suddenly, and then slowly.

"...From the beginning of the dawn until now, no water has entered, and it has not moved at all."

"Eh?"

Ting Na let out a low exclamation, and quickly looked at the clock in the room.

The moment of dawn is the whole hour from six o'clock to seven o'clock, but in winter, the real rising of Saigon's sun is after eight o'clock.

But now the time has come to the middle of IX and X on the dial!

After imagining herself standing motionless for hours on the empty and cold street with only the mountain wind blowing, Tingna felt the coldness piercing her bone marrow.

"Is the kid all right?"

"...In the beginning, because Princess Lily didn't wake up, we talked with her according to the etiquette of entertaining guests. I suggested that she hold the Salamanda, but she politely refused, and she also declined water and food. She has not She didn't drink a drop of water, she didn't use magic to protect herself, she occasionally sneezed, but she was in good health."

"Yeah……"

Tina was slightly relieved.

"...You all know my attitude towards the matter of accepting apprentices."

However, Liliana raised her volume slightly, and the witch who soaked her body in the hot spring looked at the elves who had made a contract with her one by one.

Aqua, who came out of the spring water and was about to bathe her, froze instantly.

"...It is impossible for you not to know."

"explain."

Liliana asked gently, word by word. Alice sat on Tingna's shoulders, and added the question coldly.

Whether it was Liliana or Alice, it was the first time Tina saw them being so strict. Under the eyes of the witch and the puppet, Sylph, Wright, Salamanda and Nome looked at each other, and finally, the calmest elf of light stood up.

"...I'm very sorry, Princess Lily, but...we like that child very much, Knight said, that child is a person who works with the dark, and I think so too, probably, the place where the lighting is extremely bad, but, she Holding tightly to the faint starlight."

"There are flames in her eyes, very hot, very warm, Salamanda likes it very much..."

"Although he is carrying heavy shackles, he has a soul that pursues freedom."

"Perhaps because of being in darkness, her will is stronger than rock and steel."

The four elves faltered and said.

"..."

Liliana turned her gaze to the only elf who did not speak.

"...And you, Aqua."

"Eh? I don't have any special feelings for that child, and my perception is not as sharp as the seniors, it's just..."

The water elf who was brushing Liliana's hair stiffly stopped, and looked at the other elves with some hesitation.

"only?"

For the first time, Tina knew that there was a difference in generation between the six elves.

But compared to this, what she is more curious about now is Akuya's evaluation.

"It's just that those eyes must be crying often... That child, give me this feeling."

Akuya finished speaking in a low voice, and like the other elves, she closed her mouth tightly and looked at their master.

"...Miss Tina, how about you?"

However, the witch indifferently glanced at their faces, and cast her eyes on the girl who was still standing by the balcony.

It took a while for Tina to realize that she wanted to ask her own opinion.

"Even if you ask me that..."

The girl is not as sharp as the elves, and she doesn't have any unique discernment. Facing the witch's question, all she can answer is:

"This kid named Ai is very persevering... right?"

Tina didn't even see the girl's face clearly.

However, even though he is still so young, he insists on standing outside for several hours in the winter, when the Saigon Sun has not yet risen, at least...

At least, it is really very persevering,

"……I see."

Liliana blinked her eyes as she said so.

Standing up from the waterway, the water drops evaporated in the magic before the water drops slipped from her delicate collarbone along the skin. Miss Witch sat back on the bed and waved her hands. The big book floated over from the stairs immediately.

Liliana leaned on the bed, took one of those books, and opened the pages.

"...It's not so much perseverance as it is careful design."

"design?"

"...Laite and you were not with me at that time, and Miss Tina would not know what happened at that time, but Alice should still remember it. Today has special meaning to me."

As she spoke, Liliana called out [Laplace] and quickly immersed herself in the world of magic.

Liliana in this state will not answer any more questions, and even Tina already knows about it.

So, the elves and the girl looked at the expressionless Alice.

The little doll turned sideways on Tina's shoulder. Being focused on by the elves and Tina seemed to make the little doll a little impatient. She shook her head.

"Lily had just escaped from two extremely dangerous organizations. When she was studying in Glory Academy, it was also the first day of the moonless month. For some reasons, Glory City refused Lily's entry. Lily could only stand in the city. In front of the door, I hoped to meet the principal. Then, not long after the sun rose, the pure white fairy appeared on the high tower of the city wall. After looking at Lily, he conveyed his rejection..."

"W-Wait a minute?!"

Miss Doll's description turned into a scene in her mind, and Tina's eyes widened in disbelief.

"...Exactly the same as today?"

"It wasn't until Lete told Alice that the girl knew Lily's identity that Alice realized that it would be troublesome to find out, but not particularly difficult, especially if she was someone who looked at Alice and Lily If you are a descendant of a noble family, you can imagine the reason why you chose this day... That's right."

