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Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni

2016-10-29T11:26:19Z

Darkdhaos: /* Updates */

[[File: Naga01_cover.jpg|286px|thumb|Volume 1 Cover]]

The light novel series Ochitekita Ryuuou (Naga) to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni (落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国) is written by Maisaka Kou and illustrated by Youta.

== Story Synopsis ==
In a world where witches are shunned and have been forced onto the brink of annihilation, a samurai with no memories is transported to the hideout of some of these witches. Having the name: "Dragon King" and a keen strategic mind, its up to him to help defend the witches from those that would seek them harm.(From Mangaupdates)

== Updates ==
*October 29, 2016 - Volume 4 Completed
*July 19, 2016 - Volume 3 Completed
*April 05, 2016 - Volume 2 Completed
*March 04, 2016 - Volume 1 Completed
*January 19, 2016 - Volume 1 Chapter 1 added
*May 18, 2015 - Volume 1 Prologues edited
*March 03, 2015 - Teaser page started

== Formalities ==

=== Registration ===
Those who wish to contribute are asked to notify the project manager beforehand.

Translators are asked to register which chapters they're working on.

::* [[Ochitekita Registration Page|Registration Page]]

=== Format Standards ===
Every chapter must after editing conform to the general format guidelines.

::* [[Format guideline|General Format/Style Guideline]]

===Changes to Page===
Please do not make any changes to this site without asking the project manager. There's specific code on this page, which can be harmed by your edits.
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==The ''Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni'' series by Maisaka Kou==
If you enjoyed the story, why don't you tell us in the [http://www.baka-tsuki.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=10533 Feedback Thread]?

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=== Volume 1 ([[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni:_Volume_1|Full Text]])===
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:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Prologue 1|Prologue 1]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Prologue 2|Prologue 2]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Chapter 1|Chapter 1: The man who fell in the bathhouse]] [https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/chapter-1-the-man-who-fell-in-the-bath-house/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2: A battle of witches and humans]] [https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/chapter-2-the-battle-of-witches-and-humans-part-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Chapter 3|Chapter 3: 2nd Battle of the 1st fort]] [https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/ch-3-the-offence-and-defence-of-the-1st-fort-again-part1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Epilogue|Epilogue]] [https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/ochinaga-epilogue-1/ (Blog)]
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[[File: Naga01_cover.jpg|right|thumb|x200px|Volume 1]]
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=== Volume 2 ([[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni:_Volume_2|Full Text]])===
<div style="float: left; width:380px;">
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Prologue 1|Prologue 1]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/vol-2-prologue-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Prologue 2|Prologue 2]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/vol-2-prologue-2/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Chapter 1|Chapter 1: The Night before the Battle ]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/vol-2-ch-1-pt-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Chapter 2|Chapter 2: Commence, the Opening of Hostilities ]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/vol-2-chapter-2/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Chapter 3|Chapter 3: The Second Step ]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/volume-2-chapter-3/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Chapter 4|Chapter 4: The Beginning and End of a Battle ]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/chapter-4-the-beginning-and-end-of-a-battle/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Epilogue 1|Epilogue 1]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/epilogue-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Epilogue 2|Epilogue 2]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/epilogue-2/ (Blog]
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[[File: Naga02_cover.jpg|right|thumb|x200px|Volume 2]]
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=== Volume 3 ([[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni:_Volume_3|Full Text]])===
<div style="float: left; width:380px;">
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Prologue 1|Prologue 1]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/vol3-prologue1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Prologue 2|Prologue 2]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/vol-3-prologue-2/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Chapter 1|Chapter 1: The Conclusion of the Alliance ]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/ochitekita-volume-3-chapter-1-part-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Chapter 2|Chapter 2: An Unexpected Prisoner ]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/vol-3-chapter-2-an-unexpected-prisoner/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Chapter 3|Chapter 3: Future Outlook ]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/volume-3-chapter-3-future-outlook/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Chapter 4|Chapter 4: The Greatest War Trophy ]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/c4-the-greatest-war-trophy-part-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Epilogue 1|Epilogue 1]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/vol-3-epilogue-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Epilogue 2|Epilogue 2]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/vol-3-epilogue-2/ (Blog]
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<div style="float: left; width:200px;">
[[File: Naga03 cover.jpg|right|thumb|x200px|Volume 3]]
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=== Volume 4 ([[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni:_Volume_4|Full Text]])===
<div style="float: left; width:380px;">
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Prologue 1|Prologue 1]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/ochi-v4-prologue-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Prologue 2|Prologue 2]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/ochi-v4-prologue-2/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Chapter 1|Chapter 1: The Eye that Reads the Flow ]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/vol-4-chapter-1-the-eye-that-reads-the-flow-part-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Chapter 2|Chapter 2: Coincidence or Inevitability ]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/volume-4-chapter-2-coincidence-or-inevitableness-part-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Chapter 3|Chapter 3: The performance of the Dancers ]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/v4-c3-the-performance-of-the-dancers/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Chapter 4|Chapter 4: Enemy and Ally, Both of their Circumstances ]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/volume-4-chapter-4-enemy-and-ally-both-of-their-circumstances-part1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Chapter 5|Chapter 5: The Brigade’s True Strength]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/volume-4-chapter-5-the-brigades-true-strength/ (Blog)]
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[[File: Naga04 cover.jpg|right|thumb|x200px|Volume 4]]
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== Project Staff ==
* Project Administrator: [[User:darkdhaos|Darkdhaos]]
* Project Manager: [[User:darkdhaos|Darkdhaos]]

=== Translators ===
===Active===
:*hachidori108 - [https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/ (Blog)]

=== Editors ===
:* [[User:Zexth|Zexth]]
:* [[User:darkdhaos|Darkdhaos]] (Translated Volume 1 Prologue)
:* [[User:Weslykan|Weslykan]]

== Series Overview ==
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国 (25 July 2012, ISBN 978-4-8401-4648-7)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国II (22 November 2012, ISBN 978-4-8401-4872-6)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国III (25 March 2013, ISBN 978-4-8401-5134-4)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国IV (23 August 2013, ISBN 978-4-8401-5281-5)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国V (24 January 2014, ISBN 978-4-04-066213-8)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国VI (21 November 2014, ISBN 978-4-04-066991-5)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国VII (24 April 2015, ISBN 978-4-04-067614-2)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国VIII (25 August 2015, ISBN 978-4-04-067746-0)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国IX (25 February 2016, ISBN 978-4-04-068111-5)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国X (25 July 2016, ISBN 978-4-04-068459-8)

[[Category:Light novel (English)]]

Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Chapter 5

2016-10-29T11:25:27Z

Darkdhaos: Created page with "==Chapter 5- The Brigade’s True Strength== 1 Unable to endure the time it was taking all of the troops to prepare, Jeweljude’s face turned impatient upon knowing that th..."

==Chapter 5- The Brigade’s True Strength==

1

Unable to endure the time it was taking all of the troops to prepare, Jeweljude’s face turned impatient upon knowing that the Kasandora Kingdom was up to something.

(We can no longer afford to delay our departure. If we don’t advance toward the Kasandora Kingdom immediately…. Now is not the time to fuss over those fools who can’t even make proper preparations.)

Making up his mind, Jeweljude brought with him only those troops that were ready to depart and advanced his brigade.

And so, the first wave of the witch extermination army, which centered around the Brigade of 88, left Granvista and aimed towards the place closest to the royal capital of the Kasandora Kingdom.

Jeweljude decided they would first stop near Kasandora, and then think of what to do next.

Together with the brigade, the first wave comprised of: 500 units sent by the city of Recissus, 200 from the city of Saintes Zephyr, and 400 from the city of Mergas, making it a total of 1100 units.

Since the Kasandora Kingdom’s capital was a small-scaled one, their mobilization power was small as well. Despite that, one couldn’t underestimate their opponents.

The second wave numbered 1200 soldiers; nevertheless, it was falling behind in their advancement.

The remaining 700 were reasonably equipped but had low fighting spirit, therefore, they were moved to the transport troop. Not to mention, they were probably still in Granvista.

The sun shone through the clouds and radiated a red light from its western position, which indicated it was already close to evening. It was then that Jeweljude decided to set up a simple camp and stay overnight there.

Inside a large tent that had the crest of the brigade, Jeweljude, his staff officers, and generals from various countries had gathered.

Due to Jeweljude’s giant body, his head would hit the tent’s beam, so he was forced to bend his back when moving inside.

Including Jeweljude, everyone was wearing armor.

Waiting for them to sit down on the line of folding stools, Jeweljude took his seat of honor and called out toward his comrades in a voice that could be felt in one’s stomach.

“Then, let’s begin our meeting. First, I think we should consider the latter part of our plan, but…”

At that point, Jeweljude cut off his words and looked around at the faces of the other generals.

“In order to retrieve back Fort Ein, we, the Brigade of 88 shall progress first.”

A commotion rose among the generals.

“Therefore, I’d like to have your people stay here and suppress the Kasandora Kingdom.”

“Jeweljude-dono, are you fine with that?”

General Ryuumu who led an army dispatched from Recissus Kingdom made this remark.

“What’s the matter, Ryuumu-dono?”

“Are you saying you plan to charge at the witches with just your men?”

“That’s right. After all, we need to get rid of them as soon as possible.”

(Will they be okay?)

Facing toward the leader of the Brigade of 88, Ryuumu wondered about that. Nevertheless, not wanting to insult Jeweljude, he decided to ask it in a different way.

“However, now that they’ve shown suspicious movements, don’t you think it’s a bit dangerous to leave the Kasandora Kingdom as is?”

Nevertheless, Jeweljude wouldn’t take notice of his colleague’s remark.

“This is why I’m leaving you in charge of them. Also, I cannot possibly think of any reason why the Kasandora Kingdom would attack you. The only concern they might have is whether or not we will get violent within their territory. What’s more, if you assign your soldiers to us, you won’t be able to watch over their territory. Hence, I’d like for you to stay here and observe if there’s any malicious intent coming from the Kasandora Kingdom.”

Saying so, Jeweljude made a large-hearted smile.

“This way, your men can also be at ease and focus on distributing provisions, right?”

(Certainly, it’s just as Jeweljude-dono says, but, not being at war with the witches, won’t it result in us gaining a bad reputation?)

Such was Ryuumu’s concern, which was characteristic of him.

“Fine. Still, will our important provisions be alright? I’m not convinced that the Kasandora Kingdom will be willing to share their food with us.”

“Well, you probably don’t need to worry about that.”

Ryuumu had some misgivings regarding that, however, Jeweljude could do nothing but assert.

“Nevertheless, we only have enough food for two to three days. In case those folks hesitate to help us, we will be either forced to use force or withdraw.”

This was another form of asking if it was fine to plunder the city by Ryuumu. However, at the same time, Jeweljude denied that in a half-threatening tone.

(If you want to withdraw now, then do it yourself. To begin with, it’s not like we’d asked you to come.)

Jeweljude thought so while being irritated, however, he wouldn’t convert that into words, as he couldn’t be ignorant of the ways of this world.

“Provided you’re right about the Kasandora Kingdom not cooperating, you can tell them you might resort to using force, which might work. However, remember that first come negotiations…. and then, actions.”

The leader of the remarkable brigade couldn’t endorse things like pillaging, so he stated his thoughts more or less this way.

For Ryuumu, ‘resorting to strength’ was a last resort, therefore, it was natural for him not to argue any further than this.

Ryuumu exchanged glances with generals from Saintes Zephyr and Mergas, after which, they all nodded to each other.

“Understood. We shall stay here and await your further instructions, while at the same time, prepare ourselves for the upcoming battles.”

(Upcoming battles? This guy is saying some cheeky things.)

Jeweljude laughed at the general inwardly, but obviously, he wouldn’t show that through his expression.

The ‘upcoming battles’ mentioned by Ryuumu were the ones concerning the invasion of the Black Forest. Their plan was to march toward the Black Forest after they have managed to retrieve Fort Ein. By then, it would be necessary to supply themselves with plenty of food to maintain their strategy for four to ten days.

All the generals took part in this campaign with the intention of invading the Black Forest. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have agreed to share in the profits, as it was meaningless to go on such a distant expedition.

Receiving provisions from the Kasandora Kingdom, avoiding any direct contact with the witches, finishing them off once they have been kicked out from Fort Ein by the brigade, and advancing towards the Black Forest, such was the plan of these generals.

The reason why they decided to join together was because of the Black Forest being said to be blessed with fruits of the land, and because of the witches’ hidden treasures.

None of them would complain, as they could claim the best spoils without having to sweat from their brows.

(Still, that applies only if the Brigade of 88 manages their job…. however, as one would expect, there’s probably no way they would lose against the witches. Despite saying so, we shouldn’t underestimate the witches. After all, haven’t they gained victory over those 2000 soldier from the Kasandora Kingdom? If possible, I’d like for the brigade to sacrifice itself a bit, so as to make our job easier afterwards.)

At the moment, Ryuumu and the rest could do nothing but follow Jeweljude’s lead, however, by having the witches deplete the brigade’s strength, they could hope to raise their influence when invading the Black Forest, and even become the core of the strategy. One could say they counted their chickens before they were hatched.

(If that happens, we can receive as many rewards as we want. And if we capture the witches, we can bring them back with us and present them to His Majesty the King without giving them to the Church.)

By doing so, Ryuumu’s dream of marrying a royalty’s daughter and becoming part of it would finally come true.

(Therefore, I need to work them hard, or else…. also, I need the witches to do the same.)

Various circumstances jumbled together, despite the army’s purpose.

3

Soon after, Jeweljude deployed each respective country’s troops near the kingdom’s border, and sent a messenger to the second wave, then he proceeded to negotiations between both sides.

The king’s representative, Guiscard, tried to be evasive in joining the negotiations, which would take place at Jeweljude’s side’s main camp, however,

“If you don’t cooperate with us, the army shall supply themselves with food using its own strength, which would be here on your territory.”

In the end, even Guiscard had to yield and accept their conditions while having a bitter face.

Naturally, Guiscard’s side was told to do its utmost, but, there seemed to be no need for him to worry for the time being.

Once it had been decided that Guiscard and the rest would carry provisions to the encampment of Recissus’ army, Guiscard himself quickly withdrew back to the capital, explaining he needed time to make the preparations.

With one problem being resolved, Jeweljude hastened his brigade to set off towards Fort Ein.

3.5(?)

Some soldiers of Kasandora Kingdom overheard the negotiations and relayed the contents to others, which became the topic of their conversations.

For Linne and Linna, who infiltrated the city in order to gather intel, this was news they couldn’t pass up.

The two of them quickly returned back to the fort and reported the newly acquired information to Naga and Harrigan.

Naga understood that the agreement between the kingdom and the extermination group was, in half, inspired by the latter’s threat.

Dressing themselves in army clothing, Naga and the rest prepared to launch their plan of hindering the enemy, however, little did he know that the brigade had immediately departed in their direction.

4

“Excellent, we’re setting off!”

Jeweljude, whose body was covered in silver armor, roared on top of his horse.

In addition to his abnormally giant body, being completely armored made him easily as heavy as three adults. Therefore, the black-maned horse that he rode had a large trunk as well.

As if answering to Jeweljude’s impactful voice, the horse neighed and swayed with its torso.

“First, we will kick out those evil witches from Fort Ein! Father who art in heaven shall guide us through our path, so do not fear nor falter!”

“Ohhhh!”

The brigade’s cavalry pushed up their lances, the tips of which glittered upon receiving the sun’s light.

“Depart!”

*Zun Zun* – As soon as Jeweljude’s horse advanced one, two step forwards, a shock like sound trembled the earth.

The brigade, which belonged to the Church, was comprised of cavalry alone. One could say the structure of this group was biased, however, since the sole purpose of this expedition was to eliminate the enemy, only the cavalry, which excelled the most in speed and power, were up to this task.

They were needed for neither capturing, infiltration, nor maintaining a peace inside an enemy’s territory. Instead, it was their combat efficiency that mattered.

Not to mention, the members of the brigade were remarkable warriors who had honed both their command and control to a terrific level. They would neither waste their time on chit-chats nor disarrange their ranks.

The brigade, which consisted of 500 units, was divided into five troops.

The first troop was led by Thule, the second – by Thales, the third – by Hittite, whereas the fourth one – by Reg.

All of these commanding officers had served long in their military service.

Despite there being scouts and transport troops tagging alongside the brigade, usually there are none under normal circumstances.

That’s because brigades tend to travel from one place to another, solely depending on their own strength. Every time, they would change shifts among themselves when transporting their provisions.

When reaching a city, they would be offered support from their church, however, there would also be instances when their trips would take, at minimum, a few days, so they couldn’t afford to travel empty-handed.

And then, there was the vice-commanding officer waiting on standby next to Jeweljude. The 5th troop fell under Jeweljude’s direct control.

Right now, the 500-strong cavalry of the Brigade of 88 commenced their solemn march towards Fort Ein, with Jeweljude’s troop leading the way.

5

Early morning, Yuuki, who was scouting the vicinity of the Kasandora Kingdom, returned back to Fort Ein and rushed in when Naga, Harrigan, and Vita were having breakfast.

Once he heard her report, Naga dropped his wooden plate.

“What?! The Brigade of 88 has started to move?”

“Uhm, yes, there’s no doubt about that. The crest that I saw belonged to the Church. It looks like they quickly started to advance.”

Yuuki had probably dashed here at full speed, as one could hear her breaths reverberating as she responded.

“How about the other troops?”

“There were no major movements, I think.”

Naga picked up the smoked meat, which he dropped on the ground, tossed it in his mouth, and munched.

Vita and Harrigan pulled back while staring at him with eyes full of disgust.

“That’s dirty.”

“Eating something that you have just dropped…..”

Not being mindful about their criticism, Naga looked up into the air and groaned.

“Is that so? Then, does it mean they are heading this way? I expected they would strike at us using their full force, but…. this is fast, way too fast.”

“Then, what do you plan to do, Naga?”

As soon as Naga spotted tension in Vita, Harrigan, and Ais’ expressions, he looked around at the rest of the witches with a determined-looking face.

“There’s no time to waste. We need to prepare for the battle immediately!”

“O, Oh?”

“We’re going to repel the Brigade of 88, just like we did with Kasandora Kingdom’s troops the other day. We’ll wear the military clothing and charge at them. However, this time, we’ll do it together(?).”

“But Naga, Raibach still hasn’t returned back. Don’t we need slave soldiers to lay an attack?”

Once Vita said so, Harrigan nodded in agreement.

“Also, Nonoel and Kay are absent, as they’ve tagged alongside Raibach.”

“I know that the level of difficulty has increased, but… it can’t be helped. Right now, we can only use the people we have. What’s more, if you cast your spells during a night attack, the enemy will be taken aback, as they probably won’t know what kind of witches they’re dealing with.”

(It’s way too difficult for us to attack without resorting to our magic, so I guess…. this is the only way.)

‘You’ve got a point.’ – Vita nodded as she resolved herself.

“We’ll divide into groups. Harrigan, Vita, quickly gather all your members.”

“Ais!”

“Yes.”

“Elysio!”

“At your service.”

Ais and Elysio stood up as if bouncing off and hurriedly left the room.

Taking a single plate from the floor, Naga stood up and tossed a piece of bread inside his mouth.

(Damn, that was faster than I’d expected. The commander of the brigade is surely a decisive guy. I can guess…. a hard fight will be awaiting us.)

Once he swallowed the munched bread, Naga looked around the room, after which he noticed Vita and Harrigan looking at him with astonished expressions.

“He’s surely bad-mannered, that dragon-king.”

“Speaking of which, don’t just swallow that food like it’s nothing.”

“They say you can’t fight with an empty stomach.”

“Do they….?”

“They do, probably.”

“Again, you’re saying some convenient things.”

“More importantly, we’re going on a sortie. Harrigan, I’ll have you control wooden dolls once again.”

“I think I’ve already got used to it, so there’s no need for me to be that attentive when preparing. Give me a little while and I’ll do it.”

Making a deep nod, Naga faced toward Vita.

“Vita, I’ll need you to restrain the enemy again using your magic. Take Elysione with you.”

“That’s what I always do. Also, there’s no need for me to prepare.”

“As usual, I can rely on you girls. Well then.”

Naga who surveyed the room again folded his arms.

“It would be nice if I could perform something like atsumori(1) here, but…”

Naga muttered.

“A hot serving?”

“An abundant serving?”

Harrigan and Vita bent their necks in doubt, after which they retorted.

259

“”How much of a glutton are you!””

“That’s wrong, I wasn’t talking about food!”

“Then what?”

“Ah no… I myself wonder about that.”

*Kaku* – both the witches lost their balance.

“Just what on earth?! Is this something, you say, when departing to the front?”

“Right? If you ask me, I can no longer comprehend him.”

Harrigan too, frowned her eyebrows and retorted one more time.

‘More importantly,’ – Naga returned back to the topic by starting with these words.

“Now, we need to come up with a counterplan against the Brigade of 88.”

“Y, Yes.”

Harrigan and Vita’s expressions turned serious.

“Do you think it’s possible for us to repel them, Naga?”

“Not only are they elites, they also have as many as 500 people. I doubt our tactic will work twice.”

“Still, there’s one more concern.”

“Is it about their armor?”

“That’s right. Just like I’ve told you before, all members of the brigade wears silver armor. Therefore, we don’t know how effective will our magic be against them.”

“Good grief, you’re not going to tell me that your magic won’t work, right?”

“As expected, that would be way too exaggerated. Even if our magic won’t crush them down, there should be at least no problem in restraining their movements.”

“Then, let’s follow our plan.”

At that time, the noisy sounds of footsteps could be heard.

“It looks like they have gathered.”

Following that, all the witches rushed into the room.

Everyone, except for Selena who was guarding from a watchtower, had gathered and lined up in front of Naga.

“I think you all already know about this, but, the Brigade of 88 is approaching this way.”

The witches gulp down their saliva. One could tell there was tension written all over their faces.

“We will repel them in the same way as we did before. I believe it’s possible for us to do, but, it also turns out Kasandora Kingdom was forced to enter an agreement to supply the brigade with food, which I’d like to cancel. That’s why, this time we need to divide into groups and launch concurrent tactics.”

Saying so, Naga assigned the witches into three groups.

One was meant for repelling the brigade, one – for conducting a surprise attack on the extermination army, and another one – for protecting the fort.

Those who were placed in the repelling group were the main forces of the witches that had previously managed to push back the Kasandora Kingdom.

These were Vita, Elysione, Harrigan, Ais, Yuuki, Lily, Harlequin, and Naga. Obviously, the one in charge of leading was Naga.

On the other hand, the ambush group was formed with those who couldn’t attack with long-range spells, but could fight in hand-to-hand combat.

These were Cu, Ixine, Dora, Selena, Sanprotte, and Lela. The commander of that group was Lela, whereas, Selena was in charge of pinning down the enemy’s location.

Linne & Linna, as well as the rest of the unmentioned witches would stay in the fort.

(As expected, not having Kay and Nonoel present with us is harsh. That’s because they’re both capable in offense. Still, I guess it can’t be helped.)

As soon as Naga double-checked everyone’s duty, they immediately proceeded for a sortie.

6

Observing the terrain from above, Yuuki looked back at Naga and the rest who were on standby, below her.

“The enemy is advancing through the main road. All of them are riding horses, so I think they should enter our view completely after a short time.”

“Good job. Go with Lily and prepare an onslaught on them. Just to make sure, can you recheck on them a bit later?”

“I got it.”

Yuuki and Lily left the place behind.

“Ais, you too, take your designated post.”

“Yes.”

Running away in light steps, Ais carried baskets full of cobbles in both her hands and on her back. Naga was worried, since there was no one he could assign to Ais as her guards, besides Nonoel and Kay.

(Well, there’s no use in asking for the impossible. All I can do is rely on Ais’ quick wits.)

Naga became serious.

“Elysione, there should be no problem with the mantles you have placed, right?”

“None. I can teleport at any time, as long as Mother gets undressed, but…”

“We can’t waste any time on that. If that’s the case, how about you do it here and now?”

“You’re right, but there’s one thing….”

“Hmm?”

Being glared at by Vita and Harrigan, as well as by Elysione, Naga hurriedly corrected himself.

“There’s no need for me to watch you.”

“Are you sure? You’re letting the chance of watching my alluring body slip away, you know?”

“Ah no, I don’t think it’s the right time for that.”

(By alluring, does Mother mean herself?)

“You want to say something, Elysio? Why not let me hear it?”

*Bunbunbun* – Elysione shook her head from side to side with all her might.

“Harrigan, you too, are you done with your preparations?”

“Yes, I’m ready to use the dolls anytime.”

“Harlequin, how about your wolves?”

“They might scare away our horses if I call them here, so I made them wait on standby a bit away.”

“Well then, go stay by their side and wait for my orders.”

“Understood.”

Rocking her animal-shaped hair in the wind, Harlequin left running away.

The place which Naga decided for the counterattack was on a gently sloping hill facing towards the north. On both sides of the slope, there were small hills stretching out. However, since there were only shrubs growing on them, the visibility wasn’t that bad.

(The enemy seems to be fully confident, so they will most likely continue to advance through the main road. I can’t think of them taking any detours or approaching the fort from behind. We should be able to counter them… like we did before.)

Naga thought so, however, a small anxiety welled up inside him

(Why is there this feeling of uneasiness? Calm down, me. If you are flustered or anxious, the witches will be affected as well. I, have to be decisive and prepared, as this is the duty of a supreme commander.)

Naga persuaded himself with that thought.

He forcefully drove away his anxiety and stared in front of him at the road’s northern direction, where the enemy was supposedly to appear.

7

Just as Yuuki had predicted, the cavalry of the brigade appeared after a short while.

Silver armor and helmets glittering from the morning sunlight could be seen from far away.

“Hmph, so they have come? As I thought, they are wearing silver armor.”

Vita increased at once the magic which she had kneaded.

“Let’s do it, Elysio. Our opponent this time is no ordinary one, so prepare yourself.”

“Yes, Mother.”

Kneeling down on one knee inside a hole they dug near the main road, Elysione poured strength into her body, so as to prepare herself against Vita’s magic.

*Zun* – a shock ran through Elysione’s body, making her become twice, three times as heavy as her normal weight.

“Kuuu.”

Elysione clenched her teeth. Since Vita’s magic had no effect on inanimate objects, there was no fear the hole would collapse.

Hiding inside a mantle, Elysione held Vita in her arms while enduring her own weight.

Suddenly, the brigade’s horses bent their forefeet and dropped down as if pitching forward.

“What on earth?!”

The cavalry soldiers landed on the ground, like there was something throwing them off. The fact that there was no unsightly crawling was proof of them being the proud elite of the Church.

Still, they couldn’t stand up.

Unable to endure their own weight, one, two of them dropped down on their knees.

“Could it be, the witches?!”

Jeweljude dismounted his horse, which was crawling, stepped firmly onto the ground and struck a daunting pose.

Jeweljude felt the weight of his body, however, he showed no sign of kneeling down.

Looking in front of him, he turned around his head and checked the surroundings.

(No sign of, the enemy? It seems this isn’t meant to be an attack but a constraint? Then, they’re going to attack us following this.)

Jeweljude raised his rough voice and rebuked his subordinates.

“Prepare! The witches will launch an attack! Pick up your shields!”

Despite being told to pick up their shields, it was hard for them to simply move their body. However, the members of the brigade desperately reached out their hands toward their shields, which were bound to their horses’ flanks.

Their movements were sluggish, just like trying to perform an elegant dance, however, a large number of them somehow managed to get their shields and held them in front of their bodies.

On the other hand, Jeweljude was able to grab not only his shield, but also his lance tied to his horse. Indeed, it was a terrific strength.

And then, cobbles cutting through the air came flying.

With a few of these shots sinking into the ground and causing clouds of dust, there was one that hit a soldier’s shield.

*Gagooo* – Generating a dull metallic sound, the cobble bounced off the shield, making the soldier fall backwards.

Once he collapsed on the ground, he was unable to stand up by himself. Facing up, the soldier strived to hold his shield in front of him.

One third of the front columns entered the range of Vita’s magic. Jeweljude was exposed to the flying cobbles as well.

Many of the cobbles sunk into the ground near him, creating clouds of dust, however, he wouldn’t lose his composure, as he turned around and shouted an order toward his troops in the middle.

“Don’t move forward! Stay where you are and prepare the longbows!”

Longbows were bigger than ordinary ones with a powerful tension. Normally, it would be hard to pull their strings using half-hearted strength, but, everyone in the brigade could shoot from them.

Grinding their teeth, the soldiers pulled their bows’ strings.

“Excellent, shoot!”

The members of the brigade released their arrows at once after receiving a handed-down order from their superiors. The arrows flew through the air with a terrific speed, leaving behind sounds of cutting the air, characteristic of arrow feathers.

8

Making a dull sound, an arrow hit a tree trunk standing in front of Ais. Was the distance more than 80 meters? Ais stopped throwing cobbles without realizing, as she became surprised at the enemy’s counter-attack.

Following that, multiple arrows came flying, piercing through the ground, the tree trunk, and snapping its branches.

Ais lost her composure upon seeing that.

That’s because, not even the Kasandora Kingdom’s soldiers had been able to shoot arrows this far. Their arrows would lose their power and fall short before reaching Ais. Also, there would be Kay protecting Ais from arrows, so she could focus on her task. But now, Kay wasn’t present. Not to mention, the arrows, which had a tremendous power and reach, were beyond Ais’ expectations.

(What should I do? Should I continue to attack under these circumstances?)

Ais stopped attacking due to this unforeseen course of events. What’s more, did the enemy gained more confidence? The number of arrows increased and she could even see some of them piercing deep into the trunk.

(If I pick up a shield in my left hand…. no, there’s no way I could throw the cobbles like this.)

Because Ais enhanced her body using her magic, she couldn’t afford to put on any metal armor. Rather than that, it would become a nuisance, so the only option for Ais was to throw without any armor on her. Despite her strengthened body, it wasn’t like she could become Kay. If by any chance, one of the arrows were to hit her, she would certainly sustain a life-threatening injury.

For the time being, Ais decided to hide herself in the tree’s shadow and continue her attack half exposed. Still, with arrows coming more and more, it was dangerous to expose even half of her body.

Once she stuck out her head and took a peek, she noticed Yuuki’s board receiving arrows as well. After that, the person in question distanced herself from the enemy.

Despite Vita’s magic restraining the brigade’s movements, the soldiers still managed to counterattack with precision. Normally, the enemy soldiers would rush to try to rescue their allies, and enter Vita’s magic’s range However, this wasn’t the case for the brigade, which made Ais perceive them differently from the Kasandora Kingdom’s army.

Shifting her eyes back from the sky to the surface, she realized there was a unit of dismounted soldiers approaching in her direction.

The soldiers could neither grasp Vita’s magic nor know there was a witch hiding nearby, so they were moving with quite careful steps. Still, they moved little by little and shot arrows, after which they repeated the same actions. Such was their method. The twenty soldiers continued to try getting closer, releasing arrows that reached closer and closer to Ais.

(Doing any more here will be impossible. I should withdraw a bit and resume my throws there.)

Ais took her baskets and withdrew to the black forest.

9

Harlequin, who was on top of a hill, ordered her packs of wolves to charge. She tried to attack the brigade while they were being occupied with shooting down Ais using their long bows.

A part of the cavalry wearing heavy armor dismounted their horses upon noticing the packs of wolves, and proceeded to repel them, in order to protect their comrades who were focused on shooting Ais. The cavalry got off, as they knew their horses would go rampant from sensing the wolves. Despite that being an obvious thing, it was still impressive from them to act as if it was common knowledge.

(Those folks, they sure know how to fight!)

Under normal circumstances, soldiers from the Kasandora Kingdom would tremble from fear and be prepared to flee, however, the members of the Brigade of 88 were looking forward to meeting with their enemy, rather than chickening out.

Swinging their swords at the charging wolves, they cut off a few of the animals’ heads. There were also wolves that managed to jump at the soldiers’ chests, but nevertheless, there were few spots where the animals could sink their fangs in. Were the enemy still riding, Harlequin could’ve made the wolves aim at their horses’ legs, but unfortunately, all the soldiers had dismounted.

As expected, against an opponent that consisted of a fully armored brigade, even the wolves were at a disadvantage. Animal cries could be heard here and there as blood splattered.

(Any more than this will be impossible!)

Harlequin shouted inside and whistled through her fingers sharply. It was a sound that no one could recognize apart from the wolves. The wolves that managed to survive turned around and ran away at full speed.

[[Image:Naga04_Illus-07.jpg|175px|thumb]]

Thus, Harlequin’s plan of hindering the brigade’s attack aimed at Ais failed.

10

“Yuuki, wait! If you turn that sharply, I won’t be able to focus on casting my spell!”

“Unless I do so, we’ll fall prey to the arrows! I don’t care if you want to become a hedgehog, but!”

“Ah, no… that would be quite troubling.”

“If so… then, finish your chant!”

Again, Yuuki ascended sharply in the air, as they barely missed an arrow.

“Damn. We’ll seriously become prey if we go any lower than this.”

Yuuki turned around and looked at Lily, who was clinging to her waist.

“Is this place no good?!”

“If I attack them from this height, the lighting will be too weak to take down the enemy soldiers. Speaking of which, don’t shake this much, otherwise, I won’t be able to finish the spell!”

“We might get shot before being even able to fall off! So manage it somehow!”

“This is impossible, impossible, impossible! I can’t concentrate my mana like this!”

The two of them argued on top of the shaking board. As they did so,

*Gatsun* – A shock passed through the bottom of the board.

The board leaned violently as the result of the impact.

“Damn it–! We got hit!”

The moment the board changed its angle, Lily, who was holding onto Yuuki’s waist, lost her grip.

She hurriedly reached out her hands and clung to Yuuki’s body again. However, being in a rush, Lily had little choices as to where to choose to grab.

‘Hyannn?!’ – Yuuki raised a shrill voice.

“Wai?! Where do you think you’re touching?! These are my breasts…. ahnn, yaaan, move your hands away!”

“Eh? Ah, sorry, I just happened to grab there.”

“That’s why, I’m telling you to move your hands away! You aren’t doing it on purpose, are… ahhhhhn!”

“B-b-but, it’s shaking, the board is shakingggg.”

“Don’t fondle my chesttttt!”

“We’ll fall, we’ll fall, we’re going to fallll.”

“Argh, good grief, I can’t control it anymore…. Wai, no good, no ahnnnnn!”

“Mommy, I don’t want to fall, I don’t want to fall.”

“Awawawawaawaw! Don’t grab me that hardddd!”

Yuuki and Lily didn’t crash, however, they left the battlefield behind while descending and swaying, just like a kite when the thread has been cut off.

11

A deep hue of impatience appeared on Naga’s face.

(Indeed, this is bad.)

Ais’ throws had become sporadic, after which they turned silent.

Naga understood it was due to her being countered back by the brigade’s middle ranks.

Not to mention, Harlequin’s packs of wolves were also repelled.

As well as the board, on which Lily and Yuuki rode, not being able to approach the enemy as they wished, because of the arrows coming from the brigade’s rear.

In the end, not being able to yield a great result using Lily’s lightning, both the girls distanced themselves from the battlefield.

The enemy’s attack was precise with no flaws.

(Still, it was thanks to that commanding officer making the right decision, this is, ordering his troops to attack incessantly, that they managed to repel us.)

Even though the commander who resembled a giant should have entered Vita’s range of magic, he was holding the lance in his left hand, just like a staff, while giving out orders to his subordinates behind. Despite there being soldiers kneeling down on one knee, and even those who had collapsed, the giant commander’s body didn’t move an inch.

(It doesn’t look like his movements are affected, and Vita’s magic won’t last forever. At this rate..…)

Naga faced toward Harrigan, who was putting her dolls on standby, and gave a signal.

She was wearing a leather-made armor, however, her head wasn’t covered with any helmet. After all, there was no need for that, as she could control her hair at will and knock down the enemy’s arrows.

“I’m relying on you, Harrigan.”

“Leave it to me!”

As she waved her hand and responded back, Harrigan moved her dolls forward at once. Having already gotten used to controlling small-sized dolls, Harrigan could direct them from behind. And since Vita’s magic had no effect on the dolls, it was even easier for her to control them.

Not to mention, the number of puppets Harrigan could control had increased further to as many as 100 units, which is why she threw in this much during this battle.

Harrigan hid her body inside a shallow dugout while advancing her puppets towards the enemy.

12

Jeweljude who stood on the frontlines noticed small objects approaching. Formed ranks of things which resembled short wooded logs were advancing.

“Are they dolls belonging to the witches?!”

The giant commander could perceive the dolls were adjusting their bows to fire at once.

Since the cobble attack had already stopped, Jeweljude could shift his focus and put up his shield in front of him.

“A fresh supply of the enemy’s troops! They’re going to shoot this way, so prepare your shields!”

At Jeweljude’s order, his subordinates set up their shields in a hurry.

“Nuuuunnn!”

The muscles inside the giant commander swelled to the extent of almost bursting. Jeweljude moved one step ahead, as if dragging his legs.

“We shall fight back against those troops of dolls! Everyone, follow me!”

Shouting like that, Jeweljude made one more step forward. As he did so, some men behind him gnashed their teeth, made a roar, and struggled their way forward, as if trying to follow after their leader. Everyone was dreadfully sluggish in their movements, however, far from running away, some of them kept on charging at the dolls instead.

13

“M…..Mother, the enemy is…. progressing.”

Crawling on all fours inside a shallow hole, Elysione bent her head desperately and called out to Vita in a very painful-like voice.

“What?!”

Vita crawled out from the mantle and stretched her back with all her might to check the situation in front of her. Despite her being naked, she couldn’t care less about that.

Indeed, some of the soldiers moved their legs in a dragging manner toward the dolls, without any regards for Vita’s magic.

Especially, the giant who was in the vanguard walked much faster than the others and was about to clash with the troops of dolls.

“Damn, is that guy some kind of a monster?!”

Vita warped her face and threw this curse at him.

“To think there’s someone who could endure the ‘Song of Gravity’! No, is it also due to the effect of his silver armor?!”

Using all her strength, Vita raised her magic to its maximum. Because of that, Elysione fell completely flat and couldn’t even lift a single limb. Still, far from collapsing, the man who wasn’t supposed to endure the magic kept progressing, which surprised Vita.

Closely packed beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. Not just her head, but also her whole body was covered with large drops of sweat.

Vita was already exhausted, as she had been maintaining her magic.

“Mumumuu, if I do any more than this….”

Vita, whose face became deep red, clenched her teeth.

“Damn it. If that’s how it’s going to be, let’s see who will endure longer before giving up, me or you?!”

“M…Mother, please don’t!”

Elysione tried to stop her mother, however, she could do nothing by shout.

“Gugaaa.”

Vita coughed up blood, after which, her petite body bent violently.

Following that, Elysione’s body became light, which would mean Vita’s magic had lost its effect.

“Mother!”

Rising up, Elysione jumped at Vita, while waving her mantle, and caught her mother in an embracing manner from falling.

Vita lost her consciousness.

Elysione immediately decided to withdraw and pulled back together with Vita inside her mantle.

Finally, using her full power, Elysione disappeared with Vita as their heads sunk completely.

14

Jeweljude understood that the magic restraining his body had vanished.

Putting up his shield in his right hand and adjusting his lance horizontally near his left flank, the giant commander charged at the dolls in the next instant.

Arrows shot by the dolls aimed at Jeweljude’s shield one by one, however, not even a single of them could pierce through its thick metal.

“Muuun!”

Using his grandiose lance, Jeweljude mowed down the dolls from right to left.

*Kou* – Together with an air cutting sound, five or six dolls were blown off at the front ranks.

What’s more, the dolls were sent flying backwards, making other dolls collapse.

A few of them stood up, however, most of the dolls struggled to do so. There were even those that tumbled on the floor and ceased to move, as a result of their magic circuit being severed.

With Jeweljude’s first strike, as many as fifteen to sixteen dolls ceased functioning.

“Is that guy a monster?!”

Harrigan raised a scream.

With Jeweljude using his heavy shield on his left and his grandiose lance on his right, it was clear he was a warrior that matched Harrigan’s definition of monster.

The stream of arrows weakened together with the number of dolls. Using that momentum, those who followed Jeweljude reduced their distance at once and joined the attack.

The soldiers from the rear didn’t hold lances, instead, they carried shields in both their hands. That’s because they knew their leader’s inhuman strength would be more than enough.

The wooden puppets continued to shoot arrows, but, in the end, it wasn’t enough to penetrate through the brigade’s thick shields.

As the soldiers closed their distance, Jeweljude had already struck for the second time, again, blowing away a dozen dolls and making them incapable of fighting.

With his second strike, as many as thirty dolls dropped out from their ranks.

“It’s him! Make the dolls aim at that guy!”

Naga shouted in Harrigan’s direction.

“Got it!”

She passed down a new order to the dolls.

“Go! Aim at that giant’s head!”

The dolls that were releasing their arrows at the approaching soldiers changed their target to Jeweljude.

“Attack attack attack! Shoot him till you run out of arrows!”

Several tens of arrows came flying at the giant from the frontline of dolls that numbered as many as 160 units.

As expected, there was no way for Jeweljude to parry the attack completely, therefore, he didn’t try to go overboard and ward off arrows that came from different angles. A few of them hit his armor, but nevertheless, as one could predict, not even a single one pierced through his silver armor.

On the other hand, Jeweljude was able to precisely grasp the shooting power of the dolls.

Making a single turn, he flung his large shield at the densely crowded dolls, making several of them fly off, then pinning them under his feet and crushing them.

On top of that, Jeweljude used his left hand that was now free to swing his lance while charging at the dolls.

The soldiers that had dashed before joined the battle almost at the same time, and just like Jeweljude, they jumped at the dolls, flinging their shields while swinging their swords at them.

“This is no good! I can’t hold them together any longer!”

Being at her wit’s end, Harrigan directed her face towards Naga.

(Damn, I guess I didn’t consider this. Who would’ve thought there was a monster like this among the enemy’s leaders.)

However, it was only for a short while that Naga clenched his teeth.

“We’re withdrawing, Harrigan! Continuing any longer than this will be impossible!”

“Are you fine with that?”

“It’s not a matter of it being fine or not. If it’s impossible, then it’s impossible.”

Saying so, Naga put on a smile on his face.

Was it a smile of composure or wryness? Or perhaps, a smile of self-mockery? Whichever it was, Harrigan settled down a bit upon seeing it.

“You’re right. Then, I shall order the remaining dolls to attack, so as to buy us time to escape. Naga, go ahead.”

“I’m leaving it to you.”

Saying so, Naga turned around.

(Indeed, this guy is tenacious.)

Harrigan made a light, wry smile, which quickly disappeared, and faced toward the remaining dolls.

“Go! Aim at their leader from direct range!”

The dolls formed a crowd in a bustling manner and aimed at the enemy charging ahead.

(They probably won’t deal even a single scratch, but after all, it’s for buying us time. I’m relying on you, please make one last move.)

Directing a request inside of her toward the dolls, Harrigan turned around and ran after Naga.

15

The witches gathered around Naga, who had escaped to their rear encampment. Among them, there was also Elysione.

(Speaking of which, it looks like something has happened to Vita.)

Just as he predicted, Elysione approached him and reported.

“Mother has collapsed.”

“It seems like she had gone overboard.”

(She had gone… overboard? So I guess, it’s because of that monster?)

Naga turned his head and saw Harrigan running up a slope at full speed with her large chest bouncing.

Had she had her usual appearance, Naga would have admired that view, but, since she was wearing a simple armor today, regretfully, he couldn’t.

(Ah no, this isn’t the time to admire that, me!)

Naga, who reprimanded himself sharply, lifted his head and shifted his gaze to what was in front of him.

Since their base was located at an elevated place, it was possible for Naga to look down on the battlefield. What he saw was a disastrous view of the dolls being on the verge of annihilation.

(Good grief, so I guess we’ve lost this time.)

The weak smile that appeared on his face this time was probably one of self-mockery.

(The dolls were completely destroyed, and Vita’s magic ran out of its effect. Not to mention, Ais’ throws didn’t pass through, and neither did the attack from Harlequin’s wolves. Als, Yuuki, and Lily left the battlefield…. I wonder if those two are fine. It doesn’t look like they were shot down, so they are probably safe and sound, but….)

Looking down at the battlefield, Naga became astonished again.

(The Brigade of 88 is terrifying, indeed. No, it’s actually the leader whose terrifying.)

There were as little as ten dolls left on the field. It was only a matter of time before they went down.

Harrigan, who had run up the slope, stood next to Naga and looked at him.

“I guess, repelling the enemy has become much more complicated, right? What should we do, Naga?”

As expected, even Harrigan’s breathing was a bit out of sync.

Without replying back, Naga continued to stare motionlessly at the battlefield.

The gathered witches gazed at his profile with worried and anxious faces. As they did so, Naga came back to his senses and looked at the witches.

His self-deprecating smile was no longer visible on his face.

“For now, let’s retreat back to the fort. We shall guess their next move there.”

“Still, what should we do if they surround us? Right now, our defense isn’t that tight, so don’t you think it would be difficult to protect the fort with just this many of us?”

“Even if you say ‘surround’, they’re only 500, you know. If necessary, we can always escape through Elysione or Yuuki.”

“I, Is that…. so?”

Again, a smile appeared on his face. However, surprisingly it was a refreshing one this time.

“This time’s battle was our loss. A complete loss.”

“Ah no…. even if you tell me like that.”

“Just because we lost a battle, doesn’t mean we have lost the war. Be it one or two loses, as long as we come out victorious in the end, it should be fine.”

Harrigan frowned her eyebrows doubtfully.

Not just her, the other girls tilted their heads in wonder as well.

“B, But, can we really recover after this?”

“There’s no way it’s over. And our hope of winning this war hasn’t fallen apart yet. Our chances might be slim, but, there’s still hope, so don’t make such a sad face.”

‘Kakaka.’ – Saying so, Naga laughed, which made the other witches look at each other in surprise.

Everyone present there was ready for the worst, but, judging from Naga’s attitude, it didn’t seem like he was.

“However, what chances do we have?”

Elysione asked this in a reserved manner.

“Fret not. I saw a breach in their strategy, and this time, we aren’t going to lose again.”

“Ehhh?!”

The witches warped their faces in astonishment.

Naga laughed again at the girls looking at him fixedly.

“What? Why do you look so unconvinced? I’m not lying, you know. Still, we need one more battle to turn the tables.”

“…..And exactly, how do you plan to do that?”

Harrigan asked with a half-doubting expression.

“For the time being, let’s place our hope in Lela and the rest. If they manage to do their task well, they will be able to buy us more time for the next battle. And if that happens, I’ll be able to come up with new plans to defeat the brigade.

One could tell there was solemnity within Naga’s words and conduct.

(It doesn’t look like he’s boasting or bluffing, but… just what on earth is he up to? Anyway, till now, we’ve been able to ride past hopeless situations, so we can do nothing but believe in this guy, I guess.)

Having no longer mixed feelings of doubts and expectations, Harrigan looked at Naga. He was occasionally staring at small hills stretching out to the north beyond the battlefield, while folding his arms.

“I also hope Raibach brings those slave soldiers with him, as they will be essential for my plan.”

Will Lela’s ambush change anything? And will the arrival of the slaves be meaningful? Harrigan, Elysione, and the rest of the girls couldn’t tell at all. Truth be told, they even doubted they could recover. Despite that, Naga continued to stare with a calm and daring expression at the completely annihilated crowds of dolls.

The witches, who had become restless, settled down a bit upon seeing him.

16

Naga and the rest suffered their first defeat in their attempt to defend Fort Ein.

However, Naga asserted he saw a breach in their enemy’s plan.

What kind of a move will he pull out to recover from this hopeless situation?

The battle between the Brigade of 88 and the witches had yet to enter the second stage, which shall become a cornerstone towards establishing the country of the witches.

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Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Chapter 2

2016-10-29T11:21:57Z

Darkdhaos:

==Chapter 2- Coincidence or Inevitability==

1

Just to make sure the enemy doesn’t attack, Naga left Ixine, Selena, and Elysione behind to keep watch, and then, returned back with others to Fort Ein.
The reason for that was because Selena’s Heaven’s Eyes would be the fastest way to detect an approaching enemy. Ixine’s horse riding skill was good enough for her to be placed first or second among the witches in regards to horsemanship, whereas, Elysione could teleport instantly in case of emergency. Because of that, Naga appointed those two to protect Selena.

Once they returned home, the witches held a victory banquet after preparing grape wine and simple snacks.

2

There wasn’t much wine inside the fort. What’s more, Naga and the rest had only recently captured the fort, so the witches had no time to carry in that much wine. Therefore, nobody could get heavily drunk. However, Naga felt relieved as they were able to prevent Ais from getting violent, as a result of getting drunk.

The witches drank, ate, and danced lively.
Since none of them was able to get drunk, no witches would dance naked this time.

Sitting on the wooden floor, in the corner of a spacious room inside a residential building, Naga was eating snacks and tasting wine while starting at the dancing witches.

Next to him, there was Raibach.
As usual, the witches were dancing in their ultrathin and small clothes. Apart from those dancing, there were also those that played flutes and drums, however, the fact that all of them were wearing little clothing wouldn’t change.

“As usual, these are some terrific scenes.”

Raibach said in a whispering manner.

“Aren’t they wearing even more risqué clothes than those female dancers from an itinerant group? With such dancing and jumping, they would become fine dancers, I’d say.”
“Well, for them, it’s the usual thi….. no…. hm?”

Naga faced toward Raibach.

“What did you just say?”
“Yes? No, that’s why I said they’re wearing risqué clothes….”
“After that.”
“Ummm…. you mean that they’re wearing even more risqué clothes than those female dancers?”
“That’s it!”

“Eh? What about that?”

Not replying to Raibach, who asked suspiciously, Naga stared back with a passionate look at the dancing witches.

“What’s that? Aren’t you gazing at them quite intensely?”

Vita, who held her wine cup, approached them with a slight stagger. As one would expect, Harrigan was next to her as well, holding her wine cup.

(As usual, these two look like parent and child when standing next to each other.)

– Is what Naga’s impression was toward these two. Nevertheless, he wouldn’t let them know by any means.

Naga replied with a feigned ignorance.

“Well, I’ve just hit upon something, you see.”
“We won’t undress? No matter how passionately you stare at us, we aren’t going to undress, you know?”
“Nobody said so, Harrigan.”
“Even if you don’t say it, I can understand from your eyes telling us to undress.”
“No, I ‘m not!”
“Then, what were you going to tell us?”
“I was told by Raibach your clothes look even more risqué than those of female dancers. And then, I was struck with an idea.”

Because Harrigan and Vita glared at Raibach, the latter shook his head from side to side firmly.

“So, what idea has come into your mind?”

Harrigan, who shifted her eyes back, asked Naga.

“Wouldn’t it be a good idea to have you dress up as female dancers when infiltrating the city for information?”
“Oh?”
“Oh!”

Both Harrigan and Vita opened their eyes widely and clapped their hands.

Raibach also looked at Naga with an astonished face.

“At first, I had thought it would be better to form a caravan of merchants and sneak in, but, neither I nor you have traded with anyone before.”
“……We haven’t.”
“I guess, we also haven’t used any money recently.”
“Despite saying so, wouldn’t it be impossible for us to visit that place merely as a group travelers during these hectic times?”
“Certainly, it isn’t the kind of place you could visit for no reason.”
“Still, wouldn’t it work if we were a group of itinerant entertainers from far away? It wouldn’t be strange for us to say we came there to make a name for ourselves, since we know nothing about that place and its locals. Not to mention, there would be a reason as to why you are dressed as female dancers. On top of being a group of young beauties, you would also dance and look like female dancers. From what I can see, aren’t you pretty skillful in both dancing and playing instruments?”
“Let me see, a group of young beauties? Indeed, Naga is a straight person.”

(Mother is in high spirits.)

(As long she can lighten herself with that magic, even rising high is an easy thing for her, righttt?)

As soon as Dora and Lily put their heads together and whispered to each other,

“Is there something you want to say? Dora? Lily? How about you tell me?”
“There’s nothing?”
“Nothing at allll.”
“Well, whether all of us are young or not, let’s leave that aside.”

Once Harrigan said so, Vita directed a stern look at her. However, before Vita could say anything, Kay cut in.

“I guess Hari-nee, too, is sensitive when it comes to talking about age.”

‘Kyahaha’ – Yuuki clapped her hands and laughed, whereas, Vita nodded down deeply while saying. ‘True, true’.

“Hey there, don’t laugh! And you too, don’t agree!”

Harrigan, who had snapped, pointed at Vita and Yuuki while retorting.

And then, Ais butted in while laughing.

“That’s right, Kay-chan. It’s no good if you talk about Ane-sama as if she’s a middle-aged woman.”
(((Uwa, Ais is being the cruelest one here.)))

The witches in the background threw their heads back profoundly.

“Heh? Kay, so this is how you regards me?”
“I-I-I don’t? Speaking of which, I haven’t mentioned such thing at all, right?”

Bending her legs while shivering, Kay put her hands in front of Harrigan.

“Wanna try and see if you can stop my hair blow?”

Harrigan’s abundant bluish black hair floated in the air and turned into a big mallet.

“If I receive Hari-nee’s blow, my insides are going to break. I, even if I can harden my skin, it’s not like my insides will remain intact, so…”
“That’s okay. You’ll be able to endure my attack.”

Harrigan’s mallet shaped hair began to swing above Kay’s head.

“Waiiiiiiii, please, somebody save meeee!”
“Kay, do your best, okay?”
“This what you get when poking into somebody else’s problem!”
“Do your best, Kay. Don’t lose, Kay!”
“Yuuki, don’t cheer me on!”

Kay looked around for a help, but,

“Lela?! Nonoel?! Cu?! Why are you averting your eyes?! Harlequin, don’t say things like ‘go away’!”

(Ah…. good grief. Like always, it won’t stop once our conversation goes off topic)

‘It can’t be helped.’ – Naga thought so and stood up.

“This much should be enough for your family dissension. Harrigan, let’s hasten with a progressive talk.”
“Y….Yes?”

As soon as Harrigan came back to her senses, her hair, which floated above her head, dangled gently.

“What’s a progressive talk?”
“That’s why, I’m telling you we need to infiltrate the royal capital and acquire information on Kasandora Kingdom’s state of affairs. There’s a heap of things we need to decide on, in advance, such as, whom we should choose for this trip, from where we should enter and what dance should we decide on. There might be many of them, but, our future will depend on the enemy’s actions from now on, so you could say our role this time is very important. Somehow, we need to find out more about our them.”
“Um….. I guess you’re right. Understood….”
“Then, we shall discuss in more detail about our group that will set off once the banquet settles down.”

Harrigan breathed a sigh and looked around at everyone.

“Shall we end the banquet soon and began with our talk?”

‘That’s true.’ – Ais nodded.

“Not to mention, we’re already running out of wine and snacks this time, so all the more the reason to.”
“You bet. It’s not the right time for a drinking bout when we’re more concerned about Kasandora Kingdom’s army possibly striking again.”

(Still, you were able to drink casually, weren’t you?)

“Is there something you want to tell us, Naga? Why not speak your mind?”
“No, not like there’s anything in particular.”

The moment Naga denied while averting his eyes, he looked around at all present.

“Then, shall we hold a strategic meeting?”

Following his words, the witches brought out folding stools.

Naga sat on his folding stool with his back leaning against the wall, whereas, the witches and Raibach took up their positions as if surrounding Naga in a half-circle.

3

“First, there’s something I’d like to ask you, Raibach, but…”

Naga started their conversation.

“Itinerant entertainers aren’t that uncommon here, right?”
“I think so. Depending on their size, there are large and small groups, but, they come to the city relatively often. Those groups won’t just bring out their female dancers, but also do stunts and acrobatics. There are also instances in which they will display their swordsmanship and archery.”

“Do you need some sort of permission for that?”
“If we’re going to do a large-scale performance, then yes, but I don’t think we need any for performing dances on a street corner.”
“Open air performances are also included, right?”
“Rather, they would be much more reasonable in our case. Only big groups would have to set up a circus tent and house guests.”

Naga showed a bit of a pondering attitude toward Raibach’s reply, but then, he quickly returned his face back to normal.

“In other words, it’s possible for us to form such a group, go to the city as if it’s nothing, gather spectators in the right place and perform…. the dances?”
“I believe it’s highly possible. Since all the witches are beauties, there’s no doubt that spectators will gather. And no, I’m not flattering you at all.”
“Is that so, is that so? Raibach, I had thought you’re a man with points worthy of note, but, it doesn’t seem you’re head over heels for me.”

Vita laughed as if being in a good mood.

(Mother, just how easily can you be stirred?)

Dora and Lily made dejected faces.

“What should be the right scope for our group?”

Raibach groaned after being asked by Naga.

“That’s right. With Naga-sama being the leader of our troupe, it would be five to 6 female dancers and three or four musicians. Also, dancers and musicians can shift with each other when it’s appropriate. Wouldn’t our group become complete with ten people? A four to five person group is too small, which might not be enough to convince others about us coming from far away, and reversely, if the group is too big, it will stand out.”
“I see, so it’s ten, right? Provided that’s the final number, the next thing would be…. Lela.”
“Ye, s? What is, it?
“Can you think of an origin for our group and a route which it will go through?”
“……That’s, right. I wonder if it’s fine to tell them we come from the middle of the continent, since Naga-san looks like a foreigner. As for the origin and the route, I’ve thought about something, but, how do we explain to them we were able to enter the westernmost peninsu, la?

Naga recalled the map of the surroundings, which he had been shown before.

“If I remember correctly, the peninsula can only be accessed from its entrance. True, we would have to enter the royal capital from somewhere in north, otherwise, wouldn’t they become suspicious of us? *Tch* It’s indeed troublesome.”
“Ah, I think there should be no concern about that.”

At Raibach’s voice, everyone shifted their gaze in his direction at once.

“Ummm, Lela-san, do you still have the map?”

“I’ll bring i,t.”

Lela, who stood up, dashed out of the room and returned back immediately.

“I’ve brought the ma,p. Is this fi,ne?

As soon as Lela spread out a large piece of cloth, on which the map was drawn, on top of the floor, everyone leaned forward.

“Here. If my memory serves me right, shouldn’t there be the port city of Lancel located at this point?”

Raibach, who had stepped forward and bent his legs, pressed with his finger a certain point on the map.

“If we cross the western part of the inland sea and arrive at the port city of Lancel, we can rush off from one place to another without the need of stopping in cities along the way. If we are asked about the route, which we had gone through, we can easily deceive the people in Kasandora by telling them there’s a road along the Schweiz River running from the city of Lancel, and that we arrived at the Kingdom from the south. The road is old, and since not many people have been using it recently, it’s become rough, but….”

Naga followed Raibach’s finger with his eyes. Once his finger tapped the capital on the map, Naga lifted up his head while saying ‘I see’.

“Having that route, we can pass near this fort’s surroundings without any concern. If that’s the case, I guess this excuse may come in handy when needed. Excellent. Then, shall we go with that setting?”
“Naga-sa, n. I think it’s a good idea to reach Kasandora Kingdom’s capital through Lancel City, bu, t, it will look unnatural if we don’t bring a cart and camping tents with us, since we’re going to become a troupe of entertainers. What should we, do?
“Can’t we prepare those things once we return back to the black forest?”

Naga directed his gaze at Harrigan and asked that question.

“We can somehow manage the tents, but, a cart will be impossible, I guess.”
“Well, is that so?”
“In that case, what should we do after we arrive at Lancel City?”

Everyone shifted their attention to Raibach’s questioning voice.

“Wouldn’t it be okay for us to prepare the necessary things and dress up ourselves there? I think it’s a good idea to reach that city on foot, along the Schweiz river, and then aim for the capital. If by any chance, they ask us about the route, we can simply answer them we came on foot.”
“Oh, that’s it!”

Naga clapped his hands together.

“Ah, but…”
“Is there something wrong, Lela?”
“We need money to supply ourselves with necessary thing, s.”
“A….Ah, so it’s about money?

Naga looked at Harrigan and Vita alternately.

“Ummm, what about that? Harrigan? Vita?”

Harrigan and Vita stuck out their extra-large and flat chests, respectively, and stated:

“We have, no money, you see.”
“Not in the slightest.”
“It won’t do, even if you stick out your chests and act big.”

Naga dropped his shoulders dejectedly.

“Umm, Ane-sama…”
“What is it, Ais?”
“How about we sell out the jewels, ornaments and small tools at our warehouse? ”
“Ah, those? Still, we don’t know how much they’re worth, and nobody from us is acquainted with humans’ sense of values. It may also be possible for those items to be sold dirt cheap if we try to sell them.”

“I don’t think they’re that cheap, but, how about we carry them here and have Raibach-san take a look? Maybe, we’ll able to more or less grasp their value?”
“You’ve got a point. We can’t assess the items in practice, but, at least…. we should be able to tell their approximate worth.”
“Fumu, I guess you’re right. Then shall we do it? Yuuki, I might be troubling you, but, can you return back to the fort inside the black forest together with Lela? We need you to select and bring us worthy-looking items among the used goods inside the warehouse.”
“That’s fine, but, wouldn’t it be much faster for me to fly there alone?”
“If it’s just you, there’s a risk you might bring us nothing but useless junk.”

Yuuki bent backward with all her might.

“Hari-nee, you’re cruelll”

(She’s right about Yuuki.)
(She’s right, she’s right.)

Because Kay and Nonoel nodded in agreement, Yuuki suspended her eyes and stared at both of them.

The two of them quickly averted their eyes.

“If there are items you can’t carry with, leave them to Ixine. It should be fine for her to transport them using a horse. That being said, you will depart at dawn, tomorrow.”

“Yes, Ane-sa, ma.”

Lela nodded down straightforwardly; nevertheless, Yuuki had a discontent expression.

“Even though I could do it alone.”

Yuuki kept complaining like that.

“After that, we shall call back Ixine and sent her as a substitute.”
“With this, the next thing we have to do is to dress our female dancers and sneak into the royal capital, I guess.”

Soon after Naga said so, Kay raised her hand first.

“Me, me! I’ll do it, I’ll do it!”
“Kay?”
“Areee? What’s the meaning behind those doubtful eyes of yours, Naga-san?”
“No, wouldn’t it be meaningless for you to dance? To begin with, will any spectator come and watch you? Is what I mean.”
“I’ve been told something rude just now!”
“Isn’t it? With Kay, it won’t be possible for us gather spectators. It can’t be helped. In that case, should I be the one to undress?”
“I don’t understand at all what you’re talking about, Vita-san.”
“Haaah? What do you mean to say, Kay?
“N…….No, nothing in particular….”
“Probably, only those with special preferences will gather around Kay, Vita, and Nonoel. As one would expect, it won’t do as long it’s not someone, like Ais, Cu, or myself, right?”

Saying that, Harrigan leaned her upper body forward.

“Uwaa, if it’s against those three, then it’ll be no conteeeest.”

Kay’s eyes became teary as if from vexation.

“Speaking of which, I too was smoothly put into the same group as you, Kay?”

Nonoel bent slightly backward.

“Eh? I didn’t plan to be in the same group with you, Nonoel.”
“……..*Uuuu*…….”

Nonoel dropped her shoulders down dejectedly.

It seemed as though their discussion entered a topic which shouldn’t be touched. ‘Let’s leave that aside.’ – Not feeling like he could avert his eyes again, Naga hurriedly steered the topic back onto the right track.

“Then, we’ll be recruiting volunteers. Those, who want to join as female dancers, put up your hands.”
“”””Me, Me, Me!””””

“Everyone except Yuuki is volunteering?!”
“I guess that was to be expected.”
“Right?”

The witches looked at each other faces and nodded.

“I really want try to visit a human city.”

Kay put her hand up once more.

“True. I too haven’t walked around human cities for a long time.”
“Honestly, mother has already been there before, so give us a chance this time.”

Once Lily said so, Vita snorted with laughter.

“It seems that Lily will be withdrawing, Naga.”
“That’s crueell. I want to go there as well~”

“…..So does everyone, want the same?”

Everyone nodded down deeply at once.

*Sigh* – Naga breathed a sigh and looked up.

“If that’s the case, we can only decide with casting lots, so as to avoid any unfairness.”
“Oh righttt!”

Kay raised her hand overhead.

“I’m quite confident when it comes to drawing lots!”
“Fuun. Just like Kay, I’m not going to lose.”

Harrigan stood up while feeling relaxed. Vita too rose up with an indomitable spirit.

“I’ll show you, the strength of my draws blessed by the goddess of luck.”

(Was that so?)

Once Lily turned her look next to her, there was Dora shaking her head from side to side.

(It’s just a saying, a saying.)

“I’m going to say this, but, even if both Harrigan and Vita draw winning lots, I’ll still have one of you stay here.”

“What?!”
“What the?!”

(Honestly, those girls….)

“Provided I’m absent, one of you will need to stay behind and take care of this fort, so…”
“…..And what if you’re the one staying, Naga?”

As soon as Harrigan said so with a wry face, Vita clapped her hands together.

“Ohh! that’s an idea!”
“As if!? What is this troupe going to do without me?!”
“N….No, I was just making an assumption.”
“D…Don’t mind that.”
“I do?! By the way, doesn’t it feel like you want to go there just to have fun? This infiltration is of great importance to our surveillance, you know?”
“T, That’s why, we’re telling you we got that. Right, Harrigan?”
“C, Clearly and loudly.”

Naga stared at them with reproachful eyes.

“H, Hey, Naga, aren’t we going to do the draw quickly?”
“Well, I guess that’s fine. Then, Raibach can you prepare lots? Also, it’s already been decided that you will come with us.”
“Me?”
“You’re the only one who’s familiar with human society. We won’t be able to sell our goods if you aren’t with us.”
“You’ve got a point.”
“Well, but still, you’ll act as our troupe’s guard. Just to make sure, I think it’s better to change your outfit when we enter the city.”
“……That’s right. Yes, understood. Even if I don’t talk directly to anyone, there’s a chance my identity might be revealed.”
“And then, by virtue of one’s office, Linne and Linna will join us as well.”

There was a reason for that. Thanks to their magic, both Linne and Linna could increase their sensitivity to the surroundings. In other words, if they increase their hearing ability, they could gather information even from passerby’s gossip.

“Yess.”
“Right, isn’t it?”

The twin sisters clapped their hands together and jumped up in joy.

“Mu…”

The remaining witches looked at them with envious and scornful eyes.”

“Well, then, I’ll be making the lots. Do you have any unnecessary cloth?”

Raibach, who received an old rag, tore it into reasonable pieces and added markings on a few of them.

“Then, I guess… it should be fine for us to go with ten people as female dancers and players?
“Yes, that’s a good number. There will be a total of ten female dancers and players, excluding Linne and Linna, who will act separately as information gatherers…. No, wait. In that case, we would have to prepare at least two carts. I’ll have Raibach operate one of them, and Ixine, the other.”

Just as Naga said, currently, Ixine was the only one who excelled in horse riding among all the witches.

“With that, Ixine will tag along with us too. Guess the remaining 9 will be decided by lots.”
“Damn. I should’ve practiced more horse riding!”

Kay held her head in her hands, but it was too late now.

“By the way, nobody here can use magic to peek through cloth, right?”

Raibach directed that question at Harrigan, but she denied it by waving her hands from side to side.

“There isn’t, so don’t fret.”
“In that case, please choose your lot.”

Raibach lined up the torn cloth pieces on the floor. As he did so, the witches reached out their hands and snatched their lots.

“I did it!”
“Gyaaa, it’s a miss!”
“Yesss!”
“Ugyaaa!”

Screams and voices of joy mixed with each other inside the room.

In the end, those who got lucky were:

Kay
Vita
Ais
Lela
Cu
Harlequin
Nonoel
Lily
Dora

Together with Ixine, the total number of dancers would be ten.
In addition to that, Linne and Linna would act as a separate group.

With Naga being the leader and Raibach, his bodyguard, the lineup had been decided.

4

“Excellent. Now that the group has been generally outlined, we’ll go over the plan one last time.”

As Naga declared, the witches returned back to their seats. Some of them were cheerful, others, reluctant, and yet another, dropped their shoulders, clearly disappointed.

“We’ll follow Raibach’s advice and set off to the port city of Lancel at once. After we finish dressing up there as a group of itinerant entertainers, our next destination will be the Kasandora Kingdom. The reason for us passing through Lancel will be due to the city acting as a transit point for traders and itinerant entertainers who arrive from far away. That being said, even a foreigner like me won’t stand out, as it should make sense to tell them we come from far east.”

Naga cut his words at that point and faced Raibach.

“This should do, right?”
“Yes, it should be fine.”
“Thinking of our origin and route, I’ll leave that job to Lela. Are you okay with that, Lela?”
“Under, stood.”

Lela replied by lightly raising up her right hand.

“They might think we’re suspicious going through the trouble of coming to the Kasandora Kingdom, despite them being in conflict with the witches right now, but, we’ll carry through by saying we come from far away and that we’re unaware of their current situation. And then,”

Naga pointed to a certain location on the map.

“We’ll return to the Schweiz River from Lancel and go north along the river toward Kasandora Kingdom’s territory. Should we also tell them we tried to do a performance at Fort Ein, but were eventually driven away by the witches?
If Kasandora’s soldiers learn of such information, we might be questioned about the situation at the fort. Reversely, we’ll be able to ask for more details on their current state of affairs. In case we are asked, I’ll be the one to answer their questions, but, I’d like to have everyone here bear in your mind our origin and route, which Lela’s going to devise. Got it?”

“Yees, we’ll do our besttt.”

Each of the witches put up their hands and nodded energetically.

“The next thing would be to re-confirm our program and the list of participants. So, those in charge of dancing and playing are Vita, Ais, Kay, Lela, Cu, Harlequin, Nonoel, Lily, and Dora. Ixine, who isn’t present here with us right now, will join as well. Linne and Linna will be gathering information as a separate group, whereas, I will be the leader of this troupe, and Raibach, our guard who will be also in charge of odd jobs. Basically, the program will be about you, girls, dancing, but, decide between each other who’s going to perform during what song.”

“””Understoodddd!”””
“Well, in the end, the program is just a formality. You should be able to attract and satisfy viewers even with your exposed limbs and your prideful, risqué garments.”

As Naga said so, Ais objected with a seemingly vexed expression.

“Umm, Naga-san, we aren’t particularly proud of our risqué clothes, you know? It’s fine to say we’re wearing those ultrathin clothes, simply because they’re convenient when using our magic. It’s not like we’re showing off to you, or want you watching us at all, you see?”

As soon as Ais cracked a smile, Naga hurriedly waved his hands in from of himself vehemently.

“Ah, I got it. Of course, I got it.”

“I really wonder about that.”

Kay looked at Naga with doubting eyes.

“Let’s put that matter aside. Still, there’s no doubt that any human male will be pleased from watching your appearances, so spectators are bound to gather. Once they gather, we’ll most likely be able to overhear various rumors. First, let’s do some rehearsal when we arrive at Lancel. If possible, I’d like to practice a method that will allow us to pick up on only valuable information. Linne, Linna, I’ll leave that in your care.”

‘We’ll do our best’ – both sisters put up their hands and replied with approbative voices.

Both Linne and Linna were most suitable for the job, since they could catch any whisper within nearly 300 meters, thanks to their magic enhancing their hearing ability.

“We also need to sell and convert jewelry and used goods into money upon entering Lancel, but, I’ll entrust Raibach with that task. That’s because there’s no one besides him who can do the negotiations.”
“Understood. I’ll negotiate the price of items and sell them as profitably as possible.”
“Still, we can’t tell for sure if the items in the warehouse can be sold for much.”

Harrigan said so while shrugging her shoulders.

“In the worst case, we’ll be only able to prepare ourselves with how much we gain from the sales.”

Replying so, Naga looked around at the witches once more.

“Up to this point, does anyone still have any questions?”

However, there was nobody throwing out a question in particular.

“Ah, I would’ve forgotten, but, during our trip to Lancel, you’ll be all wearing different clothes from your usual ones. Otherwise, it won’t do, you see.”

“Human clothes are heavy, thick, and hot inside, so, seriously, I don’t like them much.”

Harlequin twitched her hair, which looked like an animal’s ears, and complained.

“It can’t be helped. Since there’s a risk you’d be suspected as witches from the beginning, I can only have you all, girls, bear with that. Don’t you think so, Raibach?”

Looking at the witches with a sidelong glance, Raibach slightly nodded.

“Yes. What’s more, there are no girls who would usually dress like that.”
“You don’t have to wear restrictive, extra clothes, as long you cover your top. Even something similar to Elysione’s mantle will suffice. After that, perhaps I should have us dye our hair, or cover our face with pigments, so as to get mixed in among the other people.”
“Isn’t it bothersome as well?”
“More importantly, Harlequin, will you be okay with those eyes of yours? It looks like each of them is a different color, still…”
“Ah~, the colors will fade if I cancel my magic, so I should be able to manage them somehow.”

Despite being told so, Naga was still hesitating. As he bent his head, Harrigan threw him a lifeboat.

“Harlequin’s magic is peculiar, you see. She will use her magic most of the time, so as to communicate with animals. Just like me, she doesn’t need to recite any incantation. As long as we have her understand when to use her magic under normal circumstances, it should probably be easy. By the way, whenever she activates her magic, her left and right eye will become different from each other.”
“I see. Then, does it mean she can’t communicate with animals when her magic is off?”
“That’s what I mean.”

Naga pondered for a while, however, he immediately lifted his face.

“…..You won’t be able to talk with animals when dancing in front of people, so are you fine with that?”
“It will be alright, I guess.”
“Aren’t you being quite light-hearted there?”

Naga gazed at the buoyantly-looking Harlequin, but then, he quickly softened his gaze and directed his sight toward Harrigan and Vita.

“Isn’t this the type of season where the rain usually continues for many days?”
“If it’s this season, I think there’s no need to worry about rain that much, but…”

Once Harrigan replied that way, Vita, who bent her small head, threw out a question in doubt.

“Does it have something to do with our trip?”
“It does. If the path becomes slushy, our carts will be held up, making our goal far from being reached. Besides, if the rain continues to fall even after we enter the city, it will affect your performance.”

“Is that so? Then, it’s just like Harrigan says, I don’t think there will be any rainy days this season. Even if there are, it will be a drizzle at most. In addition to that, if there’s no strong wind, we should be at least able to dance. Rather, wouldn’t viewers be even happier to see our clothes become transparent from getting soaked?”

“Ohhh, for real? I see. Indeed, it may be something to look forward to!”

As soon as Naga clapped his hands together without realizing, Vita suddenly retorted at him.

“Don’t be happy!”

Shortly after, the other witches:

“””Don’t be happy!”””

“N, Not like I’m happy or anything.”

Naga made such an excuse. Staring at Naga with a dumbfounded face again, Raibach once more felt admiration toward him.

(Taking on these frightening witches as his opponents and still being able to act that naturally, that’s truly amazing. As one would expect, is it because of Naga-sama being a foreigner? Or perhaps, is it because of him being the real messenger of the Dragon King? What’s more, he’s able to consider lots of situations when devising a counterplan in advance. Should one say he’s shrewd, or maybe vigilant? Whichever it is, he isn’t any ordinary person.)

Raibach contemplated again, so as to make sure he hadn’t made a mistake when he chose to serve Naga.

“Well then, let’s quickly move forward with the preparations starting from this night. Our time of departure will also depend on how the Kasandora Kingdom will act, but, should we set off after 3 days if nothing changes?”

Following Naga’s words, their early arrangements commenced.

Since then, 2 days have passed and the witches continued to prepare in a hurry for the departure while being completely devoted to their dance practice.

5

Later, according to Yuuki, no signs of Kasandora troops, attempting to capture Fort Ein again, were found. There were several dozen soldiers walking nearby the fort, but, because they wouldn’t approach any closer than a fixed distance, they were simply thought to be reconnaissance groups.

Deeming there was no need to worry about their enemy striking back for now, Naga decided to form and dress up his troupe, after which, they would commence their plan of sneaking into the Kingdom of Kasandora.

First, they had to set off to Lancel, dress up there as itinerant entertainers, and do a rehearsal in front of the local people there. Afterwards, they would return to the Schweiz River and go north along it towards Kasandora Kingdom’s territory.

In order not to stand out, Naga and his party slipped out from Fort Ein, broke through the mountain, and departed toward the left bank of the Schweiz River. From there, they followed the river and headed toward Lancel.

6

Meanwhile, in the fortified city of Granvista.

In a certain room located inside a cathedral, Cardinal Aiba was receiving a report from one of the Old Church’s subordinates that worked as their intelligence operative.

Those who engaged themselves in intelligence activity for the Old Church were known as s ‘people overhearing the mass’s voices’ and mostly referred to as POMVs.

Aiba, who was hearing out one of those POMVs, frowned his eyebrows with a seemingly discontent expression.

“Kasandora Kingdom has suffered another defeat?”
“Yes. Their troops, which had been dispatched to retrieve Fort Ein, were splendidly repelled by the witches back to Kasandora’s royal capital.”

Aiba responded as if wanting to spit out.

“Good grief, they are all bark and no bite. To think they would lose one battle after another to a mere 30 to 40 witches.”

(As one would expect, I made a grave mistake by placing my trust in that country. I was totally right to summon the Brigade of 88 and request troops from neighboring countries.)

Aiba, who was both an archbishop and cardinal of the Old Church, was extremely keen on exterminating the witches.

One could understand well how vehement Aiba was about that, as he himself aspired to be appointed in this place. For him, the witches who nested inside the Black Forest were beings that should be driven away as fast as possible.
The witches are the enemies of humankind, the children of God. Therefore, no presence of the witches could be acknowledged in this area. No, generally, their very existence denied them any place in this world. Such was Aiba’s belief. Because of that, it was rational for him to think that those who had lost to the witches should not be in the position of receiving God’s grace.

(I can no longer expect anything from that country, however, they should make up for their losses by decreasing the strength of the witches, even if it’s just a bit. Otherwise….)

“Is there anything else you wish to know, Sir?”

The man who was reporting kneeled down with his head lowered. Aiba casted his eyes at the top of the man’s head and asked.

“What happened, to Kasandora’s troops? Could it be they were destroyed during their battle against the witches?”
“No, it appears that their troops sustained no major losses.”
“If that’s the case, I’ll have them form new troops, and, join me, once more, in a sortie against the witches.”
“About that….”
“Hm? Did something happen?”
“From what we could see, it looked like Kasandora Kingdom’s army, was making preparations for holing up their capital.”

A sign of doubt surfaced on Aiba’s face.

“Holing up their capital? Could it be that the witches are making an onslaught on them?”
“No, the witches won’t leave Fort Ein.”
“And despite that, they’re are trying to lock themselves in?”
“This is how things looked to us.”

(What’s the meaning of this, you bunch from Kasandora Kingdom?)

Suppressing his urge to smacking his lips, Aiba bombarded the POMV with questions.

“Are they preparing their capital against the witches? Even though they sustained no casualties? Have they become that weak?”
“Certainly, the army of Kasandora has diminished in strength, but, their attitude this time appears to be a bit different from what we can see as holing up against the witches. Also, the southern part of the capital doesn’t seem to be that reinforced.”
(……What’s the meaning of this.)

Aiba, whose face wanted to express doubt, pondered the meaning behind the subordinate’s report for a while.

(Then, against whom are they holing up against? If their enemy isn’t the witches…….Could it be?!)

Aiba was struck dumb upon realizing a certain possibility.

“Could it be, they’re holing up against the Witch Extermination Army?”

The POMV would neither deny or confirm Aiba’s words, which could be perceived as either a monologue or a question directed towards the man.
Asking beyond the man’s capability would be the same as piling up one guess after another.

“I can’t say for sure, but, it’s almost certain that Kasandora Kingdom is preparing to hold the city. We can’t tell who their perceived enemy is, however, just as we stated before, there are missing points in assuming that the witches could be their enemy.”

Stopping at where he stated the fact, the man left speculating and drawing conclusions to Aiba.

Aiba’s face changed from that of a gentle and benevolent God’s face into a fuming one expressed by warriors of God who seek the annihilation of their enemies. Judging from the POMV’s report, Aiba could think of nothing but the fact that Kasandora is attempting to hole up.

“If their enemy isn’t the witches, then, I can only imagine it’s the extermination army. Just what on earth is that king thinking about…. no.”

(That’s right. There’s been a report about Kasandora Kingdom’s king falling ill and his nephew, Guiscard, being transferred his authority. In other words, is he the one responsible for this? Still, be it the king or Guiscard, their actions are still nonsensical. Why are they holding the city, instead of fighting the witches?)

General Guiscard, who was the lawful owner of the king’s rights, has been aspiring to be installed as king. For him, the kingdom was of utmost— sometimes, even stronger than God’s will—-importance. However, for Aiba, who was an ardent believer of God, Guiscard’s practical thoughts and sense of values were outside his scope of reasoning.

Aiba regained his calm expression and called out to the POMV with a calm voice.

“Please continue your observation on Kasandora’s movements. For the sake of our Lord’s will.”
“For the sake of our Lord’s will.”

Bowing down deeply, the man stood up slowly and calmly only to bow down again, after which he would retreat.

Aiba saw off the POMV till he disappeared from the room’s entrance. Shortly after, he called out to a priest, who had been on a standby in the next room.

“What do you seek from me, Aiba-sama?”
“I’ve figured out what I want to discuss urgently. Please bring Jeweljude-dono, the leader of the Brigade of 88, to me immediately.”

Once the young priest paid his respects to Aiba, he quickly withdrew from the room.

7

“Was it you who called me, Aiba-dono?

The giant, who behaved as if looking up to Aiba, entered his office in a clumsy manner.
Jeweljude wasn’t wearing his helmet, but, his metal armor, gauntlets, and tough leather boots, which strengthened his body, gave him a posture to be ready for a fight at any time.

“Thank you for coming. How have the preparations for the sortie been progressing?”

The first thing Aiba did, after Jeweljude entered, was asking him such a question with a harmless and inoffensive attitude.

“I guess, not quite.”

At his response, Aiba made a grimace.

“No matter what we do, it takes time to prepare, since we are putting together troops from each country. And when it comes to applying a shared strategy, every troop is bound to undergo an appropriate amount of training. Not to mention, we still need to decide on how to dispatch messengers, how to signal our movements, and what formation we should take. We also need to learn more about the witches’ method of attack. At least, if we don’t possess a common knowledge of these, our troops will fall into disorder sooner or later during the battle.”

Cutting his words, it was rare for Jeweljude to breathe a sigh.

“Truly, this is a bothersome matter. It could’ve been many times faster and convenient to mobilize just us, the Brigade of 88, but well…”

Aiba nodded down with a composed, or rather, cool-headed expression.

“I understand. However, this will become a lesson for us for the next time. The witches are beings that oppose the will of God, and hence, they have to be eradicated without exception. We need to show that, the truth about the witches, and also how they’re being completely annihilated to society, and the world. For that, we need other neighboring countries to join us.”

“Well, I do understand your point, but, whatever. Then, the only reason you called me was to check on the preparations?”

“No, I receive a report on that each day, so I wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of calling you here because of that.”

(If that’s the case, why did you call me during this goddamn busy time?)

Is what Jeweljude thought. However, he knew Aiba wouldn’t call him for no reason.

Being worked to death by the preparations, there had to be an important reason behind Jeweljude being summoned. Thinking back upon it, he awaited Aiba’s next words.

“Kasandora Kingdom has been showing a bit of a strange attitude, you see.”
“A strange attitude?”

The cardinal briefly and quickly explained the situation to Jeweljude, who twisted his neck in confusion at Aiba’s words.

Jeweljude, who had finished listening, twisted his neck again.

“So Kasandora Kingdom is holing up itself? Not to mention, it’s not against the witches? I can’t grasp their reasoning.”
“I too am unable to understand their motive.”

Replying that way, Aiba lightly shrugged his shoulders.

“Still,”

The cardinal directed his sight towards a map unfolded on top of his office desk and reached out his hand.

“Right now, there are only two military forces present in the area of the Kasandora Kingdom. One of them is the witches, which goes without saying, but,”

Aiba tapped the vicinity near Fort Ein with the tip of his index finger over and over again.

“Could it be?!”

Jeweljude open widely his eyes, after which he looked at Aiba’s expression.

“Yes, that’s right. The only other force besides the witches here is the extermination army.”
“I see. No…. P, Please wait a moment.”

Using his rough and thick right hand’s finger, Jeweljude rubbed his forehead.

“Do you mean to say that Kasandora Kingdom’s army is holing up against us? Why would they have to do that?”

Aiba deliberately shook his head from side to side.

“I’ve no idea. Not the slightest idea as to why they would do so.”
“…..Is there any argument supporting your guess that they aren’t guarding themselves against the witches?”
“The southern part of the kingdom, in other words, the direction from which Fort Ein is located, seems to be much less fortified than its northern part.”
“Which is directed toward north….. That report, how credible is it?”
“We used the service of a POMV that belongs to the Old Church, you see.”

(A POMV from the Old Church, is it? In that case, there’s no place for any mistake or nonsense.)

Jeweljude, who was the leader of a combat group, called a ‘brigade’, had too often resorted to the use of POMVs. He knew very well he could rely on their information.

(Does it really mean, those guys from Kasandora Kingdom are planning to defend against us? Why are they doing this?)

Guiscard’s system of values and pragmatic reasoning, which were the motives behind his actions, were things mostly prioritized in this age. However, for Jeweljude, just like for Aiba, that modus operandi lay outside their scope of thinking.

“….Fumu.”

Jeweljude said as if groaning lightly.

“Whatever the reason is, if it’s true they’re guarding against us…. their actions might hinder our attempt of destroying the witches. There’s a chance that the troops sent by our allies will feel uneasy due to them being possibly backstabbed by Kasandora from behind. What’s more, there’s also the problem of army provisions. If Kasandora refuses to share their provisions with us, we’ll be forced to carry our own provisions from here. It would be a different story if it was just us, but, carrying food for an army of 3500 would require a mass of workforce. What should we do?”

Aiba looked at Jeweljude with sharp eyes.

“First, we’ll sent a messenger to Kasandora, so as to question their real motive. However….”

Jeweljude, whose eyes were filled with sarcasm, asked back.

“Will they provide us with a straight forward answer?”

(Rather, there’s no way for them to give us an honest answer.)

Jeweljude, the God’s warrior from the Old Church, had no need for things like diplomacy or bargaining, as authorities from this world had often abused their power to make use of him. Jeweljude would be deceived and manipulated by royalty and titled nobility numerous times, and even made to cover up for their own actions. Therefore, he learned through his experiences how insincere authorities were.

Nevertheless, it seemed like his sarcasm didn’t pass through Aiba. The cardinal made a difficult expression and replied in a heavy tone.

“We can’t be certain about anything, you see. Still, depending on what their answer is, we’ll probably have to use tough measures.”

Jeweljude again opened his eyes widely and shifted his sight towards the cardinal.

“Aiba-dono, you don’t mean to say?!”
“Those who express no willingness in attacking the witches, or far from that, attempt to hinder us, are also considered as allies of the witches. That’s to say, an enemy of God.”

Aiba whose eyes were filled with ominous light stared back at Jeweljude.

“Enemies of God can only be annihilated, regardless of whether they are the witches or humans. Don’t you think so, Jeweljude-dono?”
“Yes, that’s….”

Despite Jeweljude making a vague nod, he couldn’t really hide his bewilderment.

Certainly, he has been fighting nothing but God’s enemies till now. Among his opponents there were witches as well, however, the majority of them were humans. That’s why, if Kasandora Kingdom chooses to go against the will of God, Jeweljude will not hesitate to remove them.

(Nonetheless, why now?)

This was something he couldn’t comprehend.

Kasandora Kingdom’s large-scale attack against the witches was repelled. Not to mention, they had one of their forts stolen away by the witches. And then, again they suffered another defeat when trying to retrieve said fort.

The witches were displaying an unexpected strength.
In addition to that, they also released many captives.
The witches were light hearted, tolerant, and generous in doing so, and they wouldn’t execute their prisoners as a form of warning.

The war against the witches was showing its new face and was different from what it had been till now.
Jeweljude, who could feel that change on his skin, became even more perplexed.

(So, does it mean that Kasandora Kingdom has started to hole themselves up against someone other than the witches? Why have they decided on such an insane move now, when me and the Brigade of 88 will arrive? Is this a mere coincidence? Or perhaps, it’s due to the intervention of someone transcending humankind?)

When talking about someone transcending humankind, one would think about that person as a being close to god; nevertheless, Jeweljude promptly denied such a possibility.

(It’s true that even the Lord himself will put us to the test at times, but, I don’t believe he would do things like this on a whim. If so, is this someone’s ill intention? Or perhaps, a manifestation of that person’s artifice? In that case, who’s that person? Could it be that someone provoked Kasandora and its general into doing this?)

However, Jeweljude himself denied even those doubtful feelings inside his heart.

(There isn’t supposed to be someone like that. If there was, Aiba would immediately notice. To think that even someone, like Aiba, could be bewildered by such turn of events. Even if we assume that the witches are the ones who incited Kasandora Kingdom, there should be no way for the latter to succumb. I also don’t get why the witches have become more assertive in their actions. Could it be that there’s some link between these 2 events?)

As Jeweljude was pondering, Aiba interrupted him with his words.

“Can I count on you, Jeweljude-dono?”

Jeweljude slowly lifted up his face and asked with a vigorous voice.

“Is it, okay for me to understand that…. as forcefully removing Kasandora Kingdom in case they try to hinder the advancement of our troops?”

“I do wish for you to understand my words that way. If they try to show any resistance, I won’t mind even if you take down their capital. Perhaps, those who joined us in destroying the witches would become more motivated upon hearing they would be handed out a part of Kasandora Kingdom’s territory.”

“That may be true… but,”

(As one would expect, Aiba is willing to go to such an extent?)

Such a misgiving welled up inside of Jeweljude. However, he quickly became serious by telling himself he had to hasten with the preparations.

“Whatever Kasandora Kingdom decides to do, I need to hurry up with the preparations for the sortie. Nevertheless, I would like to ask you for slightly more accurate information, not just regarding the Kingdom of Kasandora, but also regarding the witches’ attitude.

At Jeweljude’s request, Aiba nodded down gravely.

“I shall throw in all the members of intelligence whom I have at my disposal and have them investigate those things.”

“Provided that an attack on Kasandora Kingdom will be considered in our plan, we’ll need to prepare siege weapons in addition. Again, it’s going to take us more unnecessary time to—”

Jeweljude stated his opinion with a bitter face, but, Aiba didn’t seem to be that concerned.

“You don’t have to worry about time. That’s because there will be no reinforcement coming to either the witches or Kasandora Kingdom, even if some time passes, you see. The biggest problem would be to carry provisions and maintain the army, but, for the time being, I’ll have the provisions stored here in Granvista.”

(This guy is making the right decision. However, there’s a concern that some of the allies will decide to drop out from the extermination army.)

Jeweljude thought so, but nevertheless, even if he was to say it, Aiba would probably take no notice of his opinion.

(More importantly, why are the Kasandora Kingdom and the witches interfering now? Could this be the result of many coincidence? Or perhaps, inevitableness…..?)

A small doubt, which was seemingly something to be ignored, felt like an uneasiness at the same time. Despite it being just a small doubt, what annoyed Jeweljude was the excessive sense of discomfort resulting from it. The uneasiness he felt was as though someone invisible was trying to bring a new commotion. However, Jeweljude scattered that feeling against his own will.

(Even if I think about that, nothing will begin. The witches, an enemy of God, need to be exterminated. It is the duty of us, the warriors of God, to carry out this task. Be it an artifice or someone’s will, we shall only pulverize them!)

Jeweljude’s expression returned back to that of a warrior of God, and his raised rough voice could be felt reverberating inside one’s stomach.

“Well then, I shall hasten myself with the preparations.”
“Please continue your favor toward us.”

Jeweljude left Aiba’s office while making footsteps as though they were shaking the room.

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
| Return to [[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Chapter 4

2016-10-29T11:19:12Z

Darkdhaos:

==Chapter 4- Enemy and Ally, Both of their Circumstances==

1

The royal capital of Kasandora Kingdom was a relatively large, fortified city located in the westernmost peninsula.

The city was 16 meters high and surrounded by a thick wall, with roughly 2000 people living inside.

However, the ‘2000’ people only included those citizens who were registered in the tax payment account book.

Naturally, noble families, servants, and slaves, who were exempted from paying taxes didn’t count, as well as travelers that had wandered in from other places to the city. It also excluded merchants who were temporarily staying.

Since nobody would bother to check that, no one really knew the total number of people. Still, shouldn’t it be fine to estimate the current population at around 4000?

The majority of these citizens were farmers, therefore, lots of them would set off early in the morning to their fields near the city’s outskirts, and return to the city before the sunset. There were also instances in which the farmers would stay overnight at their fields once it was harvest season.

They did so as to prevent the theft of their crops and to drive away any animals that would try to devour their crops, as it was natural for there to be no public safety outside the city, in this period. That’s why the farmers would arm themselves and form groups to defend against robbers and animals.

The settlements of those farmers were reinforced with wooden fences, which resembled forts a bit. In case of slightly bigger settlements, there were even dry moats surrounding them.

Not to mention, these settlements would actually act as forts and house soldiers during times of emergency.

And then, it seemed like a ‘time of emergency’ had arrived for Kasandora. Their soldiers moved into a few of those large settlements while carrying army provisions and weapons. Some of these settlements were placed along the main road, so it was bound for Naga to witness them.

Naga drew near on his horse toward a soldier, who mounted his own one, and called out to him with a low voice.

“Uhm, Soldier-san.”

The soldier turned around.

“I see great number of soldiers near fort. Could be, you preparing for battle?”

“That’s, not really a fort, but well…”

“Yes?”

“Does it look like a fort to you from far away?”

Saying so, the soldier explained the aforementioned circumstances to Naga.

(Hmm, I see. So they use farmers’ settlements as forts? Certainly, you can save time and costs on building them, but you really can’t expect them to be strong in defense, right?)

Is what Naga thought.

(Still, I don’t quite understand the way how things in this world should be, like why a city and a castle are working as one. From where I come from, a castle should be a castle, whereas, a city should be a city. At least, a castle being a castle should be….. defense-wise, much stronger, but…)

According to what Naga had heard from the witches, it didn’t seem to be rare for everyone to be massacred during a war between different ethnic groups, as everyone, including citizens, merchants, and laborers dwelled inside the same city. Even if there wasn’t any war, bandits and violent animals would roam near the outskirts, so, people preferred to set up residence inside a city.

Nevertheless, such a principle of this world was still incomprehensible to Naga.

(What I can’t comprehend the most is that there are beings called witches. Now, we can understand each other owing to the fact we’ve been living together, but….)

Or it could be that the witches had accepted him due to his eccentric nature.

Realizing that he was a bit eccentric himself, Naga made a weak, curious smile at that and at the sarcasm of his placed position right now.

“Soldier-san.”

He ceased to smiled and called out to the soldier.

“The citizens, does mean that citizens pick up weapons during siege?”

“Depends on how the battle progresses, however, that would also be the case. The citizens too, were trained to wield weapons, so to prepare themselves for a battle when necessary, you see.”

“Are you, enrolling people, for army?”

“We are.”

The soldier who replied so made a slightly bitter face.

“But, judging from how things looks like, it doesn’t seem like we’ll gather enough volunteers at a moment’s notice…. No, it’s nothing. Please forget what I’ve just said.”

“Still, I no luck.”

Naga said this as he looked up at the sky.

“If we no hold entertainment, we not be able to cover cost our travel to here, and therefore, return trip. Our troupe, fall into huge deficit.”

As he declared this and breathed out a sigh, the soldier showed a compassionate face.

“I guess, even leaders of troupes have it difficult.”

After that, the soldier lowered down his voice and asked.

“However, having such young and lovely girls by your side, there are probably lots of side benefits coming from that, right? With that many girls, wouldn’t you make a fortune, were you to assign them to a night job?”

“Ah no, we no do that. After all, we performers. People like us not lose dignity that way.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

Naga had the feeling the soldier would visit them right away as a guest, were he to do so. The soldier replied in a fed up manner.

(Well, certainly I’ll agree that those girls, all of them are beauties. Speaking of which, could it be that someone like me is incredibly lucky to be mixed up with all these girls? Ah no, how should it be? On the other hand, I can tell my life has been put at risk numerous times.)

‘Well, whatever.’ – Naga decided not to brood over that matter any longer. As he did so, the sight of the city, seen from the top of a small hill, had finally come into his view.

(I see. Certainly, it has an impact similar to that of a giant citadel when seen from close like this, unlike that port city.)

Feeling admiration, Naga made a quick reckoning inside his head.

(Umm, so was it around 2000 soldiers in the garrison? And 2000 citizens? Assuming they recruit 500 additional soldiers from those citizens, the total number within their garrison would amount to 2500. If that’s the case, in order to capture the city, the enemy would need more than 10 thousand units. I see, it’s not like I don’t get why Kasandora wants to hole up, but…)

However, Naga soon understood the drawback coming from such a heavy defense.

(The number of people holing up is way too big. If it’s like this, they will need to consume a large amount of army provisions. And that’s not including unregistered citizens. 5000, perhaps 6000, if that many people are going to hole up in the capitol, just how much army provisions would they require? Do they have enough to supply themselves for a long time? And then, the biggest problem would be about whether reinforcements would be coming or not……)

Holing up, was, in the end, a defensive strategy adopted by those who couldn’t afford winning in the open field.

Naga didn’t know if the Kasandora Kingdom had any allies that could send them reinforcements, but judging from what he had heard till now, it didn’t look like there whereas any.

(Fumu, I wonder… if we could use this as an opportunity for something.)

As Naga was working his head off, their troupe kept closing the distance and finally reached the giant entrance of the city.

Once they crossed a bridge that spanned a dry moat, Naga dismounted his horse in front of the entrance.

Looking up from below, he could feel the actual size of the wall on his skin.

(Indeed, it’s big. What’s more, is it made from bricks? Or perhaps, it’s a mud wall made from tightly packed earth and covered with bricks? Whichever it is, it seems to be firm. To begin with, was there a castle with such firmly built walls like this in my world?)

Naga, whose memories were lost, couldn’t say for sure, but, he felt he hadn’t witnessed such a protective wall before in his life.

“Please wait here for a moment. I’ll go and contact my superior.”

The commanding officer went to the gate, in order to exchange some words with the guard on duty. As Naga saw him off, he looked up at the wall again.

(I wonder how should I capture such a heavily guarded city?)

As Naga pondered about that, the witches too, although they were female dancers in appearance, disembarked from the cart and gathered around him. They looked up at the massive wall just like Naga.

Apparently, there was a passage on top of the wall, in which people could walk on.

(Is the top of the wall this high, so as to prevent arrows from reaching it?)

Ais called out to Naga who was staring fixedly at the wall.

“It’s big, isn’t it? With this size and massiveness, it doesn’t look like I can break it with just 1 or 2 hits.”

(So you had such a plannn?!)

As he looked at Ais with an astonished face, she smiled back with a grin.

“Perhaps, 10 hits should be enough to do so.”

(This girl, she’s just like a human battering ram.)

Naga shivered with fear.

“I guess, it wouldn’t be easy for me to climb over these walls, even if someone was to throw me up.”

Vita stated this.

(So these girls too, have thought about ways on how to capture this city? How mindful of them.)

‘Kukuku.’ – Naga chuckled like this without himself realizing.

“What? Don’t you seem to be enjoying yourself?”

At Vita, who asked this question, Naga paid attention and lowered his voice.

“That’s just manner of speech, manner of speech.”

“I, Is that so?”

*Uhen* – Vita coughed and looked up again at Naga.

“You seem to be in a good mood, aren’t you, boss?”

“….This feel awfully, strange.”

As Naga muttered this, Vita kicked up at his calf.

“Aww! What you do if someone see us like this?!”

“Hmph, I made sure that nobody was looking at us.”

Vita’s tone returned back to its usual one.

“Hey, what are you laughing at?”

At Vita, who asked this question in a whispering manner, Naga replied while laughing.

“I, you, we both thought about capturing this city upon arriving. That, too funny.”

“What, you too? Well, I guess that’s the first thing you’d be thinking about in this kind of situation. Still, your manner of speech is way too unpleasant.”

Vita, who was observing the wall, shifted her gaze back at Naga while saying this. As she did so, Ais also nodded in agreement.

“Right? It too, creeps me out a bit.”

“You saying, cruel things, Ais. It’s because of charm, so can’t be help.”

“Couldn’t you do something about it, Lela?

“Eh? But…. I think this way of talking suits a stranger, like Naga-san, Vita, san.”

“No, it’s nothing but gross.”

“Vita, you, worst.”

“Then, have you come up with any good ideas?”

“Right plan comes with the right number, but, for us, we not enough. Just coming up with way, hard. “

Hmph – Vita snorted under her nose.

“That’s some convenient reasoning coming from you.”

“I come up with something if can think calmly. More important, us return to officer.”

At Naga’s words, Vita assumed her usual, haughty attitude once more.

(She would truly be a cute kid with that peculiar face, and that attitude from before, but, well….)

Naga thought so, however, by no means could he afford to let Vita know about that.

“Oi, Boss.”

Being called by the commanding officer, who had returned back, Naga drew near with a trot.

“Ligaya-sama said he would like to meet you.”

“Ligaya-sama, who that?”

“He’s the adjutant of our army’s supreme commander, Guiscard.”

(Again, quite a distinguished person has made their appearance, I guess.)

Naga displayed his astonishment in an exaggerated way, even though he was just a bit surprised.

“D, Do we really have to meet person of such eminence? I feeling nervous.”

The commander made a wry smile and replied:

“You don’t have to worry that much. It should be fine, as long as you can provide him with information about the fort of the witches. He may even reward you properly.”

“Thank you, very much.”

Bowing down respectfully, Naga thought this.

(I’m a surprisingly good actor, I guess. Speaking of which, things have become quite interesting.)

Raising up his head, Naga turned around and called out to the female dancers.

“Everyone, let’s go, inside.”

The girls returned back to the cart(?) in a bustling manner and gathered around their boss as he took the reins again.

“Excellent, now follow me.”

Being led by the commander, Naga’s troupe passed through the big gate and stepped into the fortified city.

3

What appeared in front of them was a path that turned in a ‘コ’ shape. Once they passed through it, there was a big main street running in the northern and southern direction. At some points of the ‘コ’ shaped path, there were spare places used in case of emergency to cut off the passage. From the inside of the walls, where the path was bending, there were watchtowers put up.

(I see. This place was arranged in this way so that the watchtowers could intercept the enemy, even if they were to break through that giant gate and rush in.)

Naga quickly saw through the mechanism of this place’s construction.

Certainly, those who would manage to storm in through the gate would be further hindered by this 2, no, 3-fold defense. It was also one of the methods to shoot down the enemy from above.

The enemy soldiers would crowd together inside this narrow passage while being unable to either hide or escape. A trap like this would produce heavy casualties.

On the other hand, the garrison that’s attacking from high above wouldn’t even have to expose themselves to the enemy. Because of that, the danger of incurring any losses is low. Not to mention, the garrison could also rely on throwing logs and pouring down boiling oil, causing huge damage to the enemy.

(Fumu. This might become a good reference.)

Naga would be troubled if he was asked where he get all those references from, despite him having lost his memory. However, he himself considered it vaguely as something intuitional when looking for a way to protect his own castle.

Exiting the place where the path was bending to the spacious main street, the troupe continued to head towards a castle.

Naga felt as if the number of people passing each other on the main road wasn’t adequate to the scope of this city. Could it be that the merchants left the city after sensing the danger of a potential war? Once the rumors about a war spreads, it’s natural for there to be less merchants visiting too. Obviously, with more merchants leaving than coming here, the number of people is bound to reduce inside the city.

(I guess there aren’t many travelers as well, so it’s likely the cost of services, such as renting a room in an inn, will rise. Speaking of which, we might be welcomed here, like outsiders are supposed to be, but, it doesn’t seem like we’ll have the spare time to stay in this city and do performances for long.)

Apparently, some permanent stores were running their business as usual, but despite there being people passing by, not many customers could be seen inside.

There were also defensive walls, placed on the 4-way crossroads that were located between each block. When necessary, the walls would be closed so as to prevent enemy troops from further advancement. As expected, there were also watchtowers built there.

Naga would be suspected, were he to stare at the places too much, so instead, he observed the defensive facilities, in a casual, however, proper manner.

Finally, they arrived at the entrance leading to the inside of the castle.

The commander exchanged some words with the guard, after which they proceeded further inside.

(Indeed, we are lucky to have this guy assist us. Not only are we able to see the city but also the interior of the castle.)

The pathway inside the castle wasn’t straight, which was similar to what Naga and the rest had seen till now. It was meandering and complex, just like a maze, making them stop and turn from time to time. Where they didn’t have to stop, there were defense zones that would hinder further movements when necessary.

As well as watchtowers raised here and there; the path was narrow and the wall was built on the edge, making it impossible for anyone to see what’s next, less they drew near.

No matter how smart Naga was, it was difficult for him to grasp how the inside of this castle roped off. Still, he counted his steps and the number of corners while walking.

The witches looked around with curious eyes, but, none of them would check how the interior stretched out, like Naga. Instead, they walked forward without a single care.

Soon after, the commander stopped and turned around, probably because they reached the right building.

What stood in front of them was a splendid, stone-made, 3 story building with a large garrison.

Naga perceived the garrison was full of well-equipped soldiers with high morale.

(In other words, only big shots are gathered here? Still, is this building made from stone? It feels like I’ve rarely seen things similar to this. A stone-made building. Stone-made? Certainly, it’s more firm than the wooden-made ones. But on the other hand, it’s much more bothersome to build.)

Naga looked at the building closely and again felt strange, however, the building gave off an impression of it probably serving some purpose.

4

It was decided that an enquiry would be held with Naga as a representative, and therefore, he was brought by a guide further inside the building. The rest of his troupe stayed in a waiting room.

“Will Naga-san be fine by himself? If they discover his identity and arrest him…. will it be really okay?”

Ais whispered this question to Vita while looking slightly anxious.

(Isn’t it rare for Ais to be this worried about a stranger?)

Vita however, replied with a voice as if she couldn’t care less about them being overheard.

“You don’t have to worry. To begin with, there’s no reason for him to be exposed.”

“However, back when Naga-san stole Fort Ein, he exposed his face to the soldiers there. There’s no telling if those who have seen Naga-san before will recognize him by his face.”

Vita made a wry smile at Ais’ manner of speaking.

“You’re overreacting way too much, Ais. Did you forget he told us to change our skin color and hairstyle? Our way of talking is also supposed to be completely different, so I don’t think anyone will notice.”

“Then, I guess that’s fine, but….”

“It will be the same for us if Naga becomes exposed by any chance. In that case, we can only run wild, rescue Naga-san and escape the city. Obviously, there might be some casualties among us, nevertheless…”

Ais swallowed her saliva and nodded down with a stern expression.

“Well, shouldn’t we place our expectations in Naga’s acting skill? Rather, if it’s the folks from Kasandora, they will certainly not detain some stranger upon asking him for information they need. To begin with, as long as they don’t learn of Raibach’s identity, they shouldn’t learn about Naga as well.”

Being called by his name, Raibach nodded down deeply.

