The Witch and the Doll Swear

Today's lunch is still very luxurious and enjoyable food for Miss Witch.

The bread smeared with honey is sweet and soft, the roasted pigeon and beef are smeared with expensive spices, and the fresh figs and sliced ​​melons are so sweet that people doubt that they will get tooth decay immediately. Amethyst-like grapes adorn the tray.

Although according to the tradition of the ancient kingdom of Sinai, food should be eaten with hands, but the hotel also thoughtfully prepared ivory forks and silver knives for tourists from other countries, so that ladies can gracefully dismember large pieces of barbecue And not so that your hands are full of oil.

Only the beer bothered Tina a little.

This is completely different from the refreshing drink she knows is full of bubbles and has a bitter taste. Although it is clear, it is very dark in color and has no bubbles. More importantly, it is very viscous. It reminds Tina of the oatmeal that her mother occasionally cooks .

Apparently, the texture is less appetizing.

"Miss Tina, don't you want to try it? It's a pity to come to this kingdom that can be said to be built on beer and bread but not drink beer."

Alice was still sitting on her lap holding her own cup, gurgling happily, raising her head from time to time, her narrow eyes made the girl feel like there was a furry fox tail sweeping her stomach go.

"Goo... hiccup."

Looking again, Ai Du had already drank the beer in his glass, hiccupped a little, and looked at her provocatively, so Ting Na had no choice but to muster up her courage and hold the gorgeous wine glass in her hand Drank it down.

Mmm...it's surprisingly delicious.

"...All in all, here is our current goal."

Liliana ignored the little interaction between her secretary and her apprentices. Beside her, a map drawn on ancient parchment, surrounded by magical light, floated and displayed beside her.

This ancient kingdom is located at the southwestern end of the mainland. Above and to the left are the waves of the Elegant Inland Sea - the Sea of ​​Storms. The right side is connected to the mainland. The long coastline is adjacent to the leisurely emerald waves of the Emerald Sea. There, there is only a scorching sea of ​​sand.

At the end of the sand sea, it is said that the kingdom of the undead lives under the eternal night, always planning revenge on the living.

This is the largest peninsula on the mainland, and the ancient kingdom of the same name guards the frontiers of civilization.

The magic power as brilliant as the aurora converged into a small cross star, which landed on the position pointed by Miss Witch's fluttering strands of hair.

Liliana, who was sitting on the cushion, was still holding a wine glass and dessert in her hands. Her hair, which gradually changed from golden yellow to platinum, floated up under the magic power, temporarily acting as the witch's fingers.

"Letopolesta"

"Located along the coast of Nile Klein, a city buried by the sea of ​​sand. This ancient city has been buried by the desert for thousands of years. It was only discovered by some adventurers last year, and then the literature analysis and preliminary research were completed more than a month ago. Investigate, start digging."

Alice put down the wine glass, and it floated from Tina's side to Liliana's shoulder.

"Because Sinai's magic is classified under religious beliefs, the circulation of news is relatively closed. When Alice and Lily knew about this, they had already returned to Alexandria."

Before Tina and Aidu came to Sinai, Liliana and Alice, who arrived in Alexandria first, did not stop to wait for them.

The witch first spent two weeks in the famous Alexandria Library on the mainland. According to historical records, she found out the ancient sayings of the era of the Magic Empire, the records and records of those high-ranking magic emperors coming to the most special autonomous kingdom of the empire. place to stay.

Moreover, due to the new progress in the deciphering of the emperor's letter by the Institute of Ancient Languages ​​of the City of Thousand Towers, Liliana had to lock in the specific time when "Immortal" Sandro wrote the letter, and then stretched it back and forth by ten years. As an interval, I compiled a road map for the locations of this ancient land visited by all magic emperors during this period of time, including the emperor of undead magic, and followed this route in the next time. backtracking.

Unfortunately, nothing was gained.

One of the reasons is that the itinerary on the surface does not necessarily match the actual itinerary.

The second reason is that the sand sea has obliterated too much in too long a time.

And the third reason may also be the most direct reason. The Thirteen-Day Jihad three hundred years ago destroyed the only remaining traces in the fierce conflict of beliefs.

"...This is not the first time I have come to this land. In the civilization circle of the entire continent, Sinai is also one of the oldest and most special ones. The earliest systematic worship of gods, a unique view of life and death, and mystery The burial customs, the origin of the kingdom and the nation that have been hidden under the mist, and most importantly, after the mysterious disappearance of the undead natural disaster, the only remnants were evacuated here from the battlefield of the final decisive battle, the glorious city in the southeast of the mainland, and then The reason for disappearing at the end of the sea of ​​sand..."

"Does the master think that these mysteries may be related to the answer that the master is looking for..."

Tingna, who was fascinated by the witch's narration, glanced at Ai with some complaints, but the girl immediately looked at Liliana with the same questioning gaze.

"...who knows."

The witch just shook her head, hiding the sigh that flashed in her eyes.

"Thirty years before and after Sandro went to Sinai, Letopolesta was still standing in the North Tower Province of Sinai. Based on that year, the last time this city was mentioned in the literature was 70 years later , Lily and Alice investigated a lot of information but couldn't find any connection between this city and the magic emperors, but..."

Reaching out her hand to touch the witch's hair hanging on both sides of her cheeks, Alice, with that lazy and elegant voice like a cat, changed the topic from this question that she didn't know if she had an answer.

"Conversely, because it was buried there so early, and under the desert, many precious documents and materials were buried there, maybe there are Lily and Alice who need it."

"...But the excavation of Liepotoles was led by the royal family and the temple. Although they also recruited capable people from the outside world to assist, they all needed recommendations and guarantees."

Liliana shook her head, her tone returned to her usual calmness.

"...More than two hundred years have passed, and the previous contacts in Alexandria are no longer available. This time I still plan to use the identity of an honorary adventurer, so I need the Alexandria Adventurer Association to go there. letter of recommendation."

"If you want to get a letter of recommendation from the Alexandria Adventurers Association, you first have to wait for the president of the association to come back, and second, you need to make a certain contribution. To be precise, you need to complete five A-level and above commissions... ...But because of Her Majesty Kamula, Master Liliana can complete it with us three more times..."

"...Miss Tina helped a lot..."

"Ah ha ha……"

Thinking of the scene in the Adventurer's Association, Tina's mood is a bit complicated.

""Light Seeker", was the name also given by that princess? "

Looking at the registration information of the adventurer team brought back by Ai and Tingna, Alice showed a somewhat dumbfounded expression.

The puppet never imagined that Tingna would be able to form an adventure group just by reporting and handing over work normally.

But judging from the results, this really helped a lot. Many A-level commissions are not only troublesome but also take a long time, and witches and dolls are unwilling to get involved in troublesome things too much.

Although it is a small violation, considering the time and energy saved, such details do not need to be taken care of.

"No, Miss Tina took it."

Ai pouted.

"That, that, just a random thought..."

Unable to judge the emotion contained in this teasing, Tingna refilled herself with wine, using the dark liquid to block the eyes of the witch and the puppet.

——No, just think about it.

Secretly looking at the witch and the puppet, the girl just whispered in her heart, repeating over and over again.

I don't know if such a heartfelt voice has been heard?

Anyway, I can't hide anything in front of them, can I?

"...Thank you, Miss Tina."

"Eh, um, no, it's nothing..."

"...and Ai, thank you very much."

"Do, as a student, this is what I should do. It would be best if I could help Master Liliana...and..."

Ai's little face turned red—obviously it couldn't be because of the empty wine glass in her hand. She picked up the glass and wanted to do the same action as Tina, but because she forgot to pour the wine, she had to shrink her neck and whispered muttering.

"It's just a coincidence. Whether it's the airship or the cultural relic dealer this time... and it's Princess Kamula who is helping. The people from the Adventurer's Association look very rigid. If it wasn't for her, it might not be so easy... "

"But Miss Ai and Tingna will not change the fact that they helped Lily and Alice in the end, so just accept Lily and Alice's thanks frankly, thank you."

"Um……"

Ai blushed, and lowered her head weakly.

It seems that this child is very helpless with praise and thanks.

And there are injustices happening everywhere in this world, since it can't be stopped, it's better to benefit Miss Liliana and Alice than some heinous ones - such as the Church of the Holy Church, the Church of the Holy Church, the Church of the Holy Church ——The Dangerous Organization Profit Well.

Thinking of such nonsense, Ting Na also nodded.

"...But, for the letter of recommendation, I... no, we "Light Seekers" still need to complete three A-level commissions. After saying that name, Liliana smiled lightly, then put down the food in her hands, and looked at a cloth bag full of papyrus rolls beside her.

That was the "job" that Tina brought back from the Adventurer's Association, which was forgotten by the girl for a long time.

The witch reached out and dug inside, after thinking for a while.

Liliana took out a scroll and unfolded it in front of Tina and Ai.

"...Since it is strictly speaking, let's start from the most basic for the first commission of "Light Seeker". "

"..."

The first and most basic commission that Miss Witch said was to eliminate the crocodiles that had been entrenched in Lake Maritis and had gone berserk for some reason recently.

Tingna thought about it, the first commission that Salt Sand City gave to the rookie adventurers who had just registered was to go to the seaside salt farm to guard the salt ponds and drive away those seabirds who like to drop their feces from time to time.

But Ai glanced at her as if he knew what was going on in the girl's mind:

——Only Miss Tina is considered a rookie adventurer.

There is no way to refute it.

Speaking of which, this commission is directly related to them.

The brood of crocodiles that originally lived near the islands and reefs in Lake Maritis was just a C-level commission. They rarely left the nest to attack passing ships. Be a delicacy in their mouths.

Only the relatives of these people funded and issued this commission, but due to the small amount of commission and the large number of crocodiles, no one paid attention to this C-level commission until yesterday.

Great magic flew out of the girl's hand, knocking down the bandits in the sky, and their airship crashed not far from the lair, setting off a monstrous water column.

I don't know what kind of impact this heavenly thing had on those monsters. That night, when a small salvage fleet hired by the city guards went there to try to fish out the wreckage of the airship, they were attacked by a group of crocodiles. Crazy attacks and heavy losses, the city guards quickly intervened in this situation, took over this C-level commission and upgraded it to A-level last night.

"...Probably the shield magic on the airship has affected them. Some individual monsters are very sensitive to magic, and changes in the magic environment often lead to drastic changes in their behavior patterns."

"Or is there something else on the airship, such as alchemy potions, materials, etc. Alice remembers that many potions have completely different effects on humans and monsters. Maybe they are calming potions on humans. For some monsters, it is a rage drug."

Through the information disclosed in the power of attorney, Liliana and Alice made some speculations, and Ai's idea was that the crocodiles might have lost some of their members in the crash of the airship, and they retaliated against humans for revenge.

This is also possible.

"Sounds like it's my fault..."

Tingna couldn't intervene in such a conversation, so she went to the counter to handle the commissioned contact matters, but in the end, they failed to receive the commission.

This is not an open delegation with no limit on the number of recipients.

Because of the increase in entrustment levels and rewards, and the fact that the opponents are just a nest of berserk crocodiles, the tasks that no one cared about immediately became popular.

This commission was accepted once this morning, but the task failed. At about noon, the commission returned to the commission wall, and was immediately accepted by a confident adventurer.

There is no news of success or failure of the mission yet, even honorary adventurers cannot accept this commission now.

"It's unlucky to be preempted"

Tingna turned her head and shrugged at Liliana, Alice, and Ai. The witch still had no expression on her face, but Ai's expression turned a little pale.

"Yeah, it's really bad luck."

The most unlucky thing for an adventurer is a commission failure.

Secondly, the entrustment that was intended to be accepted was preempted.

The former will make the adventurer stop activities for a period of time, and the latter will make the adventurer not accept another commission on this day.

No particular reason, just feeling bad.

Although Tina has always thought that this is just adventurers' superstition of good luck, but now that the first commission of "Light Seeker" has encountered such a thing, she also feels a little unlucky.

"...Occasionally this happens."

"Since it's rare to form an adventure group, let's follow the rules of adventurers. It's also quite interesting."

Although they didn't care much about it, they still had some jokes and left without accepting the task.

but.

That night, when they were about to rest, there was a knock on the door of the luxurious room of "La God's Rest".

"It's so late... Did Miss Ai order supper?"

"No, eating supper so late will make you fat."

Tina re-buttoned her suit, opened the door, and a woman in soldier armor was standing outside the door with her helmet in her arms.

"This is a recruiting commission."

Seeing Tina, the dark-skinned woman stood up straight.

"The Kingdom needs the assistance of the Noble Phantasm-level honorary adventurer, Ms. Liliana Einstein!"

"……Eh?"

………………………………………………………………………………………

Ten minutes later, in Alexandria Lake Port, among the soldiers on the ship, Tingna watched the trireme sailing towards the flames on the dark lake amidst the roar of the magic furnace.

Arriving at the area illuminated by the fire, pallets were immediately set up between the ships, and the female herald led Liliana and the others to the ship with tents on the deck.

Few adventurers accept the enlistment entrustment, because it represents a task with no choice, and in many cases, the danger and reward are not proportional. But the berserk crocodile in the lake was originally Liliana's commission, so the witch didn't hesitate, and brought Tingna and Ai with the herald.

It's just that the entrustment contact from C-level to A-level failed to be accepted twice, and finally found the Noble Phantasm-level Liliana through the method of recruiting entrustment, which made the witch frowned.

This is obviously not normal.

After coming here, the witch couldn't help covering her nose, and then added magic to temporarily block her sense of smell.

The air above the lake was filled with a stench.

It is not clear what kind of smell it is, many disgusting smells are mixed together, and in the turbid and blood-stained lake water, they are mixed into a horrible smell that makes people black out.

"Well……"

Tina felt her stomach churning. Amidst the stench, the officer with a tired face made a request to subdue the monsters without even greeting them for a moment.

"Except for the warrior who holds the treasure of God's favor, I can't think of anything else that can kill that profane, ugly, monster that seems to be the deepest nightmare created by a witch. What kind of evil power made Sobek sharp?" The offspring of Tooth and Claw turned into such a terrifying appearance?"

The soldiers who came with them were also reinforcements, and the details of the entrustment were only learned from this officer until now.

"...mutated crocodile, isn't it?"

Liliana's expression didn't change at all to the officer's laments and pleas.

The lights on the deck illuminated her inky attire, a two-piece dress with gold braided piping and an ornate wide neck loop that looped from the shoulders to the armpits and tightened beneath the witch's immature curves. , so that the pair of lovely fruits protrude a reverie arc under the black fabric.

And below, the black wrinkled cloth that wraps the legs is translucent. The witch's slender legs are wrapped, and they are indistinct under the firelight. These folds are finally gathered on the golden piping around the waist, and are tightly tucked under the navel. Let the ruffles cover the girl's mysterious garden, and outline the soft curves of the waist and buttocks.

She walked out of the tent, her pupils painted with peacock green eyeshadow according to the Sinai custom, glanced at Tingna who was covering her mouth and nose, and looked at the firelight on the lake from a distance.

Black and white, gold and that touch of emerald green.

The girl's eyes were a little hot, but the witch who was holding Alice came to her side as if she didn't see her, standing on the deck of the warship and scanning the waters surrounded by several warships.

The water surface was calm and blood-stained. Every ship suffered damage to varying degrees. The broken and torn wood was stained with thick green slime, which was also the source of the stench on the water.

"Has sunk one, looks like a big one."

Ai pointed to the place where the boat they brought was moored. The boat was lowering the large net with a heavy anchor into the water. A broken mast was floating on the water beside it. The sails had absorbed the dark red lake water and floated on the water. A sunken warship.

But the crocodile can't sink this kind of military ship, under normal circumstances.

Tina also looked at everything in front of her, but she couldn't see anything from those horrible marks, so she could only hug Alice and look at the soldiers on the deck.

A strong man stood near the deck holding a shield and a spear. His face under the helmet was extremely pale. On the deck further back, many soldiers were injured, and screamed from time to time under the care of the army doctors and priests.

You don't need to look at their expressions to hear the great fear in their hearts.

"Sobek, oh Sobek, please forgive us, we shouldn't offend your mighty and valiant minions, that's his anger, please, leave quickly, otherwise Sobek's anger will tear us to pieces! !"

"Shut up, that kind of monster is not Sobek's ferocious minion, it is a twisted and blasphemous evil, we have to kill that evil monster and defend the fangs of the great guardian!"

Such words made the ship shrouded in unease, until the officer scolded, the trembling voice stopped in the darkness.

— but of little use.

Through the black pearl on the earring, Alice spoke.

"The soldiers' spirits are almost completely broken, and a group of terrified soldiers may have been executed to maintain the situation."

Relying on the dark vision obtained by Knight's blessing, under Diana's crescent moon, the girl could clearly see that the rocks on the islands and reefs in the lake about a hundred meters away were completely stained red by a large amount of blood.

How much blood does a person have in their body? How many people are required to crush the several-meter-high rock in such a way that the entire rock wall can be dyed red, and at the same time, this water area can be turned into a nightmarish pool of blood?

"Um……"

Tina thought she could understand why the soldiers were so terrified, seeing the sunken ship and knowing that it wasn't safe to be on board.

"...What kind of monsters have you encountered, their size, appearance, attack methods, and whether they are gifted with magic? It is best to tell everything you have experienced here. To kill monsters, you must first understand monsters."

Standing up from a broken plank, the witch was not in a hurry to draw conclusions. She looked at the pale officer, and her cold words were like a blade cutting through the low air.

Also at this time, on another ship adjacent to this ship, the soldiers screamed in fear.

"It's coming! It's coming!"

"Don't retreat! Set up your shields and hold your spears! Those who retreat are deserters. Light up! Light up! Light up the waters!"

"Amon Ra, Horus, Anukat, gods and spirits, please protect me!"

There was a commotion.

During the commotion, the observers on the mast lit the magic lamps, and a cone-like beam of light shot down from the top of the ship, shining a bright light on the bright red water.

In the light, half of a crocodile appeared from the water.

"……That's the one?"

Tina couldn't help but hugged Alice with one hand and rubbed her eyes with the other.

A very ordinary crocodile, with a flat body, a pointed and long mouth, protruding eyeballs like the vertical pupils of a reptile, and blue-gray scales covered with blood, but due to its size compared to a trireme, it was too large. Tiny, it even looks a little cute when it lifts its head out of the water.

... Is it just such a crocodile that scared the soldiers out of their wits?

Such a weird idea flashed through Tina's mind, but immediately.

——Speaking of which, doesn't the crocodile have no neck? How did it raise its head...

The water was lifted.

Ting Na stared blankly at the huge figure jumping up from the muddy water.

Crocodile?

She asked herself a moment ago.

Is this a crocodile?

No, although it does seem to be magnified more than ten times, it is true that the crocodile is almost half the length of a trireme, but no crocodile's neck will spread out to the sides like a king cobra, and then from the neck to the crocodile. There was a bloody mouth in the stomach.

Not to mention several huge, crab-like things protruding from the cracked mouth full of sharp teeth, sweeping away all the shield guards on the deck!

"W-What kind of monster is this---!!!"

"It really is a mutant! Master Liliana!"

Tina's scream and Ai's voice sounded almost at the same time.

"It's appeared! It's appeared! It's this monster! When we came, there were only violent crocodiles here, but this thing appeared when we almost killed the crocodiles! The first ranger adventurer who came to assist us was on the island When shooting the remaining crocodiles on the reef, it sneaked up from behind and exploded on the rocks of the island!"

The officer was also shouting, and when he saw the jointed limb protruding from the big mouth of this "crocodile" piercing the ship's side, his face was already as burnt ashes.

"Abandon the "Weed Point"! If you don't want to sink like the people on the "Two Wands" and become its food, run away! Throw oil on that water, don't let it get out! "

He quickly gave instructions, and then shouted at Liliana again.

"This monster was half its size when it sank the Twin Wand! "

The turbulent water made the ship shake. Standing by the deck, the witch nodded calmly, and then stretched out her hand in that direction.

There is no chanting of "interpretation", no announcement of liberation delay, and I don't know whether to sing silently or instantly, but, as the sea blue stones and fine sand are sprinkled, the aurora-colored magic square is not in the witch's place. His hand emerges rather than stretches across the bloody water, between the "crocodile" and the boat it's clinging to, shaking violently almost capsizing.

"Sea God Sword". "

Only when the magic is broken, a bloody water curtain rises.

Elemental System · Ocean System · Great Magic · Poseidon Sword.

——Water flow is endowed with rapidity, and it becomes the sharp sword of the sea god.

The extremely thin and extremely fast water curtain split open the blood-stained, hairy limbs, cut off the hideous teeth on the gap in the abdomen, cut off the mast that stretched across the side of the ship, and blasted a cloud of blood on the iron-blue scales Finally, the "crocodile" screamed heart-piercingly.

Like the howling of the dead in the night.

""Sylph's Atmospheric Hammer". "

Then, the distance between that huge body and the ship was pulled away.

Element system·Sky system·Magic

The invisible atmospheric hammer bombarded that frightening hideous body from the side. Although it didn't cause much damage, the "crocodile" that lost its center of gravity inevitably fell backwards and landed on the water.

Before it sank—or burst into the water—a ball of fire flew from the black-haired girl's hand and exploded on the iron-gray scales.

Only then did Tina think of something, pointing her finger wearing the "Elemental Crown" there, but.

"Miss Tina."

But at this moment, Alice's voice sounded slightly harsh in her arms.

Ting Na was startled, and lowered her head, but what she saw were black eyes showing disappointment.

"Do you still remember the agreement with Alice by the Holly River?"

"That is……"

"Lily and Alice gave Miss Tina these rings, not to make Miss Tina fight with Lily and Alice. Miss Tina did a good job when the airship was hijacked, but."

Alice sighed softly.

"What Lily and Alice were most worried about happened."

For a while, Ting Na looked at her, a little at a loss.

The water waves were turbulent, and the waves made the chains connecting the warships rattle, as if they were about to break.

No one seemed to notice the conversation between the girl and the doll.

After two spells, Liliana took out a bottle of magic potion and opened the cork, drank it in one gulp and looked at the stunned officer.

"...Set up a block under the water? A wise decision. Although I don't know why it mutated, it is obviously a very dangerous mutant monster. If you let your men guard the boat and let it escape, Lake Maritis is so big, it might not be possible to catch it again."

After finishing speaking, Liliana walked towards Ai who was full of eagerness to try, stretched out her hand and tapped the girl's little head lightly, took her hand, and walked back to Tingna's side.

"Please think about what power means to Miss Tingna."

Alice looked sternly at Tina, who was speechless, and floated from her arms back to the witch's shoulders.

"...Miss Tina and Ai stay on the boat. This monster is a bit dangerous. I just go with Alice."

"Hey - I want to fight with Master Liliana too!"

Ai showed a somewhat frustrated look.

"...Right now, Ai doesn't have that ability."

But Liliana just shook her head, using the simplest words to silence all the girl's protests.

Then, the witch looked at the officer.

"...Have you seen any other ways of attacking it?"

"Yes, yes, sometimes it will knead the things it swallowed in its stomach and spray them out like cannonballs. Although the power is not great, it is very demoralizing."

"It can also move quickly on the reef. Its tail is thick and big, with thorns on it like hammers!"

"Its lair should be where the crocodile's lair was originally, near the reef, and every time we repelled it, we saw it would swim back there."

Liliana used magic to save a ship that was almost doomed to sink, and the officer's face seemed to finally see hope.

He told everything he knew, and after listening, Liliana nodded, glanced at the silent Tinna and the somewhat regretful Ai, and flew up from the deck surrounded by the colors of the aurora.

"Flying technique..."

Ai was fascinated by the figure that flew into the sky and approached the water surface with a brilliant light.

Flying skills, witches and dolls traveling all over the continent, that is almost all her imagination of "freedom".

Although I'm still just a magic apprentice, but... Sure enough, let's force it and find a way to learn the flying technique.

Then, water splashed everywhere.

The collision of flames and lightning, monsters leaping from the lake and magic soon enveloped the reef in misty water vapor.

"...Miss Liliana, why are you close to the water?"

"It's okay to throw magic in the sky, but that monster is not stupid. As long as Master Liliana is in the sky, it will definitely hide in deep water. The water will greatly reduce the power of magic. In order not to affect the ship You can't use magic that is too loud, otherwise Master Liliana's consumption will be very serious."

While explaining, Ai raised his chin slightly and looked at Tingna.

"...I really envy Miss Ai."

Ting Na couldn't help grinning, an unreasonable impulse made her say such a sentence.

A long time ago, when she was still in the City of Thousand Towers, Ting Na wanted to say it.

Whether it was really out of envy, or out of jealousy, she couldn't tell.

Just seeing the unshakable will and self-confidence contained in Ai's eyes at this moment, she couldn't help but say these words.

"……ha?"

Ai looked at Tina and opened her eyes wide.

That expression was as if he had heard something unreasonable.

Why is there such an expression? Tina didn't know, and Ai couldn't respond to her words immediately.

It was only a few minutes before Liliana and Alice left the deck of the battleship, but the hunting seemed to have come to an end.

The thunder mang falling from the sky tore apart the screams of the monsters. In the turbid and foul-smelling mist, the shadow of the rock wall was cut off, the water surface fluctuated violently, and several connected warships were turbulent.

Even the water mist was dispelled by the aftermath of the magic, and the ferocious body of the "crocodile" leaping from the reef met the mighty power of the magic, like an overwhelmed bug facing the brand-new sun.

The people staring there with different moods all covered their eyes at the same time, of course, so did Ai.

So only Tina saw it.

Only her eyes, which are not afraid of strong light and shadow, can see the shadows in the light.

"——!!!"

Collision, shock.

Then there was the dizziness of weightlessness, the stench and disgusting touch spread on the body, and the coldness and suffocation of the lake overflowed in the mouth and nose.

"cough--!!"

The body thirsting for air pulled back the consciousness of not knowing where to fly.

When he opened his eyes, there were broken corpses scattered in the muddy water.

Human hands, feet, heads, and bitten bodies wearing city guard armor are everywhere. The body loses the concept of direction for a while, and it is impossible to tell whether it is sinking or floating, but there is nowhere in the body. If it's hurting, it's probably not hurt.

And Ai——

Ting Na tightly hugged the petite body in her arms, preventing her from struggling in a panic due to unexpected falling into the water. The lake water in early summer is still not warm. There might be a danger of drowning.

She's still too slow.

When being hit directly by that shadow—the corpse ball spit out by the "crocodile", Tina didn't have time to push Ai to a safe place, it was too fast, even if the girl almost instinctively rushed towards the defenseless girl, she didn't have time to push Ai to a safe place. Can catch up.

The good news is that this thing is not as powerful as the officer said, the stumps and carcass are kneaded with some kind of disgusting slime. Push them down and the lake. Although I don't know if other people have been affected, neither I nor Ai seem to be injured.

The bad news is, this thing is really, really, really gross.

"Puff--"

The boundary between the water surface and the air has been broken, and the lack of ventilation this time is not such a wonderful experience.

The stench that was several times stronger than that on the boat almost caused the girl to see her grandmother who had passed away for many years waving to her. If it hadn't been for Ai's violent cough in her arms that woke her up, maybe she would hold the hand of that kind old man and leave this full of people. It's a place of stench and blood.

The sound that could only be heard vaguely underwater also became clear.

Someone on the boat yelled that the monster was being hunted down, and someone yelled to rescue the soldiers who fell into the water.

Someone saw them and told them not to move. People's voices were no longer filled with depression and panic, but instead they were filled with joy of escape.

That scream seemed to be the dying wail of the monster, and the ball of corpses was its dying counterattack. When thinking about such things, Ai finally stopped coughing, and raised his head from the girl's shoulder weakly.

"...Why do you want to protect me, obviously I used the magic shield as soon as I got on the boat."

As soon as he recovered, he asked this question, really, not cute at all.

"... I didn't know that Miss Ai used a magic shield...it's too obvious, and as an adult, that's... well, it's a matter of course."

In fact, the girl herself is not very clear.

Just like the tangled relationship between her and Aina, even now, when the girl thinks about the night when she left the city of a thousand towers, she still regrets that she said to the witch that she hoped to give Ai a chance.

...but in a way, not so regretful.

If the cluster of quietly burning black flames were to go out in front of her eyes like that, Tina would not be able to forgive herself even more.

So Tina could only slur her words.

"...Then why are you covering my eyes?"

"Because of a somewhat complicated reason... Ai better not look at it."

"What's the reason, take it away quickly, the water in your hand flowed into my eyes, it's very uncomfortable."

Although it was out of good intentions, the girl didn't appreciate it. Ai pushed Tina's hand away from her eyes. At this moment, the lighting from the boat also illuminated this small area.

"..."

"..."

Floating on the bright red water are pale corpses, broken and torn limbs, a carcass with an empty abdominal cavity, internal organs that swelled after soaking in water and seemed to be half-digested...

A human head floated beside Tinna and Ai, looking at them blankly, the light illuminated his blank eyes, he looked at the girl in front of him, and slowly sank to the bottom of the lake.

"...Well, it shouldn't be."

Ai looked around, as if his neck was rusted, and looked at Tingna again with a crunch.

The girl's face was livid, as if she was about to cry.

"That's why I said, it's better not to look at it..."

"Gee!"

"Ah, hey, wait a minute! Ai, don't you want to - babble -!!!!"

When Liliana flew above their heads with Alice in her arms, she looked at the two girls hugging each other and vomiting, with a rare blank expression on their faces.

………………………………………………………………………………………

In the middle of the night, Alexandra was in a late-night bathhouse.

After using up half a bottle of shampoo, the girl who had wiped her skin red all over untied the bath towel and lay down on the pine wood floor in the geothermal room, enjoying the warmth of rosin to relieve the fatigue of her body.

"It's really unlucky..."

She felt that if it wasn't for the girl from the city of a thousand towers who didn't deal with her—according to the mysterious divination of the Eastern Kingdom, it would be a conflict.

Otherwise, there must be something like a curse of misfortune on his body, otherwise it is really impossible to explain the fact that he has been trapped in the stinking hell twice after two days in Alexandria.

Thinking of this, Tingna couldn't help pulling her hair and smelling gently at the tip of her nose, um, the fragrance of lavender.

But it seems that I can still smell a little, not so pleasant smell...

There were no other guests in the large public bath at night, and Miss Witch booked it out generously. Otherwise, with their smell after being fished out of the water and dried in the night wind for so long, it is estimated that even any shop or hotel would be too expensive. Can't go in.

There is no doubt that this must be the dirtiest moment in my life. If I can, I really want to erase what happened that night from the torrent of time forever.

Unfortunately, even Miss Liliana seems unable to do such a thing.

"...Wait for a while and go wash again."

Whispering to herself, because of the warmth and exhaustion, the girl lay lazily on the pine floor, stretching herself into a big character.

- click.

The door of the ladies' conservatory opened.

Ting Na turned her face slightly to look over there, and saw a head of long black hair faintly tinged with dark red coming to her side, she snorted softly, and turned her face to the other side.

"...are you still angry?"

"snort."

"I apologize for my rude behavior on Miss Tina, although I think Miss Tina and I are also each other..."

"But you vomited on the suit Miss Liliana gave me!"

"Miss Tina also vomited on the dress my mother left me!"

There was a moment of silence in the underfloor heating room.

"...If Ai hadn't vomited it out, I wouldn't have vomited it out."

"I doubt it, but... yes."

Standing beside Tingna, the black-haired girl twisted her slightly red hair, a little embarrassed.

"If I hadn't been hit by that...disgusting thing, nothing like this would have happened, I admit it, and thank you, Miss Tina..."

It's a pity that although she heard the detailed words of thanks, Ting Na didn't see the girl's flushed and frank face.

The girl is still angry, because of various reasons—specifically, from the fact that the girl snatched Liliana away from her in the City of Thousand Towers, to the unlucky things she encountered after arriving in Sinai, the more she I am getting more and more angry, and I don't plan to calm down in a short time.

"Just saying thank you, I've heard it."

So she just said something angrily, then closed her eyes, leaned on her arm and stopped talking.

"……I see."

After a while, I heard Ai say this.

Immediately afterwards, a warm, wet touch pressed against the girl's back.

"……Well?"

Some heavy weight was pressed on the back, with a slightly higher body temperature, after several consecutive presses, the tense muscles seemed to relax.

Next is the waist.

Tina turned her head away.

"W-how... do you feel comfortable? I learned the massage technique from Aqua-san, but because I don't have much strength, I can only do this... Well, it's not convenient to do it for the first time in this kind of place... ..."

The girl wrapped in a bath towel stepped on the girl's body awkwardly, and those small feet accurately stepped on some places on the girl's back that were stiff due to the fatigue of the day.

There was no place for Ai to support her body in the floor heating room. The girl moved a little clumsily in order to maintain her balance, but under the massage of her feet, Tingna gradually hummed because of the relaxation of her body.

This is the best answer.

"...I was surprised when Miss Tingna said she envied me."

"..."

What are you doing.

On the way back, he obviously didn't bring up this topic at all, why did he suddenly say this?

"If you want to talk about envy, I actually envy Miss Ting Na more, so when I heard it, I was stunned."

……what is this?

provocative?

Ting Na subconsciously propped up her body, turning her head angrily to make Ai shut up.

Perhaps because she was dizzy all of a sudden, Tingna completely forgot that Ai was completely on her back, because she lost her balance when she got up and turned her head.

Snapped!

"Wow!"

"hiss--"

In the room with the pine wood floor, there were three heavy voices.

When the door of the heating room was opened again, the witch looked at the two trembling on the ground.

"……What's wrong?"

"No, nothing..."

"Accidentally, I just fell down..."

Ai, who was covering his butt, and Ting Na, who was covering his waist, answered almost in unison.

After finishing speaking, they gave each other a hard look, and turned their faces in other directions at the same time.

"...be careful."

The witch tilted her head, not being too entangled in this question.

She came to her apprentice and secretary with the usual expression, and then.

"...Miss Tina, you don't need to get up, Ai Ye, get down."

"Huh? Mmm..."

"Hmm..."

"...Get closer."

Tingna and Ai lying on their stomachs didn't know what Liliana was going to do. After glancing at each other, they groaned and lay down side by side.

Then the soft touch from the back made them make a pitch-changing sound together.

"Master Li, Liliana?"

"Miss Liliana, all of a sudden—"

"...It was just a whim, Akuya's massage technique was taught to her by me."

The pine wood floor was warm, but what was even warmer was the witch's warm skin.

While Ting Na and Ai were busy washing off the body odor, Miss Witch seemed to have enjoyed some skin care services. Her silky skin was slippery and smelled of expensive essences.

Although it was not the first time that they had skin-to-skin contact, this was neither a room on a high tower nor a bedroom in a hotel. The difference in the place and atmosphere caused Ai and Tingna's bodies to collapse due to unreasonable tension.

The two glanced at each other at the same time, but from each other's sea blue and wine red pupils, they could only see the same panic.

"...Relax, Ai and Miss Tingna have worked hard today."

"Hug, I'm sorry..."

"...Why do you have to apologize? Today, you have helped me a lot."

"No, that... oh! It hurts, it hurts, it hurts, Master Liliana, it hurts too much!"

"...? Because I haven't helped someone do this for a long time, I can't grasp the strength..."

"So Miss Liliana... babbling! Wait, Lily, Miss Liliana, if that place is pressed, it's a bit uncomfortable, it's really a bit uncomfortable——!"

The little doll leaning on the expensive cushion is holding iced juice, and the girl enjoying the bath with starry eyes is combing her jet-black short hair with gentle movements.

Hearing the flustered voices coming from behind the door, and the occasional shrieking in tune, Alice contentedly moved the straw away from her lips, covered her lips with her hand, and hid the expression of ready to watch a good show. Under the elegant movement.

Things get interesting.

And predictably, things get more interesting after that.

No matter it is a girl who used to be ordinary—now still maintains the essence of ordinaryness, but does not realize that some parts of herself are quietly changing.

She is still a girl who was born from an abnormality, and because of that past, her future path has been strengthened.

Most importantly, the clumsy witch with whom she swore an eternal oath, and herself.

This started from the seaside of the southern country, and there is no end in sight, what interesting things will happen.

Let Alice wait and see.

With a flick of a finger, the little doll summoned a gust of dry warm air, and amidst the occasional screams of the girls, closed the wooden door of the floor heating room.