Alice leaned next to Tina's head and spoke word by word.

"This is carefully designed for Lily's purpose. But it's not important. Lily doesn't need an apprentice."

Staring at those pure silver pupils, the elves all showed complicated expressions.

However, they chose to remain silent.

Liliana turned the pages of the book. She had made it clear that she did not want an apprentice. Even if the elves liked this girl very much, they could only give up.

Not to mention, Tina.

The girl was silent, looking at the rows of snow-covered black pines on the balcony.

It was probably Sylph who used the wind to tell Knight about Liliana's decision. The black elf had also disappeared. Among the towering trees, only the girl's skirt of the same color as her long hair was fluttering in the mountain wind.

She was still standing there.

Like a black flame, burning quietly.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

It was not until noon that Liliana, immersed in difficult books, walked along the stairs to the floor below the bedroom and put the books she had read in the morning back in the study.

"...Now, Miss Liliana..."

"...?"

Tina, who was thinking hard, raised her head.

Her health is already like a candle in the wind. There are only two 4/4 Spearmen and a 6/1 Arcane Elf on the field. If she can't lay out the three Knights on the field during her turn, 9/9 The poisonous dragon was eliminated, and she was going to lose this round of magic cards again.

but.

"..."

He hesitated to speak.

When Liliana put the book back on the shelf, Tina lowered her head again.

Liliana, who was holding Alice in her arms, walked straight to Tina. She quickly glanced at the girl's hand and scene, and drew out an [Arcane Wisdom] that cost 2 points of magic power and drew it from the deck. Take two cards, then put down a drawn land card, sacrifice the Arcane Elf to gain extra magic power, and exhaust all 8 undrawn land cards.

"...Don't just read the description on the card, Miss Tina, the magic cards played by magicians are a completely different kind of [simulation] from what most people are used to as games, and Miss Tina is used to."

Tina saw that the 4-cost [Stone Wall] in her hand, which she had ignored because it was completely useless in the current scene, had become a 10-cost card. A wall provided 30 physical damage absorption and 15 magic damage absorption. 's stone wall appears on a tapped land card.

"...The rare land cards [Mysterious Mountain Peak], [Liquid Gold Basin], and [Tefala Valley] have additional enhancements to earth magic. Directly attaching magic to these land cards to release will have a stronger effect, just like in In places with strong earth elements, the power of earth magic will be enhanced. In addition, inputting more magic and elements can also make the magic more powerful. This is common sense in magic that will not be explained on the card. [Stone Wall Technique] is just It is an ordinary magic that requires two points of magic power and two points of earth element, giving 8 points of physical defense and 4 points of magic defense, but in fact, it can also build an unbreakable wall."

The situation reversed instantly.

Tina found that although she only had two points of health left, the stone wall completely blocked Knight's attack. The three poisonous dragons could not break through the stone wall, and their venom could not hurt her or destroy her. My own spearman, on the other hand, if I command the spearman to throw the spear over the stone wall and the head of the poisonous dragon——

"Because spear throwing is a high-altitude attack, which is equivalent to [flying], the poisonous dragon without wings and insufficient jumping power cannot intercept it, so that's it!"

The green gems representing Knight's blood volume suddenly changed from ten green gems to three red gems.

Now, it was the Dark Elf's turn to frown.

The magic attached to the land card will automatically obtain elements and magic power from the land card, although the price is that as long as the magic is not released, these land cards will not provide the player with elements and magic power—that is, the cost, but correspondingly, every round This magic will replenish itself to the state when it was released.

Just as Liliana said, this rock wall between Tina and Knight is now an unbreakable city wall.

"Although the three dragons can smash this wall, the poisonous dragon will faint for a round, but my blood volume is already..."

In Knight's turn, after drawing the card, the elf sighed, put down the cards in his hand and admit defeat.

"This is cheating, cheating!"

"Using a well-constructed deck to bully Ms. Tingna, who obediently chooses cards according to the rules temporarily, is also ashamed to accuse others of cheating."

Wright, who was sitting next to Nate, turned his attention away from the poetry book in his hand and glanced at Nate.

"……Eh?"

Tina was silent.

The girl looked at her deck of cards, and then at Nate, who was sweating for some reason. She looked at Liliana and Alice, Miss Witch and Miss Doll, who were standing beside her in silence. Staring at the black elf with an extremely cold gaze.

"...Ah, so it's noon now, what delicious food did Norm cook today—"

Perhaps sensing the obvious disadvantage of four versus one, Knight tapped his head lightly with an "oops" and immediately slipped away as a shadow.

Wright closed the book of poems and stood up from the sofa in the study.

"...I will educate her well."

Saying so, the Fairy of Light also disappeared.

In the study, only Liliana and Tingna were left.

"...Haha... When Miss Knight came out with a deck of cards so quickly during the card formation, I should have thought of it...Really, Miss Knight, do you like me or hate me... "

The person who was going to be angry ran away when she saw that the situation was not good. Ting Na didn't know how to relieve the depression of losing all morning. In the end, she could only sigh long, stood up from the chair, and prepared to put the magic card Keep it.

"...The likes and dislikes of elves are very simple, but the form of expression is somewhat different from that of humans."

"It's like a little boy who bullies the girl he likes..."

"...Indeed...I was also teased when I first concluded the contract."

Standing up, he looked over the desk.

Although the building style of the tower is exquisite but dark Gothic, the ubiquitous floor-to-ceiling windows make the whole tower very well lit. Behind the desk is a floor-to-ceiling window, surrounded by the winding and twisting beautiful wrought iron room. , You can see the flat mountain road with black pine and stones.

"Miss Liliana, that child...is still there."

Nearly two hours have passed.

Among the black pines, black flames still burn quietly.

The girl didn't leave because of the passage of time, impatient waiting or other reasons. She even stood there almost motionless. When playing magic cards with Nate, Tina occasionally raised her head and looked over there. Now But she couldn't find any changes between the girl's figure and those few times.

Even, Tina felt that Liliana and Alice might be wrong in thinking that the child would not be able to persist in leaving sooner or later.

"Why is Miss Liliana unwilling to tell that child in person that you won't accept apprentices?"

"... Every tower that recruits apprentices will be registered with the education department of the Association of Magicians. In other words, a private tower without registration is tantamount to a declaration of 'no apprenticeship'."

Liliana walked to the French window and glanced out of the window.

The brown skin made the witch lose the almost illusory sense of transparency that she used to have, and it also made the overly calm expression look even darker.

She glanced at the cluster of small flames among the pine trees, expressionless.

"...Even so, I found it here, and I still know my true identity. Obviously, I made up my mind to become an apprentice of me, the seventh member of the Supreme Council. Even if I tell her that I don't accept apprentices, she will not give up. Ting Miss Na thinks so too, doesn't she?"

"Excess sympathy."

"Where is this superfluous..."

Alice glared sternly in Miss Witch's arms, and Tina shrank her neck.

"I'm not interceding for this girl named Ai, I'm just curious..."

She actually had some sympathy for that girl, but when Alice stared at her, she immediately realized that the thought she had had was a bit bad.

Because the matter has nothing to do with her, that's why she can say it so lightly. This kind of thinking is like when she used to subconsciously think that Liliana is very strong, so she should help those who are weak, and then let Liliana go. To be amazed is the same as to be in disbelief.

But not everyone believes in [with great power comes great responsibility].

Not everyone is obliged to lend a helping hand.

The premise of helping others is not to harm your own interests.

At least for Liliana and Alice, they have no obligation to accept an apprentice.

From a rational point of view, this is correct.

Soon, they will leave this city, and they will travel all over the continent in order to find their own truth and dig out the dusty past.

Obviously, this is not suitable for bringing a student.

"curious?"

The little puppet curled a pale mouth, like a small mouth carved from ice and snow.

"Excessive."

"Woooo..."

"...No, Alice, the so-called superfluity is just the words used to condemn after the things you don't want to be discovered are known. No curiosity is superfluous."

Gently squeezed Miss Doll's face with her hand, sat down at the desk, opposite Ting Na, and looked at Ting Na expressionlessly.

However, according to Tingna's feelings after getting along with Liliana for so long, she seems to be... laughing funny?

"...However, answering Miss Tingna's questions will indeed slow down Miss Tingna's thinking ability. That's good, Miss Tingna, why don't I accept apprentices? Please find the answer yourself come out."

"Eh?"

"……or……"

The dark pupils were like a mirror reflecting the girl's funny and confused expression. Liliana stared at the girl calmly with those eyes, and took out a set of cards from the card box at hand.

"Beat Lily and get the answer."

Ah, here comes the scene where Miss Liliana's unfinished words are finished by Alice.

Tina has always wondered whether Miss Witch and Miss Doll have always maintained a spiritual connection to achieve such a tacit understanding, but the difference in tone made Alice's words sound more provocative.

And with a little contempt.

Looking at the expressionless faces of Liliana and Alice, Tina pursed her lips and sat down again.

"...Okay, if that's the case, let's bet on this."

"bet?"

"The loser has to answer the winner's questions unconditionally. For example, if I win, if I ask Miss Liliana what type of man she likes, Miss Liliana must answer honestly."

"...I like cute girls, not men."

"..."

Even though she didn't win a game and was asked a lot of shameful questions, Tina still felt that she had earned it.