“If it’s Naga-sama, he will be fine. He will get through that enquiry without fail.”

“I guess you’re right.”

Finally, a broad smile appeared on Ais’ stiff face.

“Still, Ais, you act as though your lover was taken away by soldiers. Do you care that much for Naga’s welfare?”

“Eh? Noooooo, what are you talking about, Vita-san?! I-I-I-It’s not because of that, you know? Naga-san is our leader, so shouldn’t it be an obvious thing to worry about him?”

[[Image:Naga04_Illus-06.jpg|175px|thumb]]

Ais insisted this, however, both her conduct and expression looked as though she was panicking. Vita was fully aware of that.

(Hahaha, this girl is still wet behind her ears.)

“Houhou, are you sure?”

The moment Vita sent a lukewarm smile at her, Ais put her hands in front of her very red face and waved with them.

“Of course I am!”

“What’s your opinion of him, Lela?”

“Eh? Uhm…… that’s righ, t. For us, the family of Heindler, Naga-san is a very important be, ing.”

Lela replied that way while carefully choosing her words. As she did so, Kay, Nonoel, Cu, Ixine, Linne & Linna, and Harlequin nodded down at once, however, one could clearly see the anxiety drawn on their faces, as they cared for Naga.

Kukuku – Vita chuckled in a weeping manner upon seeing that.

(It looks like, these girls have been captivated by Naga. Well, maybe I too feel that way. Still, I’m not sure about the world where both humans and the witches can coexist. At least, he was able to shown these girls a dream. They have probably become happy while watching that dream. The same goes for me and my daughters, and for Harrigan, I guess. That’s why we decided to follow Naga, and most likely, Harrigan too, feels the same way about this. Indeed, he’s an interesting, yet strange man.)

4

The place to which Naga was guided to was a station, or rather, it would be more suitable to call it an interrogation room, as it actually had a simplistic build.

(Well, I guess that was to be expected. There’s no way they would let a person of doubtful origins, like me, enter a guest room.)

At one corner of the confined room, there were a desk and chair, in front of which, was placed a folding stool. A man with a sharp look and military suit, who was sitting in the chair, threw a glance at Naga walking in. On both the left and right side of the desk, there were guards standing at attention.

(They seem to be pretty capable.)

Naga felt that way as he ran his eyes over the guards.

(Well then, should I start to brace myself?)

The reason why Naga thought so wasn’t because he wanted to be careful not to expose himself. To begin with, he didn’t consider such a possibility.

Naga had to act skillfully in drawing out information from his opponent and finding out about the current situation in this city. Perhaps, one could say that the outcome of this interview will determine the future of the witches. That’s why, this is what he meant by bracing himself.

After he followed the guide, Naga moved to the man’s front and halted there. Not standing up, the man gave him the signal to sit. Naga bowed down in respect and sat down on the stool.

He could sense the man becoming slightly nervous.

(Is it because he’s cautious of me? No, I don’t think so. Wouldn’t you feel this way, in the face of a much more imminent threat? As expected, were the rumors about a war approaching true? However, for the atmosphere to become like this, perhaps…. I should respond to it? I guess, it should be natural for me to act nervous and excited. After all, I’m the leader of a troupe who has been pulled in front of this big shot.)

As Naga was thinking so, the man ran his eyes over Naga again, as if trying to evaluate him.

“You’ve done a great job by coming from this far away. My name is Ligaya, and I’m the adjutant of general-dono, Guiscard, who’s the king representative of this country.”

(King representative……representative? Did something happen to this country?)

Naga thought suspiciously, but nevertheless, he bowed down while feigning ignorance.

“So you’re the boss of the troupe, right?”

Ligaya’s wording was polite, but he gave an impression of being rude in intent.

“Yes, my name is, Negane.”

“Apparently, you stopped by at Fort Ein on your way, but…..”

Ligaya went straight to the point without any preface.

“Yes. It happened while passing near that place. Before coming to city, we thought about doing entertainment for soldiers stationed there for few days, but….”

“Did you follow the Schweiz River and reach there from Lancel?”

“That’s right.”

“And you weren’t hindered by the witches?”

“No, not really. There nobody besides us, therefore, I thought, must have been very lonely place. We crossed sea to arrive here, so we don’t quite, know current situation.”

Naga casted down his eyes and scratched his head. Obviously, it was an act, however, it probably didn’t look like much of an excuse.

“Ah no, it’s not like I’m trying to find any fault with you. Then, it was like that? Despite you walking along the river, you didn’t engage with the witches directly?”

“Yes.”

“However, you saw the witches inside Fort Ein, right?”

“Yes, they were. I was startled a bit, but, they chase us off with not doing any bad, so I stroke down chest in relief.”

“I’ll repeat this again and ask you, one more time. Were you, able to grasp how many witches were there?”

“4, maybe 5 went to deal with us. But, since we no enter inside, we not able to see how many there, exactly. I, apologize.”

Surely, Ligaya had already been able to obtain this much information. Being neither irritated nor fed up, Ligaya carried on his interrogation unconcerned.

“Is that so? By the way, did you remember how they look?”

Naga expected this question to appear, so he pretended to remember.

“Umm…. there was bluish black hair, with a large build, was giving orders to everyone. I think, she was leader.”

“Is this, what the witch looked like?”

As soon as Ligaya gave the signal, one of the guards showed Naga a personal description. There he saw a drawn face of a heinously smiling witch, however, it certainly gave off Harrigan’s aura.

(That woman, if she sees this interpretation, she’ll surely murder the guy who drew this! This picture just screams for that to happen.)

“Ah… certainly, that witch, that witch.”

“I see. As one would expect, it was the clique of Harrigan?”

Judging from Ligaya’s way of talking, it seemed that Harrigan was a famous witch, even among humans.

(Well, I guess that’s understandable. Until now, she’s been the one who’s borne the full brunt of humans’ attacks. And then, her party is the one that has been repelling the enemy’s attacks.)

Naga could recall Harrigan’s fighting style that’s based on controlling a large wooden puppet, and scattering Kasandora Kingdom’s troops from the cliff.

(I guess, she can’t avoid being seen when fighting in front.)

“Then, those witches that are occupying the fort, were they preparing for something?”

Ligaya’s voice brought Naga back to his senses.

“No, it not feel like they preparing anything in particular. I saw wall strengthening construction, but, atmosphere quite leisurely. Even some witches, threw down tools and drank.”

Fumu – Ligaya folded his arms and groaned in a low voice.

“So, it doesn’t seem like….. the witches will threaten us anytime soon, does it? If that’s true….”

Ligaya pondered for a moment, so Naga stayed calm and awaited his next words.

After a while of continued silence, Ligaya raised up his head and asked Naga:

“Did you notice something else that was unusual? Anything will do.”

“Something, unusual….. That’s right, all witches, fine girls. And wore awfully small, piece of cloths. I think maybe they want appeal to troupe…. ah, pardon me.”

Ligaya, who had a stern face all the time, couldn’t resist making a wry smile at Naga’s words.

“Well, for someone of your status, I don’t think it’s impossible…. so it was like that?”

Ligaya pondered again as if hitting upon something.

(Hmph. So I was given a chance to explain and didn’t get scolded? Since they’re the ones trying to exterminate the witches, I thought they would be much more biased against the witches, but….)

“It looks like, all the members in your troupe are girls. Were you the only one who dealt with the witches when stopping by the fort?”

“No, female dancers, I, together with them.”

“I see. I guess, we need to consider the possibility that the witches…. didn’t lay their hands on your troupe, since they were all girls.”

(What? So this guy is able to reason that way? I wouldn’t have expected this from him, I think)

“Then, what do you plan to do afterwards?”

Ligaya suddenly changed the topic of their conversation.

“If possible, we like to perform inside city. If not, there no meaning in coming. And if that the case, we be much in red.”

“You mean it? I feel pity for you, but, that would be a difficult request.”

“Is it, really difficult?”

Naga put on an act and dropped down his shoulders disappointedly.

“There’s a chance that, a war might break out soon, so we’re patrolling this city. Our soldiers and citizens are making strenuous efforts for the war, so it isn’t the right time for them to be watching performances. We need to remove any factors that can thwart our preparations. Even if you were to try to do so, there’s no way you would receive a permission for that.”

(As expected, they’re quite at their wits’ end.)

While thinking so, Naga hung his head and replied powerlessly.

“That right. Then, no other way than return to Lancel.”

“You’re going back the way you came from, right?”

“This is only option. We bit scared when, passed near the witches. However, nothing happened to us, so I think…. we be fine with retuning back.”

Ligaya gazed fixedly at Naga with a stern expression.

(What? Could it be that he saw through me?)

“I thought about giving you a reward if you plan to pass near that fort again, but well…”

“Eh? Yes? W, What you mean to say?”

Naga was half acting, however, he was honestly bewildered, as he couldn’t grasp Ligaya’s true intention.

“There’s been no local who managed to meet the witches, so your visit before might be the first and the last one. Also, there’s no doubt that the witches have already memorized your faces, right?”

“Is…. this true?”

“That’s why I wanted to ask if you feel like paying them a visit, once more, but this time with one of our messengers.”

“Wha…What?!”

As one would expect, Naga too became dumfounded at Ligaya’s words.

“Even if we send a messenger, there’s no guarantee the witches will hear us out. In the worst-case scenario, you might all be murdered without being given a chance to argue.”

(I haven’t given it any thought, but….. it’s not impossible for them to do so. That’s because, Harrigan has talked before about assassins sent by the church to aim for their lives. It could be that the witches had considered Kasandora’s messengers as assassins….. therefore, resulting in these guys thinking this way. I guess, they reap what they sow.)

Not revealing his thoughts, Naga waited for the next words from his opponent.

“Therefore, we’d like to entrust you with our messenger. And we shall reward you, provided you decide to go back there. Obviously, we can’t cover the cost of your trip, but….”

“Still, we driven away, last time we drop by. We go there, but, I think it result in same.”

“You don’t particularly need to talk with them. We’ll prepare a letter here for the witches, so you only have to pass it to them.”

“Ah….. yes, if that case…. I think it be doable.”

Naga bent his neck and worked his brain hard.

(What’s he trying to make me do? Could it be….. he’s testing me?)

“We return there either way. If just stopping by, we take care of request.”

“You mean it? Then, I shall make the arrangements. Please return back to the waiting room.”

“Understood.”

Naga bowed down multiple times and left the station.

As soon as he took his leave, Ligaya called out to one of his subordinates who was standing behind him.

“Now that it’s come to this, go and compose a letter to the witches immediately.”

“Still, are you really fine with this, Ligaya-sama? Having that group of vagabonds deliver our letter.”

“I don’t care. Will those performers be captured or killed by the witches? It’s no skin off my nose.”

“Nevertheless, I think we should also worry about them possibly fleeing.”

“Of course, even if they run away with the reward, it won’t be a big deal, since it’s not a big sum of money. On the other hand, if our plan goes favorably, there might be more gain to us….”

Ligaya slowly stood up from his chair.

“In the end, the matter regarding the witches is just something we are doing on the side. Rather than that, we should, right now, prioritize the direct threat coming from the extermination group against the witches that’s heading south. There’s no telling if those guys will take the opportunity to attack us, so we better hasten ourselves with the preparations.”

“Yes, understood. We shall prepare the letter immediately.”

Soon after Naga returned back, he retold the whole story to everyone, making them drop their jaws at this unexpected turn of events.

“Those guys, what are they thinking?!”

Vita asked as if spitting it out.

“It’s just assumption, but, possible. I guess, their way of proposing ceasefire.”

And then, she made an expression of wanting to doubt.

“For real?”

“I am, serious.”

“Ah no, that’s not what I mean. I wanted to ask if those folks from Kasandora are seriously considering a ceasefire.”

“Will depend on what they want convey.”

“However, if they really do, it would be ridiculous.”

Kukuku – Vita chuckled while saying so.

“So basically, we will be both delivering and receiving the letter, right?”

Naga put up his hands, so as to have Ixine pay more attention.

“Lower voice, Ixine, or someone overhear.”
“Ah, sorry about that.”

Ixine hurriedly blocked her mouth using her hands.

“That’s true, I’ve similar thoughts to Ixine’s.”

Vita casted her staring eyes at Naga.

“In other words, Naga, you’ll be the one delivering that letter, right?”
“I will. Once I do, we check content and discuss with Harrigan regarding what we do. This time, there be messenger tag along, but, he should no suspect anything, even if let him stay at fort.”

“Certainly, I’m curious about what they want to tell us, will it be good news?

With that, their discussion reached its conclusion.

And then, they waited a short while.

Being accompanied by his men, Ligaya turned up in the waiting room.

“This is the letter I’d like for you to bring to the witches.”

One of his subordinates handed over a letter, sealed with wax, to Naga.

“Remember, you only have to pass it to them.”

“Understood.”

Naga bowed down deeply while thinking about this.

(It looks like things have taken an unexpected turn. However, we can make use of it. No, we definitely have to seize this favorable opportunity.)
7

Naga and his troupe of performers were assisted by the guards on their way to one of Kasandora’s forts that was nearby the witches.

Once they arrived, one of the soldiers spoke:

“We’ll excuse ourselves here, as our presence might hinder your interaction with the witches.”

The soldiers gave an impression as if being prepared to flee, however, Naga and the rest would rather avoid the soldiers meeting with the witches.

“This much do. Thank you, very much.”

Naga bowed down.

And then, the troupe left the fort, went south and returned back to Fort Ein.
Because there might be someone watching, just to make sure, they were received as guests. Naga called out to the witches, who turned out to be Narcissus and Selena, that were there.

Selena, who could check the surroundings using her Heaven Eye, sensed Naga and the rest approaching, so she brought Narcissus with her to welcome them. However, upon their immediate meeting, it seemed as though Naga was distant in his attitude. Like that, all the concerned visitors were escorted and brought inside the fort.
8

“What’s the meaning of this?!”

Harrigan, Naga, and the rest faced each other inside a single room of the fort’s residential building. The head of the Heindler clan opened her eyes widely in surprise as she was retold the whole story of Naga’s interrogation.

“With that, we’ve been entrusted with this letter and arrived here to deliver it to you, who is the head of the witches. They hope you’d be interested to know its contents.”

Lela returned the charm on Naga to its usual level, so all the witches could understand Naga’s manner of speaking like they used to.

“Is that so? Then, shall we open it quickly?”

Harrigan received the letter from him and broke the seal in a casual manner.
And then, she took out its contents and quickly ran her eyes over it.

“Fumu, it’s just as Naga predicted. They are asking us indirectly if we want to stop fighting each other. What’s more, their style of writing is condescending.”

“So it was just like I thought, eh?”

“However, despite their haughty way of expression, it seems like the Kasandora Kingdom is at its wits end if they’re making this request to us.”

Saying so, Harrigan made an expression filled with mixed feelings.

‘You’re right.’ – Naga nodded down.

“Losing to us this badly, and eventually, their fort. On top of that, they’re being threatened by a large army of 3000-4000 enemy units. Misfortunes never come singly, or so they say. I guess, it’s not impossible for them to want to grasp at straws.”
“So we’re the straws?”

Harrigan made a displeased face, however, Vita laughed enjoyably.

“Hahaha, rather than straws, I’d say we’re more like poisoned steam buns.”

“Is this something to laugh about?!”

“Ohhh, Vita, that’s some nice comparison.”

“Naga, you too! Is this the right time to be praising others?!”

“Don’t be so grumpy, Harrigan.”

“Still, Naga, they might be putting their hands up and offering us a ceasefire due to them being in a crisis right now, but, don’t forget they’ve been causing us lots of pain, so they can’t be fully trusted. Maybe, it’s better to let them get attacked and crushed?”

“I’ll agree with you on the part that they can’t be trusted, but, with how things look right now, we’ve got to make use of this situation.”

“Make use? What do you mean?”

“Isn’t this a favorable opportunity to demand gratitude from them?”

“Gratitude? You mean accepting their request? What good will come from doing that? Wouldn’t it be more beneficial for us to let the Kasandora Kingdom perish in a fight with other countries?”

“That would probably work short-term, however, there are more gains for us in the long-term if they survive.”

At Naga’s words, Harrigan frowned and made a doubtful face.

“Is that…. true?”
“The information regarding the approaching troops is partial, so I can’t tell for sure, but according to what that adjutant Ligaya said, the troops are led by the Church. If the Kasandora Kingdom suffers a complete defeat, we’ll be next in line to receive the Church’s onslaught. Rather, they will become even more motivated to charge at us after gaining victory over the Kasandora Kingdom. And at that rate….”

Naga shrugged his shoulders a bit.

“We’ll be forced to throw away the fort we captured and retreat back to the forest. However, whether we can protect it or not remains as a question.”

“But…. just because we comply with the ceasefire, it doesn’t mean the Kasandora Kingdom will turn into our ally. Also, there’s no telling if those folks will really fight against the extermination group.”

“That will depend on how we play it, you see.”

“W….What do you mean?”

“We will create a situation where both sides won’t be on good terms with each other, even if they don’t fight. This will become our advantage.”

“W….What?”

“What do you mean, Naga?”

Both Harrigan and Vita, as well as the other witches, turned their puzzled looks at Naga.

“In other words, if we make Kasandora Kingdom and the extermination group glare at each other, we can thwart the church’s plan, right? They won’t be able to charge at us with their full army while having Kasandora Kingdom at their backs. Naturally, this will slow down their military movements. Our aim is to buy us some time, proceed with our preparations, and try to counter the extermination group with all that we’ve got.”

‘I see.’ – Harrigan nodded down.

“Still, is there any guarantee that the Kasandora Kingdom and the extermination group won’t join their forces together?”

“True, there isn’t. Far from that, it’s possible that the Kasandora Kingdom will do so due to them suffering a crisis.”

“In that case, shouldn’t we consider our plan with that in mind?”

“That’s why, I’m telling you we won’t be relying upon others but ourselves to create our desired situation. And then, prolong it.”

“No…. I don’t get your idea.”

Harrigan, whose face looked pitiful, turned her sight toward Vita. However, the latter merely lightly shook her head.

“I too, can’t comprehend that. Do you mind, explaining it in a more simple and concrete way, Naga?”

“That’s to say, this, you see.”

Naga explained his strategy to the best of his efforts.

“….With that, we’ll put on the Kasandora Kingdom Army’s uniforms and give the extermination army some hard times. If we do so, it’s inevitable for both sides’ relationship to turn worse, right? Not to mention, the extermination group will put the blame on Kasandora for something the latter hasn’t done, so they will no longer be able to come to an agreement.”

All the witches shook their heads up and down with dumbfounded faces.

“You’re truly an evil person.”

Vita stated so with an astonished expression, following that, Harrigan too, nodded in agreement.

“Good grief. And to think we witches are regarded as heinous by humans. Don’t we look the same as babies in front of Naga?”

“Naga-san, you’re quite vicious, aren’t you?”

This time it was Kay’s turn to carry on.

“No no, I’m surely not vicious, right?”

“That’s right. I think you’re exaggerating, Kay-chan.”

“Ais, you do understand, right?”

“Rather, there’s no end to him being treacherous.”
“Doesn’t it make me look even worse?”

“Just how did you come up with such a heinous idea?”

“As expected, isn’t it because of his character?”

“Vita, Harrigan, don’t say those cruel things.”

“They aren’t. We think they reflect the truth.”

“Ah no, this much of an idea is normal for me.”

Harrigan pulled her head back and glared at Naga with scornful eyes.

“Really?”

“I wonder about that.”

“That’s probably like him.”

“Well, regarding how vicious he is, let’s leave that matter aside.”

“Don’t just leave it aside!”

“Then, will this really work? This is the real question. And how are you confident of its success?”

“…..You usually tend to find a solution when seeking a way out of a desperate situation, Vita.”

“As if!”

“It’s not necessary false, but well, I guess it will only show during a contest. Till now it’s been always like this for me, I think. Back then, when we fought against 2000 soldiers, did you think you’d win?”

Harrigan responded to Naga’s remark.

“Umu, that’s right. We thought it was useless for us to fight back, without even trying. I guess it’s a bad habit of ours.”

“That’s right, Harrigan. You should always try to do your best. And if it fails, try something else. And if, again, it doesn’t work….”

“If it doesn’t work?”

“Then run away. Run away and start again from the beginning.”

Kukakaka – Naga laughed while saying so.

(So there was such a way of thinking? Good grief. Whenever it comes to this guy,)

“I think humans…. no, even us the witches can’t comprehend your way of reasoning. But, for a fool to be able to break through these obstacles, perhaps, you’re no longer different from a genius.”

Saying that, Harrigan leaked out a scornful laughter which she couldn’t hold back.

“If I were to say, rather than Naga-sama being a genius, he’s more of a natural disaster. Especially, for his opponents.”

As soon as Raibach stated this, the present witches smiled and broke into laughter.

A fearsome being that could be regarded as a natural disaster for its opponents, but reversely, a trustworthy being for its allies. In fact, wasn’t it because Naga had won easily against the advancing army of Kasandora Kingdom just like stopping a violently blowing storm? Recalling that event, the witches told themselves they could place more hope in their future.

“Then, let’s make the best of our time and proceed with our preparations while the Kasandora Kingdom and the extermination group haven’t struck a deal, Vita.”

“Umu…. that’s right…”

“What? Is there still something on your mind?”

“Well, I agree with what you’ve just said. Still, there’s one more concern.”

Naga squinted his eyes and urged Vita to speak.

“One more concern? What could it be?”

“If memory serves me right, among the information which you acquired in Kasandora Kingdom, there was one regarding troops that falls under the direct control of the church. That is to say, information that’s supported by the rumor we had heard in Lancel. Apparently, those guys are strong, you know?”

Naga lean forward his body while making a serious expression.

“Are they that strong?”

“Umu. I too have only heard about them from rumors, so I can’t say for sure, but, apparently, they’re combat troops that are referred as brigades. Their soldiers wear silver armor, which is highly resistant to magic and dulls it.”

“To what extent?”

“We won’t know that unless we try. It would be different if it’s just 1 or 2 soldiers, but, we’ve never fought a troop consisting of all soldiers wearing silver armor.”

“For real….? Then, does it mean that everything will depend on the outcome of this battle?”

Naga made a difficult face while groaning in a low voice.

“And that’s not all.”

Naga raised up his head at Vita’s words.

“We still don’t know how many of those brigades there are. I’ve only heard about this, but I think there are supposed to be 7- 8. That’s why, I’m worried about the number of brigades coming here this time.”

“So, based on Vita’s statements, should I understand that….. those brigades each possess a different fighting strength?”

(As usual, this guy is sharp.)

“That’s right.”

“What part of them is bothering you?”

“There are 3 rumors that describe their exceptional strength, especially the one in which apparently there’s that annoying troop referring to themselves as ‘the Brigade of 88′”

‘This too, is a rumor I learned from hearsay, but…’ – Vita revealed the meaning behind the brigade’s name followed by a story of the brigade holing up.

“Hohou. Indeed, they’ve got some terrific fighting style there.”

Naga ooh’ed in admiration.

“That’s why, I think we should avoid any hard fights involving the Brigade of 88 if they come.”

“I guess, we need to check more on that Brigade of 88.”

“How do you plan, to do that?”

“By kidnapping 1 or 2 soldiers and questioning them?”

“That measure is way too extreme!”

“Having you say it’s extreme, kinda makes me feel uneasy.”

“What’s the meaning of that?!”

“Ah no, nothing in particular. Don’t mind it.”

“Shouldn’t it be fine, to have Linne and Linna overhear some soldiers?”

Harrigan suggested.

“…….True. I guess it’s more convenient that way, isn’t it? There’s the possibility that the Kasandora Kingdom might become wary if their soldiers are kidnapped. They might even consider it as a surprise attack, so it’s better not to have them be alert. That being said, in addition to Linne & Linna sneaking inside the city, we need to determine the position of the extermination group. I think I can only entrust Yuuki and Selena with that task.”

“It can’t be helped. Well, shall we get moving then?”

—Why is Yuuki always acting this high-handedly?—

Kay whispered this question to Nonoel.

—Isn’t it because her head’s always in the clouds when she’s flying?—
—Nonoel, that was good!—

“Hey there! what are you whispering to each other?!”

Yuuki raised her eyebrows and stared at them both.

“Nothing~~”
“Nothing in particular”

‘Hmph’ – Yuuki snorted and turned back her face.

“Anyway, I’ll set off tomorrow and fly near the royal capital to conduct a regular scouting.”

“Then, will you take this mantle with you and place it near the city, so that I can teleport with Selena?”

Elysione made such a suggestion.

“There are also guards inside the city, so they might notice something strange. Maybe, if you add some more mantles…”

“That’s right. It should be much more convenient if we increase the number of spots where Elysione can teleport to. And If we mark the targets, it will be also easier to transport Selena. I’ll be relying on you, Elysione.”

*Biku* – Once Naga lightly bowed down, Elysione drew back with a start.

“Ah…. yes, I, I’ll take care of that.”

(For some reason….my heart, skips a beat whenever this person bows down.)

Unaware of Elysione’s bewilderment, Harrigan faced toward Naga with a stern expression.
9
“By the way, how do we reply to the letter? It was written they would like to receive an answer from us, but…”

Naga quickly responded, following Harrigan’s question.

“It should be fine if we just say we don’t plan to interfere with them.”

“Will they believe in such an ambiguous reply?”

“For now, it’s better that way. Still, that’s right, should we also add they better do the same?”

‘Fumu’ – Harrigan folded her arms and groaned.

“So it’s come to this? Indeed, it’s hard to strike a bargain.”

(I don’t think so. After all, you have done so way too many times.)

“It should do if we hand our reply to the troop nearby, watching us. We’ll just compose a proper reply and have them deliver it to their superiors.”

“Have you considered…. they might try and arrest us when trying to hand the reply?’

At Ais’ question, Naga denied with full confidence.

“I don’t think one or two soldiers from a scouting troop will attempt to catch you. If they could, they’d have long since won this war.”

“You’re right. If there are just 10 or 20 soldiers, then we can somehow manage. Speaking of which, Lela, I’m sorry, but, could you please take care of writing the reply? Once you’re done, go together with Kay and Cu to where the troop is stationed and pass it to them. Selena will observe their position, so you’ll know where the scouts are hiding.”

“Understood, Ane-sa, ma.”

“Apart from that, Harrigan, there’s one more thing I’d like to ask. Can someone from your group go to Lancel?”

“Lancel, again? For what purpose?”

“I happened to see slaves there on sale back when we were visiting Lancel.”

Harrigan made a doubting face after hearing Naga’s words.

And it wasn’t just her either. The other witches, as well as Raibach, had doubting, or rather – curious expressions, while being unable to understand what Naga was trying to imply.

“Certainly, slaves are bound to be there as well. After all, that port city is a place which thrives in trade. What’s more, there’s no limit to the amount of food and articles sold.”

“Oh and by the way, we managed to sell your gadgets and jewelry for high prices.”

“I guess, that’s very like of you…. Speaking of which, I received a brief report from Ais and Lela the other day, when you had passed through here on your way to the capital of the Kasandora Kingdom, but…….”

The complexion on Harrigan’s face, which seemed to express her doubt, turned more and more thick in color. Rather than doubt, perhaps it was better to say, of misgiving.

“Sorry, but, can we sell more gadgets and jewelry from your warehouse?”

“Haaa? What, are you talking about? What do you intend to do?!”

“If possible, I’d like to have you, Vita, help us too.”

Being told so, Vita couldn’t hide her puzzlement.

“That’s why, I’m asking what do you intend to do with the money…. hmm? Don’t tell me, you plan to purchase those slaves?”

“Ohh, how sharp of you, Vita.”

“What? You!”

“W, What are you angry about?”

“Despite us being in a life-and-death matter, you’re telling us to sell our items to buy young female slaves… no, just what are you making us do?”

Ais stood up while swaying.

“Naga-san, so it’s all about that? Is this what you’ve been thinking about?”

‘Oh, that’s right!’ – Kay looked up in the air as if recalling something.

“Back then, Naga-san would frequently ask about slaves.”
“I misjudged you, Naga.”

Harrigan’s hair drifted in the air.

“Wait wait wait! You lot are misunderstanding something!”

“How are we supposed to misunderstand you?”

“I told you I want to buy slaves, however, I didn’t say they will be females. They’re male slaves! On top of that, robust ones!”

“Naga-san, could it be, that you swing in that direction?”

“You’re running your imagination too far away, Ais!”

“….Am I wrong?”

“Ah, for god’s sake, these girls are. Why won’t you first listen to what people have to say?”

Naga held his head.

“Isn’t it because there’s a problem in your behavior?”

“Right? Suddenly falling into a bathroom and rubbing Ane-sama’s chest. You could only think of Naga-san buying females when he mentions slaves with that in mind. Don’t you think your conduct is what forces us to think that way?”

“Ah, no, Ais, why are you….”

Harrigan, whose face was red, chided Ais.

“Ehhh? Naga-sama, have you really done such an envious…?”

Raibach looked at Harrigan with an envious face.

“D, Don’t look at me with such eyes!”

“So, Hari-nee had her chest already rubbed by Naga-san?! I’m envious[[User:Darkdhaos|Darkdhaos]] ([[User talk:Darkdhaos|talk]]) 13:19, 29 October 2016 (CEST) Right, Nono?”

“Noooo? I, I’m not particularly, not at all, envious about that!”

“That’s why, don’t tell people things that are easy to misunderstand!”

Harrigan gazed at Ais with fearsome, murderous eyes.

“Eh? But, isn’t it true? Isn’t this what Yuuki, who witness the event, clearly said?”

Yuuki, whose name was suddenly called out, turned away and averted her eyes. On the other hand, the other witches who were unaware of that fact besides Ais and Lela drew back their heads and looked at Harrigan with scornful eyes.

“I’m telling you it’s wrong!”

“Harrigan.”

“W….What, Naga?”

“Do you now understand a bit this pain of being misunderstood and ignored by others?”
“I do…. However, being pointed that out by someone, who tries to fulfill his lust by buying slaves, makes me incredibly annoyed.”

“Just how untrustworthy can I be?”

Naga sighed while having a miserable expression.

“Just as I said, I’m going to buy male slaves.”

“What do you plan to do with them later? Make them help with strengthening this fort? Certainly, someone else’s hands would be welcomed for construction jobs, but, it’s meaningless for now, isn’t it? Weren’t you also the one who said that?

“Obviously, I won’t be using them for that purpose. I’m going to make them into soldiers.”

“What?!”

Vita bent her face in amazement, whereas all the other witches and Raibach opened their eyes widely.

“No matter how many of you are mighty warriors, the number of witches is way too scarce. After all, your enemy is an army of 3000-4000 units. What’s more, if the war continues to escalate, we’ll need hands for carrying food, weapons, and armor. Not to mention, you may also have to cross swords or strike each other if a battle becomes intense. I’m not saying you lot possess no hand-to-hand combat skills. It’s just you’re more suited for long range fighting. Now that it’s been mentioned, we’ll also need people who can shoot with bows and those who can march into an enemy’s camp with swords and spears. We’ve gotta supply ourselves with those soldiers.”

Despite Naga finishing his explanation, everyone was left open-mouthed while being unable to utter a single word.

“What are you amazed at? A battle is primarily more about quantity than quality, so raising the number of soldiers is the basic of basics.”

Harrigan and Vita exchanged looks.

“Are you of the same mind, Vita?”

“I’ve never participated in a big war before, so don’t ask me.”

Harrigan pulled herself together and faced toward Naga.

“Still, even if we buy those slaves, will they do as they’re told? Will they fight for our sake? Or will they go against us?”

“Slaves probably consider their buyer as their owner. It doesn’t matter to them who that person is, or from where it is.”

“That may be true….. but…”

“In that case, you shall be their owners. Or could it be that only humans can trade slaves?”

“Ah no, I don’t… think so.”

“Then, there shouldn’t be any problems.”

“Even if you throw out your chest like that…”

“Slaves usually tend to live in harsh surroundings. They might thank us If we provide them with proper meals and warm beds. And if we promise to set them free after they perform well in battle, they might become even more excited to work for us. Be it humans or the witches, for slaves, it should make no big difference. It’s how they’re going to be treated that matters the most.”

“You’re talking about slaves as though you can understand them, aren’t you?”

Despite Vita saying this in a teasing manner, Naga puffed up with pride and answered while remaining calm.

“I don’t. More like, I can picture them. Since we can’t raise soldiers using straightforward methods, using slaves as soldiers is the easiest and fastest way. Don’t you think?”
“If I were to say…. Yes, you might be right.”

“Now then, Harrigan, I’d like for you to carry your items to Lancel, convert them into money, and then use it to purchase the slaves. Vita, you too, I’ll appreciate it if you could help us.”

“I don’t mind, but….. just how much time would it take to transport our load from a village to the city?”

“Is that so? Since Elysione won’t be coming with us….”

“No, even if that girl did, she wouldn’t be useful at all. After all, she can’t carry things using her mantles, not to mention, the clothes we put on.”

“Yeah. Certainly, it’ll take way too much time to load the cart and transport the items.”

“Then, how about we use Yuuki?”

Yuuki had been deliberately turning away all this time, but, she couldn’t help it when everyone’s gazes were focused on her, so she turned back around

“Fine with me, but, I’ll have to go and return many times, since my board can’t carry that much, you know?”

“We don’t mind. However, I still think it will be much faster than carrying it on the cart. Also, as I fear, we’ll need to have someone who can evaluate the items, so…”

‘Well, certainly, that’s true’ – Yuuki puffed her cheeks in displeasure, but nevertheless, she answered reluctantly.

“I’ve no discerning eye when it comes to an item’s value.”

“I’ll have to return back to the forest to get my items. Then, how many slaves should we gather?”

“I don’t know how much a single slave is worth, and also, how much can we gain from selling your items, so probably, it will depend on the outcome. We’ll gather as many slaves as possible based on their costs. I’d like to have at least 100 of them, but, I’m not sure if there are slaves capable of fighting at a reasonable price on sale. In the worst case-scenario, I won’t mind even if we manage to get just 10-20.”

“You mean it? I guess, we’ll just have to play it by ear.”

“Right. Then, we need someone who can take care of them…..”

Naga looked around at the present people and stopped his sights on a single one.

“I entrusted you with the sale of the items the previous time, but, as expected, the only one who can choose and buy slaves is you, Raibach.”

Raibach whose face looked stupefied pointed at himself.

“Eh? Me?”

“Yes. If it’s you, who has led soldiers before, then you will somehow be able to manage the slaves, won’t you?”

“That’s, well, yes.”

“On the other hand, the same can’t be said about the witches. Don’t you agree, Harrigan?”

Harrigan shrugged her shoulders.

“Right. We’ve never swung swords or spears, so we haven’t the slightest idea about what kind of a person is suitable to become a soldier.”

“And with that, Raibach, you’ll be in charge of supplying us with slaves.”
“Understood. I’ll try to do my best.”

Later, a talk regarding each person’s duty would be decided, with Naga being the main character.
10

Early the next morning.

Having confirmed the reply addressed to Kasandora, Lela took Cu, Kay, Nonoel, and Selena with her and left the Fort Ein.

The remaining witches worked in a hurry, so as to bring the items from their village hidden inside the forest, and prepare to repel the extermination group.

Lela and her team quickly returned back after they passed the reply to a scouting troop’s leader they had discovered.

Soon after Naga received the report from Lela, he started to do calculations inside his mind.

(Well then, I wonder, how much time did we manage to gain? Even if the extermination army reaches Kasandora Kingdom, they won’t be able to simply move, so perhaps we have around 10 days. If that’s not enough, should we put on the Kasandora army’s uniforms and attack the extermination army’s troops? I guess, I’d rather utilize that additional time and fully prepare before meeting them.)

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| Forward to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Chapter 5|Chapter 5]]
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Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Chapter 4

2016-10-29T11:17:46Z

Darkdhaos:

==Chapter 4- Enemy and Ally, Both of their Circumstances==

1

The royal capital of Kasandora Kingdom was a relatively large, fortified city located in the westernmost peninsula.

The city was 16 meters high and surrounded by a thick wall, with roughly 2000 people living inside.

However, the ‘2000’ people only included those citizens who were registered in the tax payment account book.

Naturally, noble families, servants, and slaves, who were exempted from paying taxes didn’t count, as well as travelers that had wandered in from other places to the city. It also excluded merchants who were temporarily staying.

Since nobody would bother to check that, no one really knew the total number of people. Still, shouldn’t it be fine to estimate the current population at around 4000?

The majority of these citizens were farmers, therefore, lots of them would set off early in the morning to their fields near the city’s outskirts, and return to the city before the sunset. There were also instances in which the farmers would stay overnight at their fields once it was harvest season.

They did so as to prevent the theft of their crops and to drive away any animals that would try to devour their crops, as it was natural for there to be no public safety outside the city, in this period. That’s why the farmers would arm themselves and form groups to defend against robbers and animals.

The settlements of those farmers were reinforced with wooden fences, which resembled forts a bit. In case of slightly bigger settlements, there were even dry moats surrounding them.

Not to mention, these settlements would actually act as forts and house soldiers during times of emergency.

And then, it seemed like a ‘time of emergency’ had arrived for Kasandora. Their soldiers moved into a few of those large settlements while carrying army provisions and weapons. Some of these settlements were placed along the main road, so it was bound for Naga to witness them.

Naga drew near on his horse toward a soldier, who mounted his own one, and called out to him with a low voice.

“Uhm, Soldier-san.”

The soldier turned around.

“I see great number of soldiers near fort. Could be, you preparing for battle?”

“That’s, not really a fort, but well…”

“Yes?”

“Does it look like a fort to you from far away?”

Saying so, the soldier explained the aforementioned circumstances to Naga.

(Hmm, I see. So they use farmers’ settlements as forts? Certainly, you can save time and costs on building them, but you really can’t expect them to be strong in defense, right?)

Is what Naga thought.

(Still, I don’t quite understand the way how things in this world should be, like why a city and a castle are working as one. From where I come from, a castle should be a castle, whereas, a city should be a city. At least, a castle being a castle should be….. defense-wise, much stronger, but…)

According to what Naga had heard from the witches, it didn’t seem to be rare for everyone to be massacred during a war between different ethnic groups, as everyone, including citizens, merchants, and laborers dwelled inside the same city. Even if there wasn’t any war, bandits and violent animals would roam near the outskirts, so, people preferred to set up residence inside a city.

Nevertheless, such a principle of this world was still incomprehensible to Naga.

(What I can’t comprehend the most is that there are beings called witches. Now, we can understand each other owing to the fact we’ve been living together, but….)

Or it could be that the witches had accepted him due to his eccentric nature.

Realizing that he was a bit eccentric himself, Naga made a weak, curious smile at that and at the sarcasm of his placed position right now.

“Soldier-san.”

He ceased to smiled and called out to the soldier.

“The citizens, does mean that citizens pick up weapons during siege?”

“Depends on how the battle progresses, however, that would also be the case. The citizens too, were trained to wield weapons, so to prepare themselves for a battle when necessary, you see.”

“Are you, enrolling people, for army?”

“We are.”

The soldier who replied so made a slightly bitter face.

“But, judging from how things looks like, it doesn’t seem like we’ll gather enough volunteers at a moment’s notice…. No, it’s nothing. Please forget what I’ve just said.”

“Still, I no luck.”

Naga said this as he looked up at the sky.

“If we no hold entertainment, we not be able to cover cost our travel to here, and therefore, return trip. Our troupe, fall into huge deficit.”

As he declared this and breathed out a sigh, the soldier showed a compassionate face.

“I guess, even leaders of troupes have it difficult.”

After that, the soldier lowered down his voice and asked.

“However, having such young and lovely girls by your side, there are probably lots of side benefits coming from that, right? With that many girls, wouldn’t you make a fortune, were you to assign them to a night job?”

“Ah no, we no do that. After all, we performers. People like us not lose dignity that way.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

Naga had the feeling the soldier would visit them right away as a guest, were he to do so. The soldier replied in a fed up manner.

(Well, certainly I’ll agree that those girls, all of them are beauties. Speaking of which, could it be that someone like me is incredibly lucky to be mixed up with all these girls? Ah no, how should it be? On the other hand, I can tell my life has been put at risk numerous times.)

‘Well, whatever.’ – Naga decided not to brood over that matter any longer. As he did so, the sight of the city, seen from the top of a small hill, had finally come into his view.

(I see. Certainly, it has an impact similar to that of a giant citadel when seen from close like this, unlike that port city.)

Feeling admiration, Naga made a quick reckoning inside his head.

(Umm, so was it around 2000 soldiers in the garrison? And 2000 citizens? Assuming they recruit 500 additional soldiers from those citizens, the total number within their garrison would amount to 2500. If that’s the case, in order to capture the city, the enemy would need more than 10 thousand units. I see, it’s not like I don’t get why Kasandora wants to hole up, but…)

However, Naga soon understood the drawback coming from such a heavy defense.

(The number of people holing up is way too big. If it’s like this, they will need to consume a large amount of army provisions. And that’s not including unregistered citizens. 5000, perhaps 6000, if that many people are going to hole up in the capitol, just how much army provisions would they require? Do they have enough to supply themselves for a long time? And then, the biggest problem would be about whether reinforcements would be coming or not……)

Holing up, was, in the end, a defensive strategy adopted by those who couldn’t afford winning in the open field.

Naga didn’t know if the Kasandora Kingdom had any allies that could send them reinforcements, but judging from what he had heard till now, it didn’t look like there whereas any.

(Fumu, I wonder… if we could use this as an opportunity for something.)

As Naga was working his head off, their troupe kept closing the distance and finally reached the giant entrance of the city.

Once they crossed a bridge that spanned a dry moat, Naga dismounted his horse in front of the entrance.

Looking up from below, he could feel the actual size of the wall on his skin.

(Indeed, it’s big. What’s more, is it made from bricks? Or perhaps, it’s a mud wall made from tightly packed earth and covered with bricks? Whichever it is, it seems to be firm. To begin with, was there a castle with such firmly built walls like this in my world?)

Naga, whose memories were lost, couldn’t say for sure, but, he felt he hadn’t witnessed such a protective wall before in his life.

“Please wait here for a moment. I’ll go and contact my superior.”

The commanding officer went to the gate, in order to exchange some words with the guard on duty. As Naga saw him off, he looked up at the wall again.

(I wonder how should I capture such a heavily guarded city?)

As Naga pondered about that, the witches too, although they were female dancers in appearance, disembarked from the cart and gathered around him. They looked up at the massive wall just like Naga.

Apparently, there was a passage on top of the wall, in which people could walk on.

(Is the top of the wall this high, so as to prevent arrows from reaching it?)

Ais called out to Naga who was staring fixedly at the wall.

“It’s big, isn’t it? With this size and massiveness, it doesn’t look like I can break it with just 1 or 2 hits.”

(So you had such a plannn?!)

As he looked at Ais with an astonished face, she smiled back with a grin.

“Perhaps, 10 hits should be enough to do so.”

(This girl, she’s just like a human battering ram.)

Naga shivered with fear.

“I guess, it wouldn’t be easy for me to climb over these walls, even if someone was to throw me up.”

Vita stated this.

(So these girls too, have thought about ways on how to capture this city? How mindful of them.)

‘Kukuku.’ – Naga chuckled like this without himself realizing.

“What? Don’t you seem to be enjoying yourself?”

At Vita, who asked this question, Naga paid attention and lowered his voice.

“That’s just manner of speech, manner of speech.”

“I, Is that so?”

*Uhen* – Vita coughed and looked up again at Naga.

“You seem to be in a good mood, aren’t you, boss?”

“….This feel awfully, strange.”

As Naga muttered this, Vita kicked up at his calf.

“Aww! What you do if someone see us like this?!”

“Hmph, I made sure that nobody was looking at us.”

Vita’s tone returned back to its usual one.

“Hey, what are you laughing at?”

At Vita, who asked this question in a whispering manner, Naga replied while laughing.

“I, you, we both thought about capturing this city upon arriving. That, too funny.”

“What, you too? Well, I guess that’s the first thing you’d be thinking about in this kind of situation. Still, your manner of speech is way too unpleasant.”

Vita, who was observing the wall, shifted her gaze back at Naga while saying this. As she did so, Ais also nodded in agreement.

“Right? It too, creeps me out a bit.”

“You saying, cruel things, Ais. It’s because of charm, so can’t be help.”

“Couldn’t you do something about it, Lela?

“Eh? But…. I think this way of talking suits a stranger, like Naga-san, Vita, san.”

“No, it’s nothing but gross.”

“Vita, you, worst.”

“Then, have you come up with any good ideas?”

“Right plan comes with the right number, but, for us, we not enough. Just coming up with way, hard. “

Hmph – Vita snorted under her nose.

“That’s some convenient reasoning coming from you.”

“I come up with something if can think calmly. More important, us return to officer.”

At Naga’s words, Vita assumed her usual, haughty attitude once more.

(She would truly be a cute kid with that peculiar face, and that attitude from before, but, well….)

Naga thought so, however, by no means could he afford to let Vita know about that.

“Oi, Boss.”

Being called by the commanding officer, who had returned back, Naga drew near with a trot.

“Ligaya-sama said he would like to meet you.”

“Ligaya-sama, who that?”

“He’s the adjutant of our army’s supreme commander, Guiscard.”

(Again, quite a distinguished person has made their appearance, I guess.)

Naga displayed his astonishment in an exaggerated way, even though he was just a bit surprised.

“D, Do we really have to meet person of such eminence? I feeling nervous.”

The commander made a wry smile and replied:

“You don’t have to worry that much. It should be fine, as long as you can provide him with information about the fort of the witches. He may even reward you properly.”

“Thank you, very much.”

Bowing down respectfully, Naga thought this.

(I’m a surprisingly good actor, I guess. Speaking of which, things have become quite interesting.)

Raising up his head, Naga turned around and called out to the female dancers.

“Everyone, let’s go, inside.”

The girls returned back to the cart(?) in a bustling manner and gathered around their boss as he took the reins again.

“Excellent, now follow me.”

Being led by the commander, Naga’s troupe passed through the big gate and stepped into the fortified city.

3

What appeared in front of them was a path that turned in a ‘コ’ shape. Once they passed through it, there was a big main street running in the northern and southern direction. At some points of the ‘コ’ shaped path, there were spare places used in case of emergency to cut off the passage. From the inside of the walls, where the path was bending, there were watchtowers put up.

(I see. This place was arranged in this way so that the watchtowers could intercept the enemy, even if they were to break through that giant gate and rush in.)

Naga quickly saw through the mechanism of this place’s construction.

Certainly, those who would manage to storm in through the gate would be further hindered by this 2, no, 3-fold defense. It was also one of the methods to shoot down the enemy from above.

The enemy soldiers would crowd together inside this narrow passage while being unable to either hide or escape. A trap like this would produce heavy casualties.

On the other hand, the garrison that’s attacking from high above wouldn’t even have to expose themselves to the enemy. Because of that, the danger of incurring any losses is low. Not to mention, the garrison could also rely on throwing logs and pouring down boiling oil, causing huge damage to the enemy.

(Fumu. This might become a good reference.)

Naga would be troubled if he was asked where he get all those references from, despite him having lost his memory. However, he himself considered it vaguely as something intuitional when looking for a way to protect his own castle.

Exiting the place where the path was bending to the spacious main street, the troupe continued to head towards a castle.

Naga felt as if the number of people passing each other on the main road wasn’t adequate to the scope of this city. Could it be that the merchants left the city after sensing the danger of a potential war? Once the rumors about a war spreads, it’s natural for there to be less merchants visiting too. Obviously, with more merchants leaving than coming here, the number of people is bound to reduce inside the city.

(I guess there aren’t many travelers as well, so it’s likely the cost of services, such as renting a room in an inn, will rise. Speaking of which, we might be welcomed here, like outsiders are supposed to be, but, it doesn’t seem like we’ll have the spare time to stay in this city and do performances for long.)

Apparently, some permanent stores were running their business as usual, but despite there being people passing by, not many customers could be seen inside.

There were also defensive walls, placed on the 4-way crossroads that were located between each block. When necessary, the walls would be closed so as to prevent enemy troops from further advancement. As expected, there were also watchtowers built there.

Naga would be suspected, were he to stare at the places too much, so instead, he observed the defensive facilities, in a casual, however, proper manner.

Finally, they arrived at the entrance leading to the inside of the castle.

The commander exchanged some words with the guard, after which they proceeded further inside.

(Indeed, we are lucky to have this guy assist us. Not only are we able to see the city but also the interior of the castle.)

The pathway inside the castle wasn’t straight, which was similar to what Naga and the rest had seen till now. It was meandering and complex, just like a maze, making them stop and turn from time to time. Where they didn’t have to stop, there were defense zones that would hinder further movements when necessary.

As well as watchtowers raised here and there; the path was narrow and the wall was built on the edge, making it impossible for anyone to see what’s next, less they drew near.

No matter how smart Naga was, it was difficult for him to grasp how the inside of this castle roped off. Still, he counted his steps and the number of corners while walking.

The witches looked around with curious eyes, but, none of them would check how the interior stretched out, like Naga. Instead, they walked forward without a single care.

Soon after, the commander stopped and turned around, probably because they reached the right building.

What stood in front of them was a splendid, stone-made, 3 story building with a large garrison.

Naga perceived the garrison was full of well-equipped soldiers with high morale.

(In other words, only big shots are gathered here? Still, is this building made from stone? It feels like I’ve rarely seen things similar to this. A stone-made building. Stone-made? Certainly, it’s more firm than the wooden-made ones. But on the other hand, it’s much more bothersome to build.)

Naga looked at the building closely and again felt strange, however, the building gave off an impression of it probably serving some purpose.

4

It was decided that an enquiry would be held with Naga as a representative, and therefore, he was brought by a guide further inside the building. The rest of his troupe stayed in a waiting room.

“Will Naga-san be fine by himself? If they discover his identity and arrest him…. will it be really okay?”

Ais whispered this question to Vita while looking slightly anxious.

(Isn’t it rare for Ais to be this worried about a stranger?)

Vita however, replied with a voice as if she couldn’t care less about them being overheard.

“You don’t have to worry. To begin with, there’s no reason for him to be exposed.”

“However, back when Naga-san stole Fort Ein, he exposed his face to the soldiers there. There’s no telling if those who have seen Naga-san before will recognize him by his face.”

Vita made a wry smile at Ais’ manner of speaking.

“You’re overreacting way too much, Ais. Did you forget he told us to change our skin color and hairstyle? Our way of talking is also supposed to be completely different, so I don’t think anyone will notice.”

“Then, I guess that’s fine, but….”

“It will be the same for us if Naga becomes exposed by any chance. In that case, we can only run wild, rescue Naga-san and escape the city. Obviously, there might be some casualties among us, nevertheless…”

Ais swallowed her saliva and nodded down with a stern expression.

“Well, shouldn’t we place our expectations in Naga’s acting skill? Rather, if it’s the folks from Kasandora, they will certainly not detain some stranger upon asking him for information they need. To begin with, as long as they don’t learn of Raibach’s identity, they shouldn’t learn about Naga as well.”

Being called by his name, Raibach nodded down deeply.

“If it’s Naga-sama, he will be fine. He will get through that enquiry without fail.”

“I guess you’re right.”

Finally, a broad smile appeared on Ais’ stiff face.

“Still, Ais, you act as though your lover was taken away by soldiers. Do you care that much for Naga’s welfare?”

“Eh? Noooooo, what are you talking about, Vita-san?! I-I-I-It’s not because of that, you know? Naga-san is our leader, so shouldn’t it be an obvious thing to worry about him?”

[[Image:Naga04_Illus-06.jpg|175px|thumb]]

Ais insisted this, however, both her conduct and expression looked as though she was panicking. Vita was fully aware of that.

(Hahaha, this girl is still wet behind her ears.)

“Houhou, are you sure?”

The moment Vita sent a lukewarm smile at her, Ais put her hands in front of her very red face and waved with them.

“Of course I am!”

“What’s your opinion of him, Lela?”

“Eh? Uhm…… that’s righ, t. For us, the family of Heindler, Naga-san is a very important be, ing.”

Lela replied that way while carefully choosing her words. As she did so, Kay, Nonoel, Cu, Ixine, Linne & Linna, and Harlequin nodded down at once, however, one could clearly see the anxiety drawn on their faces, as they cared for Naga.

Kukuku – Vita chuckled in a weeping manner upon seeing that.

(It looks like, these girls have been captivated by Naga. Well, maybe I too feel that way. Still, I’m not sure about the world where both humans and the witches can coexist. At least, he was able to shown these girls a dream. They have probably become happy while watching that dream. The same goes for me and my daughters, and for Harrigan, I guess. That’s why we decided to follow Naga, and most likely, Harrigan too, feels the same way about this. Indeed, he’s an interesting, yet strange man.)

4

The place to which Naga was guided to was a station, or rather, it would be more suitable to call it an interrogation room, as it actually had a simplistic build.

(Well, I guess that was to be expected. There’s no way they would let a person of doubtful origins, like me, enter a guest room.)

At one corner of the confined room, there were a desk and chair, in front of which, was placed a folding stool. A man with a sharp look and military suit, who was sitting in the chair, threw a glance at Naga walking in. On both the left and right side of the desk, there were guards standing at attention.

(They seem to be pretty capable.)

Naga felt that way as he ran his eyes over the guards.

(Well then, should I start to brace myself?)

The reason why Naga thought so wasn’t because he wanted to be careful not to expose himself. To begin with, he didn’t consider such a possibility.

Naga had to act skillfully in drawing out information from his opponent and finding out about the current situation in this city. Perhaps, one could say that the outcome of this interview will determine the future of the witches. That’s why, this is what he meant by bracing himself.

After he followed the guide, Naga moved to the man’s front and halted there. Not standing up, the man gave him the signal to sit. Naga bowed down in respect and sat down on the stool.

He could sense the man becoming slightly nervous.

(Is it because he’s cautious of me? No, I don’t think so. Wouldn’t you feel this way, in the face of a much more imminent threat? As expected, were the rumors about a war approaching true? However, for the atmosphere to become like this, perhaps…. I should respond to it? I guess, it should be natural for me to act nervous and excited. After all, I’m the leader of a troupe who has been pulled in front of this big shot.)

As Naga was thinking so, the man ran his eyes over Naga again, as if trying to evaluate him.

“You’ve done a great job by coming from this far away. My name is Ligaya, and I’m the adjutant of general-dono, Guiscard, who’s the king representative of this country.”

(King representative……representative? Did something happen to this country?)

Naga thought suspiciously, but nevertheless, he bowed down while feigning ignorance.

“So you’re the boss of the troupe, right?”

Ligaya’s wording was polite, but he gave an impression of being rude in intent.

“Yes, my name is, Negane.”

“Apparently, you stopped by at Fort Ein on your way, but…..”

Ligaya went straight to the point without any preface.

“Yes. It happened while passing near that place. Before coming to city, we thought about doing entertainment for soldiers stationed there for few days, but….”

“Did you follow the Schweiz River and reach there from Lancel?”

“That’s right.”

“And you weren’t hindered by the witches?”

“No, not really. There nobody besides us, therefore, I thought, must have been very lonely place. We crossed sea to arrive here, so we don’t quite, know current situation.”

Naga casted down his eyes and scratched his head. Obviously, it was an act, however, it probably didn’t look like much of an excuse.

“Ah no, it’s not like I’m trying to find any fault with you. Then, it was like that? Despite you walking along the river, you didn’t engage with the witches directly?”

“Yes.”

“However, you saw the witches inside Fort Ein, right?”

“Yes, they were. I was startled a bit, but, they chase us off with not doing any bad, so I stroke down chest in relief.”

“I’ll repeat this again and ask you, one more time. Were you, able to grasp how many witches were there?”

“4, maybe 5 went to deal with us. But, since we no enter inside, we not able to see how many there, exactly. I, apologize.”

Surely, Ligaya had already been able to obtain this much information. Being neither irritated nor fed up, Ligaya carried on his interrogation unconcerned.

“Is that so? By the way, did you remember how they look?”

Naga expected this question to appear, so he pretended to remember.

“Umm…. there was bluish black hair, with a large build, was giving orders to everyone. I think, she was leader.”

“Is this, what the witch looked like?”

As soon as Ligaya gave the signal, one of the guards showed Naga a personal description. There he saw a drawn face of a heinously smiling witch, however, it certainly gave off Harrigan’s aura.

(That woman, if she sees this interpretation, she’ll surely murder the guy who drew this! This picture just screams for that to happen.)

“Ah… certainly, that witch, that witch.”

“I see. As one would expect, it was the clique of Harrigan?”

Judging from Ligaya’s way of talking, it seemed that Harrigan was a famous witch, even among humans.

(Well, I guess that’s understandable. Until now, she’s been the one who’s borne the full brunt of humans’ attacks. And then, her party is the one that has been repelling the enemy’s attacks.)

Naga could recall Harrigan’s fighting style that’s based on controlling a large wooden puppet, and scattering Kasandora Kingdom’s troops from the cliff.

(I guess, she can’t avoid being seen when fighting in front.)

“Then, those witches that are occupying the fort, were they preparing for something?”

Ligaya’s voice brought Naga back to his senses.

“No, it not feel like they preparing anything in particular. I saw wall strengthening construction, but, atmosphere quite leisurely. Even some witches, threw down tools and drank.”

Fumu – Ligaya folded his arms and groaned in a low voice.

“So, it doesn’t seem like….. the witches will threaten us anytime soon, does it? If that’s true….”

Ligaya pondered for a moment, so Naga stayed calm and awaited his next words.

After a while of continued silence, Ligaya raised up his head and asked Naga:

“Did you notice something else that was unusual? Anything will do.”

“Something, unusual….. That’s right, all witches, fine girls. And wore awfully small, piece of cloths. I think maybe they want appeal to troupe…. ah, pardon me.”

Ligaya, who had a stern face all the time, couldn’t resist making a wry smile at Naga’s words.

“Well, for someone of your status, I don’t think it’s impossible…. so it was like that?”

Ligaya pondered again as if hitting upon something.

(Hmph. So I was given a chance to explain and didn’t get scolded? Since they’re the ones trying to exterminate the witches, I thought they would be much more biased against the witches, but….)

“It looks like, all the members in your troupe are girls. Were you the only one who dealt with the witches when stopping by the fort?”

“No, female dancers, I, together with them.”

“I see. I guess, we need to consider the possibility that the witches…. didn’t lay their hands on your troupe, since they were all girls.”

(What? So this guy is able to reason that way? I wouldn’t have expected this from him, I think)

“Then, what do you plan to do afterwards?”

Ligaya suddenly changed the topic of their conversation.

“If possible, we like to perform inside city. If not, there no meaning in coming. And if that the case, we be much in red.”

“You mean it? I feel pity for you, but, that would be a difficult request.”

“Is it, really difficult?”

Naga put on an act and dropped down his shoulders disappointedly.

“There’s a chance that, a war might break out soon, so we’re patrolling this city. Our soldiers and citizens are making strenuous efforts for the war, so it isn’t the right time for them to be watching performances. We need to remove any factors that can thwart our preparations. Even if you were to try to do so, there’s no way you would receive a permission for that.”

(As expected, they’re quite at their wits’ end.)

While thinking so, Naga hung his head and replied powerlessly.

“That right. Then, no other way than return to Lancel.”

“You’re going back the way you came from, right?”

“This is only option. We bit scared when, passed near the witches. However, nothing happened to us, so I think…. we be fine with retuning back.”

Ligaya gazed fixedly at Naga with a stern expression.

(What? Could it be that he saw through me?)

“I thought about giving you a reward if you plan to pass near that fort again, but well…”

“Eh? Yes? W, What you mean to say?”

Naga was half acting, however, he was honestly bewildered, as he couldn’t grasp Ligaya’s true intention.

“There’s been no local who managed to meet the witches, so your visit before might be the first and the last one. Also, there’s no doubt that the witches have already memorized your faces, right?”

“Is…. this true?”

“That’s why I wanted to ask if you feel like paying them a visit, once more, but this time with one of our messengers.”

“Wha…What?!”

As one would expect, Naga too became dumfounded at Ligaya’s words.

“Even if we send a messenger, there’s no guarantee the witches will hear us out. In the worst-case scenario, you might all be murdered without being given a chance to argue.”

(I haven’t given it any thought, but….. it’s not impossible for them to do so. That’s because, Harrigan has talked before about assassins sent by the church to aim for their lives. It could be that the witches had considered Kasandora’s messengers as assassins….. therefore, resulting in these guys thinking this way. I guess, they reap what they sow.)

Not revealing his thoughts, Naga waited for the next words from his opponent.

“Therefore, we’d like to entrust you with our messenger. And we shall reward you, provided you decide to go back there. Obviously, we can’t cover the cost of your trip, but….”

“Still, we driven away, last time we drop by. We go there, but, I think it result in same.”

“You don’t particularly need to talk with them. We’ll prepare a letter here for the witches, so you only have to pass it to them.”

“Ah….. yes, if that case…. I think it be doable.”

Naga bent his neck and worked his brain hard.

(What’s he trying to make me do? Could it be….. he’s testing me?)

“We return there either way. If just stopping by, we take care of request.”

“You mean it? Then, I shall make the arrangements. Please return back to the waiting room.”

“Understood.”

Naga bowed down multiple times and left the station.

As soon as he took his leave, Ligaya called out to one of his subordinates who was standing behind him.

“Now that it’s come to this, go and compose a letter to the witches immediately.”

“Still, are you really fine with this, Ligaya-sama? Having that group of vagabonds deliver our letter.”

“I don’t care. Will those performers be captured or killed by the witches? It’s no skin off my nose.”

“Nevertheless, I think we should also worry about them possibly fleeing.”

“Of course, even if they run away with the reward, it won’t be a big deal, since it’s not a big sum of money. On the other hand, if our plan goes favorably, there might be more gain to us….”

Ligaya slowly stood up from his chair.

“In the end, the matter regarding the witches is just something we are doing on the side. Rather than that, we should, right now, prioritize the direct threat coming from the extermination group against the witches that’s heading south. There’s no telling if those guys will take the opportunity to attack us, so we better hasten ourselves with the preparations.”

“Yes, understood. We shall prepare the letter immediately.”

Soon after Naga returned back, he retold the whole story to everyone, making them drop their jaws at this unexpected turn of events.

“Those guys, what are they thinking?!”

Vita asked as if spitting it out.

“It’s just assumption, but, possible. I guess, their way of proposing ceasefire.”

And then, she made an expression of wanting to doubt.

“For real?”

“I am, serious.”

“Ah no, that’s not what I mean. I wanted to ask if those folks from Kasandora are seriously considering a ceasefire.”

“Will depend on what they want convey.”

“However, if they really do, it would be ridiculous.”

Kukuku – Vita chuckled while saying so.

“So basically, we will be both delivering and receiving the letter, right?”

Naga put up his hands, so as to have Ixine pay more attention.

“Lower voice, Ixine, or someone overhear.”
“Ah, sorry about that.”

Ixine hurriedly blocked her mouth using her hands.

“That’s true, I’ve similar thoughts to Ixine’s.”

Vita casted her staring eyes at Naga.

“In other words, Naga, you’ll be the one delivering that letter, right?”
“I will. Once I do, we check content and discuss with Harrigan regarding what we do. This time, there be messenger tag along, but, he should no suspect anything, even if let him stay at fort.”

“Certainly, I’m curious about what they want to tell us, will it be good news?

With that, their discussion reached its conclusion.

And then, they waited a short while.

Being accompanied by his men, Ligaya turned up in the waiting room.

“This is the letter I’d like for you to bring to the witches.”

One of his subordinates handed over a letter, sealed with wax, to Naga.

“Remember, you only have to pass it to them.”

“Understood.”

Naga bowed down deeply while thinking about this.

(It looks like things have taken an unexpected turn. However, we can make use of it. No, we definitely have to seize this favorable opportunity.)
7

Naga and his troupe of performers were assisted by the guards on their way to one of Kasandora’s forts that was nearby the witches.

Once they arrived, one of the soldiers spoke:

“We’ll excuse ourselves here, as our presence might hinder your interaction with the witches.”

The soldiers gave an impression as if being prepared to flee, however, Naga and the rest would rather avoid the soldiers meeting with the witches.

“This much do. Thank you, very much.”

Naga bowed down.

And then, the troupe left the fort, went south and returned back to Fort Ein.
Because there might be someone watching, just to make sure, they were received as guests. Naga called out to the witches, who turned out to be Narcissus and Selena, that were there.

Selena, who could check the surroundings using her Heaven Eye, sensed Naga and the rest approaching, so she brought Narcissus with her to welcome them. However, upon their immediate meeting, it seemed as though Naga was distant in his attitude. Like that, all the concerned visitors were escorted and brought inside the fort.
8

“What’s the meaning of this?!”

Harrigan, Naga, and the rest faced each other inside a single room of the fort’s residential building. The head of the Heindler clan opened her eyes widely in surprise as she was retold the whole story of Naga’s interrogation.

“With that, we’ve been entrusted with this letter and arrived here to deliver it to you, who is the head of the witches. They hope you’d be interested to know its contents.”

Lela returned the charm on Naga to its usual level, so all the witches could understand Naga’s manner of speaking like they used to.

“Is that so? Then, shall we open it quickly?”

Harrigan received the letter from him and broke the seal in a casual manner.
And then, she took out its contents and quickly ran her eyes over it.

“Fumu, it’s just as Naga predicted. They are asking us indirectly if we want to stop fighting each other. What’s more, their style of writing is condescending.”

“So it was just like I thought, eh?”

“However, despite their haughty way of expression, it seems like the Kasandora Kingdom is at its wits end if they’re making this request to us.”

Saying so, Harrigan made an expression filled with mixed feelings.

‘You’re right.’ – Naga nodded down.

“Losing to us this badly, and eventually, their fort. On top of that, they’re being threatened by a large army of 3000-4000 enemy units. Misfortunes never come singly, or so they say. I guess, it’s not impossible for them to want to grasp at straws.”
“So we’re the straws?”

Harrigan made a displeased face, however, Vita laughed enjoyably.

“Hahaha, rather than straws, I’d say we’re more like poisoned steam buns.”

“Is this something to laugh about?!”

“Ohhh, Vita, that’s some nice comparison.”

“Naga, you too! Is this the right time to be praising others?!”

“Don’t be so grumpy, Harrigan.”

“Still, Naga, they might be putting their hands up and offering us a ceasefire due to them being in a crisis right now, but, don’t forget they’ve been causing us lots of pain, so they can’t be fully trusted. Maybe, it’s better to let them get attacked and crushed?”

“I’ll agree with you on the part that they can’t be trusted, but, with how things look right now, we’ve got to make use of this situation.”

“Make use? What do you mean?”

“Isn’t this a favorable opportunity to demand gratitude from them?”

“Gratitude? You mean accepting their request? What good will come from doing that? Wouldn’t it be more beneficial for us to let the Kasandora Kingdom perish in a fight with other countries?”

“That would probably work short-term, however, there are more gains for us in the long-term if they survive.”

At Naga’s words, Harrigan frowned and made a doubtful face.

“Is that…. true?”
“The information regarding the approaching troops is partial, so I can’t tell for sure, but according to what that adjutant Ligaya said, the troops are led by the Church. If the Kasandora Kingdom suffers a complete defeat, we’ll be next in line to receive the Church’s onslaught. Rather, they will become even more motivated to charge at us after gaining victory over the Kasandora Kingdom. And at that rate….”

Naga shrugged his shoulders a bit.

“We’ll be forced to throw away the fort we captured and retreat back to the forest. However, whether we can protect it or not remains as a question.”

“But…. just because we comply with the ceasefire, it doesn’t mean the Kasandora Kingdom will turn into our ally. Also, there’s no telling if those folks will really fight against the extermination group.”

“That will depend on how we play it, you see.”

“W….What do you mean?”

“We will create a situation where both sides won’t be on good terms with each other, even if they don’t fight. This will become our advantage.”

“W….What?”

“What do you mean, Naga?”

Both Harrigan and Vita, as well as the other witches, turned their puzzled looks at Naga.

“In other words, if we make Kasandora Kingdom and the extermination group glare at each other, we can thwart the church’s plan, right? They won’t be able to charge at us with their full army while having Kasandora Kingdom at their backs. Naturally, this will slow down their military movements. Our aim is to buy us some time, proceed with our preparations, and try to counter the extermination group with all that we’ve got.”

‘I see.’ – Harrigan nodded down.

“Still, is there any guarantee that the Kasandora Kingdom and the extermination group won’t join their forces together?”

“True, there isn’t. Far from that, it’s possible that the Kasandora Kingdom will do so due to them suffering a crisis.”

“In that case, shouldn’t we consider our plan with that in mind?”

“That’s why, I’m telling you we won’t be relying upon others but ourselves to create our desired situation. And then, prolong it.”

“No…. I don’t get your idea.”

Harrigan, whose face looked pitiful, turned her sight toward Vita. However, the latter merely lightly shook her head.

“I too, can’t comprehend that. Do you mind, explaining it in a more simple and concrete way, Naga?”

“That’s to say, this, you see.”

Naga explained his strategy to the best of his efforts.

“….With that, we’ll put on the Kasandora Kingdom Army’s uniforms and give the extermination army some hard times. If we do so, it’s inevitable for both sides’ relationship to turn worse, right? Not to mention, the extermination group will put the blame on Kasandora for something the latter hasn’t done, so they will no longer be able to come to an agreement.”

All the witches shook their heads up and down with dumbfounded faces.

“You’re truly an evil person.”

Vita stated so with an astonished expression, following that, Harrigan too, nodded in agreement.

“Good grief. And to think we witches are regarded as heinous by humans. Don’t we look the same as babies in front of Naga?”

“Naga-san, you’re quite vicious, aren’t you?”

This time it was Kay’s turn to carry on.

“No no, I’m surely not vicious, right?”

“That’s right. I think you’re exaggerating, Kay-chan.”

“Ais, you do understand, right?”

“Rather, there’s no end to him being treacherous.”
“Doesn’t it make me look even worse?”

“Just how did you come up with such a heinous idea?”

“As expected, isn’t it because of his character?”

“Vita, Harrigan, don’t say those cruel things.”

“They aren’t. We think they reflect the truth.”

“Ah no, this much of an idea is normal for me.”

Harrigan pulled her head back and glared at Naga with scornful eyes.

“Really?”

“I wonder about that.”

“That’s probably like him.”

“Well, regarding how vicious he is, let’s leave that matter aside.”

“Don’t just leave it aside!”

“Then, will this really work? This is the real question. And how are you confident of its success?”

“…..You usually tend to find a solution when seeking a way out of a desperate situation, Vita.”

“As if!”

“It’s not necessary false, but well, I guess it will only show during a contest. Till now it’s been always like this for me, I think. Back then, when we fought against 2000 soldiers, did you think you’d win?”

Harrigan responded to Naga’s remark.

“Umu, that’s right. We thought it was useless for us to fight back, without even trying. I guess it’s a bad habit of ours.”

“That’s right, Harrigan. You should always try to do your best. And if it fails, try something else. And if, again, it doesn’t work….”

“If it doesn’t work?”

“Then run away. Run away and start again from the beginning.”

Kukakaka – Naga laughed while saying so.

(So there was such a way of thinking? Good grief. Whenever it comes to this guy,)

“I think humans…. no, even us the witches can’t comprehend your way of reasoning. But, for a fool to be able to break through these obstacles, perhaps, you’re no longer different from a genius.”

Saying that, Harrigan leaked out a scornful laughter which she couldn’t hold back.

“If I were to say, rather than Naga-sama being a genius, he’s more of a natural disaster. Especially, for his opponents.”

As soon as Raibach stated this, the present witches smiled and broke into laughter.

A fearsome being that could be regarded as a natural disaster for its opponents, but reversely, a trustworthy being for its allies. In fact, wasn’t it because Naga had won easily against the advancing army of Kasandora Kingdom just like stopping a violently blowing storm? Recalling that event, the witches told themselves they could place more hope in their future.

“Then, let’s make the best of our time and proceed with our preparations while the Kasandora Kingdom and the extermination group haven’t struck a deal, Vita.”

“Umu…. that’s right…”

“What? Is there still something on your mind?”

“Well, I agree with what you’ve just said. Still, there’s one more concern.”

Naga squinted his eyes and urged Vita to speak.

“One more concern? What could it be?”

“If memory serves me right, among the information which you acquired in Kasandora Kingdom, there was one regarding troops that falls under the direct control of the church. That is to say, information that’s supported by the rumor we had heard in Lancel. Apparently, those guys are strong, you know?”

Naga lean forward his body while making a serious expression.

“Are they that strong?”

“Umu. I too have only heard about them from rumors, so I can’t say for sure, but, apparently, they’re combat troops that are referred as brigades. Their soldiers wear silver armor, which is highly resistant to magic and dulls it.”

“To what extent?”

“We won’t know that unless we try. It would be different if it’s just 1 or 2 soldiers, but, we’ve never fought a troop consisting of all soldiers wearing silver armor.”

“For real….? Then, does it mean that everything will depend on the outcome of this battle?”

Naga made a difficult face while groaning in a low voice.

“And that’s not all.”

Naga raised up his head at Vita’s words.

“We still don’t know how many of those brigades there are. I’ve only heard about this, but I think there are supposed to be 7- 8. That’s why, I’m worried about the number of brigades coming here this time.”

“So, based on Vita’s statements, should I understand that….. those brigades each possess a different fighting strength?”

(As usual, this guy is sharp.)

“That’s right.”

“What part of them is bothering you?”

“There are 3 rumors that describe their exceptional strength, especially the one in which apparently there’s that annoying troop referring to themselves as ‘the Brigade of 88′”

‘This too, is a rumor I learned from hearsay, but…’ – Vita revealed the meaning behind the brigade’s name followed by a story of the brigade holing up.

“Hohou. Indeed, they’ve got some terrific fighting style there.”

Naga ooh’ed in admiration.

“That’s why, I think we should avoid any hard fights involving the Brigade of 88 if they come.”

“I guess, we need to check more on that Brigade of 88.”

“How do you plan, to do that?”

“By kidnapping 1 or 2 soldiers and questioning them?”

“That measure is way too extreme!”

“Having you say it’s extreme, kinda makes me feel uneasy.”

“What’s the meaning of that?!”

“Ah no, nothing in particular. Don’t mind it.”

“Shouldn’t it be fine, to have Linne and Linna overhear some soldiers?”

Harrigan suggested.

“…….True. I guess it’s more convenient that way, isn’t it? There’s the possibility that the Kasandora Kingdom might become wary if their soldiers are kidnapped. They might even consider it as a surprise attack, so it’s better not to have them be alert. That being said, in addition to Linne & Linna sneaking inside the city, we need to determine the position of the extermination group. I think I can only entrust Yuuki and Selena with that task.”

“It can’t be helped. Well, shall we get moving then?”

—Why is Yuuki always acting this high-handedly?—

Kay whispered this question to Nonoel.

—Isn’t it because her head’s always in the clouds when she’s flying?—
—Nonoel, that was good!—

“Hey there! what are you whispering to each other?!”

Yuuki raised her eyebrows and stared at them both.

“Nothing~~”
“Nothing in particular”

‘Hmph’ – Yuuki snorted and turned back her face.

“Anyway, I’ll set off tomorrow and fly near the royal capital to conduct a regular scouting.”

“Then, will you take this mantle with you and place it near the city, so that I can teleport with Selena?”

Elysione made such a suggestion.

“There are also guards inside the city, so they might notice something strange. Maybe, if you add some more mantles…”

“That’s right. It should be much more convenient if we increase the number of spots where Elysione can teleport to. And If we mark the targets, it will be also easier to transport Selena. I’ll be relying on you, Elysione.”

*Biku* – Once Naga lightly bowed down, Elysione drew back with a start.

“Ah…. yes, I, I’ll take care of that.”

(For some reason….my heart, skips a beat whenever this person bows down.)

Unaware of Elysione’s bewilderment, Harrigan faced toward Naga with a stern expression.
9
“By the way, how do we reply to the letter? It was written they would like to receive an answer from us, but…”

Naga quickly responded, following Harrigan’s question.

“It should be fine if we just say we don’t plan to interfere with them.”

“Will they believe in such an ambiguous reply?”

“For now, it’s better that way. Still, that’s right, should we also add they better do the same?”

‘Fumu’ – Harrigan folded her arms and groaned.

“So it’s come to this? Indeed, it’s hard to strike a bargain.”

(I don’t think so. After all, you have done so way too many times.)

“It should do if we hand our reply to the troop nearby, watching us. We’ll just compose a proper reply and have them deliver it to their superiors.”

“Have you considered…. they might try and arrest us when trying to hand the reply?’

At Ais’ question, Naga denied with full confidence.

“I don’t think one or two soldiers from a scouting troop will attempt to catch you. If they could, they’d have long since won this war.”

“You’re right. If there are just 10 or 20 soldiers, then we can somehow manage. Speaking of which, Lela, I’m sorry, but, could you please take care of writing the reply? Once you’re done, go together with Kay and Cu to where the troop is stationed and pass it to them. Selena will observe their position, so you’ll know where the scouts are hiding.”

“Understood, Ane-sa, ma.”

“Apart from that, Harrigan, there’s one more thing I’d like to ask. Can someone from your group go to Lancel?”

“Lancel, again? For what purpose?”

“I happened to see slaves there on sale back when we were visiting Lancel.”

Harrigan made a doubting face after hearing Naga’s words.

And it wasn’t just her either. The other witches, as well as Raibach, had doubting, or rather – curious expressions, while being unable to understand what Naga was trying to imply.

“Certainly, slaves are bound to be there as well. After all, that port city is a place which thrives in trade. What’s more, there’s no limit to the amount of food and articles sold.”

“Oh and by the way, we managed to sell your gadgets and jewelry for high prices.”

“I guess, that’s very like of you…. Speaking of which, I received a brief report from Ais and Lela the other day, when you had passed through here on your way to the capital of the Kasandora Kingdom, but…….”

The complexion on Harrigan’s face, which seemed to express her doubt, turned more and more thick in color. Rather than doubt, perhaps it was better to say, of misgiving.

“Sorry, but, can we sell more gadgets and jewelry from your warehouse?”

“Haaa? What, are you talking about? What do you intend to do?!”

“If possible, I’d like to have you, Vita, help us too.”

Being told so, Vita couldn’t hide her puzzlement.

“That’s why, I’m asking what do you intend to do with the money…. hmm? Don’t tell me, you plan to purchase those slaves?”

“Ohh, how sharp of you, Vita.”

“What? You!”

“W, What are you angry about?”

“Despite us being in a life-and-death matter, you’re telling us to sell our items to buy young female slaves… no, just what are you making us do?”

Ais stood up while swaying.

“Naga-san, so it’s all about that? Is this what you’ve been thinking about?”

‘Oh, that’s right!’ – Kay looked up in the air as if recalling something.

“Back then, Naga-san would frequently ask about slaves.”
“I misjudged you, Naga.”

Harrigan’s hair drifted in the air.

“Wait wait wait! You lot are misunderstanding something!”

“How are we supposed to misunderstand you?”

“I told you I want to buy slaves, however, I didn’t say they will be females. They’re male slaves! On top of that, robust ones!”

“Naga-san, could it be, that you swing in that direction?”

“You’re running your imagination too far away, Ais!”

“….Am I wrong?”

“Ah, for god’s sake, these girls are. Why won’t you first listen to what people have to say?”

Naga held his head.

“Isn’t it because there’s a problem in your behavior?”

“Right? Suddenly falling into a bathroom and rubbing Ane-sama’s chest. You could only think of Naga-san buying females when he mentions slaves with that in mind. Don’t you think your conduct is what forces us to think that way?”

“Ah, no, Ais, why are you….”

Harrigan, whose face was red, chided Ais.

“Ehhh? Naga-sama, have you really done such an envious…?”

Raibach looked at Harrigan with an envious face.

“D, Don’t look at me with such eyes!”

“So, Hari-nee had her chest already rubbed by Naga-san?! I’m envious[[User:Darkdhaos|Darkdhaos]] ([[User talk:Darkdhaos|talk]]) 13:15, 29 October 2016 (CEST) Right, Nono?”

“Noooo? I, I’m not particularly, not at all, envious about that!”

“That’s why, don’t tell people things that are easy to misunderstand!”

Harrigan gazed at Ais with fearsome, murderous eyes.

“Eh? But, isn’t it true? Isn’t this what Yuuki, who witness the event, clearly said?”

Yuuki, whose name was suddenly called out, turned away and averted her eyes. On the other hand, the other witches who were unaware of that fact besides Ais and Lela drew back their heads and looked at Harrigan with scornful eyes.

“I’m telling you it’s wrong!”

“Harrigan.”

“W….What, Naga?”

“Do you now understand a bit this pain of being misunderstood and ignored by others?”
“I do…. However, being pointed that out by someone, who tries to fulfill his lust by buying slaves, makes me incredibly annoyed.”

“Just how untrustworthy can I be?”

Naga sighed while having a miserable expression.

“Just as I said, I’m going to buy male slaves.”

“What do you plan to do with them later? Make them help with strengthening this fort? Certainly, someone else’s hands would be welcomed for construction jobs, but, it’s meaningless for now, isn’t it? Weren’t you also the one who said that?

“Obviously, I won’t be using them for that purpose. I’m going to make them into soldiers.”

“What?!”

Vita bent her face in amazement, whereas all the other witches and Raibach opened their eyes widely.

“No matter how many of you are mighty warriors, the number of witches is way too scarce. After all, your enemy is an army of 3000-4000 units. What’s more, if the war continues to escalate, we’ll need hands for carrying food, weapons, and armor. Not to mention, you may also have to cross swords or strike each other if a battle becomes intense. I’m not saying you lot possess no hand-to-hand combat skills. It’s just you’re more suited for long range fighting. Now that it’s been mentioned, we’ll also need people who can shoot with bows and those who can march into an enemy’s camp with swords and spears. We’ve gotta supply ourselves with those soldiers.”

Despite Naga finishing his explanation, everyone was left open-mouthed while being unable to utter a single word.

“What are you amazed at? A battle is primarily more about quantity than quality, so raising the number of soldiers is the basic of basics.”

Harrigan and Vita exchanged looks.

“Are you of the same mind, Vita?”

“I’ve never participated in a big war before, so don’t ask me.”

Harrigan pulled herself together and faced toward Naga.

“Still, even if we buy those slaves, will they do as they’re told? Will they fight for our sake? Or will they go against us?”

“Slaves probably consider their buyer as their owner. It doesn’t matter to them who that person is, or from where it is.”

“That may be true….. but…”

“In that case, you shall be their owners. Or could it be that only humans can trade slaves?”

“Ah no, I don’t… think so.”

“Then, there shouldn’t be any problems.”

“Even if you throw out your chest like that…”

“Slaves usually tend to live in harsh surroundings. They might thank us If we provide them with proper meals and warm beds. And if we promise to set them free after they perform well in battle, they might become even more excited to work for us. Be it humans or the witches, for slaves, it should make no big difference. It’s how they’re going to be treated that matters the most.”

“You’re talking about slaves as though you can understand them, aren’t you?”

Despite Vita saying this in a teasing manner, Naga puffed up with pride and answered while remaining calm.

“I don’t. More like, I can picture them. Since we can’t raise soldiers using straightforward methods, using slaves as soldiers is the easiest and fastest way. Don’t you think?”
“If I were to say…. Yes, you might be right.”

“Now then, Harrigan, I’d like for you to carry your items to Lancel, convert them into money, and then use it to purchase the slaves. Vita, you too, I’ll appreciate it if you could help us.”

“I don’t mind, but….. just how much time would it take to transport our load from a village to the city?”

“Is that so? Since Elysione won’t be coming with us….”

“No, even if that girl did, she wouldn’t be useful at all. After all, she can’t carry things using her mantles, not to mention, the clothes we put on.”

“Yeah. Certainly, it’ll take way too much time to load the cart and transport the items.”

“Then, how about we use Yuuki?”

Yuuki had been deliberately turning away all this time, but, she couldn’t help it when everyone’s gazes were focused on her, so she turned back around

“Fine with me, but, I’ll have to go and return many times, since my board can’t carry that much, you know?”

“We don’t mind. However, I still think it will be much faster than carrying it on the cart. Also, as I fear, we’ll need to have someone who can evaluate the items, so…”

‘Well, certainly, that’s true’ – Yuuki puffed her cheeks in displeasure, but nevertheless, she answered reluctantly.

“I’ve no discerning eye when it comes to an item’s value.”

“I’ll have to return back to the forest to get my items. Then, how many slaves should we gather?”

“I don’t know how much a single slave is worth, and also, how much can we gain from selling your items, so probably, it will depend on the outcome. We’ll gather as many slaves as possible based on their costs. I’d like to have at least 100 of them, but, I’m not sure if there are slaves capable of fighting at a reasonable price on sale. In the worst case-scenario, I won’t mind even if we manage to get just 10-20.”

“You mean it? I guess, we’ll just have to play it by ear.”

“Right. Then, we need someone who can take care of them…..”

Naga looked around at the present people and stopped his sights on a single one.

“I entrusted you with the sale of the items the previous time, but, as expected, the only one who can choose and buy slaves is you, Raibach.”

Raibach whose face looked stupefied pointed at himself.

“Eh? Me?”

“Yes. If it’s you, who has led soldiers before, then you will somehow be able to manage the slaves, won’t you?”

“That’s, well, yes.”

“On the other hand, the same can’t be said about the witches. Don’t you agree, Harrigan?”

Harrigan shrugged her shoulders.

“Right. We’ve never swung swords or spears, so we haven’t the slightest idea about what kind of a person is suitable to become a soldier.”

“And with that, Raibach, you’ll be in charge of supplying us with slaves.”
“Understood. I’ll try to do my best.”

Later, a talk regarding each person’s duty would be decided, with Naga being the main character.
10

Early the next morning.

Having confirmed the reply addressed to Kasandora, Lela took Cu, Kay, Nonoel, and Selena with her and left the Fort Ein.

The remaining witches worked in a hurry, so as to bring the items from their village hidden inside the forest, and prepare to repel the extermination group.

Lela and her team quickly returned back after they passed the reply to a scouting troop’s leader they had discovered.

Soon after Naga received the report from Lela, he started to do calculations inside his mind.

(Well then, I wonder, how much time did we manage to gain? Even if the extermination army reaches Kasandora Kingdom, they won’t be able to simply move, so perhaps we have around 10 days. If that’s not enough, should we put on the Kasandora army’s uniforms and attack the extermination army’s troops? I guess, I’d rather utilize that additional time and fully prepare before meeting them.)

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| Forward to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Chapter 5|Chapter 5]]
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Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Chapter 4

2016-10-29T11:15:18Z

Darkdhaos:

==Chapter 4- Enemy and Ally, Both of their Circumstances==

1

The royal capital of Kasandora Kingdom was a relatively large, fortified city located in the westernmost peninsula.

The city was 16 meters high and surrounded by a thick wall, with roughly 2000 people living inside.

However, the ‘2000’ people only included those citizens who were registered in the tax payment account book.

Naturally, noble families, servants, and slaves, who were exempted from paying taxes didn’t count, as well as travelers that had wandered in from other places to the city. It also excluded merchants who were temporarily staying.

Since nobody would bother to check that, no one really knew the total number of people. Still, shouldn’t it be fine to estimate the current population at around 4000?

The majority of these citizens were farmers, therefore, lots of them would set off early in the morning to their fields near the city’s outskirts, and return to the city before the sunset. There were also instances in which the farmers would stay overnight at their fields once it was harvest season.

They did so as to prevent the theft of their crops and to drive away any animals that would try to devour their crops, as it was natural for there to be no public safety outside the city, in this period. That’s why the farmers would arm themselves and form groups to defend against robbers and animals.

The settlements of those farmers were reinforced with wooden fences, which resembled forts a bit. In case of slightly bigger settlements, there were even dry moats surrounding them.

Not to mention, these settlements would actually act as forts and house soldiers during times of emergency.

And then, it seemed like a ‘time of emergency’ had arrived for Kasandora. Their soldiers moved into a few of those large settlements while carrying army provisions and weapons. Some of these settlements were placed along the main road, so it was bound for Naga to witness them.

Naga drew near on his horse toward a soldier, who mounted his own one, and called out to him with a low voice.

“Uhm, Soldier-san.”

The soldier turned around.

“I see great number of soldiers near fort. Could be, you preparing for battle?”

“That’s, not really a fort, but well…”

“Yes?”

“Does it look like a fort to you from far away?”

Saying so, the soldier explained the aforementioned circumstances to Naga.

(Hmm, I see. So they use farmers’ settlements as forts? Certainly, you can save time and costs on building them, but you really can’t expect them to be strong in defense, right?)

Is what Naga thought.

(Still, I don’t quite understand the way how things in this world should be, like why a city and a castle are working as one. From where I come from, a castle should be a castle, whereas, a city should be a city. At least, a castle being a castle should be….. defense-wise, much stronger, but…)

According to what Naga had heard from the witches, it didn’t seem to be rare for everyone to be massacred during a war between different ethnic groups, as everyone, including citizens, merchants, and laborers dwelled inside the same city. Even if there wasn’t any war, bandits and violent animals would roam near the outskirts, so, people preferred to set up residence inside a city.

Nevertheless, such a principle of this world was still incomprehensible to Naga.

(What I can’t comprehend the most is that there are beings called witches. Now, we can understand each other owing to the fact we’ve been living together, but….)

Or it could be that the witches had accepted him due to his eccentric nature.

Realizing that he was a bit eccentric himself, Naga made a weak, curious smile at that and at the sarcasm of his placed position right now.

“Soldier-san.”

He ceased to smiled and called out to the soldier.

“The citizens, does mean that citizens pick up weapons during siege?”

“Depends on how the battle progresses, however, that would also be the case. The citizens too, were trained to wield weapons, so to prepare themselves for a battle when necessary, you see.”

“Are you, enrolling people, for army?”

“We are.”

The soldier who replied so made a slightly bitter face.

“But, judging from how things looks like, it doesn’t seem like we’ll gather enough volunteers at a moment’s notice…. No, it’s nothing. Please forget what I’ve just said.”

“Still, I no luck.”

Naga said this as he looked up at the sky.

“If we no hold entertainment, we not be able to cover cost our travel to here, and therefore, return trip. Our troupe, fall into huge deficit.”

As he declared this and breathed out a sigh, the soldier showed a compassionate face.

“I guess, even leaders of troupes have it difficult.”

After that, the soldier lowered down his voice and asked.

“However, having such young and lovely girls by your side, there are probably lots of side benefits coming from that, right? With that many girls, wouldn’t you make a fortune, were you to assign them to a night job?”

“Ah no, we no do that. After all, we performers. People like us not lose dignity that way.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

Naga had the feeling the soldier would visit them right away as a guest, were he to do so. The soldier replied in a fed up manner.

(Well, certainly I’ll agree that those girls, all of them are beauties. Speaking of which, could it be that someone like me is incredibly lucky to be mixed up with all these girls? Ah no, how should it be? On the other hand, I can tell my life has been put at risk numerous times.)

‘Well, whatever.’ – Naga decided not to brood over that matter any longer. As he did so, the sight of the city, seen from the top of a small hill, had finally come into his view.

(I see. Certainly, it has an impact similar to that of a giant citadel when seen from close like this, unlike that port city.)

Feeling admiration, Naga made a quick reckoning inside his head.

(Umm, so was it around 2000 soldiers in the garrison? And 2000 citizens? Assuming they recruit 500 additional soldiers from those citizens, the total number within their garrison would amount to 2500. If that’s the case, in order to capture the city, the enemy would need more than 10 thousand units. I see, it’s not like I don’t get why Kasandora wants to hole up, but…)

However, Naga soon understood the drawback coming from such a heavy defense.

(The number of people holing up is way too big. If it’s like this, they will need to consume a large amount of army provisions. And that’s not including unregistered citizens. 5000, perhaps 6000, if that many people are going to hole up in the capitol, just how much army provisions would they require? Do they have enough to supply themselves for a long time? And then, the biggest problem would be about whether reinforcements would be coming or not……)

Holing up, was, in the end, a defensive strategy adopted by those who couldn’t afford winning in the open field.

Naga didn’t know if the Kasandora Kingdom had any allies that could send them reinforcements, but judging from what he had heard till now, it didn’t look like there whereas any.

(Fumu, I wonder… if we could use this as an opportunity for something.)

As Naga was working his head off, their troupe kept closing the distance and finally reached the giant entrance of the city.

Once they crossed a bridge that spanned a dry moat, Naga dismounted his horse in front of the entrance.

Looking up from below, he could feel the actual size of the wall on his skin.

(Indeed, it’s big. What’s more, is it made from bricks? Or perhaps, it’s a mud wall made from tightly packed earth and covered with bricks? Whichever it is, it seems to be firm. To begin with, was there a castle with such firmly built walls like this in my world?)

Naga, whose memories were lost, couldn’t say for sure, but, he felt he hadn’t witnessed such a protective wall before in his life.

“Please wait here for a moment. I’ll go and contact my superior.”

The commanding officer went to the gate, in order to exchange some words with the guard on duty. As Naga saw him off, he looked up at the wall again.

(I wonder how should I capture such a heavily guarded city?)

As Naga pondered about that, the witches too, although they were female dancers in appearance, disembarked from the cart and gathered around him. They looked up at the massive wall just like Naga.

Apparently, there was a passage on top of the wall, in which people could walk on.

(Is the top of the wall this high, so as to prevent arrows from reaching it?)

Ais called out to Naga who was staring fixedly at the wall.

“It’s big, isn’t it? With this size and massiveness, it doesn’t look like I can break it with just 1 or 2 hits.”

(So you had such a plannn?!)

As he looked at Ais with an astonished face, she smiled back with a grin.

“Perhaps, 10 hits should be enough to do so.”

(This girl, she’s just like a human battering ram.)

Naga shivered with fear.

“I guess, it wouldn’t be easy for me to climb over these walls, even if someone was to throw me up.”

Vita stated this.

(So these girls too, have thought about ways on how to capture this city? How mindful of them.)

‘Kukuku.’ – Naga chuckled like this without himself realizing.

“What? Don’t you seem to be enjoying yourself?”

At Vita, who asked this question, Naga paid attention and lowered his voice.

“That’s just manner of speech, manner of speech.”

“I, Is that so?”

*Uhen* – Vita coughed and looked up again at Naga.

“You seem to be in a good mood, aren’t you, boss?”

“….This feel awfully, strange.”

As Naga muttered this, Vita kicked up at his calf.

“Aww! What you do if someone see us like this?!”

“Hmph, I made sure that nobody was looking at us.”

Vita’s tone returned back to its usual one.

“Hey, what are you laughing at?”

At Vita, who asked this question in a whispering manner, Naga replied while laughing.

“I, you, we both thought about capturing this city upon arriving. That, too funny.”

“What, you too? Well, I guess that’s the first thing you’d be thinking about in this kind of situation. Still, your manner of speech is way too unpleasant.”

Vita, who was observing the wall, shifted her gaze back at Naga while saying this. As she did so, Ais also nodded in agreement.

“Right? It too, creeps me out a bit.”

“You saying, cruel things, Ais. It’s because of charm, so can’t be help.”

“Couldn’t you do something about it, Lela?

“Eh? But…. I think this way of talking suits a stranger, like Naga-san, Vita, san.”

“No, it’s nothing but gross.”

“Vita, you, worst.”

“Then, have you come up with any good ideas?”

“Right plan comes with the right number, but, for us, we not enough. Just coming up with way, hard. “

Hmph – Vita snorted under her nose.

“That’s some convenient reasoning coming from you.”

“I come up with something if can think calmly. More important, us return to officer.”

At Naga’s words, Vita assumed her usual, haughty attitude once more.

(She would truly be a cute kid with that peculiar face, and that attitude from before, but, well….)

Naga thought so, however, by no means could he afford to let Vita know about that.

“Oi, Boss.”

Being called by the commanding officer, who had returned back, Naga drew near with a trot.

“Ligaya-sama said he would like to meet you.”

“Ligaya-sama, who that?”

“He’s the adjutant of our army’s supreme commander, Guiscard.”

(Again, quite a distinguished person has made their appearance, I guess.)

Naga displayed his astonishment in an exaggerated way, even though he was just a bit surprised.

“D, Do we really have to meet person of such eminence? I feeling nervous.”

The commander made a wry smile and replied:

“You don’t have to worry that much. It should be fine, as long as you can provide him with information about the fort of the witches. He may even reward you properly.”

“Thank you, very much.”

Bowing down respectfully, Naga thought this.

(I’m a surprisingly good actor, I guess. Speaking of which, things have become quite interesting.)

Raising up his head, Naga turned around and called out to the female dancers.

“Everyone, let’s go, inside.”

The girls returned back to the cart(?) in a bustling manner and gathered around their boss as he took the reins again.

“Excellent, now follow me.”

Being led by the commander, Naga’s troupe passed through the big gate and stepped into the fortified city.

3

What appeared in front of them was a path that turned in a ‘コ’ shape. Once they passed through it, there was a big main street running in the northern and southern direction. At some points of the ‘コ’ shaped path, there were spare places used in case of emergency to cut off the passage. From the inside of the walls, where the path was bending, there were watchtowers put up.

(I see. This place was arranged in this way so that the watchtowers could intercept the enemy, even if they were to break through that giant gate and rush in.)

Naga quickly saw through the mechanism of this place’s construction.

Certainly, those who would manage to storm in through the gate would be further hindered by this 2, no, 3-fold defense. It was also one of the methods to shoot down the enemy from above.

The enemy soldiers would crowd together inside this narrow passage while being unable to either hide or escape. A trap like this would produce heavy casualties.

On the other hand, the garrison that’s attacking from high above wouldn’t even have to expose themselves to the enemy. Because of that, the danger of incurring any losses is low. Not to mention, the garrison could also rely on throwing logs and pouring down boiling oil, causing huge damage to the enemy.

(Fumu. This might become a good reference.)

Naga would be troubled if he was asked where he get all those references from, despite him having lost his memory. However, he himself considered it vaguely as something intuitional when looking for a way to protect his own castle.

Exiting the place where the path was bending to the spacious main street, the troupe continued to head towards a castle.

Naga felt as if the number of people passing each other on the main road wasn’t adequate to the scope of this city. Could it be that the merchants left the city after sensing the danger of a potential war? Once the rumors about a war spreads, it’s natural for there to be less merchants visiting too. Obviously, with more merchants leaving than coming here, the number of people is bound to reduce inside the city.

(I guess there aren’t many travelers as well, so it’s likely the cost of services, such as renting a room in an inn, will rise. Speaking of which, we might be welcomed here, like outsiders are supposed to be, but, it doesn’t seem like we’ll have the spare time to stay in this city and do performances for long.)

Apparently, some permanent stores were running their business as usual, but despite there being people passing by, not many customers could be seen inside.

There were also defensive walls, placed on the 4-way crossroads that were located between each block. When necessary, the walls would be closed so as to prevent enemy troops from further advancement. As expected, there were also watchtowers built there.

Naga would be suspected, were he to stare at the places too much, so instead, he observed the defensive facilities, in a casual, however, proper manner.

Finally, they arrived at the entrance leading to the inside of the castle.

The commander exchanged some words with the guard, after which they proceeded further inside.

(Indeed, we are lucky to have this guy assist us. Not only are we able to see the city but also the interior of the castle.)

The pathway inside the castle wasn’t straight, which was similar to what Naga and the rest had seen till now. It was meandering and complex, just like a maze, making them stop and turn from time to time. Where they didn’t have to stop, there were defense zones that would hinder further movements when necessary.

As well as watchtowers raised here and there; the path was narrow and the wall was built on the edge, making it impossible for anyone to see what’s next, less they drew near.

No matter how smart Naga was, it was difficult for him to grasp how the inside of this castle roped off. Still, he counted his steps and the number of corners while walking.

The witches looked around with curious eyes, but, none of them would check how the interior stretched out, like Naga. Instead, they walked forward without a single care.

Soon after, the commander stopped and turned around, probably because they reached the right building.

What stood in front of them was a splendid, stone-made, 3 story building with a large garrison.

Naga perceived the garrison was full of well-equipped soldiers with high morale.

(In other words, only big shots are gathered here? Still, is this building made from stone? It feels like I’ve rarely seen things similar to this. A stone-made building. Stone-made? Certainly, it’s more firm than the wooden-made ones. But on the other hand, it’s much more bothersome to build.)

Naga looked at the building closely and again felt strange, however, the building gave off an impression of it probably serving some purpose.

4

It was decided that an enquiry would be held with Naga as a representative, and therefore, he was brought by a guide further inside the building. The rest of his troupe stayed in a waiting room.

“Will Naga-san be fine by himself? If they discover his identity and arrest him…. will it be really okay?”

Ais whispered this question to Vita while looking slightly anxious.

(Isn’t it rare for Ais to be this worried about a stranger?)

Vita however, replied with a voice as if she couldn’t care less about them being overheard.

“You don’t have to worry. To begin with, there’s no reason for him to be exposed.”

“However, back when Naga-san stole Fort Ein, he exposed his face to the soldiers there. There’s no telling if those who have seen Naga-san before will recognize him by his face.”

Vita made a wry smile at Ais’ manner of speaking.

“You’re overreacting way too much, Ais. Did you forget he told us to change our skin color and hairstyle? Our way of talking is also supposed to be completely different, so I don’t think anyone will notice.”

“Then, I guess that’s fine, but….”

“It will be the same for us if Naga becomes exposed by any chance. In that case, we can only run wild, rescue Naga-san and escape the city. Obviously, there might be some casualties among us, nevertheless…”

Ais swallowed her saliva and nodded down with a stern expression.

“Well, shouldn’t we place our expectations in Naga’s acting skill? Rather, if it’s the folks from Kasandora, they will certainly not detain some stranger upon asking him for information they need. To begin with, as long as they don’t learn of Raibach’s identity, they shouldn’t learn about Naga as well.”

Being called by his name, Raibach nodded down deeply.

“If it’s Naga-sama, he will be fine. He will get through that enquiry without fail.”

“I guess you’re right.”

Finally, a broad smile appeared on Ais’ stiff face.

“Still, Ais, you act as though your lover was taken away by soldiers. Do you care that much for Naga’s welfare?”

“Eh? Noooooo, what are you talking about, Vita-san?! I-I-I-It’s not because of that, you know? Naga-san is our leader, so shouldn’t it be an obvious thing to worry about him?”

[[Image:Naga04_Illus-06.jpg|175px|thumb]]

Ais insisted this, however, both her conduct and expression looked as though she was panicking. Vita was fully aware of that.

(Hahaha, this girl is still wet behind her ears.)

“Houhou, are you sure?”

The moment Vita sent a lukewarm smile at her, Ais put her hands in front of her very red face and waved with them.

“Of course I am!”

“What’s your opinion of him, Lela?”

“Eh? Uhm…… that’s righ, t. For us, the family of Heindler, Naga-san is a very important be, ing.”

Lela replied that way while carefully choosing her words. As she did so, Kay, Nonoel, Cu, Ixine, Linne & Linna, and Harlequin nodded down at once, however, one could clearly see the anxiety drawn on their faces, as they cared for Naga.

Kukuku – Vita chuckled in a weeping manner upon seeing that.

(It looks like, these girls have been captivated by Naga. Well, maybe I too feel that way. Still, I’m not sure about the world where both humans and the witches can coexist. At least, he was able to shown these girls a dream. They have probably become happy while watching that dream. The same goes for me and my daughters, and for Harrigan, I guess. That’s why we decided to follow Naga, and most likely, Harrigan too, feels the same way about this. Indeed, he’s an interesting, yet strange man.)

4

The place to which Naga was guided to was a station, or rather, it would be more suitable to call it an interrogation room, as it actually had a simplistic build.

(Well, I guess that was to be expected. There’s no way they would let a person of doubtful origins, like me, enter a guest room.)

At one corner of the confined room, there were a desk and chair, in front of which, was placed a folding stool. A man with a sharp look and military suit, who was sitting in the chair, threw a glance at Naga walking in. On both the left and right side of the desk, there were guards standing at attention.

(They seem to be pretty capable.)

Naga felt that way as he ran his eyes over the guards.

(Well then, should I start to brace myself?)

The reason why Naga thought so wasn’t because he wanted to be careful not to expose himself. To begin with, he didn’t consider such a possibility.

Naga had to act skillfully in drawing out information from his opponent and finding out about the current situation in this city. Perhaps, one could say that the outcome of this interview will determine the future of the witches. That’s why, this is what he meant by bracing himself.

After he followed the guide, Naga moved to the man’s front and halted there. Not standing up, the man gave him the signal to sit. Naga bowed down in respect and sat down on the stool.

He could sense the man becoming slightly nervous.

(Is it because he’s cautious of me? No, I don’t think so. Wouldn’t you feel this way, in the face of a much more imminent threat? As expected, were the rumors about a war approaching true? However, for the atmosphere to become like this, perhaps…. I should respond to it? I guess, it should be natural for me to act nervous and excited. After all, I’m the leader of a troupe who has been pulled in front of this big shot.)

As Naga was thinking so, the man ran his eyes over Naga again, as if trying to evaluate him.

“You’ve done a great job by coming from this far away. My name is Ligaya, and I’m the adjutant of general-dono, Guiscard, who’s the king representative of this country.”

(King representative……representative? Did something happen to this country?)

Naga thought suspiciously, but nevertheless, he bowed down while feigning ignorance.

“So you’re the boss of the troupe, right?”

Ligaya’s wording was polite, but he gave an impression of being rude in intent.

“Yes, my name is, Negane.”

“Apparently, you stopped by at Fort Ein on your way, but…..”

Ligaya went straight to the point without any preface.

“Yes. It happened while passing near that place. Before coming to city, we thought about doing entertainment for soldiers stationed there for few days, but….”

“Did you follow the Schweiz River and reach there from Lancel?”

“That’s right.”

“And you weren’t hindered by the witches?”

“No, not really. There nobody besides us, therefore, I thought, must have been very lonely place. We crossed sea to arrive here, so we don’t quite, know current situation.”

Naga casted down his eyes and scratched his head. Obviously, it was an act, however, it probably didn’t look like much of an excuse.

“Ah no, it’s not like I’m trying to find any fault with you. Then, it was like that? Despite you walking along the river, you didn’t engage with the witches directly?”

“Yes.”

“However, you saw the witches inside Fort Ein, right?”

“Yes, they were. I was startled a bit, but, they chase us off with not doing any bad, so I stroke down chest in relief.”

“I’ll repeat this again and ask you, one more time. Were you, able to grasp how many witches were there?”

“4, maybe 5 went to deal with us. But, since we no enter inside, we not able to see how many there, exactly. I, apologize.”

Surely, Ligaya had already been able to obtain this much information. Being neither irritated nor fed up, Ligaya carried on his interrogation unconcerned.

“Is that so? By the way, did you remember how they look?”

Naga expected this question to appear, so he pretended to remember.

“Umm…. there was bluish black hair, with a large build, was giving orders to everyone. I think, she was leader.”

“Is this, what the witch looked like?”

As soon as Ligaya gave the signal, one of the guards showed Naga a personal description. There he saw a drawn face of a heinously smiling witch, however, it certainly gave off Harrigan’s aura.

(That woman, if she sees this interpretation, she’ll surely murder the guy who drew this! This picture just screams for that to happen.)

“Ah… certainly, that witch, that witch.”

“I see. As one would expect, it was the clique of Harrigan?”

Judging from Ligaya’s way of talking, it seemed that Harrigan was a famous witch, even among humans.

(Well, I guess that’s understandable. Until now, she’s been the one who’s borne the full brunt of humans’ attacks. And then, her party is the one that has been repelling the enemy’s attacks.)

Naga could recall Harrigan’s fighting style that’s based on controlling a large wooden puppet, and scattering Kasandora Kingdom’s troops from the cliff.

(I guess, she can’t avoid being seen when fighting in front.)

“Then, those witches that are occupying the fort, were they preparing for something?”

Ligaya’s voice brought Naga back to his senses.

“No, it not feel like they preparing anything in particular. I saw wall strengthening construction, but, atmosphere quite leisurely. Even some witches, threw down tools and drank.”

Fumu – Ligaya folded his arms and groaned in a low voice.

“So, it doesn’t seem like….. the witches will threaten us anytime soon, does it? If that’s true….”

Ligaya pondered for a moment, so Naga stayed calm and awaited his next words.

After a while of continued silence, Ligaya raised up his head and asked Naga:

“Did you notice something else that was unusual? Anything will do.”

“Something, unusual….. That’s right, all witches, fine girls. And wore awfully small, piece of cloths. I think maybe they want appeal to troupe…. ah, pardon me.”

Ligaya, who had a stern face all the time, couldn’t resist making a wry smile at Naga’s words.

“Well, for someone of your status, I don’t think it’s impossible…. so it was like that?”

Ligaya pondered again as if hitting upon something.

(Hmph. So I was given a chance to explain and didn’t get scolded? Since they’re the ones trying to exterminate the witches, I thought they would be much more biased against the witches, but….)

“It looks like, all the members in your troupe are girls. Were you the only one who dealt with the witches when stopping by the fort?”

“No, female dancers, I, together with them.”

“I see. I guess, we need to consider the possibility that the witches…. didn’t lay their hands on your troupe, since they were all girls.”

(What? So this guy is able to reason that way? I wouldn’t have expected this from him, I think)

“Then, what do you plan to do afterwards?”

Ligaya suddenly changed the topic of their conversation.

“If possible, we like to perform inside city. If not, there no meaning in coming. And if that the case, we be much in red.”

“You mean it? I feel pity for you, but, that would be a difficult request.”

“Is it, really difficult?”

Naga put on an act and dropped down his shoulders disappointedly.

“There’s a chance that, a war might break out soon, so we’re patrolling this city. Our soldiers and citizens are making strenuous efforts for the war, so it isn’t the right time for them to be watching performances. We need to remove any factors that can thwart our preparations. Even if you were to try to do so, there’s no way you would receive a permission for that.”

(As expected, they’re quite at their wits’ end.)

While thinking so, Naga hung his head and replied powerlessly.

“That right. Then, no other way than return to Lancel.”

“You’re going back the way you came from, right?”

“This is only option. We bit scared when, passed near the witches. However, nothing happened to us, so I think…. we be fine with retuning back.”

Ligaya gazed fixedly at Naga with a stern expression.

(What? Could it be that he saw through me?)

“I thought about giving you a reward if you plan to pass near that fort again, but well…”

“Eh? Yes? W, What you mean to say?”

Naga was half acting, however, he was honestly bewildered, as he couldn’t grasp Ligaya’s true intention.

“There’s been no local who managed to meet the witches, so your visit before might be the first and the last one. Also, there’s no doubt that the witches have already memorized your faces, right?”

“Is…. this true?”

“That’s why I wanted to ask if you feel like paying them a visit, once more, but this time with one of our messengers.”

“Wha…What?!”

As one would expect, Naga too became dumfounded at Ligaya’s words.

“Even if we send a messenger, there’s no guarantee the witches will hear us out. In the worst-case scenario, you might all be murdered without being given a chance to argue.”

(I haven’t given it any thought, but….. it’s not impossible for them to do so. That’s because, Harrigan has talked before about assassins sent by the church to aim for their lives. It could be that the witches had considered Kasandora’s messengers as assassins….. therefore, resulting in these guys thinking this way. I guess, they reap what they sow.)

Not revealing his thoughts, Naga waited for the next words from his opponent.

“Therefore, we’d like to entrust you with our messenger. And we shall reward you, provided you decide to go back there. Obviously, we can’t cover the cost of your trip, but….”

“Still, we driven away, last time we drop by. We go there, but, I think it result in same.”

“You don’t particularly need to talk with them. We’ll prepare a letter here for the witches, so you only have to pass it to them.”

“Ah….. yes, if that case…. I think it be doable.”

Naga bent his neck and worked his brain hard.

(What’s he trying to make me do? Could it be….. he’s testing me?)

“We return there either way. If just stopping by, we take care of request.”

“You mean it? Then, I shall make the arrangements. Please return back to the waiting room.”

“Understood.”

Naga bowed down multiple times and left the station.

As soon as he took his leave, Ligaya called out to one of his subordinates who was standing behind him.

“Now that it’s come to this, go and compose a letter to the witches immediately.”

“Still, are you really fine with this, Ligaya-sama? Having that group of vagabonds deliver our letter.”

“I don’t care. Will those performers be captured or killed by the witches? It’s no skin off my nose.”

“Nevertheless, I think we should also worry about them possibly fleeing.”

“Of course, even if they run away with the reward, it won’t be a big deal, since it’s not a big sum of money. On the other hand, if our plan goes favorably, there might be more gain to us….”

Ligaya slowly stood up from his chair.

“In the end, the matter regarding the witches is just something we are doing on the side. Rather than that, we should, right now, prioritize the direct threat coming from the extermination group against the witches that’s heading south. There’s no telling if those guys will take the opportunity to attack us, so we better hasten ourselves with the preparations.”

“Yes, understood. We shall prepare the letter immediately.”

Soon after Naga returned back, he retold the whole story to everyone, making them drop their jaws at this unexpected turn of events.

“Those guys, what are they thinking?!”

Vita asked as if spitting it out.

“It’s just assumption, but, possible. I guess, their way of proposing ceasefire.”

And then, she made an expression of wanting to doubt.

“For real?”

“I am, serious.”

“Ah no, that’s not what I mean. I wanted to ask if those folks from Kasandora are seriously considering a ceasefire.”

“Will depend on what they want convey.”

“However, if they really do, it would be ridiculous.”

Kukuku – Vita chuckled while saying so.

“So basically, we will be both delivering and receiving the letter, right?”

Naga put up his hands, so as to have Ixine pay more attention.

“Lower voice, Ixine, or someone overhear.”
“Ah, sorry about that.”

Ixine hurriedly blocked her mouth using her hands.

“That’s true, I’ve similar thoughts to Ixine’s.”

Vita casted her staring eyes at Naga.

“In other words, Naga, you’ll be the one delivering that letter, right?”
“I will. Once I do, we check content and discuss with Harrigan regarding what we do. This time, there be messenger tag along, but, he should no suspect anything, even if let him stay at fort.”

“Certainly, I’m curious about what they want to tell us, will it be good news?

With that, their discussion reached its conclusion.

And then, they waited a short while.

Being accompanied by his men, Ligaya turned up in the waiting room.

“This is the letter I’d like for you to bring to the witches.”

One of his subordinates handed over a letter, sealed with wax, to Naga.

“Remember, you only have to pass it to them.”

“Understood.”

Naga bowed down deeply while thinking about this.

(It looks like things have taken an unexpected turn. However, we can make use of it. No, we definitely have to seize this favorable opportunity.)
7

Naga and his troupe of performers were assisted by the guards on their way to one of Kasandora’s forts that was nearby the witches.

Once they arrived, one of the soldiers spoke:

“We’ll excuse ourselves here, as our presence might hinder your interaction with the witches.”

The soldiers gave an impression as if being prepared to flee, however, Naga and the rest would rather avoid the soldiers meeting with the witches.

“This much do. Thank you, very much.”

Naga bowed down.

And then, the troupe left the fort, went south and returned back to Fort Ein.
Because there might be someone watching, just to make sure, they were received as guests. Naga called out to the witches, who turned out to be Narcissus and Selena, that were there.

Selena, who could check the surroundings using her Heaven Eye, sensed Naga and the rest approaching, so she brought Narcissus with her to welcome them. However, upon their immediate meeting, it seemed as though Naga was distant in his attitude. Like that, all the concerned visitors were escorted and brought inside the fort.
8

“What’s the meaning of this?!”

Harrigan, Naga, and the rest faced each other inside a single room of the fort’s residential building. The head of the Heindler clan opened her eyes widely in surprise as she was retold the whole story of Naga’s interrogation.

“With that, we’ve been entrusted with this letter and arrived here to deliver it to you, who is the head of the witches. They hope you’d be interested to know its contents.”

Lela returned the charm on Naga to its usual level, so all the witches could understand Naga’s manner of speaking like they used to.

“Is that so? Then, shall we open it quickly?”

Harrigan received the letter from him and broke the seal in a casual manner.
And then, she took out its contents and quickly ran her eyes over it.

“Fumu, it’s just as Naga predicted. They are asking us indirectly if we want to stop fighting each other. What’s more, their style of writing is condescending.”

“So it was just like I thought, eh?”

“However, despite their haughty way of expression, it seems like the Kasandora Kingdom is at its wits end if they’re making this request to us.”

Saying so, Harrigan made an expression filled with mixed feelings.

‘You’re right.’ – Naga nodded down.

“Losing to us this badly, and eventually, their fort. On top of that, they’re being threatened by a large army of 3000-4000 enemy units. Misfortunes never come singly, or so they say. I guess, it’s not impossible for them to want to grasp at straws.”
“So we’re the straws?”

Harrigan made a displeased face, however, Vita laughed enjoyably.

“Hahaha, rather than straws, I’d say we’re more like poisoned steam buns.”

“Is this something to laugh about?!”

“Ohhh, Vita, that’s some nice comparison.”

“Naga, you too! Is this the right time to be praising others?!”

“Don’t be so grumpy, Harrigan.”

“Still, Naga, they might be putting their hands up and offering us a ceasefire due to them being in a crisis right now, but, don’t forget they’ve been causing us lots of pain, so they can’t be fully trusted. Maybe, it’s better to let them get attacked and crushed?”

“I’ll agree with you on the part that they can’t be trusted, but, with how things look right now, we’ve got to make use of this situation.”

“Make use? What do you mean?”

“Isn’t this a favorable opportunity to demand gratitude from them?”

“Gratitude? You mean accepting their request? What good will come from doing that? Wouldn’t it be more beneficial for us to let the Kasandora Kingdom perish in a fight with other countries?”

“That would probably work short-term, however, there are more gains for us in the long-term if they survive.”

At Naga’s words, Harrigan frowned and made a doubtful face.

“Is that…. true?”
“The information regarding the approaching troops is partial, so I can’t tell for sure, but according to what that adjutant Ligaya said, the troops are led by the Church. If the Kasandora Kingdom suffers a complete defeat, we’ll be next in line to receive the Church’s onslaught. Rather, they will become even more motivated to charge at us after gaining victory over the Kasandora Kingdom. And at that rate….”

Naga shrugged his shoulders a bit.

“We’ll be forced to throw away the fort we captured and retreat back to the forest. However, whether we can protect it or not remains as a question.”

“But…. just because we comply with the ceasefire, it doesn’t mean the Kasandora Kingdom will turn into our ally. Also, there’s no telling if those folks will really fight against the extermination group.”

“That will depend on how we play it, you see.”

“W….What do you mean?”

“We will create a situation where both sides won’t be on good terms with each other, even if they don’t fight. This will become our advantage.”

“W….What?”

“What do you mean, Naga?”

Both Harrigan and Vita, as well as the other witches, turned their puzzled looks at Naga.

“In other words, if we make Kasandora Kingdom and the extermination group glare at each other, we can thwart the church’s plan, right? They won’t be able to charge at us with their full army while having Kasandora Kingdom at their backs. Naturally, this will slow down their military movements. Our aim is to buy us some time, proceed with our preparations, and try to counter the extermination group with all that we’ve got.”

‘I see.’ – Harrigan nodded down.

“Still, is there any guarantee that the Kasandora Kingdom and the extermination group won’t join their forces together?”

“True, there isn’t. Far from that, it’s possible that the Kasandora Kingdom will do so due to them suffering a crisis.”

“In that case, shouldn’t we consider our plan with that in mind?”

“That’s why, I’m telling you we won’t be relying upon others but ourselves to create our desired situation. And then, prolong it.”

“No…. I don’t get your idea.”

Harrigan, whose face looked pitiful, turned her sight toward Vita. However, the latter merely lightly shook her head.

“I too, can’t comprehend that. Do you mind, explaining it in a more simple and concrete way, Naga?”

“That’s to say, this, you see.”

Naga explained his strategy to the best of his efforts.

“….With that, we’ll put on the Kasandora Kingdom Army’s uniforms and give the extermination army some hard times. If we do so, it’s inevitable for both sides’ relationship to turn worse, right? Not to mention, the extermination group will put the blame on Kasandora for something the latter hasn’t done, so they will no longer be able to come to an agreement.”

All the witches shook their heads up and down with dumbfounded faces.

“You’re truly an evil person.”

Vita stated so with an astonished expression, following that, Harrigan too, nodded in agreement.

“Good grief. And to think we witches are regarded as heinous by humans. Don’t we look the same as babies in front of Naga?”

“Naga-san, you’re quite vicious, aren’t you?”

This time it was Kay’s turn to carry on.

“No no, I’m surely not vicious, right?”

“That’s right. I think you’re exaggerating, Kay-chan.”

“Ais, you do understand, right?”

“Rather, there’s no end to him being treacherous.”
“Doesn’t it make me look even worse?”

“Just how did you come up with such a heinous idea?”

“As expected, isn’t it because of his character?”

“Vita, Harrigan, don’t say those cruel things.”

“They aren’t. We think they reflect the truth.”

“Ah no, this much of an idea is normal for me.”

Harrigan pulled her head back and glared at Naga with scornful eyes.

“Really?”

“I wonder about that.”

“That’s probably like him.”

“Well, regarding how vicious he is, let’s leave that matter aside.”

“Don’t just leave it aside!”

“Then, will this really work? This is the real question. And how are you confident of its success?”

“…..You usually tend to find a solution when seeking a way out of a desperate situation, Vita.”

“As if!”

“It’s not necessary false, but well, I guess it will only show during a contest. Till now it’s been always like this for me, I think. Back then, when we fought against 2000 soldiers, did you think you’d win?”

Harrigan responded to Naga’s remark.

“Umu, that’s right. We thought it was useless for us to fight back, without even trying. I guess it’s a bad habit of ours.”

“That’s right, Harrigan. You should always try to do your best. And if it fails, try something else. And if, again, it doesn’t work….”

“If it doesn’t work?”

“Then run away. Run away and start again from the beginning.”

Kukakaka – Naga laughed while saying so.

(So there was such a way of thinking? Good grief. Whenever it comes to this guy,)

“I think humans…. no, even us the witches can’t comprehend your way of reasoning. But, for a fool to be able to break through these obstacles, perhaps, you’re no longer different from a genius.”

Saying that, Harrigan leaked out a scornful laughter which she couldn’t hold back.

“If I were to say, rather than Naga-sama being a genius, he’s more of a natural disaster. Especially, for his opponents.”

As soon as Raibach stated this, the present witches smiled and broke into laughter.

A fearsome being that could be regarded as a natural disaster for its opponents, but reversely, a trustworthy being for its allies. In fact, wasn’t it because Naga had won easily against the advancing army of Kasandora Kingdom just like stopping a violently blowing storm? Recalling that event, the witches told themselves they could place more hope in their future.

“Then, let’s make the best of our time and proceed with our preparations while the Kasandora Kingdom and the extermination group haven’t struck a deal, Vita.”

“Umu…. that’s right…”

“What? Is there still something on your mind?”

“Well, I agree with what you’ve just said. Still, there’s one more concern.”

Naga squinted his eyes and urged Vita to speak.

“One more concern? What could it be?”

“If memory serves me right, among the information which you acquired in Kasandora Kingdom, there was one regarding troops that falls under the direct control of the church. That is to say, information that’s supported by the rumor we had heard in Lancel. Apparently, those guys are strong, you know?”

Naga lean forward his body while making a serious expression.

“Are they that strong?”

“Umu. I too have only heard about them from rumors, so I can’t say for sure, but, apparently, they’re combat troops that are referred as brigades. Their soldiers wear silver armor, which is highly resistant to magic and dulls it.”

“To what extent?”

“We won’t know that unless we try. It would be different if it’s just 1 or 2 soldiers, but, we’ve never fought a troop consisting of all soldiers wearing silver armor.”

“For real….? Then, does it mean that everything will depend on the outcome of this battle?”

Naga made a difficult face while groaning in a low voice.

“And that’s not all.”

Naga raised up his head at Vita’s words.

“We still don’t know how many of those brigades there are. I’ve only heard about this, but I think there are supposed to be 7- 8. That’s why, I’m worried about the number of brigades coming here this time.”

“So, based on Vita’s statements, should I understand that….. those brigades each possess a different fighting strength?”

(As usual, this guy is sharp.)

“That’s right.”

“What part of them is bothering you?”

“There are 3 rumors that describe their exceptional strength, especially the one in which apparently there’s that annoying troop referring to themselves as ‘the Brigade of 88′”

‘This too, is a rumor I learned from hearsay, but…’ – Vita revealed the meaning behind the brigade’s name followed by a story of the brigade holing up.

“Hohou. Indeed, they’ve got some terrific fighting style there.”

Naga ooh’ed in admiration.

“That’s why, I think we should avoid any hard fights involving the Brigade of 88 if they come.”

“I guess, we need to check more on that Brigade of 88.”

“How do you plan, to do that?”

“By kidnapping 1 or 2 soldiers and questioning them?”

“That measure is way too extreme!”

“Having you say it’s extreme, kinda makes me feel uneasy.”

“What’s the meaning of that?!”

“Ah no, nothing in particular. Don’t mind it.”

“Shouldn’t it be fine, to have Linne and Linna overhear some soldiers?”

Harrigan suggested.

“…….True. I guess it’s more convenient that way, isn’t it? There’s the possibility that the Kasandora Kingdom might become wary if their soldiers are kidnapped. They might even consider it as a surprise attack, so it’s better not to have them be alert. That being said, in addition to Linne & Linna sneaking inside the city, we need to determine the position of the extermination group. I think I can only entrust Yuuki and Selena with that task.”

“It can’t be helped. Well, shall we get moving then?”

—Why is Yuuki always acting this high-handedly?—

Kay whispered this question to Nonoel.

—Isn’t it because her head’s always in the clouds when she’s flying?—
—Nonoel, that was good!—

“Hey there! what are you whispering to each other?!”

Yuuki raised her eyebrows and stared at them both.

“Nothing~~”
“Nothing in particular[[User:Darkdhaos|Darkdhaos]] ([[User talk:Darkdhaos|talk]])”

‘Hmph’ – Yuuki snorted and turned back her face.

“Anyway, I’ll set off tomorrow and fly near the royal capital to conduct a regular scouting.”

“Then, will you take this mantle with you and place it near the city, so that I can teleport with Selena?”

Elysione made such a suggestion.

“There are also guards inside the city, so they might notice something strange. Maybe, if you add some more mantles…”

“That’s right. It should be much more convenient if we increase the number of spots where Elysione can teleport to. And If we mark the targets, it will be also easier to transport Selena. I’ll be relying on you, Elysione.”

*Biku* – Once Naga lightly bowed down, Elysione drew back with a start.

“Ah…. yes, I, I’ll take care of that.”

(For some reason….my heart, skips a beat whenever this person bows down.)

Unaware of Elysione’s bewilderment, Harrigan faced toward Naga with a stern expression.
9
“By the way, how do we reply to the letter? It was written they would like to receive an answer from us, but…”

Naga quickly responded, following Harrigan’s question.

“It should be fine if we just say we don’t plan to interfere with them.”

“Will they believe in such an ambiguous reply?”

“For now, it’s better that way. Still, that’s right, should we also add they better do the same?”

‘Fumu’ – Harrigan folded her arms and groaned.

“So it’s come to this? Indeed, it’s hard to strike a bargain.”

(I don’t think so. After all, you have done so way too many times.)

“It should do if we hand our reply to the troop nearby, watching us. We’ll just compose a proper reply and have them deliver it to their superiors.”

“Have you considered…. they might try and arrest us when trying to hand the reply?’

At Ais’ question, Naga denied with full confidence.

“I don’t think one or two soldiers from a scouting troop will attempt to catch you. If they could, they’d have long since won this war.”

“You’re right. If there are just 10 or 20 soldiers, then we can somehow manage. Speaking of which, Lela, I’m sorry, but, could you please take care of writing the reply? Once you’re done, go together with Kay and Cu to where the troop is stationed and pass it to them. Selena will observe their position, so you’ll know where the scouts are hiding.”

“Understood, Ane-sa, ma.”

“Apart from that, Harrigan, there’s one more thing I’d like to ask. Can someone from your group go to Lancel?”

“Lancel, again? For what purpose?”

“I happened to see slaves there on sale back when we were visiting Lancel.”

Harrigan made a doubting face after hearing Naga’s words.

And it wasn’t just her either. The other witches, as well as Raibach, had doubting, or rather – curious expressions, while being unable to understand what Naga was trying to imply.

“Certainly, slaves are bound to be there as well. After all, that port city is a place which thrives in trade. What’s more, there’s no limit to the amount of food and articles sold.”

“Oh and by the way, we managed to sell your gadgets and jewelry for high prices.”

“I guess, that’s very like of you…. Speaking of which, I received a brief report from Ais and Lela the other day, when you had passed through here on your way to the capital of the Kasandora Kingdom, but…….”

The complexion on Harrigan’s face, which seemed to express her doubt, turned more and more thick in color. Rather than doubt, perhaps it was better to say, of misgiving.

“Sorry, but, can we sell more gadgets and jewelry from your warehouse?”

“Haaa? What, are you talking about? What do you intend to do?!”

“If possible, I’d like to have you, Vita, help us too.”

Being told so, Vita couldn’t hide her puzzlement.

“That’s why, I’m asking what do you intend to do with the money…. hmm? Don’t tell me, you plan to purchase those slaves?”

“Ohh, how sharp of you, Vita.”

“What? You!”

“W, What are you angry about?”

“Despite us being in a life-and-death matter, you’re telling us to sell our items to buy young female slaves… no, just what are you making us do?”

Ais stood up while swaying.

“Naga-san, so it’s all about that? Is this what you’ve been thinking about?”

‘Oh, that’s right!’ – Kay looked up in the air as if recalling something.

“Back then, Naga-san would frequently ask about slaves.”
“I misjudged you, Naga.”

Harrigan’s hair drifted in the air.

“Wait wait wait! You lot are misunderstanding something!”

“How are we supposed to misunderstand you?”

“I told you I want to buy slaves, however, I didn’t say they will be females. They’re male slaves! On top of that, robust ones!”

“Naga-san, could it be, that you swing in that direction?”

“You’re running your imagination too far away, Ais!”

“….Am I wrong?”

“Ah, for god’s sake, these girls are. Why won’t you first listen to what people have to say?”

Naga held his head.

“Isn’t it because there’s a problem in your behavior?”

“Right? Suddenly falling into a bathroom and rubbing Ane-sama’s chest. You could only think of Naga-san buying females when he mentions slaves with that in mind. Don’t you think your conduct is what forces us to think that way?”

“Ah, no, Ais, why are you….”

Harrigan, whose face was red, chided Ais.

“Ehhh? Naga-sama, have you really done such an envious…?”

Raibach looked at Harrigan with an envious face.

“D, Don’t look at me with such eyes!”

“So, Hari-nee had her chest already rubbed by Naga-san?! I’m envious[[User:Darkdhaos|Darkdhaos]] ([[User talk:Darkdhaos|talk]]) 13:15, 29 October 2016 (CEST) Right, Nono?”

“Noooo? I, I’m not particularly, not at all, envious about that!”

“That’s why, don’t tell people things that are easy to misunderstand!”

Harrigan gazed at Ais with fearsome, murderous eyes.

“Eh? But, isn’t it true? Isn’t this what Yuuki, who witness the event, clearly said?”

Yuuki, whose name was suddenly called out, turned away and averted her eyes. On the other hand, the other witches who were unaware of that fact besides Ais and Lela drew back their heads and looked at Harrigan with scornful eyes.

“I’m telling you it’s wrong!”

“Harrigan.”

“W….What, Naga?”

“Do you now understand a bit this pain of being misunderstood and ignored by others?”
“I do…. However, being pointed that out by someone, who tries to fulfill his lust by buying slaves, makes me incredibly annoyed.”

“Just how untrustworthy can I be?”

Naga sighed while having a miserable expression.

“Just as I said, I’m going to buy male slaves.”

“What do you plan to do with them later? Make them help with strengthening this fort? Certainly, someone else’s hands would be welcomed for construction jobs, but, it’s meaningless for now, isn’t it? Weren’t you also the one who said that?

“Obviously, I won’t be using them for that purpose. I’m going to make them into soldiers.”

“What?!”

Vita bent her face in amazement, whereas all the other witches and Raibach opened their eyes widely.

“No matter how many of you are mighty warriors, the number of witches is way too scarce. After all, your enemy is an army of 3000-4000 units. What’s more, if the war continues to escalate, we’ll need hands for carrying food, weapons, and armor. Not to mention, you may also have to cross swords or strike each other if a battle becomes intense. I’m not saying you lot possess no hand-to-hand combat skills. It’s just you’re more suited for long range fighting. Now that it’s been mentioned, we’ll also need people who can shoot with bows and those who can march into an enemy’s camp with swords and spears. We’ve gotta supply ourselves with those soldiers.”

Despite Naga finishing his explanation, everyone was left open-mouthed while being unable to utter a single word.

“What are you amazed at? A battle is primarily more about quantity than quality, so raising the number of soldiers is the basic of basics.”

Harrigan and Vita exchanged looks.

“Are you of the same mind, Vita?”

“I’ve never participated in a big war before, so don’t ask me.”

Harrigan pulled herself together and faced toward Naga.

“Still, even if we buy those slaves, will they do as they’re told? Will they fight for our sake? Or will they go against us?”

“Slaves probably consider their buyer as their owner. It doesn’t matter to them who that person is, or from where it is.”

“That may be true….. but…”

“In that case, you shall be their owners. Or could it be that only humans can trade slaves?”

“Ah no, I don’t… think so.”

“Then, there shouldn’t be any problems.”

“Even if you throw out your chest like that…”

“Slaves usually tend to live in harsh surroundings. They might thank us If we provide them with proper meals and warm beds. And if we promise to set them free after they perform well in battle, they might become even more excited to work for us. Be it humans or the witches, for slaves, it should make no big difference. It’s how they’re going to be treated that matters the most.”

“You’re talking about slaves as though you can understand them, aren’t you?”

Despite Vita saying this in a teasing manner, Naga puffed up with pride and answered while remaining calm.

“I don’t. More like, I can picture them. Since we can’t raise soldiers using straightforward methods, using slaves as soldiers is the easiest and fastest way. Don’t you think?”
“If I were to say…. Yes, you might be right.”

“Now then, Harrigan, I’d like for you to carry your items to Lancel, convert them into money, and then use it to purchase the slaves. Vita, you too, I’ll appreciate it if you could help us.”

“I don’t mind, but….. just how much time would it take to transport our load from a village to the city?”

“Is that so? Since Elysione won’t be coming with us….”

“No, even if that girl did, she wouldn’t be useful at all. After all, she can’t carry things using her mantles, not to mention, the clothes we put on.”

“Yeah. Certainly, it’ll take way too much time to load the cart and transport the items.”

“Then, how about we use Yuuki?”

Yuuki had been deliberately turning away all this time, but, she couldn’t help it when everyone’s gazes were focused on her, so she turned back around

“Fine with me, but, I’ll have to go and return many times, since my board can’t carry that much, you know?”

“We don’t mind. However, I still think it will be much faster than carrying it on the cart. Also, as I fear, we’ll need to have someone who can evaluate the items, so…”

‘Well, certainly, that’s true’ – Yuuki puffed her cheeks in displeasure, but nevertheless, she answered reluctantly.

“I’ve no discerning eye when it comes to an item’s value.”

“I’ll have to return back to the forest to get my items. Then, how many slaves should we gather?”

“I don’t know how much a single slave is worth, and also, how much can we gain from selling your items, so probably, it will depend on the outcome. We’ll gather as many slaves as possible based on their costs. I’d like to have at least 100 of them, but, I’m not sure if there are slaves capable of fighting at a reasonable price on sale. In the worst case-scenario, I won’t mind even if we manage to get just 10-20.”

“You mean it? I guess, we’ll just have to play it by ear.”

“Right. Then, we need someone who can take care of them…..”

Naga looked around at the present people and stopped his sights on a single one.

“I entrusted you with the sale of the items the previous time, but, as expected, the only one who can choose and buy slaves is you, Raibach.”

Raibach whose face looked stupefied pointed at himself.

“Eh? Me?”

“Yes. If it’s you, who has led soldiers before, then you will somehow be able to manage the slaves, won’t you?”

“That’s, well, yes.”

“On the other hand, the same can’t be said about the witches. Don’t you agree, Harrigan?”

Harrigan shrugged her shoulders.

“Right. We’ve never swung swords or spears, so we haven’t the slightest idea about what kind of a person is suitable to become a soldier.”

“And with that, Raibach, you’ll be in charge of supplying us with slaves.”
“Understood. I’ll try to do my best.”

Later, a talk regarding each person’s duty would be decided, with Naga being the main character.
10

Early the next morning.

Having confirmed the reply addressed to Kasandora, Lela took Cu, Kay, Nonoel, and Selena with her and left the Fort Ein.

The remaining witches worked in a hurry, so as to bring the items from their village hidden inside the forest, and prepare to repel the extermination group.

Lela and her team quickly returned back after they passed the reply to a scouting troop’s leader they had discovered.

Soon after Naga received the report from Lela, he started to do calculations inside his mind.

(Well then, I wonder, how much time did we manage to gain? Even if the extermination army reaches Kasandora Kingdom, they won’t be able to simply move, so perhaps we have around 10 days. If that’s not enough, should we put on the Kasandora army’s uniforms and attack the extermination army’s troops? I guess, I’d rather utilize that additional time and fully prepare before meeting them.)

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| Back to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
| Return to [[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Chapter 5|Chapter 5]]
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Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Chapter 4

2016-10-29T11:14:27Z

Darkdhaos: Created page with "==Chapter 4- Enemy and Ally, Both of their Circumstances== 1 The royal capital of Kasandora Kingdom was a relatively large, fortified city located in the westernmost peninsu..."

Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Chapter 3

2016-10-29T11:10:56Z

Darkdhaos: Created page with "==Chapter 3- The Performance of the Dancers== 1 Lancel City was situated at the mouth of the Schweiz River, forming a harbor city with walls on three sides, and the fourth s..."

==Chapter 3- The Performance of the Dancers==

1

Lancel City was situated at the mouth of the Schweiz River, forming a harbor city with walls on three sides, and the fourth side facing the river. The Schweiz River mouth was wide, and as the river flows into the western sea straits, ships on long voyages frequent this harbor.

Naga and company stood beside the harbor and watched the large ships enter and exit the harbor.

Naga was the head of the traveling troupe, Raibach performed miscellaneous duties and escorts, and the dancers were Vita, Ais, Kay, and Lela. Linne and Linna were responsible for collecting intelligence from the streets, and will work separately from the rest.

Twelve of the group of fourteen were girls, giving it an air of splendor.

But to avoid attracting too much attention, the witches covered the clothes they were wearing or put on cloaks.

The crews on the ships unloaded large amounts of cargo from the massive sail ships and emptied them out, and then loaded the cargo piled up at the harbor into the ships.

The angry yells and shouts of the crew resonated in the vicinity.

Cargo filled wagons bustled in the harbor.

The bell rang, notifying the arrival or departure of ships.

Seagulls congregated and leered at the fishes caught by the fishermen.

The smell of the sea wafted in with the warm sea breeze.

The bustling scene of the harbor stimulated Naga’s senses.

“I think I saw a scene like this somewhere before.”

Lela’s sharp ears heard what he muttered, and pressed him with sparkling eyes:

“Is that place the world you were, from?”

Lela showed her strong sense of curiosity, and wished to further understand the world Naga was from. Seeing Lela acting this way, Naga smiled wryly.

“Should be. I have a sense of Déjà vu, maybe I saw a harbor like this before.”

“Did you remember, something?”

“Nothing, I just felt nostalgic, like I’ve seen this scene before. I don’t remember the details though.”

After Lela, who was leaning close to Naga, heard that, her shoulders drooped regrettably.

“Hahaha, don’t be so depressed. I’m not bothered by something like this.”

“I don’t care about you, I just want to understand the world you are, from.”

“Oh, is that so.”

Naga shrugged. He was wearing a loose attire that seemed foreign in origin. They weren’t his clothes or those given to him by Harrigan and the others. They were clothes from the central world prepared just for this investigative trip. The witches around him didn’t wear their usual skin revealing clothes, and put on clothes from the central world too. Many of the witches even dyed their hair or applied coloring to their faces and skin to disguise themselves.

Not only did Raibach dye his hair, he even cut it short and put on a hooded cloak and shades. His outfit made it certain that he won’t be recognized even if he met someone who knew him. Raibach wore a sword as his setting was the escort of the group.

Naga changed his hairstyle too, and swapped his katana for a sword that was commonly seen in this world. The guards saw his face when he took the fort, so he had to take additional care. It was very unlikely they would run into soldiers who defended Fort Ein in Lancel City, but this would likely happen if they enter the Kasandora Kingdom, so this was also, in a way, practice.

“Alright, we will head for the antique shops and sell the weapons and jewelry. We will then buy two carriages, tents and things like musical instruments. I’m counting on you, Rai… No, Hoodins.”

“Yes, head Najunkray, I will try my best to get a good price.”

The two addressed each other by their alias, Raibach did so as he might run into people who had seen him before, while Naga’s name had the connotation of ‘Dragon King’, which will attract suspicious eyes…. No, in this case, it will attract suspicious ears, so it was decided that they will call each other by aliases as they investigated while undercover.

As no humans know the names of the witches, they used their original names.

2

The weapons and jewelries sold for an unexpectedly high price, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say this was a sizeable piece of wealth. Raibach was skilled in negotiations, but it was mostly the merit of the highly valuable merchandise.

Vita looked at the bag of gold coins — not silver, but gold coins, signifying the high selling price— and looked very impressed.

“Oh, so these pieces of junk can sell for such a good price. I guess we should inspect the things in our warehouse again, right, Dona?”

“Yes, dear mother.”

“Even if we sell them for a good price, there isn’t any place to spend it.”

“That’s a good point, shall we stop the investigation?”

“No, do it anyway. Even if we don’t sell them, there’s no harm in knowing the value of the things we have. After we go back, do a spring cleaning of our warehouse immediately, and pick out the valuable items.”

Me?— Dona pointed to herself, trying to confirm if Vita meant her.

“You and Elly will take care of it.”

“Wahhh…”

Once she thought about the pile of items in the warehouse, with no telling if there was anything valuable in there, Dona couldn’t help but smile stiffly.

“Just thinking about inspecting them one at a time gives me a headache.”

“I don’t mean just the two of you, but for you two to take charge and get the other girls to help.”

“If that is the case, I will get it done.”

Lily scowled her face at Dona, who sighed in relief.

“Alright, we’ll go shopping later. Before that, we have to find a place to spend the night.”

On Naga’s command, the group left the streets filled with shops, and they moved en masse to the place where the inns were.

3

Because their wares sold better than expected, Naga and company found a higher class hotel and decided to stay there. As they were a large group, they asked for a big room and two small rooms, then retired to their accommodations. Naga and Raibach, and Vita, Lily, and Dona moved into the two small rooms, respectively, and the Heindler witches brought their luggage into the big room.

After a short rest in the rooms, Naga said that he wanted to buy the necessary goods.

“Raibach and I will go, and in case anything happens, Lela will follow.”

If the talisman falls off or the effect fades, Naga won’t be able to talk to people. To avoid that, Naga requested Lela to accompany him.

“Who else wants to go?”

He asked the small room next door. The three girls resting inside stood up at the same time.

“Of course we want to go.”

Vita replied, Dona and Lily nodded repeatedly.

“There isn’t anything interesting about this trip though.”

“Just walking along the streets of the humans is an interesting experience, I haven’t had any chance to leave the forest recently, and this is the first time the girls are visiting a human city.”

“So you want to go sightseeing too. It’s the same for me, everything I see looks interesting.”

Naga then asked the witches in the big room, and all of them stood up excitedly.

“Do we need someone to guard the place?”

Naga looked troubled. Ais smiled and said:

“There isn’t any important luggage here, just bringing our valuables and the money we have gotten would be enough.”

“To be safe, I will prepare the guards.”

“Hmm? Harlequin wants to stay behind?”

When Naga asked, Harlequin muttered: “Tsk tsk tsk.” And shook her right index finger.

“That’s not what I meant, I will ask the wandering dogs in the area to look after the place.”

“Wandering dogs? Oh, you mean those stray dogs?”

“That’s right. Since this is a harbor city, there are many stray dogs. I just need to call a few over, and they will help us guard the place. If anyone tries to move our stuff sneakily, they can help to chase them away.”

“Would there be any problem doing that?”

“I just need to feed them something after it’s done.”

“Alright, I will leave this to you.”

By the way, the magic to communicate with animals is amazing. No, she is not the only amazing one.

If he had to say it, all the witches possess powerful spells, Naga found it hard to believe that they kept on losing to the human armies.

But they don’t know about tactics and strategy, so that isn’t strange.

When they left the inn, Harlequin whistled in a frequency inaudible to humans and summoned a few strays.

She spoke something to the strays, which Naga couldn’t understand. He asked Ais and Lela, who didn’t know either, so the other witches couldn’t decipher the conversation Harlequin had with the animals.

“Alright, that will do, we just need to buy some meat from the market to feed them later.”

After Harlequin finished, Vita raised her right hand up high before Naga could reply:

“Good, then let’s go!”

“Vita is really energetic.”

“Ah~ she has not visited a human city for a very long time, so bear with her over enthusiasm.”

Dona whispered in explanation to Naga, who smiled wryly and waved his right hand a little, gesturing to her not to mind. The group led by Naga and Raibach returned to the district filled with shops once again.

4

In the end, they bought two carriages, the horses to pull the carriages and horses to ride. They also purchased kitchen knives, pots, kettles, and other dinnerware. Extra sets of clothes, lutes, drums, and tents for camping outdoors were also procured.

The group carried the items onto the carriage, then those who can ride on horses did so, while those who can’t (or didn’t want to) got onto the carriages along with the cargo.

Vita complained that it was cramped inside the carriage, but since Dona, who was much bigger than her, squeezed between the cargo without a word, she couldn’t say too much.

Under Naga’s influence, the Heindler witches more or less had some training in riding horses, so aside from Harlequin, Linne, and Linna, all of them rode on the horses. Even though Ais, Kay, Cu, and Nonoel were really scared.

“Harlequin, wait.”

Naga called out to her as she was about to board the carriage.

“What is it?”

“You can talk to animals right?”

“Not really converse with them, we can just communicate with each other.”

“If that is so, why don’t you ride a horse?”

“Fufufu.” Harlequin showed a scornful smile, puff out her chest and said: ”How foolish of you Naga. Communicating with animals and actually riding a horse are two different matters!”

“Do you need to get angry? And I don’t get what you mean.”

“If I ask the horse to run faster, I will fall off from it.”

“What?”

“If I ask the horse to walk steadily and don’t let me fall off, the horse will walk very slowly.”

“……”

“I am not riding a horse in order to not trouble everyone!”

“……”

“Ah~~ I mean—”

At this moment, Ixine, who was in the driver’s seat of the carriage, said:

“What she means is that her horsemanship is terrible, so stop asking her about it.”

Harlequin twitched her hair that looked like beast ears, and turned towards Ixine resentfully.

“What nonsense is that, Ixine. There’s nothing wrong with my horsemanship. It isn’t that my skill is bad, it’s just that the horse can’t keep up with my skill.”

“Yes yes, I know. Let’s just accept this reason. It’s my fault Harlequin.”

“It makes me feel even more terrible when you apologize like that, Naga.”

Harlequin’s hair that looked like beast ears sagged down depressingly.

“Basically, the horse will move by itself. If you are too tense, the horse would be influenced by you and become harder to control.”

Naga, who was excellent in horsemanship advised, but to the people unaccustomed to riding horses, things were not as simple as he said.

“You will get used to it, you can ride it naturally after gaining some experience.”

Raibach had great horsemanship too, so he was in charge of driving a carriage, while Ixine who was the most eager to learn horse riding drove the other.

Naga led the way on his horse, followed by the witches— who were dressed like dancers — riding their horses, with the carriages driven by Ixine and Raibach at the very back. The group returned to the inn just like this, housed the horses in the stables behind the inn, and fed them. Harlequin used this chance to summon the guard dogs and gave them some of the meat she’d bought.

5

Naga stood before the horses that had been separated from the carriage and fell into deep thought.

“Alright, we have to carry the small items to the rooms, and leave the large cargo on the carriages. Raibach, sorry about this, but I need you to keep watch here.”

“Understood. Don’t worry about me, I can sleep on the floor.”

“As for the other carriage…”

Naga was troubled over this when Harlequin returned after feeding the dogs and raised her hand.

“Ah, we don’t need to place a sentry, I asked those strays to help again. They are full of life after eating the meat, so we can leave it safely in their paws.”

“I see, let’s leave it to them then.”

Harlequin whistled silently again, and the strays gathered.

“Don’t let them get too close to the stables. It would be troublesome if the horses got spooked and makes a racket.”

“Got it.”

Harlequin squatted down before the strays and gave them the task. Even though Naga had the talisman given by Lela, he couldn’t understand what she was saying.

She is probably relaying my instructions, amazing.

“Let’s prepare dinner.” Ais said to the other witches.

Although they checked into an inn that was slightly higher class, only the very top class hotels in this era will provide meals for their guests. So they went to the market to buy ingredients.

“Dona, you girls help too.”

“Yes, dear mother.”

“Naga and Chief Vita, please rest in your rooms.”

“Is that alright? Thank you very much.”

“You are welcome.”

Ais answered with a smile, and added a line in her heart:

It’s the duty of the young ones to take care of the elderly.

“I will retire to my room then.”

“Yes, please have a good rest.”

After returning to his room, Naga laid on his bed and watched the ceiling.

Arara, unexpected things kept happening one after another. But the most unexpected thing of all is that I came to an alternate world.

He thought about the things that happened after he arrived and what the future held, and fell asleep gradually.

Naga woke when he heard someone calling out to him.

“Dinner is ready, please come to our room to eat.”

Naga sat up slowly and raised a hand at Ais.

“I will be right there.”

6

Naga still couldn’t get used to bread.

What I ate in the past should have been easier to bite, soft and sweet… but what is it? But this isn’t too bad.

Naga sent the sliced bread to his mouth, and thought about this as he chewed.

Aside from the bread, the other dishes taste great.

Pickles, vegetables, stewed duck, smoked bacon, and freshly grilled fish from the sea were laid out on the table, satisfying in both taste and portion.

If only there was rice…

“That’s right, rice!”

Recalling the deliciousness of freshly cooked rice, Naga couldn’t help shouting. The witches looked surprised and looked at Naga.

“But… there is no rice in this world.”

Naga drooped his shoulders sadly.

“What is this rice thing?” Ais asked.

“In the place I came from, rice was the main staple food. Rice is complemented by the other dishes. I just remembered that.”

“Rice… Rice… What is that, food?”

Lela’s eyes were glowing as she leaned forward. Naga smiled wryly.

“How should I put this. It is the grain of a crop known as paddy. After harvesting it, milling it and washing it, it will be placed in a pot to simmer. After it is cooked, just steam it for a while and it will be ready to eat.”

Lela had a confused expression and looked baffled; the other witches and Raibach were just like Lela and looked surprised.

“If you don’t see the real thing, you won’t understand. I don’t know how to explain it too.”

Naga scratched his head and smiled bitterly.

“But if you can recall one specific thing, you can remember others, right?” Lela said.

“I hope so. I will tell you if I remember anything, don’t worry.”

“I am looking forward to, it.”

“Forget the rice, let’s eat. We need to discuss about tomorrow after finishing.”

“That’s true, let’s eat and tidy up the room.”

After Ais said that, the witches stopped their chatter and finished their dinner early, then stood up to clean the place.

7

After cleaning up, the witches returned to the large room and began their discussion with Naga in the center.

“As planned, we will find a place to hold our performance tomorrow. All of you have prepared your dancing costumes already anyway.”

If they all wore different costumes, they wouldn’t look like dancers from the same troupe. Using the witches’ normal attires directly wasn’t suitable too, so Ais and the other dancers prepared a set of costumes.

As the purpose was to garner more audience, their attire was revealing and thin like their usual clothes. As they didn’t need to be concerned about using spells in battles, they added frilly accessories on their clothes to attract the audience’s attention through their dance.

“What about the venue?” Vita asked.

“If we perform near the harbor, we should be able to attract plenty of sailors, right?”

“That’s true, but they seem really busy. It would be better to perform in the streets in the morning, we can catch the morning crowd visiting the morning market.”

Naga nodded in agreement with Vita’s suggestion.

“Good point, let’s perform in the streets first. Linne and Linna will use the chance to move around, and listen to what the audience is saying.”

“Yes, understood.” x2

“Oh right. Naga, when I was walking in the streets just now, it doesn’t seem very peaceful.”

“Not peaceful? As in full of life?”

Vita thought about it and her face turned serious.

“… Not that way.”

“What do you mean?”

“Ugh, there isn’t anything in particular that makes me feel uneasy, just that it didn’t seem peaceful and people are panicky— That’s the impression I have. But I haven’t been to a human city for a long time, maybe it’s just my imagination.”

There must be a reason why Vita is saying this.

“I see. If Vita’s instincts are correct, there might be some incident that happened somewhere. Linne and Linna might be able to sniff something out in regards to this. I am bothered by something too. There were some young men and women tied up with ropes near the harbor, are they criminals?”

“No, they are slaves.” Vita said with disdain.

“Slaves…”

“Those are people bought by slave peddlers, and will be sold in a slave market somewhere.”

“Humans can be traded?”

“This isn’t such a rare sight. It’s common for humans.”

Naga crossed his arms and the corners of his lips drooped.

“I see, so this is normal in this world.”

“Isn’t there something like this in your world?”

“No… I am not sure too, but I don’t think the trading of humans was so open.”

“Oh, seems like your world is better in this aspect.”

As Naga and Vita chatted about this, Lela stared at Naga intriguingly.

“Alright, after I conquer the world, I will ban the trading of humans.”

What… What a confident guy. In his mind, is world conquest the default objective? Just who is this guy?

Vita appraised Naga closely.

“Hmm? What’s the matter?”

“No… it’s nothing.”

His grandiose words make me question if there is something wrong with his head… It is doubtful, but he should be serious. And there is something about this man that makes me believe he can make this future a reality. If not, I wouldn’t have placed my bet on him.

“Fu, I will look forward to it.”

“Alright, back to the topic at hand. We will decide on the venue after we reach the streets tomorrow, let’s sleep early everyone. Oh right…”

Naga turned and asked Harlequin.

“Can you ask the dogs to keep watch the entire night?”

“It shouldn’t be a problem, but to be safe, I will check on them later.”

“I see, I will go with you too.”

“You don’t need to come though.”

“I am the head of the troupe after all, checking on the carriages is part of my job. The inn staff is here too, and I need to be aware of how the other customers see us. I need to perform my duties too.”

“Oh.” Harlequin said, and it was obvious she didn’t understand and seemed baffled.

“Is that so? I’m not opposed to you coming if you insist.”

“I will go check on the horses then.” Ixine raised her hand and said.

“Okay, I will leave the horses to you.”

Naga turned back and faced everyone.

“Everyone, please have a good rest.”

At this moment, Ais raised a question.

“Naga, aren’t you tired?”

“This isn’t much.”

“But when we were running in the Black Forest, you were the first one to tire.”

“Ughh.” Naga sighed, lowered his head and said: “Back then, I had just came to this world.”

“Hmmm!?” Kay exclaimed in surprise, then retorted: “What has your lack of stamina got to do with getting used to this world?”

“Kay is right! That’s why I need to ride a horse!”

“You actually admitted it!”

The witches laughed out loudly.

Naga shook his head in resignation, pulled himself together and instructed the witches:

“Anyway, let’s end the discussion for the night, we will need to move at day break.”

After concluding the meeting, Naga exited the inn, accompanied by Harlequin and Ixine.

8

Naga, Ixine, and Harlequin walked towards the stables behind the inn. Since no one else was around, they wore their usual attire. Once they put on the revealing clothes of the witches, the tattoos on Ixine’s skin was eye catching even in the middle of the night.

Speaking of which, I heard that Ixine could manipulate the tattoos on her skin, what does that mean?

Naga was thinking about that when Ixine suddenly said:

“Naga.”

“What is it?”

“We don’t know each other, why are you doing so much for us?”

“We are not strangers anymore.”

“Eh~~ I will put this another way. Back then, we didn’t know each other, why did you do so much for us?”

“Because I owed you all the debt of one meal and a night’s lodging.”

“This is too much for just a meal and a night’s lodging. No matter how I see it, the burden on your shoulders is heavy—— Or rather, too heavy.”

Naga didn’t answer Ixine’s question, but looked up into the night sky; Darkness had shrouded the surroundings. Witches had excellent eyesight, so they didn’t need torches. Ixine held a torch for Naga to light the ground. Thousands of stars twinkled in the clear night sky. Compared to the vague memory Naga had of the stars, the starlight was brighter here and more numerous.

“Now that you asked… I don’t know why I am going so far for you all too. Just that after listening to Yuuki and Raibach’s story, I had an idea—”

Naga continued looking at the sky and said calmly:

“— If I can conquer the world, maybe I can reduce the number of families with terrible deaths like Yuuki’s and Raibach’s…. If there are less people who are like this, there will be less people who will live sad lives, right? So I want to build a peaceful world, and reduce the number of such people. I think this is my responsibility and duty…. Maybe this is the reason.”

“Oh.”

Ixine opened her eyes wide and observed Naga’s profile.

It wasn’t clear if Harlequin heard what the two of them were saying, she squatted down not too far ahead, and patted the heads of the stray dogs that came near.

“What a grand ambition, I can’t keep up.”

“Is that so? I don’t think it is too great.”

“How should I say this, maybe our perspectives are different, or maybe our vision is different, or the way we see things is different.”

Naga laughed and turned his head back.

“It doesn’t matter what it is, I am doing this to help voluntarily. Although my actions caused you to shoulder a heavy burden.”

“Oh, don’t worry, we don’t mind. The burden might be heavy, but we look forward to living in a different world… probably. It feels like if we follow Naga, we will see a scene and world we have never experienced before.”

“A world you have never seen before.”

Naga smiled deviously.

“Even if that place is hell?”

“If we are hunted into extinction by humans, it will also be hell.”

Ixine had a refreshing smile, as if she was opposing Naga.

“Either way leads to hell, it will be more interesting to visit a new hell.”

“You have an interesting way of saying this.”

“Is it? I don’t think so. Harrigan-Nee, Ais, and the others have a similar way of thinking, or they wouldn’t be fighting the humans alongside Naga.”

“Really?”

“It’s true, it’s true. So you don’t need to worry. If anyone of us dies in battle, you don’t need to push the blame on yourself.”

Naga looked at Ixine in surprise.

“You are really considerate, Ixine.”

“Huh? R-Really? People always say that.”

Ixine smiled shyly as she scratched her head.

“Oh, a lot of people told you that?”

“Although I’m usually the one who is saying it.”

“So you are saying that yourself!”

“Because no one else is saying it, so I have to say it myself.”

Heehee, Ixine had an embarrassed smile.

“I will say it again, you are really considerate, Ixine.”

“Heehee.”

[[Image:Naga04_Illus-03.jpg|175px|thumb]]

Ixine lowered her gaze and smiled with her face flushed.

“Eh, what are you two doing? Let’s go.”

Tch, Harlequin really spoiled the mood, the atmosphere between Naga and me was so good.

Ixine swore in secret, then raised her hand and replied: “We will be right there~”

“Let’s go, Naga.”

“Okay. Oh yah, Ixine, I heard you can manipulate the tattoos on your skin, what does that mean?”

“Ah, speaking of which, you haven’t seen my magic.”

Ixine turned her body towards Naga and pointed at a tattoo.

“Simply said, this is like Cu’s belts. Look, it can move like this.”

Ixine extended her right arm.

“Summon imperial souls, dancing gleefully, no obstruction, rewards, boundary, righting all wrongs.”

The tattoos on Ixine’s arm started to squirm.

They gathered at the front of her arm, and then disappeared.

“Go.”

With a wave, the tattoos that had gathered on her palm seemed to have a life of their own when it fell to the ground, and then bound Naga’s legs.

“Waahhh!”

Naga attempted to shake away the tattoos, but they entangled his pants and were climbing up slowly.

“W-What is going on!?”

“Alright, come back.”

Ixine commanded, and the tattoos slid down and left the pants, and came back to Ixine’s legs and climbed up. Ixine placed her right hand on her thigh, and the tattoos moved onto her arm, back to their original position.

“Something like this. I can use it to entangle the opponent’s body with the tattoos and stop their movement. I can also strangle their neck.”

“T-This is amazing.”

“This is strong in single combat, but not very useful in fighting the humans.”

“That’s not true.”

“Hey! What are the two of you doing!?”

“Ahh, sorry, we will be right over.”

Ixine waved at Harlequin and started running.

All of them possess amazing skills, if their talents are utilized well, I believe we can form a powerful army. It’s a pity that we lack numbers, if we have the forces… Seems like we have to increase the number of human soldiers.

Naga thought as he jogged after Ixine.

After checking that the carriages were fine, the three of them left the guard duty to the strays and returned to the inn.

9

The next morning—

The witches and Naga prepared breakfast in a hurry and ate quickly, then started preparations to set off. As it is a street performance, there wasn’t much to prepare. Everyone just needed to wear their costumes and take the flutes, drums, and string instruments, which didn’t take much time.

Naga and Raibach waited in the room for them to change, and Ais came to their room to call for them.

Wahh! Ais’ clothing!

Naga was shocked by Ais’ attire the moment he left the room.

Her bountiful breasts were covered by a small piece of cloth, just barely. Frilly accessories were placed on her arms and waist, and a thin rope was wrapped around her hips; it wasn’t clear if she really wanted to cover up. The exposed skin and face were painted with beautiful patterns and she wore a beautiful hair accessory on her head. On her hands were sparkling gems and glittering silver bangles, displaying the elegance, beauty, and exposure of a dancer.

“Erm… What’s the matter?”

Ais asked, and Naga finally came to his senses.

“Nothing… Really… What an amazing dancer.”

“What? What do you mean?”

Ais appeared confused, and Naga explained to her with a smile:

“I mean your beauty is astonishing.”

“Huhhh, a-a-are you serious?”

“Am I right, Raibach?”

“Y-Yes. We will definitely make money; you are sexier than a real dancer~”

“You jest, Raibach!”

The embarrassed Ais patted Raibach’s shoulder hard, making him fall onto the floor screaming.

“Everyone is waiting for you in the room, come over quickly.”

Ais ran out of the corridor after saying that.

She looked naked from the back. No, she is as good as naked from the front too.

Naga thought as he watched Ais’ shaking hips.

“That hurts.”

Raibach nursed his shoulder and stood up with a painful groan.

“Ais’ brute force is dangerous, if she doesn’t learn to control her strength, she might just break my bones.”

“Alright, let’s go. I wonder how the other witches are dressed, how exciting.”

“You will lose your life if you are not subtle about it.”

Raibach advised.

“That’s true, let’s observe discreetly.”

“Eh, peeking at them sneakily is dangerous too.”

Naga walked towards the large room where the witches were gathered, and Raibach said quietly with a face of resignation behind him:

“… Although I can empathize with you.”

10

After Naga and Raibach entered the large room, they realized it was heaven. Angels gathered within, and all of them were nearly naked.

Just like Ais, they wore thin and small pieces of clothes, and put on elegant accessories. Patterns were drawn on their bodies with dyes and smeared on their faces. They also dyed their hair and had arm and leg bangles. Some of the witches didn’t cover their chest, only concealing their nipples with paint. Naga and Raibach forgot all about discreet observation and stared at the bold appearance of the witches with eyes wide open. At this moment, Kay, who only had a thin piece of rope on her chest and waist approached them.

“How is it? Does it suit us? Pretty enough?”

Seeing Kay striking poses, Naga looked at her from head to toe.

It’s a pity, more accurately speaking, it’s regrettable, especially the chest area.

But he can’t vocalize his true thoughts, and only gave a vague answer:

“Ah~ yes, very sexy!”

“Naga, why do you sound so insincere!?”

“No, no such thing. Ais, Lela, Cu, Nonoel, and Ixine are all so charming that it makes my head spin.”

“Why did you only leave me out!?”

“Don’t be depressed, Kay.”

“Ais is consoling so arrogantly!”

Kay lowered her head dejectedly.

“Alright, alright.”

“Don’t mind it, Kay.”

When she heard Linne and Linna’s consolations, Kay showed a dissatisfied look.

“Linne and Linna don’t need to be dancers, that’s why you aren’t concerned~ Both of you don’t need to reveal your child like bodies to everyone.”

“You can show off your pitifully flat chest then, Kay” x2

The twins retorted as one.

As Naga was laughing heartily, Vita walked over. Her body didn’t have any contours, and didn’t look sexy in her revealing attire, but had a unique air about her. The tall Dona beside her had bountiful breasts, making the two of them look like parent and child.

“Naga, how do we look?”

“Raibach and I were just talking about this, all of you are sexier than real dancers.”

“That’s right, huh.”

Except for some of the witches.

“Hmm? You want to say something?”

“No, I have nothing to say. Right, let’s find a place to perform.”

“True. Hey, Dona, Lily, time to go.”

“Yes dear mother.”

“Everyone ready?”

“We are ready, Ais.”

“Let’s be off.”

“Good, the Najunkray troupe is going to have its first performance.”

“Yes—!” x4

11

After linking the horse to the carriage, Naga jumped onto the driver’s seat. Linne and Linna came to him to report:

“We are going to the streets.”

“I’m counting on you.”

The twins left the inn quietly.

“I will drive.”

Raibach said and sat down besides Naga, taking the reins.

“Everyone try to look lively on the way there.”

Ais, who was standing beside the carriage, said to everyone.

“Got it—”

“I will work, hard.”

“Of course.”

“Leave it to me.”

The witches responded and acknowledged by raising their hand.

“Alright, let’s go Raibach.”

On Naga’s instruction, Raibach tugged the reins lightly, urging the horses forward. The wheels of the carriage rattled as they turned.

As the carriage advanced, all around the carriage, half naked— more accurately speaking almost entirely naked— dancers followed.

“We are the Najunkray troupe—”

“The performance is about to begin—”

“Please watch our performance if you have time—”

“We will perform a dance— a lively dance show—”

“P-Please watch, our show.”

The dancers advertised the performance and called out to the pedestrians, telling them about the show the troupe would be putting up.

All the dancers were beauties, and they wore thin, short, revealing clothes, which drew the attention of the crowd. A few onlookers were already following behind them. Ais chatted with the curious audience, asking them about a suitable venue to perform. She then reported her findings to Naga:

“Alright, let’s head over there.”

Naga replied, and looked towards the back of Ais who returned to the crowd — her almost bare ass— and felt impressed.

She takes great care of people and treats others kindly, just like a big sister in the neighborhood kind of feeling. She can talk normally with humans, and is dependable in such situations. A pity that her character changes once she has a drink. But…

There were witches like Yuuki, who extremely hate men, but there were also witches like Ais, who could interact normally with humans. Most witches were not good at interacting with humans, but the lack of experience plays a large part.

If they come into contact with me and Raibach frequently, they will get used to humans one day. Harrigan’s witches are much more used to it now, and they will have even more chances to do so in the future. The witches aren’t much of an issue, the problem lies with… the humans.

Raibach accepted the existence of the witches rather swiftly, but that’s because he wasn’t a stanch believer in religion. People like him were in the minority, and most humans were devout believers who wouldn’t acknowledge the existence of witches easily, or accept coexistence with witches.

This can’t be done overnight, seems like I have to force them to accept it. But that’s something for the future.

The pressing matter was to resolve the issue at hand— the war with the Kasandora Kingdom. It was hard to tell from the current situation how long the war would last. Normal people wouldn’t have the leisure to think about the future once they’d committed all their efforts to the obstacle before them. But Naga could set his sights on the long term while facing the difficulties right in front of him.

In other words, his tactical and strategic abilities were better than others.

Naga’s next move was made to set up for a situation that would occur dozens of moves later.

In Naga’s eyes, the situation a dozen steps later would be the founding of the nation of witches.

In order to do this, I need to find a way to take care of the war with the Kasandora Kingdom, and destroying that Kingdom isn’t necessary. Okay, is there any way to break through the current stalemate?

Naga fell into deep thought as the carriage swayed.

Naga still had no idea about Granvista mustering an army to campaign against the witches. But he would find out about it in the near future

12

Under the lead of Ais, the group came to the plaza; Naga ordered for the carriage to stop.

After alighting from the carriage, he checked the surroundings and found a large group had gathered. He then ordered Ais:

“Okay, we will perform here. Start the preparations.”

The preparations were finished after taking the instruments out and the dancers taking their positions.

The ones playing the instruments were Lela, Nonoel, Lily, Vita, and Harlequin. The ones dancing were Ais, Cu, Ixine, Kay, and Dona. The witches decided to group themselves this way after discussing it the night before.

“It’s a pity that I can’t see Lela dance.”

Naga said so to Lela, who was holding a flute. She answered with a sour face:

“I don’t really want to dance with those people, so it’s, fine.”

When he heard that, Naga looked at the dancers in the center of the open space.

Ais, Cu, Ixine, Kay, and Dona.

He then turned to the musicians.

Lela, Nonoel, Lily, Vita, and Harlequin.

“I get it, you are separated by size, except for Kay.” Naga muttered.

He didn’t mention what the size was referring to, but it’s obvious with a glance.

“I have a rough idea about why you don’t want to join them.”

Lela drooped her shoulders and nodded weakly in response.

Is this the reason why Vita, who wanted to dance, is now playing an instrument?

At this moment, Vita glared at Naga fiercely.

“I don’t know what you are thinking about, but that’s not the real reason, definitely not.”

You let it slip!

Naga wanted to retort, but managed to endure it.

By the way, Kay is brave as usual, almost to the point of foolhardiness.

The exposed twin peaks were shaking everywhere, only, Kay had nothing to shake. But she still puffed her chest out without minding it at all, standing tall in her corner.

Well, it’s fine if she doesn’t mind.

The dancers lined up in the open space, Ais, who was in the middle, raised her hand.

“Alright— Let’s begin—”

When they heard the cue, the witches started playing their instruments. The dancers started to move their bodies elegantly when the music started.

The audience clapped and cheered loudly.

The dancers started slow, and as the beat got faster, their movements became more vigorous.

All the dancers have large breasts (except Kay).

And their clothes barely covered their bodies.

The more intense their dance, the larger the movement of their upper bodies.

Their upper bodies shook (except Kay).

Wobbling intensely (except Kay).

Jiggling violently (except Kay).

The small pieces of cloth covering their chest — which did a poor job of concealing their bodies —seem to be on the verge of flying off.

Their lower bodies were moving vividly, the string like costumes might fall off at any instance.

The eyes of the audience followed every move of the dancers, they were definitely urging with their mind, saying— Fall off! Slip off now!

Naga wasn’t an exception.

Damn, why aren’t they falling off? Why won’t it slip? Did they stick it on with glue? Or is this magic?

Naga thought the same way as most of the audience.

The eyes of the audience were intense, focusing on the bodies that were more revealing than half naked, but not to the extent of being totally nude. They were absorbed in the intense dance. The atmosphere was heated, and spurred by the excitement, some members of the audience stood up and cheered.

The tune changed again and the dancers’ movements shifted, slow at times, fast in others, and exotic music was played every now and then. No matter what type of music it was, the dancers performed splendidly.

Amazing, this isn’t like the performance of amateurs. As expected of people that will strip and dance in every celebration party, it’s out of this world.

Naga felt impressed with devious intentions.

Claps, cheers and people beating a beat with their hands brought the atmosphere to the boiling point.

The tune intensified and the fast and frantic actions of the dancers dazzled the eyes of the audience below the stage— It was unfathomable why their clothes didn’t fall off.

Then the music ended abruptly, the dancers also stopped moving.

The dancers maintained their positions before the music stopped, then slowly relaxed their bodies and bowed to the audience in appreciation.

The audience finally came to their senses and applauded thunderously, even Naga couldn’t help clapping his hands.

The dancers were covered in sweat, waving, and bowing to the audience with all smiles in return.

Yes, amazing, this standard is worthy of making the audience cough up their money.

While Naga was feeling impressed, he felt his flank being poked. Naga turned and found Lela looking up at him.

“What are you looking, at?”

“Hmm? Nothing, I’m not looking at anything.”

Liar.

Lela looked at Naga with eyes of disdain.

“Speaking of which, you didn’t dance in the end.”

“That’s because…”

Lela glanced at Ais and the other dancers, then averted her eyes.

“I am not brave enough to join, them.”

“Kay did.”

“Because she has no sense of, shame.”

Naga agreed with this in his heart.

She is someone who will do warm ups naked before swimming.

“Forget about Kay, I really want to see you dancing with them.”

Naga said as he scrutinized Lela’s outfit. Lela, who played music, was dressed like the dancers, more revealing than being half naked, but not totally nude. She showed a lot of skin, but it wasn’t that much compared to her usual clothes. But Lela couldn’t help feeling bashful with Naga staring at her like that.

“Eh…”

Lela’s face turned red as she lowered her head.

[[Image:Naga04_Illus-04.jpg|175px|thumb]]

“I will… work hard next, time.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Lela felt her body burning up and didn’t raise her head.

The dancers moved between the crowd with woven bamboo baskets in hand. The audience gave their copper coins freely. The dancers picked up the copper coins on the ground amidst the loud applause, but one of the witches was moving really clumsily.

“What is Cu doing… She dropped the basket and spilled the coins again! Why is she so uncoordinated?”

Having no choice, Naga got down from the stage to help, and approached Cu.

“Eh, you seem to be having a hard time.”

Cu, who was leaning forward and reaching out with her hands to pick up the coins, lifted her head.

“Ah, Naga… this is hard.”

“What? What is hard?”

If you always speak only a few words, it will be hard to know what you are saying.

Naga thought as he bent his knees and reached for the coins on the ground.

“Is picking up coins hard?”

Cu shook her head with a sad expression.

When she shakes her head, her body will move. Seeing it up close, her body is a dangerous weapon. The costumes of dancers are already fierce, this further enhances her destructive power.

Naga fell into a dilemma, wondering if he should avert his eyes. In the end, his eyes were focused on only one spot.

“It’s hard to hold the heavy basket.”

“What? What do you mean?”

Naga shifted his eyes from Cu’s bountiful peaks and valley in a hurry.

“I-Is it that heavy? There’s only a few coins in there, right?”

“I will usually carry things with my belts.”

“Ahh! So that’s why.”

In other words, because Cu had always used magic to manipulate her belts, she didn’t have many chances to carry things with her own hands.

“I have never carried anything heavier than a plate.”

“Are you a princess from somewhere?”

“Just joking.”

“Oh, I see.”

“But carrying heavy things is difficult.”

“That’s not heavy…”

“It will be easy if I use my belts, I can carry a dozen or two no problem.”

Naga watched Cu placed the basket with coins onto her knees as she picked up the coins, and couldn’t help but lament:

I don’t understand how these witches think.

“It’s hard to perform too.”

“Is that so? You danced quite well.”

“Not the dance, but the clothes.”

I don’t get it, what does she mean?

Naga had a confused look on his face. Noticing his baffled gaze, Cu explained:

“I usually have belts around my body. Without the belts, it is hard to balance my body.”

“Really?”

Cu nodded.

“Having belts on my body is as good as having magic around me. Without the belts, I feel naked, that’s why this costume feels embarrassing.”

“I see, but to me, there isn’t much difference for you to wear belts or dress like this.”

“Totally different, even if I have just one belt on me, I will feel more at ease.”

Just one belt will put you at ease… Then just wear one belt in the future then, Cu.

Naga decided to hide this suggestion in the bottom of his heart.

“Everyone is done picking up the money, let’s hurry.”

Naga picked up the coins swiftly and placed them in Cu’s basket.

“Thank you…”

“You are welcome, let’s go.”

“I’m not done yet.”

“It’s just a little, so leave it. Our objective is not to earn money through dancing, but collecting intelligence.”

Cu nodded, and stood up unsteadily with the bamboo basket in her arms.

She is stumbling around. Her body movements are really unsteady without her belts.

Naga was impressed and dumbfounded.

The audience dispersed, and as Naga and company were preparing to return to the inn, Linne and Linna, who wore cloaks, walked over.

13

“Heard any noteworthy news?” Naga asked quietly.

The two of them were on the other side of the open space, and won’t be able to hear Naga’s voice normally. The two of them kept a close watch on the crowd and approached Naga nonchalantly. When they passed by Naga, they answered his question.

“I heard that there is going to be a huge battle with the witches soon.”

A battle involving the witches!?

[[Image:Naga04_Illus-05.jpg|175px|thumb]]

“That…”

He only said that much before remembering that they were still in the plaza.

There is still an audience here, this place isn’t suitable for talks. We should head back to the inn first.

Naga adopted the demeanor of a troupe leader, gathered all the dancers, and announced to them in a low voice.

“Linne and Linna seemed to have heard something, let’s head back to the inn for now.”

The dancers kept the instruments and coins they picked up hurriedly, placed them inside the carriage, and returned to the inn.

14

Everyone gathered in the large room where Ais and the others were staying in. Naga asked the twins: “What did you hear?”

“Not just the conversations of the audience, we also heard what the crews at the harbor were talking about.”

After saying that, Linne and Linna told everyone the intelligence they found out.

“I see…”

After hearing their report, Naga crossed his arms with a heavy expression.

The other witches seemed to be pondering about the news.

“There’s an army gathering at Granvista …?”

“They number about three to four thousand, a grand scale.”

Ais said with furrowed brows:

“The question is, why are they gathering an army? Are they launching a campaign against us just like the rumors said…? That should be the reason right, Naga?” Vita asked.

“Yes, I think you are right.”

“Hmm, since they made a move, what should we do?”

“… We will need to hurry up.”

“Hurry what up?”

“We need to hurry and head for the capital of the Kasandora Kingdom, and find out the relationship between the Kasandora Kingdom and the army sent to subjugate the witches.”

When Naga said that, Lela expressed her doubt with a “Hmm?”

“Normally speaking, the army would head south towards Kasandora kingdom to link up. But maybe Kasandora kingdom didn’t have anything to do with this army either, right?”

As expected of Lela, a detailed observation.

“That might be possible, but if the Kasandora Kingdom knew a large army would be coming to reinforce them, they wouldn’t have sent a thousand soldiers to attack the fort.”

“Oh, that’s true.”

The actual fact was a bit different. Kasandora Kingdom already knew a subjugation army would be heading for them. At the same time, they were coerced by Cardinal Aiba to dispatch troops to attack alone. The facts were slightly off, but Naga had analyzed the subtle relationship between Kasandora Kingdom and the subjugation army correctly.

“It is suspicious for Kasandora to seal the city (capital), maybe they overestimated the prowess of the witches and fear your attacks. But there wasn’t a need to seal the city with such a large army coming to support them.”

“Eh… Maybe the Kasandora Kingdom is levying taxes and provisions for the army, but the travelers and merchants misunderstood it as preparations to seal the city… Is that, possible?”

Lela picked up the main issue and has a keen sense of observation.

Naga nodded in agreement.

“We can’t dismiss this possibility, providing provisions is the responsibility of the host nation… Am I right, Raibach?”

“Yes, that’s basically true. But if the church grants their support, they will also provide provisions for the participating forces. They can’t feed the troops with just God’s blessings alone.”

At this point, Vita leaned forth.

“The intentions of the Kasandora Kingdom are a concern, but something bothers me, Naga.”

Naga looked at Vita and saw her exceptionally serious face.

“What is it? Your face is really grim. Something bothering you?”

“The news mentioned that the army mustering in Granvista is the elites of the church… right?”

“They did mention that. They are not the forces of another nation, but serve the church directly right? What about them?”

“That would be terrible, the units serving under the church are known as the ‘Army of God’ or ‘Holy Crusaders’, they are trained to fight heretics and the enemies of the church, and to subjugate the witches. If they send out this unit, it would be a tough battle.”

As he listened to the frowning Vita’s response, Naga clicked his tongue.

“Tch, just like the warrior monks.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C5%8Dhei</ref>”

“Warriors monks? What are warrior monks?”

“Ah? Did I say something?”

“Huh? Didn’t you just say it? You didn’t realize?”

“S-Sorry, I don’t remember.”

Naga scratched his head with a troubled look. Ais spoke up to smoothen the awkward situation.

“Sometimes, Naga will speak about strange things. It’s actually not that weird, probably things related to his old world.”

“Hmm, so he said that because of a memory or experience he had forgotten?”

“That’s it, so don’t mind me.”

Naga said nonchalantly, while Vita made a suspicious expression.

“You should be more concerned about this right?”

“Well, no matter how concerned I am, I can’t remember the things that I can’t remember. I have already given up.”

“How resolute.”

“Instead of myself, the most important thing right now is the affairs of you witches.”

“That’s true.”

“What should we do, Naga? Shall we change our plans in accordance to the news Linne and Linna heard?”

Ais asked, and Naga moaned.

“I said earlier that we need to hasten our pace. Anyway, our debut performance is over. After the city gates open at daybreak tomorrow, we will leave this place and head for the Kasandora Kingdom. Since Fort Ein is along the way, we will stop by there and discuss this with Harrigan, maybe she heard some news there.”

Vita laughed:

“So we were supposedly chased out of the Fort that’s held by the witches, right?”

“That’s right, the setting will be that after being chased out by the witches, we hurried on towards the capital of Kasandora.”

“Guess we can’t buy more resources or practice our performance.” Ais said.

“That can’t be helped, after all… Though we have heard of stupid haste in war.<ref>http://suntzusaid.com/book/2/5</ref>”

“Oh, is there such an idiom?”

“There is, I remember this is by… Sunko?”

“Who knows, don’t ask me.”

Vita retorted, which made Naga scratch his head.

My knowledge… specifically speaking, my memories are just fragmented pieces, it can’t be helped that I can’t build it into a complete picture. It’s the same for this incident too, I can’t see the entire picture. If going to the Kasandora Kingdom fills in the missing pieces, I can recreate the silhouette of the entire war and see the big picture clearly. Maybe I can find a way to handle it then.

Naga pulled himself together and announced to the witches and Raibach:

“In order to save our energy for tomorrow, it’s regrettable, but we have to stop the sightseeing and shopping for today.”

15

The next morning—

Before the break of dawn, everyone was ready and headed towards the city gates.

After the city gates opened, the group left Lancel city and headed along the path besides the Schweiz River. Few people took this route in recent times, and it appears abandoned. Fortunately, it was just wide enough for carriages to pass through, and the group hurried along.

They camped outdoors along the way, and passed by the place of the previous battle the next afternoon.

The Heindler witches and Naga fought the Kasandora army here. Raibach wasn’t present during that battle, but he still felt nostalgic as he took part in the campaign.

Watching the barren surroundings, Raibach was reminded of his recent experience.

In the beginning, I was unhappy about being demoted to the supply unit, but if I was leading the company during that battle, I would probably have died here. In hindsight, I am alive because of that, a blessing in disguise. In the end, General Geobalk took responsibility for the loss and resigned, and General Guiscard took over. He re-appointed me as a company captain, and ordered me to keep watch over the Schweiz River.

When his train of thought reached this point, Raibach looked cautiously at Naga and the witches.

I thought I was down on my luck back then and cursed my experience, in the end, I met Naga and the witches, and came to this place. What a strange fate, I thought I was unlucky, but I wasn’t that unlucky after all. I thought I was lucky, but I wasn’t that lucky too. Life is full of twists and turns.

Raibach sat on the carriage looking over at the river some distance away and felt melancholic.

16

After leaving the Schweiz River, Naga and the group followed the road up north to Fort Ein.

By dusk, they met two witches, who were patrolling outside the Fort, and returned to Fort Ein before dark.

Naga immediately sought out Harrigan and began a discussion.

17

“… So Linne and Linna found out about this in Lancel City. Any news from your side?”

“The news that Kasandora is sealing the city (capital) should be true.”

After hearing the news from Naga, that was the first thing Harrigan said.

“So you heard something that confirms this information?”

“That’s right, I’d sent Yuuki to scout the vicinity of Kasandora’s capital, and she saw them stockpiling provisions and reinforcing the walls, and strengthening the forts in the surroundings. We didn’t know why they are doing this, but after you brought back this news, everything makes sense.”

“So that’s why they are not only stockpiling provisions, but also reinforcing the city walls and forts. From the looks of it, it is true that they are preparing to seal the city.”

“But Naga, are they doing this as a precaution against us? Or are they defending against…”

Naga nodded deeply when Vita pointed this out.

“The army that is gathering in Granvista … Kasandora is probably doing this in defense against that army.”

“From the intelligence we’ve gathered so far, that should be the case. But how did this come to be?”

Vita was baffled, and it wasn’t a surprise that she reacted that way.

“I don’t get it either, seems like we need to infiltrate the Kasandora Kingdom.”

“In that case— Harrigan looked at Naga and Vita with expectant eyes: “I have no choice but to go right?”

“You need to stay here and supervise.”

“Vita is right, Harrigan. Only you can watch this place. If you leave, who can cover for you?”

“Eh, A-Ais can…”

“Ais is capable, but she lacks the experience to command a fort.”

“That’s right, I’m just an insignificant person who doesn’t have the experience.”

Ais, who was present for the meeting, said so with a smile, and Harrigan glared at her immediately.

“This girl will only say she lacks experience when the situation benefits her.”

Harrigan turned her head back immediately with a serious expression.

“But I haven’t visited a human city for so long, it’s too sly that only you all can go.”

“You finally said what you were really thinking.”

“Shut up. Vita went to Lancel, now it’s my turn.”

“Even if you say that, most of the witches here are from your clan. Normally speaking, the commander with the most troops will take command right?”

“W-What about Naga staying behind?”

“Ehh? Don’t be ridiculous, Harrigan.”

“That’s right, if Naga is here, how can we carry out the gathering of intelligence?”

“… I get it. I’m just throwing out ideas.”

Harrigan replied unhappily.

“Just bear with it a little bit longer, Harrigan. In the future, you can visit a human city whenever you want.”

“What do you mean, Naga?”

“We will rule a human nation one day; you can go wherever you wish then.”

“Huh… I-Is that so?”

“In order to achieve this goal, we have to collect more intelligence. The accuracy and amount of data will decide a battle sometimes. No, it will definitely affect the entire battle. So if we want to win the next battle, we have to collect intelligence thoroughly. But if we lose this fort, it would be a huge blow, so please stay and watch the fort.”

Naga said these words sincerely with a serious expression. Harrigan sighed softly and muttered: “Alright.”

“I’m just saying it, don’t worry. I will perform my duties, so you have to complete your tasks too.”

Naga relaxed the expression on his face and replied: “Yes, we will.”

“How about buying a present for you, the weapons and jewelries sold for an unexpectedly high price after all. What do you want? A comb? A mirror? Or both?”

“What do you mean it’s fine to buy both, Vita, this money was made by selling the Heindler clan’s goods in the first place!”

“Hmm… That’s true.”

“I can’t let my guard down when dealing with you.”

“Don’t be mad, we will hold back when buying gifts for ourselves.”

“You want to buy a present for yourself!?”

Harrigan retorted, then turned to face Ais.

“Ais, keep a close eye on the money we got from selling the items.”

“Yes Onee-san, I will watch it.”

“This fort is probably being watched. We can’t stay long, so let’s set off soon.”

“That’s true. They’re a bit far, but there’s a scouting unit somewhere around here.”

“After we leave the fort, throw some rocks at us.”

“We don’t need to go that far right?”

“This is to be safe. We won’t lose anything if you do it, so put up an act.”

“As you wish.”

Harrigan nodded, and Vita reminded her:

“Don’t throw too hard.”

“You don’t need to tell me that… No, Vita, I do want to throw rocks at you really hard.”

“How long are you going to be such a pain?”

“I’m half joking, don’t take it too seriously.”

“So you are half serious, of course I will be concerned!”

“Alright, let’s go, Vita, Ais, Lela.”

On the urging by Naga, the three of them acknowledge and stood up.

18

The traveling troupe that visited the fort was chased out by the witches mercilessly…. Under such a setting, Naga’s group left the forest and followed the road heading north.

When they reached a fortress near the capital of Kasandora, they were stopped by the guards.

19

“Where did you come from, and where are you going?”

Naga answered the soldier’s question without reservation, but to them, his words sounded fuddled.

“We came from Lancel, heading to capital, to perform.”

Seeing the performers lined up in a row, the soldiers narrowed their eyes and some of them showed lusty gazes. As they were close to the capital of the Kasandora Kingdom, all the witches put on their dancing costumes, which were small and thin pieces of clothing.

“I am leader, they troupe dance girls. May we have honor to perform for you?”

Before they reached the fort, Naga asked Lela if she could lower the effectiveness of the talisman used for communication. Because he believed that if he couldn’t communicate well, it would give the impression of being a foreigner. Lela said she could do so and weakened the talisman’s effect. That’s why he didn’t sound fluent to other people.

“I see, it would be great to watch a performance.”

One soldier said with a laugh, but the others gave a warning.

“Eh, now is not the time to watch a show, the captain will lecture us!”

“Oh, t-that’s true.”

The soldier coughed and faced Naga again.

“It is regrettable, but even though you have travelled all the way here, it is probably not possible to hold a performance even if you enter the capital.”

“Huh? Not possible?”

“War is going to break out, the citizens in the capital are probably not in the mood to enjoy a performance.”

“Huhh?”

Naga made a show of being surprised. He then lowered his voice, leaned in and asked the soldier:

“Could it be… your country is going to war with the witches? I heard about that in Lancel.”

“No, that’s not it.”

Naga faked his surprise and looked confused.

“If not, who else would you be fighting a war against?”

The soldier lowered his voice and replied.

“The enemies are forces attempting to invade our nation. So it’s fine if you want to head to the capital, but there’s no guarantee you can perform.”

Naga made a show of being depressed and drooped his shoulders. Naga was surprisingly good at acting, and was actually gleeful in his heart.

Now we can confirm that the Kasandora Kingdom won’t work together with the witch subjugation army!

“Don’t be so depressed, there is no telling when they will hit, so you might have the chance to perform for a few days.”

“Then, we hurry and go, okay?”

“Go on then.”

The soldier nodded, but a voice stopped them.

“Hold on.”

The captain of the unit heard a traveling troupe was here, and rushed over with a few underlings.

“Good day, captain.”

The soldier conversing with Naga saluted the Captain.

“You said you came from Lancel, so you walked along the Schweiz River, turned midway and headed here?”

“Yes, correct.”

“Did you passed by a fort along the way? Anything happened when you went to it?”

“We wanted to perform since it’s on the way, but witches take fort, chase us out.”

After Naga replied, the Captain and the others changed their expressions.

“Hurry and tell us the details!”

“But I want reach capital soon, or else cannot perform.”

“Just a few questions, won’t take too long.”

“Oh, then fine.”

“What are the witches in the fort doing?”

Naga already expected them to ask this, so he gave his prepared answer.

“I see them fix wall, fix tower. Not too sure, never go in.”

“Okay, how many witches are there?”

“Eh…” Naga pretended to think. “Five or six came out for us, and some fix wall, but I already said I never go in, don’t know how many…”

“Did you see any men?”

“Well, I didn’t.”

Naga answered as he worked hard to suppress his laughter. The ‘man’ they were asking about was him.

“I didn’t see.”

The Captain conversed quietly with his subordinates.

“Alright, I will send soldiers to escort you to the capital.”

Naga was surprised by the Captain’s suggestion.

“I feel safe if soldier escort, but fine?”

“I want you to meet the commander in the capital, and tell him what you just said.”

“Ahh, I see.”

I see, he wants to get information about the witches from us directly. Instead of sending a messenger, this would be a better way. We saw Fort Ein under the control of the witches with our own eyes, and are valuable eyewitnesses to them.

“I understand.”

Naga lowered his head in acknowledgement, but in his heart, he was sticking his tongue out happily.

“I will get some escorts over immediately, please wait here for a moment.”

“Yes, we will.”

We can get into Kasandora Kingdom more smoothly than expected, a good sign.

And like this, the Najunkray traveling troupe headed for the capital, led by the Kasandora soldiers.

<noinclude>
==Translator's Notes and References==
<references/>

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| Back to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
| Return to [[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]
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Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Chapter 2

2016-10-29T10:57:31Z

Darkdhaos: Created page with "==Chapter 2- Coincidence or Inevitability== 1 Just to make sure the enemy doesn’t attack, Naga left Ixine, Selena, and Elysione behind to keep watch, and then, returned ba..."

==Chapter 2- Coincidence or Inevitability==

1

Just to make sure the enemy doesn’t attack, Naga left Ixine, Selena, and Elysione behind to keep watch, and then, returned back with others to Fort Ein.
The reason for that was because Selena’s Heaven’s Eyes would be the fastest way to detect an approaching enemy. Ixine’s horse riding skill was good enough for her to be placed first or second among the witches in regards to horsemanship, whereas, Elysione could teleport instantly in case of emergency. Because of that, Naga appointed those two to protect Selena.

Once they returned home, the witches held a victory banquet after preparing grape wine and simple snacks.

2

There wasn’t much wine inside the fort. What’s more, Naga and the rest had only recently captured the fort, so the witches had no time to carry in that much wine. Therefore, nobody could get heavily drunk. However, Naga felt relieved as they were able to prevent Ais from getting violent, as a result of getting drunk.

The witches drank, ate, and danced lively.
Since none of them was able to get drunk, no witches would dance naked this time.

Sitting on the wooden floor, in the corner of a spacious room inside a residential building, Naga was eating snacks and tasting wine while starting at the dancing witches.

Next to him, there was Raibach.
As usual, the witches were dancing in their ultrathin and small clothes. Apart from those dancing, there were also those that played flutes and drums, however, the fact that all of them were wearing little clothing wouldn’t change.

“As usual, these are some terrific scenes.”

Raibach said in a whispering manner.

“Aren’t they wearing even more risqué clothes than those female dancers from an itinerant group? With such dancing and jumping, they would become fine dancers, I’d say.”
“Well, for them, it’s the usual thi….. no…. hm?”

Naga faced toward Raibach.

“What did you just say?”
“Yes? No, that’s why I said they’re wearing risqué clothes….”
“After that.”
“Ummm…. you mean that they’re wearing even more risqué clothes than those female dancers?”
“That’s it!”

“Eh? What about that?”

Not replying to Raibach, who asked suspiciously, Naga stared back with a passionate look at the dancing witches.

“What’s that? Aren’t you gazing at them quite intensely?”

Vita, who held her wine cup, approached them with a slight stagger. As one would expect, Harrigan was next to her as well, holding her wine cup.

(As usual, these two look like parent and child when standing next to each other.)

– Is what Naga’s impression was toward these two. Nevertheless, he wouldn’t let them know by any means.

Naga replied with a feigned ignorance.

“Well, I’ve just hit upon something, you see.”
“We won’t undress? No matter how passionately you stare at us, we aren’t going to undress, you know?”
“Nobody said so, Harrigan.”
“Even if you don’t say it, I can understand from your eyes telling us to undress.”
“No, I ‘m not!”
“Then, what were you going to tell us?”
“I was told by Raibach your clothes look even more risqué than those of female dancers. And then, I was struck with an idea.”

Because Harrigan and Vita glared at Raibach, the latter shook his head from side to side firmly.

“So, what idea has come into your mind?”

Harrigan, who shifted her eyes back, asked Naga.

“Wouldn’t it be a good idea to have you dress up as female dancers when infiltrating the city for information?”
“Oh?”
“Oh!”

Both Harrigan and Vita opened their eyes widely and clapped their hands.

Raibach also looked at Naga with an astonished face.

“At first, I had thought it would be better to form a caravan of merchants and sneak in, but, neither I nor you have traded with anyone before.”
“……We haven’t.”
“I guess, we also haven’t used any money recently.”
“Despite saying so, wouldn’t it be impossible for us to visit that place merely as a group travelers during these hectic times?”
“Certainly, it isn’t the kind of place you could visit for no reason.”
“Still, wouldn’t it work if we were a group of itinerant entertainers from far away? It wouldn’t be strange for us to say we came there to make a name for ourselves, since we know nothing about that place and its locals. Not to mention, there would be a reason as to why you are dressed as female dancers. On top of being a group of young beauties, you would also dance and look like female dancers. From what I can see, aren’t you pretty skillful in both dancing and playing instruments?”
“Let me see, a group of young beauties? Indeed, Naga is a straight person.”

(Mother is in high spirits.)

(As long she can lighten herself with that magic, even rising high is an easy thing for her, righttt?)

As soon as Dora and Lily put their heads together and whispered to each other,

“Is there something you want to say? Dora? Lily? How about you tell me?”
“There’s nothing?”
“Nothing at allll.”
“Well, whether all of us are young or not, let’s leave that aside.”

Once Harrigan said so, Vita directed a stern look at her. However, before Vita could say anything, Kay cut in.

“I guess Hari-nee, too, is sensitive when it comes to talking about age.”

‘Kyahaha’ – Yuuki clapped her hands and laughed, whereas, Vita nodded down deeply while saying. ‘True, true’.

“Hey there, don’t laugh! And you too, don’t agree!”

Harrigan, who had snapped, pointed at Vita and Yuuki while retorting.

And then, Ais butted in while laughing.

“That’s right, Kay-chan. It’s no good if you talk about Ane-sama as if she’s a middle-aged woman.”
(((Uwa, Ais is being the cruelest one here.)))

The witches in the background threw their heads back profoundly.

“Heh? Kay, so this is how you regards me?”
“I-I-I don’t? Speaking of which, I haven’t mentioned such thing at all, right?”

Bending her legs while shivering, Kay put her hands in front of Harrigan.

“Wanna try and see if you can stop my hair blow?”

Harrigan’s abundant bluish black hair floated in the air and turned into a big mallet.

“If I receive Hari-nee’s blow, my insides are going to break. I, even if I can harden my skin, it’s not like my insides will remain intact, so…”
“That’s okay. You’ll be able to endure my attack.”

Harrigan’s mallet shaped hair began to swing above Kay’s head.

“Waiiiiiiii, please, somebody save meeee!”
“Kay, do your best, okay?”
“This what you get when poking into somebody else’s problem!”
“Do your best, Kay. Don’t lose, Kay!”
“Yuuki, don’t cheer me on!”

Kay looked around for a help, but,

“Lela?! Nonoel?! Cu?! Why are you averting your eyes?! Harlequin, don’t say things like ‘go away’!”

(Ah…. good grief. Like always, it won’t stop once our conversation goes off topic)

‘It can’t be helped.’ – Naga thought so and stood up.

“This much should be enough for your family dissension. Harrigan, let’s hasten with a progressive talk.”
“Y….Yes?”

As soon as Harrigan came back to her senses, her hair, which floated above her head, dangled gently.

“What’s a progressive talk?”
“That’s why, I’m telling you we need to infiltrate the royal capital and acquire information on Kasandora Kingdom’s state of affairs. There’s a heap of things we need to decide on, in advance, such as, whom we should choose for this trip, from where we should enter and what dance should we decide on. There might be many of them, but, our future will depend on the enemy’s actions from now on, so you could say our role this time is very important. Somehow, we need to find out more about our them.”
“Um….. I guess you’re right. Understood….”
“Then, we shall discuss in more detail about our group that will set off once the banquet settles down.”

Harrigan breathed a sigh and looked around at everyone.

“Shall we end the banquet soon and began with our talk?”

‘That’s true.’ – Ais nodded.

“Not to mention, we’re already running out of wine and snacks this time, so all the more the reason to.”
“You bet. It’s not the right time for a drinking bout when we’re more concerned about Kasandora Kingdom’s army possibly striking again.”

(Still, you were able to drink casually, weren’t you?)

“Is there something you want to tell us, Naga? Why not speak your mind?”
“No, not like there’s anything in particular.”

The moment Naga denied while averting his eyes, he looked around at all present.

“Then, shall we hold a strategic meeting?”

Following his words, the witches brought out folding stools.

Naga sat on his folding stool with his back leaning against the wall, whereas, the witches and Raibach took up their positions as if surrounding Naga in a half-circle.

3

“First, there’s something I’d like to ask you, Raibach, but…”

Naga started their conversation.

“Itinerant entertainers aren’t that uncommon here, right?”
“I think so. Depending on their size, there are large and small groups, but, they come to the city relatively often. Those groups won’t just bring out their female dancers, but also do stunts and acrobatics. There are also instances in which they will display their swordsmanship and archery.”

“Do you need some sort of permission for that?”
“If we’re going to do a large-scale performance, then yes, but I don’t think we need any for performing dances on a street corner.”
“Open air performances are also included, right?”
“Rather, they would be much more reasonable in our case. Only big groups would have to set up a circus tent and house guests.”

Naga showed a bit of a pondering attitude toward Raibach’s reply, but then, he quickly returned his face back to normal.

“In other words, it’s possible for us to form such a group, go to the city as if it’s nothing, gather spectators in the right place and perform…. the dances?”
“I believe it’s highly possible. Since all the witches are beauties, there’s no doubt that spectators will gather. And no, I’m not flattering you at all.”
“Is that so, is that so? Raibach, I had thought you’re a man with points worthy of note, but, it doesn’t seem you’re head over heels for me.”

Vita laughed as if being in a good mood.

(Mother, just how easily can you be stirred?)

Dora and Lily made dejected faces.

“What should be the right scope for our group?”

Raibach groaned after being asked by Naga.

“That’s right. With Naga-sama being the leader of our troupe, it would be five to 6 female dancers and three or four musicians. Also, dancers and musicians can shift with each other when it’s appropriate. Wouldn’t our group become complete with ten people? A four to five person group is too small, which might not be enough to convince others about us coming from far away, and reversely, if the group is too big, it will stand out.”
“I see, so it’s ten, right? Provided that’s the final number, the next thing would be…. Lela.”
“Ye, s? What is, it?
“Can you think of an origin for our group and a route which it will go through?”
“……That’s, right. I wonder if it’s fine to tell them we come from the middle of the continent, since Naga-san looks like a foreigner. As for the origin and the route, I’ve thought about something, but, how do we explain to them we were able to enter the westernmost peninsu, la?

Naga recalled the map of the surroundings, which he had been shown before.

“If I remember correctly, the peninsula can only be accessed from its entrance. True, we would have to enter the royal capital from somewhere in north, otherwise, wouldn’t they become suspicious of us? *Tch* It’s indeed troublesome.”
“Ah, I think there should be no concern about that.”

At Raibach’s voice, everyone shifted their gaze in his direction at once.

“Ummm, Lela-san, do you still have the map?”

“I’ll bring i,t.”

Lela, who stood up, dashed out of the room and returned back immediately.

“I’ve brought the ma,p. Is this fi,ne?

As soon as Lela spread out a large piece of cloth, on which the map was drawn, on top of the floor, everyone leaned forward.

“Here. If my memory serves me right, shouldn’t there be the port city of Lancel located at this point?”

Raibach, who had stepped forward and bent his legs, pressed with his finger a certain point on the map.

“If we cross the western part of the inland sea and arrive at the port city of Lancel, we can rush off from one place to another without the need of stopping in cities along the way. If we are asked about the route, which we had gone through, we can easily deceive the people in Kasandora by telling them there’s a road along the Schweiz River running from the city of Lancel, and that we arrived at the Kingdom from the south. The road is old, and since not many people have been using it recently, it’s become rough, but….”

Naga followed Raibach’s finger with his eyes. Once his finger tapped the capital on the map, Naga lifted up his head while saying ‘I see’.

“Having that route, we can pass near this fort’s surroundings without any concern. If that’s the case, I guess this excuse may come in handy when needed. Excellent. Then, shall we go with that setting?”
“Naga-sa, n. I think it’s a good idea to reach Kasandora Kingdom’s capital through Lancel City, bu, t, it will look unnatural if we don’t bring a cart and camping tents with us, since we’re going to become a troupe of entertainers. What should we, do?
“Can’t we prepare those things once we return back to the black forest?”

Naga directed his gaze at Harrigan and asked that question.

“We can somehow manage the tents, but, a cart will be impossible, I guess.”
“Well, is that so?”
“In that case, what should we do after we arrive at Lancel City?”

Everyone shifted their attention to Raibach’s questioning voice.

“Wouldn’t it be okay for us to prepare the necessary things and dress up ourselves there? I think it’s a good idea to reach that city on foot, along the Schweiz river, and then aim for the capital. If by any chance, they ask us about the route, we can simply answer them we came on foot.”
“Oh, that’s it!”

Naga clapped his hands together.

“Ah, but…”
“Is there something wrong, Lela?”
“We need money to supply ourselves with necessary thing, s.”
“A….Ah, so it’s about money?

Naga looked at Harrigan and Vita alternately.

“Ummm, what about that? Harrigan? Vita?”

Harrigan and Vita stuck out their extra-large and flat chests, respectively, and stated:

“We have, no money, you see.”
“Not in the slightest.”
“It won’t do, even if you stick out your chests and act big.”

Naga dropped his shoulders dejectedly.

“Umm, Ane-sama…”
“What is it, Ais?”
“How about we sell out the jewels, ornaments and small tools at our warehouse? ”
“Ah, those? Still, we don’t know how much they’re worth, and nobody from us is acquainted with humans’ sense of values. It may also be possible for those items to be sold dirt cheap if we try to sell them.”

“I don’t think they’re that cheap, but, how about we carry them here and have Raibach-san take a look? Maybe, we’ll able to more or less grasp their value?”
“You’ve got a point. We can’t assess the items in practice, but, at least…. we should be able to tell their approximate worth.”
“Fumu, I guess you’re right. Then shall we do it? Yuuki, I might be troubling you, but, can you return back to the fort inside the black forest together with Lela? We need you to select and bring us worthy-looking items among the used goods inside the warehouse.”
“That’s fine, but, wouldn’t it be much faster for me to fly there alone?”
“If it’s just you, there’s a risk you might bring us nothing but useless junk.”

Yuuki bent backward with all her might.

“Hari-nee, you’re cruelll”

(She’s right about Yuuki.)
(She’s right, she’s right.)

Because Kay and Nonoel nodded in agreement, Yuuki suspended her eyes and stared at both of them.

The two of them quickly averted their eyes.

“If there are items you can’t carry with, leave them to Ixine. It should be fine for her to transport them using a horse. That being said, you will depart at dawn, tomorrow.”

“Yes, Ane-sa, ma.”

Lela nodded down straightforwardly; nevertheless, Yuuki had a discontent expression.

“Even though I could do it alone.”

Yuuki kept complaining like that.

“After that, we shall call back Ixine and sent her as a substitute.”
“With this, the next thing we have to do is to dress our female dancers and sneak into the royal capital, I guess.”

Soon after Naga said so, Kay raised her hand first.

“Me, me! I’ll do it, I’ll do it!”
“Kay?”
“Areee? What’s the meaning behind those doubtful eyes of yours, Naga-san?”
“No, wouldn’t it be meaningless for you to dance? To begin with, will any spectator come and watch you? Is what I mean.”
“I’ve been told something rude just now!”
“Isn’t it? With Kay, it won’t be possible for us gather spectators. It can’t be helped. In that case, should I be the one to undress?”
“I don’t understand at all what you’re talking about, Vita-san.”
“Haaah? What do you mean to say, Kay?
“N…….No, nothing in particular….”
“Probably, only those with special preferences will gather around Kay, Vita, and Nonoel. As one would expect, it won’t do as long it’s not someone, like Ais, Cu, or myself, right?”

Saying that, Harrigan leaned her upper body forward.

“Uwaa, if it’s against those three, then it’ll be no conteeeest.”

Kay’s eyes became teary as if from vexation.

“Speaking of which, I too was smoothly put into the same group as you, Kay?”

Nonoel bent slightly backward.

“Eh? I didn’t plan to be in the same group with you, Nonoel.”
“……..*Uuuu*…….”

Nonoel dropped her shoulders down dejectedly.

It seemed as though their discussion entered a topic which shouldn’t be touched. ‘Let’s leave that aside.’ – Not feeling like he could avert his eyes again, Naga hurriedly steered the topic back onto the right track.

“Then, we’ll be recruiting volunteers. Those, who want to join as female dancers, put up your hands.”
“”””Me, Me, Me!””””

“Everyone except Yuuki is volunteering?!”
“I guess that was to be expected.”
“Right?”

The witches looked at each other faces and nodded.

“I really want try to visit a human city.”

Kay put her hand up once more.

“True. I too haven’t walked around human cities for a long time.”
“Honestly, mother has already been there before, so give us a chance this time.”

Once Lily said so, Vita snorted with laughter.

“It seems that Lily will be withdrawing, Naga.”
“That’s crueell. I want to go there as well~”

“…..So does everyone, want the same?”

Everyone nodded down deeply at once.

*Sigh* – Naga breathed a sigh and looked up.

“If that’s the case, we can only decide with casting lots, so as to avoid any unfairness.”
“Oh righttt!”

Kay raised her hand overhead.

“I’m quite confident when it comes to drawing lots!”
“Fuun. Just like Kay, I’m not going to lose.”

Harrigan stood up while feeling relaxed. Vita too rose up with an indomitable spirit.

“I’ll show you, the strength of my draws blessed by the goddess of luck.”

(Was that so?)

Once Lily turned her look next to her, there was Dora shaking her head from side to side.

(It’s just a saying, a saying.)

“I’m going to say this, but, even if both Harrigan and Vita draw winning lots, I’ll still have one of you stay here.”

“What?!”
“What the?!”

(Honestly, those girls….)

“Provided I’m absent, one of you will need to stay behind and take care of this fort, so…”
“…..And what if you’re the one staying, Naga?”

As soon as Harrigan said so with a wry face, Vita clapped her hands together.

“Ohh! that’s an idea!”
“As if!? What is this troupe going to do without me?!”
“N….No, I was just making an assumption.”
“D…Don’t mind that.”
“I do?! By the way, doesn’t it feel like you want to go there just to have fun? This infiltration is of great importance to our surveillance, you know?”
“T, That’s why, we’re telling you we got that. Right, Harrigan?”
“C, Clearly and loudly.”

Naga stared at them with reproachful eyes.

“H, Hey, Naga, aren’t we going to do the draw quickly?”
“Well, I guess that’s fine. Then, Raibach can you prepare lots? Also, it’s already been decided that you will come with us.”
“Me?”
“You’re the only one who’s familiar with human society. We won’t be able to sell our goods if you aren’t with us.”
“You’ve got a point.”
“Well, but still, you’ll act as our troupe’s guard. Just to make sure, I think it’s better to change your outfit when we enter the city.”
“……That’s right. Yes, understood. Even if I don’t talk directly to anyone, there’s a chance my identity might be revealed.”
“And then, by virtue of one’s office, Linne and Linna will join us as well.”

There was a reason for that. Thanks to their magic, both Linne and Linna could increase their sensitivity to the surroundings. In other words, if they increase their hearing ability, they could gather information even from passerby’s gossip.

“Yess.”
“Right, isn’t it?”

The twin sisters clapped their hands together and jumped up in joy.

“Mu…”

The remaining witches looked at them with envious and scornful eyes.”

“Well, then, I’ll be making the lots. Do you have any unnecessary cloth?”

Raibach, who received an old rag, tore it into reasonable pieces and added markings on a few of them.

“Then, I guess… it should be fine for us to go with ten people as female dancers and players?
“Yes, that’s a good number. There will be a total of ten female dancers and players, excluding Linne and Linna, who will act separately as information gatherers…. No, wait. In that case, we would have to prepare at least two carts. I’ll have Raibach operate one of them, and Ixine, the other.”

Just as Naga said, currently, Ixine was the only one who excelled in horse riding among all the witches.

“With that, Ixine will tag along with us too. Guess the remaining 9 will be decided by lots.”
“Damn. I should’ve practiced more horse riding!”

Kay held her head in her hands, but it was too late now.

“By the way, nobody here can use magic to peek through cloth, right?”

Raibach directed that question at Harrigan, but she denied it by waving her hands from side to side.

“There isn’t, so don’t fret.”
“In that case, please choose your lot.”

Raibach lined up the torn cloth pieces on the floor. As he did so, the witches reached out their hands and snatched their lots.

“I did it!”
“Gyaaa, it’s a miss!”
“Yesss!”
“Ugyaaa!”

Screams and voices of joy mixed with each other inside the room.

In the end, those who got lucky were:

Kay
Vita
Ais
Lela
Cu
Harlequin
Nonoel
Lily
Dora

Together with Ixine, the total number of dancers would be ten.
In addition to that, Linne and Linna would act as a separate group.

With Naga being the leader and Raibach, his bodyguard, the lineup had been decided.

4

“Excellent. Now that the group has been generally outlined, we’ll go over the plan one last time.”

As Naga declared, the witches returned back to their seats. Some of them were cheerful, others, reluctant, and yet another, dropped their shoulders, clearly disappointed.

“We’ll follow Raibach’s advice and set off to the port city of Lancel at once. After we finish dressing up there as a group of itinerant entertainers, our next destination will be the Kasandora Kingdom. The reason for us passing through Lancel will be due to the city acting as a transit point for traders and itinerant entertainers who arrive from far away. That being said, even a foreigner like me won’t stand out, as it should make sense to tell them we come from far east.”

Naga cut his words at that point and faced Raibach.

“This should do, right?”
“Yes, it should be fine.”
“Thinking of our origin and route, I’ll leave that job to Lela. Are you okay with that, Lela?”
“Under, stood.”

Lela replied by lightly raising up her right hand.

“They might think we’re suspicious going through the trouble of coming to the Kasandora Kingdom, despite them being in conflict with the witches right now, but, we’ll carry through by saying we come from far away and that we’re unaware of their current situation. And then,”

Naga pointed to a certain location on the map.

“We’ll return to the Schweiz River from Lancel and go north along the river toward Kasandora Kingdom’s territory. Should we also tell them we tried to do a performance at Fort Ein, but were eventually driven away by the witches?
If Kasandora’s soldiers learn of such information, we might be questioned about the situation at the fort. Reversely, we’ll be able to ask for more details on their current state of affairs. In case we are asked, I’ll be the one to answer their questions, but, I’d like to have everyone here bear in your mind our origin and route, which Lela’s going to devise. Got it?”

“Yees, we’ll do our besttt.”

Each of the witches put up their hands and nodded energetically.

“The next thing would be to re-confirm our program and the list of participants. So, those in charge of dancing and playing are Vita, Ais, Kay, Lela, Cu, Harlequin, Nonoel, Lily, and Dora. Ixine, who isn’t present here with us right now, will join as well. Linne and Linna will be gathering information as a separate group, whereas, I will be the leader of this troupe, and Raibach, our guard who will be also in charge of odd jobs. Basically, the program will be about you, girls, dancing, but, decide between each other who’s going to perform during what song.”

“””Understoodddd!”””
“Well, in the end, the program is just a formality. You should be able to attract and satisfy viewers even with your exposed limbs and your prideful, risqué garments.”

As Naga said so, Ais objected with a seemingly vexed expression.

“Umm, Naga-san, we aren’t particularly proud of our risqué clothes, you know? It’s fine to say we’re wearing those ultrathin clothes, simply because they’re convenient when using our magic. It’s not like we’re showing off to you, or want you watching us at all, you see?”

As soon as Ais cracked a smile, Naga hurriedly waved his hands in from of himself vehemently.

“Ah, I got it. Of course, I got it.”

“I really wonder about that.”

Kay looked at Naga with doubting eyes.

“Let’s put that matter aside. Still, there’s no doubt that any human male will be pleased from watching your appearances, so spectators are bound to gather. Once they gather, we’ll most likely be able to overhear various rumors. First, let’s do some rehearsal when we arrive at Lancel. If possible, I’d like to practice a method that will allow us to pick up on only valuable information. Linne, Linna, I’ll leave that in your care.”

‘We’ll do our best’ – both sisters put up their hands and replied with approbative voices.

Both Linne and Linna were most suitable for the job, since they could catch any whisper within nearly 300 meters, thanks to their magic enhancing their hearing ability.

“We also need to sell and convert jewelry and used goods into money upon entering Lancel, but, I’ll entrust Raibach with that task. That’s because there’s no one besides him who can do the negotiations.”
“Understood. I’ll negotiate the price of items and sell them as profitably as possible.”
“Still, we can’t tell for sure if the items in the warehouse can be sold for much.”

Harrigan said so while shrugging her shoulders.

“In the worst case, we’ll be only able to prepare ourselves with how much we gain from the sales.”

Replying so, Naga looked around at the witches once more.

“Up to this point, does anyone still have any questions?”

However, there was nobody throwing out a question in particular.

“Ah, I would’ve forgotten, but, during our trip to Lancel, you’ll be all wearing different clothes from your usual ones. Otherwise, it won’t do, you see.”

“Human clothes are heavy, thick, and hot inside, so, seriously, I don’t like them much.”

Harlequin twitched her hair, which looked like an animal’s ears, and complained.

“It can’t be helped. Since there’s a risk you’d be suspected as witches from the beginning, I can only have you all, girls, bear with that. Don’t you think so, Raibach?”

Looking at the witches with a sidelong glance, Raibach slightly nodded.

“Yes. What’s more, there are no girls who would usually dress like that.”
“You don’t have to wear restrictive, extra clothes, as long you cover your top. Even something similar to Elysione’s mantle will suffice. After that, perhaps I should have us dye our hair, or cover our face with pigments, so as to get mixed in among the other people.”
“Isn’t it bothersome as well?”
“More importantly, Harlequin, will you be okay with those eyes of yours? It looks like each of them is a different color, still…”
“Ah~, the colors will fade if I cancel my magic, so I should be able to manage them somehow.”

Despite being told so, Naga was still hesitating. As he bent his head, Harrigan threw him a lifeboat.

“Harlequin’s magic is peculiar, you see. She will use her magic most of the time, so as to communicate with animals. Just like me, she doesn’t need to recite any incantation. As long as we have her understand when to use her magic under normal circumstances, it should probably be easy. By the way, whenever she activates her magic, her left and right eye will become different from each other.”
“I see. Then, does it mean she can’t communicate with animals when her magic is off?”
“That’s what I mean.”

Naga pondered for a while, however, he immediately lifted his face.

“…..You won’t be able to talk with animals when dancing in front of people, so are you fine with that?”
“It will be alright, I guess.”
“Aren’t you being quite light-hearted there?”

Naga gazed at the buoyantly-looking Harlequin, but then, he quickly softened his gaze and directed his sight toward Harrigan and Vita.

“Isn’t this the type of season where the rain usually continues for many days?”
“If it’s this season, I think there’s no need to worry about rain that much, but…”

Once Harrigan replied that way, Vita, who bent her small head, threw out a question in doubt.

“Does it have something to do with our trip?”
“It does. If the path becomes slushy, our carts will be held up, making our goal far from being reached. Besides, if the rain continues to fall even after we enter the city, it will affect your performance.”

“Is that so? Then, it’s just like Harrigan says, I don’t think there will be any rainy days this season. Even if there are, it will be a drizzle at most. In addition to that, if there’s no strong wind, we should be at least able to dance. Rather, wouldn’t viewers be even happier to see our clothes become transparent from getting soaked?”

“Ohhh, for real? I see. Indeed, it may be something to look forward to!”

As soon as Naga clapped his hands together without realizing, Vita suddenly retorted at him.

“Don’t be happy!”

Shortly after, the other witches:

“””Don’t be happy!”””

“N, Not like I’m happy or anything.”

Naga made such an excuse. Staring at Naga with a dumbfounded face again, Raibach once more felt admiration toward him.

(Taking on these frightening witches as his opponents and still being able to act that naturally, that’s truly amazing. As one would expect, is it because of Naga-sama being a foreigner? Or perhaps, is it because of him being the real messenger of the Dragon King? What’s more, he’s able to consider lots of situations when devising a counterplan in advance. Should one say he’s shrewd, or maybe vigilant? Whichever it is, he isn’t any ordinary person.)

Raibach contemplated again, so as to make sure he hadn’t made a mistake when he chose to serve Naga.

“Well then, let’s quickly move forward with the preparations starting from this night. Our time of departure will also depend on how the Kasandora Kingdom will act, but, should we set off after 3 days if nothing changes?”

Following Naga’s words, their early arrangements commenced.

Since then, 2 days have passed and the witches continued to prepare in a hurry for the departure while being completely devoted to their dance practice.

5

Later, according to Yuuki, no signs of Kasandora troops, attempting to capture Fort Ein again, were found. There were several dozen soldiers walking nearby the fort, but, because they wouldn’t approach any closer than a fixed distance, they were simply thought to be reconnaissance groups.

Deeming there was no need to worry about their enemy striking back for now, Naga decided to form and dress up his troupe, after which, they would commence their plan of sneaking into the Kingdom of Kasandora.

First, they had to set off to Lancel, dress up there as itinerant entertainers, and do a rehearsal in front of the local people there. Afterwards, they would return to the Schweiz River and go north along it towards Kasandora Kingdom’s territory.

In order not to stand out, Naga and his party slipped out from Fort Ein, broke through the mountain, and departed toward the left bank of the Schweiz River. From there, they followed the river and headed toward Lancel.

6

Meanwhile, in the fortified city of Granvista.

In a certain room located inside a cathedral, Cardinal Aiba was receiving a report from one of the Old Church’s subordinates that worked as their intelligence operative.

Those who engaged themselves in intelligence activity for the Old Church were known as s ‘people overhearing the mass’s voices’ and mostly referred to as POMVs.

Aiba, who was hearing out one of those POMVs, frowned his eyebrows with a seemingly discontent expression.

“Kasandora Kingdom has suffered another defeat?”
“Yes. Their troops, which had been dispatched to retrieve Fort Ein, were splendidly repelled by the witches back to Kasandora’s royal capital.”

Aiba responded as if wanting to spit out.

“Good grief, they are all bark and no bite. To think they would lose one battle after another to a mere 30 to 40 witches.”

(As one would expect, I made a grave mistake by placing my trust in that country. I was totally right to summon the Brigade of 88 and request troops from neighboring countries.)

Aiba, who was both an archbishop and cardinal of the Old Church, was extremely keen on exterminating the witches.

One could understand well how vehement Aiba was about that, as he himself aspired to be appointed in this place. For him, the witches who nested inside the Black Forest were beings that should be driven away as fast as possible.
The witches are the enemies of humankind, the children of God. Therefore, no presence of the witches could be acknowledged in this area. No, generally, their very existence denied them any place in this world. Such was Aiba’s belief. Because of that, it was rational for him to think that those who had lost to the witches should not be in the position of receiving God’s grace.

(I can no longer expect anything from that country, however, they should make up for their losses by decreasing the strength of the witches, even if it’s just a bit. Otherwise….)

“Is there anything else you wish to know, Sir?”

The man who was reporting kneeled down with his head lowered. Aiba casted his eyes at the top of the man’s head and asked.

“What happened, to Kasandora’s troops? Could it be they were destroyed during their battle against the witches?”
“No, it appears that their troops sustained no major losses.”
“If that’s the case, I’ll have them form new troops, and, join me, once more, in a sortie against the witches.”
“About that….”
“Hm? Did something happen?”
“From what we could see, it looked like Kasandora Kingdom’s army, was making preparations for holing up their capital.”

A sign of doubt surfaced on Aiba’s face.

“Holing up their capital? Could it be that the witches are making an onslaught on them?”
“No, the witches won’t leave Fort Ein.”
“And despite that, they’re are trying to lock themselves in?”
“This is how things looked to us.”

(What’s the meaning of this, you bunch from Kasandora Kingdom?)

Suppressing his urge to smacking his lips, Aiba bombarded the POMV with questions.

“Are they preparing their capital against the witches? Even though they sustained no casualties? Have they become that weak?”
“Certainly, the army of Kasandora has diminished in strength, but, their attitude this time appears to be a bit different from what we can see as holing up against the witches. Also, the southern part of the capital doesn’t seem to be that reinforced.”
(……What’s the meaning of this.)

Aiba, whose face wanted to express doubt, pondered the meaning behind the subordinate’s report for a while.

(Then, against whom are they holing up against? If their enemy isn’t the witches…….Could it be?!)

Aiba was struck dumb upon realizing a certain possibility.

“Could it be, they’re holing up against the Witch Extermination Army?”

The POMV would neither deny or confirm Aiba’s words, which could be perceived as either a monologue or a question directed towards the man.
Asking beyond the man’s capability would be the same as piling up one guess after another.

“I can’t say for sure, but, it’s almost certain that Kasandora Kingdom is preparing to hold the city. We can’t tell who their perceived enemy is, however, just as we stated before, there are missing points in assuming that the witches could be their enemy.”

Stopping at where he stated the fact, the man left speculating and drawing conclusions to Aiba.

Aiba’s face changed from that of a gentle and benevolent God’s face into a fuming one expressed by warriors of God who seek the annihilation of their enemies. Judging from the POMV’s report, Aiba could think of nothing but the fact that Kasandora is attempting to hole up.

“If their enemy isn’t the witches, then, I can only imagine it’s the extermination army. Just what on earth is that king thinking about…. no.”

(That’s right. There’s been a report about Kasandora Kingdom’s king falling ill and his nephew, Guiscard, being transferred his authority. In other words, is he the one responsible for this? Still, be it the king or Guiscard, their actions are still nonsensical. Why are they holding the city, instead of fighting the witches?)

General Guiscard, who was the lawful owner of the king’s rights, has been aspiring to be installed as king. For him, the kingdom was of utmost— sometimes, even stronger than God’s will—-importance. However, for Aiba, who was an ardent believer of God, Guiscard’s practical thoughts and sense of values were outside his scope of reasoning.

Aiba regained his calm expression and called out to the POMV with a calm voice.

“Please continue your observation on Kasandora’s movements. For the sake of our Lord’s will.”
“For the sake of our Lord’s will.”

Bowing down deeply, the man stood up slowly and calmly only to bow down again, after which he would retreat.

Aiba saw off the POMV till he disappeared from the room’s entrance. Shortly after, he called out to a priest, who had been on a standby in the next room.

“What do you seek from me, Aiba-sama?”
“I’ve figured out what I want to discuss urgently. Please bring Jeweljude-dono, the leader of the Brigade of 88, to me immediately.”

Once the young priest paid his respects to Aiba, he quickly withdrew from the room.

7

“Was it you who called me, Aiba-dono?

The giant, who behaved as if looking up to Aiba, entered his office in a clumsy manner.
Jeweljude wasn’t wearing his helmet, but, his metal armor, gauntlets, and tough leather boots, which strengthened his body, gave him a posture to be ready for a fight at any time.

“Thank you for coming. How have the preparations for the sortie been progressing?”

The first thing Aiba did, after Jeweljude entered, was asking him such a question with a harmless and inoffensive attitude.

“I guess, not quite.”

At his response, Aiba made a grimace.

“No matter what we do, it takes time to prepare, since we are putting together troops from each country. And when it comes to applying a shared strategy, every troop is bound to undergo an appropriate amount of training. Not to mention, we still need to decide on how to dispatch messengers, how to signal our movements, and what formation we should take. We also need to learn more about the witches’ method of attack. At least, if we don’t possess a common knowledge of these, our troops will fall into disorder sooner or later during the battle.”

Cutting his words, it was rare for Jeweljude to breathe a sigh.

“Truly, this is a bothersome matter. It could’ve been many times faster and convenient to mobilize just us, the Brigade of 88, but well…”

Aiba nodded down with a composed, or rather, cool-headed expression.

“I understand. However, this will become a lesson for us for the next time. The witches are beings that oppose the will of God, and hence, they have to be eradicated without exception. We need to show that, the truth about the witches, and also how they’re being completely annihilated to society, and the world. For that, we need other neighboring countries to join us.”

“Well, I do understand your point, but, whatever. Then, the only reason you called me was to check on the preparations?”

“No, I receive a report on that each day, so I wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of calling you here because of that.”

(If that’s the case, why did you call me during this goddamn busy time?)

Is what Jeweljude thought. However, he knew Aiba wouldn’t call him for no reason.

Being worked to death by the preparations, there had to be an important reason behind Jeweljude being summoned. Thinking back upon it, he awaited Aiba’s next words.

“Kasandora Kingdom has been showing a bit of a strange attitude, you see.”
“A strange attitude?”

The cardinal briefly and quickly explained the situation to Jeweljude, who twisted his neck in confusion at Aiba’s words.

Jeweljude, who had finished listening, twisted his neck again.

“So Kasandora Kingdom is holing up itself? Not to mention, it’s not against the witches? I can’t grasp their reasoning.”
“I too am unable to understand their motive.”

Replying that way, Aiba lightly shrugged his shoulders.

“Still,”

The cardinal directed his sight towards a map unfolded on top of his office desk and reached out his hand.

“Right now, there are only two military forces present in the area of the Kasandora Kingdom. One of them is the witches, which goes without saying, but,”

Aiba tapped the vicinity near Fort Ein with the tip of his index finger over and over again.

“Could it be?!”

Jeweljude open widely his eyes, after which he looked at Aiba’s expression.

“Yes, that’s right. The only other force besides the witches here is the extermination army.”
“I see. No…. P, Please wait a moment.”

Using his rough and thick right hand’s finger, Jeweljude rubbed his forehead.

“Do you mean to say that Kasandora Kingdom’s army is holing up against us? Why would they have to do that?”

Aiba deliberately shook his head from side to side.

“I’ve no idea. Not the slightest idea as to why they would do so.”
“…..Is there any argument supporting your guess that they aren’t guarding themselves against the witches?”
“The southern part of the kingdom, in other words, the direction from which Fort Ein is located, seems to be much less fortified than its northern part.”
“Which is directed toward north….. That report, how credible is it?”
“We used the service of a POMV that belongs to the Old Church, you see.”

(A POMV from the Old Church, is it? In that case, there’s no place for any mistake or nonsense.)

Jeweljude, who was the leader of a combat group, called a ‘brigade’, had too often resorted to the use of POMVs. He knew very well he could rely on their information.

(Does it really mean, those guys from Kasandora Kingdom are planning to defend against us? Why are they doing this?)

Guiscard’s system of values and pragmatic reasoning, which were the motives behind his actions, were things mostly prioritized in this age. However, for Jeweljude, just like for Aiba, that modus operandi lay outside their scope of thinking.

“….Fumu.”

Jeweljude said as if groaning lightly.

“Whatever the reason is, if it’s true they’re guarding against us…. their actions might hinder our attempt of destroying the witches. There’s a chance that the troops sent by our allies will feel uneasy due to them being possibly backstabbed by Kasandora from behind. What’s more, there’s also the problem of army provisions. If Kasandora refuses to share their provisions with us, we’ll be forced to carry our own provisions from here. It would be a different story if it was just us, but, carrying food for an army of 3500 would require a mass of workforce. What should we do?”

Aiba looked at Jeweljude with sharp eyes.

“First, we’ll sent a messenger to Kasandora, so as to question their real motive. However….”

Jeweljude, whose eyes were filled with sarcasm, asked back.

“Will they provide us with a straight forward answer?”

(Rather, there’s no way for them to give us an honest answer.)

Jeweljude, the God’s warrior from the Old Church, had no need for things like diplomacy or bargaining, as authorities from this world had often abused their power to make use of him. Jeweljude would be deceived and manipulated by royalty and titled nobility numerous times, and even made to cover up for their own actions. Therefore, he learned through his experiences how insincere authorities were.

Nevertheless, it seemed like his sarcasm didn’t pass through Aiba. The cardinal made a difficult expression and replied in a heavy tone.

“We can’t be certain about anything, you see. Still, depending on what their answer is, we’ll probably have to use tough measures.”

Jeweljude again opened his eyes widely and shifted his sight towards the cardinal.

“Aiba-dono, you don’t mean to say?!”
“Those who express no willingness in attacking the witches, or far from that, attempt to hinder us, are also considered as allies of the witches. That’s to say, an enemy of God.”

Aiba whose eyes were filled with ominous light stared back at Jeweljude.

“Enemies of God can only be annihilated, regardless of whether they are the witches or humans. Don’t you think so, Jeweljude-dono?”
“Yes, that’s….”

Despite Jeweljude making a vague nod, he couldn’t really hide his bewilderment.

Certainly, he has been fighting nothing but God’s enemies till now. Among his opponents there were witches as well, however, the majority of them were humans. That’s why, if Kasandora Kingdom chooses to go against the will of God, Jeweljude will not hesitate to remove them.

(Nonetheless, why now?)

This was something he couldn’t comprehend.

Kasandora Kingdom’s large-scale attack against the witches was repelled. Not to mention, they had one of their forts stolen away by the witches. And then, again they suffered another defeat when trying to retrieve said fort.

The witches were displaying an unexpected strength.
In addition to that, they also released many captives.
The witches were light hearted, tolerant, and generous in doing so, and they wouldn’t execute their prisoners as a form of warning.

The war against the witches was showing its new face and was different from what it had been till now.
Jeweljude, who could feel that change on his skin, became even more perplexed.

(So, does it mean that Kasandora Kingdom has started to hole themselves up against someone other than the witches? Why have they decided on such an insane move now, when me and the Brigade of 88 will arrive? Is this a mere coincidence? Or perhaps, it’s due to the intervention of someone transcending humankind?)

When talking about someone transcending humankind, one would think about that person as a being close to god; nevertheless, Jeweljude promptly denied such a possibility.

(It’s true that even the Lord himself will put us to the test at times, but, I don’t believe he would do things like this on a whim. If so, is this someone’s ill intention? Or perhaps, a manifestation of that person’s artifice? In that case, who’s that person? Could it be that someone provoked Kasandora and its general into doing this?)

However, Jeweljude himself denied even those doubtful feelings inside his heart.

(There isn’t supposed to be someone like that. If there was, Aiba would immediately notice. To think that even someone, like Aiba, could be bewildered by such turn of events. Even if we assume that the witches are the ones who incited Kasandora Kingdom, there should be no way for the latter to succumb. I also don’t get why the witches have become more assertive in their actions. Could it be that there’s some link between these 2 events?)

As Jeweljude was pondering, Aiba interrupted him with his words.

“Can I count on you, Jeweljude-dono?”

Jeweljude slowly lifted up his face and asked with a vigorous voice.

“Is it, okay for me to understand that…. as forcefully removing Kasandora Kingdom in case they try to hinder the advancement of our troops?”

“I do wish for you to understand my words that way. If they try to show any resistance, I won’t mind even if you take down their capital. Perhaps, those who joined us in destroying the witches would become more motivated upon hearing they would be handed out a part of Kasandora Kingdom’s territory.”

“That may be true… but,”

(As one would expect, Aiba is willing to go to such an extent?)

Such a misgiving welled up inside of Jeweljude. However, he quickly became serious by telling himself he had to hasten with the preparations.

“Whatever Kasandora Kingdom decides to do, I need to hurry up with the preparations for the sortie. Nevertheless, I would like to ask you for slightly more accurate information, not just regarding the Kingdom of Kasandora, but also regarding the witches’ attitude.

At Jeweljude’s request, Aiba nodded down gravely.

“I shall throw in all the members of intelligence whom I have at my disposal and have them investigate those things.”

“Provided that an attack on Kasandora Kingdom will be considered in our plan, we’ll need to prepare siege weapons in addition. Again, it’s going to take us more unnecessary time to—”

Jeweljude stated his opinion with a bitter face, but, Aiba didn’t seem to be that concerned.

“You don’t have to worry about time. That’s because there will be no reinforcement coming to either the witches or Kasandora Kingdom, even if some time passes, you see. The biggest problem would be to carry provisions and maintain the army, but, for the time being, I’ll have the provisions stored here in Granvista.”

(This guy is making the right decision. However, there’s a concern that some of the allies will decide to drop out from the extermination army.)

Jeweljude thought so, but nevertheless, even if he was to say it, Aiba would probably take no notice of his opinion.

(More importantly, why are the Kasandora Kingdom and the witches interfering now? Could this be the result of many coincidence? Or perhaps, inevitableness…..?)

A small doubt, which was seemingly something to be ignored, felt like an uneasiness at the same time. Despite it being just a small doubt, what annoyed Jeweljude was the excessive sense of discomfort resulting from it. The uneasiness he felt was as though someone invisible was trying to bring a new commotion. However, Jeweljude scattered that feeling against his own will.

(Even if I think about that, nothing will begin. The witches, an enemy of God, need to be exterminated. It is the duty of us, the warriors of God, to carry out this task. Be it an artifice or someone’s will, we shall only pulverize them!)

Jeweljude’s expression returned back to that of a warrior of God, and his raised rough voice could be felt reverberating inside one’s stomach.

“Well then, I shall hasten myself with the preparations.”
“Please continue your favor toward us.”

Jeweljude left Aiba’s office while making footsteps as though they were shaking the room.

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| Forward to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
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Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Chapter 1

2016-10-29T10:54:09Z

Darkdhaos: Created page with "==Chapter 1- The Eye that Reads the Flow== 1 The one to lead the Kasandora Kingdom’s army against the witches, so as to retrieve Fort Ein, was Ligaya, to whom one could al..."

==Chapter 1- The Eye that Reads the Flow==

1

The one to lead the Kasandora Kingdom’s army against the witches, so as to retrieve Fort Ein, was Ligaya, to whom one could also refer as Guiscard’s right-hand man.
Guiscard’s career had mainly focused on accounting and management of their army’s funds, hence, he had no real battle experience. Besides, if their opponent were the witches, Guiscard thought it would be more reasonable to entrust the skillful Ligaya with that task rather than have himself butt in. Guiscard had also decided he would support Ligaya’s back.

“Excellent, we shall set off for a sortie.”

At Ligaya’s order, the vanguard of their troops began to march.
The 1st wave consisted of 300 soldiers.
The 2nd wave, which fell under Ligaya’s direct command, had 300 soldiers as well.
Whereas, the 3rd and last wave consisted of 200 people.

The mentioned 200 people, which comprised of messengers, transportation soldiers and guards, acted as Ligaya’s rear that supported his main forces.

Ligaya held no criticism against Guiscard’s seemingly cowardly tactic, as it was of utmost importance to assure the safety of Guiscard, who was the general of Kasandora Kingdom’s army.

A platoon will fall into commotion upon its leader’s death. The same goes for a captain’s company and a commander’s battalion, as well as for the general of the whole army. Since this was how troops functioned in this era, Ligaya thought it was just natural for Guiscard to stay behind.

(Rather, I should be thankful to General for not expressing his willingness to carry out the attack by himself. The only ones to troubled would be, as usual, soldiers on the frontline.)

There were times when even Ligaya, who possessed plenty of battle experience on the frontline, had to deal with irrational orders from his superiors. Because of that, he warned himself while drawing a conclusion.

Despite that, their enemy this time was the witches.
As this was Ligaya’s first battle involving the witches, he too felt a bit nervous.
The 2nd wave proceeded to its departure after leaving some time gap.
And the 3rd wave followed soon after.
Ligaya’s plan was to make the 3rd wave a reserve troop, with the 1st and 2nd wave being offensive troops. According to those soldiers that escaped from Fort Ein, there were less than 50 witches in total. Because of that, having 600 soldiers on their side, Ligaya should be able to cope with their enemy somehow……. rather, they had to manage it at all cost.

(I really wish there are no more than 50 of them. However, for the witches to be able to capture a fort guarded by 300 soldiers, I wonder if their number is truly less than 50. Naturally, I haven’t heard the witches who have been living inside the dark forest to band together against their enemy, but, while I can believe there are around 50 of them, I can’t agree with this amount being actually able to bring down such a guarded fort. No…..)

Ligaya recalled their last battle against the witches at the Schweiz River. He wasn’t there back then, but he heard from others who happened to be present it had been seemingly a wretchful defeat.

(For our army of 2000 units to suffer an utter defeat like that against a mere 20-30 witches. There’s no room for negligence. That’s why, we’ve brought siege engines with us.)

This time, Kasandora Kingdom’s plan was to utilize catapults and a battering ram in order to capture the fort. For that reason, their plan of retrieving it took slightly more time, due to preparations involving heavy weaponry. Ligaya felt they were going a little bit overboard with their attack on such a small fort, but nevertheless, the enemy were the witches. He thought they had to do as much as possible.
Ligaya, who saddled his horse and took command, ran his eyes over the surroundings. There were no villages to the south of the royal capital, and the amount of arable land was scarce. Instead, where Ligaya was standing, nothing but wastelands and a forest could be seen appearing on both sides of the main road that stretched from Kasandora to Fort Ein. In front of them, there was a hilly area, which in comparison to a plain, obstructed their long-distance view.

(Perhaps, we should expect an attack from the witches soon.)

It was unclear for Ligaya when, what kind of magic, as well as under what conditions the witches would launch their attack against them, which made him feel anxious.
Even after listening to those who survived from previous battles, Ligaya still had no clue.
He learned more or less about the enemy’s effect and type of magic, such as water, wind, and fire magic, but he couldn’t grasp why their troops came under the enemy’s attack.

(Could it be that the witches have become able to manipulate and toy with our army? It’s the first time for me to hear about this, but….)
There were many things that Ligaya had no idea about, such as what the witches’ attitude before and after a battle was, as well as their strategy.
Despite saying so, they had to fight and win.

(With this fragmentary knowledge that we’ve obtained, what’s left is to entrust our luck to the heavens.)

Ligaya could only become serious.

(Besides, from the witches’ unconventional fighting method, there’s a chance they will launch a preemptive attack on us.)

Therefore, Ligaya dispatched numerous scouting troops from the 2nd wave, and also from the 3rd wave, which assumed the vanguard position, to look out for any unexpected attacks coming from the witches.

2

“I guess the enemy will be entering our range soon.”

Naga muttered after looking down at the Kasandora army from a high elevation.
He was able to make an almost exact estimation of the number and battle formation of their enemy based on the information from Yuuki’s reconnaissance and Selena’s Heaven’s Eyes.

“Everything is going according to the plan.”

Naga believed in the success of his strategy.

The aim of his plan was to defend Fort Ein, still, Naga thought he wanted to carry it out without causing much damage for both sides.

He expressed that intention, as it was one of his principles of war, but according to Yuuki,

“The more of the enemy we kill, the more benefit we gain.”

She said so while being very displeased.

Not just her, many other witches wore the same, or rather, wondering expressions. Still, Naga faced them down.

“Following your method there will be no profit at all.”

Right now, Naga was awaiting the right moment for the 2nd and 3rd group, lead by Raibach, to make their appearances.
Whether their plan of establishing a peaceful world would succeed or not, Naga believed it would greatly depend on how many human allies they could gain. They couldn’t rely just on their own strength.
“Only that way, can we benefit.” – Still, because the witches weren’t satisfied, Naga had his own way by emphasizing his words.
In order to make this plan successful, they had to treat Raibach, who was in charge of the 3rd group, well.

Raibach probably wouldn’t be pleased, were he to learn they achieved victory simply because they slaughtered Kasandora Kingdom’s soldiers, as many of them were his former comrades. Therefore, Naga wanted to avoid that. But, because the witches wouldn’t be content with that, Naga thought it was better not to state his true intentions.

(I guess you should always start with the first step, or rather not, but, there’s no telling, some of the witches might consider Raibach a nuisance if they see me appointing him to a responsible post, even though he was just recently a prisoner……. Hm? Always start with the first….. Whose quotation was that again?)

A fragment of his memory from his principles of war resurfaced in the back of his mind, but, Naga decided not to dig any deeper into that.

Anyways, like that, Naga kneaded a plan to repel the enemy’s troops while bearing in mind his fundamental policy.

With that, Naga and the witches proceeded to their tactic.

3

A certain mantle was placed inside a shallow, dug hole located close to the main road. As the mantle began to float, the one to appear from it was Elysione.

So as not to be discovered and caught by the enemy, Elysione lowered her back and adopted a crouching position.
Because the main road stretched between hilly areas and a mountainous zone, it was natural for the Kasandora Kingdom’s army to reach Fort Ein in columns. Naga predicted such a thing would happen, and therefore, considered it in his plan.

“Mother, just a bit more.”

Elysione called out to Vita, who was inside the mantle.

“I’m ready at any time.”
“….4, 3, 2, 1, now!”

Zun – Being unable to endure, Elysione crawled on all fours once she received a shock reaching her stomach.

“*Kuuuu*”

Despite Elysione being used to Vita’s magic and preparing herself mentally, she still couldn’t bear its effect, as she was unable to put any strength into her limbs while falling flat. Even if one was to try to muster a bit of one’s strength, it didn’t seem they would be able to move an inch. It was no exception for Elysione, and so, the vanguard from Kasandora’s Army’s 1st wave, which was taken by surprise, immediately bent their knees, leaned forward and fell on the ground.
The range of Vita’s magic was more than 300 meters. 20-30 soldiers, who walked in front of the 1st wave’s column, fell onto the ground and struggled upon entering Vita’s range of magic.

“W, What’s going on?!”
“Is the enemy attacking?!”

Among the soldiers, there were also a few of those who had been involved in the previous battle at Fort Ein.
“This is just like that time!” – Despite those few thinking so, they had no counterplan nor any idea about how to deal with the situation.

“It’s an attack, from the witches….”

The mentioned soldiers could do nothing but groan with those words. They could not even send instructions to their allies.

The soldiers in the rear readied their spears and bows hurriedly while bracing themselves for the attack. Still, the enemy was nowhere to be found. Nobody seemed to have noticed Elysione and Vita hiding themselves in a crouching position, inside a dug hole located hundreds of meters ahead of them.

Thinking it was an attack commenced by the witches, those who had directly witnessed the abnormal situation were seized with fear. Despite only 20-30 people in front of the 1st wave collapsing, it was enough to stop the soldiers who followed behind.

“What happened?!”
“Why did the front suddenly stop?!”

Not being affected by Vita’s magic, and in addition, not seeing their enemy, those from behind had not the slightest idea why the soldiers in front had stopped. Had it been a pillar made of fire blowing up, they would’ve been able to grasp the situation even from far away, but, those unaffected by Vita’s magic had yet to experience it in order to realize the gravity of the situation. Nevertheless, it was clear to them something was occurring, and hence, commanding officers of other following troops dispatched messengers to check the situation in front.

[[Image:Naga04_Illus-02.jpg|175px|thumb]]

Just then, something flew through the air while cutting it.

Boom!

The thing sank into the ground and created dust, at the same time producing the loud sound of an impact.

“A, A cobble?”

Other cobbles followed up, creating more dust each time they hit the ground with a loud sound of an impact.

Unlike before, everyone had realized it was an attack this time. They could experience it on their skin.
Still, they became petrified upon learning they were targeted.

Ais was throwing and aiming from the side. Her target was those who were outside the scope of Vita’s magic. The distance between her and the enemy was long, making it difficult for Ais to aim precisely. But, because the soldiers were too scared to move, there was no real need for her to aim whatsoever. It was fine as long the cobbles could reach near soldiers.

Those who were unlucky would be hit by one of the rebounding cobbles. They would lose their consciousness once they got hit in their helmet. Reversely, the cobbles would bounce off if they hit their armor, depending on the degree of the impact, but, if the soldiers got hit numerous times, it was quite likely their armor would break and their body, pierced. In case of their legs and arms, they would become fractured. Were the situation to continue like that, the troops from Kasandora would sustain nothing but heavy injuries due to Ais’ tremendous strength. In the worst case scenario, the soldiers would pass away. Thinking that way, perhaps their bodies felt heavy, but, they couldn’t afford to lie down there. Trying to stand up, many of them began to fight against heavy odds.

Soon after, their bodies turned rapidly light. Those who had noticed that jumped up one after another.
As one would expect, they ran away at full speed amidst the clouds of dust, behind other troops.

The soldiers crossed with those trying to advance forward, as a result, creating a commotion among other troops.

“Oi, what the heck?!”
“Return back to your position!”
“Did something happen?!

A certain leader together with his men at the back tried to hold back those escaping, but, the latter wouldn’t stop to move.

“The witches are striking!”
“If you go ahead of you, you won’t be able to move!
“Once you’re immobilized, you will be targeted with cobbles!”

Actually, Kasandora Kingdom’s troops weren’t the target of the shots. Not even the accuracy of those shots was precise. Nonetheless, watching cobbles falling closely near them while being immobilized was what overwhelmed their feelings with fear. They were convinced that the cobbles would surely hit them if they stayed down. For that reason also, nobody tried to move. The very same terror spread among other peers who stood behind.
Many of the present soldiers had already gone through a bitter experience at the Schweiz river, and even those that fought against the witches back then at Fort Ein. At that time, they were immobilized in the same way and lost their consciousness from being electrocuted by lightning. The soldiers who were part of the garrison at Fort Ein turned around and fled away as if trying to catch up with their other comrades, upon recalling the previous event.

“Hey, where are you going?!”
“Stop! Return back to your post!”

The leaders of various platoons were shouting desperately, but, far from the commotion settling down, it further escalated to the back of the end of the 1st wave.

Bang! – Again, a strong impact could be felt reverberating in one’s stomach, however, this time it was the leaders and their subordinates turn to fall, or perhaps, better to say, tumble clumsily.

“Uwaaah, it’s again here!”

Having their paths blocked by the leaders, the soldiers who had pushed and shoved each other collapsed onto the ground while screaming. Elysione, who had seen the 1st wave’s front crumbling and being unable to fight back, moved to the next mantle and again repeated the same action using Vita’s ‘Song of Gravity’.

Just as planned, Ais changed her position and again commenced her throwing.

Following that, Yuuki, who was watching the commotion from above, landed on her hoverboard.
One of Sraymeyer’s members, Lily, rode it with her.
Having a desperate expression, the petite Lily clung to Yuuki’s body as they soared into the sky. She casted her fearsome magic and caused a storm with lightning.

Dozens of lightning bolts rained down from the sky while aiming at the soldiers that moved in confusion. As well as for Lily, there was no particular need to specify her aim. Since the soldiers had been wearing armor and holding swords and spears, they were struck by lightning one after another.

The commotion among Kasandora Kingdom’s troops continued to escalate more and more.

Just then, a crowd of wooden dolls that followed Kay was approaching.
To the soldiers, the witch who was half naked with her skin radiating in silver appeared as though she was leading the crowd of dolls. The dolls made from short logs and thin limbs carried bows with them while swinging their body left and right soundlessly. It was a somewhat bizarre view. Not to mention, in addition to the incessantly thrown cobbles, there were also lightning bolts showering the enemy’s heads.

The vanguard from the 1st wave of soldiers was just one step away from falling into a complete state of panic.

“Uwaaaaaaaaah!”
“Mommyyyyyyy!”
“Please save me!”

The platoon leaders had finally come to realize their own mistakes by trying to stop those fleeing. However, it was already too late, as their bodies turned multiple times heavier, making them unable to move with ease.

Soon, the surrounding ground was buried with soldiers who struggled desperately while tumbling.

“It’s the witches!”
“We’re being attacked by the witches!”
“Save mee!”

Those soldiers that escaped first to the back cut through the 1st wave and ran til the middle of the 2nd wave.

The 2nd wave also started to lose its composure upon hearing from the fleeing soldiers they were under attack of the witches. Despite company captains giving out orders to advance, so as to support their allies and repel the witches, almost half of the present soldiers watched the turn of event without moving.

In the end, there were those trying to follow the orders, those hesitating to progress, and those running away from the 1st wave. The last ones mixed up with the 2nd wave, making another commotion.

Finally, the commotion kept spreading til the middle of the 2nd wave.

(Damn. What the heck is going on?!)

Ligaya had not the slightest idea about what was going on. The only thing he could grasp was that his troops had already started to crumble after the first clash with their enemy.

(Is this how the witches fight? It’s as though we’re being toyed with by them. I don’t get it. For the witches who had been passive til now, how are they able to fight like this?! Doesn’t it feel like there’s some sort of eminent leader guiding a troop of elites?)

It was an excellent preemptive attack, which far exceeded even Ligaya’s expectations. He felt like nodding and agreeing with the reason why General Geobalk, who had served long in military service, had stained his reputation with a single loss.

(No good! This isn’t the time to think about that. If I don’t rearrange the formation, we’ll lose at this rate.)

Ligaya, who was at the rear of the 2nd wave which he led, became desperate and moved forward. He shouted at other commanding officers and continued to spur on the soldiers, in order to suppress the whole turmoil.

4

Seeing how the turmoil escalated among the 1st wave, Vita released her magic. As she did so, those who were groveling regained their mobility. At the same time, feeling how their bodies lightened, the soldiers jumped up hurriedly and turned away.

The cobbles which had been incessantly coming from the side wouldn’t stop. Every time they crashed into the ground, clouds of dust would continue to rise. Nobody from Kasandora Kingdom’s troops could afford to lie down on the ground forever, as they would have their bodies pierced through if they did so.

Since the only one to throw the cobbles was Ais, there wasn’t a large number of them like when it was an all out barrage, still, it was the case for lightning striking from the sky. The individual lightning strikes weren’t that strong, and even being hit by one of them directly wouldn’t be life threatening, however, the target would lose consciousness, were it to be serious.

On one side, there were soldiers groaning and tumbling on the floor from being hit by cobbles, whereas, on the other side, there were those suffering spasm from getting struck by lightning. The field was mostly dominated by those scenes.
Still, it didn’t end with just them.
Arrows were flying through the air from the direction of the wooden dolls that had approached near the enemy. The density of the arrows corresponded to the number dolls, which exceeded more than 60, and was similar to the number of items thrown out during an explosive barrage. Since the attack was conducted by the dolls, their shots weren’t a big deal, but, Kasandora’s troops wouldn’t know about that. They would consider the dolls’ strike on a par with those terrifically strong throws carried out by Ais.

Feeling they were risking their lives, nobody from soldiers would try to advance or fight back against the witches.

It was just a natural course of action for the soldiers to turn away and flee.
The commotion spread throughout the entire 1st wave and it was no longer possible for the soldiers to settle down and refrain from escaping.
The number of defectors was about to increase even further once the previous ones screamed about the terror of the witches’ magic, such as the one that made your body turn heavy.

Many of them that had yet to experience Vita’s magic began to think they would become her magic’s prey, were they to stay there any longer. Nonetheless, among unaffected soldiers, there were also those brave enough to put a resistance against the witches. They directed their bows toward the crowd of wooden dolls and shot. Still, the dolls wouldn’t cease to move with just 1 or 2 hits.

“It’s their front! Aim at the witch in front! If you take it down, those dolls will cease moving!”

At a leader’s order, several people focused their arrows on Kay. Nevertheless, no matter how many times the arrows hit her, they would just bounce back.

The enemy would still be able to comprehend, if she wore thick armor, but, the witch was half naked, no matter how much they looked at her. Even if they aimed at her bare skin, the arrows wouldn’t pierce through.

*kin kin* – metallic sounds were produced together with the arrows bouncing back.

If the arrows proved to be useless, the only thing soldiers could do was to slice their enemy, nonetheless, not even those who happened to be brave enough had the courage to approach the dolls and Kay amidst the rain of arrows and flying cobbles.

Having witnessed the might and Vita’s magic, the terror of Ais’ throws and Lily’s lightning attack, everyone from the 1st wave got cold feet and began to withdraw one by one.
However, what waited for them ahead of their path was a new assault, which one could say was intended to stop the enemy.

A herd of wolves plunged into Kasandora Kingdom’s 1st wave.
The wolves, which gave out threatening sounds of growls, ran freely between the enemy’s legs, making them become filled with fear. Even though the animals were controlled by Harlequin, she didn’t tell them to bite their enemy to death. The girl only ordered the wolves to run between soldiers’ legs, but that alone had an immediate effect. The enemy’s horses acted violently upon sensing the smell of the wolves, which they feared the most.

The horses left the battlefield one after another, either shaking off their owners or with them in tow. There was no end to the commotion.

Finally, not being able to maintain its formation, Kasandora’s 1st wave began to retreat.
Because the 1st wave turned back, the 2nd wave fell into an even bigger commotion.
There were also soldiers who got the wrong idea about their comrades taking flight due to the latter’s 1st wave being obliterated.
As a result, they would imagine the witches closing in immediately after that. The soldiers threw away their post and began to escape in quick succession from fear.

“Stop! Calm down! The witches still haven’t made their appearance! Maintain your formation!”

Ligaya tried to hold back the staff officers together with their soldiers and advance forward with the 2nd wave. Nonetheless, the situation only worsened.

“Our bodies turn heavy and we can’t move!”
“There are cobbles flying at us!”
“Not to mention, even human-sized rocks!”
“There’s that witch in the sky who sends lightning bolts at us!”
“A crowd of dolls is coming this way!”
“A witch in front of that crowd is made from metal!”
“Rather than a witch, isn’t it a magic-created doll too?
“A big herd of man-eating wolves has attacked us. Our comrades are being eaten alive!”

Such words were shouted from mouths of the soldiers who tried to escape. However, alongside the fragmentary information, there were groundless rumors mixed in as well, making the whole situation hard to grasp.

At this rate, it would mean those running away crossing swords with the side that tried to hold them back. Ligaya, who feared that, could only continue with their tactic. He had to avoid increasing the casualty count any more, at all costs, otherwise, the Kasandora Kingdom would become unable to keep their military structure. And once their army ceased to function, the kingdom’s very existence would be in danger.

“For now, we will retreat to General Guiscard, who is waiting on standby at the main camp. Rearrange the formation and bring back the defectors by grabbing their attention!”

The staff officers, who stood near Ligaya, conveyed his order to other troops with a loud voice.

(We are saved!)

Both the soldiers who were trying to flee and those trying to stay felt relief upon hearing the order. They ran towards the main camp while striving to be first.

Once Ligaya had dispatched a messenger to Guiscard, he and his confidants remained at their spots and continued to scream out the order while watching their troops running toward the main camp.

5

Guiscard became shocked upon hearing the content of Ligaya’s report, which he had received from his messenger.

The general immediately recalled Kasandora Kingdom’s major loss, the one it had suffered from the previous battle at the Schweiz River, and shuddered.

“What’s the number of casualties? Is Ligaya safe?!”
“The extent of the damage isn’t thought to be that serious. Ligaya-sama decided to stay on the battlefield and lead the retreat of the troops.”
“Is that so?”

Guiscard sighed with relief, however, he remembered it wasn’t the right time to rest assured.

“Gather back all the soldiers who have withdrawn!”

Guiscard passed such an order to the other staff officers.

Watching how the staff officers came alive in a hurry, the general smacked his lips and grinded his teeth while cursing inwardly.

(Still, I didn’t know the witches would be this strong! Just what the heck is going on?! Haven’t they been doing nothing but protecting the black forest till now?)

‘That’s not what was promised!’ – Guiscard wanted to complain, but because he didn’t know to whom he should direct his words, he gave up on that idea.

If someone like Ligaya, with his firm tactics, was unable to win, then one could only think the witches had won. [TN: you don’t say…]

(Will the witches who are on a roll charge at us? Should we also withdraw from the main camp while it’s not too late? No, that won’t do. At least, we’ll have to wait til all the defectors are gathered back. There’s a fear the defectors will scatter somewhere and never return if they don’t find our main camp.)

The general had some sense left telling him not to retreat his troops from the main camp.

Guiscard’s senior aide returned back to the main camp.

“General, it’s been confirmed that there was no major loss to our troops. What should we do?”

In other words, the aide asked Guiscard whether or not they should fight again once they had managed to gather all their troops.

“Gather the soldiers and check them for any wounds. Once you finish, wait here on a standby til Ligaya comes back.
“Yes. We will confirm the soldiers’ condition and await Ligaya-sama’s return.”
“When Ligaya comes back,”

Guiscard took a glimpse in front of him. What he saw there were his soldiers still running back in succession.

The senior aide waited for Guiscard’s next words.

“We shall retreat back to the royal capital.”

(I think this is the most reasonable choice.)

The aide stroked his chest in relief after hearing they wouldn’t have to advance on the witches once more.

(It’s good to have a sensible General, like Guiscard-sama.)

The reason why Guiscard wasn’t stubborn and haughty about forcing his troops was perhaps due to him previously walking the path of a career accountant, which made his decisions rational. The senior aide was thankful to Guiscard for not launching a suicidal attack. Most likely, the general himself thought that way.

(Still, by just making this reasonable decision, we won’t be able to overcome our crisis, probably.)

The aide had also made such a prediction.
Despite that, there was little he could do.

He, who was Ligaya’s subordinate, would occasionally, like this time, serve as Guiscard’s aide, but not as someone who would be able to come up with a plan to break the deadlock. Even if the aide was able to carry out his orders devotedly and effectively, he couldn’t afford to pull his superior’s leg with his ideas. That’s why, it was fine for him to just fulfil his duty as a soldier.

And then, looking at the general, Guiscard had his weak points too. While he most likely had the ability to manage a country during peace, it was quite uncertain whether or not he could get through hectic times.

(I wonder what’s going to happen next. Well, I guess only time will tell, but…)

Suppressing the feeling of hopelessness that gushed inside of him, the aide paid his respect to Guiscard.)

“Yes. We shall await Ligaya-sama’s return, and then, head back toward the royal capital.”
“Anyways, bring the soldiers back together. If any of them tries to desert, you may even slice them up.”
“Yes. We will hold back the soldiers even if it means for us to slice them up!”
“Excellent, now go!”

Turning around and moving his sight away from the aide, Guiscard looked again towards the southern direction.

Guiscard was a bit surprised at himself for being able to calmly watch how the soldiers continued to disperse.

(So the real problem is we don’t know what the witches are going to do…. next?)

The messenger sent by Ligaya claimed that 1 or 2 of the witches had shown themselves. Despite there being just 1 or 2 of them, as many as 600 units were quickly repelled and made to flee.

(I see. So it wasn’t impossible for General Geobalk, who had served long in military service, to be defeated as well.)

Guiscard also shared a similar feeling with Ligaya, but, it was only til they faced the witches for the first time that they understood the rumor about Geobalk was true.

(Despite that, why did the witches suddenly become this strong? I don’t understand it at all. Could it be, that someone powerful enough to govern the witches has made their appearance? Like the rumored King of the Witches? If that’s true….)

It’s useless to fight the witches any further. – Is what Guiscard thought about absentmindedly.

6

“They’re running away!”

Kay, who stood in front of the dolls, jumped up and down.
“Yahooo, we did it! We forced back the enemy! We were able to ward them off even without letting them approach the fort!”

As she was doing so, Ais ran down a hill from the right side.

Behind Ais, there were Ixine riding on her horse and Nonoel clinging to her following after.
If the enemy soldiers had responded back with their bows, Nonoel would have had to protect Ais using her water-made shields. In the end, not receiving any attack from the enemy, Ais didn’t even have the chance to flourish.

“Oh, Ais, thank you for your hard work!”
“Kay-chan, you did a great job too!”
“Ah no, I was just standing all the time, you see.”

Kay put a wry smile on her face and looked down at her body.

“The enemy thought it was creepy, since they couldn’t pierce through Kay with their arrows. That’s why, I would wonder if the creepy Kay-chan didn’t play a big part in our plan.”
“Ehh? Ais, it doesn’t feel like you’re praising me.”

Kay puffed her cheeks out in unhappiness. Just then, Yuuki descended on her hoverboard.
The petite Lily jumped off the board upon its landing.

“Lily! You did well too!”

As soon as Kay waved with her hand, Lily responded back by waving.
“Ah… I’m honestly beaten. I’ve never casted my magic from a hoverboard, so it was very difficult for me to concentrate.”
“The same goes for me. I rarely give a ride to anyone for this long, so it’s not just you who’s tired, you know?”
“Ah, that’s right. Well, aren’t you fine anyway, Yuuki?”
“Why am I the one to be fine?! I had to pay twice as much attention so as not to get hit by arrows. Seriously, don’t consider me as an exception!”

“Ah… I got it, I got it. Thanks for your hard work!”

Kay bowed down in an apologetic way, but, Yuuki wouldn’t stop getting cocky.

“It’s okay, as long as you can understand.”

Lily chuckled back. At that time, Elysione and Vita joined up with their group, and then finally, Harrigan, Naga, Raibach, and the rest arrived together.

“Is it fine for us….. to consider this repulsion successful?

At Harrigan’s question, Naga folded his arms and looked in front of him.

“I guess that’s okay. We managed to win against Kasandora Kingdom’s army three times.”
“Yahoooo!”

The witches raised voices of joy, pressed their hands together and sprung up.

“Still, I was surprised to learn it went better than what we had anticipated.”

Once Vita said so with an admiring face, Ais agreed with her and carried on.

“I thought we would have to hole up inside the fort at the very least, but, we were able to ward the enemy off far away from the fort.”
“Good grief. Naga, just how skillful are you in battles?”

No no – Naga shook his hand in front of everyone.

“Honestly, it’s not like I’m particularly good in battles. The reason why we won was because the flow of the battle had already been decided, and it was fine for us to simply follow it.”
“You mean it?”

Vita was still unconvinced, but, Naga continued speaking in a casual manner.

“For example, if among Kasandora’s troops there were those who had gone through a painful experience during the last 2 battles, just a single attack from you would be enough to scare them off. These people would be ready to run away immediately. Any troop that consist of many of them would become fragile. That’s why, if we carried out an attack similar to before, no, or rather, it’s because our attack was exactly the same as the ones before, that we yielded a great result. Even though the extent of the damage suffered by the enemy wasn’t big, it was enough to make them lose their composure. As long we continue to press them, their troops will crumble and fall into chaos. ”
“I think I can see your point in that explanation of yours, but, the whole plan wasn’t something you could easily pull off. To begin with, it’s impossible for us to see through that flow of the battle that you had mentioned. It may be natural for you who excels in battles, but, not for us who are still inexperienced, you know?”

Bending her neck, Vita looked at Raibach.

“What’s your opinion on that, Raibach?”
“Ah, no. I also think that Naga-sama’s highly experienced. The fact he can see the previously mentioned ‘flow of battle’ would also prove that, or perhaps, you should call it the ability to grasp a chance? Being able to exact such precise instructions, not even generals from Kasandora Kingdom would be a match for Naga-sama, even if they were to form a group.”

“Vita, Raibach, even if you praise me, there will be no gains. We should be focusing on the present, you see.”
“‘On the present’? What do you mean?”

Harrigan threw a question from aside.

“Sooner or later, we ought to reward everyone properly, is what I mean. Obviously, if the number of our members will increase from now on, I’ll have to add conditions, but….”
“Oh, is that so?”
“Well, let’s leave that aside. What we should do now is—-”
“We already know that, Naga-san!”

Kay suddenly put up her thumb at Naga and replied.

“Of course, you mean holding a banquet, right?!”
“That’s wrong!”
“Eh? That’s not it? So we aren’t going to hold another, banquet this time?
“No, we will, but you see, it’s still too early for that. Did the enemy really withdraw? Can we already cease thinking they might attack us again? First we need to confirm that, and then, we hold a banquet.”
“Ah…. you mean it? I guess you’re right.”

Kay scratched her head shyly. Once she did so, Ais interjected.

“It can’t be helped, since Kay-chan thinks about nothing but banquets all year round.”
“Ais, that’s mean!”

Laughter burst out among other witches. Filled with optimism and relief about the fact they had managed to protect Ein Fort, everyone’s faces were radiating.

“Well then, Yuuki, you’ve done a great job, but I’d like for you to scout once again. I believe the enemy has already fallen into too much disorder to attack us again, but still, please continue to keep an eye on them.”
“You don’t have to tell me that. Then, I shall be going now.”

As soon as Yuuki finished chanting and jumped on her hoverboard, the board gently lifted up in the air together with a wind vortex surrounding it.

The hoverboard soared quickly into the sky and stopped momentarily there; however, it then immediately started to glide through the air.

Within a blink of an eye, Yuuki’s appearance vanished from everyone’s sight.

“Selena.”

A single young witch stepped forward from the rest.

“Can you walk around and check the current situation using your Heaven’s Eyes?”
“Understood.”
“Kay, Nonoel, and Cu will assist Selena as her bodyguards.”
“Understood[[User:Darkdhaos|Darkdhaos]] ([[User talk:Darkdhaos|talk]])”
“Yes.”
“Will do.”

“Excellent. The rest of you will go and check on the soldiers who fell behind. If any of them got injured, provide them with first aid. In case there are those with bone fractures, it should be fine if you use a wooden support to attach to their limbs. That’s because their troops will come to retrieve them later.”
“Understood.”

Naga called out to the witches who were about to get going.

“Ah, by the way, if there are people who had lost their consciousness, apply treatment to them after waking them up. We need to let them know that the witches are the ones who helped them. This is an important thing.”

The witches responded back affirmatively, divided into groups and scattered to check for any casualties.

“Thank you very much, Naga-sama.”

Raibach, who stood next to him, expressed his gratitude with a small voice.

“Don’t fret. I did so in order to change the bad image of the witches and increase their reputation. It’s not like I would care about your former allies.

Despite Naga saying so, Raibach still bowed down lightly toward him.

“It may be true, but still, allow me to express my gratitude.”
“I won’t stop you in doing so, but well….”

Naga laughed and shifted his sight toward Harrigan and Vita, who remained there.

“The problem is, we still don’t what Kasandora Kingdom plans to do next.”

“Will they attempt to capture this fort once more?”

Harrigan asked.

“I don’t think they have any spare power left, but, they might go through the trouble of borrowing men from other countries. What’s your opinion on that?”

Naga looked in turn at Raibach, Harrigan, and Vita’s faces.

“I wonder. I think it’s unlikely for that to happen.”

Harrigan, who replied that way, directed her sight toward Raibach.

“Indeed. Thinking back, Kasandora Kingdom had rarely asked for any reinforcements from other countries, so it’s hard to imagine.”

Saying so, Vita and Naga moved their eyes towards Raibach.
Feeling a pressure coming from their gazes, Raibach drew back unintentionally.

(That’s some incredible pressure coming from those three when being stared at by them)

“What do you mean, Raibach?”
“T, That’s right. I…..I believe Kasandora Kingdom would like to avoid borrowing any power from other countries.”
“Is that so? If that’s true, then, that will buy us some time. Shall we move forward with the preparations for establishing the new country at once and check Kasandora Kingdom’s internal condition?”

“Are you talking about the infiltration and surveillance of Kasandora Kingdom you had mentioned before?”

Once Harrigan questioned on that, Naga nodded down and said ‘That’s right.’

“As one would expect, it’s necessary for us to grasp the current state of the kingdom. If we can manage to do so, it will be easier for us to read their movements by the next time. Nonetheless, true, perhaps it’s better for us to increase the size of the group designated for that surveillance a little.”

“What are you thinking about?”
“This is just in case, you see. Well, we have yet to talk about that, so for now, there’s something else we ought to do.”
“Hm? What could it be?”

“Oi oi, didn’t Kay just mention it? We went through the trouble of pushing back the army of Kasandora. You don’t mean to say we aren’t going to hold a victory banquet, do you?
“Is that so? I guess, you’re right. Still, I’ve got the feeling we’ve been doing nothing but victory banquets recently.”
“Don’t be like that, Harrigan. The banquets are the proof of our consecutive victories, so shouldn’t you be glad?”
“It’s…. just as you have said Vita, but, should you say I’m perplexed, since I’m not used to winning, or so.”
“You’re pathetic, Harrigan. You should follow Kay’s example.”
“No, if I were to do so, our clan wouldn’t last that long.”
“I think you’ve just said something rude there.”
“Then, shouldn’t you listen to what Elysione has to offer?”
“I shall decline that idea without even considering it first.”

Harrigan became dumbfounded.

“I wonder which of us is being more cruel.”
“Well, isn’t it okay? Today, let’s celebrate the victory to our heart’s content.”

At Naga, who was laughing while saying so, both heads of their clans nodded deeply.

“I’ve no objections.”
“Same here.”
7

Finally, the witches who were in charge of treating the wounded soldiers finished their work and gathered back at where Naga and the rest had been waiting for Yuuki and Selena to return. According to Ais, there were several men who were heavily wounded. Were they to be left like that, they would probably die before their allies could even arrive.

“It can’t be helped. Should we put them on the cart and treat them when we return back to Fort Ein? After that, we shall release those people, I guess.”
“Understood. I’ll arrange for that to be carried out immediately.”

Just then, Selena, Kay, Nonoel, and Cu returned back as if changing their place with Ais.

“There was no sign of the enemy to be found in the surroundings.”
“Selena, you did quite a work there, didn’t you?”

At Naga’s praise, Selena shook her head from side to side intensely and answered:
“Ah, no, I haven’t done anything in particular. It’s okay.”
Praise me too, praise me too! – Kay pointed at herself as if asking for that.

“That’s right. Kay and Nonoel worked hard too.”
“For some reason, it sounded half-hearted.”
“I think it was half-hearted.”
“Naga-san’s words were quite shallow.”

Being criticized by those 3 girls, Naga made a wry smile.

“That’s not true. I’m thankful for what you did from the bottom of my heart.”
“I wonder about that.”

Kay looked at Naga with her scornful eyes, and then pulled her head back.

“More importantly, now that the enemy has retreated, it’ll soon be time for what you’ve been waiting for, the victory banquet.”
“Umm, no? Everyone’s been waiting and not just me?”
“Well then, shall go with that?”
“Naga-san, you’re mean!”

Kay bent backward, whereas, Nonoel and Selena chuckled.

In the end, Yuuki returned. Based on her information, the enemy retreated back to the royal capital, leaving only a few scouts behind for surveillance. Upon learning that, voices of joy rose up among the witches.

“Excellent! With this, Kay’s long awaited banquet can begin. Everyone, let’s head back to the fort!”
“Ohhhhhhhh!”

All the witches made an ardent shout of victory, except for Kay.

“That~is~why don’t say it like I’m the only one who’s waiting…….”

Kay didn’t try to hide her discontented expression.
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| Forward to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
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Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Prologue 2

2016-10-29T10:48:49Z

Darkdhaos: Created page with "==Prologue 2== It was just before Naga and the rest started to prepare for a counter against the troops of Kasandora Kingdom that tried to retrieve the fort. The royal capit..."

==Prologue 2==

It was just before Naga and the rest started to prepare for a counter against the troops of Kasandora Kingdom that tried to retrieve the fort.

The royal capital of Kasandora Kingdom. Guiscard rushed into a certain bedroom located deep inside a royal palace.

“Uncle!”
“Guiscard, is that you?”

Inside the bright and spacious room, the king, who was stretching out on a large bed near a big window, raised up his body while smiling timidly, and welcomed his nephew, Guiscard.

“Just, what’s wrong with you, uncle?”
“The doctor told me not to exert myself, but well….”
“Honestly, please pull yourself together.”

There were moments when Guiscard would think it was better to let the king die like that and……. succeed his throne, but there was a fear the kingdom would fall into turmoil, and in the worst case, even crumble. That’s why, he was quite serious in telling Kasandora to pull himself together.

“There doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with my condition, so you don’t have to worry about me. More importantly….”

The voice of the king, which was normally faint, had become even more weak.
“Have you, heard about troops gathering in Granvista?”
“I happened to overhear that, but, I don’t know its details.”
“Is that so? This is a piece of information that has reached me. Looks like it will mean more work for you.”
“About those troops, what’s the purpose of them gathering?”
“Apparently…. they’re forming an army for the extermination of the witches. The messenger sent by Aiba told me that.”

(Again, it’s that man butting in?)

“Do you mean to say…. they came here to ask us for reinforcements?”
“Even if you say reinforcement, it’s just a little bit. That’s because they already seem to have as many as three to four thousand of units.”
“Three to four thousand?!”

Guiscard opened his eyes wide.

Ligaya, who stood on standby behind him, was also astonished.

“And not just that. It looks like that the elite troop of which the Old Church is proud of, the Brigade of 88, has been summoned as well.”
“For real?”

Both Guiscard and Ligaya jumped up in surprise. It wasn’t the sort of situation in which it was necessary to call the Brigade of 88. Not to mention, despite summoning the brigade, it was even more strange to assemble another three to four thousand units.

“I wonder what’s the meaning of that. Even though they can easily defeat the witches with that brigade alone, they still have gathered that many soldiers for their extermination group.”

“I have no knowledge regarding Aiba’s plan, but most likely, our kingdom won’t prosper from it.”

The king hung his head powerlessly while sitting on his bed.

“I’m at my limit. I’ve already run out of strength and willpower to overcome even our current problem. Guiscard….. I shall grant you the rights as my representative. Please take care of this kingdom from now on.”

(For real?!)

Guiscard was barely able to suppress his joyful look. Shortly after that, he bowed down laudably.

“Yes. I will accept your offer and carry out my work with prudence.”
“If you can safely overcome this crisis, I shall officially retire and abdicate my throne to you.”

It looked like the king was serious about his words. It had been Guiscard’s dearest wish to become king since his childhood, however, while he was delighted, he also felt confused at the same time.

Thanks to the death of Guiscard’s father, who was the former king, his uncle succeeded the throne, which made him strongly believe that a throne isn’t something to be usurped, but something that should be taken back.

That being said, Guiscard didn’t intend to usurp the throne from his uncle, as it would do him no good if he was to rule while being branded as a usurper. Suppressing any revolt coming from residents and subordinates, and removing his opponents, it was clear to Guiscard: he would lack the leadership needed to guide the kingdom, were he to usurp.

(I don’t have such a capacity to lead.)

Therefore, Guiscard had been steadily gaining more achievements. He continued to do so. And then, he was blessed with good fortune when he assumed the top position of General from Geobalk, as a result of the latter’s army suffering a defeat. Even now, Guiscard wouldn’t cease to strive, so as to make his uncle acknowledge him. Such was his plan to obtain the throne.

Guiscard wouldn’t hesitate to reciprocate if the king decided to remove him, but, in the end, it was just, a reciprocation. He had no intention of raising a revolt against the king. Because of that, even if he decided to obtain the throne, Guiscard wouldn’t know what the future would hold for him. However, now that the Kingdom had fallen into crisis, it seemed the king was unable to endure the burden placed on his shoulders.

(It’s because of your untactfulness that you grew anxious and reached your limit. You could say you reap what you sow.)

Is what he thought. Guiscard didn’t restrain himself when he was told he would be granted the rights to represent the king. However, as one would expect, he couldn’t bring himself to hold out his hands and say things like ‘I’ll accept it gladly’. Instead, he would say ‘Please stay strong, uncle. Your power is still indispensable for us.’ under pretense of aiding Kasandora. Still, the king shook his head from side to side with a faint smile on his face.

“On one side, there are the witches, whereas, on other side, there’s the extermination army. An elderly man, like me, can no longer break this deadlock. What we need is young blood, like you.”

What Kasandora said sounded like a mere excuse of dodging his responsibility, but nevertheless, Guiscard didn’t feel like criticizing him for that.

“To begin with, the one who had raised this kingdom to its current large size was your father. It probably goes without saying you’re the right person to take over this kingdom.”

(That may be a fair argument, but still…)

“Anyway, we need to solve this crisis first.”
“That’s right. I shall pass on the information about you becoming my representative to the other officials. I’m relying on you, Guiscard.”

As soon as he said so, the king threw himself down on the bed powerlessly.

One of the royal court’s hired doctors that stood in the room’s corner stepped forward.

“His Majesty is exhausted right now, so I would advise……”

The doctor urged as if trying to interrupt the meeting. Sensing that it was the right time, Guiscard and Ligaya left the bedroom.

2

Guiscard, who had returned back to his office, tried to knead a future plan despite still being quite confused at the previous turn of events.

Without changing their garments covered in dust, Guiscard and Ligaya sat at a dining table.

Soon after they received wine and cups from a maid, Guiscard ordered her and the rest of his guards to withdraw.
Once Ligaya finished pouring the wine into Guiscard’s cup, the latter drank it empty in one go.

“Recently, it’s become quite hectic, hasn’t it?”

Guiscard, who emptied his cup, breathed a sigh.

“Or perhaps, should I say…….. congratulations on becoming the king’s representative?”

At Ligaya who said it with a slight hesitance and confusion, Guiscard replied as if snarling under his nose.

“I’m not sure if I should be happy about that, but well.”
“I, guess you are right. The timing couldn’t have been worse though.”
“Still, forming an army combined from the neighboring countries at the westmost peninsula isn’t something you could feel at ease about.”

Hearing Guiscard’s words, Ligaya put down his cup with a difficult expression.

“If they really planned to just exterminate the witches, then throwing in the Brigade of 88 would be more than enough. Indeed, the witches have become strong, but as expected, it doesn’t seem to be something the Brigade of 88 wouldn’t be able to cope with alone. Despite that, why did they go through the trouble of borrowing troops from neighboring countries?”
“That’s the real question. Not to mention, they’ve gathered a large number of them, which consist of up to four thousand.”

Guiscard furrowed his eyebrows, folded his arms, and pondered deeply about something.

Finally, he began to speak abruptly.

“We won’t hear any more details on that if we don’t ask again for a report, but, apart from that, it doesn’t seem we would reach a conclusion…. First, we’ll most likely have to inquire about Cardinal Aiba’s true intention.”
Ligaya furrowed his eyebrows a bit and asked.

“Do you think he will be straightforward in his confession?”
“Even if he isn’t, I’ll understand his reply to some degree. We will choose the smartest messenger we have here, who won’t just receive Aiba’s response, but also judge his attitude.”
“Understood.”

Ligaya bowed down politely.

“Is there anything else you would wish to arrange promptly?”
“Just to make sure, we’ll be proceeding with preparations for holding the city. Continue to strengthen its defense, and replenish our provisions and army personnel. At the same time, we have to accomplish our plan of taking back Fort Ein.”
“I wonder if it will go as planned.”
“Now that the plan is in motion, it’s too late to stop it. If we do nothing, we’ll give Aiba more pretext to act.”
“Understood. I’ll be taking care of your orders, so please excuse me.”

Ligaya bowed down deeply, to the extent of touching the table with his forehead, and left the room. Once he had left, Guiscard became lost in deep thought.

3

(Upon calling the Brigade of 88, there’s no doubt that Aiba is serious about exterminating the witches, but, as one would expect, I can’t figure out why he would need to gather as many as four thousand units from neighboring countries.)

Combat groups, also known as ‘brigades’, which belonged to the Old church, were very well known for their valor. The Brigade of 88 was famed to be the strongest one among them all. Actually, rumor has it there were times where they would also emerge victorious against the witches, even to the extent of annihilating their clans.

(If an elite group, like the Brigade of 88, was to make its appearance, then there should be no need to assemble this many soldiers. Even a single brigade consisting of 500 people should probably be more than enough to help us in retrieving Fort Ein. Despite that, is there some sort of ulterior motive behind that number of troops? That’s right, for example,)
Isn’t Aiba’s plan of extermination just a front for them to attack Guiscard and the rest? Isn’t it because Kasandora Kingdom fell into disgrace by losing to the witches on the field and having their fort snatched away that Aiba isn’t willing to forgive them? Wouldn’t attacking Kasandora Kingdom be his way to increase the morale of the extermination army before a bloodbath with the witches?
Obviously, what Guiscard feared was a needless worry. While it’s true that Aiba could dispose of Kasandora Kingdom, he still hadn’t shown any tendency toward that idea. However, it was true that this kingdom would belong to Guiscard sooner or later, now that he had become its king’s representative. Such a future outlook made his predictions become sharp, or perhaps, better to say – oversensitive.

Feelings of fear and doubt started to grow inside Guiscard as he was momentarily trapped in his thoughts.

(Despite saying extermination, the fact that the neighboring countries agreed to send in a large number of troops is strange as well. That guy, Aiba, I wonder if he had promised to hand out our territories as a form of reward for those who would give a good account of themselves.)

It didn’t look like the Kingdom of Kasandora would be able to defend themselves, were they to be attacked by that many troops. What’s more, there was a notable group of five hundred within their troops, the famous Brigade of 88.

Not even the Kingdom of Kasandora, who was in deep distress after suffering two consecutive defeats against the witches, would become a match for them.

(By instigating us to retrieve Ein Fort, are they trying to capture the capital when we’re occupied by the witches? I won’t forgive such an act.)

After all, Guiscard was closer to assuming the throne, for which he had longed for, for so long. No, he felt he had to achieve that. And also, for the sake of his father’s unfulfilled wish, who died from an illness. Later, he had to strengthen the position of the Kasandora Kingdom on the westmost part of the peninsula. If possible, Guiscard wanted to grow the kingdom into a powerful one, capable of subjugating other countries. While he was holding the vision of making the kingdom his own, belief and prospects toward the bright future gushed inside Guiscard.

(I’m nothing like my uncle. I’ll be able to overcome this crisis. I shall overcome it and make this kingdom even greater.)
However, Guiscard’s concrete plan wasn’t just about that. Whenever he would think about the throne dangling in front of him, Guiscard felt like he could overcome any hurdle, no matter how troublesome it was.

(I won’t let my kingdom to be treaded on by Aiba and those robbers. I’ll protect this place at any cost, even if my enemy is to be the Brigade of 88.)

Before one could notice, a flame of a paranoid dwelled inside his eyes.
Guiscard’s sense of duty to protect his own country would be later recognized by both the witches and the extermination group.

(The only one to fear is the Brigade of 88. Apart from them, there’s no need for us to be afraid of that mish-mash of soldiers formed by other countries. Even if our mobilization power has dropped to 1500, as long we force the citizens to arm themselves for a siege, then our garrison should total out to 2000. In that case, even if 4000 of them attacks us, the city won’t fall that easily. What’s more, that mish-mash won’t be able to endure long fights. And finally, their camp seems to be fractioning, just like a comb with missing teeth. When the time comes, perhaps, it should be fine for us to ask for reinforcements from the New Church.)

Asking for assistance from the New Church was, so to speak, forbidden. There would be no turning back if they decided on that move. In the end, Kasandora Kingdom was placed in a situation in which it would either fall into someone else’s hand or be destroyed.

There was no way for Guiscard to be able to see that far into the future. The only thing that dominated his feelings right now was the thought of him wanting to protect the kingdom no matter what it takes. The kingdom which he would succeed.

(Well then, let’s leave that matter aside and first focus on taking back Fort Ein. Otherwise, nothing will begin. Still, the drop in our mobilization power…… is somehow a pain in the ass.)

On top of being unaware of Naga’s eccentric ideas, Guiscard, whose sense was common, was stuck between 2 enemies: the extermination group and the witches.

Afterwards, his trouble would give a rise to a new development, of which neither Aiba, Jeweljude, and of course, Naga, could predict.

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| Forward to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
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Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Prologue 1

2016-10-29T10:46:08Z

Darkdhaos: Created page with "==Prologue 1== 1 Yuuki, who had gone out scouting, returned back on her hoverboard at full speed towards Fort Ein. “They’re coming, they’re coming, they’re coming!..."

==Prologue 1==

1

Yuuki, who had gone out scouting, returned back on her hoverboard at full speed towards Fort Ein.

“They’re coming, they’re coming, they’re coming! A troop from Kasandora Kingdom is heading this way!”

Rapidly descending down on her hoverboard, Yuuki flew around the inside of the fort at a low height while shouting with a loud voice.

The witches, both inside and outside of the buildings, broke into a run after hearing Yuuki’s warning.

Yuuki had a minimum number of her ultrathin clothes put on her, but there were many witches wearing more or less some sort of armor. Despite saying so, their armors were either wooden or leather made ones, so as not to affect their flow of magic.
The witches kept gathering one after another inside an open space of the fort.
Naga who had already arrived there asked Yuuki for a confirmation of the enemy’s position.

“What’s their number?”
“I wonder if it’s not around a thousand.”
“Were they carrying any heavy weaponry for a castle siege?”
“I guess that would be a catapult. They had 2 of them, and apart from that, a single battering ram, I think.”
“Anything else that stood out?”
“Not really.”

“Is that so? Thank you for your hard work.”

Hovering in the air, Yuuki averted her eyes with a slightly flushed face.

“N….No, I haven’t done anything in particular, just the usual. It isn’t something to be praised for, especially, not by you.”
“Doing what one’s ought to do, even that deserves some praise, no?”
“Ah, that’s right. Well, if you really want to compliment me, shouldn’t you do it as much as possible?”

(Not like I’m doing it on a whim, but….)

“While we’re at it, will you go and keep an eye on the enemy’s movements once more?”
“It’s what I’m in charge of, so I don’t need you to tell me that.”

The wind gathered around Yuuki’s hoverboard while creating a vortex. Immediately after that, she soared into the sky as if bouncing off the ground with an unnoticeable force.

Naga looked up at her hoverboard growing smaller inside the slightly cloudy sky. Finally, shifting back his sight and directing it toward the present witches, he issued instructions in rapid succession.

“Elysione will recheck if all the coats are available for use.”
“Kay, tag alongside with Elysione.”
“Ixine, Raibach, bring the horses.”

“Harrigan, we’ll be preparing for a sortie. Order others to open the gate.”
“Vita too, can you help me?”
“Harlequin, go release the animals.”
“Ais, you’re prepared to throw cobble, right?
“Those who are assigned to this fort’s garrison, take your positions.”

Receiving Naga’s orders, the witches continued to scatter.

Shortly thereafter, Raibach brought 2 horses by their reins.

“Naga-sama!”
“Ohh, good work.”

Naga, who easily saddled his own horse, reached out his hand towards Vita.

“Grab on!”
“I can do it by myself.”

Saying so, Vita lightly pushed off from the ground.

Once her body was thought to dance high into the air, she gently placed herself on the saddle just like a falling feather.

“Ah, true. I forgot you can make yourself light.”
“That’s right. Even if the horse was to be almost three meters tall, I can still easily mount it.”
“Even I would have a problem mounting such a tall horse!”

Naga turned around the horse after retorting like that.

“Excellent. Those who are ready, follow me!”

As soon as Naga kicked his horse’s flank and pulled its reins, he ran off towards the gate.

Raibach followed after on his horse.

“Ah~, Naga-san, please waitttt”

Ixine, whose setting off was a bit delayed, chased after them both while shaking her long hair tied in a bundle on her back.

Learning about Kasandora Kingdom’s movements from Yuuki, Naga postponed his investigation into his enemy’s state of affairs and proceeded to counterattack.
Just as Naga predicted, the kingdom of Kasandora would sooner or later come to retake their fort, but, their number was less than what he had anticipated.
One could probably say it was the best Kasandora could dispatch right now, as they didn’t appear to have any other forces.
In other words – they were weakened.
Naga, who ran off to the outside of the fort, could tell there were around a thousand enemy troops approaching.

(We can repel them if it’s that many. Once we manage to deal with Kasandora Kingdom, they shouldn’t have any spare power left to attack us. They’re trying to buy time, in order not to let us strengthen this fort’s defenses and establish the country of the witches.)

However, Naga still wasn’t aware of the most elite troop that belonged to the Holy Chivalric Order of the Old Church, the Brigade of 88, being included.

3

The main road that ran from the capital of the Kasandora Kingdom to Fort Ein was just like a path connecting a mountainous zone and a hilly area.
With only a mountain forest and a wasteland existing in its surroundings, there were neither cities nor villages, or even cultivated lands to be seen.
Apparently, the road was said to have been originally used by merchants who travelled along the Schweiz River from the city of Lancel, located near the mouth of the river. Even Fort Ein was built in order to protect them, and recently, it had become the frontline base for countering the witches.
On top of a slightly elevated hill located near the road, there was a small hut erected in a place of digging. The hut was most likely built in a big rush, as it was roughly done and had many cracks. Not even a single sign of life could be felt from its interior.
Inside that empty and confined room, only a single, thin mantle was spread out on top of the floor. However, that mantle began to slowly rise.

Finally, Elysione’s head stuck out from within it.
What’s more, as the mantle continued to rise, Elysione’s body was fully materializing.

“Umm…. did we arrive?”

A voice from inside the mantle was heard.

“Yes.”

Elysione’s bare skin became exposed as she coiled the mantle.
She was wearing nothing apart from the mantle, but that was simply due to the nature of her skill, which only allowed her to carry living things. While it’s obvious that metal thwarts magic, even a single piece of cloth is capable of obstructing one’s skill. That’s why Elysione wouldn’t wear a single thread whenever she teleports with her magic.

At her feet, Kay was crawling out in a squirming manner, nevertheless, she too was fully nude. As long as Elysione held a person in her arms, they would be able to teleport as well, but the condition was they had to be naked.

“Can I wear something?”
“There’s no such thing here.”
“Eh……?”

“That’s because we would have to teleport to the next mantle anyway, sooner or later. Wearing clothes at each stop is a waste of time.”

Kay looked up at Elysione, who was wearing her mantle, with a miserable face.

“No…. do you mean to say I should remain naked, whereas, it’s fine for you to cover your body with that mantle?”
“Don’t you always look naked anyway? And now, you’re feeling embarrassed?”
“N, No. Well, that may be true, but….. but, even if it’s a single cord, wearing something feels different from wearing nothing?”

“Stop complaining. I’m going to leave you like that here.”

Seeing how Elysione’s head began to sink, Kay panicked while making a commotion.
Flustered about the fact of being left behind like that, Kay jumped at Elysione.

“Ah, hey, don’t coil the mantle!”

As a result of the mantle being rolled up by Kay, Elysione’s lower half of body became exposed.
“Let me in, let me in, let me in.”

Kay thrusted in her head through the part of the mantle that was coiled.

“Hey, that place, ah, don’t push your face thereee!
“Mufun. Elysione, I didn’t know you were this hair-

*Bang!*

“Aw, that hurts!
“I told you not to push your face in there!”

Kay, who pulled out her head from the mantle, gently brushed the punched back of her head.

“Honestly, don’t punch me this strong when I’m not hardened….”
“Shut up. I’ll seriously leave you behind if you aren’t obedient. I guess, you’d enjoy walking around like this.”
“Uwaaa, please spare me from that.”

Kay bowed down in a docile manner toward Elysione.

“If you don’t want it to happen, then be obedient.”
“Okay.”

Kay crawled under the mantle in a hurry, as Elysione spread out its hem.

“Fine, then let’s teleport to the next mantle.”

Multiple mantles containing Elysione’s own magic were placed along the main road, in case of emergency. With them, it’s possible for Elysione (and one more person) to move around the main road within a blink of time. Just now, Elysione was checking on the mantles’ functionality, whereas, Kay was tagging along as her guard. It was their last check.

“Ah, speaking of which,”

Kay raised her voice from inside of the mantle.

“Elysione, if Naga-san is determined to carry out an infiltration and survey, will you follow him?”
“No, I wonder about that. It hasn’t been decided yet, but…”
“If something was to happen to Naga-san, would you escape together with him?”
“I guess…. so.”
“In other words, you’d would do so even if it meant for you to transport the naked Naga-san, right?”
“Uuuuuuh……..”

Elysione warped her face while slightly groaning. Naturally, Kay, who was hiding inside the mantle and clinging to Elysione’s waist couldn’t see it, however,

“Does it mean you’d be willing to carry him when teleporting? Regardless of being totally naked and clinging to each other?!”
“I, I don’t want to think about it, so don’t touch on that topic any further!”
“Eh? You don’t like it? You don’t want to do those things?”
“As if I would?!”
“Eh~, you really aren’t interested in doing that? Even though I was envying you.”

Elysione warped her face again and asked back.
“E, Envy me? You mean embracing with a man while being naked?”
“No, it’s not about a man, but Naga-san, you see. Even I would hate to have a man as my partner.”
“So you don’t mind as long it’s Naga-dono?”
“You see, back when Naga-san gave me a ride, somehow, I felt a bit nostalgic after clinging to his back. You could say that the memories of my father came back to me?”
Elysione made an astonished face this time.

“You, can recall things about your father?”
“Should you describe it as recalling? It’s just a mere fragment from my memory, but you see….”
“Is that so?”
“That’s why I was wondering if I could remember more about my father, were I to embrace Naga-san”
“While being naked?”

Kay responded quite indifferently.

“Yes, while being naked.”

Elysione looked under her feet with a dumbfounded expression.

“In that case, I wonder if you shouldn’t place your trust in Naga-dono and say ‘Please embrace with me while naked’, or maybe, it would be better to get naked and intrude into that man’s bedroom?”

Uhyaaa – a hysteric voice was raised from the mantle’s inside.

“As expected, it’s embarrassing. It’s too embarrassing, so nooooo.”
“Hey, don’t struggle!”

Elysione scolded Kay, who was clinging to her while shaking her own body. As she did so, Elysione breathed a sigh.

“Good to know that even you have some shame.”
“Uwaaa, I’ve been told something rude just now.”
“It’s not the right time for idle talks, so let’s go to our next destination.”
“Yes, please do it~”

They both disappeared from the hut immediately after Elysione’s head had sunk down, and the only thing left was the mantle that spread out on the floor.

4

By the time Elysione and Kay finished their job and returned, only a group in charge house-sitting was there.
They both teleported to a mantle that had been put the closest to the place of anticipated counter-attack.
There, Naga’s group was in the middle of preparing to counter.
Elysione left the naked Kay behind and walked toward her comrades, after which she received a change of clothes and took them back to Kay. Despite them being spares, they were the same, usual, ultrathin clothes. Still, for Kay, who was able to use hardening magic, there was no need to prepare armor, even for a battle.
Wearing a minimum amount of clothing, Kay reached the place of Naga and the rest.

“Ooh, is that you, Kay? Thank you for your hard work.”
“Ahhhh, yes, you too.”

Being watched in front, Kay averted her eyes as if feeling something bad.

“What? What’s the matter?”

Seeing Elysione approaching from behind Kay, Naga moved his sight towards her and asked.

“Did something bad happen when you teleported together?”
“No, I don’t think that’s the case.”

Elysione replied while making a broad grin.

“Tha girl, Kay, she might come to Naga-dono’s bedroom with a request, I think.”
“Ha? What do you mean?”

In front of Naga who was blinking with surprise, Kay jumped at Elysione.

“Don’t say itttttttt!”
“KhKhey, don’t close people’s mouuh!”

[[Image:Naga04_Illus-01.jpg|175px|thumb]]

Kay blocked Elysione’s mouth with her right hand as if trying to stretch herself. She was slowly fainting while following Elysione’s movements.

“Should you mention anything about that, I’ll strip of that mantle of yours, alright? And if that happens, it will be in front of Naga-san, you know?”
“Tha whoul be trouvesome.”

“With that, Elysione’s huge breasts and thickly haired crotch would be completely expo——”
“Uwaaaaaaaa!”

This time, it was Elysione’s turn to close Kay’s mouth.

“Youh ah dwead if yu sah a word.”
“Youh thwoo.”

Elysione and Kay blocked their opponent’s mouths while glaring at each other.

Finally, they both put a smile on their drawn faces and nodded.

“I won’t touch on that matter again.”
“I think we’ve reached a mutual agreement.”

“What’s that? Looks like the two of you’ve become quite friendly with each other. As one would expect, Has Kay finally opened herself up to others?”

Ais, who was watching the three of them from a place a bit apart, slightly bent her neck.

“It seems to be a bit different from getting along, but, well, I guess it’s a good thing for the witches from both clans to become close with each other.”

Ais could feel this was the result of ushering in Naga.

Isn’t it essential for one to associate with a person of different view and sense of values? Living within a single clan and adhering to one’s belief, wouldn’t that turn into one’s own weakness? Receiving an outsider, holding a conversation and being open-minded toward that person, recently, Ais had been wondering if those points weren’t crucial.

(Later, wouldn’t we have to form a kinship with people from the outside? If it’s mine and Naga-san’s child, it will surely be born as a superior witch….. Wha, uwaaa?! Oh dear, just what am I thinking about?!)

Ais forcefully shifted her eyes toward the pile of cobble inside a cage.

(R, R, R, Right now we should prioritize and focus on our counterattack against the Kasandora Kingdom. There’s no time for pondering about anything else. No time at all. Calm down, me.)

She took a deep breath.

Ais had been repeatedly doing her throwing practice for days like this. She had become able to throw cobble at a distance further than 270 meters. Not to mention, her aim had improved as well.
Still, Ais can’t wear any armor due to her having to enhance her body with her magic. Because of that, she would need to wear her usual, thin clothes and have someone stand beside her to repel arrows. On the bright side however, Ais possessed a great offensive ability.

This time, the one in charge of guarding her was Nonoel. As long as she was close to water, Nonoel could keep away the flying arrows with a shield created from a water membrane. Holding a bucket of water in her hands, Nonoel was on a standby next to Ais. She too was wearing ultrathin clothes due to the nature of her magic.

(When I observe their appearances, somehow, it feels like I will lose my interest in this battle, which is troublesome. Nevertheless, it’s a nice view)

“Naga, what are you looking at?”
Harrigan, who had finished preparing the wooden dolls, approached him.

“While it’s the same as usual, I still can’t agree on your look, which isn’t right for battle.”

For Harrigan to move the dolls using her magic, she too had to wear ultrathin garments.

“Metal nullifies our magic, so it’s inevitable that we can’t put on any armor. By the way, shouldn’t it be all the more reason for you to be glad?”
“Well, it’s just as you say.”
“I see you’ve finally become honest, haven’t you?”

Harrigan’s jet-black, abundant hair floated in the air.

“N, No, it isn’t just me? Generally, all men would be happy at that fact? Right, Raibach?”

Raibach, who was on a standby behind Naga, caught a glimpse of Harrigan and turned away his gaze hurriedly.

“P……Please don’t ask me for an approval.”
“Well, I guess I’ll let you go.”

Because Harrigan’s hair fell loosely, they both sighed with relief.

“Speaking of which, it’s fine for us to completely follow according to the plan, right, Naga?”
“With the current situation, we should be able to win without any trouble.”

(Without any trouble, you say? As always, this guy is amazingly self-confident.)

“I shall amend the plan and give you new instructions in case something unexpected occurs, but for now, we’ll ambush them as arranged. Harrigan, please assign everyone to their posts.”

Harrigan returned back, so as to convey Naga’s instructions to the rest of her witches.

“Ais, you too should prepare soo…., hey, what are you doing?”

Ais, who became confused, stopped her deep breathing and swung with her opened, right hand.

“Eh? Noooo, I’m not doing anything?”
“I understand you might be nervous, but, worry not. This time, we should be able to win without exerting ourselves too much.”
“Ah…. yes, that’s….. right.”

Ais wasn’t particularly nervous before the battle, but, since it was difficult and troublesome to explain the reason why she was flustered, Ais made a vague smile and nodded.

“Well then, I guess I will go and take my position as well.”
“I’m relying on you. Vita, you too, please be prepared soon.”
“Umu, understood. Then, shall we make our last arrangements? Hey, Elysio, let’s go.”
“Yes, Mother.”

Seeing off Vita and Elysione leaving his place, Naga faced toward Kay.

“Kay, be on a standby together with the wooden dolls.”
“Ah, yes, understood.”

Kay left soon after too.

“Well then.”

Naga looked with a distant view at the main road running from the north to south. He couldn’t see well, since the road was zigzagging between the hills, but, Naga soon noticed the troops from the Kasandora Kingdom appearing in his view. There were roughly a thousand of them.

On the other hand, Naga’s countering group had a little less than 20 witches, still, he was confident in what he had said before.

(That’s right. There should be no problem as long it’s that many. We should worry about that…… afterwards.)

Naga’s thoughts were already focused on the next battle.

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
| Return to [[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Prologue 2|Prologue 2]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Illustrations

2016-10-29T10:41:19Z

Darkdhaos:

<gallery>
File:Naga04_cover.jpg|'''Cover'''<br>
File:Naga04_002.jpg
File:Naga04_003.jpg
File:Naga04_004.jpg
File:Naga04_005.jpg
File:Naga04_character-page.jpg
File:Naga04_Illus-01.jpg
File:Naga04_Illus-02.jpg
File:Naga04_Illus-03.jpg
File:Naga04_Illus-04.jpg
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File:Naga04_Illus-07.jpg
</gallery>

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{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Epilogue 2|Epilogue 2]]
| Return to [[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Prologue 1|Prologue 1]]
|-
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</noinclude>

File:Naga04 Illus-07.jpg

2016-10-29T10:41:13Z

Darkdhaos:

File:Naga04 Illus-06.jpg

2016-10-29T10:38:20Z

Darkdhaos:

Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Illustrations

2016-10-29T10:35:30Z

Darkdhaos:

<gallery>
File:Naga04_cover.jpg|'''Cover'''<br>
File:Naga04_002.jpg
File:Naga04_003.jpg
File:Naga04_004.jpg
File:Naga04_005.jpg
File:Naga04_character-page.jpg
File:Naga04_Illus-01.jpg
File:Naga04_Illus-02.jpg
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</gallery>

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{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Epilogue 2|Epilogue 2]]
| Return to [[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Prologue 1|Prologue 1]]
|-
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</noinclude>

File:Naga04 Illus-05.jpg

2016-10-29T10:35:21Z

Darkdhaos:

File:Naga04 Illus-04.jpg

2016-10-29T10:34:46Z

Darkdhaos:

Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Illustrations

2016-10-29T10:34:24Z

Darkdhaos:

<gallery>
File:Naga04_cover.jpg|'''Cover'''<br>
File:Naga04_002.jpg
File:Naga04_003.jpg
File:Naga04_004.jpg
File:Naga04_005.jpg
File:Naga04_character-page.jpg
File:Naga04_Illus-01.jpg
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</gallery>

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{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Epilogue 2|Epilogue 2]]
| Return to [[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Prologue 1|Prologue 1]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

File:Naga04 Illus-03.jpg

2016-10-29T10:33:46Z

Darkdhaos:

Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Illustrations

2016-10-29T10:21:00Z

Darkdhaos:

<gallery>
File:Naga04_cover.jpg|'''Cover'''<br>
File:Naga04_002.jpg
File:Naga04_003.jpg
File:Naga04_004.jpg
File:Naga04_005.jpg
File:Naga04_character-page.jpg
File:Naga04_Illus-01.jpg
File:Naga04_Illus-02.jpg
</gallery>

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{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Epilogue 2|Epilogue 2]]
| Return to [[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Prologue 1|Prologue 1]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni

2016-10-29T10:18:54Z

Darkdhaos:

[[File: Naga01_cover.jpg|286px|thumb|Volume 1 Cover]]

The light novel series Ochitekita Ryuuou (Naga) to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni (落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国) is written by Maisaka Kou and illustrated by Youta.

== Story Synopsis ==
In a world where witches are shunned and have been forced onto the brink of annihilation, a samurai with no memories is transported to the hideout of some of these witches. Having the name: "Dragon King" and a keen strategic mind, its up to him to help defend the witches from those that would seek them harm.(From Mangaupdates)

== Updates ==
*July 19, 2016 - Volume 3 Completed
*April 05, 2016 - Volume 2 Completed
*March 04, 2016 - Volume 1 Completed
*January 19, 2016 - Volume 1 Chapter 1 added
*May 18, 2015 - Volume 1 Prologues edited
*March 03, 2015 - Teaser page started

== Formalities ==

=== Registration ===
Those who wish to contribute are asked to notify the project manager beforehand.

Translators are asked to register which chapters they're working on.

::* [[Ochitekita Registration Page|Registration Page]]

=== Format Standards ===
Every chapter must after editing conform to the general format guidelines.

::* [[Format guideline|General Format/Style Guideline]]

===Changes to Page===
Please do not make any changes to this site without asking the project manager. There's specific code on this page, which can be harmed by your edits.
<br/>

==The ''Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni'' series by Maisaka Kou==
If you enjoyed the story, why don't you tell us in the [http://www.baka-tsuki.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=10533 Feedback Thread]?

<br /><br />
<div style="float: left; width:100%;">
<div style="float: left; margin: 5px 20px">
=== Volume 1 ([[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni:_Volume_1|Full Text]])===
<div style="float: left; width:380px;">
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Prologue 1|Prologue 1]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Prologue 2|Prologue 2]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Chapter 1|Chapter 1: The man who fell in the bathhouse]] [https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/chapter-1-the-man-who-fell-in-the-bath-house/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2: A battle of witches and humans]] [https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/chapter-2-the-battle-of-witches-and-humans-part-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Chapter 3|Chapter 3: 2nd Battle of the 1st fort]] [https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/ch-3-the-offence-and-defence-of-the-1st-fort-again-part1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Epilogue|Epilogue]] [https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/ochinaga-epilogue-1/ (Blog)]
</div>
<div style="float: left; width:200px;">
[[File: Naga01_cover.jpg|right|thumb|x200px|Volume 1]]
</div>
</div>
<div style="float: left; width:100%;">
<div style="float: left; margin: 5px 20px">

=== Volume 2 ([[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni:_Volume_2|Full Text]])===
<div style="float: left; width:380px;">
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Prologue 1|Prologue 1]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/vol-2-prologue-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Prologue 2|Prologue 2]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/vol-2-prologue-2/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Chapter 1|Chapter 1: The Night before the Battle ]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/vol-2-ch-1-pt-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Chapter 2|Chapter 2: Commence, the Opening of Hostilities ]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/vol-2-chapter-2/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Chapter 3|Chapter 3: The Second Step ]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/volume-2-chapter-3/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Chapter 4|Chapter 4: The Beginning and End of a Battle ]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/chapter-4-the-beginning-and-end-of-a-battle/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Epilogue 1|Epilogue 1]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/epilogue-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Epilogue 2|Epilogue 2]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/epilogue-2/ (Blog]
</div>
<div style="float: left; width:200px;">
[[File: Naga02_cover.jpg|right|thumb|x200px|Volume 2]]
</div>
</div>
<div style="float: left; width:100%;">
<div style="float: left; margin: 5px 20px">

=== Volume 3 ([[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni:_Volume_3|Full Text]])===
<div style="float: left; width:380px;">
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Prologue 1|Prologue 1]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/vol3-prologue1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Prologue 2|Prologue 2]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/vol-3-prologue-2/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Chapter 1|Chapter 1: The Conclusion of the Alliance ]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/ochitekita-volume-3-chapter-1-part-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Chapter 2|Chapter 2: An Unexpected Prisoner ]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/vol-3-chapter-2-an-unexpected-prisoner/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Chapter 3|Chapter 3: Future Outlook ]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/volume-3-chapter-3-future-outlook/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Chapter 4|Chapter 4: The Greatest War Trophy ]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/c4-the-greatest-war-trophy-part-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Epilogue 1|Epilogue 1]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/vol-3-epilogue-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Epilogue 2|Epilogue 2]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/vol-3-epilogue-2/ (Blog]
</div>
<div style="float: left; width:200px;">
[[File: Naga03 cover.jpg|right|thumb|x200px|Volume 3]]
</div>
</div>
<div style="float: left; width:100%;">
<div style="float: left; margin: 5px 20px">

=== Volume 4 ([[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni:_Volume_4|Full Text]])===
<div style="float: left; width:380px;">
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Prologue 1|Prologue 1]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/ochi-v4-prologue-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Prologue 2|Prologue 2]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/ochi-v4-prologue-2/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Chapter 1|Chapter 1: The Eye that Reads the Flow ]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/vol-4-chapter-1-the-eye-that-reads-the-flow-part-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Chapter 2|Chapter 2: Coincidence or Inevitability ]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/volume-4-chapter-2-coincidence-or-inevitableness-part-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Chapter 3|Chapter 3: The performance of the Dancers ]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/v4-c3-the-performance-of-the-dancers/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Chapter 4|Chapter 4: Enemy and Ally, Both of their Circumstances ]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/volume-4-chapter-4-enemy-and-ally-both-of-their-circumstances-part1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Chapter 5|Chapter 5: The Brigade’s True Strength]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/volume-4-chapter-5-the-brigades-true-strength/ (Blog)]
</div>
<div style="float: left; width:200px;">
[[File: Naga04 cover.jpg|right|thumb|x200px|Volume 4]]
</div>
</div>
<div style="float: left; width:100%;">
<div style="float: left; margin: 5px 20px">

== Project Staff ==
* Project Administrator: [[User:darkdhaos|Darkdhaos]]
* Project Manager: [[User:darkdhaos|Darkdhaos]]

=== Translators ===
===Active===
:*hachidori108 - [https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/ (Blog)]

=== Editors ===
:* [[User:Zexth|Zexth]]
:* [[User:darkdhaos|Darkdhaos]] (Translated Volume 1 Prologue)
:* [[User:Weslykan|Weslykan]]

== Series Overview ==
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国 (25 July 2012, ISBN 978-4-8401-4648-7)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国II (22 November 2012, ISBN 978-4-8401-4872-6)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国III (25 March 2013, ISBN 978-4-8401-5134-4)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国IV (23 August 2013, ISBN 978-4-8401-5281-5)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国V (24 January 2014, ISBN 978-4-04-066213-8)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国VI (21 November 2014, ISBN 978-4-04-066991-5)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国VII (24 April 2015, ISBN 978-4-04-067614-2)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国VIII (25 August 2015, ISBN 978-4-04-067746-0)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国IX (25 February 2016, ISBN 978-4-04-068111-5)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国X (25 July 2016, ISBN 978-4-04-068459-8)

[[Category:Light novel (English)]]

Talk:Chronicle Legion

2016-08-01T22:32:30Z

Darkdhaos:

Hi, I'm a big fan of Takedzuki Jou so it's great to see more works from him on BT. Also I happen to have cleaned and put your translation of the maps into english. Do I have permission to replace the ones in the novel with my versions? If not just contact me by pm or email (yascob09@gmail.com) if you want me to send you the files directly.<br/>
[[User:Yascob99|Yascob99]] ([[User talk:Yascob99|talk]]) 20:56, 1 August 2016 (UTC)

Hi, I would like to apologize with you for doing changes in the Chronicle Legion page without your permission. I'm really sorry about it, and I'll be sure to consult to you first before doing something like that again.
[[User:Darkdhaos|Darkdhaos]] ([[User talk:Darkdhaos|talk]]) 22:32, 1 August 2016 (UTC)

Chronicle Legion

2016-07-31T17:00:58Z

Darkdhaos: /* Volume 3 - Imperial Japan's Loyalists */

[[image:ChronicleLegion 01 Cover.jpg|thumb]]
'''''Chronicle Legion''''' (クロニクル・レギオン), subtitled ''The Road of Conquest'', is a light novel series written by Takedzuki Jou and illustrated by BUNBUN.<br />

Published by Shueisha under the Dash X Bunko label, the series has reached its 5th volume.

Takedzuki Jou (also romanized as Joe Takeduki) might be better known as the author of other series such as ''[[Campione!]]'' and the ''[[Leviathan of the Covenant]]''.

==Story Synopsis==

An encounter between a princess and a young man, resolved to defy destiny...!!

In the late 20th century, due to the invasion led by Caesar the resurrected ancient Roman hero, Imperial Japan has fallen under the neighboring Eastern Roman Empire's rule in all but name only!

What enabled Caesar to become the ultimate conqueror was the power known as the "Legion."

These mysterious corps have taken over as the main weapon in the military forces of major world powers—Armies of winged giant soldiers.

Harboring ambitions to become the sovereign of Japan, Princess Fujinomiya Shiori of Imperial Japan finally takes action.

The princess chooses Tachibana Masatsugu as her trusted general, an ordinary high school student by all accounts.

Nevertheless, he is actually a warrior reborn from the ancient past, another resurrected ''legatus legionis'' whose greatness is no less than the mighty hero Caesar...!!

The curtain is raised: An epic fantasy war story revolving around resurrected heroes and beautiful maidens!!

== Translation ==

===Format Standards===
'''Every Chapter (after editing) must conform to the general format guidelines.'''
*[[Format_guideline|General Format/Style Guideline]]
*[[Chronicle Legion:Names and Terminology Guideline|Project specific Guidelines: Names and Terminology]]

=== [[Chronicle Legion:Registration Page|Registration]] ===

'''Translators are asked to [[Chronicle Legion:Registration Page|register]] which chapters they're working on'''

=== Feedback / IRC ===
Please use the [{{SERVER}}/forums/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=22086 feedback thread] or the [{{SERVER}}/forums/viewforum.php?f=63 Campione! forum] to share your thoughts and comments.

Or you can show up on IRC at #campione@irc.rizon.net ! Warning: We ''might'' go off-topic ''sometimes''.

== Updates ==
{{:Chronicle_Legion:Updates}}
* 2016-07-30 - Volume 2 completed
* 2016-07-17 - Volume 1 completed
* 2016-05-11 - Crossover Short Story completed

[[Chronicle Legion:Updates|Past updates]].

==The ''Chronicle Legion'' series by Takedzuki Jou==
Electronic versions (PDF, EPUB, etc) of completed volumes can be found or requested in [{{SERVER}}/forums/viewforum.php?f=73 the forum].

===Volume 1 - Invading Legions ([[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1|Full Text]])===
<div style="float: right; width:800px;">
[[File: ChronicleLegion_01_000.jpg|left|thumb|x200px|Volume 1]]
</div>
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Maps|Maps]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Prologue|Prologue]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_1|Chapter 1 - Invading Legions (1)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_2|Chapter 2 - Invading Legions (2)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_3|Chapter 3 - Knights and Feats of Arms (1)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_4|Chapter 4 - Knights and Feats of Arms (2)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_5|Chapter 5 - Legatus Legionis (1)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_6|Chapter 6 - Legatus Legionis (2)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Epilogue|Epilogue]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Afterword|Afterword]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Glossary|Glossary]]
<br style="clear:both"/>

===Volume 2 - The Prince and the Lion King ([[Chronicle_Legion:Volume 2|Full Text]])===
<div style="float: right; width:800px;">
[[File: ChronicleLegion_02_000.jpg|left|thumb|x200px|Volume 2]]
</div>
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_1|Chapter 1 - Under the Black Knight's Shadow]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_2|Chapter 2 - Soldiers of Fortune]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_3|Chapter 3 - Coeur de Lion]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_4|Chapter 4 - Knights of Britain]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_5|Chapter 5 - Battle between Lion and Hound (1)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_6|Chapter 6 - Battle between Lion and Hound (2)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Epilogue|Epilogue]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Afterword|Afterword]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Glossary|Glossary]]
<br style="clear:both"/>

===Volume 3 - Imperial Japan's Loyalists===
<div style="float: right; width:800px;">
[[File: ChronicleLegion_03_000.jpg|left|thumb|x200px|Volume 3]]
</div>
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Prologue|Prologue]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_1|Chapter 1 - The Fall of Nagoya Castle]] (40%)
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_2|Chapter 2 - To the East and to the West]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_3|Chapter 3 - Restless Warlords]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_4|Chapter 4 - The Hakone Siege]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_5|Chapter 5 - Bloodlines of Sacred Princesses]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_6|Chapter 6 - Two-Headed Dog]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Epilogue|Epilogue]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Afterword|Afterword]]
<br style="clear:both"/>

===Volume 4 - A Gathering of Heroes===
*[[Chronicle_legion:Volume_4_Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
* Chapter 1 - East and West of Hakone
* Chapter 2 - Before the Storm (and the Beauty Contest)
* Chapter 3 - The School Festival, Then Afterwards
* Chapter 4 - Richard's Uninvited Visit
* Chapter 5 - The Protector Shows Up
* Chapter 6 - A Gathering of Great Names
* Afterword
* Glossary

<br style="clear:both"/>

===Volume 5 - The Imperial Capital in Turmoil===
<br style="clear:both"/>

===Short Stories===
*[[Chronicle Legion:Crossover SS|''Campione!'' Crossover]]

==Project Staff==

*Supervisor: [[User:Zzhk|zzhk]]
*Project Manager: [[User:Zzhk|zzhk]]

===Translators===
For information on what each translator is working on, please consult the [[Chronicle Legion:Registration Page|Registration Page]].

===Editors===


==Series Overview==
*Volume 01 - クロニクル・レギオン - 軍団襲来 (November 21, 2014) - ISBN 978-4-08-631005-5
*Volume 02 - クロニクル・レギオン2 - 王子と獅子王 (March 25, 2015) - ISBN 978-4-08-631032-1
*Volume 03 - クロニクル・レギオン3 - 皇国の志士たち (July 24, 2015) - ISBN 978-4-08-631057-4
*Volume 04 - クロニクル・レギオン4 - 英雄集結 (December 22, 2015) - ISBN 978-4-08-631083-3
*Volume 05 - クロニクル・レギオン5 - 騒乱の皇都 (April 22, 2016) - ISBN 978-4-08-631110-6

==Links==
*Official Site at Dash X Bunko [http://dash.shueisha.co.jp/feature/chroniclelegion/]

[[Category:Super Dash Bunko]]
[[Category:Light novel (English)]]

Chronicle Legion

2016-07-31T17:00:24Z

Darkdhaos: /* Volume 2 - The Prince and the Lion King (Full Text) */

[[image:ChronicleLegion 01 Cover.jpg|thumb]]
'''''Chronicle Legion''''' (クロニクル・レギオン), subtitled ''The Road of Conquest'', is a light novel series written by Takedzuki Jou and illustrated by BUNBUN.<br />

Published by Shueisha under the Dash X Bunko label, the series has reached its 5th volume.

Takedzuki Jou (also romanized as Joe Takeduki) might be better known as the author of other series such as ''[[Campione!]]'' and the ''[[Leviathan of the Covenant]]''.

==Story Synopsis==

An encounter between a princess and a young man, resolved to defy destiny...!!

In the late 20th century, due to the invasion led by Caesar the resurrected ancient Roman hero, Imperial Japan has fallen under the neighboring Eastern Roman Empire's rule in all but name only!

What enabled Caesar to become the ultimate conqueror was the power known as the "Legion."

These mysterious corps have taken over as the main weapon in the military forces of major world powers—Armies of winged giant soldiers.

Harboring ambitions to become the sovereign of Japan, Princess Fujinomiya Shiori of Imperial Japan finally takes action.

The princess chooses Tachibana Masatsugu as her trusted general, an ordinary high school student by all accounts.

Nevertheless, he is actually a warrior reborn from the ancient past, another resurrected ''legatus legionis'' whose greatness is no less than the mighty hero Caesar...!!

The curtain is raised: An epic fantasy war story revolving around resurrected heroes and beautiful maidens!!

== Translation ==

===Format Standards===
'''Every Chapter (after editing) must conform to the general format guidelines.'''
*[[Format_guideline|General Format/Style Guideline]]
*[[Chronicle Legion:Names and Terminology Guideline|Project specific Guidelines: Names and Terminology]]

=== [[Chronicle Legion:Registration Page|Registration]] ===

'''Translators are asked to [[Chronicle Legion:Registration Page|register]] which chapters they're working on'''

=== Feedback / IRC ===
Please use the [{{SERVER}}/forums/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=22086 feedback thread] or the [{{SERVER}}/forums/viewforum.php?f=63 Campione! forum] to share your thoughts and comments.

Or you can show up on IRC at #campione@irc.rizon.net ! Warning: We ''might'' go off-topic ''sometimes''.

== Updates ==
{{:Chronicle_Legion:Updates}}
* 2016-07-30 - Volume 2 completed
* 2016-07-17 - Volume 1 completed
* 2016-05-11 - Crossover Short Story completed

[[Chronicle Legion:Updates|Past updates]].

==The ''Chronicle Legion'' series by Takedzuki Jou==
Electronic versions (PDF, EPUB, etc) of completed volumes can be found or requested in [{{SERVER}}/forums/viewforum.php?f=73 the forum].

===Volume 1 - Invading Legions ([[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1|Full Text]])===
<div style="float: right; width:800px;">
[[File: ChronicleLegion_01_000.jpg|left|thumb|x200px|Volume 1]]
</div>
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Maps|Maps]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Prologue|Prologue]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_1|Chapter 1 - Invading Legions (1)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_2|Chapter 2 - Invading Legions (2)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_3|Chapter 3 - Knights and Feats of Arms (1)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_4|Chapter 4 - Knights and Feats of Arms (2)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_5|Chapter 5 - Legatus Legionis (1)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_6|Chapter 6 - Legatus Legionis (2)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Epilogue|Epilogue]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Afterword|Afterword]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Glossary|Glossary]]
<br style="clear:both"/>

===Volume 2 - The Prince and the Lion King ([[Chronicle_Legion:Volume 2|Full Text]])===
<div style="float: right; width:800px;">
[[File: ChronicleLegion_02_000.jpg|left|thumb|x200px|Volume 2]]
</div>
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_1|Chapter 1 - Under the Black Knight's Shadow]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_2|Chapter 2 - Soldiers of Fortune]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_3|Chapter 3 - Coeur de Lion]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_4|Chapter 4 - Knights of Britain]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_5|Chapter 5 - Battle between Lion and Hound (1)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_6|Chapter 6 - Battle between Lion and Hound (2)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Epilogue|Epilogue]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Afterword|Afterword]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Glossary|Glossary]]
<br style="clear:both"/>

===Volume 3 - Imperial Japan's Loyalists===
<div style="float: right; width:200px;">
[[File: ChronicleLegion_03_000.jpg|right|thumb|x200px|Volume 3]]
</div>
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Prologue|Prologue]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_1|Chapter 1 - The Fall of Nagoya Castle]] (40%)
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_2|Chapter 2 - To the East and to the West]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_3|Chapter 3 - Restless Warlords]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_4|Chapter 4 - The Hakone Siege]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_5|Chapter 5 - Bloodlines of Sacred Princesses]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_6|Chapter 6 - Two-Headed Dog]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Epilogue|Epilogue]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Afterword|Afterword]]
<br style="clear:both"/>

===Volume 4 - A Gathering of Heroes===
*[[Chronicle_legion:Volume_4_Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
* Chapter 1 - East and West of Hakone
* Chapter 2 - Before the Storm (and the Beauty Contest)
* Chapter 3 - The School Festival, Then Afterwards
* Chapter 4 - Richard's Uninvited Visit
* Chapter 5 - The Protector Shows Up
* Chapter 6 - A Gathering of Great Names
* Afterword
* Glossary

<br style="clear:both"/>

===Volume 5 - The Imperial Capital in Turmoil===
<br style="clear:both"/>

===Short Stories===
*[[Chronicle Legion:Crossover SS|''Campione!'' Crossover]]

==Project Staff==

*Supervisor: [[User:Zzhk|zzhk]]
*Project Manager: [[User:Zzhk|zzhk]]

===Translators===
For information on what each translator is working on, please consult the [[Chronicle Legion:Registration Page|Registration Page]].

===Editors===


==Series Overview==
*Volume 01 - クロニクル・レギオン - 軍団襲来 (November 21, 2014) - ISBN 978-4-08-631005-5
*Volume 02 - クロニクル・レギオン2 - 王子と獅子王 (March 25, 2015) - ISBN 978-4-08-631032-1
*Volume 03 - クロニクル・レギオン3 - 皇国の志士たち (July 24, 2015) - ISBN 978-4-08-631057-4
*Volume 04 - クロニクル・レギオン4 - 英雄集結 (December 22, 2015) - ISBN 978-4-08-631083-3
*Volume 05 - クロニクル・レギオン5 - 騒乱の皇都 (April 22, 2016) - ISBN 978-4-08-631110-6

==Links==
*Official Site at Dash X Bunko [http://dash.shueisha.co.jp/feature/chroniclelegion/]

[[Category:Super Dash Bunko]]
[[Category:Light novel (English)]]

Chronicle Legion

2016-07-31T16:59:58Z

Darkdhaos: /* Volume 1 - Invading Legions (Full Text) */

[[image:ChronicleLegion 01 Cover.jpg|thumb]]
'''''Chronicle Legion''''' (クロニクル・レギオン), subtitled ''The Road of Conquest'', is a light novel series written by Takedzuki Jou and illustrated by BUNBUN.<br />

Published by Shueisha under the Dash X Bunko label, the series has reached its 5th volume.

Takedzuki Jou (also romanized as Joe Takeduki) might be better known as the author of other series such as ''[[Campione!]]'' and the ''[[Leviathan of the Covenant]]''.

==Story Synopsis==

An encounter between a princess and a young man, resolved to defy destiny...!!

In the late 20th century, due to the invasion led by Caesar the resurrected ancient Roman hero, Imperial Japan has fallen under the neighboring Eastern Roman Empire's rule in all but name only!

What enabled Caesar to become the ultimate conqueror was the power known as the "Legion."

These mysterious corps have taken over as the main weapon in the military forces of major world powers—Armies of winged giant soldiers.

Harboring ambitions to become the sovereign of Japan, Princess Fujinomiya Shiori of Imperial Japan finally takes action.

The princess chooses Tachibana Masatsugu as her trusted general, an ordinary high school student by all accounts.

Nevertheless, he is actually a warrior reborn from the ancient past, another resurrected ''legatus legionis'' whose greatness is no less than the mighty hero Caesar...!!

The curtain is raised: An epic fantasy war story revolving around resurrected heroes and beautiful maidens!!

== Translation ==

===Format Standards===
'''Every Chapter (after editing) must conform to the general format guidelines.'''
*[[Format_guideline|General Format/Style Guideline]]
*[[Chronicle Legion:Names and Terminology Guideline|Project specific Guidelines: Names and Terminology]]

=== [[Chronicle Legion:Registration Page|Registration]] ===

'''Translators are asked to [[Chronicle Legion:Registration Page|register]] which chapters they're working on'''

=== Feedback / IRC ===
Please use the [{{SERVER}}/forums/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=22086 feedback thread] or the [{{SERVER}}/forums/viewforum.php?f=63 Campione! forum] to share your thoughts and comments.

Or you can show up on IRC at #campione@irc.rizon.net ! Warning: We ''might'' go off-topic ''sometimes''.

== Updates ==
{{:Chronicle_Legion:Updates}}
* 2016-07-30 - Volume 2 completed
* 2016-07-17 - Volume 1 completed
* 2016-05-11 - Crossover Short Story completed

[[Chronicle Legion:Updates|Past updates]].

==The ''Chronicle Legion'' series by Takedzuki Jou==
Electronic versions (PDF, EPUB, etc) of completed volumes can be found or requested in [{{SERVER}}/forums/viewforum.php?f=73 the forum].

===Volume 1 - Invading Legions ([[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1|Full Text]])===
<div style="float: right; width:800px;">
[[File: ChronicleLegion_01_000.jpg|left|thumb|x200px|Volume 1]]
</div>
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Maps|Maps]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Prologue|Prologue]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_1|Chapter 1 - Invading Legions (1)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_2|Chapter 2 - Invading Legions (2)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_3|Chapter 3 - Knights and Feats of Arms (1)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_4|Chapter 4 - Knights and Feats of Arms (2)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_5|Chapter 5 - Legatus Legionis (1)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_6|Chapter 6 - Legatus Legionis (2)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Epilogue|Epilogue]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Afterword|Afterword]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Glossary|Glossary]]
<br style="clear:both"/>

===Volume 2 - The Prince and the Lion King ([[Chronicle_Legion:Volume 2|Full Text]])===
<div style="float: right; width:200px;">
[[File: ChronicleLegion_02_000.jpg|right|thumb|x200px|Volume 2]]
</div>
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_1|Chapter 1 - Under the Black Knight's Shadow]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_2|Chapter 2 - Soldiers of Fortune]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_3|Chapter 3 - Coeur de Lion]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_4|Chapter 4 - Knights of Britain]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_5|Chapter 5 - Battle between Lion and Hound (1)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_6|Chapter 6 - Battle between Lion and Hound (2)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Epilogue|Epilogue]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Afterword|Afterword]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Glossary|Glossary]]
<br style="clear:both"/>

===Volume 3 - Imperial Japan's Loyalists===
<div style="float: right; width:200px;">
[[File: ChronicleLegion_03_000.jpg|right|thumb|x200px|Volume 3]]
</div>
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Prologue|Prologue]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_1|Chapter 1 - The Fall of Nagoya Castle]] (40%)
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_2|Chapter 2 - To the East and to the West]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_3|Chapter 3 - Restless Warlords]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_4|Chapter 4 - The Hakone Siege]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_5|Chapter 5 - Bloodlines of Sacred Princesses]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_6|Chapter 6 - Two-Headed Dog]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Epilogue|Epilogue]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Afterword|Afterword]]
<br style="clear:both"/>

===Volume 4 - A Gathering of Heroes===
*[[Chronicle_legion:Volume_4_Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
* Chapter 1 - East and West of Hakone
* Chapter 2 - Before the Storm (and the Beauty Contest)
* Chapter 3 - The School Festival, Then Afterwards
* Chapter 4 - Richard's Uninvited Visit
* Chapter 5 - The Protector Shows Up
* Chapter 6 - A Gathering of Great Names
* Afterword
* Glossary

<br style="clear:both"/>

===Volume 5 - The Imperial Capital in Turmoil===
<br style="clear:both"/>

===Short Stories===
*[[Chronicle Legion:Crossover SS|''Campione!'' Crossover]]

==Project Staff==

*Supervisor: [[User:Zzhk|zzhk]]
*Project Manager: [[User:Zzhk|zzhk]]

===Translators===
For information on what each translator is working on, please consult the [[Chronicle Legion:Registration Page|Registration Page]].

===Editors===


==Series Overview==
*Volume 01 - クロニクル・レギオン - 軍団襲来 (November 21, 2014) - ISBN 978-4-08-631005-5
*Volume 02 - クロニクル・レギオン2 - 王子と獅子王 (March 25, 2015) - ISBN 978-4-08-631032-1
*Volume 03 - クロニクル・レギオン3 - 皇国の志士たち (July 24, 2015) - ISBN 978-4-08-631057-4
*Volume 04 - クロニクル・レギオン4 - 英雄集結 (December 22, 2015) - ISBN 978-4-08-631083-3
*Volume 05 - クロニクル・レギオン5 - 騒乱の皇都 (April 22, 2016) - ISBN 978-4-08-631110-6

==Links==
*Official Site at Dash X Bunko [http://dash.shueisha.co.jp/feature/chroniclelegion/]

[[Category:Super Dash Bunko]]
[[Category:Light novel (English)]]

Chronicle Legion

2016-07-31T16:54:44Z

Darkdhaos: /* Volume 3 - Imperial Japan's Loyalists */

[[image:ChronicleLegion 01 Cover.jpg|thumb]]
'''''Chronicle Legion''''' (クロニクル・レギオン), subtitled ''The Road of Conquest'', is a light novel series written by Takedzuki Jou and illustrated by BUNBUN.<br />

Published by Shueisha under the Dash X Bunko label, the series has reached its 5th volume.

Takedzuki Jou (also romanized as Joe Takeduki) might be better known as the author of other series such as ''[[Campione!]]'' and the ''[[Leviathan of the Covenant]]''.

==Story Synopsis==

An encounter between a princess and a young man, resolved to defy destiny...!!

In the late 20th century, due to the invasion led by Caesar the resurrected ancient Roman hero, Imperial Japan has fallen under the neighboring Eastern Roman Empire's rule in all but name only!

What enabled Caesar to become the ultimate conqueror was the power known as the "Legion."

These mysterious corps have taken over as the main weapon in the military forces of major world powers—Armies of winged giant soldiers.

Harboring ambitions to become the sovereign of Japan, Princess Fujinomiya Shiori of Imperial Japan finally takes action.

The princess chooses Tachibana Masatsugu as her trusted general, an ordinary high school student by all accounts.

Nevertheless, he is actually a warrior reborn from the ancient past, another resurrected ''legatus legionis'' whose greatness is no less than the mighty hero Caesar...!!

The curtain is raised: An epic fantasy war story revolving around resurrected heroes and beautiful maidens!!

== Translation ==

===Format Standards===
'''Every Chapter (after editing) must conform to the general format guidelines.'''
*[[Format_guideline|General Format/Style Guideline]]
*[[Chronicle Legion:Names and Terminology Guideline|Project specific Guidelines: Names and Terminology]]

=== [[Chronicle Legion:Registration Page|Registration]] ===

'''Translators are asked to [[Chronicle Legion:Registration Page|register]] which chapters they're working on'''

=== Feedback / IRC ===
Please use the [{{SERVER}}/forums/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=22086 feedback thread] or the [{{SERVER}}/forums/viewforum.php?f=63 Campione! forum] to share your thoughts and comments.

Or you can show up on IRC at #campione@irc.rizon.net ! Warning: We ''might'' go off-topic ''sometimes''.

== Updates ==
{{:Chronicle_Legion:Updates}}
* 2016-07-30 - Volume 2 completed
* 2016-07-17 - Volume 1 completed
* 2016-05-11 - Crossover Short Story completed

[[Chronicle Legion:Updates|Past updates]].

==The ''Chronicle Legion'' series by Takedzuki Jou==
Electronic versions (PDF, EPUB, etc) of completed volumes can be found or requested in [{{SERVER}}/forums/viewforum.php?f=73 the forum].

===Volume 1 - Invading Legions ([[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1|Full Text]])===
<div style="float: right; width:200px;">
[[File: ChronicleLegion_01_000.jpg|right|thumb|x200px|Volume 1]]
</div>
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Maps|Maps]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Prologue|Prologue]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_1|Chapter 1 - Invading Legions (1)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_2|Chapter 2 - Invading Legions (2)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_3|Chapter 3 - Knights and Feats of Arms (1)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_4|Chapter 4 - Knights and Feats of Arms (2)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_5|Chapter 5 - Legatus Legionis (1)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_6|Chapter 6 - Legatus Legionis (2)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Epilogue|Epilogue]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Afterword|Afterword]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Glossary|Glossary]]
<br style="clear:both"/>

===Volume 2 - The Prince and the Lion King ([[Chronicle_Legion:Volume 2|Full Text]])===
<div style="float: right; width:200px;">
[[File: ChronicleLegion_02_000.jpg|right|thumb|x200px|Volume 2]]
</div>
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_1|Chapter 1 - Under the Black Knight's Shadow]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_2|Chapter 2 - Soldiers of Fortune]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_3|Chapter 3 - Coeur de Lion]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_4|Chapter 4 - Knights of Britain]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_5|Chapter 5 - Battle between Lion and Hound (1)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_6|Chapter 6 - Battle between Lion and Hound (2)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Epilogue|Epilogue]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Afterword|Afterword]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Glossary|Glossary]]
<br style="clear:both"/>

===Volume 3 - Imperial Japan's Loyalists===
<div style="float: right; width:200px;">
[[File: ChronicleLegion_03_000.jpg|right|thumb|x200px|Volume 3]]
</div>
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Prologue|Prologue]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_1|Chapter 1 - The Fall of Nagoya Castle]] (40%)
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_2|Chapter 2 - To the East and to the West]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_3|Chapter 3 - Restless Warlords]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_4|Chapter 4 - The Hakone Siege]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_5|Chapter 5 - Bloodlines of Sacred Princesses]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_6|Chapter 6 - Two-Headed Dog]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Epilogue|Epilogue]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Afterword|Afterword]]
<br style="clear:both"/>

===Volume 4 - A Gathering of Heroes===
*[[Chronicle_legion:Volume_4_Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
* Chapter 1 - East and West of Hakone
* Chapter 2 - Before the Storm (and the Beauty Contest)
* Chapter 3 - The School Festival, Then Afterwards
* Chapter 4 - Richard's Uninvited Visit
* Chapter 5 - The Protector Shows Up
* Chapter 6 - A Gathering of Great Names
* Afterword
* Glossary

<br style="clear:both"/>

===Volume 5 - The Imperial Capital in Turmoil===
<br style="clear:both"/>

===Short Stories===
*[[Chronicle Legion:Crossover SS|''Campione!'' Crossover]]

==Project Staff==

*Supervisor: [[User:Zzhk|zzhk]]
*Project Manager: [[User:Zzhk|zzhk]]

===Translators===
For information on what each translator is working on, please consult the [[Chronicle Legion:Registration Page|Registration Page]].

===Editors===


==Series Overview==
*Volume 01 - クロニクル・レギオン - 軍団襲来 (November 21, 2014) - ISBN 978-4-08-631005-5
*Volume 02 - クロニクル・レギオン2 - 王子と獅子王 (March 25, 2015) - ISBN 978-4-08-631032-1
*Volume 03 - クロニクル・レギオン3 - 皇国の志士たち (July 24, 2015) - ISBN 978-4-08-631057-4
*Volume 04 - クロニクル・レギオン4 - 英雄集結 (December 22, 2015) - ISBN 978-4-08-631083-3
*Volume 05 - クロニクル・レギオン5 - 騒乱の皇都 (April 22, 2016) - ISBN 978-4-08-631110-6

==Links==
*Official Site at Dash X Bunko [http://dash.shueisha.co.jp/feature/chroniclelegion/]

[[Category:Super Dash Bunko]]
[[Category:Light novel (English)]]

Chronicle Legion

2016-07-31T16:53:47Z

Darkdhaos: /* Volume 2 - The Prince and the Lion King (Full Text) */

[[image:ChronicleLegion 01 Cover.jpg|thumb]]
'''''Chronicle Legion''''' (クロニクル・レギオン), subtitled ''The Road of Conquest'', is a light novel series written by Takedzuki Jou and illustrated by BUNBUN.<br />

Published by Shueisha under the Dash X Bunko label, the series has reached its 5th volume.

Takedzuki Jou (also romanized as Joe Takeduki) might be better known as the author of other series such as ''[[Campione!]]'' and the ''[[Leviathan of the Covenant]]''.

==Story Synopsis==

An encounter between a princess and a young man, resolved to defy destiny...!!

In the late 20th century, due to the invasion led by Caesar the resurrected ancient Roman hero, Imperial Japan has fallen under the neighboring Eastern Roman Empire's rule in all but name only!

What enabled Caesar to become the ultimate conqueror was the power known as the "Legion."

These mysterious corps have taken over as the main weapon in the military forces of major world powers—Armies of winged giant soldiers.

Harboring ambitions to become the sovereign of Japan, Princess Fujinomiya Shiori of Imperial Japan finally takes action.

The princess chooses Tachibana Masatsugu as her trusted general, an ordinary high school student by all accounts.

Nevertheless, he is actually a warrior reborn from the ancient past, another resurrected ''legatus legionis'' whose greatness is no less than the mighty hero Caesar...!!

The curtain is raised: An epic fantasy war story revolving around resurrected heroes and beautiful maidens!!

== Translation ==

===Format Standards===
'''Every Chapter (after editing) must conform to the general format guidelines.'''
*[[Format_guideline|General Format/Style Guideline]]
*[[Chronicle Legion:Names and Terminology Guideline|Project specific Guidelines: Names and Terminology]]

=== [[Chronicle Legion:Registration Page|Registration]] ===

'''Translators are asked to [[Chronicle Legion:Registration Page|register]] which chapters they're working on'''

=== Feedback / IRC ===
Please use the [{{SERVER}}/forums/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=22086 feedback thread] or the [{{SERVER}}/forums/viewforum.php?f=63 Campione! forum] to share your thoughts and comments.

Or you can show up on IRC at #campione@irc.rizon.net ! Warning: We ''might'' go off-topic ''sometimes''.

== Updates ==
{{:Chronicle_Legion:Updates}}
* 2016-07-30 - Volume 2 completed
* 2016-07-17 - Volume 1 completed
* 2016-05-11 - Crossover Short Story completed

[[Chronicle Legion:Updates|Past updates]].

==The ''Chronicle Legion'' series by Takedzuki Jou==
Electronic versions (PDF, EPUB, etc) of completed volumes can be found or requested in [{{SERVER}}/forums/viewforum.php?f=73 the forum].

===Volume 1 - Invading Legions ([[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1|Full Text]])===
<div style="float: right; width:200px;">
[[File: ChronicleLegion_01_000.jpg|right|thumb|x200px|Volume 1]]
</div>
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Maps|Maps]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Prologue|Prologue]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_1|Chapter 1 - Invading Legions (1)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_2|Chapter 2 - Invading Legions (2)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_3|Chapter 3 - Knights and Feats of Arms (1)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_4|Chapter 4 - Knights and Feats of Arms (2)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_5|Chapter 5 - Legatus Legionis (1)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_6|Chapter 6 - Legatus Legionis (2)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Epilogue|Epilogue]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Afterword|Afterword]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Glossary|Glossary]]
<br style="clear:both"/>

===Volume 2 - The Prince and the Lion King ([[Chronicle_Legion:Volume 2|Full Text]])===
<div style="float: right; width:200px;">
[[File: ChronicleLegion_02_000.jpg|right|thumb|x200px|Volume 2]]
</div>
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_1|Chapter 1 - Under the Black Knight's Shadow]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_2|Chapter 2 - Soldiers of Fortune]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_3|Chapter 3 - Coeur de Lion]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_4|Chapter 4 - Knights of Britain]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_5|Chapter 5 - Battle between Lion and Hound (1)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_6|Chapter 6 - Battle between Lion and Hound (2)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Epilogue|Epilogue]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Afterword|Afterword]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Glossary|Glossary]]
<br style="clear:both"/>

===Volume 3 - Imperial Japan's Loyalists===
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Prologue|Prologue]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_1|Chapter 1 - The Fall of Nagoya Castle]] (40%)
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_2|Chapter 2 - To the East and to the West]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_3|Chapter 3 - Restless Warlords]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_4|Chapter 4 - The Hakone Siege]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_5|Chapter 5 - Bloodlines of Sacred Princesses]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_6|Chapter 6 - Two-Headed Dog]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Epilogue|Epilogue]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Afterword|Afterword]]
<br style="clear:both"/>

===Volume 4 - A Gathering of Heroes===
*[[Chronicle_legion:Volume_4_Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
* Chapter 1 - East and West of Hakone
* Chapter 2 - Before the Storm (and the Beauty Contest)
* Chapter 3 - The School Festival, Then Afterwards
* Chapter 4 - Richard's Uninvited Visit
* Chapter 5 - The Protector Shows Up
* Chapter 6 - A Gathering of Great Names
* Afterword
* Glossary

<br style="clear:both"/>

===Volume 5 - The Imperial Capital in Turmoil===
<br style="clear:both"/>

===Short Stories===
*[[Chronicle Legion:Crossover SS|''Campione!'' Crossover]]

==Project Staff==

*Supervisor: [[User:Zzhk|zzhk]]
*Project Manager: [[User:Zzhk|zzhk]]

===Translators===
For information on what each translator is working on, please consult the [[Chronicle Legion:Registration Page|Registration Page]].

===Editors===


==Series Overview==
*Volume 01 - クロニクル・レギオン - 軍団襲来 (November 21, 2014) - ISBN 978-4-08-631005-5
*Volume 02 - クロニクル・レギオン2 - 王子と獅子王 (March 25, 2015) - ISBN 978-4-08-631032-1
*Volume 03 - クロニクル・レギオン3 - 皇国の志士たち (July 24, 2015) - ISBN 978-4-08-631057-4
*Volume 04 - クロニクル・レギオン4 - 英雄集結 (December 22, 2015) - ISBN 978-4-08-631083-3
*Volume 05 - クロニクル・レギオン5 - 騒乱の皇都 (April 22, 2016) - ISBN 978-4-08-631110-6

==Links==
*Official Site at Dash X Bunko [http://dash.shueisha.co.jp/feature/chroniclelegion/]

[[Category:Super Dash Bunko]]
[[Category:Light novel (English)]]

Chronicle Legion

2016-07-31T16:50:25Z

Darkdhaos: /* Volume 1 - Invading Legions (Full Text) */

[[image:ChronicleLegion 01 Cover.jpg|thumb]]
'''''Chronicle Legion''''' (クロニクル・レギオン), subtitled ''The Road of Conquest'', is a light novel series written by Takedzuki Jou and illustrated by BUNBUN.<br />

Published by Shueisha under the Dash X Bunko label, the series has reached its 5th volume.

Takedzuki Jou (also romanized as Joe Takeduki) might be better known as the author of other series such as ''[[Campione!]]'' and the ''[[Leviathan of the Covenant]]''.

==Story Synopsis==

An encounter between a princess and a young man, resolved to defy destiny...!!

In the late 20th century, due to the invasion led by Caesar the resurrected ancient Roman hero, Imperial Japan has fallen under the neighboring Eastern Roman Empire's rule in all but name only!

What enabled Caesar to become the ultimate conqueror was the power known as the "Legion."

These mysterious corps have taken over as the main weapon in the military forces of major world powers—Armies of winged giant soldiers.

Harboring ambitions to become the sovereign of Japan, Princess Fujinomiya Shiori of Imperial Japan finally takes action.

The princess chooses Tachibana Masatsugu as her trusted general, an ordinary high school student by all accounts.

Nevertheless, he is actually a warrior reborn from the ancient past, another resurrected ''legatus legionis'' whose greatness is no less than the mighty hero Caesar...!!

The curtain is raised: An epic fantasy war story revolving around resurrected heroes and beautiful maidens!!

== Translation ==

===Format Standards===
'''Every Chapter (after editing) must conform to the general format guidelines.'''
*[[Format_guideline|General Format/Style Guideline]]
*[[Chronicle Legion:Names and Terminology Guideline|Project specific Guidelines: Names and Terminology]]

=== [[Chronicle Legion:Registration Page|Registration]] ===

'''Translators are asked to [[Chronicle Legion:Registration Page|register]] which chapters they're working on'''

=== Feedback / IRC ===
Please use the [{{SERVER}}/forums/viewtopic.php?f=63&t=22086 feedback thread] or the [{{SERVER}}/forums/viewforum.php?f=63 Campione! forum] to share your thoughts and comments.

Or you can show up on IRC at #campione@irc.rizon.net ! Warning: We ''might'' go off-topic ''sometimes''.

== Updates ==
{{:Chronicle_Legion:Updates}}
* 2016-07-30 - Volume 2 completed
* 2016-07-17 - Volume 1 completed
* 2016-05-11 - Crossover Short Story completed

[[Chronicle Legion:Updates|Past updates]].

==The ''Chronicle Legion'' series by Takedzuki Jou==
Electronic versions (PDF, EPUB, etc) of completed volumes can be found or requested in [{{SERVER}}/forums/viewforum.php?f=73 the forum].

===Volume 1 - Invading Legions ([[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1|Full Text]])===
<div style="float: right; width:200px;">
[[File: ChronicleLegion_01_000.jpg|right|thumb|x200px|Volume 1]]
</div>
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Maps|Maps]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Prologue|Prologue]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_1|Chapter 1 - Invading Legions (1)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_2|Chapter 2 - Invading Legions (2)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_3|Chapter 3 - Knights and Feats of Arms (1)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_4|Chapter 4 - Knights and Feats of Arms (2)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_5|Chapter 5 - Legatus Legionis (1)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Chapter_6|Chapter 6 - Legatus Legionis (2)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Epilogue|Epilogue]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Afterword|Afterword]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_1_Glossary|Glossary]]
<br style="clear:both"/>

===Volume 2 - The Prince and the Lion King ([[Chronicle_Legion:Volume 2|Full Text]])===
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_1|Chapter 1 - Under the Black Knight's Shadow]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_2|Chapter 2 - Soldiers of Fortune]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_3|Chapter 3 - Coeur de Lion]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_4|Chapter 4 - Knights of Britain]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_5|Chapter 5 - Battle between Lion and Hound (1)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Chapter_6|Chapter 6 - Battle between Lion and Hound (2)]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Epilogue|Epilogue]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Afterword|Afterword]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_2_Glossary|Glossary]]
<br style="clear:both"/>

===Volume 3 - Imperial Japan's Loyalists===
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Prologue|Prologue]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_1|Chapter 1 - The Fall of Nagoya Castle]] (40%)
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_2|Chapter 2 - To the East and to the West]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_3|Chapter 3 - Restless Warlords]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_4|Chapter 4 - The Hakone Siege]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_5|Chapter 5 - Bloodlines of Sacred Princesses]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Chapter_6|Chapter 6 - Two-Headed Dog]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Epilogue|Epilogue]]
*[[Chronicle_Legion:Volume_3_Afterword|Afterword]]
<br style="clear:both"/>

===Volume 4 - A Gathering of Heroes===
*[[Chronicle_legion:Volume_4_Illustrations|Novel Illustrations]]
* Chapter 1 - East and West of Hakone
* Chapter 2 - Before the Storm (and the Beauty Contest)
* Chapter 3 - The School Festival, Then Afterwards
* Chapter 4 - Richard's Uninvited Visit
* Chapter 5 - The Protector Shows Up
* Chapter 6 - A Gathering of Great Names
* Afterword
* Glossary

<br style="clear:both"/>

===Volume 5 - The Imperial Capital in Turmoil===
<br style="clear:both"/>

===Short Stories===
*[[Chronicle Legion:Crossover SS|''Campione!'' Crossover]]

==Project Staff==

*Supervisor: [[User:Zzhk|zzhk]]
*Project Manager: [[User:Zzhk|zzhk]]

===Translators===
For information on what each translator is working on, please consult the [[Chronicle Legion:Registration Page|Registration Page]].

===Editors===


==Series Overview==
*Volume 01 - クロニクル・レギオン - 軍団襲来 (November 21, 2014) - ISBN 978-4-08-631005-5
*Volume 02 - クロニクル・レギオン2 - 王子と獅子王 (March 25, 2015) - ISBN 978-4-08-631032-1
*Volume 03 - クロニクル・レギオン3 - 皇国の志士たち (July 24, 2015) - ISBN 978-4-08-631057-4
*Volume 04 - クロニクル・レギオン4 - 英雄集結 (December 22, 2015) - ISBN 978-4-08-631083-3
*Volume 05 - クロニクル・レギオン5 - 騒乱の皇都 (April 22, 2016) - ISBN 978-4-08-631110-6

==Links==
*Official Site at Dash X Bunko [http://dash.shueisha.co.jp/feature/chroniclelegion/]

[[Category:Super Dash Bunko]]
[[Category:Light novel (English)]]

Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni

2016-07-19T16:37:30Z

Darkdhaos: /* Updates */

[[File: Naga01_cover.jpg|286px|thumb|Volume 1 Cover]]

The light novel series Ochitekita Ryuuou (Naga) to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni (落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国) is written by Maisaka Kou and illustrated by Youta.

== Story Synopsis ==
In a world where witches are shunned and have been forced onto the brink of annihilation, a samurai with no memories is transported to the hideout of some of these witches. Having the name: "Dragon King" and a keen strategic mind, its up to him to help defend the witches from those that would seek them harm.(From Mangaupdates)

== Updates ==
*July 19, 2016 - Volume 3 Completed
*April 05, 2016 - Volume 2 Completed
*March 04, 2016 - Volume 1 Completed
*January 19, 2016 - Volume 1 Chapter 1 added
*May 18, 2015 - Volume 1 Prologues edited
*March 03, 2015 - Teaser page started

== Formalities ==

=== Registration ===
Those who wish to contribute are asked to notify the project manager beforehand.

Translators are asked to register which chapters they're working on.

::* [[Ochitekita Registration Page|Registration Page]]

=== Format Standards ===
Every chapter must after editing conform to the general format guidelines.

::* [[Format guideline|General Format/Style Guideline]]

===Changes to Page===
Please do not make any changes to this site without asking the project manager. There's specific code on this page, which can be harmed by your edits.
<br/>

==The ''Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni'' series by Maisaka Kou==
If you enjoyed the story, why don't you tell us in the [http://www.baka-tsuki.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=10533 Feedback Thread]?

<br /><br />
<div style="float: left; width:100%;">
<div style="float: left; margin: 5px 20px">
=== Volume 1 ([[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni:_Volume_1|Full Text]])===
<div style="float: left; width:380px;">
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Prologue 1|Prologue 1]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Prologue 2|Prologue 2]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Chapter 1|Chapter 1: The man who fell in the bathhouse]] [https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/chapter-1-the-man-who-fell-in-the-bath-house/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2: A battle of witches and humans]] [https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/chapter-2-the-battle-of-witches-and-humans-part-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Chapter 3|Chapter 3: 2nd Battle of the 1st fort]] [https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/ch-3-the-offence-and-defence-of-the-1st-fort-again-part1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Epilogue|Epilogue]] [https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/ochinaga-epilogue-1/ (Blog)]
</div>
<div style="float: left; width:200px;">
[[File: Naga01_cover.jpg|right|thumb|x200px|Volume 1]]
</div>
</div>
<div style="float: left; width:100%;">
<div style="float: left; margin: 5px 20px">

=== Volume 2 ([[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni:_Volume_2|Full Text]])===
<div style="float: left; width:380px;">
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Prologue 1|Prologue 1]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/vol-2-prologue-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Prologue 2|Prologue 2]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/vol-2-prologue-2/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Chapter 1|Chapter 1: The Night before the Battle ]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/vol-2-ch-1-pt-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Chapter 2|Chapter 2: Commence, the Opening of Hostilities ]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/vol-2-chapter-2/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Chapter 3|Chapter 3: The Second Step ]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/volume-2-chapter-3/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Chapter 4|Chapter 4: The Beginning and End of a Battle ]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/chapter-4-the-beginning-and-end-of-a-battle/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Epilogue 1|Epilogue 1]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/epilogue-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Epilogue 2|Epilogue 2]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/epilogue-2/ (Blog]
</div>
<div style="float: left; width:200px;">
[[File: Naga02_cover.jpg|right|thumb|x200px|Volume 2]]
</div>
</div>
<div style="float: left; width:100%;">
<div style="float: left; margin: 5px 20px">

=== Volume 3 ([[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni:_Volume_3|Full Text]])===
<div style="float: left; width:380px;">
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Prologue 1|Prologue 1]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/vol3-prologue1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Prologue 2|Prologue 2]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/vol-3-prologue-2/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Chapter 1|Chapter 1: The Conclusion of the Alliance ]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/ochitekita-volume-3-chapter-1-part-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Chapter 2|Chapter 2: An Unexpected Prisoner ]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/vol-3-chapter-2-an-unexpected-prisoner/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Chapter 3|Chapter 3: Future Outlook ]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/volume-3-chapter-3-future-outlook/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Chapter 4|Chapter 4: The Greatest War Trophy ]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/c4-the-greatest-war-trophy-part-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Epilogue 1|Epilogue 1]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/vol-3-epilogue-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Epilogue 2|Epilogue 2]][http://hachidoritranslations.com/index.php/vol-3-epilogue-2/ (Blog]
</div>
<div style="float: left; width:200px;">
[[File: Naga03 cover.jpg|right|thumb|x200px|Volume 3]]
</div>
</div>
<div style="float: left; width:100%;">
<div style="float: left; margin: 5px 20px">

=== Volume 4 ([[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni:_Volume_4|Full Text]])===
<div style="float: left; width:380px;">
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
</div>
</div>
<div style="float: left; width:100%;">
<div style="float: left; margin: 5px 20px">

== Project Staff ==
* Project Administrator: [[User:darkdhaos|Darkdhaos]]
* Project Manager: [[User:darkdhaos|Darkdhaos]]

=== Translators ===
===Active===
:*hachidori108 - [https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/ (Blog)]

=== Editors ===
:* [[User:Zexth|Zexth]]
:* [[User:darkdhaos|Darkdhaos]] (Translated Volume 1 Prologue)
:* [[User:Weslykan|Weslykan]]

== Series Overview ==
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国 (25 July 2012, ISBN 978-4-8401-4648-7)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国II (22 November 2012, ISBN 978-4-8401-4872-6)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国III (25 March 2013, ISBN 978-4-8401-5134-4)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国IV (23 August 2013, ISBN 978-4-8401-5281-5)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国V (24 January 2014, ISBN 978-4-04-066213-8)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国VI (21 November 2014, ISBN 978-4-04-066991-5)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国VII (24 April 2015, ISBN 978-4-04-067614-2)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国VIII (25 August 2015, ISBN 978-4-04-067746-0)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国IX (25 February 2016, ISBN 978-4-04-068111-5)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国X (25 July 2016, ISBN 978-4-04-068459-8)

[[Category:Light novel (English)]]

Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Epilogue 2

2016-07-19T16:36:07Z

Darkdhaos: Created page with "==Epilogue 2== Granvista, a fortified city built in a place that acted as a door leading to other borderland areas. This city that served as the capital of the Great Earldom..."

==Epilogue 2==

Granvista, a fortified city built in a place that acted as a door leading to other borderland areas.
This city that served as the capital of the Great Earldom of Granvista was also the location of Old Church’s headquarters from which it executed its jurisdiction. It was also the place where Aiba, the district supervisor, was stationed.

“Oh my, if it isn’t Jeweljude-dono.”

Aiba, the district supervisor, spread his arms and invited the man in after standing up from his chair.
The man had a tall, large trunk covered with armor. His face was completely hidden by a helmet called a Ballerifram, and a long coat, called a Salcolt, extended from his top to his feet.
The ornament appearing on his coat was a crest depicting a double-headed lion, which indicated the man’s belonging to a holy chivalric order.
He was so tall that his helmet almost hit the door’s lintel when entering inside the room.
The man reached the front of Aiba’s office’s desk with a calm walking cadence, however, every time he made a step, the floor gave off the feeling as if it was trembling.
Just the standing posture of his completely armored, large body released an aura that made it difficult for those inside the room to breathe.

“You’ve done a great effort by coming all the way here, Jeweljude-dono.”

“Don’t mention it. If it’s a call from you, then I shall rush even to the black forest of the witches.”

What Jeweljude said could also be understood in an idiomatic way, meaning – ‘rushing until the end of the world’ or ‘rushing to hell itself’.

“Please feel at ease.”

Aiba, who said so, sat again in his chair.
Loosening his at attention posture, Jeweljude took off his helmet while bending his legs a bit.
What appeared from underneath the helmet was a stern and gallant face appropriate for his large build.
Once he put down the huge, heavy helmet at his feet, Jeweljude straightened up his back again and confronted Aiba.

“Still, Aiba-dono, what’s the purpose of you summoning us, the Brigade of 88?”

A combat troop from a holy chivalric order would usually consist of 500 units, to which one would refer as a ‘brigade’. However, in this case, the word seemed to carry the meaning of corps appointed for extermination of the God’s enemy with no fixed base.
Among the Old Church’s daring and resolute combat troops, Jeweljude was the one in charge of the 3rd brigade.

There was a reason for why only his brigade was recognized as the ‘Brigade of 88′ instead of being referred to by just its unit number.
Once upon a time, there was fight for hegemony that unfolded between the Old Church and the New Church at full-scale. At that time, being under siege at Fort Resione, the 3rd brigade was heavily exposed to an onslaught coming from the New Church’s military forces that consisted of 5000 units.

This fort held an important strategic position as the enemy would link with the rest of their forces if they managed to pass through it. Assuming that happened, the New Church would grow in strength with a total army of 10,000 units and charge at the Old Church’s headquarters’ city.
Nevertheless, the 3rd brigade was able to endure its enemy’s attack and protect the fort for 10 days.
On the 11th day, a rear guard reinforcement sent by the Old Church arrived on the spot, forcing their enemy to abandon their plan and retreat. Despite them only retreating, one could say it was a fierce fight that could decide on the outcome of this defensive battle.
As soon as the rear guard entered the fort, there were just 88 survivors remaining out of the original 500 people.
The 3rd brigade would be later glorified for its valor and exceptional fighting strength, as well as their ardent devotion and steadfast belief for their God. Since then, they became known as the Brigade of 88, and their valor would remain unchanged with the passage of time.
And then, Jeweljude was also one of them, as well as the actual leader of that brigade.

“Recently, the army of Kasandora Kingdom has been falling in disgrace, you see.”

It looked as though it was enough for Jeweljude to understand the very reason behind him and his brigade being summoned.

“I wonder if it’s about the witches.”

“That’s right. It’s about them.”

Standing up, Aiba turned around and looked at a panel laid at his feet. On which, there was a drawn map spread out. He looked at it in an abominable manner.

“For some reason, the witches, who had been secluding themselves inside the black forest, have started to become more active, even to the extent of taking over one of Kasandora Kingdom’s forts.”

Jeweljude lifted the edges of his mouth.

“Heh? My goodness, could it be that the rumored King of the Witches has finally made his appearance?”

“There’s been no sign indicating that, but….”

As soon as Aiba shrugged his shoulders, he turned back around and faced Jeweljude.

“However, there’s no doubt that something is occurring among the witches. Their battle at the Schweiz River, as well as their capture of Fort Ein went smoothly, and somehow, they didn’t give off the feeling of being dull or sly. At least, this isn’t a fighting style common for the witches.”

“I see. That’s why, you called us.”

“Yes, I’ve summoned you, the merited Brigade of 88, for this purpose.”

“Still, if my memory serves me correctly…. Fort Ein should be a small-scale fort that can house no more than just a few hundred people.”

“It’s just as you say. Apparently, the Kasandora Kingdom put 300 soldiers inside of it after they had suffered their defeat at the Schweiz River.”

Jeweljude, who was a bit surprised, raised his eyebrows.

“And what was the extent of the witches’ strength?”

“To my mind, there should have been around 40-50 of them.”

“40-50?! They were able to capture such a guarded fort with just that many?!”

“Yes. It’s most likely that Fort Ein was brought down with that number.”

“Certainly, if that’s true, the situation isn’t something to be made light of.”

A hue of confusion resurfaced on Jeweljude face which was rare for him.

“Regardless of their number, do you just plan to throw the 500 of us in against the 40-50 of them?”

“No. It won’t be just you. Right now, we are appealing for more soldiers from the neighboring countries. I believe there should be around 3000 units prepared for the extermination of the witches. That’s why,”

Aiba made a slight grin.

“Together with you, that would probably make 3500 units. I’d like for you to extinguish the witches at once.”

(As usual, this guy is saying some nasty things.)

Jeweljude was a fellow adherent who served the Father God and lived devotedly to military service. Nevertheless, even he could sense something running counter to his belief inside Aiba.

(Still, this and that are 2 separate matters. Especially, when it involves the witches.)

“The Brigade of 88 will become the core of this extermination unit. Therefore, I’d like to appoint you as the commanding officer of it. Are you fine with that?”

“As long as it’s you, I have no objections.”

“Then, I would like to entrust you with its management.”

“Do I understand that I should also look for the reason…. as to why the witches have been active lately?”

“Go ahead if you can. However, prioritize your mission first by kicking out the witches and retrieving the fort. If possible, you may also apprehend as many witches alive as possible. Even catching one will do, you see. That’s because they’re suitable for public executions.”

(As one would expect, he and I don’t get along well with each other. Despite that, there’s some truth in what he says about not letting the witches escape. Recently, my skills have become duller as a result of doing nothing but simple battles. Is this a chance for me to rage out of control once again after a long time?)

“Leave it to me, Cardinal Aiba. I, together with the Brigade of 88, won’t let the witches do as they please.”

“I do beseech you, Jeweljude-dono.”

“Notwithstanding, when are we going to commence our tactic?”

“It looks like gathering soldiers, equipment, and army provisions will take some more time. Until then, I intend to have the Kasandora Kingdom participate.”

“Still, will they have enough spare power to join us? After all, they’ve only recently suffered their 2nd consecutive defeat to the witches, right? Speaking of which, if Kasandora Kingdom can take their fort back, then there isn’t any need for us to act, is there?”

“They can’t. But, I’ll have them fight as a form of repentance for disgracing themselves two times, you see. To begin with, I don’t think those fools will be able to retrieve it back by themselves. I couldn’t care less about their fate as long we can decrease the strength of the witches.”

(In the end, they will just act as a stalking horse? Indeed, those from the Kasandora Kingdom are pitiful beings. But even so, it goes without saying they’re paying for their own mistakes. Someone who’s besmirched the name of God is in no position to receive His grace.)

Despite him feeling sympathy for the Kasandora Kingdom, Jeweljude gave up on them.

Not ceasing to smile, Aiba continued to speak.

“The more witches you catch, the more types of execution we can carry out on them, you see. Burning at the stake, beheading, stoning, and even tying them to carts and tearing them apart. Kuku, if those heinous witches beg for mercy, then our Father God shall rise even higher in His prominence. Kukukuku.”

If one was to describe the flame burning inside Aiba’s eyes, it appeared to burn more from insanity, than from his conviction.

(Is this guy…. feeling ecstatic? Well, apart from what he thinks, it’s true we cannot let the mischief of the witches pass unnoticed. Behold, you witches, as we shall strike you using our full force and show you our real strength.)

Just as Naga said, the wind was favoring them in their fight against the Kasandora Kingdom.
However, a new, formidable enemy had appeared in front of them, of which
Naga was still unaware.

A new disturbance that was yet to come was slowly spreading throughout all surrounding areas.

<noinclude>
==Translator's Notes and References==
<references/>

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|-
| Back to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Epilogue 1|Prologue 1]]
| Return to [[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 4 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Epilogue 1

2016-07-19T16:29:33Z

Darkdhaos:

==Epilogue 1==

The witches fell asleep as a result of them getting drunk and being exhausted from making an uproar. Following that, Naga, Harrigan, and Vita moved to a separate room.
Facing each other, the three of them were sitting in a circle in front of appetizers and wine brought from the banquet.

“Your tactic was, once again, splendid this time, Naga. I didn’t expect us to be able to capture the fort that easily.”

As Harrigan said so, Vita nodded in agreement.

“Umu, it was indeed a brilliant trick. The first time I heard about it, I wasn’t sure what you were talking about, and thought you were just blowing your own horn. Nevertheless, we were able to take over the fort without producing any sacrifices on either side, which was surprising. You’re a big deal. Perhaps, your name, which stands for the Dragon King, isn’t just for show.”

Not even Harrigan was fully confident about Naga’s words, regarding not making any casualties. Nevertheless, with Vita and the rest of her family also doubting the success of his plan, it was certain, their anxiety was nothing more than just mere criticism.

However, just as Naga had told them, they managed to capture the fort without losing anyone on either side.
Being much pleased at that great battle result, Harrigan and Vita praised his strategy. Still, Naga himself didn’t appear to be quite in high spirits.

“This time’s strategy wasn’t that much of a big deal, you know?”

“Is that… so?”

“Yes. This is just a reasonable outcome, considering the fact I was able to grasp and put together your abilities. You could even say it was bound to happen.”

“Are you being humble, or perhaps, boasting of yourself? Your manner of speaking is difficult to understand.”

Vita spoke while laughing, but, Naga wouldn’t smile.

“What’s more, it was thanks to the wind blowing in our direction, you see. Be it war or gambling, the ability to predict the course of action is what’s essential.”

(Still, even that is a difficult thing to do, and most likely, impossible for a common soldier to carry out. Be that as it may about his abilities, but there’s no doubt that this man, who goes by the name Dragon King, holds the power to command people and see through any event.)

Vita, who ceased to smile, looked at Naga while picturing those things.

“The problem lies in what’s next. We still don’t know what course of action will the future take.”

At his words, Harrigan and Vita tightened their expressions.

“In other words, are you talking about whether or not the human army will try to retrieve this fort?”

Naga nodded gravely.

“Back then, I told the other witches it was unlike to happen so as to calm them down, but, with the Kasandora Kingdom suffering one more defeat this time, there’s probably no way for those guys to leave things as they are.”

“Well then, Dragon King. Are you telling us they might consider taking immediate measures in order to retrieve this place? Even though they’ve already suffered 2 major loses?”

“That’s hard to tell. Certainly, Kasandora Kingdom’s mobilization power was around 2000 soldiers…. wasn’t it? Harrigan?”

“Umu, that’s right. Despite saying so, their numbers may slightly increase if they decide to go at full force without thinking of the consequences.”

“They have already lost 500 people from the previous battle at Schweiz River. This time, there were no casualties among their soldiers, still, I’d doubt if those who escaped will dare to face us again. Speaking of which, I want to confirm something before that, but…”

Naga looked in turns at Vita and Harrigan.

“It’s just my intuition, but I thought before that there would be lots of instances where ordinary soldiers and commanding officers wouldn’t belong to a king and feudal lords as a result of the previous ones retiring. How does it work in practice?

“I too am not knowledgeable about the military structure of humans, but, if we make the Kasandora Kingdom an example and assume the soldiers don’t belong to them, then there are 2 possible options.”

As Harrigan said it, Vita took control of their conversation.

“The first is that they are mercenaries. In this world, people who are broke will be the easiest to conscript as they need a way to maintain their regular stipend. These sorts of people will fight regardless of who commands them. And then, another one is soldiers dispatched by nobles and small feudal lords from domestic lands, who are from the so-called groups of families and adherents.”

“I see. Indeed, that concept doesn’t vary much from what I felt back in my world.”

“As long as the Kasandora Kingdom has enough funds, they can replenish the lack in their army. I wouldn’t be surprised if their main force was to consist of mostly mercenaries, you see. There might be a chance that the Kasandora Kingdom is, right now, desperately trying to recruit new soldiers.”

“With that, does it mean there will be no significant drop in their mobilization power?”

Naga asked while making various calculations in his mind. As he did so, Harrigan, who had a difficult expression, nodded in agreement.

“It may be that those guards who were stationed here have lost their interest in fighting us, however, there will be plenty of others to replace them with. To begin with, we don’t even know how much funds the Kasandora Kingdom has stored within their vault, so…”

“Once the rumor about them suffering another defeat to the witches spreads, is there a chance that……. soldiers will hesitate to join them despite the Kasandora Kingdom trying to recruit them?”

“Yes, but, the war between fellow humans has recently decreased. Since there are now less opportunities for those confident in their skills to flourish, they may be attracted by the war against us and gather in this area.”

“I see. We are indeed placed in a difficult situation.”

Folding his hands while groaning, Naga suddenly lifted up his face.

“Is it possible for the Kasandora Kingdom to request aid from other countries?”

“I wonder about that.”

“Same here.”

Harrigan and Vita exchanged looks with each other.

“I guess it’s unlikely to happen.”

Harrigan responded.

“That’s right. It’s hard to imagine them requesting cooperation from someone who’s just recently changed their status from being that of a mutual enemy. On top of that, they have incurred another defeat against the witches.”

“Is that so? Then, is it okay for us not to worry about that matter?”

Naga, who slightly tilted his head, released his troubled face and spoke in a distinct tone.

“Speaking of which, if they to decide to retrieve this fort, it would be nice if they could throw in the same number of soldiers as they did during the previous battle at the Schweiz River.”

“That’s probably the most they can dispatch. I wonder myself if that number won’t reduce a bit, still….”

“True. I also estimate there will be roughly around 1000-1500 of them, but, even that number is large for us. As you know, we only have as many as 40 people to defend this place.”

“As expected, is it reckless to fight back….. using everyone?”

“I think I’ve told you before, Naga, but there’s no way we can leave the black forest vacant.”

“Yes. Even among the witches, there are those who are sly and cunning, you see. Were we to leave our domain empty, they would probably try to snatch it away from us.”

“Can’t the witches make a truce and band together?”

“Unfortunately, it’s just as I have said.”

(I have the feeling that my clan also wouldn’t share one…. no, far from that, doesn’t it feel more like they would fight among each other?)

“Well, isn’t it fine?”

Naga, who muttered, shifted back his focus on the actual problem.

“By the time the next battle occurs, we will be protecting this fort. However, our previous trick won’t work a second time.”

“Then, what shall we do? As usual, when it comes to tactics, the discrepancy in our reasoning is so large it makes me feel unpleasant.”

As soon as Harrigan urged, Naga replied quickly.

“Well, when it’s necessary, we can just abandon this fort.”

“What?! Won’t it make all our effort of capturing it meaningless?!”

“That’s not what I mean, Harrigan. In the end, our objective is to create a world where everyone can live peacefully, and not maintaining this fort.”

“N, No…. that may be true, but…”

“But, Dragon King, provided we throw away this place, won’t our plan of achieving that be delayed? Won’t it become more difficult for us to do it?”

“It won’t affect our plan that much. I would understand were we to try a bit harder in protecting a castle or a country from being snatched away, but being persistent about this small fort won’t do us any favors.”

Harrigan and Vita looked at each other’s face as if being unable to comprehend his words, and then, turned their eyes toward Naga once more.

“In that case, what exactly are we supposed to do?”

“To be more accurate…. It doesn’t seem I’ll be able to knead a counterplan as long there’s not enough information regarding the scope and equipment of the unit in charge of the attack. Don’t you have a witch who specializes in disguise or can shapeshift in your family?”

Harrigan shifted her sight to Vita.

“Fumu, there’s one person like that at my place, still…”

“Can I have that person sneak into the Kasandora Kingdom?”

“It’s not like she can’t, but, in the end you just want to acquire information about the enemy’s mobilization power, equipment, and morale, right?”

“Yes. That’s because this time’s tactic will greatly depend on that information.”

“I wonder if that man, Raibach, happens to know about it.”

“Ah, no, I’m not sure if he would have any information about a newly formed unit designated for recapturing this fort…. Wait wait, that’s right!”

Naga suddenly hit his laps.

“Have you come up with some idea?”

“I think not just an idea but a solution for everything. How about I sneak inside the Kingdom and check the information by myself?”

“W…What on earth?!”

Both Harrigan and Vita opened their eyes wide.

“You shouldn’t do such a reckless thing.”

“Why? Do I look any different from an ordinary man? If I don’t, shouldn’t it be fine for me to walk around cities without being suspected?”

“No, that’s not my point. You, probably know nothing about the topography of that place nor about this world’s languages and customs. You may be able to understand their words, somehow, thanks to Lela’s charms, but if you do anything clumsily, your identity might be exposed. Is gathering the information by yourself something worthy of such risk?”

“I’ll have Raibach with me?”

“….Eh? You don’t mean to say you’re going to have him guide you, right?”

“Of course I do. Isn’t that place his home turf? What’s more, he’s familiar with its local customs, so I should be able to walk freely, no?”

“No no, he has acquaintances there, right? Aren’t you bound to be questioned because of that?”

“Raibach can walk with his face hidden, you see. And if you, Vita, can lend me that previously mentioned witch, I see no problem for the three of us to go there.”

“Saying that you see no problem, it feels as though you’re casually going to a town market to buy goods……”

Harrigan, who said so, had a dumbfounded expression. Not just her, Vita also felt the same way.

“Don’t they say that even audacity is no different from a ‘common thoughtlessness’ when taken to the extreme?”

“Aren’t you saying some wise words there, Vita?”

“Are you in the position of praising others?!”

“Honestly, you don’t have to be that angry. Does that witch of yours have any objections?”

“No…..”

“Furthermore, a group consisting of 2 men and a woman should probably grab no attention from the soldiers and local people there, right? If it’s something related to customs or land features, leaving it to Raibach will do. Assuming that my communication with other people turns bad, I can have Raibach and your witch to talk in my stead.”

“Surely, it’s not like there are no foreigners with black hair like you, but….”

“Then, it’s all right.”

“You’re, indeed, quite optimistic.”

“That’s wrong, that’s wrong. Rather than being optimistic, I just want to gather some proper information regarding the enemy before a battle, you know?”

“You mean it?”

“That’s what I mean.”

Vita switched her gaze from Naga to Harrigan.

“Harrigan, what’s your opinion?”

“That’s right. Shouldn’t it be okay to entrust Naga with that task?”

“Still, is it safe to let just Raibach and Dragon King go?”

“No, I’m going to assign one more person from this side as their guard.”

“However, there’s no telling whether or not that guy will turn Naga in due to him getting homesick, right?”

*Chuckle* – Naga chuckled under his nose at Vita’s statement.

“You girls think that Raibach will rat me out? You’re making light of him way too much.”

“……Is that so?”

“For real?”

“After all, he’s become an ally of the witches, of the heinous witches, who are seen as the enemy of humankind. An ally of those who should be exterminated.”

Harrigan and Vita warped their faces in displeasure.

“There’s no way for him to make such a decision with a half-baked preparedness.”

“…….That may be true, but, whether or not he can protect you during a crucial time is yet another issue.”

“Then, Harrigan, do I understand that one of your witch, together with the one from Vita’s place, will tag along with me?”

Naga looked quite indifferent, nevertheless, Vita and Harrigan had sour expressions.

“It would be troublesome, were I to overestimate you, so how about working together with Elysione? Perhaps, she will help you…… one way or another?”

“Elysione?”

“Her skill will come in handy when you decide to escape.”

“I see, is that so? Still, that girl might stand out because of her height.”

“Fret not. It should be fine as long we dress her as a man.”

“Ah, so there was that method as well?”

“I wouldn’t say that her height is a dime a dozen among men….. but, with just her walking, she shouldn’t attract that much attention.”

“Excellent. Well then, let’s quickly proceed with the preparations for the infiltration.”

“You’re pretty short-tempered.”

“You shouldn’t consider there to be that much of time til the enemy strikes.”

Saying that, he looked in turns at Vita and Harrigan.

“Got it, got it. Then, I shall progress with the preparations starting tomorrow.”

“That’s right. However, I’m worried that Elysione might not be able to meet up to your expectations when it comes to deep thinking or playing by ear, as she’s basically a simpleton. Wouldn’t it be better to forward someone who’s smart from Harrigan’s side?”

“You mean itso? Got it. I’ll designate 2 people here.”

“I too will appoint one more person besides Elysione.”

Naga made a deep nod.

“I’ll leave the selection of people in your care. I’m counting on you.”

<noinclude>
==Translator's Notes and References==
<references/>

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| Back to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]
| Return to [[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Epilogue 2|Epilogue 2]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Epilogue 1

2016-07-19T16:28:57Z

Darkdhaos: Created page with "==Epilogue 1== The witches fell asleep as a result of them getting drunk and being exhausted from making an uproar. Following that, Naga, Harrigan, and Vita moved to a separ..."

Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Chapter 4

2016-07-19T16:23:46Z

Darkdhaos:

==Chapter 4: The Greatest War Trophy==

=== Part 1 ===

Naga, Harrigan, and Vita held a great number of tactical meetings during their preparatory work.
Vita would frequently visit the fort of Harrigan & Co. while giving instructions to her daughters. However, since she was always being carried through Elysione’s positioned mantle, Vita’s migration from one place to another wasn’t a big hassle. It didn’t seem to require either too much time or effort.
Harrigan assigned a single room in the residential building for Vita and Elysione’s personal use. Therefore, both the witches could use it as they wished.

“I’ll kill you if you dare to peek inside the room, got it?”

Naga received such a threat from Vita.

“Like I would?!”

Naga retorted as he didn’t plan to do so from the beginning.

For instance, knowing that the room would shine with a light every time Vita and Elysione arrived, wouldn’t he wonder whether or not their arrival was successful?

=== Part 2 ===

A single room assigned by Harrigan.

It was just about the time when Elysione materialized herself from a mantle spread on the wooden floored room.
The mantle began to coil around Elysione as she was putting out her hands from the seams of it.
Elysione’s body that stuck out from the gaps was naked. Or at least, it looked like her bottom had no clothes on.
Then, beneath her feet, the similarly nude Vita was crawling out. Unlike Elysione, she was, without doubt, completely naked. No matter how one judged it, Vita looked like a barely 10 years old, flat-chested girl from head to toe. After being told she was much older than Harrigan, one could only be filled with awe.

“Elysio, you rascal. Your magic is convenient, but at the same time, it’s not. That’s because I’ve got to get naked every time we teleport using that mantle.”

While expressing her complaint, the totally naked Vita moved her upper body in every direction, trying to recover its lost sensation.

“Please don’t complain, Mother. Since I was able to reduce the excess of inconvenience so as to make up for it, shouldn’t it be fine? To begin with, there’s no magic that’s invincible or almighty in this world, right?”

“Hmm, that’s something I know even without you telling me, you rascal.”

Walking on the wooden floor while pressing her feet repeatedly against it, the completely nude Vita opened the lid of a chest placed in one corner of the room and took out prearranged clothes from inside.

Holding a set of them, she pushed them out to Elysione.
[[File:Naga03 Illus-05.jpg|200px|thumbnail|right]]
“Hey, put them on me.”

“Yes, right away.”

As soon as Elysione drew near, she helped Vita dress.
The prearranged pair of clothes were identical to those she normally wore. They covered little skin and had small notches that created a fluttering pattern. However, Vita’s headgear, which she had put on last, was a bit different from her usual one.

“No matter how powerful our magic is, it’s neither invincible nor almighty. That’s the main reason why we, the witches, have a hard time during battles.”

“That’s true. Once the humans charge at us with their wave tactics, it’s next to impossible for us to win against their armies.”

“Still, if we can capitalize on each individual’s magic and put them together, there’s a winning chance for us even against large human forces. I’ve always thought that way, and surprisingly, my belief was proven during the previous battle at the Schweiz River. That’s why I took an interest in the Dragon King. It may be possible that that man’s presence will bring together the long since scattered witches.”

Elysione, who finished changing Vita’s clothes, looked up at her mother.

“Is that…. so?”

“It can’t be said for certain, but it’s definitely hard for the witches to stand at the summit as they are, and even more for a human. However, he is neither a witch nor a human. He’s the rumored Dragon King who fell from another world. If that’s true, perhaps those highly proud witches would also acknowledge him as someone who stands above them? Actually, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Harrigan & the rest are already under that guy’s command.”

“Indeed, it seems to be so. That being the case, could it be that Mother feels inclined to fight alongside the Dragon King as the supreme commander against the humans?”

Saying that, Elysione began to move her hands again.

“It may be that I’m also curious about fighting humans, but the fact that that guy’s presence could muster the famous witch clans is what really caught my interest. Provided the witches band together and work as one, taking on an army of 1000 or 2000 people will become easy enough. Even so, that alone is one of the biggest hurdles.”

“Exactly. It’s said it has already been more than several hundred years since the country of the witches collapsed. Throughout that time, nobody has managed to reunite the witches, right?”

“Perhaps, that Dragon King will become the key to our breakthrough. What’s more—”

While getting dressed, Vita smiled with satisfaction.

“Right now, he’s acting together with Harrigan’s clan, but it should be fine even if we strip them of the Dragon King and tempt him to join us. Assuming that happens, wouldn’t it be possible for him to become our King at the time the new world is established?”

“Wow, Mother, those are indeed words worthy of a scoundrel, aren’t they?”

Vita threw a glance at Elysione.

“Ah, no, whether Mother becomes a scoundrel or a cowardly person, we are prepared to follow you til the end, so you don’t have to worry.”

“Being followed til the end by a simpleton like you is what I’m most anxious about, you see.”,

“T…That’s mean.”

Elysione warped her face tremendously.

“Well then, this much should do.”

Still – Vita, who finished changing her clothes, said so while looking frequently at her daughter.

“That man, what is the Dragon King going to say once he finds out we are naked under your mantle?”

“Eh? Ah, I, I wonder about that. Perhaps, he will insist that we show him the inside of the mantle.”

“Moreover, he might insist on teleporting with us upon learning about us becoming naked.”

“Aghh, it would be a disgusting offer, wouldn’t it? Still, it looks to be something that man is be capable of, I guess.”

*Fu* – Vita slightly laughed

“When that happens, teleport together with the Dragon King and show him the might of your power.”

Elysione warped her face and recoiled in aversion.

“Eeeeeeh? Things like taking along a naked man, I won’t agree to that. Wouldn’t I show him my naked body before even being able to show him my magic?”

“You too will be able to see him naked, so there should be mutual gains for both sides. No, since the two of you will cuddle to each other when teleporting, rather than just seeing each other, you will also be able to feel each other’s skin. Aren’t you glad?”

“Not at all!”

“Kukuu. Well, I was just kidding, you see. Then, shall we go? The Dragon King-dono is probably waiting for us.”

=== Part 3 ===

“Achooo”

“What’s the matter, Naga? Did you catch a cold?”

“No… can you really say it’s due to chills? Somehow, I’ve got an incredibly bad feeling about something, but….”

Naga looked around the room, but nevertheless, there was nothing particularly distinctive.
Because a meeting regarding the assessment of their forces was about to begin, almost everyone involved had gathered.

“Vita and Elysione are still absent, right?”

As soon as Naga muttered, Harrigan responded.

“It appears they have just recently arrived here, so they should probably show up soon.”

Following her words, Vita and Elysione appeared shortly thereafter inside the room where everyone had gathered.
Naga was a bit worried about other witches directing their rude gazes at the two of them, but it wasn’t the right time for prying into that matter.

Once Naga waited for Vita and Elysione to reach their seats, he began the meeting.

“Excellent. Since everyone has gathered, let’s start the assessment.”

=== Part 4 ===

“Well then, I think we are finally close to deciding on everyone’s deployments today.”

Saying so, Naga looked around to the faces of all present witches.

The ones who were present on Harrigan’s side were Harrigan herself, Ais, Lela, Kay, Nonoel, and Yuuki.

Whereas Vita’s side included herself, Elysione, and three witches named Lilly, Dora, and Samplotte. However, unlike the first two, the other three had run through the forest instead of moving through the mantle.

The witch whose name was Samplotte didn’t reach Elysione’s height, but she was also tall and strongly built.
On the other hand, the one called Lilly had a physique no different from a child, and her face also left an impression of her being innocent.
One more person, named Dora, had womanly features appearing throughout her large body, which gave her a bewitching aura.
Combining all of them, the 10 witches, together with Naga, sat on folding chairs while forming a circle.
Naga pushed out a map lying on the floor in front of everyone. It was a map of the Schweiz River area that had become the battlefield during their last battle.

“A single troop from Kasandora Kingdom’s army has been assigned to watch over the place near the crossing of the river. According to Raibach, they are a company under his direction that consists of 100 soldiers. There doesn’t seem to be any major change among them since their captain was kidnapped by the witches, I guess. Perhaps, their vice-captain picked up the leadership of the company. Even though their captain is missing, there’s no sign of them receiving reinforcements.”

As he said so, Naga put a wry smile on his face.

“It looks like Kasandora Kingdom doesn’t care about its captain’s fate, and continues to maintain its status quo…… right? After all, this troop is just disposable. Despite that, it will be troublesome to have them stationed at the riverbank.”

Using his index finger, Naga specified a point on the map.

“First, we should consider what to do with this troop, but…”

“Since there’s only a hundred of them, how about we take a detour?”

Vita asked.

“True. It should be fine for us to cross even without having to face them directly.”

Saying that, Samplotte expressed her opinion.

“I too think so, but Naga, isn’t it just you who see them as a problem?”

Once Harrigan stated her consent, Naga nodded in agreement.

“If possible, I’d like to have this troop escape.”

“I see, I see. So Dragon King wants to make sure that this troop doesn’t flank us when we are in the middle of capturing Fort Ein, right?”

“That’s what I mean. I don’t want to kill them due to my fundamental policy, so it should do as long as we cripple them as a troop by making them run away. Even if some of them were to return, they wouldn’t dare to threaten our back upon seeing the witches capturing the fort.”

“I see. That’s indeed a kind of story one would imagine seeing. Still, aren’t you pretty used to wars?”

Indeed, it may appear so – Naga nodded in agreement as soon as Vita asked him with a face filled with admiration.

“That’s because my thoughts will naturally gush out whenever it comes to things like this. However, since I’ve no memories, I can’t tell exactly what kind of experience I had back then, you see.”

“Shouldn’t it be more reasonable for you not to know how to fight? Just how deeply is your world stained with war?”

Vita’s expression turned into an astonished one.

“Well, I wonder about that.”

As if mocking himself, Naga wore a smile that gave a somewhat gruesome impression.

“Certainly, it feels like the world where I used to live had endless wars, but…. well, isn’t that fine? More importantly, let’s focus on our talk.”

“That’s right. We don’t have much spare time, so we better sort things out and start making the necessary preparations. Otherwise, it won’t do, you see.”

Vita nodded.

“Then, in order to scatter the troop that guards the river here, I’d like us to form a group for long-range attacking; still….”

Naga, who pointed once more on the map, lifted up his head and looked at Ais.

“Since this will become essential for us when capturing the fort, let me ask you something, Ais. How far can you throw using cobbles?”

“Cob, bles?”

“Were they called cobbles, or maybe, pebbles? I mean those hand-sized stones.”

Ais showed an attitude of pondering for a short while.

“Right. I think it would be around 11-13.5 meters under normal circumstances, and around 270 meters with my strengthened body, but…”

Naga measured the distance with his own senses.

“…..Wha, 270 meters?! You are able to throw them that far?!”

270 meters is certainly a long distance.

“Yes, if it’s a hand-sized stone, then most likely.”

(Even if they’re just stones, it does indeed require a terrific strength to be able to throw them such a distance. I should expect no less from a human battering ram, or perhaps, a human cannon…..hm? Cannon….Gun…..)

“Is there something you want to say, Naga-san?”

“Ah?”

Raising up his head, Naga’s sight met Ais, who looked at him with a smiling face. Despite that, her eyes didn’t smile at all, which was frightening.

Naga hurriedly waved with his hands in front him.

“No. No no, there’s nothing.”

“Is that so? I guess that’s fine, but…”

“If you are able to throw that far, can I have you become the core of the long-range assault against the troop guarding on the other side of the river?”

Paying attention so as not to meet with her eyes, Naga pointed at the river on the map.

Lela, who held a brush, wrote in Ais’ name near the river.

“And then…. Lela.”

“Wh-at?”

Lifting up her face, Lela directed her sight at him.

“How far can you launch those fireballs using your magic?”

“As one would expect, it will be hard for me to deal with that distan-ce. Nevertheless, Provided Yuuki carries my charms, it should be possible for them to be dropped onto the enemy’s hea-ds.”

Lela, who replied like that, shifted her gaze at Yuuki.

“I’m fine with that, but, if that happens, wouldn’t Lela’s charms burn down the enemy, were they to touch them?”

(No, you’d most likely be content with that.)

Naga wanted to retort that way, however, he refrained from doing so as it would worsen the situation.

“I’d appreciate it if you could do your best so as not to let the charms come into contact with them.”

Is where Naga stopped his comment at.

On the other hand, Yuuki puffed her cheeks in displeasure.

“Because they will be dropped from above, such a detailed stunt is next to impossible, right?”

“Since the charms are just supposed to fall and burn, it will take a while for them to descend complete-ly. The enemy soldiers should be able to avoid them in ti-me.”

Lela gave him a hand as a last resort.

“Is that so? Indeed, if that’s the case, there’s no need for us to worry much about that matter.”

Nodding down at once, Naga turned around to Yuuki and lightly bowed down at her.

“Anyway, I’m relying on you, Yuuki.”

“Uh….Geez, I got it. I’ll do it properly.”

“With that, Lela and Yuuki will participate as a single gro-up.”

Lela, who casted down her eyes, added her own and Yuuki’s name on the map.

“Is, there anyone else here who can carry a long-range attack?”

As he questioned Harrigan, she crossed her arms while slightly grumbling.

“Umu. As expected, it’s indeed difficult when it comes to an attack that covers a range of as much as 270 meters.”

Following that, she looked in Vita’s direction.

“How about your side?”

“I guess you’re right. A long-range attack like that is quite a tough task, but, with Elysione here, stabbing an enemy’s back would be simple, wouldn’t it?”

Naga moved his eyes toward Elysione.

She was dressed in her mantle even when sitting on a folding stool. Naga became curious about what kind of attire she was wearing under that mantle of hers.

(To begin with, since the witches from Sraymeyer are supposed to wear thin clothes with lots of exposure, just like Harrigan and the rest, perhaps Elysione has such garments as well.)

Elysione, who was unaware of Naga’s thoughts, nodded with a serious face.

“So long as I can place my mantle in advance, it’s perfectly fine. Assuming we lay a mantle on the other side of the river under cover of night and choose the right time to fly at our own discretion, it will look as though we are suddenly ambushing the enemy.”

“Despite saying so, you can only carry one person with you each time, right?”

“True. What’s more, there’s also the problem of appearance when transporting a person, but if that part is arranged beforehand as well, it should probably be fine.” (?)

“What’s…..the meaning of that?”

Is it okay for me to explain? – Elysione looked at Vita as if asking for her permission.

“It can’t be helped.”

Once she heard Vita’s reply, Elysione made a mild cough.

“In other words, you see, I can only fly through the mantle with my body. That’s to say, I can’t fly through it if I’m wearing clothes.”

“Wha….t?”

Naga run his eyes over Elysione’s whole body.

“Then does it mean, you’re, not wearing anything under your mantle?”

“Yes, when it’s not winter, I’m basically nude”

“Oi oi, why didn’t you tell me such an important thing sooner?”

Naga smacked his lips slightly and repeatedly.

“Had you told me about it sooner, I would’ve come and worshipped you every time you arrived….. No, rather than that, won’t you fly into my arm…..”

*Chop!*

*Whack!*

Such sounds bursted forth as Naga’s head was hit from behind by Harrigan’s solid hair and chopped on his forehead by Ais’ karate chop at the same time.

“Awwwwwwwwwwwww!”

Holding the back of his head with his right hand and his forehead with his left hand, Naga tumbled on top of the floor.

Haa – Lela exhaled a sigh.

Aren’t you an idiot? – Yuuki threw out such words.

Whereas, Kay cackled with her raised up voice.

Vita’s side watched Naga with dumbfounded faces. Naturally, only Vita herself and Elysione nodded in agreement with a face indicating this was a natural course of action.

“I was just joking. Don’t hit me like that while taking my jokes seriously, geez.”

Naga, who had teary eyes, said so while objecting to Harrigan and Ais.

“It didn’t look like your expression was telling us so?”

“On the contrary, it was incredibly serious?”

“You girls are….”

*snap* – While stroking the back of his head using his right hand, Naga pointed at them with his left hand’s index finger.

“Saying such an irresponsible thing, what will you do if a rumor spreads out inside Vita’s clan?!”

“Because it’s more truth than rumor, it can’t be helped?”

“Indeed, it can’t be helped.”

“Good grief. Those girls are seriously…”

Naga grabbed his head.

“Dragon King. We understand very well you’re a genuine pervert. More importantly, shouldn’t we continue this urgent strategy meeting?”

*snap* – Naga immediately snapped once more time and pointed at Vita.

“Don’t understand! And by the way, it’s a misunderstanding!”

“You mean it? If it’s a misunderstanding, then good. Leaving that aside, aren’t we going to finish this talk quickly? After all, we didn’t come here to fool around.”

“Ah, sorry that.”

Naga, who regained his composure, pressed his hand against the map and resumed their previous talk.

“Ummm, in addition to Ais who’s the part of the long-range assault group, Lela and Yuuki will join up. Other than that, we are going to capitalize on Elysione’s ability of instant travel, send in someone to the other side of the river, and have that person take the enemy from behind. Whom should we appoint for that task….?”
“Ummm…”

Nonoel lifted up her hand with restraint.

“What, Nonoel?”

“If we assault the enemy from behind, won’t they get the wrong idea of being surrounded by their enemy, thus resorting to desperate actions?”

That’s right – Naga once again casted down his eyes on the map while slightly groaning.

“Certainly, I can’t rule out that possibility. If by any chance a part of the enemy tries to break through in that state, they might happen to rush toward Elysione and the rest.”

As Naga was pondering, Vita intercepted.

“If it’s Elysione, she can take on 10, 20 people with no bigger problem. However, were that to happen, it would result in a battle no matter what, and eventually lead to casualties among the enemy soldiers.”

“I guess you’re right. Then, is it a bad idea to attack the enemy from behind?”

“Naga-san, how about me hiding inside the river water like previously?”

Naga looked at Nonoel with a surprised expression.

“Ah? Ahh, is that so?”

“I’ll enter the river from upstream, swim down it to the actual place, and wait on standby. Once Ais and the rest start their assault, I’ll threaten the enemy with my water magic. Firing some water spears should be enough to drive them away, I think, but…”

“I see. Using that method, even those trying to hold their ground will be scared off. That’s a good guarantee.”

Rather than just having his subordinates follow his orders, Naga appreciated those who could think and devise a plan on their own. That’s why, he greatly welcomed such a proposition.

Naga faced Nonoel and gave her the thumbs up.

“You came up with a great idea, Nonoel.”

Nonoel scratched her head while making an embarrassed grin.

“I, It isn’t a big deal, still….it’s somewhat of a deal.”

“She’s casually boasting of herself?!”

Both Kay and Yuuki bent a little backwards.
On the other hand, Naga’s expression turned a bit serious, as if being concerned by something.

“Surely, it’s a great idea, but Nonoel, aren’t you afraid of being spotted? If you were to be discovered, they would most likely attack you.”

“As long as I’m under the river, I can make myself hardly noticeable to the outside thanks to my magic. And once Ais and the rest commence their attacks, I don’t think the enemy will even consider watching over the river.”

“So you’re going to be all right? Then, let it be.”

Naga pointed at a single point of the Schweiz River on the map.

“I guess, Nonoel will station here.”

Lela wrote in Nonoel’s name on the map.

“In case the enemy doesn’t escape, it should be totally fine to pull a trick by showing them how numerous we are, but…”

Saying that, Naga turned his eyes in Harrigan and Vita’s direction.

“That much should probably do.”

“Umu, I see no problem.”

“If they do, we will just stick to our plan. What’s left to do are small and detailed matters, such as the deployment of the witches and things that we need to prepare.”

Like that, Naga and the witches concluded the preparatory meeting and tied up the last details of their strategy for capturing Ein fort.

=== Part 5 ===

The next day, both the Heindler and Sraymeyer clans advanced with their preparations.

And then, 10 days later.

The day for capturing the fort had finally arrived.

Ais, Kay, Naga, and Raibach approached near the right riverbank.

Even though the chance for the enemy to launch their arrows was slim, Kay, who took charge of protecting the others, was prepared for that instance.

Since Raibach wore a mantle and covered his face with a cloth, the enemy soldiers would perhaps not recognize him.

The reason why Raibach went to the frontline was due to him wanting to make sure of his troop.

“Going to the frontline carries a risk, you know.”

Naga stopped at this single warning, but nevertheless, Raibach doggedly opposed.

“No, you are going there as well, aren’t you? If so, it shouldn’t be that dangerous.”

“That’s because there are witches who will protect me. Still, in your case, they might not have enough hands, you see.”

“Well, when that comes, I’ll somehow manage it by myself.”

“If you’re fine with that, then I shall bring you with me. I do understand your feeling of wanting to see your subordinates safe.”

Like that, Naga brought Raibach with him after exchanging such a conversation.
Raibach’s sense of responsibility strengthened Naga’s belief about him being able to place his trust in Raibach.

A little distance behind Naga and Ais, there were Lela, Harrigan, and Vita waiting.
Just now, Yuuki who received Lela’s charms soared into the sky on her board.
Noticing a witch drawing near, the enemy troop that was guarding on the other side of the river started to make an uproar.

Naga, Ais, Kay, and Raibach, who were carrying baskets on their back put them down on the ground.
The inside of the baskets were overflowing with cobble.
A part of the troop, which noticed the quickest, climbed up the embankment and began shooting arrows. Nonetheless, due to a great distance separating both sides, the arrows would eventually land quite far in front of Naga and the rest.
Naga, who deemed they couldn’t be threatened by the enemy’s arrows, ordered his side to attack.

“Excellent, do it, Ais!”

Holding a cobble in her right hand, Ais raised her left leg overhead and bent her right arm.

Adding to her raised left leg, Ais’ right arm swung sharply forward together with her body.

Gohyuuu. – The cobble continued to fly with a sound tearing through the air.

Leaving a small gap, the cobble splashed on the surface near the opposite shore.
Ais, who finished the throw, regained her posture and measured the landing distance.

“Hm, I think just a little more.”

Muttering that, she grabbed another cobble

Byufuuu.

Again, the sound of tearing the air reverberated.
This time, a single cloud of dust appeared on the slope of the embankment.

“Ohhhh, Ais, that was a splendid throw.”

Soon after Naga raised an astonished voice, Kay clapped her hands.

“The enemy, they look surprised, surprised!”

“Ais, continue your throws just like that. If possible, aim for spots which are less crowded by soldiers.”

“Yes, I got that, but, it’s not achievable for me to aim without hitting any soldier, you know?”

“It can’t be helped, right? Raibach too, would probably not wish for that to happen.”

Ais took a short glimpse at Raibach’s direction.

“It should be enough as long you’re considerate.”

Hearing his reply, Ais felt relieved and picked up another cobble.

“Then, I shall continue.”

The cobbles continued to cut through the air with no intervals.

Paa, Paa, Paa – clouds of dust rose up here and there.

Even from this great distance, one could understand that the soldiers began to panic.
Since the cobble flew and sunk with a terrific power into the slope’s surface, it was guaranteed that the soldiers would consider them a life-threatening danger, were they to hit.

Should they fight back? Perhaps, with their arrows not reaching their target, it should better for them to escape? The soldiers loitered around, being unable to reach a conclusion. At that time, Yuuki, who took a detour, drew near with her hoverboard above their heads.
Noticing her charms being scattered by Yuuki, Lela began to cast a chant.
Following that, the charms began to flare up at once in the air.

Yuuki left the scene at full speed.
Looking up at a bunch of flames floating down from the air, the soldiers began to scream loudly.
Meanwhile, clouds of dust continued to appear on the slope’s surface.
Just when the enemy soldiers broke up in confusion, a large wave built up on the surface of the river.
Its height exceeded more than 3 meters. Despite its size being unusual, what was strange about the wave was that it elevated on the spot, instead of battering the shore. The large wave looked as though it was the neck of a water dragon that emerged from the water. As the neck started to move left and right in a manner if searching for its prey, the enemy soldiers were no longer able to endure. They threw away their bows and dodged each other while aiming for the opposite side of the embankment.

Immediately after that, the top of the embankment became clear of any soldier.

“Ais, just to make sure, I’d like you to make the cobble reach a bit further, near the other side of the embankment.”

Naga, Ais, Kay, and Raibach who were carrying the baskets on their backs covered a distance of more than 54 meters, after which they put down their baskets again.
Once more, Ais began to throw with the cobble.
No clouds of dust could be seen as the bank intercepted their view, however, it was certain, the cobble reached beyond the bank. Provided there were still some soldiers left, they would probably not wish to stay there any longer.

As the four of them continued to progress, the group that waited behind them moved too.
With his doubt of any possible arrow attack being cleared away, Naga summoned Selena and made her check the other side of the shore using her magic- Heaven’s Eye(?).

“It’s safe. At least, there’s no sign of enemy soldiers near the left bank.”

Excellent! – Naga clapped his hands after hearing her response.

“It’s just how I imagined. With this, a part of the guarding troop will run back to Ein Fort and inform their comrades about an attack coming from the witches. Ais, you can stop throwing cobble now.”

Being called out by Naga, Ais released the cobble in her hand and took a deep breath.

“As one would expect, even throwing constantly with all of your strength will make you a bit exhausted, won’t it?”

(Firing cobble in rapid succession at more than 270 meters, you call that a bit?)

“Is something wrong?”

“No, I just wanted to say ‘good work’.”

“I’m glad I was able to fulfill my duty.”

Ais made a pleasant smile.

Just then, Yuuki returned on her hoverboard.

“Yuuki!”

“What?”

“We’re going to cross the river. We can confirm the situation using Selena’s Heaven’s Eye, but just to be on the safe side, can you go ahead and check the opposite bank for us?”

“Well, if I’m told to do something, then I’ll do it.”

Once she stated so while hovering a little over a meter above the ground, Naga suddenly bowed down.

“I beg you, please do it.”

“Whaaa?!”

Yuuki, who bent backwards, nearly fell off from her board.

“You’re gross, so stop it! Speaking of which, don’t surprise people like that! What will you do if someone falls off because of that?!”

“No, no matter how you look at it, I can’t think of anyone dying from that height. To begin with, I only lowered my back and made a kind request. To think you would be startled by something like this, just what’s wrong?”

“I’m saying that such an attitude, doesn’t suit you.”

Saying that over her shoulder, Yuuki rose up and left on her board.
Naga, who smiled wryly, called out to Ais, Kay, and Selena.

“Let’s move to the other side.”

Naga & Co. progressed to the right bank while paying attention to their surroundings.
Immediately after, Harrigan and the others followed.

A group consisting of Naga and more than 10 witches linked up with Nonoel, who was waiting inside the river, and quickly proceeded to the left bank on the other side.
Nobody from the witches had received a single scratch, and no fallen soldiers were found.

One could say that Naga’s plan of capturing the fort without yielding any casualty was going smoothly.

=== Part 7 ===

The capture of Ein Fort was within hailing distance.
During that time, the soldiers who escaped back to the fort relayed the information about their patrol troop being scattered by the witches and about the enemy’s probable attempt of crossing over the river. Upon learning about that, the guards of Ein Fort partially fell into panic, however, not even Naga could have foreseen that far. Despite saying so, Selena was able to confirm some of the guards located at a watchtower becoming restless.

(Looks like we won’t have to seize all the enemy soldiers. Even apprehending half of them should probably be enough to make the rest run away on their own.)

Is what Naga thought.

Just as he predicted, they managed to clear out the north side of the fort.
So as to inform other companions about this part being clear, as well as to show off to their enemy, Naga and the rest hoisted a blatant flag that was prepared beforehand.
The flag had a pattern drawn on it that was once used for the united kingdom of the witches.
With the flag depicting the forces of the witches being supposedly visible, there’s no doubt about their enemy considering that as a deployment of the witches.

(The strategy this time is especially difficult, isn’t it? Still, the wind is already blowing in our favor. I see no other option than to attack the fort and take it down just as we planned. Yet if a problem arises, will we be able to seize the fort without producing any sacrifice? I guess this is what worries me the most.)

Naga and the rest of the witches took their posts and waited for the right chance.

=== Part 8 ===

Ais launched her attack of cobble throwing, whereas Yuuki carried Lela’s charms on her hoverboard atop Ein fort.
As they were attracting the guards’ attention, Kay, who used that momentum to solidify her body, run up to the fort’s walls while wearing a mantle and holding a shield for protecting against arrows.
The reason why Kay held the shield even though she could reach the place without getting harmed was so as to keep the arrows away from Elysione, who would be defenseless while she was coming out of the mantle. Nevertheless, it was a needless worry as the enemy soldiers came off the fort’s watchtower without trying to shoot down the running Kay, and escaped inside. There was also a chance that most of those soldiers left the fort behind.

“That’s, a big letdown, isn’t it?”

Muttering those words, Kay put down the shield and spread out the mantle she was entrusted with by Elysione on the ground.
The location of that was right at the bottom middle of the wall near the east side of the fort.
Kay, who stood up, raised her shield overhead just to ensure there was no attack coming.
Following that, the top of Elysione’s head, which stuck out from a hole, began to rise gradually.

“Yuck! It really looks like as though you’re welling up. Indeed, an obscene magic.”

Because Elysione, whose face was half submerged, gazed at Kay with a glaring look, the latter averted her eyes hurriedly.
Taking the opportunity of that, Kay looked around.

As one would expect, there was not a single sign of the enemy in the surroundings.

(Should you say it’s a letdown or no response coming from the enemy? Well, still, they were done in by us previously, so perhaps, this is just bound to happen. I see, this is what Naga-san meant by saying ‘The wind is already blowing in our favor. Capturing the fort might turn out unexpectedly quick’. At first, I was only half-convinced about that, but, seeing how smoothly this plan is going, it appears that person was right.)

Kay had been taught that the result of a battle didn’t just amount to the battlefield. Depending on the winning side and losing side, further battles would be affected as well.

At the time Kay was looking aside, Elysione continued to rise up little by little from the inside of her mantle.
Finally, once the top of her head reached higher than Kay’s, she stopped ascending. In other words, Elysione’s body fully appeared from the inside of the mantle. That being said, Vita’s appearance also emerged from the inside.

*thud* – While Kay was putting herself on guard, a shock ran through her body.

“…! So heavyy.”

Kay, who threw away her shield tried to keep the balance of her several times heavier body by putting more strength into her feet. however, being unable to stand firmly, she kneeled down on one knee.

What came next were voices of screaming and anger heard from the guards, from the fort’s interior. Nevertheless, they quickly turned into sounds of groaning.

“Even though we made thorough preparations, it’s still messy like this? Still, there’s no doubt… about the soldiers inside being….. unable to move.”

In fact, it happened just like that.
As soon as Yuuki watched from the above of the fort, she noticed every single soldier lying on the ground. Some of them were crawling, others – lying on their belly, and yet, other ones – lying face up.

One could see them struggling while trying to move their bodies, but nonetheless, far from being able to stand up, the soldiers had a hard time even crawling.

Yuuki clapped her hands and laughed without realizing it.

“Somehow, it looks like birds being trapped in birdlime.”

As far as she could see from above, there were no soldiers standing and moving.

“Well then, eat this!”

Rapidly descending down on her board, Yuuki tossed something above the heads of the soldiers who were lying in a crowd.
The thing she had released spread out in the air and continued to fall on top of the soldiers.

“Uwaa, what’s this?!”

“A, a net?”

What spread out greatly from overhead was a solidly knitted net.
Crawling on all fours while desperately fighting against their weight, the soldiers could neither ward off or pass through the net. Even if they tried to crawl out from under it, the net would just wind together.

Yuuki moved to the next spot and released another net in the same manner

With the number of enemy entwined in nets increasing, the open space in the fort’s interior became buried with soldiers that were unable to move. the situation looked as though miserable fishes were caught in a big haul and pulled up on land.

Yuuki flew out of the fort and returned back to others, who were waiting upon outside the range of Vita’s magic. There, she picked up Nonoel and hovered again.

“Two people riding is surely quite the load. It makes my control of wind more complicated, and thus, harder to launch the hoverboard.”

As she complained while desperately trying to operate the hoverboard, Nonoel, who was holding onto Yuuki’s waist, apologized.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s not that bad since you’re quite light. Were it to be Ais, it would be much more troublesome. I would probably be unable to hov…..”

Kooo!

The board swayed from a shock caused by something passing next to them with a frightening power.

“Eeeekk?”

Yuuki, who somehow managed to keep the balance of the board, raised up her eyes and looked around, after which, she noticed Ais’ appearance entering her view. Ais, who had just finished her throw, regained her posture.

“Wait, Ais, what are you doing?! If I get hit with a cobble, won’t my hoverboard turn into dust and splinters?!”

Yuuki let her voice as if objecting.

“Yuuki, Nonoel, do your best, okay?!”

With a smile on her face, she waved her left hand. However, Nonoel couldn’t overlook another cobble in Ais’ right hand.

Nonoel who broke into a cold sweat tapped Yuuki’s back.

“Y, Yuuki, escape fas….no, let’s fly over the, fort and finish our task.”

“R, Right!”

Yuuki controlled the unsteady board and moved back above the fort.
Nonoel, who looked down at the scene below, raised her voice in admiration.

“Uwaa, Vita-san’s magic is, amazing, isn’t it?”

The top of the ground was full of soldiers putting up a resistance and struggling in vain, trying to move themselves hopelessly, despite being entwined in nets.

“Don’t just admire, quickly do what you’re supposed to! I have a hard time controlling this board with the two of us!”

“Ah, understood. I’ll do it right away.”

As Nonoel was forming an incantation, moisture started to gather in the air.
And a rain fell constantly without having to wait long.
Once the sky was filled with enough rain to soak the ground, Yuuki returned with her board and put Nonoel down. After that, she gave a ride to one of the witches from Sraymeyer’s clan, named Lilly, hovered back to her previous spot.

=== Part 9 ===

Yuuki felt a bit anxious as she had no experience in transporting other witches. However, because Lilly had a small physique, steering the board wasn’t as difficult as what she had initially thought.
The moment they both reached their destination, Lilly began to chant her incantation while clapping her hands numerous of times.

“The hand whose god’s words echoes, the radiance born from the god. Prostrate, prostrate. Shine, become angry, run down. Oh furious God of thunder, pass down your judgement on this hill, pass it down on this hill. Come, come, come.”

And then,
A small flash of lightning ran down from the sky into the ground.

“Gyaaaaaaa”

Screams and shouts coming from electrocuted soldiers echoed here and there.
the flash of lighting kept running down numerous times.
And each time, a scream would be raised.
In addition to every soldier wearing metal armor and being soaked with rain created by Nonoel, not a single one of them could avoid getting electrocuted.
After the very last flash, not a single soldier seemed to be moving.

Yuuki waved with her hand so as to give a signal to others.
Kay, who saw that while stretching out her neck, shouted.

“Vita-san, it seems to be over!”

Shortly thereafter, Kay could suddenly sense her body becoming light again. Despite that, she had the feeling her body lost half of its weight.

“Uwaa, my body feels lighttt.”

Feeling that she was able jump over the wall, Kay leaped with all her might. Unfortunately, her body didn’t reach even 1.35 meters.

“As expected, my body returned back to its original weight, eh?”

Once she muttered so, Kay approached Elysione and brought a mantle, the hem of which she coiled into a roll.

“Vita-san, here.”

What Kay held out toward her was a small sized, makeshift mantle for Vita who stayed inside Elysione’s mantle to bear with for the time being.(?)

“I appreciate your efforts.”

Vita, who reached out her hands and received the mantle, creeped inside of it.
At that time, Elysione stood around with a stern expression, making it seem weird to Kay.

Finally, as Vita finished putting it on her, she crawled out from Elysione’s mantle.

The little witch adjusted her breathing and turned around to Elysione.

“Well then, you can go now, Elysione.”

“Yes, Mother!”

Elysione placed her foot on Vita’s held out palms and made a big leap.
It looked like the petite Vita wouldn’t be able to throw her largely built daughter into the air; nevertheless, Elysione gently whirled up into the sky as though she had feathers and jumped over the wall.

“Wow, incredible!”

“Do you want to leap as well?”

“Is that okay with you? Aren’t you tired?”

“My power won’t be exhausted by this much.”

“Is that so? In other words, is it fine for me to harden my body just like this?”

“I don’t mind. Jump on my palms.”
[[File:Naga03 Illus-06.jpg|200px|thumbnail|right]]
“Well then, I’m going”

Kay, who was about to leap with all her might touched Vita’s palms with the back of her heels.
Soon after that, she could truly feel her body rapidly losing its weight. No, rather than ‘rapidly losing’, it felt more like it had no weight at all.
Moving her palms casually, Vita released Kay into the air.
And her body floated high into the air.

Soaring high in the air like this, Kay wondered whether or not she was dreaming. Obviously, shortly after she passed over the wall, Kay’s body returned to its original weight just like an illusion.
Vita’s magic can reduce one’s body weight, however, as soon the effect runs out, the weight will return to its previous state.

“Ooopps”

Kay adjusted her posture in a hurry and prepared for the landing.
Since she could feel her weight returning back gradually, rather than spontaneously, there didn’t…. seem to be any worry about Kay crashing headfirst against the ground.
Holding the ground firmly with the back of her heels, Kay absorbed the impact from the landing by folding her knees.
By the time she extended her legs, her body weight had returned back completely.

“Hmm, this is….. a somewhat enjoyable magic indeed.”

Kay, who thought about that optimistically looked around her surroundings.
There were soldiers lying everywhere in lumps. Several, or perhaps, a dozen of them, were trapped inside nets while being unconscious.

“It’s most likely due to them being hit by thunderbolts.”

Kay approached one of the soldiers and peeked inside his eyes. Without having to check, it was clear both his armor and clothes were wet.

“I guess it’s because of them getting soak that the thunderbolts were so effective. It doesn’t look like they’re going to wake up anytime soon. Despite that, it will be trouble if they wake up by any chance, so, shouldn’t I quickly make sure they don’t?”

Kay took stakes attached to a net in her hand and knocked them into the ground using her hardened fist.

Once she plugged them deeply into the ground on all 4 sides of the net, Kay stood up and checked its firmness by pulling.

“Hm, I think it’s okay. Even if some of these soldiers wake up and struggle, they shouldn’t be able to come out.”

Moving from net to net, she continued to fix them with stakes.

While she was doing so, the other witches also crossed over the fort’s walls one after another and began to go around its interior in small groups.

=== Part 10 ===

“Thanks for your hard work, Kay.”

Kay turned around at Ais’ praise.

Today, because their plan was to embark on Ein fort, Ais put on leather armor on top of her thin garments as it had a lower effect on her magic than metal armor. Even if it was true, the leather armor merely covered the minimum number of places, revealing as much of her skin as usual.

Will that really increase her protection? – The first time Naga saw that armor, he wanted to retort unintentionally that way.

(Back in my world, people would supposedly go to the battlefield…. fully armored. Certainly, this feels off somehow. Well, it’s probably still better than wearing nothing, so…)

But considering that matter again, Naga restrained himself from retorting.

“Ais, you did a great job too, right?!”

“It appears that the remaining soldiers have already made off from the fort, doesn’t it? The exploration of this building isn’t over yet, but at least, I can’t spot any of them still moving.”

“How about Hari-nee and Naga-san?”

“We’ve just opened the gate, so they should be here soon, together with Raibach as well.”

“You mean it? Speaking of which,”

Kay looked frequently at Ais’ body.

“Ais, don’t tell me you also got over the wall thanks to Vita-san’s magic?”

Ais tilted her head while smiling cheerfully.

“Ara? Kay-chan, what do you mean by ‘don’t tell me’? I’m trying to figure out your ‘don’t tell me’, but, you don’t mean to say something like ‘No matter how strong Vita-san’s magic is, don’t tell me that someone as massive as Ais could fly through the air’, right?”

Kay realized her dull gaffe, however, it was too late to take it back. With her knees becoming wobbly, Kay shook her head energetically from side to side.

“O, o, o, o, o, o, obviously not. Not even for a moment did that idea cross my mind.”

“…Is that so? Then, what’s the meaning behind the ‘don’t tell me’ just now?”

Wrapping her right first with her left palm, Ais inserted more power into her left hand while making a grin. *knuckle knuckle* – the joints in her right hand’s fingers generated a loud sound like that.

“I, still need to put more stakes, so let’s talk some other time, okay….?”

Kay ran away from the place just like a startled hare.

As Ais stared at Kay’s distancing back, Naga’s voice reached Ais from her back.

“Yo Ais, good work.”

Once she turned around, there were Naga and Harrigan standing there. Naga had his armor put on him, whereas, Harrigan used the same, small leather armor similar to Ais’ one. Behind them, Raibach, who wore a mantle with his face covered with cloth, stood. It wasn’t clearly visible due to the mantle, but, his hands were supposedly tied up. Originally, there should’ve probably been no need for worry as one couldn’t feel the slightest intention of escaping coming from Raibach.

“Naga-san, and Ane-sama too, thank you for your hard work.”

Soon after she replied like that, Harrigan nodded down as if being content.

“It looks like we nicely managed to capture the fort.”

“Right I wouldn’t have thought it would be this easy. As expected of Naga-san’s splendid tactic.”

“It wasn’t that much. That’s because the flow of this battle was already decided. Reversely, the enemy was prepared to flee from the very beginning, so I didn’t consider this plan to be that difficult.”

(Being, able to read the flow of a battle is a feat that we, the witches, cannot recreate. However, in this man’s case, pulling it off this lightly is something of a big deal.)

Harrigan greatly admired Naga inside her heart.

Not being aware of Harrigan’s thoughts, Naga ran his eyes over Ais’ whole body.

“More importantly, Ais, to think you would also be able to leap into the air thanks to Vita’s….”

Ais suddenly stomped against the floor and pushed out her right hand with unnoticeable speed.

“magi-gubooabaah?!”

Her fist sunk into Naga’s armor. Despite him wearing one, a large impact hit his stomach.
As soon as Ais calmly withdrew her right hand, Naga fell down with a thud to both his knees. His lower back bent so much that his forehead almost touched the surface of the floor. While holding his stomach, Naga slightly groaned and said.

“W…What are you doing out of sudd…en”

“I have no idea.”

Ais puffed her cheeks in discontent and walked away at a brisk pace.

“O, Oi, Dragon King, are you alright?”

Raibach called out to him in a concerned tone, but Naga lifted up his right hand so as to calm him down.

“Yea… I’ll manage it somehow……”

Harrigan exhaled a big sigh.

“Naga, shouldn’t you be a bit more considerate toward girls?”

“No, that was just a little…. joke, but well.”

“That’s why, I’m telling you that the other party might interpret it like this if you intend to make jokes.”

“Y, You mean it? Got it. I shall be more careful from now on.”

Holding his stomach, Naga grit his teeth and stood up.

“Still, that girl, Ais, to think she would hit me this seriously.”

The moment he complained, Harrigan looked at him pitifully.

“Perhaps not. Were she to get serious, she would’ve probably made a hole in both your armor and stomach, or maybe, pulverize all the bones in your body”

“No… way. For real?”

Naga thought he should be more careful from now on.

“Let’s leave that matter aside. We’ve brought down the fort, so starting from today, it’s our property. Should we walk around and check out its interior?”

I guess you’re right – Naga took an extensive view and nodded down in agreement, but,

“…….no, before doing so, we should first remove the armaments from the apprehended soldiers. I’ll have the scouting group check the building, whereas the rest of the members will progress with the removal of the armaments.”

“And more precisely, how should we do it?”

“Firstly, we will gather everyone in a single spot and remove nets from them one by one. We’re going to take away the armaments from those who regain their consciousness before doing the same with unconscious ones. All the stuff will be carried and put in the open space before the gate. By the time we are done, those who have become aware of the situation will try to escape on their own. As for the unconscious people, we will wake them up and tell them it’s okay to flee. They will most likely do the remaining thing.”

Harrigan furrowed her eyebrows and asked to confirm something.

“About the unconscious soldiers, shouldn’t it be better to place them in front of the gate?”

“True, it might be faster for their informed comrades to call out to them. With that, the soldiers should actually learn they were spared and released by the witches. Okay then, Harrigan, won’t you call others?”

“Understood. Lela!”

Nodding down deeply, Harrigan ordered Lela, who had tagged along with them, to raise a smoke signal.
Following that, a green-colored smoke arose from burned charms, after which the witches appeared in succession.

=== Part 11 ===

Naga and Harrigan gave quick instructions to the gathered witches from Harrigan’s clan. Soon after, the clan of Sraymeyer joined in, after their leader arrived at Naga’s spot, and helped with the removal of the enemy’s armaments.
Several of the soldiers had already run away after regaining consciousness. On the other hand, the still unconscious ones were transported to the open space before the fort’s gate using a cart brought from a warehouse. The one to pull it was obviously Ais, but, Naga decided to go through a bit of a trouble so as to motivate her.

Finally, being able to soothe Ais’ anger and encourage her to pull the cart, Naga thought.

(Yes, being considerate is serious matter. Especially, toward girls.)

Such was his strengthened belief.

=== Part 12 ===

The time for commencement of the tactic took place in the morning; nonetheless, the sun was already heading west. It was still too early for dusk, and shadows of watchtowers and other buildings inside the fort were still of considerable length, however, it was quite dark.

A big and a small half-moon resurfaced on a blue sky, close to the ground, while shining with a dim light.
Naga’s voice echoed through the open space located before the gate, at the north side of the fort.

“Oh, you guys are awoke? Once you regain your mobility it’s okay for you to escape.”

At his voice, some of the awake soldiers pointed their nervous sights at Naga, and then, looked around with a frightened expression. A dozen of the witches were surrounding them with the intention of guarding.
The soldiers trembled with fear as they felt they were caught by the witches.

“Oi, what’s the matter? I’m telling you it’s fine to escape. Speaking of which, it will be meddlesome if you don’t leave quickly.”

For some reason, an armored man was ordering them from atop a footstool in a self-important manner.

(Why is there a man among the witches?)

(Who’s that guy?)

The soldiers looked at each other’s face with a strange expression while whispering together.

“You don’t feel like running away? Then, shall you become slaves of the witches? Or perhaps, you would prefer to be sliced off here?”

The strange looking man pulled out his strange looking sword. At its sight, the soldiers came back to their senses and remembered their fear.

“Uwaaaaaaa!”

One of them stood up abruptly and ran off in a tumbling manner.
Following him, the rest of the soldiers who had regained their consciousness did the same one after another.
As this kept repeating, the number of the enemy reduced to half.
In the end, those remaining asleep would be waken up against their will by tapping and shaking, and set free as if being shooed away.
Only 20 people consisting of officers and vice-officers were left in the open space. Some of them who had been selected from the rest had their hands and legs bound together. Classifying them as commanding officers was an easy task since Raibach was present there.
In front of the remaining people, Naga got on the footstool and raised his voice.
He sheathed his sword back into his scabbard, put down its tip on the footstool, and placed his hands together on the sword’s pommel.

“How about this, you scoundrels. You have probably learned of the witches’ strength, right? Now that you’re apprehended like this, it’s fine to say your lives are in hands of the witches.”

Eeek?! – Some of the soldiers raised a shriek and turned stiff.

“But, fret not. We won’t be taking away your lives!”

At Naga’s loud and remarkable voice, the soldiers who tensed their bodies sighed with relief.

“Instead, we’re going to set you free!”

Naga, who cut off his words here, looked out over their faces.
Once he confirmed all the soldiers were holding their breath while concentrating their gazes on him, Naga once again raised his voice loudly.

“The reason why you scoundrels are caught is the result of you trying to attack and dispossess the witches from their land. You could say you reaped what you sowed, but, the witches are merciful this time, and therefore, your foolish act shall be ignored. Got it? You bastards are saved thanks to the benevolent and compassionate witches! You better engrave that in your hearts! And then, once you have learned your lesson, don’t you ever dare to fight them again!”

They watched Naga with a doubtful, or rather, a strange expression. Nevertheless, many of them nodded down enthusiastically.

“I’m going to release you at once. Does anyone have any questions?”

He observed them once more with his composed attitude. And then, a single soldier timidly lifted his hand.

“I allow you to speak. So, what do you want?”

As soon as Naga pointed the tip of his scabbard toward that person, the man straightened up with fear. However, he quickly pulled himself together and asked.

“Y…..You seem to be affiliated with the witches, but, just who on earth are you?”

Naga directed his cold gaze at the soldier who asked. Because of that, the man felt his body going numb and becoming sweaty.

“You’re asking me who I am? That’s a good question. I’m, well, I wonder about that, you see.”

At his vague reply, the man darted his eyes about; nevertheless, Naga carried on.

“I don’t exactly know who I am, but for now, I’m being referred to as this by the witches:”

Leaving a break in his speech, he continued.

“Naga [written as Dragon King]”

The soldiers exchanged looks with each other and buzzed noisily.

“I don’t care if you want to inquire who I am, but more importantly, shouldn’t you focus on how to return safely? Since we won’t give you back the confiscated weapons, you better be careful on your way back to your city so as not to encounter wild animals or bandits.”

Hearing Naga’s words, all of them came back to their senses.

“I will repeat it just once, but, make sure you remember this generous treatment as you won’t be forgiven the next time you’re caught. If that happens, you will probably have your stomach split open, your blood poured out, or your internal organs eaten while you are still alive. Got it!?”

“Eeek?!…”

“Understoodddd!”

The soldiers prostrated themselves with a pale face; nonetheless, Harrigan and the witches from her clan looked dissatisfied.
Drawing out his sword, Naga came near to the enemy.
Once he stood next to them who trembled with fear, Naga cut off ropes binding their limbs.
Having finished doing so, he pointed the tip of his sword toward the gate.

“Hey, you can go now.”

Despite him telling them, nobody moved with their body.
Is he going to slash me from behind the moment I try to escape? – is what they doubted.

“What’s wrong, aren’t you going to run away? If you bastards don’t want to, then perhaps we should work you to death as slaves of the witches….”

“Uwaaaaaa!”

A single person screamed loudly while dashing out. The remaining soldiers understood that as a sign and dashed off one after another.

Naga shouted behind their backs.

“If you return back safely, you may tell your families about how humane the witches are!”

However, it wasn’t clear whether or not his words reached their ears, as they all went at full speed toward the gate without looking behind, just like startled hares.

=== Part 13 ===

By the time the soldiers disappeared, Naga called together Harrigan and Vita.

“It’s regarding what we intend to do from now on, but……. speaking of which, even though we managed to capture the fort, why do you look this displeased?”

“I wonder if it’s not due to your way of speaking, Naga. With what you had said before, didn’t you give them the wrong impression about us?”

Harrigan gazed at him.
Her abundant, bluish black hair that wriggled in the air looked fearsome.

“Good grief. It’s not nice to speak about us in a way that makes us look like beasts sucking humans’ blood and eating their live flesh, you know?”

Vita was in bad mood as well.
Even if the witches got angry, their appearance shouldn’t have been enough for Naga to be as afraid as he was towards Harrigan right now. Nevertheless, having already learned how frightening their magic is, he hurriedly shook his hands in front of them.

“No no, I just told the soldiers a lie so as to make them feel scared. Look, don’t people say ‘the end justifies the means’?”

“…….Do they?”

Naga suddenly lost his self-confidence as both Harrigan and Vita looked at him with doubtful eyes.

“Eh? Umm yes…I believe this is what people used to say, but…”

“Is this a part of your lost memories?”

“It looks to be so, I guess. Sometimes, these sorts of proverbs will jump into my mind.”

Because he made a bit of a miserable face, neither Harrigan nor Vita felt inclined to press him any further. With that, Naga was released from a difficult situation.

“Then, what are you going to do now, Naga?”

Naga who sighed with a relief inside his heart first looked at both of them.

“We will survey the exterior. Selena will check the nearby surroundings, whereas, Yuuki will explore the main road. After all, I want to confirm whether or not all the soldiers managed to run away, or if some of them are still left hiding.”

“Umu, I’ll take care of the preparations.”

Harrigan replied.

“And after that, we should inspect the interior, especially, what’s inside the warehouse.”

“Fumu. Then, shall we entrust Ais with that task?”

Saying so, she turned around toward Ais.

“Yes, leave it to me”

“Is there anything else we need to do?”

“That’s right. There’s a chance that the Kasandora Kingdom will try to retrieve this place. About that, we better strengthen this fort’s defense. Still, I don’t think it will happen any time sooner, so we don’t have to worry for today.”

“Naga, what are the chances for their army to come and strike at us?”

It felt as though some tension showed through in Harrigan’s questioning voice.
Since Harrigan gave off that impression, it wasn’t impossible for the witches around here to display anxiety and tension on their faces.

“Adding up their defeat at the Schweiz River, today as well, they were quickly deprived of their fort, you see. Is their commanding officer(General?) willing to carry out another battle? More importantly, will their soldiers feel inclined to fight? Considering those facts, I don’t think they will quickly decide on recapturing this fort, you see.”

After hearing his answer, some of the witches felt relieved.
Naga, who looked at them with a side glance, gave a warning.

“However, we can’t rest assured. There are probably other enemies besides the Kasandora Kingdom, right?”

Fumu, indeed that’s true. – Vita nodded in agreement.

“With them losing a majority of their war potential, it can also mean…. that other countries will move with ease.”

“Sooner or later, I’d like to hear more about other sides’ military strength in comparison with this one here.”

“Umu, that’s fine.”

“We can tell you anytime.”

“Well, enough of that. We have yet to do the most important thing for today.”

“Oh? There’s still something left?”

“Oi oi, Harrigan, don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten. We are victorious, we’ve captured Ein fort without sustaining any damage. In that case, there’s one thing we ought to do.”

Harrigan and Vita looked at each other while wondering what it could be.
The witches around them also tilted their heads at Naga’s words.

“Good grief, you surely are slow, aren’t you?”

Naga, who shook his head, drew out his sword and raised it high.

“When it comes to this, we ought to shout from victory and hold a banquet!”

“Ohh, you mean that?”

“I see. Certainly, we can’t omit this part.”

Both Naga and Vita nodded in agreement, and other witches expressed their approval as they became radiant, clapped their hands, and stamped with their feet.

=== Part 14 ===

(Oh my, indeed, this person is a big fish. As expected of someone who’s referred to as the Dragon King.)

While the witches were filled with enthusiasm, Raibach watched Naga with deep admiration on his face.

(Just as he said, they managed to capture the fort without producing any casualty on the side of the guards. Surely, he was neither boasting or making a random speech as a temporary measure.)

Being able to see lots of familiar faces escaping safely, Raibach felt a great relief and admiration. He was amazed and deeply astonished at Naga’s actual leadership ability.

(Perhaps, this person is really capable of creating a world where both humans and the witches can live together. If such a world comes true, there may no longer be any harsh and miserable war, I guess.)

The face of his young child resurfaced in his mind.

(That’s right. I wonder if we could save more pitiful children like her.)

Raibach, began to think he wanted to see a world like that.
Therefore, he also started to think if there was anything he could do.

=== Part 15 ===

The witches began to make merry, but as soon as Naga left some words to Harrigan, he took Raibach and moved together with him to a separate room.
One could say it was his method of being considerate so as not to spoil the fun of the witches and let them feel at home when there were no men around.

Sorry for this. – Having sensed his intention, Harrigan lowered her head.
Naga smiled and lifted his right hand.

“Don’t fret. This won’t be our last victory banquet. Rather, there will be plenty more occasions like this one, you see.”

“I’ll bring you some alcohol and appetizer.”

“Oh, please do so.”

Saying this, both Naga and Raibach left to a smaller room and prepared to drink in silence.

=== Part 16 ===

“Why, didn’t you run away?”

Naga threw such a question at Raibach while holding his wine cup filled with grape wine inside. However, since a moment ago, he would just limit himself with tasting it.
Naga restrained himself to this way of drinking, not due to him disliking the taste, but because of him being aware he was weak towards alcohol.
On the other hand, Raibach emptied his metal wine cup many times, as if being good at drinking.

“No, asking me why is…”

Putting down the wine cup on the floor, Raibach looked at Naga with a slightly red-face.

“I’m your prisoner. Wouldn’t you kill me, were I to run away at my own convenience?”

“Back then, you probably saw me releasing all the captives, right? I planned to let you go too, but well. Had you slipped into the crowd with your friends and escaped, I would have neither chased you nor have any complaint, although the witches might have said something, but…”

“Is that so? So I could just run away? I didn’t consider that far.”

In Raibach’s tone no remorse or disappointment was felt, which was a bit unexpected for Naga.

“What’s wrong? It feels as though you couldn’t care less about that.”

“Ah, well, perhaps you could say so. Anyway, I no longer have a family left.”

“You mean it? Then, what are your plans from now on? If you remain like this, you will end as a slave of the witches. I’ve got the feeling that neither you nor the witches would wish for something unpleasant as that. As expected, maybe I should seize the opportunity and release you.”

As Naga said that, Raibach directed a serious look at him.

“Hey, Dragon King.”

“What? Why are you being formal?”

“I wonder if you can make me into your subordinate.”

At his words, Naga opened his eyes slightly wide.

“Are you serious?”

“Uh, no, how should I put it…. I’m not even sure myself about that.”

Was Raibach, who replied, mocking himself or hiding his embarrassment? Perhaps, he was filled with something else? Somehow, a smile with mixed feelings appeared on his face.

Naga talked to such a Raibach in a nice and cold manner.

“Becoming my subordinate would mean, at the same time, being on the side of the witches, i.e., becoming an ally of your god’s enemy. In other words, you too will be considered as one and fight against humans as ‘god’s enemy’. Are you okay with that?”

“To begin with, I wasn’t much of a fanatical believer. What’s more…..”

Raibach reached out his hand toward the cup and brought it near his mouth, after which, he drank up the remaining wine in one go.

*Sigh* – Once he exhaled and put the cup back down, Raibach carried on as he made eye contact with Naga.

“I don’t plan on becoming a subordinate of the witches, but you. That is to say, Dragon King’s underling.”

“That would probably be the same. After all, I’ve befriended the witches, which makes me an enemy of humans. As expected, by becoming my underling, and therefore, an ally of the witches, you would turn humanity into your enemy?”

At Naga’s remark, Raibach shook his head from side to side composedly.

“No, it’s certainly not the same. At least, this is what I believe.”

A shade of confusion appeared on Naga’s face for the first time.

“……What do you mean?”

“Simply serving Dragon King doesn’t make me a subordinate of the witches. Even if I’m to work for them, in the end, it’s Dragon King who’s giving them orders. Now that I think about that, don’t I sound like making an excuse to myself?”

Haha – Hearing his words, Naga laughed.

“That’s indeed an unexpected quibble coming from you.”

“I don’t particularly mind, so it’s fine. Didn’t you say before that the end justifies the means?”

“Yeah, I think that’s what I said.”

“What’s more, there’s no reason for me to tell you a lie. Since my youth, I’ve been constantly serving in the army, so I’ve gained a mass of experience. Back then, I used to fight with the witches, but the majority of my battles were against other human soldiers.”

*Chuckle* – Raibach chuckled under his nose.

“Human have been killing each other in the name of god. Regardless of whether they were humans or the witches, I-, we, would continue to swing with swords, shoot arrows, kill our enemy, and die from their hands. There would be no time for us to ponder on things like who was our enemy or what was right in what we did. Just as being told, we would pick our weapons and fight for survival. That’s it. If you order me to pick a weapon and fight your enemy, then it’s no different from what I’ve been doing until now.”

As soon as he paused after speaking loudly in one breath, Raibach scratched his head as if feeling a bit shy.

“…..Guess I’ve made another excuse to myself.”

“You mean it?” – Naga, who replied, fixed his gaze upon Raibach.

Was it due to him being unable to endure the pressure coming from Naga’s sight? Raibach extended his hand and poured more red liquid into his cup.

The moment he brought the cup near to his mouth, Naga uttered with dignity.

“Fine, got it. I shall make you into my underling.”

Raibach’s face rose up energetically and looked as though brimming with expectations.

“For real?!”

“I’m not lying, but, let me ask you once again.”

Standing up while having a grave expression, Naga looked down at Raibach and said:
[[File:Naga03 Illus-07.jpg|200px|thumbnail|right]]
“By becoming my underling you agree to fight against the humans til my vision of the new world is fulfilled. Perhaps, there will be another battle waiting after the previous one. You’re telling me you can continue to swing your sword at humans, right? And endure slanders such as being labeled as ‘god’s enemy’, right?”

“Y, Yes.”

“I’m going to tell you this, but, it’s not like I’ll always resort to this type of kindhearted fighting style, you see? This time, I only saved all of your comrades because I deemed it would serve a purpose in the future. On the other hand, if I consider killing them all to be more convenient, then I may not hold back, you know?”

At Naga’s sharp glint in his eyes and intimidating air overflowing from his body, Raibach felt an unintentional urge to move back while he was sitting. Nevertheless, he somehow endured that and strained his voice.

“Y….Yes, I don’t care about that.”

The fighting spirit dwelling inside of Naga suddenly disappeared.

“Understood. I’ll make you into my subordinate, therefore, work your fingers to the bone for my sake.”

After that, Naga gave a broad smile.

“That’s because I properly reward those who serve me.”

Naga was pleased. He hadn’t thought he would be able to make a subordinate this quick.

He, who possessed an eye for anticipating the future, had a premonition that his subordinates would become a breakthrough for realizing his plan.

Raibach faced toward the smiling Naga and bowed down instinctively.

“I, I’m looking forward to working with you.”

“If that’s settled, we shall let the witches now about you becoming my underling. Follow me.”

Being in good mood and in high spirits, Naga took Raibach along with him and left the room.

=== Part 17 ===

“Oi, Harrigan, there’s something I’d like to discuss with….”

Once Naga and Raibach stepped inside a large room where the merrymaking of the witches had been held, most of the witches were drunk and dancing while being naked.

“Eh?”

“Ah….”

As soon as the witches noticed Naga and Raibach, they ceased their dancing and singing, and a strange, or rather, ominous silence dominated in the room.

“Umm, we will be back later.”

“I, I guess it’s much better that way.”

Naga and Raibach turned right with stiff faces as they planned to leave at a quick pace. Despite that,

The moment they stepped out with one foot, their bodies turned instantly heavy, making them stumble.

“Uooooh?”

Raibach and Naga recovered back their weight immediately after falling on their knees.
They both tried to stand up hurriedly and break up, however, they couldn’t make it in time as the witches were already surrounding them.

“You have some guts to peek at us and think you can get away with that, don’t you, Naga?”

Harrigan, whose hair went around in circles, was nude.

“Geez, Naga-san, as expected, it should’ve been better to gouge out your eyes, right?”

Ais, who pushed out her hands, was naked as well.

“I think gouging out their eyes is too clement for them. It would be better for us if we cut off both their legs and arms so that they can’t peek again.”

The air surrounding Yuuki jumbled together and her 2 bundles of long hair fluttered. Obviously, she too was naked.

“I shall burn the-m. So that not a single trace of them remain-s.”

Lela, who held a charm in her hand, was nude as well.

“How about punching? Punching them to death? Until all their bones are completely broken? Haaaaa!”

Putting up her fist, which released its metallic gloss, Kay too was nude. Not just her fist but also her whole body – including her nipples as well – was radiating with a metallic luster. Should one describe that as strange or perhaps uncanny? Either way, it was a mysterious view.

“I think drowning them to death will be the most painful method.”

While expanding and contracting lumps of red liquid in the air – most likely grape wine – Nonoel approached in a staggering manner. She too was naked.

“Kukuku, so you wanted to see me naked that badly, Dragon King? If so, you should have come and made a request like a real man in front of me. To think you would peek on me sneakily like that, it’s indeed a disgrace even for someone known as the Dragon King.”

Placing her hand on her waist and bending her chest backward, Vita laughed while being naked like the rest.
Originally, if a girl was to bend backward, there would be clear unevenness protruding, however, in Vita’s case, none could be found.

The other witches, who looked much the same as the previous ones, or perhaps less, surrounded Naga and Raibach in multitude – although it wasn’t such a great number – while looking at them with an ominous light dwelling inside their eyes.

“Oi, you girls, come back to your senses! To begin with, I wasn’t the one to peek. It was you who showed me your appearance!”

Despite Naga criticizing and objecting, no truth nor justice would reach someone who was drunk.

“He’s making excuses, isn’t he?”

“He’s evading, right?”

“He’s trying to deceive us, right?”

“He’s turning on us, isn’t he?”

While shouting one by one, the witches rushed at Naga and Raibach.

The two of them tried to stand up, but nevertheless, they would quickly tumble back.

“Forget about what you saw here!”

“Forget it completely!”

“If you can’t do that, then die!”

The witches approached en masse and kicked the rolling Naga and Raibach using their feet.

For the time being, they both covered their heads with their hands, trying to protect themselves from a swarm of dispatched kicks. Thanks to that, they were able to keep their heads safe, however, the witches didn’t spare other parts of their body.

Naga somehow tried to stop them by looking up, but,

(Huh? T, This angle is?!)

“Wai, girls, this angle is no good! It’s no good awaawaaw!”

“Errrk! I’m going to be killed. Even though I went through the trouble of becoming the Dragon King’s subordinate, I’m going to be killed from being kiiicked.”

“Eh?”

At Raibach’s shriek, Harrigan ceased to move.

“Oi, everyone, wait.”

Harrigan, who calmed down the other witches, directed her question at Raibach.

“You, what just did you say just now?”

“N, No, that’s why I’m saying I’ve become the Dragon King’s subordinate….”

Curling up on the floor and holding his head in his hands, Raibach, who resisted the kicks, looked with a glimpse at Harrigan after which he hurriedly turned away his sight.

“What’s the meaning of that, Naga?”

“That’s why I’m telling you I have to let you know about that!”

Naga released his hands from his head and lifted his eyes toward the witches who were surrounding him.

“Speaking of which, I think I mentioned about this angle being honestly no good but, are you fine with that?”

Naga averted his eyes similarly to Raibach.

“…..Hmm?”

Harrigan, who looked down at them both, shifted her eyes a bit at her own body.
She was nude.
Completely nude.
So nude it was terrific.

In case of Raibach, it wasn’t half as bad, as he held down his head and averted his eyes, however, Naga was laying on the floor face up. Certainly, it was an angle which couldn’t be more dangerous.

“Whatttttt?!”

Rather than coming back to their senses, the witches who realized the situation they were put in forgot about their shame, and instead, were besides themselves with rage.

“Die Die Die!”

“Erase all the memory of what you saw and die!”

“Throw out all your brain tissues and die!”

*Dosu, kosu, doka, geshi*

A further and more harsh swarm of kicks were sent at Naga.

“Uwaa, you, wai, awwawawaww, I’ll die, I’ll seriously die!”

Twisting his body, Naga tried to escape, but, there was nowhere to run away as the witches surrounded them closely packed.

(This is bad; this is honestly bad. I’m seriously going to die from these kicks.)

Were he to oppose a drunkard who had lost any means of reasoning, Naga would most likely worsen his situation, but nonetheless, he had the feeling it was the only option for him to survive.

By the time Naga resolved himself and tried to move his hand,

“Wait a moment! He’s going to die! The Dragon King is really going to die! Are you fine with killing him like that?!”

Raibach, who shouted, covered Naga with his whole body as if trying to protect him.

“This person is your ally! The who who’s supposed to create your world!”

“Umm…”

With that, Harrigan and the rest stopped their kicking.

“Raibach, seems like you don’t understand what’s being talked about, do you?”

“That’s why, the Dragon King has been telling you that all the time.”

“It’s the first time I hear about what you say.”

“No, he has been telling you that countless of times for a while, you know?”

“You mean it? Then, I wonder if you can’t let us know.”

“B, Before that, could everyone please put something on? Otherwise, the talk won’t proceed.”

“A…Ah, that’s right. It’s just as you say.”

The witches who came to their senses a little pulled back their legs and turned around.

“By the way, you didn’t see it, right?”

Raibach waved his hands with all might and shook his head at his best after being stared by Harrigan.

“I didn’t, I didn’t.”

“If you had seen it, I thought about gouging out your eyeballs, dismembering your body after smashing all of its bones, and throwing it to wolves as a pet food, but—-”

“I didn’t see even a tiny little bit, so honestly, rest assured.”

“Then, I guess that’s fine. Still, what about you Naga?”

“No, I haven’t seen anything, so don’t worry.”

“I wonder who should be the one to say that.”

Despite her thinking that, Harrigan also thought her carelessness was partially responsible for what had happened, so she ceased any further inquiring.

“Ah… since we’ll be changing, go outside and wait.”

(Rather than changing, you should already be putting something on you!)

Naga wanted to retort that way, but he thought he would only annoy them at this late hour. Together with Raibach, he silently went outside to the hallway and waited for them to be called in.

=== Part 18 ===

After a while of waiting,

“You can come in.”

Being called out to, Naga and Raibach entered in once again.
Both of them could feel relieved as everyone was properly wearing their clothes.

(I’ve always thought their small clothes are as good as being naked, but, looking back at what happened, I can understand it’s far better for them to wear something.)

Naga exhaled a sigh of relief inside of him.

“Naga, come and sit here. Same goes for you, Raibach.”

Naga and Raibach sat down at prearranged seats near a wall after being urged by Harrigan.
As they leaned against the wall, the witches also sat down while surrounding the two in a half-circle.

“Then, what’s the meaning of him becoming your subordinate?”

Harrigan asked as if being eager.

Among the other witches, there were those who looked at Naga and Raibach curiously, those who looked strangely, others – doubtfully, and yet another – reproachfully. Besides them, witches who averted their eyes in shame were also present, however, those were a minority.

“Ah, that would be, you see—”

Naga revealed his exchange with Raibach, as well as the whole story behind him deciding to make Raibach into his underling.

“I knew you would later approve of the idea, but I deemed it was necessary to make the decision on the spot.”

“Hm, is that so?”

“I also had thought it would benefit you, which was the reason why I decided to do so, you see. That’s all I wanted to convey.”

“I guess you’re right. When it comes to establishing a world for both us and the humans, having allies is an indispensable thing.”

Saying that, Harrigan nodded in agreement.
Because the majority of the witches from the Heindler clan, such as Ais, Lela, Kay, and Nonoel, agreed too, nobody seemed to particularly complain or object. Except for one person.
Naturally, that person was Yuuki. She was the only one to stare blatantly and pretentiously at Naga and Raibach with a much displeased face

“Is there something you want to say, Yuuki? If so, say it now.”

“Not really. Isn’t it fine as long as Hari-nee approves of your decision?”

Should one say that Yuuki had become more mature too? She wasn’t the same blind and stubborn person, whom she was when they first met.

(If that’s true, then great. Still, I wonder.)

Not letting anyone else learn about his thoughts, Naga,

“Is that so? Sorry about that.”

He lowered his head.
And Raibach bowed down deeply as well.
Harrigan exchanged a somewhat warm look with Yuuki

“T, That’s why, you’re greatly mistaken if you think I’m glad of becoming that guy’s ally!”

Yuuki, who couldn’t bear that situation uttered those words with an abusive-like tone.

“Yuuki, you’re going too far with your words. Raibach is already…”

“Ah, that’s okay, Ane-san, I don’t mind about that.”

Since Raibach shook his head on sides, Harrigan held her tongue, but then, she immediately looked at him with doubtful eyes.

“By the way…. you’re calling me Ane-san? Do you think I’m older than you?”

“Ah, no, I’m sorry about that, Somehow, it feels like you’re giving off a strong appeal, so….”

“W, Well, I wonder if it’s fine to consider it that way.”

Harrigan coughed at once and stated.

“If it’s Naga’s decision, then I won’t be the one to judge. We shall approve you becoming Naga’s underling.”

“Thank you, Harrigan. Speaking of which,”

Naga moved his face toward Vita, who had been silent for a while.

“How about you, girls? Do you mind if that’s guy becomes my subordinate?”

“Well, I wonder about that.”

Raibach stirred his muscle uncomfortably as Vita threw a glance at him.

“After all, it’s what you’ve decided. I don’t plan to look for any excuse, and the same goes for my daughters.”

“You mean it? I appreciate that.”

However – Saying this, Vita threw a challenging look at Naga.

“But, provided that man betrays us, we won’t have any mercy on him, you know? If that happens, I shall make him so heavy that all the bones and joints in his body get smashed and his muscles get torn.”

“Rest assured. Not even I will forgive those who plan on becoming my ally just to betray me. Absolutely not. I’ll tear this guy apart even before Vita does.”

“Then, fine. I shall acknowledge this man as Dragon King’s underling. Are you okay with that, my daughters?”

One couldn’t tell whether their answers were optimistic or pessimistic, but, they all were of the same opinion.

“Excellent. From now on, Raibach is officially my subordinate. Since I am an ally of the witches, Raibach too has become one. Having this guy is truly delightful! Speaking of which, Harrigan. Now that you’ve acquired your first human ally, what’s your thoughts on that?”

“H…hm, that’s right.”

“If things go well like this, perhaps creating the world we wish for might be easier than what we had thought.”

Harrigan put a slightly wry smile on her face after listening to Naga’s words.

(There’s no way for it to be that simple. But, perhaps one should be more bold and optimistic when putting their life into something. Be that as it may, even if it’s just for giving my daughters more hope, should I accept his offer?)

Harrigan, who was thinking this, leaned her body forward and replied vigorously.

“True. For the sake of creating a new world, we have to rise and make more allies like Raibach. If we increase them one by one like this, then establishing a new country of the witches isn’t that far from being realized.”

“Agreed. Well then, now that Raibach has become my underling, let’s celebrate! Let’s celebrate a new chapter in your future! Drink, sing, get undressed, and dance!”

“Ohh, that’s right. Let’s become lively at onc…Wha? No no no, wait wait! Why are you bringing that topic back up?!”

“E, Eh? Am I wrong?”

“You are! If you want to get undressed and dance that badly, then do it together with Raibach!”

At Harrigan’s retort, sounds of whistles and jeering came from the direction of other witches.

“No, even if I was to dance naked with this guy, I won’t enjoy it at all, you know?”

“This is what I’m trying to tell you.”

“That’s why, we will no longer undress. And even if we decide to, we’ll smash your eyes before doing so.”

“Ah, shall I smash them? I, can do it, completely.”

“Because Ais extended her hands and stepped forward, Naga fervently waved both his hands in front of him.

“No no, I won’t do that, so don’t worry. Even if you girls were to denote your intention of doing so, I and Raibach will leave the place straight away.”

“Huh…..? That’s so boringg.”

Ais, who moved both her thumbs in the air, in a manner of squeezing something, looked to be much unsatisfied.

“No no, don’t say it like you’re regretting not being able to smash my eyes. More importantly, you too shouldn’t drink any more than that, right? Right, Ais?”

“What are you talking about? I’m not drinking at all?”

Ais stared at Naga.

Naga turned his sight at Harrigan as if seeking for a help; nonetheless, he was flatly refused by her.

“You should be okay as long you don’t come near Ais.”

(No, rather than that, it’s more troublesome to have her approach me while being drunk.)

Naga looked around him for help, but, nobody would lend him a hand. Rather, nobody wanted to end up like him.

“Ah… well, I think I’ll go and stay in my room silently.”

“I too will keep you a company.”

In the end, not being able to participate in the banquet or watch the witches dancing and singing, the two of them ate and drank obediently inside their room.

=== Part 19 ===

Like that, Naga acquired his new subordinate, Raibach.
In other words, he was the first ever human ally of the witches, who had been repeatedly opposing humans for 2-300 years of both their history. Nevertheless, lots of the witches were still unaware of that, or couldn’t understand it yet.
On the other hand, Naga knew, as well as Raibach himself, that Raibach had become an existence that would become a breakthrough, or rather, a bridgehead, for establishing a new world where both the witches and humans can live together.

(The biggest spoil of this battle isn’t Ein Fort but this man. This guy is also a tremendously big asset for the witches.)

Naga believed this to be true.

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==Translator's Notes and References==
<references/>

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| Back to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
| Return to [[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Epilogue 1|Epilogue 1]]
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Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Chapter 4

2016-07-19T15:20:25Z

Darkdhaos: Created page with "==Chapter 4: The Greatest War Trophy== === Part 1 === Naga, Harrigan, and Vita held a great number of tactical meetings during their preparatory work. Vita would frequently..."

==Chapter 4: The Greatest War Trophy==

=== Part 1 ===

Naga, Harrigan, and Vita held a great number of tactical meetings during their preparatory work.
Vita would frequently visit the fort of Harrigan & Co. while giving instructions to her daughters. However, since she was always being carried through Elysione’s positioned mantle, Vita’s migration from one place to another wasn’t a big hassle. It didn’t seem to require either too much time or effort.
Harrigan assigned a single room in the residential building for Vita and Elysione’s personal use. Therefore, both the witches could use it as they wished.

“I’ll kill you if you dare to peek inside the room, got it?”

Naga received such a threat from Vita.

“Like I would?!”

Naga retorted as he didn’t plan to do so from the beginning.

For instance, knowing that the room would shine with a light every time Vita and Elysione arrived, wouldn’t he wonder whether or not their arrival was successful?

=== Part 2 ===

A single room assigned by Harrigan.

It was just about the time when Elysione materialized herself from a mantle spread on the wooden floored room.
The mantle began to coil around Elysione as she was putting out her hands from the seams of it.
Elysione’s body that stuck out from the gaps was naked. Or at least, it looked like her bottom had no clothes on.
Then, beneath her feet, the similarly nude Vita was crawling out. Unlike Elysione, she was, without doubt, completely naked. No matter how one judged it, Vita looked like a barely 10 years old, flat-chested girl from head to toe. After being told she was much older than Harrigan, one could only be filled with awe.

“Elysio, you rascal. Your magic is convenient, but at the same time, it’s not. That’s because I’ve got to get naked every time we teleport using that mantle.”

While expressing her complaint, the totally naked Vita moved her upper body in every direction, trying to recover its lost sensation.

“Please don’t complain, Mother. Since I was able to reduce the excess of inconvenience so as to make up for it, shouldn’t it be fine? To begin with, there’s no magic that’s invincible or almighty in this world, right?”

“Hmm, that’s something I know even without you telling me, you rascal.”

Walking on the wooden floor while pressing her feet repeatedly against it, the completely nude Vita opened the lid of a chest placed in one corner of the room and took out prearranged clothes from inside.

Holding a set of them, she pushed them out to Elysione.
[[File:Naga03 Illus-05.jpg|200px|thumbnail|right]]
“Hey, put them on me.”

“Yes, right away.”

As soon as Elysione drew near, she helped Vita dress.
The prearranged pair of clothes were identical to those she normally wore. They covered little skin and had small notches that created a fluttering pattern. However, Vita’s headgear, which she had put on last, was a bit different from her usual one.

“No matter how powerful our magic is, it’s neither invincible nor almighty. That’s the main reason why we, the witches, have a hard time during battles.”

“That’s true. Once the humans charge at us with their wave tactics, it’s next to impossible for us to win against their armies.”

“Still, if we can capitalize on each individual’s magic and put them together, there’s a winning chance for us even against large human forces. I’ve always thought that way, and surprisingly, my belief was proven during the previous battle at the Schweiz River. That’s why I took an interest in the Dragon King. It may be possible that that man’s presence will bring together the long since scattered witches.”

Elysione, who finished changing Vita’s clothes, looked up at her mother.

“Is that…. so?”

“It can’t be said for certain, but it’s definitely hard for the witches to stand at the summit as they are, and even more for a human. However, he is neither a witch nor a human. He’s the rumored Dragon King who fell from another world. If that’s true, perhaps those highly proud witches would also acknowledge him as someone who stands above them? Actually, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Harrigan & the rest are already under that guy’s command.”

“Indeed, it seems to be so. That being the case, could it be that Mother feels inclined to fight alongside the Dragon King as the supreme commander against the humans?”

Saying that, Elysione began to move her hands again.

“It may be that I’m also curious about fighting humans, but the fact that that guy’s presence could muster the famous witch clans is what really caught my interest. Provided the witches band together and work as one, taking on an army of 1000 or 2000 people will become easy enough. Even so, that alone is one of the biggest hurdles.”

“Exactly. It’s said it has already been more than several hundred years since the country of the witches collapsed. Throughout that time, nobody has managed to reunite the witches, right?”

“Perhaps, that Dragon King will become the key to our breakthrough. What’s more—”

While getting dressed, Vita smiled with satisfaction.

“Right now, he’s acting together with Harrigan’s clan, but it should be fine even if we strip them of the Dragon King and tempt him to join us. Assuming that happens, wouldn’t it be possible for him to become our King at the time the new world is established?”

“Wow, Mother, those are indeed words worthy of a scoundrel, aren’t they?”

Vita threw a glance at Elysione.

“Ah, no, whether Mother becomes a scoundrel or a cowardly person, we are prepared to follow you til the end, so you don’t have to worry.”

“Being followed til the end by a simpleton like you is what I’m most anxious about, you see.”,

“T…That’s mean.”

Elysione warped her face tremendously.

“Well then, this much should do.”

Still – Vita, who finished changing her clothes, said so while looking frequently at her daughter.

“That man, what is the Dragon King going to say once he finds out we are naked under your mantle?”

“Eh? Ah, I, I wonder about that. Perhaps, he will insist that we show him the inside of the mantle.”

“Moreover, he might insist on teleporting with us upon learning about us becoming naked.”

“Aghh, it would be a disgusting offer, wouldn’t it? Still, it looks to be something that man is be capable of, I guess.”

*Fu* – Vita slightly laughed

“When that happens, teleport together with the Dragon King and show him the might of your power.”

Elysione warped her face and recoiled in aversion.

“Eeeeeeh? Things like taking along a naked man, I won’t agree to that. Wouldn’t I show him my naked body before even being able to show him my magic?”

“You too will be able to see him naked, so there should be mutual gains for both sides. No, since the two of you will cuddle to each other when teleporting, rather than just seeing each other, you will also be able to feel each other’s skin. Aren’t you glad?”

“Not at all!”

“Kukuu. Well, I was just kidding, you see. Then, shall we go? The Dragon King-dono is probably waiting for us.”

=== Part 3 ===

“Achooo”

“What’s the matter, Naga? Did you catch a cold?”

“No… can you really say it’s due to chills? Somehow, I’ve got an incredibly bad feeling about something, but….”

Naga looked around the room, but nevertheless, there was nothing particularly distinctive.
Because a meeting regarding the assessment of their forces was about to begin, almost everyone involved had gathered.

“Vita and Elysione are still absent, right?”

As soon as Naga muttered, Harrigan responded.

“It appears they have just recently arrived here, so they should probably show up soon.”

Following her words, Vita and Elysione appeared shortly thereafter inside the room where everyone had gathered.
Naga was a bit worried about other witches directing their rude gazes at the two of them, but it wasn’t the right time for prying into that matter.

Once Naga waited for Vita and Elysione to reach their seats, he began the meeting.

“Excellent. Since everyone has gathered, let’s start the assessment.”

=== Part 4 ===

“Well then, I think we are finally close to deciding on everyone’s deployments today.”

Saying so, Naga looked around to the faces of all present witches.

The ones who were present on Harrigan’s side were Harrigan herself, Ais, Lela, Kay, Nonoel, and Yuuki.

Whereas Vita’s side included herself, Elysione, and three witches named Lilly, Dora, and Samplotte. However, unlike the first two, the other three had run through the forest instead of moving through the mantle.

The witch whose name was Samplotte didn’t reach Elysione’s height, but she was also tall and strongly built.
On the other hand, the one called Lilly had a physique no different from a child, and her face also left an impression of her being innocent.
One more person, named Dora, had womanly features appearing throughout her large body, which gave her a bewitching aura.
Combining all of them, the 10 witches, together with Naga, sat on folding chairs while forming a circle.
Naga pushed out a map lying on the floor in front of everyone. It was a map of the Schweiz River area that had become the battlefield during their last battle.

“A single troop from Kasandora Kingdom’s army has been assigned to watch over the place near the crossing of the river. According to Raibach, they are a company under his direction that consists of 100 soldiers. There doesn’t seem to be any major change among them since their captain was kidnapped by the witches, I guess. Perhaps, their vice-captain picked up the leadership of the company. Even though their captain is missing, there’s no sign of them receiving reinforcements.”

As he said so, Naga put a wry smile on his face.

“It looks like Kasandora Kingdom doesn’t care about its captain’s fate, and continues to maintain its status quo…… right? After all, this troop is just disposable. Despite that, it will be troublesome to have them stationed at the riverbank.”

Using his index finger, Naga specified a point on the map.

“First, we should consider what to do with this troop, but…”

“Since there’s only a hundred of them, how about we take a detour?”

Vita asked.

“True. It should be fine for us to cross even without having to face them directly.”

Saying that, Samplotte expressed her opinion.

“I too think so, but Naga, isn’t it just you who see them as a problem?”

Once Harrigan stated her consent, Naga nodded in agreement.

“If possible, I’d like to have this troop escape.”

“I see, I see. So Dragon King wants to make sure that this troop doesn’t flank us when we are in the middle of capturing Fort Ein, right?”

“That’s what I mean. I don’t want to kill them due to my fundamental policy, so it should do as long as we cripple them as a troop by making them run away. Even if some of them were to return, they wouldn’t dare to threaten our back upon seeing the witches capturing the fort.”

“I see. That’s indeed a kind of story one would imagine seeing. Still, aren’t you pretty used to wars?”

Indeed, it may appear so – Naga nodded in agreement as soon as Vita asked him with a face filled with admiration.

“That’s because my thoughts will naturally gush out whenever it comes to things like this. However, since I’ve no memories, I can’t tell exactly what kind of experience I had back then, you see.”

“Shouldn’t it be more reasonable for you not to know how to fight? Just how deeply is your world stained with war?”

Vita’s expression turned into an astonished one.

“Well, I wonder about that.”

As if mocking himself, Naga wore a smile that gave a somewhat gruesome impression.

“Certainly, it feels like the world where I used to live had endless wars, but…. well, isn’t that fine? More importantly, let’s focus on our talk.”

“That’s right. We don’t have much spare time, so we better sort things out and start making the necessary preparations. Otherwise, it won’t do, you see.”

Vita nodded.

“Then, in order to scatter the troop that guards the river here, I’d like us to form a group for long-range attacking; still….”

Naga, who pointed once more on the map, lifted up his head and looked at Ais.

“Since this will become essential for us when capturing the fort, let me ask you something, Ais. How far can you throw using cobbles?”

“Cob, bles?”

“Were they called cobbles, or maybe, pebbles? I mean those hand-sized stones.”

Ais showed an attitude of pondering for a short while.

“Right. I think it would be around 11-13.5 meters under normal circumstances, and around 270 meters with my strengthened body, but…”

Naga measured the distance with his own senses.

“…..Wha, 270 meters?! You are able to throw them that far?!”

270 meters is certainly a long distance.

“Yes, if it’s a hand-sized stone, then most likely.”

(Even if they’re just stones, it does indeed require a terrific strength to be able to throw them such a distance. I should expect no less from a human battering ram, or perhaps, a human cannon…..hm? Cannon….Gun…..)

“Is there something you want to say, Naga-san?”

“Ah?”

Raising up his head, Naga’s sight met Ais, who looked at him with a smiling face. Despite that, her eyes didn’t smile at all, which was frightening.

Naga hurriedly waved with his hands in front him.

“No. No no, there’s nothing.”

“Is that so? I guess that’s fine, but…”

“If you are able to throw that far, can I have you become the core of the long-range assault against the troop guarding on the other side of the river?”

Paying attention so as not to meet with her eyes, Naga pointed at the river on the map.

Lela, who held a brush, wrote in Ais’ name near the river.

“And then…. Lela.”

“Wh-at?”

Lifting up her face, Lela directed her sight at him.

“How far can you launch those fireballs using your magic?”

“As one would expect, it will be hard for me to deal with that distan-ce. Nevertheless, Provided Yuuki carries my charms, it should be possible for them to be dropped onto the enemy’s hea-ds.”

Lela, who replied like that, shifted her gaze at Yuuki.

“I’m fine with that, but, if that happens, wouldn’t Lela’s charms burn down the enemy, were they to touch them?”

(No, you’d most likely be content with that.)

Naga wanted to retort that way, however, he refrained from doing so as it would worsen the situation.

“I’d appreciate it if you could do your best so as not to let the charms come into contact with them.”

Is where Naga stopped his comment at.

On the other hand, Yuuki puffed her cheeks in displeasure.

“Because they will be dropped from above, such a detailed stunt is next to impossible, right?”

“Since the charms are just supposed to fall and burn, it will take a while for them to descend complete-ly. The enemy soldiers should be able to avoid them in ti-me.”

Lela gave him a hand as a last resort.

“Is that so? Indeed, if that’s the case, there’s no need for us to worry much about that matter.”

Nodding down at once, Naga turned around to Yuuki and lightly bowed down at her.

“Anyway, I’m relying on you, Yuuki.”

“Uh….Geez, I got it. I’ll do it properly.”

“With that, Lela and Yuuki will participate as a single gro-up.”

Lela, who casted down her eyes, added her own and Yuuki’s name on the map.

“Is, there anyone else here who can carry a long-range attack?”

As he questioned Harrigan, she crossed her arms while slightly grumbling.

“Umu. As expected, it’s indeed difficult when it comes to an attack that covers a range of as much as 270 meters.”

Following that, she looked in Vita’s direction.

“How about your side?”

“I guess you’re right. A long-range attack like that is quite a tough task, but, with Elysione here, stabbing an enemy’s back would be simple, wouldn’t it?”

Naga moved his eyes toward Elysione.

She was dressed in her mantle even when sitting on a folding stool. Naga became curious about what kind of attire she was wearing under that mantle of hers.

(To begin with, since the witches from Sraymeyer are supposed to wear thin clothes with lots of exposure, just like Harrigan and the rest, perhaps Elysione has such garments as well.)

Elysione, who was unaware of Naga’s thoughts, nodded with a serious face.

“So long as I can place my mantle in advance, it’s perfectly fine. Assuming we lay a mantle on the other side of the river under cover of night and choose the right time to fly at our own discretion, it will look as though we are suddenly ambushing the enemy.”

“Despite saying so, you can only carry one person with you each time, right?”

“True. What’s more, there’s also the problem of appearance when transporting a person, but if that part is arranged beforehand as well, it should probably be fine.” (?)

“What’s…..the meaning of that?”

Is it okay for me to explain? – Elysione looked at Vita as if asking for her permission.

“It can’t be helped.”

Once she heard Vita’s reply, Elysione made a mild cough.

“In other words, you see, I can only fly through the mantle with my body. That’s to say, I can’t fly through it if I’m wearing clothes.”

“Wha….t?”

Naga run his eyes over Elysione’s whole body.

“Then does it mean, you’re, not wearing anything under your mantle?”

“Yes, when it’s not winter, I’m basically nude”

“Oi oi, why didn’t you tell me such an important thing sooner?”

Naga smacked his lips slightly and repeatedly.

“Had you told me about it sooner, I would’ve come and worshipped you every time you arrived….. No, rather than that, won’t you fly into my arm…..”

*Chop!*

*Whack!*

Such sounds bursted forth as Naga’s head was hit from behind by Harrigan’s solid hair and chopped on his forehead by Ais’ karate chop at the same time.

“Awwwwwwwwwwwww!”

Holding the back of his head with his right hand and his forehead with his left hand, Naga tumbled on top of the floor.

Haa – Lela exhaled a sigh.

Aren’t you an idiot? – Yuuki threw out such words.

Whereas, Kay cackled with her raised up voice.

Vita’s side watched Naga with dumbfounded faces. Naturally, only Vita herself and Elysione nodded in agreement with a face indicating this was a natural course of action.

“I was just joking. Don’t hit me like that while taking my jokes seriously, geez.”

Naga, who had teary eyes, said so while objecting to Harrigan and Ais.

“It didn’t look like your expression was telling us so?”

“On the contrary, it was incredibly serious?”

“You girls are….”

*snap* – While stroking the back of his head using his right hand, Naga pointed at them with his left hand’s index finger.

“Saying such an irresponsible thing, what will you do if a rumor spreads out inside Vita’s clan?!”

“Because it’s more truth than rumor, it can’t be helped?”

“Indeed, it can’t be helped.”

“Good grief. Those girls are seriously…”

Naga grabbed his head.

“Dragon King. We understand very well you’re a genuine pervert. More importantly, shouldn’t we continue this urgent strategy meeting?”

*snap* – Naga immediately snapped once more time and pointed at Vita.

“Don’t understand! And by the way, it’s a misunderstanding!”

“You mean it? If it’s a misunderstanding, then good. Leaving that aside, aren’t we going to finish this talk quickly? After all, we didn’t come here to fool around.”

“Ah, sorry that.”

Naga, who regained his composure, pressed his hand against the map and resumed their previous talk.

“Ummm, in addition to Ais who’s the part of the long-range assault group, Lela and Yuuki will join up. Other than that, we are going to capitalize on Elysione’s ability of instant travel, send in someone to the other side of the river, and have that person take the enemy from behind. Whom should we appoint for that task….?”
“Ummm…”

Nonoel lifted up her hand with restraint.

“What, Nonoel?”

“If we assault the enemy from behind, won’t they get the wrong idea of being surrounded by their enemy, thus resorting to desperate actions?”

That’s right – Naga once again casted down his eyes on the map while slightly groaning.

“Certainly, I can’t rule out that possibility. If by any chance a part of the enemy tries to break through in that state, they might happen to rush toward Elysione and the rest.”

As Naga was pondering, Vita intercepted.

“If it’s Elysione, she can take on 10, 20 people with no bigger problem. However, were that to happen, it would result in a battle no matter what, and eventually lead to casualties among the enemy soldiers.”

“I guess you’re right. Then, is it a bad idea to attack the enemy from behind?”

“Naga-san, how about me hiding inside the river water like previously?”

Naga looked at Nonoel with a surprised expression.

“Ah? Ahh, is that so?”

“I’ll enter the river from upstream, swim down it to the actual place, and wait on standby. Once Ais and the rest start their assault, I’ll threaten the enemy with my water magic. Firing some water spears should be enough to drive them away, I think, but…”

“I see. Using that method, even those trying to hold their ground will be scared off. That’s a good guarantee.”

Rather than just having his subordinates follow his orders, Naga appreciated those who could think and devise a plan on their own. That’s why, he greatly welcomed such a proposition.

Naga faced Nonoel and gave her the thumbs up.

“You came up with a great idea, Nonoel.”

Nonoel scratched her head while making an embarrassed grin.

“I, It isn’t a big deal, still….it’s somewhat of a deal.”

“She’s casually boasting of herself?!”

Both Kay and Yuuki bent a little backwards.
On the other hand, Naga’s expression turned a bit serious, as if being concerned by something.

“Surely, it’s a great idea, but Nonoel, aren’t you afraid of being spotted? If you were to be discovered, they would most likely attack you.”

“As long as I’m under the river, I can make myself hardly noticeable to the outside thanks to my magic. And once Ais and the rest commence their attacks, I don’t think the enemy will even consider watching over the river.”

“So you’re going to be all right? Then, let it be.”

Naga pointed at a single point of the Schweiz River on the map.

“I guess, Nonoel will station here.”

Lela wrote in Nonoel’s name on the map.

“In case the enemy doesn’t escape, it should be totally fine to pull a trick by showing them how numerous we are, but…”

Saying that, Naga turned his eyes in Harrigan and Vita’s direction.

“That much should probably do.”

“Umu, I see no problem.”

“If they do, we will just stick to our plan. What’s left to do are small and detailed matters, such as the deployment of the witches and things that we need to prepare.”

Like that, Naga and the witches concluded the preparatory meeting and tied up the last details of their strategy for capturing Ein fort.

=== Part 5 ===

The next day, both the Heindler and Sraymeyer clans advanced with their preparations.

And then, 10 days later.

The day for capturing the fort had finally arrived.

Ais, Kay, Naga, and Raibach approached near the right riverbank.

Even though the chance for the enemy to launch their arrows was slim, Kay, who took charge of protecting the others, was prepared for that instance.

Since Raibach wore a mantle and covered his face with a cloth, the enemy soldiers would perhaps not recognize him.

The reason why Raibach went to the frontline was due to him wanting to make sure of his troop.

“Going to the frontline carries a risk, you know.”

Naga stopped at this single warning, but nevertheless, Raibach doggedly opposed.

“No, you are going there as well, aren’t you? If so, it shouldn’t be that dangerous.”

“That’s because there are witches who will protect me. Still, in your case, they might not have enough hands, you see.”

“Well, when that comes, I’ll somehow manage it by myself.”

“If you’re fine with that, then I shall bring you with me. I do understand your feeling of wanting to see your subordinates safe.”

Like that, Naga brought Raibach with him after exchanging such a conversation.
Raibach’s sense of responsibility strengthened Naga’s belief about him being able to place his trust in Raibach.

A little distance behind Naga and Ais, there were Lela, Harrigan, and Vita waiting.
Just now, Yuuki who received Lela’s charms soared into the sky on her board.
Noticing a witch drawing near, the enemy troop that was guarding on the other side of the river started to make an uproar.

Naga, Ais, Kay, and Raibach, who were carrying baskets on their back put them down on the ground.
The inside of the baskets were overflowing with cobble.
A part of the troop, which noticed the quickest, climbed up the embankment and began shooting arrows. Nonetheless, due to a great distance separating both sides, the arrows would eventually land quite far in front of Naga and the rest.
Naga, who deemed they couldn’t be threatened by the enemy’s arrows, ordered his side to attack.

“Excellent, do it, Ais!”

Holding a cobble in her right hand, Ais raised her left leg overhead and bent her right arm.

Adding to her raised left leg, Ais’ right arm swung sharply forward together with her body.

Gohyuuu. – The cobble continued to fly with a sound tearing through the air.

Leaving a small gap, the cobble splashed on the surface near the opposite shore.
Ais, who finished the throw, regained her posture and measured the landing distance.

“Hm, I think just a little more.”

Muttering that, she grabbed another cobble

Byufuuu.

Again, the sound of tearing the air reverberated.
This time, a single cloud of dust appeared on the slope of the embankment.

“Ohhhh, Ais, that was a splendid throw.”

Soon after Naga raised an astonished voice, Kay clapped her hands.

“The enemy, they look surprised, surprised!”

“Ais, continue your throws just like that. If possible, aim for spots which are less crowded by soldiers.”

“Yes, I got that, but, it’s not achievable for me to aim without hitting any soldier, you know?”

“It can’t be helped, right? Raibach too, would probably not wish for that to happen.”

Ais took a short glimpse at Raibach’s direction.

“It should be enough as long you’re considerate.”

Hearing his reply, Ais felt relieved and picked up another cobble.

“Then, I shall continue.”

The cobbles continued to cut through the air with no intervals.

Paa, Paa, Paa – clouds of dust rose up here and there.

Even from this great distance, one could understand that the soldiers began to panic.
Since the cobble flew and sunk with a terrific power into the slope’s surface, it was guaranteed that the soldiers would consider them a life-threatening danger, were they to hit.

Should they fight back? Perhaps, with their arrows not reaching their target, it should better for them to escape? The soldiers loitered around, being unable to reach a conclusion. At that time, Yuuki, who took a detour, drew near with her hoverboard above their heads.
Noticing her charms being scattered by Yuuki, Lela began to cast a chant.
Following that, the charms began to flare up at once in the air.

Yuuki left the scene at full speed.
Looking up at a bunch of flames floating down from the air, the soldiers began to scream loudly.
Meanwhile, clouds of dust continued to appear on the slope’s surface.
Just when the enemy soldiers broke up in confusion, a large wave built up on the surface of the river.
Its height exceeded more than 3 meters. Despite its size being unusual, what was strange about the wave was that it elevated on the spot, instead of battering the shore. The large wave looked as though it was the neck of a water dragon that emerged from the water. As the neck started to move left and right in a manner if searching for its prey, the enemy soldiers were no longer able to endure. They threw away their bows and dodged each other while aiming for the opposite side of the embankment.

Immediately after that, the top of the embankment became clear of any soldier.

“Ais, just to make sure, I’d like you to make the cobble reach a bit further, near the other side of the embankment.”

Naga, Ais, Kay, and Raibach who were carrying the baskets on their backs covered a distance of more than 54 meters, after which they put down their baskets again.
Once more, Ais began to throw with the cobble.
No clouds of dust could be seen as the bank intercepted their view, however, it was certain, the cobble reached beyond the bank. Provided there were still some soldiers left, they would probably not wish to stay there any longer.

As the four of them continued to progress, the group that waited behind them moved too.
With his doubt of any possible arrow attack being cleared away, Naga summoned Selena and made her check the other side of the shore using her magic- Heaven’s Eye(?).

“It’s safe. At least, there’s no sign of enemy soldiers near the left bank.”

Excellent! – Naga clapped his hands after hearing her response.

“It’s just how I imagined. With this, a part of the guarding troop will run back to Ein Fort and inform their comrades about an attack coming from the witches. Ais, you can stop throwing cobble now.”

Being called out by Naga, Ais released the cobble in her hand and took a deep breath.

“As one would expect, even throwing constantly with all of your strength will make you a bit exhausted, won’t it?”

(Firing cobble in rapid succession at more than 270 meters, you call that a bit?)

“Is something wrong?”

“No, I just wanted to say ‘good work’.”

“I’m glad I was able to fulfill my duty.”

Ais made a pleasant smile.

Just then, Yuuki returned on her hoverboard.

“Yuuki!”

“What?”

“We’re going to cross the river. We can confirm the situation using Selena’s Heaven’s Eye, but just to be on the safe side, can you go ahead and check the opposite bank for us?”

“Well, if I’m told to do something, then I’ll do it.”

Once she stated so while hovering a little over a meter above the ground, Naga suddenly bowed down.

“I beg you, please do it.”

“Whaaa?!”

Yuuki, who bent backwards, nearly fell off from her board.

“You’re gross, so stop it! Speaking of which, don’t surprise people like that! What will you do if someone falls off because of that?!”

“No, no matter how you look at it, I can’t think of anyone dying from that height. To begin with, I only lowered my back and made a kind request. To think you would be startled by something like this, just what’s wrong?”

“I’m saying that such an attitude, doesn’t suit you.”

Saying that over her shoulder, Yuuki rose up and left on her board.
Naga, who smiled wryly, called out to Ais, Kay, and Selena.

“Let’s move to the other side.”

Naga & Co. progressed to the right bank while paying attention to their surroundings.
Immediately after, Harrigan and the others followed.

A group consisting of Naga and more than 10 witches linked up with Nonoel, who was waiting inside the river, and quickly proceeded to the left bank on the other side.
Nobody from the witches had received a single scratch, and no fallen soldiers were found.

One could say that Naga’s plan of capturing the fort without yielding any casualty was going smoothly.

=== Part 7 ===

The capture of Ein Fort was within hailing distance.
During that time, the soldiers who escaped back to the fort relayed the information about their patrol troop being scattered by the witches and about the enemy’s probable attempt of crossing over the river. Upon learning about that, the guards of Ein Fort partially fell into panic, however, not even Naga could have foreseen that far. Despite saying so, Selena was able to confirm some of the guards located at a watchtower becoming restless.

(Looks like we won’t have to seize all the enemy soldiers. Even apprehending half of them should probably be enough to make the rest run away on their own.)

Is what Naga thought.

Just as he predicted, they managed to clear out the north side of the fort.
So as to inform other companions about this part being clear, as well as to show off to their enemy, Naga and the rest hoisted a blatant flag that was prepared beforehand.
The flag had a pattern drawn on it that was once used for the united kingdom of the witches.
With the flag depicting the forces of the witches being supposedly visible, there’s no doubt about their enemy considering that as a deployment of the witches.

(The strategy this time is especially difficult, isn’t it? Still, the wind is already blowing in our favor. I see no other option than to attack the fort and take it down just as we planned. Yet if a problem arises, will we be able to seize the fort without producing any sacrifice? I guess this is what worries me the most.)

Naga and the rest of the witches took their posts and waited for the right chance.

=== Part 8 ===

Ais launched her attack of cobble throwing, whereas Yuuki carried Lela’s charms on her hoverboard atop Ein fort.
As they were attracting the guards’ attention, Kay, who used that momentum to solidify her body, run up to the fort’s walls while wearing a mantle and holding a shield for protecting against arrows.
The reason why Kay held the shield even though she could reach the place without getting harmed was so as to keep the arrows away from Elysione, who would be defenseless while she was coming out of the mantle. Nevertheless, it was a needless worry as the enemy soldiers came off the fort’s watchtower without trying to shoot down the running Kay, and escaped inside. There was also a chance that most of those soldiers left the fort behind.

“That’s, a big letdown, isn’t it?”

Muttering those words, Kay put down the shield and spread out the mantle she was entrusted with by Elysione on the ground.
The location of that was right at the bottom middle of the wall near the east side of the fort.
Kay, who stood up, raised her shield overhead just to ensure there was no attack coming.
Following that, the top of Elysione’s head, which stuck out from a hole, began to rise gradually.

“Yuck! It really looks like as though you’re welling up. Indeed, an obscene magic.”

Because Elysione, whose face was half submerged, gazed at Kay with a glaring look, the latter averted her eyes hurriedly.
Taking the opportunity of that, Kay looked around.

As one would expect, there was not a single sign of the enemy in the surroundings.

(Should you say it’s a letdown or no response coming from the enemy? Well, still, they were done in by us previously, so perhaps, this is just bound to happen. I see, this is what Naga-san meant by saying ‘The wind is already blowing in our favor. Capturing the fort might turn out unexpectedly quick’. At first, I was only half-convinced about that, but, seeing how smoothly this plan is going, it appears that person was right.)

Kay had been taught that the result of a battle didn’t just amount to the battlefield. Depending on the winning side and losing side, further battles would be affected as well.

At the time Kay was looking aside, Elysione continued to rise up little by little from the inside of her mantle.
Finally, once the top of her head reached higher than Kay’s, she stopped ascending. In other words, Elysione’s body fully appeared from the inside of the mantle. That being said, Vita’s appearance also emerged from the inside.

*thud* – While Kay was putting herself on guard, a shock ran through her body.

“…! So heavyy.”

Kay, who threw away her shield tried to keep the balance of her several times heavier body by putting more strength into her feet. however, being unable to stand firmly, she kneeled down on one knee.

What came next were voices of screaming and anger heard from the guards, from the fort’s interior. Nevertheless, they quickly turned into sounds of groaning.

“Even though we made thorough preparations, it’s still messy like this? Still, there’s no doubt… about the soldiers inside being….. unable to move.”

In fact, it happened just like that.
As soon as Yuuki watched from the above of the fort, she noticed every single soldier lying on the ground. Some of them were crawling, others – lying on their belly, and yet, other ones – lying face up.

One could see them struggling while trying to move their bodies, but nonetheless, far from being able to stand up, the soldiers had a hard time even crawling.

Yuuki clapped her hands and laughed without realizing it.

“Somehow, it looks like birds being trapped in birdlime.”

As far as she could see from above, there were no soldiers standing and moving.

“Well then, eat this!”

Rapidly descending down on her board, Yuuki tossed something above the heads of the soldiers who were lying in a crowd.
The thing she had released spread out in the air and continued to fall on top of the soldiers.

“Uwaa, what’s this?!”

“A, a net?”

What spread out greatly from overhead was a solidly knitted net.
Crawling on all fours while desperately fighting against their weight, the soldiers could neither ward off or pass through the net. Even if they tried to crawl out from under it, the net would just wind together.

Yuuki moved to the next spot and released another net in the same manner

With the number of enemy entwined in nets increasing, the open space in the fort’s interior became buried with soldiers that were unable to move. the situation looked as though miserable fishes were caught in a big haul and pulled up on land.

Yuuki flew out of the fort and returned back to others, who were waiting upon outside the range of Vita’s magic. There, she picked up Nonoel and hovered again.

“Two people riding is surely quite the load. It makes my control of wind more complicated, and thus, harder to launch the hoverboard.”

As she complained while desperately trying to operate the hoverboard, Nonoel, who was holding onto Yuuki’s waist, apologized.

“I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s not that bad since you’re quite light. Were it to be Ais, it would be much more troublesome. I would probably be unable to hov…..”

Kooo!

The board swayed from a shock caused by something passing next to them with a frightening power.

“Eeeekk?”

Yuuki, who somehow managed to keep the balance of the board, raised up her eyes and looked around, after which, she noticed Ais’ appearance entering her view. Ais, who had just finished her throw, regained her posture.

“Wait, Ais, what are you doing?! If I get hit with a cobble, won’t my hoverboard turn into dust and splinters?!”

Yuuki let her voice as if objecting.

“Yuuki, Nonoel, do your best, okay?!”

With a smile on her face, she waved her left hand. However, Nonoel couldn’t overlook another cobble in Ais’ right hand.

Nonoel who broke into a cold sweat tapped Yuuki’s back.

“Y, Yuuki, escape fas….no, let’s fly over the, fort and finish our task.”

“R, Right!”

Yuuki controlled the unsteady board and moved back above the fort.
Nonoel, who looked down at the scene below, raised her voice in admiration.

“Uwaa, Vita-san’s magic is, amazing, isn’t it?”

The top of the ground was full of soldiers putting up a resistance and struggling in vain, trying to move themselves hopelessly, despite being entwined in nets.

“Don’t just admire, quickly do what you’re supposed to! I have a hard time controlling this board with the two of us!”

“Ah, understood. I’ll do it right away.”

As Nonoel was forming an incantation, moisture started to gather in the air.
And a rain fell constantly without having to wait long.
Once the sky was filled with enough rain to soak the ground, Yuuki returned with her board and put Nonoel down. After that, she gave a ride to one of the witches from Sraymeyer’s clan, named Lilly, hovered back to her previous spot.

=== Part 9 ===

Yuuki felt a bit anxious as she had no experience in transporting other witches. However, because Lilly had a small physique, steering the board wasn’t as difficult as what she had initially thought.
The moment they both reached their destination, Lilly began to chant her incantation while clapping her hands numerous of times.

“The hand whose god’s words echoes, the radiance born from the god. Prostrate, prostrate. Shine, become angry, run down. Oh furious God of thunder, pass down your judgement on this hill, pass it down on this hill. Come, come, come.”

And then,
A small flash of lightning ran down from the sky into the ground.

“Gyaaaaaaa”

Screams and shouts coming from electrocuted soldiers echoed here and there.
the flash of lighting kept running down numerous times.
And each time, a scream would be raised.
In addition to every soldier wearing metal armor and being soaked with rain created by Nonoel, not a single one of them could avoid getting electrocuted.
After the very last flash, not a single soldier seemed to be moving.

Yuuki waved with her hand so as to give a signal to others.
Kay, who saw that while stretching out her neck, shouted.

“Vita-san, it seems to be over!”

Shortly thereafter, Kay could suddenly sense her body becoming light again. Despite that, she had the feeling her body lost half of its weight.

“Uwaa, my body feels lighttt.”

Feeling that she was able jump over the wall, Kay leaped with all her might. Unfortunately, her body didn’t reach even 1.35 meters.

“As expected, my body returned back to its original weight, eh?”

Once she muttered so, Kay approached Elysione and brought a mantle, the hem of which she coiled into a roll.

“Vita-san, here.”

What Kay held out toward her was a small sized, makeshift mantle for Vita who stayed inside Elysione’s mantle to bear with for the time being.(?)

“I appreciate your efforts.”

Vita, who reached out her hands and received the mantle, creeped inside of it.
At that time, Elysione stood around with a stern expression, making it seem weird to Kay.

Finally, as Vita finished putting it on her, she crawled out from Elysione’s mantle.

The little witch adjusted her breathing and turned around to Elysione.

“Well then, you can go now, Elysione.”

“Yes, Mother!”

Elysione placed her foot on Vita’s held out palms and made a big leap.
It looked like the petite Vita wouldn’t be able to throw her largely built daughter into the air; nevertheless, Elysione gently whirled up into the sky as though she had feathers and jumped over the wall.

“Wow, incredible!”

“Do you want to leap as well?”

“Is that okay with you? Aren’t you tired?”

“My power won’t be exhausted by this much.”

“Is that so? In other words, is it fine for me to harden my body just like this?”

“I don’t mind. Jump on my palms.”
[[File:Naga03 Illus-06.jpg|200px|thumbnail|right]]
“Well then, I’m going”

Kay, who was about to leap with all her might touched Vita’s palms with the back of her heels.
Soon after that, she could truly feel her body rapidly losing its weight. No, rather than ‘rapidly losing’, it felt more like it had no weight at all.
Moving her palms casually, Vita released Kay into the air.
And her body floated high into the air.

Soaring high in the air like this, Kay wondered whether or not she was dreaming. Obviously, shortly after she passed over the wall, Kay’s body returned to its original weight just like an illusion.
Vita’s magic can reduce one’s body weight, however, as soon the effect runs out, the weight will return to its previous state.

“Ooopps”

Kay adjusted her posture in a hurry and prepared for the landing.
Since she could feel her weight returning back gradually, rather than spontaneously, there didn’t…. seem to be any worry about Kay crashing headfirst against the ground.
Holding the ground firmly with the back of her heels, Kay absorbed the impact from the landing by folding her knees.
By the time she extended her legs, her body weight had returned back completely.

“Hmm, this is….. a somewhat enjoyable magic indeed.”

Kay, who thought about that optimistically looked around her surroundings.
There were soldiers lying everywhere in lumps. Several, or perhaps, a dozen of them, were trapped inside nets while being unconscious.

“It’s most likely due to them being hit by thunderbolts.”

Kay approached one of the soldiers and peeked inside his eyes. Without having to check, it was clear both his armor and clothes were wet.

“I guess it’s because of them getting soak that the thunderbolts were so effective. It doesn’t look like they’re going to wake up anytime soon. Despite that, it will be trouble if they wake up by any chance, so, shouldn’t I quickly make sure they don’t?”

Kay took stakes attached to a net in her hand and knocked them into the ground using her hardened fist.

Once she plugged them deeply into the ground on all 4 sides of the net, Kay stood up and checked its firmness by pulling.

“Hm, I think it’s okay. Even if some of these soldiers wake up and struggle, they shouldn’t be able to come out.”

Moving from net to net, she continued to fix them with stakes.

While she was doing so, the other witches also crossed over the fort’s walls one after another and began to go around its interior in small groups.

=== Part 10 ===

“Thanks for your hard work, Kay.”

Kay turned around at Ais’ praise.

Today, because their plan was to embark on Ein fort, Ais put on leather armor on top of her thin garments as it had a lower effect on her magic than metal armor. Even if it was true, the leather armor merely covered the minimum number of places, revealing as much of her skin as usual.

Will that really increase her protection? – The first time Naga saw that armor, he wanted to retort unintentionally that way.

(Back in my world, people would supposedly go to the battlefield…. fully armored. Certainly, this feels off somehow. Well, it’s probably still better than wearing nothing, so…)

But considering that matter again, Naga restrained himself from retorting.

“Ais, you did a great job too, right?!”

“It appears that the remaining soldiers have already made off from the fort, doesn’t it? The exploration of this building isn’t over yet, but at least, I can’t spot any of them still moving.”

“How about Hari-nee and Naga-san?”

“We’ve just opened the gate, so they should be here soon, together with Raibach as well.”

“You mean it? Speaking of which,”

Kay looked frequently at Ais’ body.

“Ais, don’t tell me you also got over the wall thanks to Vita-san’s magic?”

Ais tilted her head while smiling cheerfully.

“Ara? Kay-chan, what do you mean by ‘don’t tell me’? I’m trying to figure out your ‘don’t tell me’, but, you don’t mean to say something like ‘No matter how strong Vita-san’s magic is, don’t tell me that someone as massive as Ais could fly through the air’, right?”

Kay realized her dull gaffe, however, it was too late to take it back. With her knees becoming wobbly, Kay shook her head energetically from side to side.

“O, o, o, o, o, o, obviously not. Not even for a moment did that idea cross my mind.”

“…Is that so? Then, what’s the meaning behind the ‘don’t tell me’ just now?”

Wrapping her right first with her left palm, Ais inserted more power into her left hand while making a grin. *knuckle knuckle* – the joints in her right hand’s fingers generated a loud sound like that.

“I, still need to put more stakes, so let’s talk some other time, okay….?”

Kay ran away from the place just like a startled hare.

As Ais stared at Kay’s distancing back, Naga’s voice reached Ais from her back.

“Yo Ais, good work.”

Once she turned around, there were Naga and Harrigan standing there. Naga had his armor put on him, whereas, Harrigan used the same, small leather armor similar to Ais’ one. Behind them, Raibach, who wore a mantle with his face covered with cloth, stood. It wasn’t clearly visible due to the mantle, but, his hands were supposedly tied up. Originally, there should’ve probably been no need for worry as one couldn’t feel the slightest intention of escaping coming from Raibach.

“Naga-san, and Ane-sama too, thank you for your hard work.”

Soon after she replied like that, Harrigan nodded down as if being content.

“It looks like we nicely managed to capture the fort.”

“Right I wouldn’t have thought it would be this easy. As expected of Naga-san’s splendid tactic.”

“It wasn’t that much. That’s because the flow of this battle was already decided. Reversely, the enemy was prepared to flee from the very beginning, so I didn’t consider this plan to be that difficult.”

(Being, able to read the flow of a battle is a feat that we, the witches, cannot recreate. However, in this man’s case, pulling it off this lightly is something of a big deal.)

Harrigan greatly admired Naga inside her heart.

Not being aware of Harrigan’s thoughts, Naga ran his eyes over Ais’ whole body.

“More importantly, Ais, to think you would also be able to leap into the air thanks to Vita’s….”

Ais suddenly stomped against the floor and pushed out her right hand with unnoticeable speed.

“magi-gubooabaah?!”

Her fist sunk into Naga’s armor. Despite him wearing one, a large impact hit his stomach.
As soon as Ais calmly withdrew her right hand, Naga fell down with a thud to both his knees. His lower back bent so much that his forehead almost touched the surface of the floor. While holding his stomach, Naga slightly groaned and said.

“W…What are you doing out of sudd…en”

“I have no idea.”

Ais puffed her cheeks in discontent and walked away at a brisk pace.

“O, Oi, Dragon King, are you alright?”

Raibach called out to him in a concerned tone, but Naga lifted up his right hand so as to calm him down.

“Yea… I’ll manage it somehow……”

Harrigan exhaled a big sigh.

“Naga, shouldn’t you be a bit more considerate toward girls?”

“No, that was just a little…. joke, but well.”

“That’s why, I’m telling you that the other party might interpret it like this if you intend to make jokes.”

“Y, You mean it? Got it. I shall be more careful from now on.”

Holding his stomach, Naga grit his teeth and stood up.

“Still, that girl, Ais, to think she would hit me this seriously.”

The moment he complained, Harrigan looked at him pitifully.

“Perhaps not. Were she to get serious, she would’ve probably made a hole in both your armor and stomach, or maybe, pulverize all the bones in your body”

“No… way. For real?”

Naga thought he should be more careful from now on.

“Let’s leave that matter aside. We’ve brought down the fort, so starting from today, it’s our property. Should we walk around and check out its interior?”

I guess you’re right – Naga took an extensive view and nodded down in agreement, but,

“…….no, before doing so, we should first remove the armaments from the apprehended soldiers. I’ll have the scouting group check the building, whereas the rest of the members will progress with the removal of the armaments.”

“And more precisely, how should we do it?”

“Firstly, we will gather everyone in a single spot and remove nets from them one by one. We’re going to take away the armaments from those who regain their consciousness before doing the same with unconscious ones. All the stuff will be carried and put in the open space before the gate. By the time we are done, those who have become aware of the situation will try to escape on their own. As for the unconscious people, we will wake them up and tell them it’s okay to flee. They will most likely do the remaining thing.”

Harrigan furrowed her eyebrows and asked to confirm something.

“About the unconscious soldiers, shouldn’t it be better to place them in front of the gate?”

“True, it might be faster for their informed comrades to call out to them. With that, the soldiers should actually learn they were spared and released by the witches. Okay then, Harrigan, won’t you call others?”

“Understood. Lela!”

Nodding down deeply, Harrigan ordered Lela, who had tagged along with them, to raise a smoke signal.
Following that, a green-colored smoke arose from burned charms, after which the witches appeared in succession.

=== Part 11 ===

Naga and Harrigan gave quick instructions to the gathered witches from Harrigan’s clan. Soon after, the clan of Sraymeyer joined in, after their leader arrived at Naga’s spot, and helped with the removal of the enemy’s armaments.
Several of the soldiers had already run away after regaining consciousness. On the other hand, the still unconscious ones were transported to the open space before the fort’s gate using a cart brought from a warehouse. The one to pull it was obviously Ais, but, Naga decided to go through a bit of a trouble so as to motivate her.

Finally, being able to soothe Ais’ anger and encourage her to pull the cart, Naga thought.

(Yes, being considerate is serious matter. Especially, toward girls.)

Such was his strengthened belief.

=== Part 12 ===

The time for commencement of the tactic took place in the morning; nonetheless, the sun was already heading west. It was still too early for dusk, and shadows of watchtowers and other buildings inside the fort were still of considerable length, however, it was quite dark.

A big and a small half-moon resurfaced on a blue sky, close to the ground, while shining with a dim light.
Naga’s voice echoed through the open space located before the gate, at the north side of the fort.

“Oh, you guys are awoke? Once you regain your mobility it’s okay for you to escape.”

At his voice, some of the awake soldiers pointed their nervous sights at Naga, and then, looked around with a frightened expression. A dozen of the witches were surrounding them with the intention of guarding.
The soldiers trembled with fear as they felt they were caught by the witches.

“Oi, what’s the matter? I’m telling you it’s fine to escape. Speaking of which, it will be meddlesome if you don’t leave quickly.”

For some reason, an armored man was ordering them from atop a footstool in a self-important manner.

(Why is there a man among the witches?)

(Who’s that guy?)

The soldiers looked at each other’s face with a strange expression while whispering together.

“You don’t feel like running away? Then, shall you become slaves of the witches? Or perhaps, you would prefer to be sliced off here?”

The strange looking man pulled out his strange looking sword. At its sight, the soldiers came back to their senses and remembered their fear.

“Uwaaaaaaa!”

One of them stood up abruptly and ran off in a tumbling manner.
Following him, the rest of the soldiers who had regained their consciousness did the same one after another.
As this kept repeating, the number of the enemy reduced to half.
In the end, those remaining asleep would be waken up against their will by tapping and shaking, and set free as if being shooed away.
Only 20 people consisting of officers and vice-officers were left in the open space. Some of them who had been selected from the rest had their hands and legs bound together. Classifying them as commanding officers was an easy task since Raibach was present there.
In front of the remaining people, Naga got on the footstool and raised his voice.
He sheathed his sword back into his scabbard, put down its tip on the footstool, and placed his hands together on the sword’s pommel.

“How about this, you scoundrels. You have probably learned of the witches’ strength, right? Now that you’re apprehended like this, it’s fine to say your lives are in hands of the witches.”

Eeek?! – Some of the soldiers raised a shriek and turned stiff.

“But, fret not. We won’t be taking away your lives!”

At Naga’s loud and remarkable voice, the soldiers who tensed their bodies sighed with relief.

“Instead, we’re going to set you free!”

Naga, who cut off his words here, looked out over their faces.
Once he confirmed all the soldiers were holding their breath while concentrating their gazes on him, Naga once again raised his voice loudly.

“The reason why you scoundrels are caught is the result of you trying to attack and dispossess the witches from their land. You could say you reaped what you sowed, but, the witches are merciful this time, and therefore, your foolish act shall be ignored. Got it? You bastards are saved thanks to the benevolent and compassionate witches! You better engrave that in your hearts! And then, once you have learned your lesson, don’t you ever dare to fight them again!”

They watched Naga with a doubtful, or rather, a strange expression. Nevertheless, many of them nodded down enthusiastically.

“I’m going to release you at once. Does anyone have any questions?”

He observed them once more with his composed attitude. And then, a single soldier timidly lifted his hand.

“I allow you to speak. So, what do you want?”

As soon as Naga pointed the tip of his scabbard toward that person, the man straightened up with fear. However, he quickly pulled himself together and asked.

“Y…..You seem to be affiliated with the witches, but, just who on earth are you?”

Naga directed his cold gaze at the soldier who asked. Because of that, the man felt his body going numb and becoming sweaty.

“You’re asking me who I am? That’s a good question. I’m, well, I wonder about that, you see.”

At his vague reply, the man darted his eyes about; nevertheless, Naga carried on.

“I don’t exactly know who I am, but for now, I’m being referred to as this by the witches:”

Leaving a break in his speech, he continued.

“Naga [written as Dragon King]”

The soldiers exchanged looks with each other and buzzed noisily.

“I don’t care if you want to inquire who I am, but more importantly, shouldn’t you focus on how to return safely? Since we won’t give you back the confiscated weapons, you better be careful on your way back to your city so as not to encounter wild animals or bandits.”

Hearing Naga’s words, all of them came back to their senses.

“I will repeat it just once, but, make sure you remember this generous treatment as you won’t be forgiven the next time you’re caught. If that happens, you will probably have your stomach split open, your blood poured out, or your internal organs eaten while you are still alive. Got it!?”

“Eeek?!…”

“Understoodddd!”

The soldiers prostrated themselves with a pale face; nonetheless, Harrigan and the witches from her clan looked dissatisfied.
Drawing out his sword, Naga came near to the enemy.
Once he stood next to them who trembled with fear, Naga cut off ropes binding their limbs.
Having finished doing so, he pointed the tip of his sword toward the gate.

“Hey, you can go now.”

Despite him telling them, nobody moved with their body.
Is he going to slash me from behind the moment I try to escape? – is what they doubted.

“What’s wrong, aren’t you going to run away? If you bastards don’t want to, then perhaps we should work you to death as slaves of the witches….”

“Uwaaaaaa!”

A single person screamed loudly while dashing out. The remaining soldiers understood that as a sign and dashed off one after another.

Naga shouted behind their backs.

“If you return back safely, you may tell your families about how humane the witches are!”

However, it wasn’t clear whether or not his words reached their ears, as they all went at full speed toward the gate without looking behind, just like startled hares.

=== Part 13 ===

By the time the soldiers disappeared, Naga called together Harrigan and Vita.

“It’s regarding what we intend to do from now on, but……. speaking of which, even though we managed to capture the fort, why do you look this displeased?”

“I wonder if it’s not due to your way of speaking, Naga. With what you had said before, didn’t you give them the wrong impression about us?”

Harrigan gazed at him.
Her abundant, bluish black hair that wriggled in the air looked fearsome.

“Good grief. It’s not nice to speak about us in a way that makes us look like beasts sucking humans’ blood and eating their live flesh, you know?”

Vita was in bad mood as well.
Even if the witches got angry, their appearance shouldn’t have been enough for Naga to be as afraid as he was towards Harrigan right now. Nevertheless, having already learned how frightening their magic is, he hurriedly shook his hands in front of them.

“No no, I just told the soldiers a lie so as to make them feel scared. Look, don’t people say ‘the end justifies the means’?”

“…….Do they?”

Naga suddenly lost his self-confidence as both Harrigan and Vita looked at him with doubtful eyes.

“Eh? Umm yes…I believe this is what people used to say, but…”

“Is this a part of your lost memories?”

“It looks to be so, I guess. Sometimes, these sorts of proverbs will jump into my mind.”

Because he made a bit of a miserable face, neither Harrigan nor Vita felt inclined to press him any further. With that, Naga was released from a difficult situation.

“Then, what are you going to do now, Naga?”

Naga who sighed with a relief inside his heart first looked at both of them.

“We will survey the exterior. Selena will check the nearby surroundings, whereas, Yuuki will explore the main road. After all, I want to confirm whether or not all the soldiers managed to run away, or if some of them are still left hiding.”

“Umu, I’ll take care of the preparations.”

Harrigan replied.

“And after that, we should inspect the interior, especially, what’s inside the warehouse.”

“Fumu. Then, shall we entrust Ais with that task?”

Saying so, she turned around toward Ais.

“Yes, leave it to me”

“Is there anything else we need to do?”

“That’s right. There’s a chance that the Kasandora Kingdom will try to retrieve this place. About that, we better strengthen this fort’s defense. Still, I don’t think it will happen any time sooner, so we don’t have to worry for today.”

“Naga, what are the chances for their army to come and strike at us?”

It felt as though some tension showed through in Harrigan’s questioning voice.
Since Harrigan gave off that impression, it wasn’t impossible for the witches around here to display anxiety and tension on their faces.

“Adding up their defeat at the Schweiz River, today as well, they were quickly deprived of their fort, you see. Is their commanding officer(General?) willing to carry out another battle? More importantly, will their soldiers feel inclined to fight? Considering those facts, I don’t think they will quickly decide on recapturing this fort, you see.”

After hearing his answer, some of the witches felt relieved.
Naga, who looked at them with a side glance, gave a warning.

“However, we can’t rest assured. There are probably other enemies besides the Kasandora Kingdom, right?”

Fumu, indeed that’s true. – Vita nodded in agreement.

“With them losing a majority of their war potential, it can also mean…. that other countries will move with ease.”

“Sooner or later, I’d like to hear more about other sides’ military strength in comparison with this one here.”

“Umu, that’s fine.”

“We can tell you anytime.”

“Well, enough of that. We have yet to do the most important thing for today.”

“Oh? There’s still something left?”

“Oi oi, Harrigan, don’t tell me you’ve already forgotten. We are victorious, we’ve captured Ein fort without sustaining any damage. In that case, there’s one thing we ought to do.”

Harrigan and Vita looked at each other while wondering what it could be.
The witches around them also tilted their heads at Naga’s words.

“Good grief, you surely are slow, aren’t you?”

Naga, who shook his head, drew out his sword and raised it high.

“When it comes to this, we ought to shout from victory and hold a banquet!”

“Ohh, you mean that?”

“I see. Certainly, we can’t omit this part.”

Both Naga and Vita nodded in agreement, and other witches expressed their approval as they became radiant, clapped their hands, and stamped with their feet.

=== Part 14 ===

(Oh my, indeed, this person is a big fish. As expected of someone who’s referred to as the Dragon King.)

While the witches were filled with enthusiasm, Raibach watched Naga with deep admiration on his face.

(Just as he said, they managed to capture the fort without producing any casualty on the side of the guards. Surely, he was neither boasting or making a random speech as a temporary measure.)

Being able to see lots of familiar faces escaping safely, Raibach felt a great relief and admiration. He was amazed and deeply astonished at Naga’s actual leadership ability.

(Perhaps, this person is really capable of creating a world where both humans and the witches can live together. If such a world comes true, there may no longer be any harsh and miserable war, I guess.)

The face of his young child resurfaced in his mind.

(That’s right. I wonder if we could save more pitiful children like her.)

Raibach, began to think he wanted to see a world like that.
Therefore, he also started to think if there was anything he could do.

=== Part 15 ===

The witches began to make merry, but as soon as Naga left some words to Harrigan, he took Raibach and moved together with him to a separate room.
One could say it was his method of being considerate so as not to spoil the fun of the witches and let them feel at home when there were no men around.

Sorry for this. – Having sensed his intention, Harrigan lowered her head.
Naga smiled and lifted his right hand.

“Don’t fret. This won’t be our last victory banquet. Rather, there will be plenty more occasions like this one, you see.”

“I’ll bring you some alcohol and appetizer.”

“Oh, please do so.”

Saying this, both Naga and Raibach left to a smaller room and prepared to drink in silence.

=== Part 16 ===

“Why, didn’t you run away?”

Naga threw such a question at Raibach while holding his wine cup filled with grape wine inside. However, since a moment ago, he would just limit himself with tasting it.
Naga restrained himself to this way of drinking, not due to him disliking the taste, but because of him being aware he was weak towards alcohol.
On the other hand, Raibach emptied his metal wine cup many times, as if being good at drinking.

“No, asking me why is…”

Putting down the wine cup on the floor, Raibach looked at Naga with a slightly red-face.

“I’m your prisoner. Wouldn’t you kill me, were I to run away at my own convenience?”

“Back then, you probably saw me releasing all the captives, right? I planned to let you go too, but well. Had you slipped into the crowd with your friends and escaped, I would have neither chased you nor have any complaint, although the witches might have said something, but…”

“Is that so? So I could just run away? I didn’t consider that far.”

In Raibach’s tone no remorse or disappointment was felt, which was a bit unexpected for Naga.

“What’s wrong? It feels as though you couldn’t care less about that.”

“Ah, well, perhaps you could say so. Anyway, I no longer have a family left.”

“You mean it? Then, what are your plans from now on? If you remain like this, you will end as a slave of the witches. I’ve got the feeling that neither you nor the witches would wish for something unpleasant as that. As expected, maybe I should seize the opportunity and release you.”

As Naga said that, Raibach directed a serious look at him.

“Hey, Dragon King.”

“What? Why are you being formal?”

“I wonder if you can make me into your subordinate.”

At his words, Naga opened his eyes slightly wide.

“Are you serious?”

“Uh, no, how should I put it…. I’m not even sure myself about that.”

Was Raibach, who replied, mocking himself or hiding his embarrassment? Perhaps, he was filled with something else? Somehow, a smile with mixed feelings appeared on his face.

Naga talked to such a Raibach in a nice and cold manner.

“Becoming my subordinate would mean, at the same time, being on the side of the witches, i.e., becoming an ally of your god’s enemy. In other words, you too will be considered as one and fight against humans as ‘god’s enemy’. Are you okay with that?”

“To begin with, I wasn’t much of a fanatical believer. What’s more…..”

Raibach reached out his hand toward the cup and brought it near his mouth, after which, he drank up the remaining wine in one go.

*Sigh* – Once he exhaled and put the cup back down, Raibach carried on as he made eye contact with Naga.

“I don’t plan on becoming a subordinate of the witches, but you. That is to say, Dragon King’s underling.”

“That would probably be the same. After all, I’ve befriended the witches, which makes me an enemy of humans. As expected, by becoming my underling, and therefore, an ally of the witches, you would turn humanity into your enemy?”

At Naga’s remark, Raibach shook his head from side to side composedly.

“No, it’s certainly not the same. At least, this is what I believe.”

A shade of confusion appeared on Naga’s face for the first time.

“……What do you mean?”

“Simply serving Dragon King doesn’t make me a subordinate of the witches. Even if I’m to work for them, in the end, it’s Dragon King who’s giving them orders. Now that I think about that, don’t I sound like making an excuse to myself?”

Haha – Hearing his words, Naga laughed.

“That’s indeed an unexpected quibble coming from you.”

“I don’t particularly mind, so it’s fine. Didn’t you say before that the end justifies the means?”

“Yeah, I think that’s what I said.”

“What’s more, there’s no reason for me to tell you a lie. Since my youth, I’ve been constantly serving in the army, so I’ve gained a mass of experience. Back then, I used to fight with the witches, but the majority of my battles were against other human soldiers.”

*Chuckle* – Raibach chuckled under his nose.

“Human have been killing each other in the name of god. Regardless of whether they were humans or the witches, I-, we, would continue to swing with swords, shoot arrows, kill our enemy, and die from their hands. There would be no time for us to ponder on things like who was our enemy or what was right in what we did. Just as being told, we would pick our weapons and fight for survival. That’s it. If you order me to pick a weapon and fight your enemy, then it’s no different from what I’ve been doing until now.”

As soon as he paused after speaking loudly in one breath, Raibach scratched his head as if feeling a bit shy.

“…..Guess I’ve made another excuse to myself.”

“You mean it?” – Naga, who replied, fixed his gaze upon Raibach.

Was it due to him being unable to endure the pressure coming from Naga’s sight? Raibach extended his hand and poured more red liquid into his cup.

The moment he brought the cup near to his mouth, Naga uttered with dignity.

“Fine, got it. I shall make you into my underling.”

Raibach’s face rose up energetically and looked as though brimming with expectations.

“For real?!”

“I’m not lying, but, let me ask you once again.”

Standing up while having a grave expression, Naga looked down at Raibach and said:
[[File:Naga03 Illus-07.jpg|200px|thumbnail|right]]
“By becoming my underling you agree to fight against the humans til my vision of the new world is fulfilled. Perhaps, there will be another battle waiting after the previous one. You’re telling me you can continue to swing your sword at humans, right? And endure slanders such as being labeled as ‘god’s enemy’, right?”

“Y, Yes.”

“I’m going to tell you this, but, it’s not like I’ll always resort to this type of kindhearted fighting style, you see? This time, I only saved all of your comrades because I deemed it would serve a purpose in the future. On the other hand, if I consider killing them all to be more convenient, then I may not hold back, you know?”

At Naga’s sharp glint in his eyes and intimidating air overflowing from his body, Raibach felt an unintentional urge to move back while he was sitting. Nevertheless, he somehow endured that and strained his voice.

“Y….Yes, I don’t care about that.”

The fighting spirit dwelling inside of Naga suddenly disappeared.

“Understood. I’ll make you into my subordinate, therefore, work your fingers to the bone for my sake.”

After that, Naga gave a broad smile.

“That’s because I properly reward those who serve me.”

Naga was pleased. He hadn’t thought he would be able to make a subordinate this quick.

He, who possessed an eye for anticipating the future, had a premonition that his subordinates would become a breakthrough for realizing his plan.

Raibach faced toward the smiling Naga and bowed down instinctively.

“I, I’m looking forward to working with you.”

“If that’s settled, we shall let the witches now about you becoming my underling. Follow me.”

Being in good mood and in high spirits, Naga took Raibach along with him and left the room.

=== Part 17 ===

“Oi, Harrigan, there’s something I’d like to discuss with….”

Once Naga and Raibach stepped inside a large room where the merrymaking of the witches had been held, most of the witches were drunk and dancing while being naked.

“Eh?”

“Ah….”

As soon as the witches noticed Naga and Raibach, they ceased their dancing and singing, and a strange, or rather, ominous silence dominated in the room.

“Umm, we will be back later.”

“I, I guess it’s much better that way.”

Naga and Raibach turned right with stiff faces as they planned to leave at a quick pace. Despite that,

The moment they stepped out with one foot, their bodies turned instantly heavy, making them stumble.

“Uooooh?”

Raibach and Naga recovered back their weight immediately after falling on their knees.
They both tried to stand up hurriedly and break up, however, they couldn’t make it in time as the witches were already surrounding them.

“You have some guts to peek at us and think you can get away with that, don’t you, Naga?”

Harrigan, whose hair went around in circles, was nude.

“Geez, Naga-san, as expected, it should’ve been better to gouge out your eyes, right?”

Ais, who pushed out her hands, was naked as well.

“I think gouging out their eyes is too clement for them. It would be better for us if we cut off both their legs and arms so that they can’t peek again.”

The air surrounding Yuuki jumbled together and her 2 bundles of long hair fluttered. Obviously, she too was naked.

“I shall burn the-m. So that not a single trace of them remain-s.”

Lela, who held a charm in her hand, was nude as well.

“How about punching? Punching them to death? Until all their bones are completely broken? Haaaaa!”

Putting up her fist, which released its metallic gloss, Kay too was nude. Not just her fist but also her whole body – including her nipples as well – was radiating with a metallic luster. Should one describe that as strange or perhaps uncanny? Either way, it was a mysterious view.

“I think drowning them to death will be the most painful method.”

While expanding and contracting lumps of red liquid in the air – most likely grape wine – Nonoel approached in a staggering manner. She too was naked.

“Kukuku, so you wanted to see me naked that badly, Dragon King? If so, you should have come and made a request like a real man in front of me. To think you would peek on me sneakily like that, it’s indeed a disgrace even for someone known as the Dragon King.”

Placing her hand on her waist and bending her chest backward, Vita laughed while being naked like the rest.
Originally, if a girl was to bend backward, there would be clear unevenness protruding, however, in Vita’s case, none could be found.

The other witches, who looked much the same as the previous ones, or perhaps less, surrounded Naga and Raibach in multitude – although it wasn’t such a great number – while looking at them with an ominous light dwelling inside their eyes.

“Oi, you girls, come back to your senses! To begin with, I wasn’t the one to peek. It was you who showed me your appearance!”

Despite Naga criticizing and objecting, no truth nor justice would reach someone who was drunk.

“He’s making excuses, isn’t he[[User:Darkdhaos|Darkdhaos]] ([[User talk:Darkdhaos|talk]])?”

“He’s evading, right[[User:Darkdhaos|Darkdhaos]] ([[User talk:Darkdhaos|talk]])?”

“He’s trying to deceive us, right[[User:Darkdhaos|Darkdhaos]] ([[User talk:Darkdhaos|talk]])?”

“He’s turning on us, isn’t he[[User:Darkdhaos|Darkdhaos]] ([[User talk:Darkdhaos|talk]])?”

While shouting one by one, the witches rushed at Naga and Raibach.

The two of them tried to stand up, but nevertheless, they would quickly tumble back.

“Forget about what you saw here!”

“Forget it completely!”

“If you can’t do that, then die!”

The witches approached en masse and kicked the rolling Naga and Raibach using their feet.

For the time being, they both covered their heads with their hands, trying to protect themselves from a swarm of dispatched kicks. Thanks to that, they were able to keep their heads safe, however, the witches didn’t spare other parts of their body.

Naga somehow tried to stop them by looking up, but,

(Huh? T, This angle is?!)

“Wai, girls, this angle is no good! It’s no good awaawaaw!”

“Errrk! I’m going to be killed. Even though I went through the trouble of becoming the Dragon King’s subordinate, I’m going to be killed from being kiiicked.”

“Eh?”

At Raibach’s shriek, Harrigan ceased to move.

“Oi, everyone, wait.”

Harrigan, who calmed down the other witches, directed her question at Raibach.

“You, what just did you say just now?”

“N, No, that’s why I’m saying I’ve become the Dragon King’s subordinate….”

Curling up on the floor and holding his head in his hands, Raibach, who resisted the kicks, looked with a glimpse at Harrigan after which he hurriedly turned away his sight.

“What’s the meaning of that, Naga?”

“That’s why I’m telling you I have to let you know about that!”

Naga released his hands from his head and lifted his eyes toward the witches who were surrounding him.

“Speaking of which, I think I mentioned about this angle being honestly no good but, are you fine with that?”

Naga averted his eyes similarly to Raibach.

“…..Hmm?”

Harrigan, who looked down at them both, shifted her eyes a bit at her own body.
She was nude.
Completely nude.
So nude it was terrific.

In case of Raibach, it wasn’t half as bad, as he held down his head and averted his eyes, however, Naga was laying on the floor face up. Certainly, it was an angle which couldn’t be more dangerous.

“Whatttttt?!”

Rather than coming back to their senses, the witches who realized the situation they were put in forgot about their shame, and instead, were besides themselves with rage.

“Die Die Die!”

“Erase all the memory of what you saw and die!”

“Throw out all your brain tissues and die!”

*Dosu, kosu, doka, geshi*

A further and more harsh swarm of kicks were sent at Naga.

“Uwaa, you, wai, awwawawaww, I’ll die, I’ll seriously die!”

Twisting his body, Naga tried to escape, but, there was nowhere to run away as the witches surrounded them closely packed.

(This is bad; this is honestly bad. I’m seriously going to die from these kicks.)

Were he to oppose a drunkard who had lost any means of reasoning, Naga would most likely worsen his situation, but nonetheless, he had the feeling it was the only option for him to survive.

By the time Naga resolved himself and tried to move his hand,

“Wait a moment! He’s going to die! The Dragon King is really going to die! Are you fine with killing him like that?!”

Raibach, who shouted, covered Naga with his whole body as if trying to protect him.

“This person is your ally! The who who’s supposed to create your world!”

“Umm…”

With that, Harrigan and the rest stopped their kicking.

“Raibach, seems like you don’t understand what’s being talked about, do you?”

“That’s why, the Dragon King has been telling you that all the time.”

“It’s the first time I hear about what you say.”

“No, he has been telling you that countless of times for a while, you know?”

“You mean it? Then, I wonder if you can’t let us know.”

“B, Before that, could everyone please put something on? Otherwise, the talk won’t proceed.”

“A…Ah, that’s right. It’s just as you say.”

The witches who came to their senses a little pulled back their legs and turned around.

“By the way, you didn’t see it, right?”

Raibach waved his hands with all might and shook his head at his best after being stared by Harrigan.

“I didn’t, I didn’t.”

“If you had seen it, I thought about gouging out your eyeballs, dismembering your body after smashing all of its bones, and throwing it to wolves as a pet food, but—-”

“I didn’t see even a tiny little bit, so honestly, rest assured.”

“Then, I guess that’s fine. Still, what about you Naga?”

“No, I haven’t seen anything, so don’t worry.”

“I wonder who should be the one to say that.”

Despite her thinking that, Harrigan also thought her carelessness was partially responsible for what had happened, so she ceased any further inquiring.

“Ah… since we’ll be changing, go outside and wait.”

(Rather than changing, you should already be putting something on you!)

Naga wanted to retort that way, but he thought he would only annoy them at this late hour. Together with Raibach, he silently went outside to the hallway and waited for them to be called in.

=== Part 18 ===

After a while of waiting,

“You can come in.”

Being called out to, Naga and Raibach entered in once again.
Both of them could feel relieved as everyone was properly wearing their clothes.

(I’ve always thought their small clothes are as good as being naked, but, looking back at what happened, I can understand it’s far better for them to wear something.)

Naga exhaled a sigh of relief inside of him.

“Naga, come and sit here. Same goes for you, Raibach.”

Naga and Raibach sat down at prearranged seats near a wall after being urged by Harrigan.
As they leaned against the wall, the witches also sat down while surrounding the two in a half-circle.

“Then, what’s the meaning of him becoming your subordinate?”

Harrigan asked as if being eager.

Among the other witches, there were those who looked at Naga and Raibach curiously, those who looked strangely, others – doubtfully, and yet another – reproachfully. Besides them, witches who averted their eyes in shame were also present, however, those were a minority.

“Ah, that would be, you see—”

Naga revealed his exchange with Raibach, as well as the whole story behind him deciding to make Raibach into his underling.

“I knew you would later approve of the idea, but I deemed it was necessary to make the decision on the spot.”

“Hm, is that so?”

“I also had thought it would benefit you, which was the reason why I decided to do so, you see. That’s all I wanted to convey.”

“I guess you’re right. When it comes to establishing a world for both us and the humans, having allies is an indispensable thing.”

Saying that, Harrigan nodded in agreement.
Because the majority of the witches from the Heindler clan, such as Ais, Lela, Kay, and Nonoel, agreed too, nobody seemed to particularly complain or object. Except for one person.
Naturally, that person was Yuuki. She was the only one to stare blatantly and pretentiously at Naga and Raibach with a much displeased face

“Is there something you want to say, Yuuki? If so, say it now.”

“Not really. Isn’t it fine as long as Hari-nee approves of your decision?”

Should one say that Yuuki had become more mature too? She wasn’t the same blind and stubborn person, whom she was when they first met.

(If that’s true, then great. Still, I wonder.)

Not letting anyone else learn about his thoughts, Naga,

“Is that so? Sorry about that.”

He lowered his head.
And Raibach bowed down deeply as well.
Harrigan exchanged a somewhat warm look with Yuuki

“T, That’s why, you’re greatly mistaken if you think I’m glad of becoming that guy’s ally!”

Yuuki, who couldn’t bear that situation uttered those words with an abusive-like tone.

“Yuuki, you’re going too far with your words. Raibach is already…”

“Ah, that’s okay, Ane-san, I don’t mind about that.”

Since Raibach shook his head on sides, Harrigan held her tongue, but then, she immediately looked at him with doubtful eyes.

“By the way…. you’re calling me Ane-san? Do you think I’m older than you?”

“Ah, no, I’m sorry about that, Somehow, it feels like you’re giving off a strong appeal, so….”

“W, Well, I wonder if it’s fine to consider it that way.”

Harrigan coughed at once and stated.

“If it’s Naga’s decision, then I won’t be the one to judge. We shall approve you becoming Naga’s underling.”

“Thank you, Harrigan. Speaking of which,”

Naga moved his face toward Vita, who had been silent for a while.

“How about you, girls? Do you mind if that’s guy becomes my subordinate?”

“Well, I wonder about that.”

Raibach stirred his muscle uncomfortably as Vita threw a glance at him.

“After all, it’s what you’ve decided. I don’t plan to look for any excuse, and the same goes for my daughters.”

“You mean it? I appreciate that.”

However – Saying this, Vita threw a challenging look at Naga.

“But, provided that man betrays us, we won’t have any mercy on him, you know? If that happens, I shall make him so heavy that all the bones and joints in his body get smashed and his muscles get torn.”

“Rest assured. Not even I will forgive those who plan on becoming my ally just to betray me. Absolutely not. I’ll tear this guy apart even before Vita does.”

“Then, fine. I shall acknowledge this man as Dragon King’s underling. Are you okay with that, my daughters?”

One couldn’t tell whether their answers were optimistic or pessimistic, but, they all were of the same opinion.

“Excellent. From now on, Raibach is officially my subordinate. Since I am an ally of the witches, Raibach too has become one. Having this guy is truly delightful! Speaking of which, Harrigan. Now that you’ve acquired your first human ally, what’s your thoughts on that?”

“H…hm, that’s right.”

“If things go well like this, perhaps creating the world we wish for might be easier than what we had thought.”

Harrigan put a slightly wry smile on her face after listening to Naga’s words.

(There’s no way for it to be that simple. But, perhaps one should be more bold and optimistic when putting their life into something. Be that as it may, even if it’s just for giving my daughters more hope, should I accept his offer?)

Harrigan, who was thinking this, leaned her body forward and replied vigorously.

“True. For the sake of creating a new world, we have to rise and make more allies like Raibach. If we increase them one by one like this, then establishing a new country of the witches isn’t that far from being realized.”

“Agreed. Well then, now that Raibach has become my underling, let’s celebrate! Let’s celebrate a new chapter in your future! Drink, sing, get undressed, and dance!”

“Ohh, that’s right. Let’s become lively at onc…Wha? No no no, wait wait! Why are you bringing that topic back up?!”

“E, Eh? Am I wrong?”

“You are! If you want to get undressed and dance that badly, then do it together with Raibach!”

At Harrigan’s retort, sounds of whistles and jeering came from the direction of other witches.

“No, even if I was to dance naked with this guy, I won’t enjoy it at all, you know?”

“This is what I’m trying to tell you.”

“That’s why, we will no longer undress. And even if we decide to, we’ll smash your eyes before doing so.”

“Ah, shall I smash them? I, can do it, completely.”

“Because Ais extended her hands and stepped forward, Naga fervently waved both his hands in front of him.

“No no, I won’t do that, so don’t worry. Even if you girls were to denote your intention of doing so, I and Raibach will leave the place straight away.”

“Huh…..? That’s so boringg.”

Ais, who moved both her thumbs in the air, in a manner of squeezing something, looked to be much unsatisfied.

“No no, don’t say it like you’re regretting not being able to smash my eyes. More importantly, you too shouldn’t drink any more than that, right? Right, Ais?”

“What are you talking about? I’m not drinking at all?”

Ais stared at Naga.

Naga turned his sight at Harrigan as if seeking for a help; nonetheless, he was flatly refused by her.

“You should be okay as long you don’t come near Ais.”

(No, rather than that, it’s more troublesome to have her approach me while being drunk.)

Naga looked around him for help, but, nobody would lend him a hand. Rather, nobody wanted to end up like him.

“Ah… well, I think I’ll go and stay in my room silently.”

“I too will keep you a company.”

In the end, not being able to participate in the banquet or watch the witches dancing and singing, the two of them ate and drank obediently inside their room.

=== Part 19 ===

Like that, Naga acquired his new subordinate, Raibach.
In other words, he was the first ever human ally of the witches, who had been repeatedly opposing humans for 2-300 years of both their history. Nevertheless, lots of the witches were still unaware of that, or couldn’t understand it yet.
On the other hand, Naga knew, as well as Raibach himself, that Raibach had become an existence that would become a breakthrough, or rather, a bridgehead, for establishing a new world where both the witches and humans can live together.

(The biggest spoil of this battle isn’t Ein Fort but this man. This guy is also a tremendously big asset for the witches.)

Naga believed this to be true.

<noinclude>
==Translator's Notes and References==
<references/>

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| Back to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
| Return to [[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Epilogue 1|Epilogue 1]]
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</noinclude>

Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Chapter 3

2016-07-19T14:57:16Z

Darkdhaos: Created page with "==Chapter 3: Future Outlook== === Part 1 === Kay brought dinner in, and ate it together with Naga and Raibach. Kay tried to chat with Raibach as they ate, but his replies w..."

==Chapter 3: Future Outlook==

=== Part 1 ===

Kay brought dinner in, and ate it together with Naga and Raibach.

Kay tried to chat with Raibach as they ate, but his replies were halfhearted.

“Tch. How boring.” Kay complained and kept the cutlery.

“Don’t hold back on your requests, Raibach. Aside from undoing your ropes or letting you escape, anything else would be fine.”

“No… I don’t have any requests.”

“Nothing?”

“How about massaging my feet, Kay?”

“What? I am asking Raibach, why are you making such overboard demands as if this was natural, Naga? That is so strange.”

Naga laughed in response to Kay’s retort.

“Just kidding, don’t be mad.”

“I’m not mad.”

“Then help me massage.”

“Huh? Are you joking with me!?”

“Of course I’m kidding.”

“How irritating.”

Kay snatched Naga’s plate away.

“Alright, I’m cleaning up.”

“Ah, there’s still a bit left…”

“I. am. cleaning. up.”

“Alright, alright.”

As Naga was smiling wryly, thumping footsteps came from the corridor outside.

“Hmm? Harrigan Nee-san?”

“Harrigan wouldn’t be walking so agitatedly.”

“That’s true, did Ais get angry?”

“Eh, wait.”

Naga waved his hand with his face turning green.

“We didn’t do anything to anger Ais.”

“That’s true, then…”

When Kay turned to the entrance, the footfalls stop. The door was then opened violently; revealing Yuuki with the corners of her eyes raised greatly.

“I heard that we captured a soldier of the Kasandora Army!?”

Kay responded affirmatively because of the pressure from Yuuki.

“I will kill him.”

Yuuki’s expression turned into rage and a strange light shone from her eyes.

“I will kill him in the cruelest way possible.”

Raibach opened his eyes wide and stared at the vile-mouthed Yuuki. He knew that Yuuki wasn’t joking, but he wasn’t afraid as he stared at Yuuki with a lost expression.

“Eh, what the hell are you saying, Yuuki?”

“You are the one speaking nonsense, Kay. Why didn’t you kill the enemy immediately!?”

“In order to gather intel.”

“Do you need to treat him like a guest when doing that?”

“I’m not doing that.”

“Yes you are, you’re letting him stay here and even prepared an entire set of bedding. If you are trying to get intel, why not torture him!? Did he spill the beans already?”

“No, he is still thinking about it.”

“Huh? Why give him that choice? We don’t have the time to wait, let me handle it. I will make him spit out the information we need. Let me think… I will cut off his fingers one by one. To prevent him from dying because of blood loss, I will cauterize the wounds with a burning iron plate. He will definitely give in after cutting off two or three fingers. If he won’t, I will cut off all his fingers and toes, and he will beg me to kill him. When he spills everything, I will take his life if he asks, and it’ll all be settled.”

The agitated Yuuki spoke passionately as she took a couple of steps forward.

“I will handle this, so back off, Kay.”

“Eh, don’t decide that on your own, Yuuki.”

Kay also took a step forward to block Yuuki.

“Are you planning to stop me? Kay?”

“If Harrigan Nee-san and Naga don’t give you permission, I advise you not to be reckless.”

Yuuki cast a glance at Naga who had crossed his arms with a serious expression and showed no intention to speak. After confirming that, Yuuki turned back and faced Kay again.

“You… are helping the humans?”

“I don’t mean to do so, and don’t do anything that will spoil the image of witches.”

“If you don’t back off, I will cut you to pieces.”

“Hmmpf! Do it if you can. Your wind blades can’t harm me!”

The skin on Kay’s exposed limbs started turning grey.

“You think you are tough enough to take my wind blades!?”

“Go on, try me.”

“Why are you protecting that guy!?”

Yuuki was furious as she pointed to Raibach, behind Kay.

“This man is one of the soldiers who are always trying to kill us! Why let him live!?”

At this moment, Raibach suddenly asked:

“Ah, let me ask you.”

Yuuki’s body stiffened.

“W-What!? Don’t think of begging for your life!”

“Was your family killed by us… by the Army of the Kasandora Kingdom?”

“Not by the soldiers of the Kingdom, but…” Yuuki answered softly, but then lost her composure. “It’s humans! Humans gathered everyone and massacred them!”

Raibach watched Yuuki and his brow twitched.

“I see, you have a tragic past too. No wonder you hate humans. If you are bent on killing me… Please do so.”

Bafflement flashed across Yuuki’s face for a moment, but she puffed her chest with an arrogant look in no time.

“Look, even the subject himself said so. So let me do it.”

“Eh, why did you say that, Raibach!?”

“Kay, you don’t need to protect him, get out of the way.”

“You two… Kay, Yuuki- you two are comrades, so don’t quarrel over someone like me.”

“Ahhh, that’s why… Ahhh—! So troublesome!” Kay grabbed her head exasperatedly. “My head isn’t that good; I can’t process something so complicated~~”

After holding her head and squatting for a while, she stood up. “I still think Yuuki shouldn’t kill this man. I will stop you.”

“Damn it…” Yuuki cursed angrily. “If you dare to stop me, I will really cut you to shreds.”

“Try it if you can.”

Kay’s grey skin turned silver with a metallic luster.

“What’s with the din? I have a morning shift tomorrow and need to sleep early, so stop with the noise.”

Harlequin said so casually when she popped up at the door. Noticing the tense atmosphere in the room, she stood stiff on the spot.

“Y-Y-You two, what are you doing?”

Yuuki and Kay glared at each other and ignored the baffled Harlequin. An intense fighting aura welled up about them.

“Yuuki.”

Naga said all of a sudden.

“W-What is it. Even if you try to lecture me… Eh, what are you doing?”

Yuuki turned her face towards Naga and found him kneeling on the floor with his forehead on the ground. She was shocked and took a large step back.

“What… the hell are you doing!?”

“I don’t know why you hate humans so much, and cannot understand how you feel. But in order to create a world where witches can live a happy life, this man is necessary. So can you please bear with it? I’m begging you.” Naga pleaded with her while on his knees.

“W… What…”

Yuuki looked down at the back of Naga’s head with a shocked face. She didn’t expect Naga to kneel down to her for a man he didn’t even know.
“I-Is the information this guy has that important!?”

Naga raised his head slowly and looked up at Yuuki.

“I will only know if it is important after hearing it, but it might be very important. If I can gain critical intel, we will be able to seize Fort Ein without sacrificing any witches or humans.”

Yuuki looked at Naga with a face of doubt, but her anger had been soothed a lot.

“W-Why do you care about the lives of those inhuman soldiers!? If we kill all of them, we can cut down the enemy’s numbers.”

“That might be true for the current situation, but taking the future into consideration, not having any sacrifices would be advantageous for us.”

Yuuki showed a troubled expression.

“I-I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“It’s fine if you don’t understand, but can you trust me this once?”

“How could I trust someone like you!?”

“Ehh, that’s too harsh, Yuuki.” Kay interjected. “Naga saved us when we were in danger. If not for him, we would have been chased out of the dark forest long ago.”

“Eh… T-That’s true.”

“My head isn’t good, and I can’t analyze the situation, nor predict future developments. But I trust Naga. Since he said so, let’s leave this to him.”

Yuuki glared first at Kay as she said that, then Naga, and finally Raibach. She then turned around abruptly and left in a huff.

“Move, Harle!”

“Nyaa?”

Yuuki’s fierce expression intimidated Harlequin, and she made way for her.

Just like the time she came, Yuuki stomped through the corridor when she left. Seeing her back disappear into the distance, Harlequin turned back and asked Kay: “What happened?”

“Well, it’s a long story. Where do I start…?”

Kay looked towards Naga for help.

“I will explain this to Harlequin later. I have something to ask Raibach, and it would be better if Harrigan and Ais are present. They didn’t show up even after that ruckus. Did they turn in already?”

“Eh, I think Ais is out on patrol.”

“I see, she would have stopped Yuuki if she was here.”

(Or maybe not, she might even escalate things. Ais can’t control herself when she loses her temper, it would be an explosive scene if Yuuki retaliates.)

Kay thought about it, but didn’t say it out loud, afraid that someone would snitch on her.

“Harrigan nee-san should be in the fort, should I bring her over?” After Kay said that, Harrigan’s voice could be heard saying, “Why is Yuuki in the First Fort!?”

“Ohh, speak of the devil.”

Kay sighed in relief, thinking that she had washed her hands clean of the troublesome matter.

=== Part 2 ===

Most of the witches garrisoned here had gathered in the biggest room inside the fort. Naturally, Naga and Raibach were also present.

The witches around Raibach were:

Harrigan.

Ais.

Kay.

Nonoel.

Harlequin.

Eleonortha.

Lela.

Mimone.

And of course, Yuuki was absent. The sisters, Linne and Linna, were on guard duty, thus not in the room.

After receiving Harrigan’s pigeon message, Lela immediately rushed to the First Fort on horseback behind Mimone.

Harrigan sighed softly after hearing Kay’s report.

“That’s why I didn’t want Yuuki to know about this.”

When Lela received the pigeon message, Yuuki was just setting off from the Third Fort. In the confusion, she found out about Kay capturing a human soldier, so she rushed here on her hoverboard alone.

“Forget it… No, we are not done yet. Getting detailed intelligence from that man takes priority… right, Naga?”

“That’s true.” Naga replied with a troubled face.

“Didn’t that man say he would consider giving us information about the fort? Did something change while we were gathering?”

“Aside from the detailed information about the fort, there is one thing I am very concerned with.”

“What is that?”

Harrigan prompted him to continue. Naga shifted his stool and faced Raibach.

“Raibach, you seemed surprised when Yuuki appeared just now. There are plenty of witches here that are unknown to you, but why did Yuuki surprised you so much?”

“Ah… Huh~~ you have sharp eyes.”

Raibach’s vision wavered and he stretched out his right hand to scratch his head. He then recounted his tale slowly.

“I had a daughter.”

Raibach said something unrelated, making Naga and the other witches to look at him puzzledly.

“If she were still alive, she would probably be about the age of you two.” Raibach said as he pointed at Nonoel and Kay. “It doesn’t sound convincing for a parent to say this, but she really was a cute kid.”

“……”

They were actually not interested in Raibach’s personal affairs. Naga and Harrigan looked at each other, hesitating about whether to stop him or not.

“When I was out on a campaign once, the barbarians invaded at the city I lived in, ravaged the streets and killed the citizens.”

Naga and Harrigan were shocked and turned their heads away.

“I couldn’t find the remains of my wife and daughter in the end. There were thousands of charred corpses in the streets, and I think my family was probably murdered there.”

“I can empathize with you, but right now we are…”

Raibach continued in a calm tone as if he didn’t hear what Harrigan said:

“That witch just now, the one who was shouting about wanting to kill me, is Yuuki, right?”

“Yuuki is hard to get along with, but she has her circumstances. If she made you feel uncomfortable, let me apologize…”

“No, that’s not it.” Raibach raised his head, his expression strange and complicated. “That girl looks really similar to my dead daughter.”

He looked up to the roof, his eyes far away.

“My dead daughter is actually alive and appeared before me. That thought occurred to me for an instant, surprising me.”

Raibach said sadly, but Harrigan’s reply was cold.

“My condolences for your loss, but she is a witch, not your daughter.”

“That’s true, I know that very well too, but… They really look identical, it’s like my daughter who survived somewhere appeared, so I…”

Raibach said passionately, but stopped midway.

“…I …I” He turned his gaze back from the ceiling, tears falling from his eyes.

“I won’t have any complaints if that girl kills me, my daughter must have hated me the same way. If I didn’t go off to fight a war in that dangerous time, and stayed with my wife and daughter, they would still be alive today.”

Harrigan wasn’t sure how to respond and kept quiet. Naga couldn’t say anything and watched him without a word. It was the same for the other witches. The entire room fell silent.

“Dragon King, you mentioned about creating a world where humans and witches cohabit in peace. If it succeeds, will the fighting between humans cease?”

Naga said confidently with a gentle smile on his face: “What a silly question.”

“If Witches and humans can be at peace, so can humans and humans.”

“That make sense. If you can create such a world and craft such a future, there won’t be children like Elena, who are killed at such a young age.”

“Your daughter is named Elena?”

“Yes, her name’s Elena. Ahh, Elena.”

Raibach buried his face in his hands.

“She must have been so scared, and suffered so much and… been hoping I would come to save them. But… I…”

Raibach curled up and sniffling sounds escaped from his lips. Naga, Harrigan, and the other witches did not say anything to console him, and his cries filled the entire room. A short time later, Raibach put down his hands. He turned to Naga with tears on his face.

“Hey, Dragon King. Can you really create a world where Humans and Witches can live in harmony? A place where humans and humans won’t fight with each other?”

“Of course I can… is what I want to say, but regrettably, I can’t make this promise lightly. I can only say that I will do my best. Doing all we can is important. If we don’t work hard, we won’t be able to make this brand new world a reality, and pave our future.”

(Can’t make this promise lightly, huh? That means he views this very seriously. Maybe this man can really create a world like that.)

Raibach didn’t have or want a dream. Maybe it’s because his memories of his family made him sad, or maybe he was compelled by the hope that doing this will lessen his self reproach.

Raibach wiped away the tears on his face.

“If I tell you the details of the fort, there won’t be any sacrifices?”

Naga didn’t nod; he just puffed his chest out.

“I can’t guarantee that there wouldn’t be any, but the chances are high.”

“I am not hoping for zero deaths, but can you promise to keep casualties to a minimum?”

When he heard that, Naga nodded firmly.

“Alright, I promise. I will seize the fort by utilizing a method without deaths.”

“In that case… I will tell you.”

Raibach provided them with the required intel regarding the fort. But after the witches heard his tragic past, none of them showed any signs of glee.

=== Part 3 ===

Raibach explained the structure of the fort and the placement of the guards in great detail.

Lela noted down the important points on a parchment as he spoke.

After he was done, Raibach added:

“The guard commander of the fort is a man named Baldkeist; he was one of the close subordinates of former General Geobalk, who took responsibility for the failed campaign and resigned. Similar to me, he was assigned to garrison the fort as cannon fodder. On the other hand, he isn’t too loyal to the new general, Guiscard, and won’t fight to the end if something does happen… That’s how I feel.”

“I see; this information is a great help.”

Naga smiled and turned his head.

“Harrigan, I have something to discuss with you.”

“Hmm? Oh, alright.”

Harrigan nodded, faced Kay and ordered:

“Bring that man back to his room. Nonoel will stand guard with you, so Yuuki won’t come and stir up trouble.”

“Understood, Harrigan Nee-san.”

Kay and Nonoel left the room with Raibach while Naga and Harrigan moved into another room. They sat on stools and faced each other.

=== Part 4 ===

“Do you think his words can be trusted?”

After sitting down, Naga asked. Harrigan crossed her arms as she sat on the stool, answering thoughtfully:

“He doesn’t seem to be lying, at least he is not lying to us blatantly. What do you think, Naga?”

“I agree with your opinion. When he was talking about his daughter, his tears were real.”

“That’s right. Assuming everything he was true, do you have any good ideas?”

Naga nodded seriously.

“It should work.”

“It will work? Really!?”

“The most important part of the plan is to get Elysione or Vita near the fort. From what we heard about the structure of the fort, there isn’t a need to infiltrate the it; just being near the walls would be enough.”

“That would mean sending Elysione first, right?”

“This is the safest and simplest way, but letting Vita approach the fort herself, without Elysione, is also an option.”

“That is true, but Vita doesn’t have much defense. She could manipulate weight to guard herself, but if she does that, even we won’t be able to go near the fort.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem.”

“How do you plan to solve this?”

“We have people who can launch ranged attacks. I plan to use this method to tie up the enemy’s forces, then distract them, and use the chances to approach.”

Harrigan thought about it for a moment and turned her face back.
“The long range attacker is Ais?”

“That’s right, Ais’ stone throwing attack is very powerful, and she can attack from outside the range of normal bows. It would be hard for the defending soldiers to handle her.”

“Won’t they leave the fort and sally forth?”

“The enemy are witches, and you think they would dare to send two hundred soldiers to counterattack?”

Harrigan shook her head, as that make sense.

“I don’t think they have the guts.”

“If they move out in full force and leave the fort empty, that will play into my hands. If Ais, Lela and Yuuki keep attacking from a distance, they should be able to intimidate them and keep their attention. Vita can use the chance to approach.”

“Is doing that alright? Vita is a crucial figure in this operation, isn’t she? If she gets injured, wouldn’t the entire plan be ruined?”

“You are right, but logically speaking, Vita won’t be taking too big of a risk.”

“…I hope so.”

“But just to be safe, we should prepare Elysione’s cloak so it can be used at a moment’s notice.”

Harrigan leaned forward and asked:

“Specifically speaking, how are you planning to take the fort?”

“Here’s what I plan to do.”

Naga then explained to Harrigan the details of the strategy to capture the fort.
“First will be Ais and the duo of Yuuki and Lela, who will attack at long range from two different places. Let’s set them to the west and south. Ais will throw rocks and Yuuki will carry Lela and her talismans into the sky above the fort, before making them burst into flames as she tosses them down. That way, the defending soldiers will fall into confusion.”

“Once the soldiers focus their attention on them, Kay will use this chance to charge to the eastern wall, and of course, bring Elysione’s cloak with her. If she hardens her body, the soldiers won’t be able to harm her no matter how many arrows they shoot. Once she has reached the wall, she needs to place the cloak down. The soldiers in the fort won’t leave the fort just to take the cloak, since they are under the witches’ attack.”

“When Vita uses her spell, it will be best to gather the defending forces in the east. So after Kay puts down the cloak, the participating witches will need to show themselves. Ais will stop and Yuuki will retreat. That should get the soldiers, who still have the strength to defend, to gather on the eastern walls.”

“Once Kay has put down the cloak, Elysione will immediately bring Vita to the wall. Kay will then withdraw temporarily… No, I figure she should stay put, and act as Elysione and Vita’s guard.”

“Once Vita teleports to the wall, she will begin her spell immediately. As for the structure of the fort, assuming the information given by Raibach is correct, almost all of the soldiers should be unable to move. If not all, then at least 80% of them should be incapacitated. When Vita uses her spell, Elysione won’t be able to move either, she’ll have to bear with it then.”

“We will leave the north alone, and attack from the west and the south. We will then close in from the east. This is to show the fort soldiers that there are no threats from the north. This is to give the soldiers the impression that, ‘we won’t be able to escape if we are completely surrounded, let’s run while we are still able to do so.’”

“When Vita uses the spell ‘Song of Gravity’ and captures all the soldiers gathered on the eastern side, we need to find a way to tie up these soldiers, so they won’t be able to move freely when the spell is released. To prevent Vita from being attacked by soldiers outside her range, Ais would need to attack more fiercely.

“Wait a moment, Naga.”

Harrigan raised her hand to stop Naga’s explanation.

“You mentioned tying up the soldiers while they are immobile, but how do you do that specifically? We witches can’t resist Vita’s magic and enter the range of her spell. Our bodies will become heavy and we won’t be able to move if we go in, so how can we tie up the soldiers… Why are you staring so intensely at my body!?”

“Vita’s magic will increase a person’s original weight by two or three times, correct? Compared to Lela and Kay, it would be hard for you to move…”

*Knock*

“That hurts!”

*Knock knock knock*

“That really hurts! Don’t keep hitting me with your hair!”

The teary Naga leapt backwards from his stool to dodge the attack. Harrigan pulled her head of hardened hair back, but her eyes were full of fury as she glared at Naga.

“You are not considerate towards girls at all.”

“No such thing, I am famous for being considerate… probably.”

“You actually have the cheeks to say that.”

Harrigan blew her top once again and Naga waved his hands in front of him hurriedly.

“Alright, I know, it’s my fault.”

“Sorry”— Naga lowered his head in apology, and Harrigan’s hair fell onto her shoulders. Naga returned to his seat when he saw that.

“Alright, back to the topic.” Harrigan said grudgingly, after Naga sat properly.

“Ais might be able to move after Vita casts her spell, but that would take all her strength. It will also take a long time to bind the three hundred soldiers in the fort, and I don’t think Vita’s spell can last that long.”

“Speaking of which, she didn’t mention how long her spell could last.”

“This is her personal secret. The better known one’s magic is, the bigger the disadvantage. Not all witches live harmoniously with each other. More accurately speaking, most of us see each other as enemies.”

“I see, so even while facing the threat of being invaded by other nations, there are inter-tribe battles as well. I think I have heard something so regrettable in the past too.”

Naga was troubled.

(By the way, I have a feeling that this is something I experienced personally.)

“Something the matter?”

Naga looked at the ceiling deep in thought, and shook his head when Harrigan asked.

“There is a way to solve this problem.”

“There is a way!?”

Harrigan was shocked, and made an impressed expression.

“I see, as expected of Dragon King-sama.”

“Don’t mock me.”

“I’m not mocking you. Since there is a way, isn’t Fort Ein is as good as ours?”

Harrigan said confidently and Naga’s face turned serious.

“But there is a serious problem with this.”

“You mean there is a risk? But there is always some risk if we want to succeed, and our target is to take the fort without anyone dying or damaging the fort.”

“No, not that kind of danger.”

“???”

“The danger I am referring to is Yuuki. Specifically speaking, I am going to entrust her with a mission, but if I do that now, my life will probably be in danger…”

Naga sighed after saying that, and Harrigan laughed:

“What, so it’s that thing. I will order Yuuki to do it then.”

“I don’t think she will disobey if you give the word. No, that’s hard to say. Maybe she will resist strongly this time, since the main strategy involves sparing the lives of the Kasandora soldiers. Even if she agrees, she might screw things up as it goes against her will.”

“Hmm, that’s true.”

Harrigan, who didn’t get it in the beginning, finally raised her head.

“By the way—”

She asked Naga:

“What mission are you giving her? Is it difficult? Why must it be Yuuki? Her magic is powerful, it will be hard for her not to harm the enemies while suppressing them.”

“The mission I want to assign her isn’t difficult, and I have no plans to use her magic to subdue the enemy.”

Harrigan frowned and tilted her head.

“What… do you mean by that?”

“This is what I mean.”

Naga leaned towards the side of Harrigan’s face and whispered.

After finishing, Naga returned to his seat.

“I… I see, only Yuuki could do it.”

Harrigan groaned and was impressed.

“Not only will this method subdue the enemy soldiers without them resisting, it will also resolve the issue quickly, so there is no need to worry about how long her magic will holdout.”

(It was the same last time, with Naga proposing a well-thought-out strategy. Normally, one wouldn’t even think of utilizing Yuuki’s ability in such a way.)

Harrigan was becoming more impressed.

“But there is also a problem, since this method couldn’t be used against the soldiers inside the buildings.”

“Ahh!” Harrigan pounded her thigh with her fist.

“That’s true; this method won’t stop the soldiers inside the buildings.”

“If we can push as many soldiers as possible into Vita’s magic range, the problem would be solved.”

“And so, you need us to reveal ourselves at this point, so the enemy will think we are going to attack the fort?”

“That’s right.” Naga said with a nod.

“The plan is to induce most of the soldiers to gather near the walls or towers in their attempt to disrupt our attack, but I am not confident that we can draw all of them out. Maybe we have to subdue the soldiers inside the buildings by force, and this is something I don’t wish to see. It would be for the best if they run away the first chance they get, because of the fear of being rendered immobile by magic.”

When she heard Naga say that, Harrigan answered confidently:

“Even if they don’t run, we have about forty witches here; handling a hundred soldiers would not be a problem.”

“With your combat prowess, subduing half of the troops wouldn’t take much time. But I hope to minimize the losses as much as possible, for both the witches and the enemy.”

Harrigan seemed a little troubled.

“In that battle earlier, you showed no mercy to the enemy, but you insist on not harming the enemy this time. In order to get the intelligence from Raibach, you promised him that…. The reason doesn’t seem to be this simple, so can you explain why are you insisting on this?”

“Because—” Naga leaned forward and said:

“The goal of this battle is to seize Fort Ein intact, and to change how the humans evaluate witches.”

“Our… evaluation?”

Harrigan blinked.

“The evaluation of most people about how witches are ‘violent and cold blooded’.”

“But that’s…”

Naga raised his right hand and stopped Harrigan who wanted to defend herself.

“I know. Anyone who has actually interacted with you all would know that isn’t true, barring those with extreme prejudice. But the humans who have never met you all before wouldn’t know.”

“Eh… t-that’s right.”

“This mindset has been ongoing for dozens of years. The truth isn’t important anymore, since humans already have a deep-rooted belief that this is the truth. And there are also things in this world that spread lies about the cruelty of the witches, for example: the church abusing the authority of god. This evaluation is already firmly set in their mind, am I right?”

Harrigan sighed heavily.

“Unfortunately… that is so.”

“So we just need to turn this evaluation around, for the sake of building a peaceful world for humans and witches.”

(T-This guy has a grand vision as usual.)

“The fort was taken; most of the soldiers were captured but did not lose their lives and were even released safely. I want to create this fact. Even if the Kasandora Kingdom tries to hush things up, the news will spread sooner or later as they can’t stop the people’s grapevines. Just the fact that the witches didn’t kill the soldiers would be enough to make the humans doubt their impression that the witches are ‘violent, cruel and merciless’. It might just be doubt in the beginning, and they might even question if that was the truth, but if this accumulates over the years, it will overturn the current evaluation one day.”

Harrigan answered with a soft mutter.

“You vision is wide, and you can see the future very well. I feel impressed every time I see this.”

“That’s too exaggerated; anyone can understand if they think about it in detail.”

(The problem is that no one can think about it in such detail.)

“But things aren’t so simple, we can’t just wait idly and hope the prevailing evaluation will be overturned someday. We have to actively spread this truth that runs contrary to their evaluation, and disperse the news widely.”

“W-We have to do something like that too?”

“Of course. In a way, war is a battle of intelligence. Obtaining accurate enemy intelligence and spreading news that is beneficial to our army, all of these are crucial factors in winning the final victory.”

“Dragon King-sama is good with tactics, and is underhanded in doing so.”

“I wasn’t expecting that.”

Naga wasn’t happy about that comment. Just then, Harrigan shouted “Alright!” and clapped her hands.

“I understand; we will proceed as you proposed. I will beg Yuuki to help us, and do my best to convince her.”

“I will accompany you and ask her too.”

“In that case…”

“What? Did you think of a good idea?”

“Let’s bring Vita along to plead with her.”

“…Is it fine to ask her for something like this?” Naga was confused.

“The future of both our clans depends on this, so she has to show up too.”

(Your personality is bad too.)

“You have any objections?”

“Eh, I want to confirm if we have that important thing.”

“We should have one or two of them, but their durability and toughness aren’t enough to subdue the enemy. And we will need multiple, so I’m thinking of remaking them.”

“Can you do that? This part requires intricate work to be done on it.”

“We have basically been providing for ourselves all this time, so making something like that is no big deal.”

“I will leave it to you then. So, how should we start?”
“Let me think. Let’s find Vita, and work from the outside in.”

Naga laughed.

“With you, Vita, and me lowering our heads to ask her, I don’t think Yuuki can reject us.”

“But like you said, it would be problematic if she did this unwillingly, so we have to really convince her, don’t we?”

“If it’s up to me…” Naga’s face became sullen.

“Who else can we entrust with this mission?”
“Ugh…. That’s true.”

“We will be going to Vita’s side tomorrow, let’s ask her then.”

“Alright, it’s settled then.”

=== Part 5 ===

The next day—

Naga and Harrigan visited Sraymeyer Fort right before noon, and had a conference with Vita in one of the rooms of the residential block.

Naga sat on a stool and explained his strategy, while Vita, who was also on a stool, didn’t say anything and listened carefully.

“… And this is the strategy I plan to use to take Fort Ein.”

After finishing his explanation, Naga stared at Vita as he finished speaking.

“Hmm, I see.” Vita crossed her arms and answered in a soft voice.

“If we used this method, not just us, even the enemy won’t suffer any casualties, and we can take the fort undamaged for our own use. It is a well-thought-out plan. But there are some elements of uncertainty.”

“That’s right, we have to confirm if the structure in the fort is just as Raibach described. Which is meant to clarify if the range of your magic can cover more than half of the fort. If there are any problems, we have to reconsider the entire plan.“

“And where to place Elysio’s cloak, as well as whether the enemy will fall for the trick and gather in the eastern part…”

“We can’t confirm where the enemy will be positioned, so we have to adjust our plan accordingly.”

“That’s… true.”

“There’s another thing to confirm with you. Elysione mentioned she can teleport with one more person, right? This means she can teleport together with you?”

“Hmm? Oh, that can be done, it’s just that we never tried it before.” Vita said with a solemn face.

“That’s doesn’t sound confident, will it be harder to move if there’s two people? Or is there some other danger?”

“That’s not what I mean; it’s just that I will encounter something unpleasant along the way.”

Naga made a strange expression and pressed Vita:

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t mind it; anyway, Vita can teleport together with me, so you don’t need to worry about that.”

“In that case…”

Naga and Harrigan exchanged a look.

“The only problem left is Yuuki.”

“Yes, only Yuuki is left.”

“Yuuki is indeed a big problem. If we are to capture the enemy alive by using my magic, Yuuki’s participation is very important.”

Naga turned his face towards Vita and asked with a serious expression:

“Regarding this matter, I have a request for you, Vita.”

“What is it, why so serious?”

“Can you ask Yuuki for her help together with Harrigan and me?”

“What do you mean?”

Seeing Vita looking at him, Naga scratched his head.

“Actually, I am not very sure, but I heard her family was killed by the humans, and she really hates human men.”

“I have heard about her hating humans, but there are no witches who welcome men; Yuuki is no exception.”

Vita shifted her eyes towards Harrigan, who sighed softly and said:

“Her childhood experience left a deep trauma in her heart, so her hatred towards humans is exceptional among us. If the mission were to kill human soldiers, she would accept it, no matter how dangerous. But if it is to capture them alive, I’m not sure that she will cooperate.”

“Eh, so the two of you are planning to beg her?”

“Yes. Actually, we are hoping you could join us.”

Naga said. Vita pulled a long face of annoyance when she heard that.

“As the Sraymeyer Clan Head, why must I do that for a witch from your side?”

“This battle doesn’t only concern the fate of the Heindler Clan; it will also decide the future of your clan.”

“That’s true.” Vita looked into the distance and pondered for a moment. She then turned her head back. “Alright, I am not very willing, but I will lower my head along with you two and ask for her help.”

“Thank you very much.”

“Sorry for troubling you, Vita.”

Naga and Harrigan lowered their heads to Vita and thanked her.

“You mentioned the future of our clan, which is correct. If enduring for a moment will lead to a bright future for my clan, I won’t mind the hardships.”

“My apologies.”

“When do you plan to ask her?”

“Time is short; I hope to settle this tomorrow.”

“I see. I will visit your fort tomorrow morning to ask Yuuki then.”

“Thanks for the help.”

After that, the three continued discussing the strategy of attacking Fort Ein. After finishing for the day, Naga and Harrigan bid Vita farewell and returned to their fort.

=== Part 6 ===

The next morning—

Vita showed up at the fort as promised, bringing Elysione and another witch named Lilly.

She ordered Elysione and Lilly to standby in another room, and headed to the room where Naga, Harrigan, and Ais were waiting. As they would be asking Yuuki for help, Naga and Harrigan requested for Ais’ presence in case anything happened.

At this moment, Naga, Harrigan, Ais, and Vita sat in a circle, surrounding Yuuki, who was summoned to the room.

“Hmm? What is going on? Harrigan Nee-san and Naga are here as usual, but why are Ais and Vita clan head also here? Did I do something wrong? Or rather, are you going to do something to me?”

After entering the room, Yuuki had been stealing glances at the four of them repeatedly.

“Why am I sitting on a stool, but all of you are sitting on the ground? Are you asking me to look down on the four of you?”

Yuuki’s face was deathly pale, and sweat glistened on her forehead. Even the defiant Yuuki felt a lot of pressure when she faced these four people.

“Yuuki, we have something to tell you.” Harrigan said in a serious tone.

“I-I-I think so too. I would have run away if the four of you didn’t have any business with me.”

Yuuki broke out in cold sweat all over her body as she replied, and the four of them knelt down without any warning.

“Hyaa?” Yuuki jumped from surprise and backed away.

“W-W-What is this!? What does this mean!? Are you all joking with me!? Is this a new way of pulling a prank!?”

Harrigan lifted her head and soothed her: “Calm down, Yuuki.”

But Yuuki was still shocked and suspicious.

“Aren’t you all… angry?”

“Of course not.”

“Aren’t you going to punish me for trying to kill the prisoner?”

“We have no intention of doing that. We called for you today because we have a request for you. Please take a seat.”

Under the watchful gaze of Harrigan, Ais, and Vita, Yuuki appeared really timid as she returned to her seat, and sat down fearfully on the stool.

“We want to attack Fort Ein while avoiding damage to the fort itself and preventing casualties for both the witches and humans, so we will need your help, Yuuki. Please lend us your aid.”

After she finished, Harrigan lowered her head earnestly once more. Not just her, Naga, Ais, and even Vita, who was the head of another clan, pressed their foreheads to the floor, begging for her help.

“This…”

Yuuki couldn’t say anything for a moment.

She understood that an important task would be entrusted to her, but if that was it, Harrigan could just issue a direct order. She might not be willing to follow the command, but Yuuki wouldn’t outright reject Harrigan’s orders. But Harrigan didn’t do that, and even asked Vita to beg with her. Yuuki tried to think about what this meant.

She couldn’t understand and gave up immediately, deciding to ask directly instead.

“Why didn’t you just give me the order? And what kind of mission will be given to me? Will I be in danger of losing my life?”

“No, it’s not that dangerous.” Harrigan raised her head and replied.

“I don’t understand. Since it’s not dangerous, why not just issue a command? But instead of doing that, you ask me like this. And while surrounded by the four of you, being asked is much scarier than being ordered. Also, isn’t Clan Head Vita an outsider? Why is Clan Head Vita lowering her head too?”

“Fufu”, Vita laughed cheerfully.

“I’m here to ask for your help on the Dragon King-sama’s request. He thinks you will find it harder to reject if I am present too.”

“T-That really makes it hard for me to reject, but I won’t refuse if it’s Harrigan Nee-san’s order anyway. Why go so far as to lower your head and ‘ask’ for my help?”

“Naga will explain this part. As for the mission we need you to undertake, he will explain that too. You see, Naga is the one who came up with the proposal to seize the fort.”

After hearing Harrigan say that, Yuuki scowled.

“So it’s because of you.”

“You don’t need to make such a face for me.”

“I don’t understand why we have to spare the enemies’ lives. After all, wouldn’t it be easier in the future if we kill more of them?”

Yuuki’s critique might be reasonable, but Naga just shook his head lightly when he heard that.

“Conquering Tenka is not a simple matter of how large your army is.”

“Ten… Ka?”

Yuuki wasn’t alone, as Harrigan, Ais, and Vita also had a look of confusion. Lela’s talisman couldn’t accurately translate the term ‘Tenka’, so Naga tried to say it in a way the witches could understand.

“Hmm, eh… oh, if I use the term ‘take over the world’, will you understand?”

“Take over the world?” Yuuki still couldn’t get it, and kept blinking her eyes.

“How is that possible; is that a metaphor?”

“Just think of it as a metaphor for overturning the common sense of the world that thinks witches and humans are sworn enemies, which requires revolutionizing the entire world order. Doing that is related to seizing a new world.”

Yuuki had a look of wonder on her face.

The new world Naga envisioned and his goal for the future of the witches had not taken concrete form in her mind yet. But she understood that Naga wanted to create a new world where witches and humans live in harmony, and knew he was acting in order to build this ideal world.

(He mentioned this in the past; seems like he was serious, and he really wants to build a world like that.)

“If we can build such a world, then there wouldn’t be witches with painful memories like me?”

Yuuki muttered softly.

Naga laughed gently.

“Yuuki, so you have the same ideas as Raibach.”

“W-What?”

“He said ‘can you really create a world where Humans and Witches can live in harmony, a place where humans and humans won’t fight with each other?’ and ‘If you can create such a world and craft such a future, there won’t be children like Elena who are killed at such a young age.’”

“W-Who is Elena?”

“That was Raibach’s child. Ten years ago, the place he lived in was invaded by barbarians; his wife and daughter were murdered.”

This seemed to have struck a chord with Yuuki, and she showed a rare face of sadness.

“…I-Is that so?”

“If Raibach’s child was still alive, she would be about your age. He said his deceased daughter looked very much like you.”

Yuuki sneered and reverted back to her usual face and attitude.

“He is just trying to get on my good side because he almost died by my hands, right?”

“He looked surprised when you appeared in the room, right? I don’t think he was faking his reaction.”

“I didn’t watch that closely.”

“Forget about Raibach for now, back to the topic. In order to build a new world, and overturn the common sense that ‘witches and humans are sworn enemies, I want to avoid killing any enemy soldiers whenever possible.”

“How is not killing the enemy soldiers related to building a new world? I can’t understand.” Yuuki puffed her cheeks unhappily and asked a sarcastic question.

“Witches are not violent and cold blooded, but are instead kind, benevolent, and merciful… I want the humans to learn these facts. It is not easy to overturn their values and perceptions, but we need to make such views waver. With time, their common sense will be proven wrong. When that time comes, humans will be willing to stand on the same side as us.”

Yuuki lowered her head and seemed to be thinking about something. Harrigan and Ais looked at Yuuki with eyes filled with kindness, while Vita observed her curiously.

Shortly thereafter, Yuuki lifted her head and mumbled:

“I still don’t understand, but I don’t mind cooperation for the sake of building a new world.”
Harrigan’s and Ais’ faces brightened, Vita laughed, and Naga was all smiles.

“That is wonderful, as there is something only you can do after all.”

“Hold it! Tell me what I need to do first, or I won’t be able to give you a definite answer.”

“Oh, this is what we want to ask of you.”

Naga explained how to use Vita’s magic to seize the fort, and how the strategy will not harm the soldiers or damage the fort.

“Oh, so that’s it… That’s why Clan Head Vita is here?” Yuuki looked towards Vita.

“That’s right.” Vita nodded in acknowledgement.

“There is no problem in using my magic to subdue the soldiers, but there isn’t any witch in either tribe who can withstand my spell and bind the soldiers. The only one who can still move would probably be Ais.”

Ais showed a proud face.

“Aside from having a huge body, Ais also has lots of fat, her breasts and butt looks really heavy. No matter how strong she is, she might not be able to overcome the increased weight.”

Ais had a smile on her face, but her veins were showing on her temple. But no matter how gutsy Ais was, she wouldn’t dare rebuke Vita, so that smile on her face just turned stiffer and stiffer.

“Which is to say, the Dragon King-sama is giving up on binding the soldiers in the fort, and will be entrusting these things to you.”

Yuuki turned her gaze to Naga.

“Your head is always full of strange ideas.”

“Isn’t my head really good?”

“To think you can devise such a plan. I don’t think your head is good, it’s just that your personality is evil.”

“That’s so mean.” Naga grumbled.

Harrigan and Vita couldn’t help their snickering, and Ais finally relaxed her stiff smile and laughed gently.

Never mind, Naga lifted his spirits.

“How about it, are you willing to cooperate?”

After hearing his question, Yuuki puffed her chest out and said arrogantly:

“Piece of cake. And the soldiers will be subdued by Clan Head Vita, so I won’t have to worry about getting hit by arrows. It won’t be a problem.”

Hearing Yuuki’s response, Naga shouted “Alright!” agitatedly.

“Since Yuuki is willing to work with us, we will begin the operation to seize Fort Ein immediately.”

=== Part 7 ===

And so, the Heindler and Sraymeyer Clans worked together and began preparations to take Fort Ein.

The date that they would attack was tentatively set to be ten days later.

<noinclude>
==Translator's Notes and References==
<references/>

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| Back to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
| Return to [[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]
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</noinclude>

Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Chapter 2

2016-07-19T14:43:12Z

Darkdhaos: Created page with "==Chapter 2: An Unexpected Prisoner== === Part 1 === Puffing her cheeks and displaying her discontent, Kay called out to Naga with a loud voice and tried to draw his attenti..."

==Chapter 2: An Unexpected Prisoner==

=== Part 1 ===

Puffing her cheeks and displaying her discontent, Kay called out to Naga with a loud voice and tried to draw his attention and have him turn his horse’s neck.

“Ah, wait a moment, Naga-san!”

“What? Is there something bothering you?”

“That’s not what I mean. We’ve gone through the trouble of coming here, so can’t we at least enjoy a little swimming?”

“We didn’t come here to play, but…”

“That’s why, I’m telling you it’s just for a change of mood before we start our duties.”

“Ah, isn’t it fine? Naga-san, let’s swim together.”

Ixine expressed her consent.

“Umm, when it comes to swimming, there’s no witch better at it than I am.”

Nonoel lifted her hand.

“No, I don’t get why you’re boasting about being the best swimmer among us, Nono.”

“Eh? So it was no good?”

“No no, it’s not about that. I think it’s good to have Nono teach Naga-san since you’re most proficient in that.”

“Good grief. It can’t be helped, I guess.”

While saying so, Naga dismounted his horse. Nevertheless, he didn’t dislike it so much that he would complain.
Naga decided to see Nonoel, Kay, and Ixine off half-way from the Schweiz River where those 3 had been posted to keep watch. At the same time, he also decided to carry out some horse-riding practice.

Rather than him practicing by himself, teaching Ixine horse-riding was much more meaningful.
Descending from the great cliff towards the plain, Naga galloped on his horse while aiming upstream.
Kay was saddled on the back of Naga’s horse, whereas Nonoel sat behind Ixine.
Nonoel, who was extremely frightened, clung to Ixine’s lower back. On the other hand, Kay was, somewhat happily, glued to Naga’s back.

Running at full speed, Naga created some space between his and Ixine’s horse.
Continuing on like that, he called out to Kay, who was seated behind him.

“Oi, Kay.”

“Whaat, Naga-san?”

“You, weren’t you fine riding behind Ixine the other day? Why did you decide to cling to me today? You’re not going to say that my riding skills are better than Ixine’s, right?”

“Of course not. But that’s not the reason. Somehow, it feels nostalgic, you see.”

“Ha? What? Riding on a horse?”

“Wrong, wrong. It’s not that. A man’s back, is what I mean.”

Kay snapped and struck Naga’s back with her right hand.

“I don’t get it. Speaking of which, stop hitting me with all your strength. It hurts.”

Today, Naga didn’t put his armor on. Since he was wearing a kimono with tight sleeves, which he had received from Harrigan and the rest, it felt quite painful for him when he was hit forcefully on his back.

“Ahaha, sorry, sorry.”

Kay withdrew her hand while laughing.

“Saying that a man’s back feels nostalgic….. Could it be that you’re talking about your father?”

Naga tried to ask this.

“Umm, well guess you could say so.”

“It’s been on my mind since before, but where and what are each of your fathers doing?”

“We don’t have a father.”

“W, What? It’s impossible for such an absurd thing to exist. Or could it be, that in case of the witches, children are born from just a mother?”

“Honestly, there’s no way for that.”

Ahaha – Kay laughed.

“That’s not it. Umm, perhaps it’s better to say we don’t have any fathers or brothers?”

“What’s the meaning…. of that?”

“Because explaining the story would take too long, I’ll tell you about it again on another occasion. You see, the witches basically know nothing about their fathers. They’re not informed about them. That’s why, it’s the same as saying they don’t exist.”

Naga didn’t understand the meaning behind Kay’s words, however, he understood her words were quite significant for the witches.

(Somehow, it’s become hard to ask them casually.)

Not being aware of Naga’s hesitant face, Kay continued her story.

“Therefore, nobody from the witches know their fathers, and so they have no memories about them. But you see, I’ve got some memories about my father.”

“Would that be…. his back?”

“Yes. Despite them being faint memories, should you say I remember them? It seems like he used to carry me on his back and walk with me. I’ve not the slightest idea about where or when he disappeared, but with just your large, warm back in front of my eyes, I can recall those times.”

“…..Hm.”

“Because of that, it suddenly felt nostalgic when I saw Naga-san’s back. Hehe.”

Wearing an embarrassed grin on her face, Kay once again put her strength into her arms around Naga’s waist and glued her face to his back.

“Honestly, I’m not at the age to have a big daughter like you.”

Kay, who loosed her face from Naga’s back, again hit it with her right hand.

“Even though I was able to immerse myself in some nostalgic feelings, don’t say things like that. Aren’t you a kill-joy?”

“That’s why, I’m telling you not to hit me. Listen to me!”

“Ah, this, somehow feels like whipping a horse. Yes, doesn’t it give a sound similar to fw-chi?”

Since Kei, was carried away and wouldn’t stop hitting him, Naga became annoyed.

“S, Seriously, this girl. Hey, stop it!”

While messing around with each other, they finally reached their destination and Naga halted the horse.

“Hey, we are here, so get down.”

“Alreadyyy?”

Kay made a displeased face, however, she wouldn’t complain any further and lightly descended from the horse.
Soon after, Ixine and Nonoel arrived on their horse.

=== Part 2 ===

Both banks of the river, where Naga and the rest had made a dam, turned into a rocky area. It was convenient for hiding one’s presence, and enemy soldiers would most likely not reach this far. Even if they were to do so, it would be easy to spot them as Nonoel and Kay would camp there and watch over the river.

“Ixine, hasn’t you horse-riding skill improved quite significantly?”

“I did it! I was praised by Naga-san!”

Sitting on her horse, Ixine clenched her right hand in victory.

Ixine, who was fired up, had on a leather-made and slender tube skirt similar to those found among equestrian tribes. On her feet, she wore a pair of shin high boots. Her outfit was unlike those commonly used by the witches, but nevertheless such an appearance was relatively fitting to Ixine’s tall stature.

“Well then, I’ll be heading back. Take good care of yourself while standing guard. Especially you, Kay. Don’t make any rash decisions, got it?”

“Ehh, you’re saying some cruel things there. I’m not the type of person who would act recklessly, you know?”

“Yes, I know. I was just kidding.”

“Well, having some refreshment and taking a breather are important as well, right?”

“True, true. It’s important, important.”

Being in high spirits, Kay dashed down toward the dry river bank. After that, Ixine and Nonoel followed.
Naga, too, sped his horse to a nearby rock using the reins and ran after the three witches.
As soon as he got down to the river bed with rocks scattered around, the three of the were already doing warm-up exercises.
Since Nonoel wore thin clothes on the assumption that her garments would get soaked, there was no particular need for her to change or take them off.
Unlike her, Ixine wore the tube skirt for horse-riding, so she had to take her clothes off in order to be able to swim. Her top as well was covered by a coat, which also needed to be taken off.
Once she took off her top and bottom, only a small breast wrap and a loincloth were left on her body. However, despite that risqué appearance of hers, Ixine still moved her body with composure. Tattoo-like, complex patterns that appeared on her whole body caught Naga’s attention.
And then, if one was to describe Kay,
[[File:Naga03 Illus-03.jpg|200px|thumbnail|right]]
She was doing gymnastics while being totally naked, with no loincloth or breast cover.

“Oi, Kay!”

“What? Naga-san too, isn’t it better for you to properly warm-up before entering the water?”

Kay responded while bending her body left and right.

“That’s not what I mean. I’m asking: why are you naked?!”

“Hm?”

Ceasing to move, she looked down on her body.

“A….Ah…oops, I forgot that we are together with Naga-san.”

Saying ‘oops’ lightly, Kay scratched her head without feeling shy or embarrassed.

“You’re not supposed to forget that! Speaking of which, at least put on your loincloth.”

“Ah no, that’s because I’ve always been taking off my clothes when playing in water with my friends. Recently, I’ve been told by Ais to value myself more, but…”

Kay said so while turning around, picking up her loincloth, and putting it on while squirming.

(That’s an amazing view, indeed. Are you really fine with changing yourself there, Kay? Speaking of which, should I really be watching, but…. well, since I was neither told to go away nor avert my eyes, let’s consider this as OK.)

“Wai, Kay, you’re way too bold!”

Rather, it was Ixine and Nonoel who became red-faced.
Both of them moved in front of Kay and stood with their arms spread as if trying to hinder Naga’s gaze.
Finally, understanding it was no good by their reaction, Naga shifted his gaze away.

Kay finished putting on her loincloth and chest cover, turned around and asked them both.

“Hm? What are you two doing?”

Ixine and Nonoel collapsed to their knees.

“Even though we were protecting you from Naga-san’s eyes.”

“Is that so? Thanks.”

“Kay, you’re too defenseless./…”

At Nonoel pointing out, Naga too, couldn’t help but to nod.

“Right. Shouldn’t you have some shame as well?”

“No you see, til now, there’s been nobody besides girls, so we have no custom of paying attention to that.”

“I wonder if I should consider you as being exceptional. Well, still if you insist that you want me to watch at all costs I won’t refuse to do so, but…”

“No no, as one would expect, I wouldn’t go that far.”

“In that case, you better pay more attention.”

“I’ll be careful from now on.”

“Indeed, you’re one easy-going fellow.”

Naga was astonished; Ixine and Nonoel started to laugh.

“Kay is that sort of a girl.”

“Isn’t she? Despite Kay-chan not minding other people’s sight like this, she also has good qualities.”

“Eh? I don’t feel like I’m being praised.”

As Kay spoke up with a slightly hysterical voice, Ixine waved her hands in denial.

“No, we weren’t particularly praising you.”

Naga was infected by the sound of their laughter and smiled broadly.

(Being so relaxed, overfamiliar, and positive toward other witches, indeed, Kay is an interesting fellow.)

Not being aware of Naga’s thoughts, Kay spoke up.

“Well then, let’s swim!”

After they enjoyed themselves in the water for a short time, the four of them came ashore and dressed themselves.

“Well, now that we have refreshed ourselves, shall we take up our posts? Even if I say so, it’s actually Nono who’s in charge of guarding.”

“I know, right?”

“We are relying on you, Nonoel.”

“Yesss, I’ll do my best.”

“Kay and Ixine too, do your best, okay?”

“Leave it to us.”

“You can count on me.”

“If anything happens, Ixine will run back on her horse.”

“Understood.”

Like this, Nonoel, Kay, and Ixine took up the duty of watching for movements from the Kasandora Kingdom’s army near the Schweiz River.

=== Part 3 ===

The army in question would turn out to be Raibach’s company.
His company, which set up camp on the left side of the riverbank, was divided into 4 groups, so as to guard the river.
Gathering 2 platoons and 5 more people from the company headquarters, Raibach formed groups consisting of 25 people each, as units for tactical mobilization.

Assuming the witches came to this side of the river, there was no telling if they would only cross where the path was. Consequently, Raibach’s troops had to watch over a certain area. Still, there was also a limit to how well 100 soldiers could accomplish this task. With that, Raibach divided his company into 4 units, each placed at a set distance from one another and spread out along the river.
However, in all honesty, he really didn’t want to split his forces.

(Originally, it should’ve been 4-5 companies lined up along the river…. No, even with that amount it wouldn’t be enough. Still, to think that that youngster would only send my company for this dangerous post.)

Whenever Raibach tried to recall the prim looking face of General Guiscard, he couldn’t help himself from getting angry.
Even if they were told to temporarily observe the enemy, a unit that consisted of only 25 people could do very little. Providing they face a clan of the witches that had as many as 20 people, they would have practically the same numbers. 25 soldiers would stand no chance against 20 witches. Not to mention, they would probably be unable to even stall the witches until their allies arrived. As soon as they were attacked, they would just run away.
However, were they to move together as a company, they would only be able to watch over a single place. If that was the case, the enemy could choose a location freely and cross the river at any time.

(That youngster. Saying things like ‘hinder them at all costs’. If so, send us more soldiers! Well, even without hindering the witches, we should at least be able to report once we see them coming, but….)

Regardless of that, Raibach’s company, which was the only one appointed for guarding this wide area, was put in quite a dangerous situation.

(Indeed, recently I’ve been encountering nothing but bad omens since the time we attacked the witches’ fort. As I thought, nothing good comes from being involved with them. Rather, should I retire from the army? After all, I no longer have a family to support. I wonder if I could somehow…. afford living by myself. No, I still can’t be certain about that, I guess.)

Even if Raibach, who has been serving devotedly in the army since his youth, was to try his luck in some other jobs, he possessed no special skills whatsoever. If there was something he could take pride in, it would be his swordsmanship. Other things he could boast about were his military commanding ability and his eye trained for tactics, which he gained through experience, still…

(Guess those skills won’t come in handy if I change my occupation. Were I to make the best use of my swordsmanship, wouldn’t I be only able to serve as a guard for a caravan of merchants? Nevertheless, considering my age right now, it would still probably be quite harsh.)

Contemplating on his own future, Raibach could only let out a sigh.

“Captain. Captain Raibach.”

At his subordinate’s voice, Raibach came back to his senses.

“What? Did something happen?”

“No, it’s not that. I came here to inform you about the newly arrived army provisions.”

“Again? Just how many days has it been since we came here?”

The adjutant replied seriously as Raibach spat out his question.

“We’ve been staying here for about 6-7 days, I think.”

(That bastard, Guiscard. In the end, he just wants us to stay here! Speaking of which, if you have time to send us that much food, at least provide us with reinforcements!)

“Have you already confirmed its contents?”

“Yes, it’s done. I’d like to ask for your signature.”

Taking the receipt and feather pen presented by the adjutant, Raibach quickly signed.

“Here.”

“Thank you very much for your efforts.”

Once he handed over the receipt, Raibach called out to the same man who was about to retreat.

“Oi, Sirius”

The adjutant stopped and turned around.

“Yes?”

“I’m going to take around 10 people with me and patrol the river(?).”

Since there was some distance between their units, it was decided that each of them would assign some people to walk along and patrol the riverbank. Raibach was the one who suggested this.

“Captain, you plan to go personally?”

“Yeah, for a change of pace.”

“Will it be alright? If something were to happen to you…”

It wasn’t unreasonable for the adjutant to worry about his superior.
Unlike in modern times, an army in this world had no distinct class system. If something were to happen to a commanding officer, there was a distinct possibility that it would cease to function. And if someone like the general in command, or a royal family member, was to be killed, it was possible for the entire army to desert.
One could say that the same applied for single units.
In the case that this occurred, there was also a vice-commanding officer in charge of every unit, however, the death of one’s commanding officer would cause quite a shock to the soldiers.
Still, Raibach replied with a buoyant look.

“We have a good insight into the surroundings, so it should be fine. Generally, this task is dangerous in itself. No matter where we go, the danger will still be the same.”

“That….might be true, but…”

“Don’t fret. I’m just doing it on a whim.”

(Saying that he wants to carry a patrol because of a whim, isn’t it a bit reckless of him to do so as a commanding officer?)

As an adjutant, it was only natural for him to think so. Nonetheless, it didn’t appear to be a matter big enough for him to strongly object.

Despite it being a hazardous duty, right now, no signs indicated that the witches would appear.

(I guess, the general’s caution about the possibility of the witches striking was a needless worry.)

The adjutant thought so.
Because the witches have been isolating themselves inside the black forest for several dozens of years, it wasn’t irrational.

“Understood. Then, please bring the 1st platoon along with you.”

“I’ll leave the camp in your care.”

Like that, Raibach led a single platoon and went for a patrol along the riverside.

=== Part 4 ===

Nonoel travelled through the river while submerged.
With water magic being her main strength, she could breathe by gathering air inside the water. At the same time, it was possible for her to expand the gathered air and wrap it around her skin, allowing Nonoel to maintain a steady body temperature.
Thanks to that, she could easily stay active for more than half an hour inside the water. And if it was just the submerging alone, even for a whole hour.

Since Nonoel was also able to refract the light from the water’s surface whenever she was diving, she could easily conceal her presence.
Capitalizing on that ability, she searched for any sign of Kasandora’s army from beneath the river’s surface.
Nonoel had already grasped that there were 4 units from Kasandora’s army dispatched along the river, with each of them having around 20 soldiers.
She was currently near the place where the path was intersected by the river, where there were footprints still visible. Nevertheless, the area didn’t appear to be heavily guarded.

(Guess it’s like this. It’s not like they have to walk near the path)

Despite there being some hills in the surroundings, the area was basically a plain with no wetlands or big forests.
It would be different in the case of a big unit, however, if one was to consider just a few people walking around, they could go anywhere and not just guard a fixed area.
Even so, there was a mountainous area ahead of the river. Since it was far more comfortable to walk on the path instead of covering the distance by crossing the mountains, Kasandora’s troops would usually walk this path and cross the river here.

After going downstream for a moment and confirming there was no particular change in the Kasandora Army’s troops, Nonoel prepared to swim back upstream, so as to return to where Kay and Ixine were hiding.

Being capable of controlling the water, she had no difficulty in swimming against the flow of the river.

Nonoel continued to move upstream while sometimes taking a peek above to observe her surroundings.
In the middle of doing so, she discovered a troop of only 10 people, who were walking on the river bank.

(Is it the usual patrol group…..? No, it’s not them?)

Among the troops that walked on top of the embankment upstream, Nonoel recognized one person wearing a different outfit from the rest.

(He’s wearing a more refined helmet and armor than the others. Could he be… a commanding officer?)

Back then, Nonoel did a meritorious deed by taking down a battalion commander as a result of her noticing the difference in the soldiers’ outfits. Therefore, it was just a natural course of action for her to recall that time.

(Why did a commanding officer go through the trouble of patrolling?)

Nonoel thought doubtfully.

(Is it a sign of them being about to launch some sort…. of new tactic? Or maybe, they are searching for a plausible location to cross so they can counterattack? The danger doesn’t seem to be imminent, but wouldn’t it be better if I made sure just in case?)

Thinking to check out the intentions of the newly discovered unit, she drew near the riverbank.
As soon as she approached a point where she was barely able to hide herself, Nonoel positioned her face right below the water surface while looking up at the shallows.
It was a posture where you would question whether or not her nose would stick out from the water’s surface.
Under normal circumstances, it would be easy to tell if something was hiding inside the water, even from a more distant place. However, as long as Nonoel was in control of light refraction, unless someone peered into the water right above her, there was no chance they would see her. On the other hand, she was able to observe the surroundings to a certain degree.
Ceasing her movements, Nonoel began to spy on the troop.

=== Part 5 ===

“There’s been nothing unusual taking place, right?”

The 1st platoon leader addressed Raibach.

“Well, I guess so. It would be nice if we can finish our duty just like this without any problems, but you see…”

“When do you think it will be over?”

A shade of concern appeared on the leader’s face.
Considering that it was possible for the witches to attack, his anxiety wasn’t unreasonable. Even Raibach felt uneasy. But, there was no way for him to display that in front of his subordinates.

“Well, it’s hard for me to tell as it depends on General Guiscard’s mood.”

Raibach answered in a casual manner.

“That’s because the witches might come, right?”

The platoon leader asked once more.

“That too, remains unclear to me. Til now, the witches have been staying inside the black forest. It’s difficult to imagine them leaving it today, tomorrow, or any time soon, but well….”

“Still” – Lowering his tone, the platoon leader said.

“Based on the fact that our troops suffered a big loss the other day, won’t the witches consider that….as an opportunity?”

Shrugging his shoulders, Raibach began to walk.

“I still don’t understand the witches’ reasoning.”

“Captain, where are you going?”

“I’ll wash my face a bit so as to keep myself awake.”

“Ah….okay.”

The platoon leader was taken aback, however,

(Despite being assigned to such a dangerous task, our captain is indeed a daredevil. As one would expect, he hasn’t worked his way up to become a captain for nothing. His battle experience is rich, and he’s also dealt with the witches. I think we might be able to return alive as long we have this person by our side.)

Being filled with admiration, the man thought that Raibach seemed reliable.

“Should I have someone accompany you?”

“I’ll be back quickly. More importantly, stay on guard and watch over the other side of the river properly. If you spot something, inform everyone with a loud voice and run back as fast as you can.”

“Got it.”

Putting a wry smile on his face, the platoon leader saluted.

=== Part 6 ===

(Is somebody approaching?)

Nonoel lifted up her face close the water surface, which was hard to tell whether it was sticking it out or not.
Certainly, there was someone drawing close. What’s more, that person was coming towards her direction.

(Could it be that he sensed my presence? No, I don’t think that’s possible, still…)

It would be better if that person were to go straight along the embankment of the river stream, but instead, he walked diagonally across a sand bar.
Nonoel saw that and was a bit confused.

Despite thinking it shouldn’t be possible for her to be exposed, she had heard from Harrigan that there were rare instances in which experienced swordsmen would be able to grasp the witches’ hidden presence.

Could it be that this man….? – she thought.

Nevertheless, Nonoel was overthinking.

Considering it calmly, there was a high chance that this event was just coincidental. But Nonoel, who was still young and inexperienced in battle, panicked a bit, and as a result, assumed too much.

(If I move right now, it will place me in danger instead. Should I let this person pass?)

Even if the enemy was able to sense something doubtful for a moment, Nonoel didn’t think he would be able to confirm her position. Because of that, rather than running away, she deemed it was better to hold her breath silently in that place. Despite that, the person continued to approach the shallows in which she’d hidden herself.

(T, That person is walking as if he knows I’m here.)

While thinking so, Nonoel became a little restless.

(W, What should I do? Should I carry out a preemptive attack…? No, by doing so, I’ll reveal myself to other soldiers behind this person. If they learn about us spying on this place, it might affect our plan of capturing their fort. As expected, it’s better to let him pass…no, perhaps it’s better to flee?)

What should I do? – Nonoel couldn’t make up her mind.

At the same time, the man descended down to the riverbank.

“Good grief, isn’t today quite peaceful? It would be nice if such days could always continue like this.”

The soldier, who approached, looked around and said so with an easy-going attitude. Once he did so, he crouched down on the spot and extended both his hands toward the water’s surface.

His intention was to wash his face by scooping some water, but Nonoel felt confused and reacted reflexively.

(Was my location exposed?!)

Nonoel, who tried to counter attack, unconsciously loosened her control of the light refraction.
The sudden appearance of a person below the water surprised Raibach. Not to mention, it was a girl who wore thin clothes with lots of skin exposure.

“No, it isn’t a human, but, a witch!?”
[[File:Naga03 Illus-04.jpg|200px|thumbnail|right]]
Opening his eyes widely, Raibach stood up as if being flicked.

(He saw meee!)
Nonoel’s body reacted before she could think.

*Splashhh*

The moment he thought that the river surface became choppy, the water rose up. And then, stretched out just like tentacles, the water coiled around Raibach’s arms, body, and feet.

“Whhhhhhhat is thisssssssssss!?”

(This is bad. I don’t know what it is, but it feels incredibly bad!)

Having a frantic expression, Raibach tried to tear off the water tentacles, but unfortunately, he was unable to move. It was as though he was seized by steel, rather than water.

“What’s the matter, Captain?!”

Sensing something wrong, the platoon leader and his men tried to descend to the river bank. Raibach noticed that, turned his head and shouted.

“Don’t come, it’s a witch!”

With the word ‘witch’, they immediately stopped moving.

“What are you doing?! Quickly, run awa…”

Raibach’s body was suddenly pulled inside the water.

“Uwaaaaa?!”

The next instance.

*plop*

Leaving a small sound behind, Raibach vanished.

Naturally, his body was inside the water. Since Nonoel controlled light refraction with her magic, it looked as if Raibach disappeared. Or so they thought.

(W, was Captain kidnapped by the witches?)

“Eeeek?!”

The other soldiers ran up the embankment without a second glance and escaped at full speed.

Raibach, who was pulled inside the water, was struggling desperately. However, it was as if his body was restrained by huge invisible hands. He couldn’t move.

*Blub blub bluuuu-*

Raibach’s breath continued to turn into bubbles and float up.

(This is bad, I’m running out of breath….. Damn, really, nothing good comes from being involved with…Gahaa)

With a part of his consciousness fading away, Raibach awaited his death.

=== Part 7 ===

“What should we do, Kay-chan, Shi-chan?”

“No, I myself wonder about that.”

Looking down at the unconscious enemy soldier dragged ashore, Ixine and Kay bent their heads. The complex, tattoo-like patterns drawn on Ixine looked as though they were squirming on her skin.

Finally, Kay lifted up her head and said swiftly.

“Since its bothersome, shouldn’t we just kill him?”

Nonoel as well, nodded in agreement.

“Guess you’re right. 2-3 minutes should be enough for him to die if we leave him to soak. How about that?”

“Oioioioi!”

Smack – Kay faced toward Nonoel and hit her in a chopping manner.

“I was joking, Nono. Don’t take it that seriously.”

“Ah, is that, so?”

Nonoel tried to ask Ixine for an opinion by looking in her direction.

“Because we caught him, shall we take him back with us for the time being? In the first place, why did you capture this person? Nonoel, was there some sort of a motive?”

“Ah, no, that’s….. you see, I did it on the spur the moment and had no time to think ahead.”

Beginning from that time, Nonoel explained the whole story in general

“Really? So he isn’t just a soldier but a commanding officer of that troop? Now that you mention it, he’s certainly wearing a high-class armor, unlike those regular soldiers.”

Saying that, Kay nodded.

“If that’s the case” – Ixine raised her right hand.

“I wonder if he doesn’t know about that.”

“Yes? About what?”

“I’m talking about Fort Ein.”

“Ah!”

“Wouldn’t Naga-san want to know about that? He said that if there’s detailed information about the fort, capturing it would be much easier.”

“Right? Speaking of which, it means that we’ve caught a fine prisoner, right? Does it mean I’ve once again made a glorious achievement?”

“You’re really singing your own praises, aren’t you, Nono? Well, there’s no doubt that it’s a great achievement, but getting your head gently stroked by Naga-san is indeed nice.”

Ehehe – Nonoel smiled timidly once Kei said so in a half joking manner.

“What? So you really want to be stroked by Naga-san? If that’s the case, you should have your chest stroked as well.”

“….That would be a bit troublesome. wouldn’t you say it’s still too early for…..”

“So the problem is age? Are you saying it’s fine when you become more mature?”

As Kay retorted, Ixine continued to speak.

“Are you saying you won’t be satisfied with just being caressed? Could it be that you want to be groped as well?”

“Uhmm, how should we bring this person with us?”

“Don’t try to dodge my question!” x2

(Nono…. I wonder if you were surprisingly this bold. No, rather than that.)

Kay turned her attention to the problem in front of their eyes.

“It appears to be quite difficult to carry him on one’s back, so…. by the way, when it comes to things like this, perhaps I could be of help, so… no. On second thought, let’s make him walk.”

As soon as Kay said so, Nonoel once again looked in Ixine’s direction.

“Will it do if we place him on the horse?”

“No, you see, I’d rather not have a human guy ride behind me.”

“….Guess you’re right.”

“Well then Nono, let’s wake him up.”

“I think it will be fastest for Kay to hit him two or three times on the cheek.”

“Eh? Are you fine with that?”

“Since he has lost his consciousness from drowning, giving him a shock should be the right thing to do.”

“Ah, that’s right. Well, fine.”

Kay said a small chant.

“Harden, harden. Become an unrivalled hardness. Oh Thee, become a body, become an embodiment of hardness.”

Her right hand which turned silver in color, was hardened.

“Pay attention so as not to overdo it. If you hit him too seriously, you will probably crush his cheekbones.”

“Got it. I’ll hit him gently, like brushing him, so don’t fret.”

“What type of a hitting method is that?!”

Ixine retorted.

“No, I get what you want to say, but…”

Kay’s strengthened body was solid to the extent of repelling sharp swords. If she hit him in that state, the man would most likely not avoid bone fractures.

Ah, that’s right. – Kay said after lowering her raised hand.

“Nono, it will troublesome if this man wakes up and becomes violent.”

“Yes. I’ll restrain him.”

Once Nonoel chanted in a grumbling manner, she inserted her right hand into the river and ladled out some water.

Soon after the scooped water covered the man, turning into fine strings and wrapping around his wrists and ankles.

“This will do.”

“Then, shall we start?”

Raising her right hand once more, Kay grabbed the enemy soldier by his collar and lifted his upper body.

“Okay, wake up, wake upppp.”

Slap slap slap – she delivered repeated slaps to his cheeks.

“Uu…..Uuuug…”

Nonoel and Ixine looked at the man.

“Seems like he’s regaining consciousness.”

“He doesn’t have any broken cheekbones, right?”

Using her strengthened right hand, Kay tried to caress his cheeks.

“Hm, should be fine.”

=== Part 8 ===

A strange sensation, which was somewhat hard but warm, passed through his cheeks. And then,

“Hm, should be fine.”

Such a voice reverberated inside his head.

(What…. I haven’t died yet?)

Right after he opened his eyes slightly, Raibach coughed and choked repeatedly.

“Kuh-ack-kuh”

Despite him choking, Raibach somehow managed to open his eyes. As he did so, the faces of unfamiliar witches unfolded before him.

“Uwaaaaaa?!”

“What the—?!”

At his shout, Kay, who became surprised, released him unintentionally from her grasp, making his head fall straight down on top of a stone.

“Awwwwww!”

Folding his knees and arching his back, Raibach tried to hold the back of his head using his hands, but they wouldn’t move freely.

“Awawawawa, what the heck is this, awawaawawa, what’s happening, awawawaawa—”

Raibach attempted to move his body by kicking and struggling, but his limbs still wouldn’t regain their freedom. It felt as though his ankles and wrists were tightly bound by rope-like things.

“Are you in pain or in amazement? Decide which.”

Hearing a voice pouring from above his head, he looked up with teary eyes.

“…….”

“……”

For a while, he and Kay stared at each other from close range.

“Witcheeeeeeeessss!?”

Raibach screamed with a loud voice, making her lean backwards in astonishment.

“Uwaaa!?”

Raibach tried to escape desperately, but it shouldn’t be possible with his limbs restrained. In the end, he would just tumble heavily onto the river bed.

“Awwawaw.”

With a stone from the river bed cutting into his body, he completely recovered his senses thanks to the pain.

Raibach stopped moving around and looked around his surrounding, trying to confirm the situation.
He was situated on a bank with the flowing stream most likely being the Schweiz River. Since the area was rocky and the river was narrow, unlike his previous location, there was no doubt about this one being upstream. And then, the ones looking down on him were three witches.

Conducting a quick survey from that little information, Raibach reached a conclusion.

(In other words, I was caught by the witches. Because of that, my body is tied up with their magic and thrown down on the river bed…… or so I think?)

As one would expect, Raibach, who had plenty of battle experience, could still judge a situation with composure, despite finding himself in peril.
Releasing all the strength in his body, Raibach fell on his back and observed the three witches, who looked down on him, once again.

(So these are…the witches? Looking closely, they seem to be different from what I’ve thought.)

The three girls in front his eyes appeared to be quite dissimilar from how they had been commonly portrayed as ‘vicious and inhuman’.

(Speaking of which, aren’t they just normal girls? Even if they can use magic, they look no different from normal girls.)

The figure of his long deceased daughter resurfaced in his mind.

(Were she to be alive, that girl too would probably be around this age and appearance.)

Being immersed in a sentiment that wasn’t appropriate to his situation, Raibach ceased any thought of putting up resistance or attempts of escaping.

“Hey, you.”

“Eh? What?”

“You’re, witches, right?”

Nonoel and Kay looked at each other’s face.

A moment later, Kay, who had returned her gaze to him, responded:

“That’s right.”

“Is that so? Well, guess that was an obvious thing. Still…..”

“Why are you asking such a question?”

“….You look different from what I had imagined.”

“What kind of imagination was that?”

“I’ve heard stories about you being atrocious, heinous, wicked, and brutal existences, which made me think you’re indeed fearsome in appearance. Like the ones with a mouth splitting til their ears, narrowed eyes, and protruding fangs.”

The three of them bent backward without realizing.

“That’s cruel.”

“It’s cruel, right?”

“Indeed, that’s cruel!”

“When I look at you from a close range like this, you certainly have unusual hair color and clothing. Still, your look is no different from that of normal girls.”

“Not just our looks but our insides too are similar to normal girls, you know?”

Raibach’s eyes stopped at Kay’s right hand.

“I guess, you can’t call that normal.”

“Ah, no, this is….”

She released her magic.
The metallic-like luster vanished and her skin color turned back to normal.

“What’s more, this is….”

Raibach tried to put up both his hands.

String-shaped cords, which couldn’t be torn off no matter how much strength he applied, coiled around his wrists.

“Is this magic as well?”

“Yes, that’s… true.”

“As one would expect, witches aren’t common beings, I guess.”

But, not feeling any disgust or contempt toward his tone of speaking, the three of them looked again at each other’s faces.

“Then, what do you plan to do with me from now on? If I’m going to be killed either way, it would be nice if you could do it using painless and instant methods, so as to ease my death, but well…”

“We won’t kill you!”

Kay shouted.

“Had we simply planned to kill you, we wouldn’t have gone through the trouble of catching you.”

“Is that so?”

Raibach breathed a big sigh.

“So I’ll be tormented to death? Indeed, a horrifying end.”

“We won’t be doing that either!”

“You mean it?”

“….No, there seems to be one person capable of that, but at least, we won’t do such things.”

“Then, what are you going do with me?”

“We thought about discussing that matter with Naga-san first, and so we wanted to bring you with us. Still…”

“Naga? Who’s that?”

“No, Naga-san is Naga-san. But the meaning behind his name appears to be ‘Dragon King’, you see?”

“Na….Naga?” [written as Dragon King]

Raibach widely opened his eyes, as if not believing the words he had just heard.

“Naga-san is a human guy and a member of our household. No, to begin with, it’s not clear to us whether or not we should call him ‘human’.”

(Oi, oi, what’s the meaning of that? Naga-san [Dragon King]… What’s wrong with the overfamiliarity in that name?)

“Yes, it was thanks to Naga-san’s tactics that we were able to repel 2000 of your soldiers.”

“For real?”

“There’s no reason for us to lie at this point.”

Raibach wasn’t directly involved with the battle, but he was still related to it since he led the supply troops. That’s why, he knew more than enough about his friendly troops suffering an utter defeat from the hands of ‘the witches who resorted to an unheard of style of fighting’.

(If there’s someone like the Dragon King, then certainly, it wouldn’t be strange for the witches to change their fighting style…. no, I still can’t believe it.)

“We are going to discuss your matter with Naga-san. It would be much appreciated if you could follow us obediently, but….”

“…….Will I become prey for the Dragon King? Am I going to be munched on by him starting from my head?”

“Ha? No no, what are you talking about? Naga-san won’t devour you. If they’re young girls, he would most likely do so, however….”

“Really? So the Dragon King prefers young human girls? Well, guess that’s understandable.”

Raibach felt a small relief inside his heart.

Therefore – While being unaware that he wasn’t understanding their conversation, Kay replied.

“Follow us obediently. If you decide to pick a fight or run away, I’ll have to bring you by force.”

Kay, who peered at his eyes, continued to speak.

“It would be quite bothersome, and you also probably don’t want to suffer, right?”

Raibach exhaled a sigh once again.

“Yeah, I’d hate that. Understood, I’ll follow along.”

“Uuuuu”

Looking down on Raibach, who folded up his arms, Kay groaned lightly.

“What? Is something matter?”

“No, how should I say, I think you’re also different from what I had imagined about humans.”

At Kay’s words, Nonoel and Ixine slightly nodded.

“While we are at it, what kind of human did you picture me as?”

“Look. Don’t humans detest the witches just like snakes and scorpions? In that case, they wouldn’t even bother to lend an ear to us. Despite that, I thought it was strange for you to talk with us that conventionally.”

“Even among humans, there are different people.”

“Hmm, is that so?”

For some reason, Kay watched Raibach with a face showing curiosity.

“Ah, that’s right. What’s your name?”

“Me? I’m Raibach.”

“I see. My name is Kay. It’s fine for you to call me Kay for now.”

“O….Oh, you mean it?”

“And then, here’s Nonoel.”

Being pointed out, Nonoel moved swiftly behind Kay’s back as if trying to conceal herself. With only her face peeking through, she said with a small voice:

“It’s……. Nonoel.”

“This person here is Ixine.”

“Uhmm, I’m Ixine. Nice to meet you.”

“It’s Raibach. Please treat me well.”

“Well then, let’s not waste any more time on chit-chat. Ixine, gallop back first and inform Hari-nee and Naga-san.”

“Hm, that’s right. Got it. Then, I will return back ahead of you.”

Saying so, Ixine returned to the place where the horse was tied up.

“Take care.”

Kay who saw Ixine off with her hand, finally turned around.

“Then, shall we go ahead, Raibach?”

(You’re going to address me without any honorifics? Well, it’s not like I’m in a position to complain since I’m your prisoner, but even if you’re witches, your girlish appearance and age give off a very bad feeling.)

“Can you stand up?”

“Hm? Yeah, more or less…”

Raibach cast down his gaze to the water strings that bound his ankles.

“Oh, is that so? Nonoel, you can remove them.”

“U, Understood.”

Uhee? – Removing the bonds on his ankles, Raibach gave out a voice which could have equally been from astonishment or admiration.

Heave-ho – Raibach stood up and stuck out his bound wrists.

“I’m going to be like this…. for the whole time, right?”

“Yes.”

“Well, I thought it would be nice if I wasn’t.”

“Then, you should give up and walk with us. If you try to escape, Nonoel will bind your ankles once more. Speaking of which, perhaps it would be better to constrain your neck too?”

“Yeah, I won’t. To begin with, I don’t think it’s even possible for me to run away from you.”

Nonoel, who heard their conversation, felt it was strange.
The fact that a human and witch could talk casually, judging from her common sense, was an unthinkable thing.

(No, well, it might be that Kay is just a bit eccentric among all of us. She would start talking even with Naga-san in an overfamiliar manner. However, I wouldn’t imagine for this human guy to talk this carefreely with us. I don’t think it’s due to Kay’s speaking style, but I’ve always believed all humans detest the witches.)

Raibach’s speech and conduct was an unexpected and refreshing experience that made Nonoel a little bit happy.

(Could it be it’s possible for both the witches and humans to understand each other……?)

Nonoel considered Naga as someone exceptional. Also, the fact that he fell from another dimension without being bound by this world’s ties of obligation, customs, or common sense was the reason he could give them a fair evaluation. This is what she thought. Nevertheless, looking at this man called Raibach, especially as somebody who wasn’t just an ordinary man, but an enemy soldier, Nonoel actually felt that not all the humans are hostile against the witches, or that they shun them.

(Could it be that such a day might come?)

She carried that wish inside her.

(No, I wonder about that. If I was to say such lines around Ane-sama, she would most likely chuckle at me saying it’s an empty dream, whereas Yuki would abuse me by saying ‘you traitor!’. Despite that…)

It may be that Naga’s evaluation wasn’t due to him coming from a different world, but instead due to his own viewpoint and way of thinking, just like this person, called Raibach.

While walking behind Raibach, who was led by Kay, Nonoel felt that their small light of hope had, yet again, shone a bit brighter.

=== Part 9 ===

With Naga supposedly being in the 1st fort, Ixine galloped while aiming for that place.
Kay and Nonoel, who were bringing Raibach with them, walked toward the 1st fort as well.
It wouldn’t take them long if they were to dash, but when it comes to taking along a prisoner, only walking was an option.

With Ais being forwarded by Harrigan after the latter had received a report from Ixine, the three of them linked up with Ais on their way and finally reached 1st fort just before the sunset.

Witnessing a small fort dyed in the color of the sunset and enclosed by a wooden fence in front of his eyes, Raibach had a strange feeling while reflecting on the few days he had spent here before.

(……So it’s here? Good grief. Somehow, it feels a bit nostalgic. I suffered a defeat by trying to attack this place, was demoted from being a company captain to a commander of the supply troops, and was then reinstated as a captain. Considering all of that, to think I’m here now as a prisoner of the witches. My life has changed drastically over the past few days, which makes me want to laugh.)

Once Ais and Kay talked with the witches on security, Naga and Harrigan appeared in front of them, having been brought by Ixine.

“Oi, Kay, so you managed to catch a soldier from Kasandora’s army?!”

“Ah, umm, actually it was Nonoel who did it, but…. Look, it’s this person I was talking about.”

Seeing Naga who came out of the fort, Raibach became surprised.

(So there was a man among the witc– wha, speaking of which, is this guy the rumored Dragon King? Rather than the Dragon King… he looks no different from a normal human. His attire is certainly unusual, but…… Not to mention, he gives off a distinct feeling from us.)

“Oh! So this guy is the captive?”

Naga walked straight toward Raibach.
Raibach was a bit taller in comparison with Naga.

(Watching him like this from a close range, as expected, his appearance is strange. His sword is inserted near his waist, and its shape itself is different too. Still, assuming he’s the Dragon King, he is indeed young.

Such was his first impression towards Naga.

On the other hand, Naga thought.

(I see. Certainly. it’s as they say. Despite him being brought along to a fort of the witches, this sort of composure doesn’t appear to be same as that of an ordinary soldier.)

Naga judged with a calm attitude.

“You…Your name…Wha…is called?”

Naga asked.

There were some difficult to catch words, but Raibach understood.

(Is he talking with our language…? No, rather than talking, it feels as though his words are reverberating inside my head.)

“Umm, I’m Raibach. Raibach Lantier.”

“Is that so? My name is…… Naga.”

(Is he really the Dragon King? Or perhaps, he’s just referring to himself that way…?)

Naga who gave his name, talked to the witch next to him.

“I can’t ask him while standing, so how about we enter inside, Harrigan?”

The witch replied.

“I guess that’s the only option.”

(Huge, and by that I mean various things.)

Concealing his amazement inside his heart, Raibach ran his sight indirectly over Harrigan.

“Ah, Hari-nee, Yuuki isn’t here, right?”

Once Kay asked.

“She isn’t.”

“Ah, that’s lucky. Were we to take this man in front of that girl, she would make a fuss while shouting ‘kill kill kill!’.”

Ahahaha – Harrigan laughed.

“If it’s her, she will most likely do so.”

“Oi oi, you, I don’t think it’s something to laugh about.”

Raibach retorted without thinking ahead.

“Hahaha, certainly… it isn’t a laughing matter… I guess.”

“You too! I told you it’s not something to laugh about!”

He also retorted at Naga.

Because Naga and Harrigan directed their sights at him, Raibach shrugged his shoulders in a hurry and turned his face away.

“Should we first let him rest inside a room? He must be tired from all the walking to this place.”

Raibach became astonished at Harrigan’s words.

(To think that the witches would be considerate about my fatigue. I thought they would put me into a room for interrogation without any arguing, but…. Or maybe they’re going to drive me into a dungeon?)

True – At Harrigan’s words, Kay nodded.

“Raibach, come this way.”

She showed him a building inside the fort.

“What’s that? That girl, Kay, has she already started to call him without honorifics? Certainly, she will try to be familiar with anyone when coming in contact. Well, guess that’s her main forte.”

As Naga muttered so, Ais nodded with a slightly glad expression.

“You’re right.”

“Well, shall we go too? I’m looking forward to what he has to offer.”

Naga, Ais, Nonoel, and Ixine reentered the fort.

=== Part 10 ===

Naga, Harrigan, Ais, Kay, Nonoel, and Ixine had gathered inside a single room of the residential building. Obviously, Raibach was also there.

Besides them, there were also other witches inside the fort, like the sisters Linna and Linne, Cu, and Harlequin, stationed at their posts.

Raibach was released from Nonoel’s water binding, however in turn, he had his wrists and waist tied up in ropes that were linked to Ais’ wrist.

By the time Nonoel released Raibach, Kay whispered silently into his ears.

“That Onee-san, you see-”

Kay pointed at Ais while speaking.

“Unlike her appearance, she’s incredibly scary, so you better not make her angry by any means. If she delivered a single hit to your body, you’d die from having all your bones smashed, or your internal organs ruptured. And if you’re hit in the head, it will blow up together with your neck, you know? I’m neither joking nor trying to threaten you, but giving you honest advice.”

Having an awfully loathsome face, Raibach nodded in agreement.

“Ugh… you mean it? Understood. I’ll pay attention to that, but…”

”What?”

“You’re surprisingly kind, aren’t you?”

“Hm? Is that so?”

Kay, who tilted her head in wonder, turned her face back with a cheerful smile.

“Well, isn’t it fine? If you’re aware that I’m kind to you, you better repay it properly.”

(This girl…. Somehow, it feels like talking with my daughter’s friends. It makes me want to believe she isn’t a witch.)

At any rate, Raibach didn’t feel like running. Even if he tried, he would most likely not manage to do so from the witches. Were he to be caught, they would certainly kill him this time. Rather, it was much better to remain a prisoner.
What’s more, it didn’t seem like he had to worry about being tortured for the time being. And more than anything, being able to talk with the witches was, surprisingly for Raibach, somehow a little bit fun.

(I wonder if I could have talked like this, were my daughter still alive.)

Is what he thought.

(Then, speaking of which, I wonder what kind of questions I will have to answer. It’s not like I know anything of great value.)

Raibach, who felt a bit tense, was made to sit on a folding stool placed near the wall, and surrounded in a half-circle by the rest of the people. Naga sat was in front of him, whereas Harrigan was on Naga’s left, with Ixine being on the furthest left. Similarly, on his right side, Ais and Nonoel sat.

Naga began to speak.

“Well then, I’m not fancy of tedio….talks, so how about we go stra…to the point? Yo…., kno…something about Fort Ein, right?”

As one would expect, some words were hard to catch, but Raibach could still understand what he meant.

“I do possess the knowledge, but….”

“Do you als… know wha.. inside the fort?”

“I do.”

“Then how about, yo….tell me something about it, like its territory?”

“…..Why are you asking me such things?”

“I’m thin….about capturing that fort.”

“Whaa?”

Raibach became at loss for words, and the interrogation stopped for a while

Naga looked at him with a bit of a curious expression.

“What’s the matte…? Why are you tha…surprised?”

Being thrown a question, Raibach finally gained back his senses.

“Ummm…. Dragon King, I wonder if it’s fine for me to ask you something."

“I don’t mi…d”

“Is that so? If that’s the case. I’ve heard that there’s about 20 witches on this side, but is that true?”

“That would be Harrigan’s clan, you see. Since, this time, we have received a support from anot…household, the number has increased a bit. It would probably be aroun… 40, 50 people.”

“N, No, saying probably around, and on top of that, 40 to 50 people. Right now, there are as many as 300 guards stationed inside Fort Ein. Just how on Earth do you plan to capture it?”

“I wanted to consider that after I have ques…you for some information on the fort’s interior.”

“What are you talking about…. In the first place, do you think I’d leak out such information?”

Naga’s expression turned into an unexpected one.

“So yo…are not going to tell us?”

Once he was told so, Raibach responded in a yelling manner.

“Don’t be silly. I may look like a single person with no family or relatives, but I’ve got friends in that fort. Knowing that they might be killed, there’s no way for me to spill the beans. Don’t try to torture me or do anything similar to that, or I’ll pass you false details.”

Listening to his words and observing his expression, Naga made a decision in the end.

“This guy, isn’t he quite a formidable man? He looks to be someone worthy of being trusted.”

“It’s just reasonable for you to be concerned. But, you don’t have to go that far.”

“W, What do you mean?”

“We are thinking about capturing the fort without making any casualty among your soldiers.”

“Wha? You can’t be serious! Do you think I’d believe such nonsense?!”

Because Raibach lifted himself unintentionally Ais put herself on guard, however, Naga held her back and leaned forward. He fixed his eyes on Raibach’s face in front of him as if looking into it.

“You too, do you think I’m talking nonsense?”

Being seized by Naga’s gushing spirit coming from his whole body, and scorched by a strong-willed light dwelling inside his eyes, Raibach became unable to move.

(W, what’s, this bizarre force coming from this guy?)

“During the previous battle, we had to do things like that, otherwise, we wouldn’t have been able to repel the human army. After all, it was 20 against 2000 people. Still, I was reluctant about using that method since there was a chance for the witches to die. For the sake of our future, I’d rather prevent as many sacrifices as possible.”

Was it due to Naga’s words being filled with vigor? Or perhaps, him getting used to conversing with Naga? Raibach became able to grasp his words clearly.

“F…Future? What do you mean by future? And why do you want to take over Fort Ein?”

“It’s the first step toward establishing the country of the witches.”

“The country of the witches? What do you intend to do once you’re done with that? You mean to say, that the witches are trying to rule over humanity?”

“No, I don’t. In the end, we want to create a world where humans and the witches can both coexist. This is what I mean to say.”

(Is this guy, a fool? There’s no way for such a thing to happen. Is he serious about that?)

Not trying to hide his thoughts of being utterly amazed, Raibach opened his eyes widely and gazed at Naga. Perhaps, there was a hue of contempt displaying in Naga’s expression, however it didn’t look like he was making fun of Raibach or bragging about anything.
If it was true, then he was honest. Naga was honestly talking about creating a new world.
Raibach could sense the magnitude of Naga’s caliber, the difference which separated him and that person.

(The Dragon King, who commands the witches, and me, who can’t even fulfill my duty as a Captain. Is it natural for there to be such a difference between us? Despite that, saying he wants to create a world where both humans and the witches can live together….)

What they both looked at was far too divergent.
As well as Naga’s range of vision.
And even their aims were contrasting with each other.

(If I were to say, unlike me, who can only think within my own scope as a captain, this man possesses an overhead view, just like a bird flying at the highest altitude, and can grasp every position and movement of his enemies and allies. Is this how it feels?)

Raibach, who had devoted himself to military service, suddenly thought that way.

“……Hey, you, Dragon King. Do you honestly believe it’s possible for you to create such a world?”

“Ha? No, obviously, we should be able to do so. That’s because I’m going to live together with the witches too, and I’m not a witch myself, you see. There’s nothing that should be impossible.”

“No, you’re most likely the Dragon King, rather than a human.”

“I may be holding a grandiose name like that, but I’m actually a human, or at least an existence that’s closer to a human than that of a witch. Still, it’s not like I feel any sort of inconvenience from that, you see.”

“However…”

“You as well, haven’t you been walking together with them before reaching this place? Did you feel anything unpleasant? You were able to hold a conversation with them, right?”

“No, No……”

Kay smiled at Raibach as soon as she noticed his glimpse.
He turned his face away in a hurry.

“….There was no such thing, but…”

“Right? Be it humans or the witches, both sides can understand with each other in a proper way. If that’s the case, then creating a world where they both can coexist isn’t far from reality, and we may be able to live together. Unless you see it for yourself, you shouldn’t decide on your own.”

At Naga’s words, Raibach kept silent.

Certainly, Kay, Nonoel, and Ixine, whom he had met before, were far removed from the human’s concept of ‘vicious and inhuman witches’. Rather, they appeared to be more like girls no matter how you looked at them. Were he not to consider these three as peculiar and extraordinary witches, Raibach felt he could agree with Naga to a certain point. And looking at the other witches, such as Harrigan and Ais, it was all the more reason for him to believe they weren’t extraordinary.
In addition to him being taught a biased belief, and their appearance being far different from what he had imagined before, Raibach became confused and perplexed.

“Then, shall we return back to our topic?”

“Eh? W, What was that again?”

“That’s why, I’m telling you we want to capture Fort Ein. Of course, without making any sacrifices on either sides. Furthermore, we need some information about its interior. So the talk was regarding whether or not you would provide us with any information.”

“I’m not fully sure about that myself, but even if you gain the information, it’s impossible to seize that fort with just 40-50 people.”

“Have you forgotten we were able to defeat 2000 people from your army, even though we weren’t supposed to win?”

“No wa….t, that’s true. In other words, this time do you have a secret plan as well?”

“I wouldn’t go so far so far as to call it a secret plan, but I think it’s feasible to do so since we have magic here.”

“If you attack using magic, there’s no way for you to avoid casualties!”

“Honestly, there won’t be any. As long we follow my plan, neither humans nor the witches should suffer casualties.”

“T, Then, how?”

“I can’t tell you much regarding our magic, but how about we assume there’s one that can immobilize people? If you use it, there will be no need to fight. With that, we can boldly march into the fort from the entrance and tie up the crippled soldiers.”

“Hm… does magic like this really exist?”

“Indeed. However, for that to happen, we have to decide on the right place. And to do so, it’s necessary for us to know, in advance, how it looks inside and where the guards are deployed. Because of that, we are questioning you.”

Naga, who finished talking while brimming with self-confidence, pierced Raibach with his gaze.

“If you don’t pass us the information and force us to use violent methods, both sides will suffer losses. However, there might be more on the human side. I’d rather avoid that scene this time.”

Naga’s promise about not creating any sacrifices among the guards was a pretext for him to quickly get hold of the fort with no injuries. Nonetheless, he wasn’t bothered with that.

“W….Will you let me think for a while?”

“Fine. Still, we don’t have all the time in the world. Give me a clear reply within the next couple of days.”

“U, Understood.”

With that the interrogation concluded.
Rather than saying interrogation, if one was to say, the content of their talk was far closer to a conversation.
This experience provided Raibach with a huge impact.
Harrigan and Naga decided to confine him inside a small room.

“Is it okay to leave him without anyone watching? Even if he’s tied up, the walls in the room are just single-layered. Don’t you think he might be able to break through them? Shall I keep an eye on him?”

Once she expressed her concern, Naga uttered something unexpected.

“It’s okay. But, just to make sure, I’ll stay together with him in that room.”

“Eh? Are you sure?”

“In whichever case, there’s no way for me to sleep with you guys in the same room. Or perhaps, you’d prefer to sleep with me?”

“Ah no, as expected, that’s a bit—”

“That’s right. Were I to sleep in a separate room, we would be occupying 2 rooms. It will be much more efficient for me to sleep in the same one with that guy. I may be troubling you, but please prepare bedding for 2 people.”

“I don’t mind that, but, I wonder if he won’t start acting violently.”

“As long as his legs and arms are bound, there should be no problem. Even without it, that guy doesn’t seem to have any intention of running away.”

“You think so?”

“Yes. He doesn’t appear to have a strong grudge against the witches. Perhaps, him not having a family or relatives in Kasandora is also one of the main reasons for that. Well, if you still insist on helping, I won’t reject it, but…”

“Then, I shall assist you a bit. Is it fine, Harrigan-nee?”

“If you want to do so, then fine. However, don’t cause any commotion. Got it?”

“I’m not like Ais, who would do that when getting drunk.”

Ais cracked a smile.

“Well well. I wonder, what’s the meaning of that, Kay-chan?”

Ais’ face was smiling except for her eyes.

“Ah…. ummm, nothing in particular. Yes, not at all.”

Being aware of her sight, Kay’s forehead became covered in a cold sweat.
Still…- Ais, who was grinning, stared at Kay for a while; nevertheless, the latter soon shifted her gaze.
Ahead of her, there was Raibach sitting in the corner of the room.

“That’s a bit strange, isn’t it? I’ve always thought that every human would loath us and keep their distance. To think that such people still exist.”

That’s exactly what I think – As soon she uttered that with a small voice, Naga said so while nodding in agreement.

“Since there are guys like him among humans, perhaps our wish of creating a world for humans and the witches isn’t just a pipe dream?”

“True. I’ve got the feeling it’s fine to place our trust in what Naga-san says.”

“Oi, wait a moment. Ais, do you mean to say you haven’t been trusting in my words until now?”

”Eh? Honestly, I’ve been doing that all this time, you know?”

Naga made a pathetic expression.

“No, just now….”

Or, maybe not… – As he was about to say, he changed his mind.

“Whatever. I’ll be sleeping together with him in the same room, so fret not. I’ll let you know when he’s in the mood for speaking.”

“Yes, understood. But before that, let’s have dinner. I’ll make a portion for him as well. Kay, I’m going to call you once I’m done, so please bring it to him, okay?”

“Got it.”

=== Part 11 ===

Naga and Kay brought Raibach into a plain-looking room that resembled a storage shed. Having done everything he had to do, Naga removed his sword from his waist belt, pushed away a mess on the floor into the corner, and spread out a quilt in an open space. Then, he sat on it and leaned his back against the wall.
Next to him, Kay also sat down.

Owing to the fact that Raibach was tied up in ropes and fastened to a pillar, they didn’t have to fear an attack by him, even if they decided to nod off.

Not being mindful of Raibach’s presence, Kay spoke to Naga.

“Naga-san, shall we continue our talk from earlier today?”

“Ah? What talk?”

“That’s why, I’m telling you it’s the talk about the witches not knowing their fathers.”

“Ahh, that’s right, you’ve mentioned about it before. Oops, my bad.”

Naga took a short glimpse at Raibach, and shook his head in agreement.

“Let’s do it on some other occasion. This may be not something a human should hear, right?”

“I guess so…. Still, if that’s the case,”

“Is there something that troubles you?”

“Not really, but I thought it would be nice to chat since we have some free time.”

“Free time? Seriously, you are…”

Naga put a wry smile on his face without realizing.

“I’ve got an idea. Naga-san, how about we wrestle with our arms? I may be not as strong as Ais, but I’m quite proud of my strength. Look, I’m an athletic type of person, you know? Therefore—”

“Athletic type?”

Naga ran his eyes over Kay’s body without any reservation.

“You don’t really appear as such. Well, perhaps you do, but–”

“I was told something rude just now.”

“Then, Kay, my dear representative of athletes. Will you take me as your opponent?”

Naga lay on his belly and put his right elbow on the floor. Soon after that, Kay moved to his front and did the same thing.

They grasped each other’s right hand.

“Let’s go?”

“Come at me anytime.”

“Three, two, one, goooo!”

“Hm?”

It was a close-fought contest of strength, but
Naga’s hand was finally pushed down by Kay’s own.

“I lostttt!”

“It’s a hundred years too early for you to win against me.”

“One more!”

“Fine by me, but you see, it won’t change much.”

While smiling wryly, Naga kept competing numerous times.

Raibach watched them both with a dumbfounded expression.

(Those guys. Could it be they’ve been ignoring me from the beginning? Or perhaps, they are trusting me? Whichever it is, they sure have some guts. As for me, just the fact that I’m inside a fort of the witches doesn’t let me rest at ease.)

Watching, with a sidelong glance, how Kay and Naga were enthusiastically competing with each other, Raibach exhaled a sigh.

(Good grief, I wonder what fate is going to await me. It doesn’t look like I’ll be killed any time soon, but If I continue to insist about not wanting to talk, they too will eventually lose their temper. Had I known about this, I’d have long resigned from the army and become a guard of some merchant caravan. Anyway, I don’t have any family left, so travelling from one place to another while doing precarious trades would also be worth considering, I guess.)

The appearance of Raibach’s deceased wife and daughter resurfaced in his mind.

(Risa……Erina……)

He remembered his beautiful, gentle wife together with their good-natured and cute daughter.

About the time he first married his wife.

About Erina’s birth.

About the time she turned 2 years old.

About the time she turned 5 years old.

And then, 8 in age.

Back then, his wife was still healthy.

They lived a frugal life, but despite being fairly hungry and feeling little freedom, the three of them huddled together and lived happily.

Their joyful moments as a family floated one by one in his head, and then disappeared.
However, such a blissful scene wouldn’t last forever. Raibach knew that more than anyone as he tried not to recall his memories. But, once they started to overflow, it wasn’t easy to stop them.

It happened one day when his daughter was looking after his ill wife at home. Being overjoyed and full of spirit, Raibach returned back to his city after committing a meritorious deed. Nevertheless, by the time he arrived, the city had already become scorched earth.

Some savage tribe had decided to attack when the city’s garrison was short-handed.
Invading the city, they killed, burned, stole randomly, and then escaped.
It was over by the time Raibach’s assigned troop returned.
Raibach, who was at a loss for words, looked at the city that was no different from a burnt field.
He tried to search for his wife and daughter desperately, but could find no trace of them.
There were lots of scorched corpses, lying in burned houses and on the streets, all of which were hard to tell apart. For that reason, Raibach couldn’t manage to hold a mourning for his family in the end.
Provided they were taken away as a prize, it was possible they would still be alive, even as slaves. He wanted to think that way, however, with his wife being ill and his daughter still being a child, Raibach knew the chance of that was slim.
Even now, his body would tremble and his heart would throb whenever he thought back at his despair, hatred, and remorse from that day. His mind still haunted by his regret from that time.

Why didn’t the army increase the garrison stationed to defend against barbarians?

Why did it have to be his troop that left the city at that time?
Why did he aspire to join a mission troop?
To begin with, why did he enter into military service?
Why Why Why Why Why Why! Why! WHY!

Later, Raibach would contemplate on that repeatedly each day.
Having lost his hometown and his family, he wandered through borderlands, after which he was finally admitted into Kasandora’s army. Nevertheless, he later decided not to marry and remained a bachelor.

From his eyes that looked up at the bottom of the roof, a stream of tears spilled over.

(Good grief. If I can’t even protect my wife and my daughter, then becoming a soldier was meaningless.)

Rubbing his tears, Raibach released the strength from his body and lay down on his quilt.
Before anyone could notice, Naga and Kay, who had stopped arm wrestling, looked at him with a sidelong glance. However, in the end, they wouldn’t speak to him.

<noinclude>
==Translator's Notes and References==
<references/>

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| Back to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
| Return to [[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Prologue 2

2016-07-19T14:13:42Z

Darkdhaos: /* Translator's Notes and References */

==Prologue 2==

The new general, Guiscard, who was in the position of governing Kasandora’s army, stared at a large map attached on the wall of his office.

It was a map of Kasandora Kingdom’s surroundings and borders. Fort Ein was located along the main road stretching from the royal capital. Ahead of the fort, there was a wasteland that unfolded from the other side of the river with a vast black forest drawn on top of the great cliff.

Will the witches end up launching an attack on our side of the river? This was a big problem, which troubled Guiscard.

(Despite our army getting pummelled during the battle, it’s hard to consider the witches attacking this side of the river. I can’t believe that such a small group would deliberately risk such danger.)

That’s right. As long as the witches can continue to live in the black forest peacefully, there shouldn’t be a reason for them to willingly attack humanity. That’s why Guiscard thought there was no need to fear. However, as the new general, he couldn’t neglect his defenses.

Judging from the witches’ behaviour thus far, the fact that the witches had initiated an assault on the Kasandora Kingdom’s forces at the Schweiz River was, in itself, an extremely unlikely scenario.
Despite that, there wasn’t much Guiscard could do.
Even though he was the general of Kasandora’s army, as long as there was no orders coming from the group directly under the command of the royal family, he could, at most, mobilize 1500 soldiers on his own.

Not to mention, the nobles felt like withdrawing following the loss and were hesitant about deploying their troops for one reason or another. Were Guiscard to propose raising another army for the extermination of the witches, even those soldiers, whom he was able to deploy, may possibly retire.

With his baton in his right hand, Guiscard lightly tapped a single point on the map, it was the path near the Schweiz River where both sides intersected.

(Should we at least build some sort of defensive facility? Like a fort near the river…..no, we don’t have any spare soldiers. In the first place, if the witches learn about that, they will probably come and destroy it. What’s more, we might lure them to this side. Even if we were to protect the river more than before, it would be meaningless. Since the river can be crossed from anywhere along it, perhaps, we should set up defensive camps or positions instead of forts…….?)

For that to happen, they would need to invest lots of time and soldiers; nevertheless, the kingdom had no spare budget for that. Guiscard, who was the former treasurer of the army, knew more than anyone else the amount of funds available.

(…..Wouldn’t strengthening Fort Ein and increasing the number of guards be a more realistic countermeasure?)

It was a counterplan that was no different from maintaining the current situation, however, even this had its benefits, as Guiscard could avoid provoking the nobles and the soldiers who felt uneasy.

Nonetheless, this plan wasn’t that simple.

Following the great defeat they had suffered, soldiers continued to retire from active duty one after another. The nobles, officers, and soldiers became frightened, and even a disturbance broke out inside the group under the direct supervision of the royal family. Just punishing the soldiers and dispatching them to the river would be a big mistake.
For the time being, Guiscard managed to send in Raibach’s troop, whose fate was of little importance to him. Still, the numbers in Raibach’s troop wasn’t sufficient to set up a defensive position along the river.

(Assuming that guy’s troop continues to carry out their duty without any problems, those cowardly noble officers and their men should also gain enough courage to approach the river, but…)

Because it didn’t seem like the witches would immediately cross the river and assault them, for now, Guiscard could only bear with that much.
For him, there was something of bigger concern.
They had to replenish those soldiers who had promptly resigned with new ones.
Besides the fact that a whole battalion was crushed, resigning soldiers continued to appear. With the kingdom’s military force cut almost in half right now, unless they resolved the problem of their numbers, no further invasion could be considered.
However, if another battle against the witches is expected to take place in the near future, Guiscard might not be able to recruit fresh soldiers unless he increases their salary.

As the former treasurer, the budget constraints were the greatest type of headache for him.

“Damn.”

Clicking his tongue sternly, Guiscard threw the baton against the map.
No matter how hard he pondered, no good ideas came to him. He could only come back to the conclusion that they were cornered.

“General.”

The voice of his adjutant, Ligaya, emerged from the doorway.
Picking up the baton from the floor in a hurry, Guiscard quickly returned to his seat and answered.

“Enter.”
“I apologize for the interruption.”

The tall Ligaya, whose body was wrapped in a strong bitter tea colored military suit, entered inside.
Ligaya was a cool and collected man who would rarely show his emotions. Nevertheless, today, his footsteps were noisier and faster paced. Guiscard, who understood that something had happened, straightened himself unconsciously.

“Could it be that the witches attacked?”
“No, they haven’t.”

At his reply, Guiscard breathed out a sigh of relief. Then he relaxed himself to keep up appearances in front of the adjutant.

“Then, what’s the matter?”
“For some reason, it appears that various neighboring countries are arming themselves with weapons and army provisions.”
“What on….earth?”

Guiscard thought about the meaning behind Rigaya’s new report.

“Those guys, could it be that they intend to assault our country?”
“……That’s unlikely to happen. After all, we are under the custody of Cardinal Aiba.”
“I wonder about that.”

(To begin with, that Cardinal Aiba is an eyesore for our country, but…)

The other day too, Aiba went through the trouble of paying a visit to the royal capital in order to offer his congratulations to Guiscard on his assumption of the office. However, putting that aside, Aiba expressed his sarcasm toward the major loss, which Kasandora suffered at the river on his way back.

[[File:Naga03 world-map.jpg|200px|thumbnail|right]]
If the Kasandora Kingdom were to just accept their defeat and remain idle, they might lose favor with Aiba. If that happened, then a major deterrence would be removed and other countries may move to wipe Kasandora right off the map.

(Truly, my head is killing me. If only I didn’t take up the position as general….)

Guiscard desperately tried to endure the urge to hold his head between his hands.

(That’s right, I’ve got to do it despite all this. In order to make my wish come true, I will obtain the throne.)

“For the time being…….. for the time being, we will strengthen the defenses of Fort Ein and assign Maglev to command it. Rigaya, please make the estimations for the necessary materials.”
“Understood.”

Exactly at that time, Naga and the witches began to move as they set their eyes on Fort Ein, while watching vigilantly for an opportunity to prey upon it. Nonetheless, not anticipating that that would happen, Guiscard could do nothing but throw his hands up in despair, even if he had known beforehand.
If this only concerned the witches and Naga and Kasandora Kingdom, the witches would already be on the side of victory.

<noinclude>
==Translator's Notes and References==
<references/>

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|-
| Back to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Prologue 1|Prologue 1]]
| Return to [[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Chapter 1

2016-07-19T14:12:58Z

Darkdhaos: /* Translator's Notes and References */

==Chapter 1: The Conclusion of the Alliance==

=== Part 1 ===

The head of Sraymeyer household, Vita, lived in a fort inside the black forest.

Ais and Lela travelled there with the intention of visiting her.

The path which they both walked inside the forest was well maintained, and it wasn’t that hard to move on it.

The two of them wore their usual thin clothes.
Ais guessed that meeting Vita would be a difficult task by itself, however, as soon as they stepped into Sraymeyer’s territory, one of their members, Elysione, appeared.
Both of them were previously acquainted so, once Ais told her the reason that they’d come, Elysione promptly answered to their request as predicted. Still, there was one thing that took them by surprise.

“That’s because Mother said that you would be contacting us soon. Like that, she’s been waiting there.”

Or something like that?

Ais and Lela looked at each other’s face unconsciously.

“So she anticipated we would come talk to her because we had won the battle against Kasandora’s ar-my….?”

As Lela whispered, Ais nodded as if saying ‘I see’.

“Right now, Mother is at the 2nd fort. I was told to bring you there, were you to come. I’ll guide you, so you may follow me.”

Saying so, Elysione turned aside adroitly and walked into the dark forest.

Ais and Lela looked at each other’s face once more.

“Vita-san who’s known to be a sourpuss is being way too upfront. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

“Ais, I think it’s better not to….”

Elysione stopped and turned around, staring at Ais.

“I can hear you, Ais.”

“Yes? About what?”

“This girl…”

Elysione glared at her for a while, then finally sighed and loosened her expression.

“Well, I guess it’s fine. Even I can’t deny that aspect about Mother. Rather, I’d agree with you.”

Speaking her mind, Elysione looked around hurriedly.

“But don’t tell that to Mother.”

Ais cracked a smile and replied.

“Obviously, I won’t, Elysione. After all, I don’t want both of us to be killed.”

“…..Follow me.”

Turning around once more, she continued to walk. Ais and Lela followed her.

=== Part 2 ===

Elysione led them and reached one of Sraymeyer’s forts, Ais and Lela were then guided into Vita’s residence, the inside of which, made them look about curiously.
Even if it was the residence of a clan, it was a basic construction similar to a hut with erected pillars.

Elysione stood in the doorway and announced:

“Mother, I’ve brought with me Harrigan-dono’s messengers, just as you told me.”

As she called out loudly, a languid voice responded.

“Who are the messengers?”

“It’s Ais and Lela.”

“Fufun. To think that Harrigan would send those two, it seems like she’s serious this time. Fine, you may enter.”

Elysione opened the door and urged them both to enter.

“Forgive me for interrupting, Vita-san.”

“Excuse me for distur-bing you.”

Ais and Lela stepped inside the building.
What they saw was a spacious living room. The room had a transparent glass ceiling and wooden walls. It was no different from the residence of Ais and the rest.
The windows in the room were closed with wooden shutters.
From the inside, two candles were burning on candle stands, however, their flame was weak, making the room dimly lit.
Vita was laying on her side on a thick mattress on top of a raised step inside the room.
Besides her, there was one more witch who acted as her lap pillow.

“I apologize for neglecting to remain in contact, Vita-san.”

As they both bowed down in front of her, Vita suddenly sat up.

“Ahh, long time no see.”

Vita, who was wearing a cute outfit that matched her small body, beckoned Ais and Lela to come closer.

Once they did so, Vita directed her sight toward the witch
next to her.

“Dora, bring those two folding stools.”

“Yes, Mother.”

The girl who stood up wore a long dress with multiple notches.
She wasn’t as tall as Elysione, however, her body lines were refined and her curves looked much clearer than Elysione’s. Unlike her, Elysione wore a long, loose mantle, which made it harder to grasp her body lines.
The girl called Dora lined up the stools on the floor.

“Sit.”

“Thank you very much.”

“Ais, you better sit gently.”

“Yes?”

“Otherwise, the stool will break if you sit violently.”

*Snap* – Ais’ face became stiff.

“No no, I, there’s no way that I’m that heavy.”

“Is that so? Then I guess it’s fine.”

(As always, she’s one rude person)

Hiding this thought inside her heart, Ais carefully sat.

As soon as Lela did the same, Dora and Elysione secured their places on either side of Vita.
Vita, who sat cross-legged on the thick mattress, fixed her eyes on Ais.
It was a sharp look that didn’t suit her child-like face and her small body.

“Before I ask you about the purpose of your arrival…. answer me this one question, Ais. Is it true that there’s a man in your group?”

Being questioned by Vita, Ais smiled positively and replied.

“There’s a single man by our side, but I’m not sure whether it’s accurate to describe him as a human guy.”

Vita narrowed her eyes and directed them at Ais. A dangerous light was dwelling inside them.

“What? What do you mean by saying so? I don’t much like people that express themselves in riddles.”

“No, that’s not a riddle, Vita-san.”

“Then what?”

“Naga-san, he’s……”

As Ais was about to speak, Vita interrupted.

“What about the Dragon King?”

“It’s that person’s name.”

“Dragon King? Isn’t it quite a proud name?”

Ais continued to speak while ignoring Vita’s banter.

“In the end, is Naga-san a human guy or not? It’s still not clear for us…. This is what I mean.”

Vita slightly tilted her head.

“I don’t get it. If he’s not a human guy, then what are you saying he is?”

“Perhaps… he might be the Dragon King just like his name implies.”

Once Ais said so with a prim look, Vita opened widely her eyes.

“It could be as well…. that he’s a messenger sent by the Dragon King.”

“Are you, sane…?”

Ais suddenly smiled.

“It may be that I’m not. To think that we could even consider facing Kasandora’s army of 2000 with barely 20 people while hoping that we could win…”

That’s it! – Vita clapped her hands together.

“In other words, that man, named Naga, was the one who guided you through the previous battle?”

“Yes, I think it’s fine to have you think that way.”

Vita leaned slightly forward and said.

“Why is someone like him at your place? How did you repel Kasandora’s army that consisted of 2000 soldiers? Let me hear in detail.”

“Yes, that would be—-”

=== Part 3 ===

Ais briefly explained the whole story from when Naga appeared till the present to Vita.
Listening to her, Vita made a difficult face while folding up her arms, but,

“….And well, this is how it went.”

As soon as Vita finished listening to Ais’ explanation, she slightly groaned and looked fixedly at her.

“Talking about things like a man suddenly falling from the sky…. I know you’re not the type of girl who would joke or say things on a whim, but it’s a story that is hard for me to believe.”

“I guess so. Not even we would have thought about winning against an army consisting of 2000 soldiers.”

“Right? Even so, this style of fighting is strange for both humans and witches. But….hm?”
[[File:Naga03 Illus-01.jpg|200px|thumbnail|right]]
Vita, who tilted her head while folding up her arms, suddenly raised her head.

“And what’s the reason for you visiting our place on this occasion…?”

“Yes, that’s right. We came here as Naga-san’s messengers.”

“Hou hou, interesting. That Naga person, what does he want to convey to us?”

“Then, I shall pass on Naga-san’s words.”

After she coughed at once deliberately, Ais corrected her sitting posture.

“In order to create a new world where both the witches and the humans can live in peace and harmony with each other, won’t you join us in fighting together?’ In other words, joining together with Harrigan’s Clan.”

“Wha..?”

Vita became speechless.
That’s because the content of Naga’s words was far from rational.

(Not for defending the black forest nor driving away the human army, he wants me to join him in……creating a new world? That man, is he sane?)

“Do you think these are nonsensical words coming from a lunatic? Or perhaps just a random dream of a man who came from another dimension and possesses no knowledge regarding this world?”

At this question, Vita lifted up her head and gazed at Ais in front of her. As she did so, their eyes met.

“…..Well, is this a joke, a dream, or maybe a realistic idea? I want to meet this man.”

Ais’ expression broke out into a smile.

“Yes, we too thought about having you meet and discuss things with Naga-san.”

“What’s the date for that?”

“Since it’s best to do it as soon as possible, how about tomorrow?”

“I don’t mind. And the place will be?”

“We shall visit you here.”

“Is that so? Then, tomorrow… that’s right, how about at noon?”

“Fine, then we would be happy to.”

“Yeah, I’ll be waiting for you.”

“Speaking of which” – Vita lowered her face and gazed toward Lela who sat next to Ais.

“Haven’t you been quite silent for a while, Lela?”

“That’s because I’m not that good in dealing with conversations.”

“Kukuku, is that so? Then, will you answer me this one question? How do you see that guy named Naga? Does he look like the Dragon King to you?”

“Not sure whether or not he’s the Dragon King, bu-t, at least I believe he isn’t someone from this world.”

“Fumu. I want to give that person some thorough questioni…no, I remember you mentioned about him losing his memories.”

“Y-es. But once he regains them, we plan to question him thoroughly about the world he came fro-m.”

Kukuku – Vita laughed pleasantly.

“It would be nice to see that man regain his memory, Lela.”

“Ye-s.”

“Excellent. Then, we will be waiting here for you tomorrow at noon, Ais.”

“We are looking forward to it.”

Soon after Ais bowed down, the interview concluded.

=== Part 4 ===

Leaving Vita’s place, Ais and Lela were on the way back to their fort.
Walking with their fast pace along a lane inside the thick forest, Ais called out to Lela.

“It went smoother than we had expected.”

“Tru-e. It seems that Vita-san took a liking to Naga-sa-n. What’s more, that woman is a witch who can understand the tru-th. Rather, among all the witches, she’s the one who possesses an eye to look towards the futu-re.”

“That’s right. She’s an ill-tempered, bigoted, and sarcastic person, but her ability to think and judge is pretty firm. In addition to that, the way she thinks is flexible.”

“Since we ain’t in the presence of that person, you can talk about what you want to your heart’s content, right Ai-s?”

“Of course you dummy. Isn’t it obvious to speak boldly about her when she isn’t around? Only complete fools would express what they think in front of the real person.”

Lela stared fixedly at Ais.

(It might be a sound argument, still…)

“But, I’m glad. I was worried about our encounter with Vita-san.”

“After all, we didn’t know what would have happene-d.”

“I worry that the talk between Vita-san and Naga-san won’t progress smoothly.”

“Why do you think s-o?”

“It feels like something is going to happen.”

“I se-e.”

“Providing Vita-san cooperates with us, we may be able to bring down Fort Ein.”

“I wonder about th-at. Won’t she get mad if Naga-san tells her about such a pipe drea-m?”

“Don’t fret. Surely, it should be okay.”

“You’re quite positive, aren’t yo-u?”

Fufu – At Lela’s retort, Ais laughed once she stopped walking and turned around.

“I have the feeling that something will happen. Look, til now, haven’t you felt at a loss, not knowing when things will start or end? But now, our vision is clear and our path has been revealed to us. Despite the other side looking dim, we can still see the future. This is how I feel.”

(It’s just as she says, bu-t….there’s no doubt about that small light of hope appearing for us, who were going down the path of destructio-n. Could it b-e….)

Lela recalled Naga’s words. About one victory being only the beginning of the next one, and about the war continuing from now on.
There may be a future of endless battles waiting ahead of the witches.
For the sake of the witches’ future, there might be those who will fight and fall.

(I wonder if everyone is aware of th-at)

Is what Lela felt a little anxious about.

When hope for the future is in sight, everyone will want to fight for it. Among the members of the Heindler Clan, who had been stagnant for a long time, a new, better life was born. Everyone’s faces were shining with newfound hope.

(This is certainly a sign of something good….I gue-ss. If this is a dream, then perhaps it would be nice for it to rema-in.)

Lela wanted to continue this dream, even if it was only for a short while.

(That’s because, I can sense a hope from watching this dre-am. For the time being, should I thank Naga-san for letting us see th-is drea-m?)

“Ara, isn’t it rare for Lela to be in good mood?”

“Eh? You think s-o?”

“That’s right. It’s not common to see you with such a happy face.”

Lela didn’t plan to change her expression, but Ais, who had sharp eyes, wouldn’t let that moment slip away. If she says so, then it’s certainly like that.

“Ais.”

“What?”

“What do you think about Naga-sa-n?”

“Eh? What are you asking all of a sudden? T-There’s no way for me to answer that straight away.”

Seeing how she flapped her hands with a blushing face, Lela again gazed fixedly at Ais.

“Uhm….that’s not what I mean. I wanted to ask whether you consider that person as the Dragon King or the messenger of the Dragon King, bu-t…..”

“Ahhh, t-that’s right. Umm……”

Ais, who stared a bit into space finally came back to herself and smiled.

“I don’t know.”

“I see.”

“But, isn’t it fine anyway?”

“I wonder if it’s really s-o.”

“That’s because whether or not that person is the Dragon King or the Dragon King’s messenger, the truth about him giving us a hope remains. Therefore, I have decided to follow that person.”

“I…..guess you’re righ-t.”

(Indeed, Ais is a strong girl.)

In this case, Lela didn’t mean Ais’ body, but her spirit.
The reason for that wasn’t merely because of Ais acting as a big sister or because of her terrific fighting strength resulting from the enhancement of her body, but her ability to brace everyone mentally. If Harrigan and Ais say they will follow Naga, then nobody among the members will oppose it.

(That’s right, even I…)

“Lela too is probably thinking that way?”

Since Ais said so while looking into her face, Lela unintentionally averted her eyes.
Lela who had difficulty with being honest then muttered:
“It’s just because I’m interested in that per-son.”

Is what she replied with.

“If that’s the case, we ought to at least follow Naga-san til he recovers his memory, right?”

“Tr-ue.”

Ais smiled sweetly and broadly.

“Let’s do our best.”

“Y,Yeah.”

“Well then, let’s return back quickly and arrange an interview for Naga-san and Vita-san.”

=== Part 5 ===

Being accompanied by Harrigan and Ais, Naga rode his horse through the black forest toward the fort in which Vita was awaiting them.

Naga was thankful that, since they had extra time today, no one had asked him to run. Even though he was riding on a horse, Naga was reluctant to dash with all its might inside the dim forest and along an unclear path.
Apart from the 2 previously mentioned witches, Lela and one more witch, named Langeais, who was previously entrusted with the 2nd fort, tagged along with them.
The four of them went on foot. However, even their walking speed was rather fast, therefore, not having to deliberately slow his horse down was a great relief for him.

Langeais, whom he met for the first time, seemed to be older than Yuuki and Lela, but a bit younger than Ais.
She had black hair, which was rare for the witches, and a cute face. Furthermore she seemed to be an emotionless and unsociable witch. For some reason, she also gave the impression that she was a foreign person.

(Speaking of which, she seems a bit melancholic. I wonder if it’s because of her black hair.)

While thinking so, Naga recalled the time when he greeted her.

{Are you Naga? My name is Langeais. Please treat me well from now on.}

She answered simply, and no matter what, would show almost no reaction afterwards, even if Naga was to start talking to her.

“This girl, could it be that she dislikes me?”

Naga asked Ais secretly, she replied.

“I don’t think that’s the case. Langeais, has been always like that. It would be fine to say she doesn’t hold any interest toward others?”

“Fuun.”

Why did they invite such a witch to participate in the discussion with Vita? – Despite these thoughts, Naga believed that Harrigan had her own ideas about that. However, since he wasn’t in the position where he could inquire excessively about her household’s matters, Naga decided not to ask any further.

(Anyway, having an interview with the witch who controls the household of Sraymeyer is our top priority. I’d rather have Langeais take an interest and somehow cooperate with us, but…)

Before the interview started, Naga had Harrigan tell him various things about Vita.
While managing the horse reins, he asked Harrigan to once again describe Vita.

=== Part 6 ===

According to Harrigan…

“She’s a biased, gaudy, haughty, uncooperative, self-righteous, and spiteful person who acts according to her own whims. She’s also much older than me.”

“She has no good points at all?”

As Naga retorted, Harrigan nodded seriously.

“Umu, she doesn’t possess any.”

“You’re not denying this?”

“That’s because I’m not very fond of Vita, you see?”

“She seems like a person that’s hard to please. Doesn’t it seem like it’ll be very difficult to convince her….?”

“Well, I wonder about that.”

“What do you mean?”

“Since she’s an eccentric person, maybe she will get along with an oddball like you.”

“Please stop that. I don’t think I’m that strange.”

“I’d say that being able to calmly respond to being called an oddball is what’s strange about you.”

“*hmmm*…is that so?”

“Judging from Ais’ talk with her, it appears that Vita has taken an interest in you, so you shouldn’t be driven away. The rest will be down to luck.”

“….I guess so. Speaking of which, what type of ability does Vita possess?”

“If I were to describe that woman’s magic with few words, perhaps that would be weight control….?”

“Weight control?”

For instance….- Harrigan gave an example to Naga who seemed confused and doubtful.

“If you mention her age or something similar like that, you will most likely worsen her mood.”

“Oi, it’s indeed an unpleasant example. By the way, I’m not that thick headed.”

“That’s why it was just an illustration. Listen to me before you talk back.”

“Y….yeah.”

“Before you realize it, your weight will double or triple, and you won’t be able to move your body.”

“Is that true?”

“It is. Back when I was small, I’d abuse and make the children of Sraymeyer’s household cry or something along those lines. With that ability of hers, she would hold me down by sealing off my movements and slap my ass…. ah….”

“Hohou.”

Naga grinned.

“Weren’t you quite a naughty kid back then?”

Harrigan’s hair rose into the air and took the form of a big mallet.

“Don’t you think it’s in both of our best interests to forget what I said just now?”

“G, Got it. I’ll forget about it thoroughly. I heard nothing in the first place.”

“Then, it’s fine.”

Once Harrigan’s hair relaxed, Naga exhaled a sigh of relief.

“Besides, I’m more interest in that weight control, you see. Will it work on anyone? Or on multiple enemies? Can it be applied everywhere?”

“Information about how strong one’s magic is, or its range and conditions of use, are all undisclosed, especially for those from other families. Therefore, I too, am not knowledgeable about her magic.”

“I see. So it’s about weight? Weight… weight, indeed.”

=== Part 7 ===

Naga made such a statement, however, at that time, he had a hunch it could be used in different ways. A detailed plan didn’t cross his mind, but Naga had the feeling it could be applied for another purpose.

(This is another reason that I have to be careful about bringing her to our side.)

As he was deep in thought, they had neared their destination before he realized it.

“Naga, we’ve arrived. The fort of Sraymeyer’s clan lies in front of us.”

As soon as Naga lifted his head, he understood the forest in front of him had ended.

(Well then, I wonder what kind of woman this witch Vita is.)

Naga trembled with excitement, feeling that this interview will influence their future.

=== Part 8 ===

“I see, so you’re the man who holds the name of the Dragon King in jest? Indeed, you seem to look odd.”

Immediately after facing each other inside the residential building of the fort, Vita uttered those words without letting them finish their greetings.
The girl, named Vita, sat on a folding stool on a raised step. Naga and the rest who were in front of her on the lower floor were given a row of folding stools.

(You as well. Should I say you are strange, or perhaps strange-looking? Are you supposed to be older than Harrigan with that childish body?)

Despite thinking so, Naga felt it was better not to touch that topic and instead asked.

“Do I really look that odd?”

He held himself back from being insulting, however the witches to the sides of Vita became agitated.

“You, how dare you speak to Mother with that tone!”

“Did that lowly human just say something that was supposed to ridicule Mother?”

After that, Vita quickly lifted up her hand and held back her daughters.

“Stop yapping so noisily. Are you both dogs? Be silent.”

“M, My apologies, Mother.”

“Well then, shall we introduce ourselves?”

As Vita stood and spoke, Naga got up from his stool.
She threw her chest out as if projecting her flat chest.

“My name is Vita Solskjaer Sraymeyer. I’m the head of Sraymeyer’s household”

“I’m…. ah, I’m currently called Naga.”

“What’s with that ‘currently’?”

“Forgive me. I think you’ve already heard about me, but I’ve lost my memories from before I fell into this world. The only thing I remember is my own name.”

“And that would the one….. called Naga?”

Fufun – As she laughed through her nose and sat, Naga and the rest reseated themselves as well.

“Then, Naga, it appears that the Heindler Household has gained victory over 2000 soldiers from Kasandora’s army thanks to your strategy, but is that true?”

“Saying that it was thanks to my strategy isn’t quite correct.”

“Hou? Then how did you win against their forces?”

“That’s because Harrigan and the rest followed my plan, you see.”

(Is he trying to emphasize his own achievement? Is he a confident person? Or perhaps just a self-conceited fool?)

is what Vita thought, however, she wouldn’t reveal that.

“Harrigan, aren’t you blessed with excellent daughters?”

What Vita uttered seemed to be sarcastic words toward Harrigan, but nevertheless, Harrigan couldn’t tell if they were sarcastic or not from her tone. The girls who sat next to Vita’s side made a dissatisfied expression.

“Then, Dragon King, what’s your business with us? I hope you didn’t come just to boast about your victory. What kind of talk do you wish to have with us?”

“Well, it’s true that I want to boast about myself some, but let’s leave that aside.”

Naga fixed his gaze on Vita as she came to grips with the man in front of her.

Vita noticed a strong will burned in his eyes. No element of anxiety, fear, or hesitation could be felt from them.

(This guy, despite being a human, doesn’t fear witches? What’s more, he’s surrounded by this many. No matter how well he’s acquainted with Harrigan and the rest, for him to be this bold….. Could this guy really be from another world…?)

Ignoring her unrestrained and possibly rather rude gaze, Naga spoke powerfully.

“So you said you’re Vita, right? The head of Sraymeyer’s household.”

“True.”

“Won’t you join together with us in making a new world where both the witches and humans can coexist, Vita-san?”

Fufun – Vita again laughed under her nose.

“I heard about it from Ais, who requested an audience with me the other day, but it’s quite an ambitious ideal of yours. No, rather than saying ‘ambitious’, shouldn’t I say ‘reckless’? It would be magnificent for such a world to exist, still, isn’t it just an impractical theory you came up with while sitting around? Just how on earth do you plan to carry out such a grand plan? Do you think it’ll happen once you’ve won a single war? If so, you’re just a simpleton.”

Listening to Vita’s tirade, Naga became both astonished and pleased at the same time. That’s because he once again understood the reason why people said Vita had an eye for predicting the future.

“That’s right, it’s just like you say. My aim isn’t just a half-hearted plan that will finish with a few victories, and I know that.”

At Naga’s reply, Vita became surprised.

(Is he trying to come up with an explanation after hearing what I just said?!)

“Then, what type of plan did you come up with for realizing this ideal of yours?”

“First, we are going to establish a country of witches in which I’m going to implement my ideals.”

Vita started to say something as she moved her lips; nevertheless, she made up her mind and didn’t say anything, then urged Naga to continue speaking while folding her hands.

“Once we establish the country and gain a proper populace, the extent of its territory will continue to increase. Obviously, this won’t be simple. We will have to fight many great battles. However, that’s a trivial matter as long as we are victorious. The real problem lies in increasing the population and the size of the territory. The witches will be the ones to control the populace, and our success will depend on whether or not they can govern them skillfully.”

(As long as we are victorious…. he says?)

Vita stared at Naga dumbfounded.

(The way he’s talking, it feels as though victory is something natural for him. Is this guy sane?)

Because even Vita looked surprised and bewildered, the other witches looked at Naga with ridicule, or to be more accurate – scornful eyes, rather than being amazed.
The only ones who thought what Naga said were obvious or reasonable, were the witches from Harrigan’s party.

(No, in the first place it’s strange for people to think that what he’s saying is obvious or easily achievable… Could it be that Harrigan and the rest were swept up in his grand ambition? Or maybe, they are all suffering from a fever?)

“Still, there’s no other option than to try and see how it will work. After all, it’s a plan of trial and error. However, since the witches have no experience governing a structure as big as a country, we will need human advisors at all costs, I think. As soon as we gain control over a human country, we should employ its officials and perhaps—-”

“No no, wait a moment.”

Unable to endure, Vita interrupted.

“What’s the matter?”

“Rather than saying ‘What’s the matter?’, shouldn’t you be saying ‘What should we do?’……..”

Vita closed her eyes rubbed her forehead with in circular motion using her thumb.

“Sorry for cutting you off, but there are few things I want to ask. Would you mind if I do so, Dragon King?”

“Fine. Ask me however much you want.”

Opening her eyes wide, she gazed at Naga and leaned in a bit.

“You talk about establishing a country of witches, but how do you plan to do so?”

“That’s easy. Just announcing that we have ‘established’ one is plenty.”

“Hu….huh?”

“It’s not like there’s a special requirement to make one. I think it’s fine to advance towards the human lands and declare that the witches have banded together to make a new world.”

“…..How will I benefit from that?”

“For the time being, there won’t be any benefit.”

“No benefit, you say…”

Vita made a miserable face.

“I think being able to continue to live in the future is a good enough reason.”

“Still, if we declare our intention to establish a new country, the humans will most likely become more cautious.”

“Well, it might be so. However, that too is a trivial matter.”

“T-Trivial matter….”

(Just what’s going on inside this guy’s head?)

As one would expect, Vita was troubled and confused and was unable to consider his thoughts as logical.

“Anyway, it’s inevitable that we will need to capture the humans’ forts one by one. Even if we don’t announce our intentions to form a new country after we attack, they will still become more alert and cautious.”

“That may be true…. nonetheless…”

“What’s more, if you increase your territory and your dominion, rather than being cautious, every human country will probably band together against us.”

“And if we continue to win?”

“It can’t be said for certain that we can continue to win, but assuming we strive to win with everyone’s strength, we’ll probably be able to cut our way through sooner or later.”

(Is he a realist with high calculating skills, or an idealist who’s unaware of the current state? Perhaps, he’s just a foolish optimist? The more I listen to him, the less I can understand.)

“What’s the matter? Isn’t that grimace spoiling your lovely face?”

“Mu…. looks like you’ve got quite a discerning eye there.”

(Mother?)

(Lovely?)

(That guy, as I expected, he has a few screws loose, doesn’t he?)

Once Vita stared at her witches, who whispered things like that to each other, the place immediately turned silent.

“Do you have any other questions, Vita-san?”

“A, ah, right.”

Pulling herself together, Vita again faced Naga.

“It’s about increasing the territory and the number of people inside the established country. Once the declaration is made, do you plan to inhabit the forest by bringing the humans? Or perhaps, by taking them as prisoners of wars?”

“Let’s see, let’s see.”

Naga tilted his head from side to side in contemplation.

“Even if we are to make a country here inside the forest, it won’t be possible for us to expand it. Isn’t there a habitable place for the humans in the steep mountain district behind us?”

“You’ve got a point. Then, where would you suggest we make it?”

“I wonder if we should choose an area on the border of the Kasandora Kingdom.”

“W-What?!”

As one would expect, not even Vita could avoid being taken aback. The girls who sat next to her also had speechless and stunned faces.

“Why are you that surprised? After all, we are supposed to create a new world for both sides. Unless we go to the human world and defeat them there, the goal will be far from reach. First, we need to get ahold of an area along the border, form it into a country, raise the population, and establish a good administration.”

“G….Good administration, you say?”

“Right. After we do so, we will create publicity by telling the humans to spread a rumor about this country being a place where both humans and the witches can live in harmony.”
“Will that change anything?”

“In the future, it will be easier for us to gain control over other countries when conquering them. Even if they are occupied by our witch country, there’s no reason for their citizens to be slaughtered or enslaved. Rather, if we have everyone think that they can live more peacefully than before, capturing a castle will be an easy thing. There might even be cities that will open their gates for us. Not to mention, it will be easier for us to rule as an occupying power. Aren’t there nothing but benefits?”

Vita’s body was flooded with astonishment and felt numb.

(T-This guy, could it be that he’s an absurd realist while being a ridiculous idealist at the same time?)

“To be more accurate….What I mean to say is it’s hard for me to complain about this and that since I’m not yet too knowledgeable about how the governing structure works in this world. But, assuming it’s natural to impose lighter taxes on citizens, perhaps we should start to work on abolishment of checking stations, stopping the collection of tolls, arranging main roads and extending their width, or suspending bridges over rivers.”

(There’s no doubt. This guy can keep his feet on the ground, even while looking into the distant future. He’s a fearsome realist. At least, there should be nobody in this world who can come up with such reasoning. Even those small, influential feudal lords should, at least, be able to figure out that paving roads and erecting bridges will make it easier for them to attack, but at the same time leaves them open to invasion.)

As she suddenly lifted up her face, her eyes met with those of Harrigan.

(What do you think? Isn’t he an interesting fellow?)

Vita felt as if Harrigan’s eyes were telling her so.

(Fun, he’s indeed a compelling man. However, just because he’s compelling, it doesn’t mean I’ll expose my daughters to danger.)

Both Harrigan and Vita exchanged glances.

“By the way, Dragon King, it appears you plan to take over the Kasandora Kingdom and establish a country there, but, how do you plan to do so? There are just 20-30 people in Harrigan’s household, and the same goes for my family. Provided we temporarily lent you a hand, you’d be able to mobilize at most 40-50 people, right? How do you intend to gain control over the Kingdom?”

“Regarding that, we are going to do it using straightforward methods. In other words, by capturing castles one by one. In this world, castles and cities seem to bear the same meaning. If I were to say if it will be fast, it will be fast. Will it be difficult? It will be difficult. Well, still, it depends on how quick we progress.”

“That’s easy for you to say. There are more than a thousand guards and probably many thousands of other citizens who can arm themselves to protect each city. How are the 50 people we have supposed to capture it?”

“Perhaps it would be impossible under normal circumstances, but, if it’s us, especially you, then it should be feasible. That’s because you’re witches who possess special abilities.”

“Then, then how?”

“Since it’s difficult for us to bring down a city all of sudden, I think we should first practice on Fort Ein.”

“Saying that this and that is simple. Whenever I hear your talking, I get the feeling there’s nothing that you think is impossible.”

“Right?”

“It was supposed to be sarcastic!”

Vita retorted, then pulled herself together and continued to speak.

“Indeed, rather than bringing down a city, it might be easier for us to capture a fort. Still, with 40-50 of us, I think the task is next to impossible.”

“I’m aware it won’t be easy, but I don’t consider it to be that hard.”

Despite having just recovered from her surprise, Vita couldn’t help but to feel increasingly astonished.

“Not hard?! You sure are confident.”

“However, there’s a ‘but’. In order to do so, I need your cooperation.”

“Hohou? So are you saying it’s only doable with our power?”

As Vita questioned without replying to him, Naga gave a seemingly unrelated question.

“Vita-san, it’s true that you can control weight using your magic, correct?”

“Ah? Ahh, so you heard about it from Harrigan? True, you can consider it that way.”

“That ability of yours, won’t you show it to me? While we are at it, how about you try it out on me?”

“Oi, Naga, don’t do anything reckless.”

As Harrigan tried to stop him,

“Silence, you titty monster.”

“I-I’m not a titty monster, you flat, little girl.”

(Uwaa, it’s started～)

Ais and Lela made a sour face.

(I was wondering if it would be fine, since Ane-sama has been quite obedient today, but…)

(Well, I guess she has been enduring pretty we-ll)

Good grief – The witches next to Vita shook their head and sighed in agreement.

“Isn’t your overweight chest the reason you stagger when walking?”

“Even if you were to be unable to control weight, your body seems small and light enough to float, doesn’t it? That’s because your lack of chest makes your body light.”

“Harrigan, you rascal, it appears you’ve become quite big-mouthed toward me. Even though I used to be in charge of changing your diapers whenever you would piss your pants.”

As soon as Naga directed his sight toward Harrigan, whose face turned red, she snapped and pointed at Vita.

“That was back when I was still a baby!”

“Don’t you understand? This is the difference between you and me.”

Don!

The room swayed and its construction groaned.

“Nuoooh.”

Before Naga realized it, he was lying on the floor.

=== Part 9 ===

“W….What’s happening……?”

Naga, who tumbled to the floor, tried to lift himself up by putting his strength into his limbs, nevertheless, his body didn’t move as he wished.

“W….What’s the meaning of this….oh, that’s right, is this your magic?”

Once he desperately turned his head around and checked the surroundings, everyone from the Harrigan and Sraymeyer’s households were crawling on the floor.
The only one to be standing was Vita herself.

“True. This is my magic. People call it ‘Song of Gravity’. How’s that? You probably can’t move.”

“I…I cannot move.”

“Mother, please….keep your power… down.”

One of Sraymeyer’s witches said it as if being in pain.

(Speaking of which….why is she repressing her own members…hey, that’s right!)

“Oi….Vita-san…..”

“Hou? You’re still able to talk? Certainly, you’re a big deal. Then, what do you want to know, Dragon King?”

“Y….Your power isn’t working just on a specific person…..but equally on everyone within its range…..right? You cannot choose….your target….on your own…right?”

“Hohou, so you were able to figure it out with a single look?”

(Despite him probably being in agony, he’s got a good discerning eye)

“It’s just as you say, but,”

Her power which suppressed Naga suddenly loosened up….or rather, wouldn’t it be more accurate to say his body became lighter?

(Did my body get lighter? It may be that it just returned back to its normal weight, but…)

Those who regained their movements squirmed with their body while trying to lift themselves up.
Suddenly, Vita jumped up lightly. Dancing high in the sky with no resistance, she landed calmly and gently in front of Naga.

“I can do things like this too, but well,”

Once she said so, Vita placed her hand on his head.

“Guhaaa.”

Naga gasped as if all the air in his lungs had been shot out and lay on his belly on the floor.
His limbs wouldn’t move even if he tried, and his organs felt oppressed, like they were being squashed.

(This is….There’s no way for my muscles…to move. As one would expect, it’s the result of my body turning heavier.)

Naga recalled the miserable appearance of a frog squashed on a roadside that he had once witnessed.

(Hey, it isn’t time for remembering that…..if you have time for that……think of something more useful….!)[talking to himself]

“Gueeh.”

Not being able to endure, Naga leaked such a groan.

“How about that? I can also aim for specific people?”

With the weight of his body alleviating a bit, Naga somehow managed to raise up his head and looked around him. The other witches were lifting their bodies and standing up with confidence.

His eyes met with Harrigan who seemed to be worried about him.
Sorry – She put up her right hand and bowed down as if saying so.

“…No wait. Why are you placing your hand on my head? Could it be that you need to touch your target in order to mark it with your power?”

“Uhahahaha.”

Vita suddenly burst out in laughter.

Withdrawing her hand, she turned on her heels while laughing.

(….I can move! Speaking of which, my body returned to its original weight. Then, it means I was right.)

Naga raised his head and stared at her back.
Vita, who returned to her stool, turned her expression back to a serious one after she stopped laughing.

“You’ve caught my eye, Dragon King-dono. Hey, don’t just lie there, stand up.”

“Y…Yeah”

Naga lifted his body, which had returned to its original weight.

“Hm? Harrigan, are you able to stand up with that heavy pair of breasts? If so, wouldn’t it be fine for me to caress and lighten that unreasonably large chest for you?”

“It would be too much of a favor!”

Harrigan had been watching attentively and anxiously, the exchange between Naga and Vita, before she sprang up.

“Despite that, Harrigan, you came to me in order to ask for a favor, didn’t you? Not to mention, I’m your great benefactor, right? Then shouldn’t you be more prudent in your actions? Hm?”

“…….T-That’s….”

Harrigan, who was searching for the right words, finally hung down her head in disappointment.

“I am sorry.”

“No Harrigan, you don’t have to go that far.”

At Naga’s words, Vita ogled him.

“Should I understand that you don’t need my support, Dragon King?”

“No that’s not what I mean” – Sitting on the floor, Naga waved his hand.

“Your assistance is indispensable for us. I’m more and more interested in your power now that I’ve just witnessed it. However, you see, it’s not like we are here just to beg you for help.”

“…Then, for what other purpose?”

“I’ve already told you, but we want to create a new world together with you. That means, we are going to cooperate with each other on equal terms. It’s not the matter of who’s more superior or inferior nor does it matter who’s the one making the request.”

Naga, who said so, stood up and folded his hands in front of his chest. Striking a daunting pose, he gazed at Vita.

“I’ll repeat it one more time, Vita-san. Won’t you join us in making a new world where both the humans and the witches can coexist with each other in peace? This is the only way to create a bright future for the witches.”

“The only way.”

A spark rose in the air as their sights collided with each other’s.

=== Part 10 ===

The witches from Sraymeyer’s household whispered to each other while making troubled faces.

(T, This guy, despite him knowing how fearsome Mother is, he still has the guts to talk back.)

(He will be definitely killed by Mother.)

(Even if he’s together with Harrigan & the rest, he won’t be able to escape from Mother’s spell.)

(Since it seems our side here will be involved as well, I’d rather have him pardon us.)

(He’s, indeed, a bothersome man.)

And then,

“A—hahahaha.”

Because Vita abruptly started to laugh, her daughters tilted with their heads unintentionally.
Continuing her burst of laughter for a while, she finally ceased to laugh.

“I like you. I really like you, Dragon King-dono.”

Rising up, she stared again at him.

“Despite suffering from my magic, you were still able to calmly judge your surroundings and see through the nature of my ability. It was a splendid work, but what fascinates me the most is how you can grasp and calculate the situation without losing your composure.”

While the members of Sraymeyer’s household were taken aback, Harrigan put her hand on her chest with relief.

(It seems we were able to please her.)

(As one would expect from Naga-san.)

(It’s because he possesses a strange talent for captivating his listene-rs.)

Harrigan, Ais, and Lela thought about that; however, Langeais:

(I’ve heard rumors about him, but he’s even stranger than the rumors say.)

Such was her personal evaluation.

Descending the steps, Vita once again walked in front of Naga.

“Since you’re saying ‘on equal terms’, there’s no way for just me to be in a high position.”

“Oh? Then, it’s fine to consider our request as being accepted?”

Vita, who stood in front of his eyes, looked up at him without replying back. Naturally, it would make him look down from above.

“Even though I said so, there’s a difference between our heights. This fact doesn’t make me keen on working with you on equal terms. Oi, Elysio.”

“Yes, Mother?”

“Bring me a stepladder or anything similar.”

“Yes, right away.”

Elysione waved her long mantle, ran away, and immediately returned back.
Once she placed a small box-like thing under Vita’s feet, Vita stepped on it. However, the top of her head could still only reach Naga’s shoulders.

*Whack*

The soles of Vita’s feet sunk into Elysione’s face, blowing her backwards.

“As always you’re one useless girl, you rascal. Are we supposed to be on equal terms like that?!”

“M, My apphologies”

Elysione held her nose and stood up, then tried to bring another stepladder-like thing once again.

“That’s fine, you don’t have to. Become my stepladder instead, you rascal.”

“E….Eh…?”

Elysione warped her face miserably.

“Do you have any complaints?”

“……None.”

“Then come here quickly.”

“Uuuuu.”

Elysione dashed with a tearful face and crept on all fours in front of Vita.

“O, Oi, Vita-san….”

“Ahh, do not mind, Dragon King. That’s because this is a ceremony where we need to be on equal positions in order to join our hands.”

Saying so, Vita tried to step on Elysione’s back with her right leg.

“Yea, I got that, I got that. By the way, I’m still not familiar with your customs, but if you say we need to be on the same height to form an alliance, I can just lower myself.”

“Hohou. Are you raising an objection against what I do?”

Vita stared at him; nevertheless, Naga didn’t pay attention to that.

“For now, I’m probably your guest. You shouldn’t make your daughters that uncouth in front of your guests.”

Elysione, who was on her hands and feet, looked up at Naga with a strange expression.

“Fuumu. Unlike your appearance, you seem to be quite good at being considerate.”

“There’s probably nothing wrong about my appearance. From the way it looks, I’m most likely a gentle and considerate person!”

“Where do you see that?”

“……Then, what am I in your eyes?”

“That’s right. A careless, reckless, unrefined…. pervert?”

Because Harrigan, Ais, and Lela nodded deeply in agreement, Naga snapped and pointed at three of them.

“Hey there! Don’t nod at the same time!”

“Kukuku, it appears my judgement was no mistake.”

“Nono, it’s full of mistakes. Speaking of which, don’t you all have a negative opinion about me?”

“Won’t you start showing us your good side? Since we’ll be fighting together as allies from now on, there will be plenty of opportunities for that.”

Naga couldn’t help but drop his head with a dissatisfied face.

“Well, I guess you’ve got a point.”

“Hey, Elysio, you can stand up now.”

“U, Um, am I really allowed to do so?”

“It’s for making Dragon King look good. If you want to express your gratitude, say it to this man.”

Elysione stood up and bowed down deeply toward Naga.

“I’m thankful for your consideration.”

“Yeah, it’s fine, it’s fine. Don’t mind.”

“Even though I thanked you, I don’t particularly mind.”

Once she said it bluntly after raising her head, Naga made a pitiful expression.

“Yeah, you’re right. Well, guess that’s fine, so”

As soon as Naga faced toward Vita, he kneeled down on one knee and lowered his back. With that, the height of their heads turned equal.
She held out her hand.

Hm? – As he made a doubtful face, Vita too became suspicious and withdrew her hand.

“Ah, that’s right, didn’t the Dragon King fall from another world…?”

Vita who muttered shifted her eyes toward Harrigan.

“You still haven’t told him about that?”

“Ah, true, I still haven’t.”

What you talking about? – Naga looked at them alternately.

“In other words, you see,”

Vita again stuck out her palm.

“Putting our palms on top of one another’s is the sign of forming an agreement.”

“I see, so this is how it works here?”

(I wonder how it would be done in my world. I have the feeling it would be something like putting a seal of blood on a document, or passing someone on as a hostage. Nevertheless, a traitor is bound to betray others, I guess. Anyway, if it’s about the form of agreement, this method here is far more convenient.)

Naga tried to recall his past events.

Making an obviously sarcastic smile, Naga tightened his face in a hurry.

Hey, stick it out – As if being in a rush, Vita urged him to place his already spread out right palm on hers.

“With this, we are now formally allies, the so called – alliance treaty. It’s fine for you to call me Vita.”

Vita uttered with satisfaction.

However, Naga stared at their palms seriously.

“What? Is there something you’re not content with?”

“No… I just thought your palm looks cute.”

“Wha?!”

“Your appearance is also cute, but your small palm is soft and lovely as well. Yet you’re telling me you’re older than Harrigan, I can’t believe it.”

(Ah, are you a fool? If you touch upon Mother’s age….)

Elysione averted her eyes while imagining Vita bursting in rage.

(She’s going to get angry! Very angry!)

“Fumu. Naga is indeed quite an honest guy.”

(Eh? She isn’t angry? Rather, she seems to be in a good mood?)

Elysione turned back her face with a surprised expression.

Certainly, it looked like Vita was laughing humorously.

Elysione felt that Harrigan had a discontented face, but she touched her chest in relief at the fact that Vita didn’t get mad at Naga’s unreasonable words.

“I’m honestly not sure how should I say it, but you and Harrigan probably look like parent and daughter.”

“Haahaha, you mean so, you mean so? Parent and daughter? Then shall I refer to Harrigan as Mother from now on?”

Harrigan’s face turned much more displeased.

“When it comes to that, wouldn’t Harrigan be the mother of Elysione’s mother, in other words, her grandma?”

*Startle*

Elysione’s body turned stiff.

“Hey, Elysione, how about you call Harrigan grandmother?”

“Eeeh? N,n,n,n,no, no, um…”

Harrigan’s hair squirmed in the air, which was greatly ominous.
Once her eyes met with Harrigan, who was staring fixedly at her, Elysione felt her body tremble.

If you dare to call me grandmother, I’ll pulverize all your bones.

Harrigan’s eyes seemed to say.

However,

“Hey, what’s the matter? Won’t you quickly call her ‘grandmother’?”

Was Vita in a good, or perhaps a bad mood? She said an unreasonable thing with her usual manner.

And then, getting herself dragged into quarrel was the same as usual for Elysione.
Elysione searched for an escape in the surroundings with bloodshot eyes, but she understood there wasn’t one from the very beginning.

The other witches averted their eyes and looked at the ceiling as if telling her not to come over, there was no courageous person who would try to save her.

Ais and Lela looked at each other with a trouble face, whereas, Langeais wasn’t concerned about it.

Harrigan’s eyebrows twitched upward more and more.

“Ha….hahaha….”

Putting a stiff smile on her face, Elysione wondered whether it would be more painful to die from getting punched by Harrigan’s solid hair or squashed by Vita’s magic….such was her thought. Then, a rescue came from an unpredicted place.

Naga stood up and called out.

“Oi, Vita-san.”

“That’s why I told you it’s fine to call me Vita.”

“Then, Vita.”

“What?”

“Don’t pick on your own daughter like that.”

“Mu?”

“And Harrigan too.”

“W, What?”

“Your expression looks scary.”

“Hnn?”

Harrigan covered her face in a hurry with both her hands.

“Starting from today, we’re going to be allies, so get along with each other.”

“Mu…true. I’m of the same opinion.”

“A, Ahh, I’ve no objections….”

Despite saying so, both of them couldn’t hide their blatantly dissatisfied faces and attitude, but Naga didn’t care about that.

Hey hey – He called Harrigan.

“It won’t do if it’s just me and Vita. Harrigan and Vita as well, unless you two show that you approve of the alliance, it will be hard to demonstrate that to your daughters.”

“Mu? Still…”

“No, that’s……”

As they both had sullen faces and didn’t feel inclined to reach out their hands, Naga stretched out his arms horizontally and kneeled on his knee once more time.

“Hey, Vita this way, then Harrigan, this way.”

“W-What do you intend to do?”

“That’s why, if you dislike putting your palms on top of each other’s, just place them each on mine at the same time. At this rate, it will make me some sort of a mediary…. but, with this, we should be able to form an alliance between both households.”

“O…Oh, indeed, that’s true.”

“Right, if that’s the case…”

Saying so, Vita placed her right palm on Naga’s left and Harrigan placed her left on Naga’s right.

“Excellent, with this, the alliance between the households of Sraymeyer and Haindora is formed. From now on you will be fighting together as allies…. Isn’t it nice, Vita, Harrigan?”

“U, Umu, that’s right.”

“Well, so it came to that, I guess.”

“Splendid!”

Naga, who said so, took his arms back and stood up.

“It might be sudden, but Vita,”

“What?”

“There’s something I’d like for you to tell me.”

“Is it about my magic?”

“Yes. Your ability will be the key for capturing Fort Ein.”

“Using my ability for capturing Fort Ein… you say? Fufun, interesting. Then, should we hold a strategic meeting and get dressed up?”
[[File:Naga03 Illus-02.jpg|200px|thumbnail|right]]

Once Vita moved her sight toward Elysione, who restrained herself in a kneeling position, Elysione trembled in fear.

“How long do you plan on sitting there, Elysio. Go and prepare seats for the meeting. But this time, use the nicer ones.”

“Y,Yes, Mother.”

It looked as though the storm passed Elysione without hitting her. Standing up, she bowed down toward Naga.

=== Part 11 ===

Everyone sat on the folding stools placed in a circle.
On the right side of the circle, there were Naga, Harrigan, Ais, Lela, and Langeais taking up their position, whereas, on the left side, Elysione, and then witches whose names were Nemumone, Dora, and Karamaya sat behind Vita.

Summing up, there were 10 people together, discussing the plan to capture Fort Ein.

“First, we’d like to know more about Vita’s ability to control weight.”

is how Naga started the discussion.

“Primarily, I don’t tell that to other clans, but well, fine by me.
To begin with, it’s not like I didn’t anticipate we would have to get along with Harrigan and the rest. Not to mention, we are going to be allies starting from today.”

After a short introduction, Vita explained her magic.
Listening to her talk, Naga tried to sort the facts inside his head.

“In other words, it can be summarized like so:

・The effect of her magic will work on those inside a specific range, with her being in the center.

・The range can be adjusted to a certain degree by Vita using her magic.

・Once the magic is activated, the range cannot be changed. In order to do that, she needs to cancel it first.

・The magic can be used to either increase or decrease the weight of a target.

・However, when it works in an area of effect equally on every target, she cannot aim for specific people.

・In case Vita wants her magic to work on a specific person, she has to touch that person.

・If there’s a short distance between her and the target, the magic will still continue to work.

・The magic will work well on living things, but poorly on inanimate objects.

・She can control her own weight at will.

Is it okay to understand your magic this way?”

“Hohou, you understand it quite easily, don’t you?”

(No, that’s mainly because of your indirect explanation.)

“Is there something you want to say?”

“No, nothing.”

“Fumu, that’s right, it’s fine if you understand it like that.”

“Is that so? Then, we might be able to use it.”

“That’s why, I’m asking you for what.”

“Basically, you will sneak into Fort Ein and activate your spell there. Once you do so, not a single guard will be able to move, right? Well, it will also depend on how wide the fort is, but…”

“Oooh!”

“What a plan!”

“Exactly!”

Voices of admiration were heard from here and there.

“Even without sneaking in, we can place you just before the fort’s walls and immobilize the guardians inside. By doing that, all our members can enter confidently without worrying about the enemy’s attack. Later, I’d like to steal the fort without sustaining any injuries, so if it’s this method, there should be no casualties on either side.”

“I, I see.”

“What a fearsome resourcefulness.”

“As one would expect, you aren’t the Dragon King for no reason.”

Such things were said among the Sraymeyer witches who were full of admiration.

“Wait a moment, Naga-sa-n.”

Lela lifted up her hand.

“Certainly, I think that method should work if you put Vita-san inside the fort, or perhaps, near the fort. Still, how do you plan to do that while being unnotic-ed?”

“Ah!”

Elysione and the rest looked at each other’s faces.

“True, herein lies the problem.”

Naga said while scratching his head.

“Did you not think about that?”

Harrigan retorted.

“It’s not just that. There are various other problems to consider. Rather, aren’t there too many of them?”

Vita took a glimpse at Naga.

“Yeah, that’s right. I know there are lots of things that need to be solved.”

“Hearing that from you, it makes me a bit anxious.”

“Um, Mother.”

“What, Elysio?”

“If it’s about hiding Mother inside the fort, then I can help.”

Hearing her words, Naga reacted.

“What do you mean?”

“This girl, you see, Elysio can move between the space where her mantle was previously put… things like that.”

“What on… so there was such a convenient magic? You’re incredible indeed.”

As soon she was given words of praise, Elysione’s face turned a bit red.

“Ah, no, it’s not something I should be praised, for……”

“Ain’t you praising her too much, Naga? This girl tends to get carried away quickly.”

Elysione dropped her shoulders in disappointment.

“Isn’t that fine? You ought to admit that something is incredible whenever there are things like that.”

“Well, I’m ready to accept that about her magic, but it’s not like her power is almighty or anything.”

“Ah… is that so?”

“Right, Elysio can fly to places where she prepared mantles. In other words, she can only fly to those places.”

“Ah, so it was like that?”

Hmm – As if understanding each other’s words, Naga and Vita slightly groaned.

“Still, there’s the problem of how we should place the mantle inside or near the fort, right?”

“Indeed. Once it’s done, we will be able to travel easily. Is there any idea that crosses your mind?”

“No, I can’t think of anything out of the blue.”

Vita looked at him with cold eyes.

“It’s no good when it comes to important points? Guess you ain’t that great, Dragon King.”

“Don’t say it like that. I’ve only received the explanation about your magic just now, so there’s no way for me to come up with something that easily.”

“Well, you’re right about that.”

“Uhm, Mother.”

“What, Elysio?”

“You’ve mentioned it before, but what kind of other problems will there be besides this one?”

Since Nemonumo, Dora, and Karaimaya nodded as well, it was clear they had no clue, just like Elysione.

“You girls are truly simpletons.”

Vita exhaled a blunt sigh.

“Naga, you can probably understand it, right?”

“It’s still not clear what we are going to do after the enemy soldiers are restricted with your magic, right?”

“A….Ah!”

Elysione clapped her hands together.

“Mu, indeed it’s as you say.”

Harrigan too nodded down.

“I want to apprehend the enemy soldiers when they are unable to move, but the moment we enter inside the fort, we will also be seized by Vita’s magic.”

Naga shifted his sight toward her.

“What should we do?”

“Don’t ask me about that.”

“No, that’s why I was thinking if there’s anyone among your people who can move when your power is in effect.”

“There’s nobody. It’s because my magic is the strongest and so I can’t choose the target. Be it humans, witches, enemies, or allies, everyone is influenced. Uhahaha, are you giving up now?”

“E…Even though it’s not the time for throwing out your chest.”

Naga put on a fed up face.

(To begin with, Mother doesn’t have any chest to throw out.)

“Elysioooooo, is there something you want to sayyyy?”

*Shivering*

Elysione shook her head from side to side with all her power.

“What’s more, there’s also the problem of choosing the right place to put the mantle, I guess.”

The moment Naga asked, Elysione braced herself and asked as if trying to escape from Vita’s sight.

“Naga-dono, what do you mean?”

“You see, with Vita’s magic centering around her, its effect will probably just cover a fixed range. Saying so, if we don’t place the mantle near the inside of the fort….no, wait. Rather, wouldn’t it be better to put it near the fort’s walls? Hm… I have to investigate the fort’s surroundings a little bit, or else…. As one would expect, I’d like to have more information on its territory.”

Naga, who folded his arms while pondering, immediately lifted his head.

“Whatever the case, the plan won’t succeed as long as the enemy spots the mantle. They might be suspicious of it, but even if they aren’t, they will probably consider it as garbage and tidy it up.”

“My mantle is…. garbage…”

Elysione looked down at her body with a face indicating her being in shock.
Because she appeared to be honestly shocked, Naga hurriedly made an excuse.

“Ah, no, I didn’t mean to say it’s dirty or anything in particular, you see?”

“Good grief. Wouldn’t it much better to destroy the fort? We already don’t use our own forts really, so their forts would also be useless, so destroying it would be almost the same as taking it.”

With Vita saying so, Harrigan continued.

“I agree with what Vita says. It’s probably the fastest way.”

However, Naga clearly denied that by shaking his head.

“In order for us to advance toward the Kasandora Kingdom, we need a military position at all cost. I want to capture the fort without sustaining any damage if possible. Not to mention, if we can’t take over a single fort, there’s no way for us to bring down a fortified city.”

“Well, I understand what you want to say.”

Vita shrugged with her shoulders.

“I’ll manage to come up with a method. Fret not, I’ll certainly do so.”

Naga remained positive til the end.

“You mean it? If it’s someone like you, who was able to play with an army of 2000, then perhaps you will. What’s more, do you expect anything from us, or is there anything else you need?”

“Needless to say, I need more information about the inside of the fort. Just knowing about its territory makes a huge difference in how hard the capture will be. Is there anyone in your group who can sneak inside?”

“If there was, we would probably be able to place the mantle.”

“Ah, that’s right!”

Holding his head, Naga looked up.

(Will this guy be okay?)

Vita gazed at Harrigan as if saying this.

Harrigan smiled clumsily.

“I, It will be fine… I believe.”

Is what she responded.

“I can’t really say it makes me feel at ease.”

“Vita, won’t you give me a single day?”

To Naga, who fixed his posture and made such a request, Vita nodded slightly.

“I don’t particularly mind.”

“I’ll come up with something no matter what, and return here the day after tomorrow.”

“Fumu, in that case, shall I also try to think of something?”

“You mean it? It feels reassuring to know that you guys will help.”

“No, the one to think will be me. That’s because…”

Vita jerked her chin and pointed at Elysione and the rest who were waiting.

“…They’re basically idiots who are bad at thinking.”

*heads dropping in disappointment*

Elysione and the rest hung down their heads in dismay.

“Rather, wouldn’t it be faster to have Lela assist?”

“I originally planned to have her help, but well…”

“If we gather both of our thoughts, we might be somehow able to find a key to our solution. At least, do your best. I’ll do mine as well.”

With that, Naga and the rest promised to meet once again the day after tomorrow and left the fort of Sraymeyer.

<noinclude>
==Translator's Notes and References==
<references/>

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| Back to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Prologue 2|Prologue 2]]
| Return to [[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Chapter 1

2016-07-19T14:08:04Z

Darkdhaos:

Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Chapter 1

2016-07-19T13:53:35Z

Darkdhaos: Created page with "==Chapter 1: The Conclusion of the Alliance== === Part 1 === The head of Sraymeyer household, Vita, lived in a fort inside the black forest. Ais and Lela travelled there wi..."

==Chapter 1: The Conclusion of the Alliance==

=== Part 1 ===

The head of Sraymeyer household, Vita, lived in a fort inside the black forest.

Ais and Lela travelled there with the intention of visiting her.

The path which they both walked inside the forest was well maintained, and it wasn’t that hard to move on it.

The two of them wore their usual thin clothes.
Ais guessed that meeting Vita would be a difficult task by itself, however, as soon as they stepped into Sraymeyer’s territory, one of their members, Elysione, appeared.
Both of them were previously acquainted so, once Ais told her the reason that they’d come, Elysione promptly answered to their request as predicted. Still, there was one thing that took them by surprise.

“That’s because Mother said that you would be contacting us soon. Like that, she’s been waiting there.”

Or something like that?

Ais and Lela looked at each other’s face unconsciously.

“So she anticipated we would come talk to her because we had won the battle against Kasandora’s ar-my….?”

As Lela whispered, Ais nodded as if saying ‘I see’.

“Right now, Mother is at the 2nd fort. I was told to bring you there, were you to come. I’ll guide you, so you may follow me.”

Saying so, Elysione turned aside adroitly and walked into the dark forest.

Ais and Lela looked at each other’s face once more.

“Vita-san who’s known to be a sourpuss is being way too upfront. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

“Ais, I think it’s better not to….”

Elysione stopped and turned around, staring at Ais.

“I can hear you, Ais.”

“Yes? About what?”

“This girl…”

Elysione glared at her for a while, then finally sighed and loosened her expression.

“Well, I guess it’s fine. Even I can’t deny that aspect about Mother. Rather, I’d agree with you.”

Speaking her mind, Elysione looked around hurriedly.

“But don’t tell that to Mother.”

Ais cracked a smile and replied.

“Obviously, I won’t, Elysione. After all, I don’t want both of us to be killed.”

“…..Follow me.”

Turning around once more, she continued to walk. Ais and Lela followed her.

=== Part 2 ===

Elysione led them and reached one of Sraymeyer’s forts, Ais and Lela were then guided into Vita’s residence, the inside of which, made them look about curiously.
Even if it was the residence of a clan, it was a basic construction similar to a hut with erected pillars.

Elysione stood in the doorway and announced:

“Mother, I’ve brought with me Harrigan-dono’s messengers, just as you told me.”

As she called out loudly, a languid voice responded.

“Who are the messengers?”

“It’s Ais and Lela.”

“Fufun. To think that Harrigan would send those two, it seems like she’s serious this time. Fine, you may enter.”

Elysione opened the door and urged them both to enter.

“Forgive me for interrupting, Vita-san.”

“Excuse me for distur-bing you.”

Ais and Lela stepped inside the building.
What they saw was a spacious living room. The room had a transparent glass ceiling and wooden walls. It was no different from the residence of Ais and the rest.
The windows in the room were closed with wooden shutters.
From the inside, two candles were burning on candle stands, however, their flame was weak, making the room dimly lit.
Vita was laying on her side on a thick mattress on top of a raised step inside the room.
Besides her, there was one more witch who acted as her lap pillow.

“I apologize for neglecting to remain in contact, Vita-san.”

As they both bowed down in front of her, Vita suddenly sat up.

“Ahh, long time no see.”

Vita, who was wearing a cute outfit that matched her small body, beckoned Ais and Lela to come closer.

Once they did so, Vita directed her sight toward the witch
next to her.

“Dora, bring those two folding stools.”

“Yes, Mother.”

The girl who stood up wore a long dress with multiple notches.
She wasn’t as tall as Elysione, however, her body lines were refined and her curves looked much clearer than Elysione’s. Unlike her, Elysione wore a long, loose mantle, which made it harder to grasp her body lines.
The girl called Dora lined up the stools on the floor.

“Sit.”

“Thank you very much.”

“Ais, you better sit gently.”

“Yes?”

“Otherwise, the stool will break if you sit violently.”

*Snap* – Ais’ face became stiff.

“No no, I, there’s no way that I’m that heavy.”

“Is that so? Then I guess it’s fine.”

(As always, she’s one rude person)

Hiding this thought inside her heart, Ais carefully sat.

As soon as Lela did the same, Dora and Elysione secured their places on either side of Vita.
Vita, who sat cross-legged on the thick mattress, fixed her eyes on Ais.
It was a sharp look that didn’t suit her child-like face and her small body.

“Before I ask you about the purpose of your arrival…. answer me this one question, Ais. Is it true that there’s a man in your group?”

Being questioned by Vita, Ais smiled positively and replied.

“There’s a single man by our side, but I’m not sure whether it’s accurate to describe him as a human guy.”

Vita narrowed her eyes and directed them at Ais. A dangerous light was dwelling inside them.

“What? What do you mean by saying so? I don’t much like people that express themselves in riddles.”

“No, that’s not a riddle, Vita-san.”

“Then what?”

“Naga-san, he’s……”

As Ais was about to speak, Vita interrupted.

“What about the Dragon King?”

“It’s that person’s name.”

“Dragon King? Isn’t it quite a proud name?”

Ais continued to speak while ignoring Vita’s banter.

“In the end, is Naga-san a human guy or not? It’s still not clear for us…. This is what I mean.”

Vita slightly tilted her head.

“I don’t get it. If he’s not a human guy, then what are you saying he is?”

“Perhaps… he might be the Dragon King just like his name implies.”

Once Ais said so with a prim look, Vita opened widely her eyes.

“It could be as well…. that he’s a messenger sent by the Dragon King.”

“Are you, sane…?”

Ais suddenly smiled.

“It may be that I’m not. To think that we could even consider facing Kasandora’s army of 2000 with barely 20 people while hoping that we could win…”

That’s it! – Vita clapped her hands together.

“In other words, that man, named Naga, was the one who guided you through the previous battle?”

“Yes, I think it’s fine to have you think that way.”

Vita leaned slightly forward and said.

“Why is someone like him at your place? How did you repel Kasandora’s army that consisted of 2000 soldiers? Let me hear in detail.”

“Yes, that would be—-”

=== Part 3 ===

Ais briefly explained the whole story from when Naga appeared till the present to Vita.
Listening to her, Vita made a difficult face while folding up her arms, but,

“….And well, this is how it went.”

As soon as Vita finished listening to Ais’ explanation, she slightly groaned and looked fixedly at her.

“Talking about things like a man suddenly falling from the sky…. I know you’re not the type of girl who would joke or say things on a whim, but it’s a story that is hard for me to believe.”

“I guess so. Not even we would have thought about winning against an army consisting of 2000 soldiers.”

“Right? Even so, this style of fighting is strange for both humans and witches. But….hm?”
[[File:Naga03 Illus-01.jpg|200px|thumbnail|right]]
Vita, who tilted her head while folding up her arms, suddenly raised her head.

“And what’s the reason for you visiting our place on this occasion…?”

“Yes, that’s right. We came here as Naga-san’s messengers.”

“Hou hou, interesting. That Naga person, what does he want to convey to us?”

“Then, I shall pass on Naga-san’s words.”

After she coughed at once deliberately, Ais corrected her sitting posture.

“In order to create a new world where both the witches and the humans can live in peace and harmony with each other, won’t you join us in fighting together?’ In other words, joining together with Harrigan’s Clan.”

“Wha..?”

Vita became speechless.
That’s because the content of Naga’s words was far from rational.

(Not for defending the black forest nor driving away the human army, he wants me to join him in……creating a new world? That man, is he sane?)

“Do you think these are nonsensical words coming from a lunatic? Or perhaps just a random dream of a man who came from another dimension and possesses no knowledge regarding this world?”

At this question, Vita lifted up her head and gazed at Ais in front of her. As she did so, their eyes met.

“…..Well, is this a joke, a dream, or maybe a realistic idea? I want to meet this man.”

Ais’ expression broke out into a smile.

“Yes, we too thought about having you meet and discuss things with Naga-san.”
“What’s the date for that?”
“Since it’s best to do it as soon as possible, how about tomorrow?”
“I don’t mind. And the place will be?”
“We shall visit you here.”
“Is that so? Then, tomorrow… that’s right, how about at noon?”
“Fine, then we would be happy to.”
“Yeah, I’ll be waiting for you.”

“Speaking of which” – Vita lowered her face and gazed toward Lela who sat next to Ais.

“Haven’t you been quite silent for a while, Lela?”
“That’s because I’m not that good in dealing with conversations.”
“Kukuku, is that so? Then, will you answer me this one question? How do you see that guy named Naga? Does he look like the Dragon King to you?”
“Not sure whether or not he’s the Dragon King, bu-t, at least I believe he isn’t someone from this world.”
“Fumu. I want to give that person some thorough questioni…no, I remember you mentioned about him losing his memories.”
“Y-es. But once he regains them, we plan to question him thoroughly about the world he came fro-m.”

Kukuku – Vita laughed pleasantly.

“It would be nice to see that man regain his memory, Lela.”
“Ye-s.”
“Excellent. Then, we will be waiting here for you tomorrow at noon, Ais.”
“We are looking forward to it.”

Soon after Ais bowed down, the interview concluded.

=== Part 4 ===

Leaving Vita’s place, Ais and Lela were on the way back to their fort.
Walking with their fast pace along a lane inside the thick forest, Ais called out to Lela.

“It went smoother than we had expected.”
“Tru-e. It seems that Vita-san took a liking to Naga-sa-n. What’s more, that woman is a witch who can understand the tru-th. Rather, among all the witches, she’s the one who possesses an eye to look towards the futu-re.”
“That’s right. She’s an ill-tempered, bigoted, and sarcastic person, but her ability to think and judge is pretty firm. In addition to that, the way she thinks is flexible.”
“Since we ain’t in the presence of that person, you can talk about what you want to your heart’s content, right Ai-s?”
“Of course you dummy. Isn’t it obvious to speak boldly about her when she isn’t around? Only complete fools would express what they think in front of the real person.”

Lela stared fixedly at Ais.

(It might be a sound argument, still…)

“But, I’m glad. I was worried about our encounter with Vita-san.”
“After all, we didn’t know what would have happene-d.”
“I worry that the talk between Vita-san and Naga-san won’t progress smoothly.”
“Why do you think s-o?”
“It feels like something is going to happen.”
“I se-e.”
“Providing Vita-san cooperates with us, we may be able to bring down Fort Ein.”

“I wonder about th-at. Won’t she get mad if Naga-san tells her about such a pipe drea-m?”
“Don’t fret. Surely, it should be okay.”
“You’re quite positive, aren’t yo-u?”

Fufu – At Lela’s retort, Ais laughed once she stopped walking and turned around.

“I have the feeling that something will happen. Look, til now, haven’t you felt at a loss, not knowing when things will start or end? But now, our vision is clear and our path has been revealed to us. Despite the other side looking dim, we can still see the future. This is how I feel.”

(It’s just as she says, bu-t….there’s no doubt about that small light of hope appearing for us, who were going down the path of destructio-n. Could it b-e….)

Lela recalled Naga’s words. About one victory being only the beginning of the next one, and about the war continuing from now on.
There may be a future of endless battles waiting ahead of the witches.
For the sake of the witches’ future, there might be those who will fight and fall.

(I wonder if everyone is aware of th-at)

Is what Lela felt a little anxious about.

When hope for the future is in sight, everyone will want to fight for it. Among the members of the Heindler Clan, who had been stagnant for a long time, a new, better life was born. Everyone’s faces were shining with newfound hope.

(This is certainly a sign of something good….I gue-ss. If this is a dream, then perhaps it would be nice for it to rema-in.)

Lela wanted to continue this dream, even if it was only for a short while.

(That’s because, I can sense a hope from watching this dre-am. For the time being, should I thank Naga-san for letting us see th-is drea-m?)

“Ara, isn’t it rare for Lela to be in good mood?”
“Eh? You think s-o?”
“That’s right. It’s not common to see you with such a happy face.”

Lela didn’t plan to change her expression, but Ais, who had sharp eyes, wouldn’t let that moment slip away. If she says so, then it’s certainly like that.

“Ais.”
“What?”
“What do you think about Naga-sa-n?”
“Eh? What are you asking all of a sudden? T-There’s no way for me to answer that straight away.”

Seeing how she flapped her hands with a blushing face, Lela again gazed fixedly at Ais.

“Uhm….that’s not what I mean. I wanted to ask whether you consider that person as the Dragon King or the messenger of the Dragon King, bu-t…..”

“Ahhh, t-that’s right. Umm……”

Ais, who stared a bit into space finally came back to herself and smiled.

“I don’t know.”
“I see.”
“But, isn’t it fine anyway?”
“I wonder if it’s really s-o.”
“That’s because whether or not that person is the Dragon King or the Dragon King’s messenger, the truth about him giving us a hope remains. Therefore, I have decided to follow that person.”
“I…..guess you’re righ-t.”

(Indeed, Ais is a strong girl.)

In this case, Lela didn’t mean Ais’ body, but her spirit.
The reason for that wasn’t merely because of Ais acting as a big sister or because of her terrific fighting strength resulting from the enhancement of her body, but her ability to brace everyone mentally. If Harrigan and Ais say they will follow Naga, then nobody among the members will oppose it.

(That’s right, even I…)

“Lela too is probably thinking that way?”

Since Ais said so while looking into her face, Lela unintentionally averted her eyes.
Lela who had difficulty with being honest then muttered:
“It’s just because I’m interested in that per-son.”

Is what she replied with.

“If that’s the case, we ought to at least follow Naga-san til he recovers his memory, right?”
“Tr-ue.”

Ais smiled sweetly and broadly.

“Let’s do our best.”
“Y,Yeah.”
“Well then, let’s return back quickly and arrange an interview for Naga-san and Vita-san.”

=== Part 5 ===

Being accompanied by Harrigan and Ais, Naga rode his horse through the black forest toward the fort in which Vita was awaiting them.

Naga was thankful that, since they had extra time today, no one had asked him to run. Even though he was riding on a horse, Naga was reluctant to dash with all its might inside the dim forest and along an unclear path.
Apart from the 2 previously mentioned witches, Lela and one more witch, named Langeais, who was previously entrusted with the 2nd fort, tagged along with them.
The four of them went on foot. However, even their walking speed was rather fast, therefore, not having to deliberately slow his horse down was a great relief for him.

Langeais, whom he met for the first time, seemed to be older than Yuuki and Lela, but a bit younger than Ais.
She had black hair, which was rare for the witches, and a cute face. Furthermore she seemed to be an emotionless and unsociable witch. For some reason, she also gave the impression that she was a foreign person.

(Speaking of which, she seems a bit melancholic. I wonder if it’s because of her black hair.)

While thinking so, Naga recalled the time when he greeted her.

{Are you Naga? My name is Langeais. Please treat me well from now on.}

She answered simply, and no matter what, would show almost no reaction afterwards, even if Naga was to start talking to her.

“This girl, could it be that she dislikes me?”

Naga asked Ais secretly, she replied.

“I don’t think that’s the case. Langeais, has been always like that. It would be fine to say she doesn’t hold any interest toward others?”

“Fuun.”

Why did they invite such a witch to participate in the discussion with Vita? – Despite these thoughts, Naga believed that Harrigan had her own ideas about that. However, since he wasn’t in the position where he could inquire excessively about her household’s matters, Naga decided not to ask any further.

(Anyway, having an interview with the witch who controls the household of Sraymeyer is our top priority. I’d rather have Langeais take an interest and somehow cooperate with us, but…)

Before the interview started, Naga had Harrigan tell him various things about Vita.
While managing the horse reins, he asked Harrigan to once again describe Vita.

=== Part 6 ===

According to Harrigan…

“She’s a biased, gaudy, haughty, uncooperative, self-righteous, and spiteful person who acts according to her own whims. She’s also much older than me.”
“She has no good points at all?”

As Naga retorted, Harrigan nodded seriously.

“Umu, she doesn’t possess any.”
“You’re not denying this?”
“That’s because I’m not very fond of Vita, you see?”
“She seems like a person that’s hard to please. Doesn’t it seem like it’ll be very difficult to convince her….?”
“Well, I wonder about that.”
“What do you mean?”
“Since she’s an eccentric person, maybe she will get along with an oddball like you.”
“Please stop that. I don’t think I’m that strange.”
“I’d say that being able to calmly respond to being called an oddball is what’s strange about you.”
“*hmmm*…is that so?”
“Judging from Ais’ talk with her, it appears that Vita has taken an interest in you, so you shouldn’t be driven away. The rest will be down to luck.”
“….I guess so. Speaking of which, what type of ability does Vita possess?”
“If I were to describe that woman’s magic with few words, perhaps that would be weight control….?”
“Weight control?”

For instance….- Harrigan gave an example to Naga who seemed confused and doubtful.

“If you mention her age or something similar like that, you will most likely worsen her mood.”
“Oi, it’s indeed an unpleasant example. By the way, I’m not that thick headed.”
“That’s why it was just an illustration. Listen to me before you talk back.”
“Y….yeah.”
“Before you realize it, your weight will double or triple, and you won’t be able to move your body.”
“Is that true?”
“It is. Back when I was small, I’d abuse and make the children of Sraymeyer’s household cry or something along those lines. With that ability of hers, she would hold me down by sealing off my movements and slap my ass…. ah….”
“Hohou.”

Naga grinned.

“Weren’t you quite a naughty kid back then?”

Harrigan’s hair rose into the air and took the form of a big mallet.

“Don’t you think it’s in both of our best interests to forget what I said just now?”
“G, Got it. I’ll forget about it thoroughly. I heard nothing in the first place.”
“Then, it’s fine.”

Once Harrigan’s hair relaxed, Naga exhaled a sigh of relief.

“Besides, I’m more interest in that weight control, you see. Will it work on anyone? Or on multiple enemies? Can it be applied everywhere?”
“Information about how strong one’s magic is, or its range and conditions of use, are all undisclosed, especially for those from other families. Therefore, I too, am not knowledgeable about her magic.”
“I see. So it’s about weight? Weight… weight, indeed.”

=== Part 7 ===

Naga made such a statement, however, at that time, he had a hunch it could be used in different ways. A detailed plan didn’t cross his mind, but Naga had the feeling it could be applied for another purpose.

(This is another reason that I have to be careful about bringing her to our side.)

As he was deep in thought, they had neared their destination before he realized it.

“Naga, we’ve arrived. The fort of Sraymeyer’s clan lies in front of us.”

As soon as Naga lifted his head, he understood the forest in front of him had ended.

(Well then, I wonder what kind of woman this witch Vita is.)

Naga trembled with excitement, feeling that this interview will influence their future.

=== Part 8 ===

“I see, so you’re the man who holds the name of the Dragon King in jest? Indeed, you seem to look odd.”

Immediately after facing each other inside the residential building of the fort, Vita uttered those words without letting them finish their greetings.
The girl, named Vita, sat on a folding stool on a raised step. Naga and the rest who were in front of her on the lower floor were given a row of folding stools.

(You as well. Should I say you are strange, or perhaps strange-looking? Are you supposed to be older than Harrigan with that childish body?)

Despite thinking so, Naga felt it was better not to touch that topic and instead asked.

“Do I really look that odd?”

He held himself back from being insulting, however the witches to the sides of Vita became agitated.

“You, how dare you speak to Mother with that tone!”
“Did that lowly human just say something that was supposed to ridicule Mother?”

After that, Vita quickly lifted up her hand and held back her daughters.

“Stop yapping so noisily. Are you both dogs? Be silent.”
“M, My apologies, Mother.”
“Well then, shall we introduce ourselves?”

As Vita stood and spoke, Naga got up from his stool.
She threw her chest out as if projecting her flat chest.

“My name is Vita Solskjaer Sraymeyer. I’m the head of Sraymeyer’s household”
“I’m…. ah, I’m currently called Naga.”
“What’s with that ‘currently’?”
“Forgive me. I think you’ve already heard about me, but I’ve lost my memories from before I fell into this world. The only thing I remember is my own name.”
“And that would the one….. called Naga?”

Fufun – As she laughed through her nose and sat, Naga and the rest reseated themselves as well.

“Then, Naga, it appears that the Heindler Household has gained victory over 2000 soldiers from Kasandora’s army thanks to your strategy, but is that true?”
“Saying that it was thanks to my strategy isn’t quite correct.”
“Hou? Then how did you win against their forces?”
“That’s because Harrigan and the rest followed my plan, you see.”

(Is he trying to emphasize his own achievement? Is he a confident person? Or perhaps just a self-conceited fool?)

is what Vita thought, however, she wouldn’t reveal that.

“Harrigan, aren’t you blessed with excellent daughters?”

What Vita uttered seemed to be sarcastic words toward Harrigan, but nevertheless, Harrigan couldn’t tell if they were sarcastic or not from her tone. The girls who sat next to Vita’s side made a dissatisfied expression.

“Then, Dragon King, what’s your business with us? I hope you didn’t come just to boast about your victory. What kind of talk do you wish to have with us?”
“Well, it’s true that I want to boast about myself some, but let’s leave that aside.”

Naga fixed his gaze on Vita as she came to grips with the man in front of her.

Vita noticed a strong will burned in his eyes. No element of anxiety, fear, or hesitation could be felt from them.

(This guy, despite being a human, doesn’t fear witches? What’s more, he’s surrounded by this many. No matter how well he’s acquainted with Harrigan and the rest, for him to be this bold….. Could this guy really be from another world…?)

Ignoring her unrestrained and possibly rather rude gaze, Naga spoke powerfully.

“So you said you’re Vita, right? The head of Sraymeyer’s household.”
“True.”
“Won’t you join together with us in making a new world where both the witches and humans can coexist, Vita-san?”

Fufun – Vita again laughed under her nose.

“I heard about it from Ais, who requested an audience with me the other day, but it’s quite an ambitious ideal of yours. No, rather than saying ‘ambitious’, shouldn’t I say ‘reckless’? It would be magnificent for such a world to exist, still, isn’t it just an impractical theory you came up with while sitting around? Just how on earth do you plan to carry out such a grand plan? Do you think it’ll happen once you’ve won a single war? If so, you’re just a simpleton.”

Listening to Vita’s tirade, Naga became both astonished and pleased at the same time. That’s because he once again understood the reason why people said Vita had an eye for predicting the future.

“That’s right, it’s just like you say. My aim isn’t just a half-hearted plan that will finish with a few victories, and I know that.”

At Naga’s reply, Vita became surprised.
(Is he trying to come up with an explanation after hearing what I just said?!)

“Then, what type of plan did you come up with for realizing this ideal of yours?”
“First, we are going to establish a country of witches in which I’m going to implement my ideals.”

Vita started to say something as she moved her lips; nevertheless, she made up her mind and didn’t say anything, then urged Naga to continue speaking while folding her hands.

“Once we establish the country and gain a proper populace, the extent of its territory will continue to increase. Obviously, this won’t be simple. We will have to fight many great battles. However, that’s a trivial matter as long as we are victorious. The real problem lies in increasing the population and the size of the territory. The witches will be the ones to control the populace, and our success will depend on whether or not they can govern them skillfully.”

(As long as we are victorious…. he says?)

Vita stared at Naga dumbfounded.

(The way he’s talking, it feels as though victory is something natural for him. Is this guy sane?)

Because even Vita looked surprised and bewildered, the other witches looked at Naga with ridicule, or to be more accurate – scornful eyes, rather than being amazed.
The only ones who thought what Naga said were obvious or reasonable, were the witches from Harrigan’s party.

(No, in the first place it’s strange for people to think that what he’s saying is obvious or easily achievable… Could it be that Harrigan and the rest were swept up in his grand ambition? Or maybe, they are all suffering from a fever?)

“Still, there’s no other option than to try and see how it will work. After all, it’s a plan of trial and error. However, since the witches have no experience governing a structure as big as a country, we will need human advisors at all costs, I think. As soon as we gain control over a human country, we should employ its officials and perhaps—-”
“No no, wait a moment.”

Unable to endure, Vita interrupted.

“What’s the matter?”
“Rather than saying ‘What’s the matter?’, shouldn’t you be saying ‘What should we do?’……..”

Vita closed her eyes rubbed her forehead with in circular motion using her thumb.

“Sorry for cutting you off, but there are few things I want to ask. Would you mind if I do so, Dragon King?”
“Fine. Ask me however much you want.”

Opening her eyes wide, she gazed at Naga and leaned in a bit.

“You talk about establishing a country of witches, but how do you plan to do so?”
“That’s easy. Just announcing that we have ‘established’ one is plenty.”
“Hu….huh?”
“It’s not like there’s a special requirement to make one. I think it’s fine to advance towards the human lands and declare that the witches have banded together to make a new world.”
“…..How will I benefit from that?”
“For the time being, there won’t be any benefit.”
“No benefit, you say…”

Vita made a miserable face.

“I think being able to continue to live in the future is a good enough reason.”
“Still, if we declare our intention to establish a new country, the humans will most likely become more cautious.”
“Well, it might be so. However, that too is a trivial matter.”
“T-Trivial matter….”

(Just what’s going on inside this guy’s head?)

As one would expect, Vita was troubled and confused and was unable to consider his thoughts as logical.

“Anyway, it’s inevitable that we will need to capture the humans’ forts one by one. Even if we don’t announce our intentions to form a new country after we attack, they will still become more alert and cautious.”
“That may be true…. nonetheless…”
“What’s more, if you increase your territory and your dominion, rather than being cautious, every human country will probably band together against us.”
“And if we continue to win?”

“It can’t be said for certain that we can continue to win, but assuming we strive to win with everyone’s strength, we’ll probably be able to cut our way through sooner or later.”

(Is he a realist with high calculating skills, or an idealist who’s unaware of the current state? Perhaps, he’s just a foolish optimist? The more I listen to him, the less I can understand.)

“What’s the matter? Isn’t that grimace spoiling your lovely face?”
“Mu…. looks like you’ve got quite a discerning eye there.”

(Mother?)
(Lovely?)
(That guy, as I expected, he has a few screws loose, doesn’t he?)

Once Vita stared at her witches, who whispered things like that to each other, the place immediately turned silent.

“Do you have any other questions, Vita-san?”
“A, ah, right.”

Pulling herself together, Vita again faced Naga.

“It’s about increasing the territory and the number of people inside the established country. Once the declaration is made, do you plan to inhabit the forest by bringing the humans? Or perhaps, by taking them as prisoners of wars?”
“Let’s see, let’s see.”

Naga tilted his head from side to side in contemplation.

“Even if we are to make a country here inside the forest, it won’t be possible for us to expand it. Isn’t there a habitable place for the humans in the steep mountain district behind us?”
“You’ve got a point. Then, where would you suggest we make it?”
“I wonder if we should choose an area on the border of the Kasandora Kingdom.”
“W-What?!”

As one would expect, not even Vita could avoid being taken aback. The girls who sat next to her also had speechless and stunned faces.

“Why are you that surprised? After all, we are supposed to create a new world for both sides. Unless we go to the human world and defeat them there, the goal will be far from reach. First, we need to get ahold of an area along the border, form it into a country, raise the population, and establish a good administration.”
“G….Good administration, you say?”
“Right. After we do so, we will create publicity by telling the humans to spread a rumor about this country being a place where both humans and the witches can live in harmony.”
“Will that change anything?”
“In the future, it will be easier for us to gain control over other countries when conquering them. Even if they are occupied by our witch country, there’s no reason for their citizens to be slaughtered or enslaved. Rather, if we have everyone think that they can live more peacefully than before, capturing a castle will be an easy thing. There might even be cities that will open their gates for us. Not to mention, it will be easier for us to rule as an occupying power. Aren’t there nothing but benefits?”

Vita’s body was flooded with astonishment and felt numb.

(T-This guy, could it be that he’s an absurd realist while being a ridiculous idealist at the same time?)

“To be more accurate….What I mean to say is it’s hard for me to complain about this and that since I’m not yet too knowledgeable about how the governing structure works in this world. But, assuming it’s natural to impose lighter taxes on citizens, perhaps we should start to work on abolishment of checking stations, stopping the collection of tolls, arranging main roads and extending their width, or suspending bridges over rivers.”

(There’s no doubt. This guy can keep his feet on the ground, even while looking into the distant future. He’s a fearsome realist. At least, there should be nobody in this world who can come up with such reasoning. Even those small, influential feudal lords should, at least, be able to figure out that paving roads and erecting bridges will make it easier for them to attack, but at the same time leaves them open to invasion.)

As she suddenly lifted up her face, her eyes met with those of Harrigan.

(What do you think? Isn’t he an interesting fellow?)

Vita felt as if Harrigan’s eyes were telling her so.

(Fun, he’s indeed a compelling man. However, just because he’s compelling, it doesn’t mean I’ll expose my daughters to danger.)

Both Harrigan and Vita exchanged glances.

“By the way, Dragon King, it appears you plan to take over the Kasandora Kingdom and establish a country there, but, how do you plan to do so? There are just 20-30 people in Harrigan’s household, and the same goes for my family. Provided we temporarily lent you a hand, you’d be able to mobilize at most 40-50 people, right? How do you intend to gain control over the Kingdom?”

“Regarding that, we are going to do it using straightforward methods. In other words, by capturing castles one by one. In this world, castles and cities seem to bear the same meaning. If I were to say if it will be fast, it will be fast. Will it be difficult? It will be difficult. Well, still, it depends on how quick we progress.”
“That’s easy for you to say. There are more than a thousand guards and probably many thousands of other citizens who can arm themselves to protect each city. How are the 50 people we have supposed to capture it?”
“Perhaps it would be impossible under normal circumstances, but, if it’s us, especially you, then it should be feasible. That’s because you’re witches who possess special abilities.”
“Then, then how?”
“Since it’s difficult for us to bring down a city all of sudden, I think we should first practice on Fort Ein.”

“Saying that this and that is simple. Whenever I hear your talking, I get the feeling there’s nothing that you think is impossible.”
“Right?”
“It was supposed to be sarcastic!”

Vita retorted, then pulled herself together and continued to speak.

“Indeed, rather than bringing down a city, it might be easier for us to capture a fort. Still, with 40-50 of us, I think the task is next to impossible.”
“I’m aware it won’t be easy, but I don’t consider it to be that hard.”

Despite having just recovered from her surprise, Vita couldn’t help but to feel increasingly astonished.

“Not hard?! You sure are confident.”
“However, there’s a ‘but’. In order to do so, I need your cooperation.”
“Hohou? So are you saying it’s only doable with our power?”

As Vita questioned without replying to him, Naga gave a seemingly unrelated question.

“Vita-san, it’s true that you can control weight using your magic, correct?”
“Ah? Ahh, so you heard about it from Harrigan? True, you can consider it that way.”
“That ability of yours, won’t you show it to me? While we are at it, how about you try it out on me?”
“Oi, Naga, don’t do anything reckless.”

As Harrigan tried to stop him,

“Silence, you titty monster.”
“I-I’m not a titty monster, you flat, little girl.”

(Uwaa, it’s started～)

Ais and Lela made a sour face.

(I was wondering if it would be fine, since Ane-sama has been quite obedient today, but…)
(Well, I guess she has been enduring pretty we-ll)

Good grief – The witches next to Vita shook their head and sighed in agreement.

“Isn’t your overweight chest the reason you stagger when walking?”
“Even if you were to be unable to control weight, your body seems small and light enough to float, doesn’t it? That’s because your lack of chest makes your body light.”
“Harrigan, you rascal, it appears you’ve become quite big-mouthed toward me. Even though I used to be in charge of changing your diapers whenever you would piss your pants.”

As soon as Naga directed his sight toward Harrigan, whose face turned red, she snapped and pointed at Vita.

“That was back when I was still a baby!”
“Don’t you understand? This is the difference between you and me.”

Don!

The room swayed and its construction groaned.

“Nuoooh.”

Before Naga realized it, he was lying on the floor.

=== Part 9 ===

“W….What’s happening……?”

Naga, who tumbled to the floor, tried to lift himself up by putting his strength into his limbs, nevertheless, his body didn’t move as he wished.

“W….What’s the meaning of this….oh, that’s right, is this your magic?”

Once he desperately turned his head around and checked the surroundings, everyone from the Harrigan and Sraymeyer’s households were crawling on the floor.
The only one to be standing was Vita herself.

“True. This is my magic. People call it ‘Song of Gravity’. How’s that? You probably can’t move.”
“I…I cannot move.”
“Mother, please….keep your power… down.”

One of Sraymeyer’s witches said it as if being in pain.

(Speaking of which….why is she repressing her own members…hey, that’s right!)

“Oi….Vita-san…..”
“Hou? You’re still able to talk? Certainly, you’re a big deal. Then, what do you want to know, Dragon King?”
“Y….Your power isn’t working just on a specific person…..but equally on everyone within its range…..right? You cannot choose….your target….on your own…right?”
“Hohou, so you were able to figure it out with a single look?”

(Despite him probably being in agony, he’s got a good discerning eye)

“It’s just as you say, but,”

Her power which suppressed Naga suddenly loosened up….or rather, wouldn’t it be more accurate to say his body became lighter?

(Did my body get lighter? It may be that it just returned back to its normal weight, but…)
Those who regained their movements squirmed with their body while trying to lift themselves up.
Suddenly, Vita jumped up lightly. Dancing high in the sky with no resistance, she landed calmly and gently in front of Naga.

“I can do things like this too, but well,”

Once she said so, Vita placed her hand on his head.

“Guhaaa.”

Naga gasped as if all the air in his lungs had been shot out and lay on his belly on the floor.
His limbs wouldn’t move even if he tried, and his organs felt oppressed, like they were being squashed.

(This is….There’s no way for my muscles…to move. As one would expect, it’s the result of my body turning heavier.)

Naga recalled the miserable appearance of a frog squashed on a roadside that he had once witnessed.

(Hey, it isn’t time for remembering that…..if you have time for that……think of something more useful….!)[talking to himself]

“Gueeh.”

Not being able to endure, Naga leaked such a groan.

“How about that? I can also aim for specific people?”

With the weight of his body alleviating a bit, Naga somehow managed to raise up his head and looked around him. The other witches were lifting their bodies and standing up with confidence.

His eyes met with Harrigan who seemed to be worried about him.
Sorry – She put up her right hand and bowed down as if saying so.

“…No wait. Why are you placing your hand on my head? Could it be that you need to touch your target in order to mark it with your power?”
“Uhahahaha.”

Vita suddenly burst out in laughter.

Withdrawing her hand, she turned on her heels while laughing.

(….I can move! Speaking of which, my body returned to its original weight. Then, it means I was right.)

Naga raised his head and stared at her back.
Vita, who returned to her stool, turned her expression back to a serious one after she stopped laughing.
“You’ve caught my eye, Dragon King-dono. Hey, don’t just lie there, stand up.”
“Y…Yeah”

Naga lifted his body, which had returned to its original weight.

“Hm? Harrigan, are you able to stand up with that heavy pair of breasts? If so, wouldn’t it be fine for me to caress and lighten that unreasonably large chest for you?”
“It would be too much of a favor!”

Harrigan had been watching attentively and anxiously, the exchange between Naga and Vita, before she sprang up.

“Despite that, Harrigan, you came to me in order to ask for a favor, didn’t you? Not to mention, I’m your great benefactor, right? Then shouldn’t you be more prudent in your actions? Hm?”
“…….T-That’s….”

Harrigan, who was searching for the right words, finally hung down her head in disappointment.

“I am sorry.”
“No Harrigan, you don’t have to go that far.”

At Naga’s words, Vita ogled him.

“Should I understand that you don’t need my support, Dragon King?”

“No that’s not what I mean” – Sitting on the floor, Naga waved his hand.

“Your assistance is indispensable for us. I’m more and more interested in your power now that I’ve just witnessed it. However, you see, it’s not like we are here just to beg you for help.”
“…Then, for what other purpose?”
“I’ve already told you, but we want to create a new world together with you. That means, we are going to cooperate with each other on equal terms. It’s not the matter of who’s more superior or inferior nor does it matter who’s the one making the request.”

Naga, who said so, stood up and folded his hands in front of his chest. Striking a daunting pose, he gazed at Vita.

“I’ll repeat it one more time, Vita-san. Won’t you join us in making a new world where both the humans and the witches can coexist with each other in peace? This is the only way to create a bright future for the witches.”
“The only way.”

A spark rose in the air as their sights collided with each other’s.

=== Part 10 ===

The witches from Sraymeyer’s household whispered to each other while making troubled faces.

(T, This guy, despite him knowing how fearsome Mother is, he still has the guts to talk back.)
(He will be definitely killed by Mother.)
(Even if he’s together with Harrigan & the rest, he won’t be able to escape from Mother’s spell.)
(Since it seems our side here will be involved as well, I’d rather have him pardon us.)
(He’s, indeed, a bothersome man.)

And then,

“A—hahahaha.”

Because Vita abruptly started to laugh, her daughters tilted with their heads unintentionally.
Continuing her burst of laughter for a while, she finally ceased to laugh.

“I like you. I really like you, Dragon King-dono.”

Rising up, she stared again at him.

“Despite suffering from my magic, you were still able to calmly judge your surroundings and see through the nature of my ability. It was a splendid work, but what fascinates me the most is how you can grasp and calculate the situation without losing your composure.”

While the members of Sraymeyer’s household were taken aback, Harrigan put her hand on her chest with relief.

(It seems we were able to please her.)
(As one would expect from Naga-san.)
(It’s because he possesses a strange talent for captivating his listene-rs.)

Harrigan, Ais, and Lela thought about that; however, Langeais:

(I’ve heard rumors about him, but he’s even stranger than the rumors say.)

Such was her personal evaluation.

Descending the steps, Vita once again walked in front of Naga.

“Since you’re saying ‘on equal terms’, there’s no way for just me to be in a high position.”
“Oh? Then, it’s fine to consider our request as being accepted?”

Vita, who stood in front of his eyes, looked up at him without replying back. Naturally, it would make him look down from above.

“Even though I said so, there’s a difference between our heights. This fact doesn’t make me keen on working with you on equal terms. Oi, Elysio.”
“Yes, Mother?”
“Bring me a stepladder or anything similar.”
“Yes, right away.”

Elysione waved her long mantle, ran away, and immediately returned back.
Once she placed a small box-like thing under Vita’s feet, Vita stepped on it. However, the top of her head could still only reach Naga’s shoulders.

*Whack*

The soles of Vita’s feet sunk into Elysione’s face, blowing her backwards.

“As always you’re one useless girl, you rascal. Are we supposed to be on equal terms like that?!”
“M, My apphologies”

Elysione held her nose and stood up, then tried to bring another stepladder-like thing once again.

“That’s fine, you don’t have to. Become my stepladder instead, you rascal.”
“E….Eh…?”

Elysione warped her face miserably.

“Do you have any complaints?”
“……None.”
“Then come here quickly.”
“Uuuuu.”

Elysione dashed with a tearful face and crept on all fours in front of Vita.

“O, Oi, Vita-san….”
“Ahh, do not mind, Dragon King. That’s because this is a ceremony where we need to be on equal positions in order to join our hands.”

Saying so, Vita tried to step on Elysione’s back with her right leg.

“Yea, I got that, I got that. By the way, I’m still not familiar with your customs, but if you say we need to be on the same height to form an alliance, I can just lower myself.”
“Hohou. Are you raising an objection against what I do?”

Vita stared at him; nevertheless, Naga didn’t pay attention to that.

“For now, I’m probably your guest. You shouldn’t make your daughters that uncouth in front of your guests.”

Elysione, who was on her hands and feet, looked up at Naga with a strange expression.

“Fuumu. Unlike your appearance, you seem to be quite good at being considerate.”
“There’s probably nothing wrong about my appearance. From the way it looks, I’m most likely a gentle and considerate person!”
“Where do you see that?”
“……Then, what am I in your eyes?”
“That’s right. A careless, reckless, unrefined…. pervert?”

Because Harrigan, Ais, and Lela nodded deeply in agreement, Naga snapped and pointed at three of them.

“Hey there! Don’t nod at the same time!”
“Kukuku, it appears my judgement was no mistake.”
“Nono, it’s full of mistakes. Speaking of which, don’t you all have a negative opinion about me?”
“Won’t you start showing us your good side? Since we’ll be fighting together as allies from now on, there will be plenty of opportunities for that.”

Naga couldn’t help but drop his head with a dissatisfied face.

“Well, I guess you’ve got a point.”
“Hey, Elysio, you can stand up now.”
“U, Um, am I really allowed to do so?”
“It’s for making Dragon King look good. If you want to express your gratitude, say it to this man.”

Elysione stood up and bowed down deeply toward Naga.

“I’m thankful for your consideration.”
“Yeah, it’s fine, it’s fine. Don’t mind.”
“Even though I thanked you, I don’t particularly mind.”

Once she said it bluntly after raising her head, Naga made a pitiful expression.

“Yeah, you’re right. Well, guess that’s fine, so”

As soon as Naga faced toward Vita, he kneeled down on one knee and lowered his back. With that, the height of their heads turned equal.
She held out her hand.

Hm? – As he made a doubtful face, Vita too became suspicious and withdrew her hand.

“Ah, that’s right, didn’t the Dragon King fall from another world…?”

Vita who muttered shifted her eyes toward Harrigan.

“You still haven’t told him about that?”
“Ah, true, I still haven’t.”

What you talking about? – Naga looked at them alternately.

“In other words, you see,”

Vita again stuck out her palm.

“Putting our palms on top of one another’s is the sign of forming an agreement.”
“I see, so this is how it works here?”

(I wonder how it would be done in my world. I have the feeling it would be something like putting a seal of blood on a document, or passing someone on as a hostage. Nevertheless, a traitor is bound to betray others, I guess. Anyway, if it’s about the form of agreement, this method here is far more convenient.)

Naga tried to recall his past events.

Making an obviously sarcastic smile, Naga tightened his face in a hurry.

Hey, stick it out – As if being in a rush, Vita urged him to place his already spread out right palm on hers.

“With this, we are now formally allies, the so called – alliance treaty. It’s fine for you to call me Vita.”

Vita uttered with satisfaction.

However, Naga stared at their palms seriously.

“What? Is there something you’re not content with?”
“No… I just thought your palm looks cute.”
“Wha?!”

“Your appearance is also cute, but your small palm is soft and lovely as well. Yet you’re telling me you’re older than Harrigan, I can’t believe it.”

(Ah, are you a fool? If you touch upon Mother’s age….)

Elysione averted her eyes while imagining Vita bursting in rage.

(She’s going to get angry! Very angry!)

“Fumu. Naga is indeed quite an honest guy.”

(Eh? She isn’t angry? Rather, she seems to be in a good mood?)

Elysione turned back her face with a surprised expression.

Certainly, it looked like Vita was laughing humorously.

Elysione felt that Harrigan had a discontented face, but she touched her chest in relief at the fact that Vita didn’t get mad at Naga’s unreasonable words.

“I’m honestly not sure how should I say it, but you and Harrigan probably look like parent and daughter.”
“Haahaha, you mean so, you mean so? Parent and daughter? Then shall I refer to Harrigan as Mother from now on?”

Harrigan’s face turned much more displeased.

“When it comes to that, wouldn’t Harrigan be the mother of Elysione’s mother, in other words, her grandma?”

*Startle*

Elysione’s body turned stiff.

“Hey, Elysione, how about you call Harrigan grandmother?”
“Eeeh? N,n,n,n,no, no, um…”

Harrigan’s hair squirmed in the air, which was greatly ominous.
Once her eyes met with Harrigan, who was staring fixedly at her, Elysione felt her body tremble.

If you dare to call me grandmother, I’ll pulverize all your bones.

Harrigan’s eyes seemed to say.

However,

“Hey, what’s the matter? Won’t you quickly call her ‘grandmother’?”

Was Vita in a good, or perhaps a bad mood? She said an unreasonable thing with her usual manner.

And then, getting herself dragged into quarrel was the same as usual for Elysione.
Elysione searched for an escape in the surroundings with bloodshot eyes, but she understood there wasn’t one from the very beginning.

The other witches averted their eyes and looked at the ceiling as if telling her not to come over, there was no courageous person who would try to save her.

Ais and Lela looked at each other with a trouble face, whereas, Langeais wasn’t concerned about it.

Harrigan’s eyebrows twitched upward more and more.

“Ha….hahaha….”

Putting a stiff smile on her face, Elysione wondered whether it would be more painful to die from getting punched by Harrigan’s solid hair or squashed by Vita’s magic….such was her thought. Then, a rescue came from an unpredicted place.

Naga stood up and called out.

“Oi, Vita-san.”
“That’s why I told you it’s fine to call me Vita.”
“Then, Vita.”
“What?”
“Don’t pick on your own daughter like that.”
“Mu?”
“And Harrigan too.”
“W, What?”
“Your expression looks scary.”
“Hnn?”

Harrigan covered her face in a hurry with both her hands.

“Starting from today, we’re going to be allies, so get along with each other.”
“Mu…true. I’m of the same opinion.”
“A, Ahh, I’ve no objections….”

Despite saying so, both of them couldn’t hide their blatantly dissatisfied faces and attitude, but Naga didn’t care about that.

Hey hey – He called Harrigan.

“It won’t do if it’s just me and Vita. Harrigan and Vita as well, unless you two show that you approve of the alliance, it will be hard to demonstrate that to your daughters.”
“Mu? Still…”
“No, that’s……”

As they both had sullen faces and didn’t feel inclined to reach out their hands, Naga stretched out his arms horizontally and kneeled on his knee once more time.

“Hey, Vita this way, then Harrigan, this way.”
“W-What do you intend to do?”
“That’s why, if you dislike putting your palms on top of each other’s, just place them each on mine at the same time. At this rate, it will make me some sort of a mediary…. but, with this, we should be able to form an alliance between both households.”
“O…Oh, indeed, that’s true.”
“Right, if that’s the case…”

Saying so, Vita placed her right palm on Naga’s left and Harrigan placed her left on Naga’s right.

“Excellent, with this, the alliance between the households of Sraymeyer and Haindora is formed. From now on you will be fighting together as allies…. Isn’t it nice, Vita, Harrigan?”
“U, Umu, that’s right.”
“Well, so it came to that, I guess.”
“Splendid!”

Naga, who said so, took his arms back and stood up.

“It might be sudden, but Vita,”
“What?”
“There’s something I’d like for you to tell me.”
“Is it about my magic?”
“Yes. Your ability will be the key for capturing Fort Ein.”
“Using my ability for capturing Fort Ein… you say? Fufun, interesting. Then, should we hold a strategic meeting and get dressed up?”
[[File:Naga03 Illus-02.jpg|200px|thumbnail|right]]
Once Vita moved her sight toward Elysione, who restrained herself in a kneeling position, Elysione trembled in fear.

“How long do you plan on sitting there, Elysio. Go and prepare seats for the meeting. But this time, use the nicer ones.”
“Y,Yes, Mother.”

It looked as though the storm passed Elysione without hitting her. Standing up, she bowed down toward Naga.

=== Part 11 ===

Everyone sat on the folding stools placed in a circle.
On the right side of the circle, there were Naga, Harrigan, Ais, Lela, and Langeais taking up their position, whereas, on the left side, Elysione, and then witches whose names were Nemumone, Dora, and Karamaya sat behind Vita.

Summing up, there were 10 people together, discussing the plan to capture Fort Ein.

“First, we’d like to know more about Vita’s ability to control weight.”

is how Naga started the discussion.

“Primarily, I don’t tell that to other clans, but well, fine by me.
To begin with, it’s not like I didn’t anticipate we would have to get along with Harrigan and the rest. Not to mention, we are going to be allies starting from today.”

After a short introduction, Vita explained her magic.
Listening to her talk, Naga tried to sort the facts inside his head.

“In other words, it can be summarized like so:

・The effect of her magic will work on those inside a specific range, with her being in the center.
・The range can be adjusted to a certain degree by Vita using her magic.
・Once the magic is activated, the range cannot be changed. In order to do that, she needs to cancel it first.
・The magic can be used to either increase or decrease the weight of a target.
・However, when it works in an area of effect equally on every target, she cannot aim for specific people.
・In case Vita wants her magic to work on a specific person, she has to touch that person.
・If there’s a short distance between her and the target, the magic will still continue to work.
・The magic will work well on living things, but poorly on inanimate objects.
・She can control her own weight at will.

Is it okay to understand your magic this way?”
“Hohou, you understand it quite easily, don’t you?”

(No, that’s mainly because of your indirect explanation.)

“Is there something you want to say?”
“No, nothing.”
“Fumu, that’s right, it’s fine if you understand it like that.”
“Is that so? Then, we might be able to use it.”
“That’s why, I’m asking you for what.”
“Basically, you will sneak into Fort Ein and activate your spell there. Once you do so, not a single guard will be able to move, right? Well, it will also depend on how wide the fort is, but…”
“Oooh!”
“What a plan!”
“Exactly!”

Voices of admiration were heard from here and there.

“Even without sneaking in, we can place you just before the fort’s walls and immobilize the guardians inside. By doing that, all our members can enter confidently without worrying about the enemy’s attack. Later, I’d like to steal the fort without sustaining any injuries, so if it’s this method, there should be no casualties on either side.”
“I, I see.”
“What a fearsome resourcefulness.”
“As one would expect, you aren’t the Dragon King for no reason.”

Such things were said among the Sraymeyer witches who were full of admiration.

“Wait a moment, Naga-sa-n.”

Lela lifted up her hand.

“Certainly, I think that method should work if you put Vita-san inside the fort, or perhaps, near the fort. Still, how do you plan to do that while being unnotic-ed?”
“Ah!”

Elysione and the rest looked at each other’s faces.

“True, herein lies the problem.”

Naga said while scratching his head.

“Did you not think about that?”

Harrigan retorted.

“It’s not just that. There are various other problems to consider. Rather, aren’t there too many of them?”

Vita took a glimpse at Naga.

“Yeah, that’s right. I know there are lots of things that need to be solved.”
“Hearing that from you, it makes me a bit anxious.”
“Um, Mother.”
“What, Elysio?”
“If it’s about hiding Mother inside the fort, then I can help.”

Hearing her words, Naga reacted.

“What do you mean?”
“This girl, you see, Elysio can move between the space where her mantle was previously put… things like that.”
“What on… so there was such a convenient magic? You’re incredible indeed.”

As soon she was given words of praise, Elysione’s face turned a bit red.

“Ah, no, it’s not something I should be praised, for……”
“Ain’t you praising her too much, Naga? This girl tends to get carried away quickly.”

Elysione dropped her shoulders in disappointment.

“Isn’t that fine? You ought to admit that something is incredible whenever there are things like that.”
“Well, I’m ready to accept that about her magic, but it’s not like her power is almighty or anything.”
“Ah… is that so?”
“Right, Elysio can fly to places where she prepared mantles. In other words, she can only fly to those places.”
“Ah, so it was like that?”

Hmm – As if understanding each other’s words, Naga and Vita slightly groaned.

“Still, there’s the problem of how we should place the mantle inside or near the fort, right?”
“Indeed. Once it’s done, we will be able to travel easily. Is there any idea that crosses your mind?”
“No, I can’t think of anything out of the blue.”

Vita looked at him with cold eyes.

“It’s no good when it comes to important points? Guess you ain’t that great, Dragon King.”
“Don’t say it like that. I’ve only received the explanation about your magic just now, so there’s no way for me to come up with something that easily.”
“Well, you’re right about that.”
“Uhm, Mother.”
“What, Elysio?”
“You’ve mentioned it before, but what kind of other problems will there be besides this one?”

Since Nemonumo, Dora, and Karaimaya nodded as well, it was clear they had no clue, just like Elysione.

“You girls are truly simpletons.”

Vita exhaled a blunt sigh.

“Naga, you can probably understand it, right?”
“It’s still not clear what we are going to do after the enemy soldiers are restricted with your magic, right?”
“A….Ah!”

Elysione clapped her hands together.

“Mu, indeed it’s as you say.”

Harrigan too nodded down.

“I want to apprehend the enemy soldiers when they are unable to move, but the moment we enter inside the fort, we will also be seized by Vita’s magic.”

Naga shifted his sight toward her.

“What should we do?”
“Don’t ask me about that.”
“No, that’s why I was thinking if there’s anyone among your people who can move when your power is in effect.”
“There’s nobody. It’s because my magic is the strongest and so I can’t choose the target. Be it humans, witches, enemies, or allies, everyone is influenced. Uhahaha, are you giving up now?”
“E…Even though it’s not the time for throwing out your chest.”

Naga put on a fed up face.

(To begin with, Mother doesn’t have any chest to throw out.)

“Elysioooooo, is there something you want to sayyyy?”

*Shivering*

Elysione shook her head from side to side with all her power.

“What’s more, there’s also the problem of choosing the right place to put the mantle, I guess.”

The moment Naga asked, Elysione braced herself and asked as if trying to escape from Vita’s sight.

“Naga-dono, what do you mean?”
“You see, with Vita’s magic centering around her, its effect will probably just cover a fixed range. Saying so, if we don’t place the mantle near the inside of the fort….no, wait. Rather, wouldn’t it be better to put it near the fort’s walls? Hm… I have to investigate the fort’s surroundings a little bit, or else…. As one would expect, I’d like to have more information on its territory.”

Naga, who folded his arms while pondering, immediately lifted his head.

“Whatever the case, the plan won’t succeed as long as the enemy spots the mantle. They might be suspicious of it, but even if they aren’t, they will probably consider it as garbage and tidy it up.”
“My mantle is…. garbage…”

Elysione looked down at her body with a face indicating her being in shock.
Because she appeared to be honestly shocked, Naga hurriedly made an excuse.

“Ah, no, I didn’t mean to say it’s dirty or anything in particular, you see?”
“Good grief. Wouldn’t it much better to destroy the fort? We already don’t use our own forts really, so their forts would also be useless, so destroying it would be almost the same as taking it.”

With Vita saying so, Harrigan continued.

“I agree with what Vita says. It’s probably the fastest way.”

However, Naga clearly denied that by shaking his head.

“In order for us to advance toward the Kasandora Kingdom, we need a military position at all cost. I want to capture the fort without sustaining any damage if possible. Not to mention, if we can’t take over a single fort, there’s no way for us to bring down a fortified city.”
“Well, I understand what you want to say.”

Vita shrugged with her shoulders.

“I’ll manage to come up with a method. Fret not, I’ll certainly do so.”

Naga remained positive til the end.

“You mean it? If it’s someone like you, who was able to play with an army of 2000, then perhaps you will. What’s more, do you expect anything from us, or is there anything else you need?”
“Needless to say, I need more information about the inside of the fort. Just knowing about its territory makes a huge difference in how hard the capture will be. Is there anyone in your group who can sneak inside?”

“If there was, we would probably be able to place the mantle.”
“Ah, that’s right!”

Holding his head, Naga looked up.

(Will this guy be okay?)

Vita gazed at Harrigan as if saying this.

Harrigan smiled clumsily.

“I, It will be fine… I believe.”

Is what she responded.

“I can’t really say it makes me feel at ease.”
“Vita, won’t you give me a single day?”

To Naga, who fixed his posture and made such a request, