The Witch and the Doll Swear

After leaving Macondo, travel towards the sunset.

"……so boring……"

Chasing the gray eagle flying in the grassland sky, the girl muttered to herself.

Time is the most indifferent current, washing away all the past that you want to remember equally and without mercy.

One day, two days, the third day... the dry grass remains, and the cold winter rain takes away more temperature every time it falls, but in Miss Witch's magic, it is still as warm as the last setting sun in late autumn.

The astral unicorn still tweeted comfortably.

However, the little skull crying in the brazier, and the blue flame and silver light soaring into the sky, have all been forgotten.

Perhaps this is also the fate of the traveler. After stepping on countless lands and seeing countless people, in the end, there are very few things and people that can remain in the mind.

So far, what I have been looking forward to, the trip with Liliana and Alice, is only to make my ability to count quickly get a great improvement.

At least for now, Tina can only think that she has already counted the number three thousand six hundred and twenty-one hairs of Miss Witch, or the number three thousand six hundred and twenty-two.

"Miss Tingna, after you leave the grassland, buy a pair of magic cards and take it with you, at least it's better than being bored counting Lily's hair..."

Even on top of the unicorn's head, Alice, who was basking in the sun with her back against the crystal-clear unicorn, couldn't stand it any longer.

However, the puppet couldn't make more constructive suggestions.

Although Alice shared the voice of nature with the girl when Tina was extremely bored, the grassland in early winter, just like the literal sense, was bleak and declining. The seasons contain the infinite vitality of the next spring day, and the yellow autumn grass and the fading insects are just expressing their reluctance to live to those who can hear their sighs.

For fairy Alice, this is the most depressing and bleak movement.

In the face of inevitable death, every blade of grass and every bug played, she described to Tingna as a double bass and piano, but Tina, as a human being, couldn't bear it. Too many [dead], I lasted for less than ten minutes, and then wept unbearably.

"Eh? Miss Alice and Miss Liliana, can they play magic cards?"

"It's a little impolite, Miss Tina, the magic card is not only the most popular card game in the mainland, especially the magic card with the original rules is a compulsory course for every academic magician? It is widely used by everyone as a simplification of entertainment. version is completely different.”

"I've heard of it... It seems to say that each of those magic cards is enchanted, and when they are played, it is as if magic is really used..."

"It's not the difference in the cards... Well, but the original format of magic cards is still a rare thing now. After you get it, let's talk to Miss Tingna in detail."

"Yeah……"

In a journey dominated by wordlessness and silence, even such small talk is a precious pastime.

Occasionally it was Alice, and occasionally it was Liliana, but most of the time, it was Tingna who took the initiative to mention it.

But such conversations often end when Tina can't find a topic to continue.

"——!"

At this time, the astral unicorn, which was running leisurely, suddenly jumped forward, turned around deftly, and trampled on the ground vigorously.

The sudden stagnation was like a howling long wind that stopped instantly, but the inertia that was skillfully removed by this dream species did not disappear from the passengers riding on its back.

"Wow!"

"Hey!"

The little puppet was immediately thrown away, but Tina felt that the steady wind had turned into a chaotic storm, and the originally solid and stable back of the unicorn suddenly turned into a storm that had no chance of stability. Even if she hugged Miss Witch in her arms immediately when she felt something was wrong, she was thrown off at once—along with Liliana, who was originally stable.

Even Liliana didn't react, a rainbow-colored magic light flashed on her body, disappeared from the girl's arms, and appeared on the grass five meters away in a blink of an eye, with [Magic Shield], [Mage] Armor], [Mind Protection Barrier], [Curse Defense Field]... A series of magics flashed with iridescent light and then disappeared.

——Even [Spell Sequence] was triggered.

"It hurts..."

Although it was not as exaggerated as Liliana, Tingna, who cried out in pain, was not injured. The thick grass became the best buffer zone, and the thick sweater on the body also provided sufficient protection. After rolling on the grass for two laps, I got up.

Then I saw the yellow-brown rock embedded in the soil, only half a palm away from the back of my head under the thick blades of grass.

"...Miss Ting Na, are you okay?"

Listening to the voice of Liliana who approached and asked calmly, Tinna, because of your sense of boredom and burnout, the cold sweat on your forehead was washed away in an instant.

She stood up with lingering fear, looked at Liliana who had removed the magic from her body, and was putting various spell-casting materials on the pages of the book to complete the [Spell Sequence] that was accidentally used this time, and nodded.

Then, those black eyes looked at Alice who circled several times in mid-air before stopping, and then floated to the side of the astral unicorn again.

The little puppet is comforting the astral unicorn that seems a little restless, and the beautiful dream species is jumping a little restlessly.

"It seems to smell something."

The little puppet was also a little confused.

It should be said that I was excited.

This unicorn from the astral world is constantly making clear chirping calls, looking towards the north of the grassland.

The cold wind was blowing from there, leaving the constant temperature magic applied to the unicorn, the clammy cold wind made the girl shiver violently.

"Smell what?"

The girl took a deep breath.

There was no smell in the wind except cold.

"This child said it was the embers of stars emitting blue light, the smell of intense burning..."

"What should that smell be..." After stroking the bright fur, Alice said uncertainly after a while. Hearing this, even Liliana tilted her head in confusion.

"...The sense of smell of monsters is far superior to that of humans evolved from monsters, and it is even better as a dream species...but the dream species from the astral world is different from our worldview. When it comes to [smell] [feel], even if you directly contact The mind may not be able to communicate smoothly. Maybe you have to see it with your own eyes to understand what it is."

It's like the best painters in the whole continent may not recognize children's graffiti.

"Would you like to see it?"

"...What does Miss Tina think?"

"...It's boring anyway..."

As a result, the journey, which had no definite route, changed direction again.

As you move further to the west, you can gradually see large rocks standing on the grass waves on the grassland.

According to Liliana, due to the cascade reduction of precipitation, the height and density of the grass on the west side of the Ellon Prairie will decrease. At the northwest end of the grassland, the most arid area will even appear barren Gobi.

As you can see now.

The more the unicorns were allowed to drive the girls towards the north of the grassland, the more dense the scattered rocks could be seen on the grassland. As the density of the rocks increased, the singing of the astral unicorn became more and more joyful.

"I'm really excited..."

It's just that Tina still couldn't smell any [embers of stars emitting blue light, the smell of violent burning] nearby, and even Liliana and Alice didn't understand why it was so excited.

All the way to the end of the line of sight, I saw the misty mist on the grassland.

"……So this is ah……"

"I see--"

Miss Witch and the little doll sniffed at the same time, then nodded in understanding.

"The so-called embers of stars emitting blue light, the smell after intense burning... So this is what it refers to."

"...It is true that when sulfur burns, the flame color is bright blue..."

Seeing them confused, Ting Na pinched her nose and took a deep breath.

"Well, Miss Liliana, Miss Alice, what are you talking about... I don't have anything..."

However, there was still nothing to smell.

The girl looked at the witch and the doll suddenly realized, and felt as if she was the only one excluded.

This made the girl a little annoyed with herself.

However, just before Tingna had time to say the words "didn't smell".

A thunderous roar sounded on the grassland.

In the direction of the hazy water mist, several snow-white water columns rose with roars, rushing into the sky in an instant, the lingering mist and scattered water droplets were blown by the wind on the grassland, under the distant sky Pulled into a fleeting snow-white wings.

"..."

"Although I didn't smell it, I should know what it smells like, right? Miss Tingna"

"Ah, ah..."

Yes, already know.

After another ten minutes.

Standing on the ground completely covered by rocks, Tina covered her nose in a dizzy state.

Here, should it be called the valley on the plain, or what? The earth is slightly sunken downward from here, as if the soil was replaced by rocks, and cracks of various sizes are distributed everywhere.

There is no need for Liliana and Alice to explain it here, as long as you open your mouth, the overly rich smell, mixed with sulfur and rotten eggs—that is, the so-called embers of stars emitting blue light, after violent burning The taste - almost suffocating, like a stream of air or liquid spilling from the nose and mouth.

Fortunately, Miss Witch, who noticed something wrong with the girl's face, immediately used magic to dispel the smell around her, otherwise, Tingna felt that she would really pass out.

"In the grassland, there is such a place..."

All the geysers I saw on the grassland fell here, wet the rocks into a dark color, and the mist has long since dissipated. Only the strong smell of sulfur permeated the air, which never dissipated in the cold winter wind. It even added warmth to the blowing cold.

"Miss Liliana, is this... a natural hot spring?"

Temporarily ignoring the excited astral unicorn in the strong sulfur smell, the girl was surrounded by a magical barrier, and the girl who took a few breaths and finally recovered from her dizziness looked around.

But apart from some small cracks and depressions where there are still some clear spring water that has completely cooled down, the girl didn't see the spring water gushing directly out of the ground.

"The difference between a geyser and a hot spring is quite big... But, maybe the hot spring in Miss Tingna's impression can be seen tomorrow?"

"Eh?"

"Because Lily likes hot springs very much, since it's rare to encounter a natural underground spring..."

The little puppet floated onto Miss Witch's right shoulder, saying something that Tina couldn't figure out.

"...You can't do nothing, Miss Tina, let's stay here for two days."

Even Liliana said the same thing.

"That's fine... So, Miss Liliana, what exactly do you want to do..."

"... build a hot spring."

"……ha??"

Even though she already felt a little numb to the various uncommon things Miss Witch did, after hearing Liliana say these words calmly.

Tina was still stunned.

"That was a long time ago."

——Liliana likes hot springs.

This was the first time that the girl knew Miss Witch's clear preferences from the mouth of the doll.

Alice used her slender fingers to curl the strands of hair that fell down her cheeks, and fell into memories.

It was in the far north, in the snow field of the sky. The winter there is much colder than here. Once it enters the winter, except for the sunny days, the wanton flying snowflakes occupy the sky and the earth, covering everything.

Although she is an immortal witch, she will still be killed. In the terrible cold of minus 20 degrees, trekking in the snow that submerges the waist is definitely not a pleasant experience, especially when you lose your way. .

At that time, Liliana and Alice found a hot spring in the snow field in the snow mountain valley they entered to avoid the snowstorm.

The warm spring water soothes the tired mind and warms the body that is almost frozen to necrosis.

The nightmarish blizzard lasted for a whole week, and they also stayed in the valley for a week. During this time, Miss Witch fell in love with the warm spring water gushing from the depths of the earth.

However, the way of liking seems to be different from Tingna's understanding.

What do ordinary people do if they like hot springs very much?

Tina thought with her proud common sense.

Probably, it means choosing a hotel with supporting hot springs during the trip, or traveling to a famous hot spring town.

but--

"... Sulfur springs, the springs are relatively deep and scattered, and the geological structure is somewhat complicated..."

Flipping through the book, Liliana muttered to herself, saying words that Tina could understand but didn't understand the meaning at all.

The iridescent magic light shone around the witch, outlining a pattern composed of lines of different colors in front of her, Liliana looked at this, and then.

"...Just take a look at Daquan."

Thoughtfully, he turned the page of the book to another one, and began to chant.

The circle of magic covered the rock in front of the witch, and the moment the complicated magic circle shone with light.

"[Lulutia Tiankeng Technique]"

As Liliana pressed down with her outstretched hand, a pothole appeared on the rocky ground in front of her.

This is a bowl-shaped pit, about three meters deep, as if cut out by an invisible sharp edge. The pit wall is very smooth. At the lowest end, there are several honeycomb-like, deeper holes.

A few minutes after the pothole was formed, several streams of snow-white water sprayed out from it, causing a hazy mist to spread around.

It is not as thick as what I saw before coming here, and it is not as high as the snow-white wings. More importantly, these water jets next to each other did not stop all at once. Under his gaze, they continued to spew out, slowly filling up the bowl-shaped pit.

But Miss Witch didn't seem particularly satisfied. She squatted down, let the book float beside her, pressed her hands on the still wet rock, and started another chant.

This is a very long chant.

At Miss Witch's feet, concentric rings emerged one after another. From the iridescent magic circle, hundreds of light paths spread along the texture of the rock, and these beautiful rainbow lights continued to extend , until the large pit with a diameter of nearly ten meters was surrounded.

I don't know exactly what Liliana did, but the height of those water columns was indeed slowly decreasing, and their gushing water completely fell into the pothole, slowly accumulating, and after a while.

"It's really done..."

Once again, the girl deeply realized that her common sense and Liliana's common sense are completely different things.

A pool filled with warm water vapor, except that the depth seems a little too deep, looks like a hot spring pool in the girl's mind from any angle, so absurdly appeared in front of Tingna's eyes, and a few minutes ago, it was just a piece of water. A barren rocky place.

"This is just the first step, Miss Tingna, you can't soak in this hot spring right now, the temperature is too high, and excess impurities are also coming out, the next step is to deal with these, so Lily reserved it. With so much depth, these are paved with stone sand to filter the spring water."

"Filtration? But, there are no such fine stones and fine sand near here...?"

"There will be soon."

clatter——

Before Tina's surprised eyes and the mysterious smile of the doll disappeared, a new magic appeared over the hot spring.

The pure white stones poured out of the magic circle sparingly, splashing countless water splashes on the surface of the water. Then, the magic circle dissipated, and another magic circle formed at the same position, pulling some water-blue fine sand from the void. One object fell down in mid-air, and then, those snow-white stones...

The white ones are barley stones from Chongshan, the earth elemental plane. This kind of small and dense stones are piled together to form a natural filter layer.

And the blue fine sand is collected from somewhere in Jinggang, the water elemental plane. This kind of sea sand that can be seen everywhere in Jinggang itself has the ability to purify. As another layer of filtration, it can also improve water quality.

Liliana used magic to call stone sand from the elemental plane, and the little doll used magic to spread them on the bottom of the hot spring, while explaining to Tina.

"The most important thing is that the thermal conductivity of these two materials is relatively low. Laying a few more layers can effectively reduce the scalding spring water to a temperature acceptable to human beings. Layer-by-layer filtration can also prevent the spring water from dissipating the underground water. Impurities are brought out, and the unpleasant taste is lightened. Well, after a while, the water temperature will drop, and you can go in and soak it. The final process is..."

"... To further improve the water quality, the comfort of the hot spring is related to the proportion of minerals in the water. Moreover, it is necessary to divert other springs here to form a cycle... This is a relatively complicated and meticulous process."

The black pupils had already turned into blazing white, and the witch lady took a breath and said, "Let's take a rest." But immediately took out a few test tubes from the space storage ring, and used magic to remove them from the hot spring. Different water samples were scooped up on the surface of the water and in the water.

That face was completely undisturbed when he was doing magic experiments in the castle's laboratory.

In addition, there are some slight... fanaticism?

"Miss Liliana, I really like hot springs..."

"For the existence of immortality, there must be something special to make them excited and excited."

Alice stretched a little, and quietly walked away from Liliana's shoulders, and even the conversation with Tingna became thinner.

"After that time, Lily returned to Guanghui College to take further courses in the Department of Architecture and Geology of the Engineering Department, and especially studied and researched the construction of hot springs. Oh, the town of Yanan not far from the City of Glory, the famous The mud hot spring at Sophia Hotel is Lily's graduation work, Lili has been obsessed with hot springs for a hundred years, but she traveled to many places in the mainland and built more than 30 hot spring towns that are now famous."

The Witch's research time cannot be disturbed.

"Yeah……"

Tina pursed her lips.

After the absurd feeling of witnessing Liliana creating a hot spring on the prairie faded away, the girl was a little happy because she knew a side of this girl that she didn't know.

but……

But there are also some emotions mixed in that even the girl herself doesn't quite understand.

"...Now, Miss Alice."

Seeing Miss Witch's undivided attention, she reached out and hugged the little doll from her left shoulder to her bosom, Ting Na whispered to herself.

"Huh? Alice is here."

"Something...I want to ask Miss Alice..."

The little puppet raised its head, looked at the girl's eyes hazy by the mist that had not completely dissipated, and shook its pointed ears.

"Okay, what do you want to ask?"

"..."

The girl was silent for a while, then turned and left the hot spring.

So she failed to see

When she turned around, Liliana, who was concentrating on writing something with magic power on the ground, turned her gaze slightly.

...

After leaving a little distance, after Alice said, "Lily won't be able to hear this place anymore", the girl stopped in her tracks.

"This is the first time I've seen Miss Liliana put herself into something she likes..."

"That's right, there aren't many things that can make Lily pay attention like that?"

The girl recalled the Liliana she had known in Salt Sand City.

Liliana, who is now with her day and night, is not different from that time, whether it is the mysterious feeling, the expression that never makes waves, or the indifference... Yes, now Tingna can definitely use this word to describe Lily Yana's character is gone.

And this trip so far has not allowed the girl to know more about this still mysterious Miss Witch.

No, I did know some things. For example, Miss Liliana is not omniscient, and there will be things that she can't handle. She will hold a cautious attitude in the face of unknown things.

For example, she loves hot springs so much that she is willing to stop for it...

But these did not allow the girl to understand her better.

The questions I want to know when I embark on the journey have not yet been answered.

"So, Miss Tina, avoiding Lily, what do you want to ask Alice?"

The little puppet turned around in the girl's arms and lay down in front of her, with two slender arms around Tingna's neck.

"Yes, what do you want to ask..."

Stared at by those emerald pupils, the girl fell silent.

"Miss Liliana, besides hot springs, is there anything else she likes?"

"Huh? Sure enough, it's a book. For Lily, [like] is a very rational judgment. For so long, the only things Alice has heard Lili say about [like] are books and hot springs? Oh, And wine."

"Rational judgment...?"

"That's right, Miss Tina, what most people like and what they don't like, a large part of the relationship is actually emotional, there is no reason, if you like it, you like it, just like Miss Tina... If Alice asks Tina Miss Tingna can't tell why Miss likes Lily?"

Jade's eyes blinked, and the little puppet answered without thinking too much.

"..." Nodding, nodding.

It's not unexpected that this little goblin saw through her little thoughts at a glance, Tingna had already vaguely felt it.

Moreover, the indescribable sense of emptiness in her heart left Ting Na with no time to be shy. What she wants to know now is that after seeing Liliana's expression on the things she likes, What I want to know is——

"...Miss Liliana, what do you think of me?"

"Um……"

Now, the little puppet frowned, tilted its small head, and looked at Ting Na's face carefully.

"Miss Tina, do you still remember the trip that Alice and Lily invited Miss Tina to travel with more than half a year ago?"

"That is……"

Of course I still remember.

Rather, I probably won't forget it for the rest of my life.

——Miss Tingna is not a very special person, she is very ordinary, but in this ordinary, there are some elements that are different from others. I also think that if it is Miss Tingna, maybe we can go on a trip together.

"That's it. For Lily, the current Miss Tina has not changed compared to that time, whether it is Miss Tina herself, or the relationship between Miss Tina, Lily and Alice-an ordinary, but A traveling companion with an element of wonder."

"Traveling companion... In the end, it's just like this..."

frustration.

The girl wrung her fingers, and it was just a sentence, full of loss.

Leaving home and embarking on a journey, even so, the result in exchange is nothing more than that...?

"Miss Tina is too impatient. Although Alice understands Miss Tina's feelings, she is still too impatient."

Letting go of the girl's neck, Alice, who floated in front of Tina, stretched out her hand, stopping the girl's bitter confession of abandonment.

"The formula of human emotion is not applicable to Lily. Miss Tina thinks, how many people has Lily met? It's not that there are no people, although Miss Tingna is the one with a relatively long time, but it's not that there are people who have a longer time."

Touching the girl's golden hair, the little doll's expression is very gentle.

But the words she spoke were anything but tender.

"If you use the bard's favorite metaphor, Lily is the top of the Throat of the World, the most difficult to touch the flower of the high mountain. Even if you count the time in Salt Sand City, the time Miss Tina and Lily spend together is only a few minutes. It’s just been half a year, huh? It’s just an insignificant corner of the time that Lily has experienced, and the time that will be experienced, is it too natural to want to get a response at this level of time?”

"...Then, is it because I haven't paid enough..."

"No, no, oh."

Alice shook her head vigorously, trying to get the girl in front of her to remove her perception of feelings from [human beings].

If they hold that kind of thinking, then their trip will probably come to an end soon.

The feelings of ordinary people are meaningless to Liliana, and the feelings of an immortal witch are too heavy for ordinary people.

An unequal heart will not have happy results in the end.

Like moths to a flame.

The time scale gap is simply too great.

"For any race that does not age or die, feelings need careful consideration. At least, Miss Tina, you must make Lily feel that the happiness she can get with you can surpass decades, a hundred years later Losing you is forever sad, and this...Miss Tingna, it is useless to just give, because even if you give your whole life, Lily will spend ten times as much as your whole life."

Alice stared at the tangled girl seriously.

"..."

But the girl could only keep silent.

Because she has never thought about this matter—an immortal and a non-immortal, after the one who cannot live forever has come to the end of life, how the one who will survive will face the next time.

Considering this aspect, it is only natural that I will not respond easily.

Just thinking about how she would spend endless time after Alice died in Liliana, Tina almost suffocated.

"...how am I going to do it?"

"That's right, what Miss Tingna wants to do... That's something that Miss Tingna can decide on her own."

"……I have no idea……"

I am just an ordinary person.

"Alice doesn't know either, but if you really feel confused, how about asking Lily?"

The little puppet encouraged with a nonchalant smile.

"...Is it okay to ask me about this kind of thing?"

"Miss Tingna, isn't Lily an innocent girl who hasn't experienced anything? Didn't Lily say that when we said goodbye before?"

"Speaking of which, I did say that..."

【...Don't think that I'm a girl who doesn't know anything】

Recalling the figure of Miss Witch who left without nostalgia at that time, he hesitated for a long time.

Finally, the girl turned around.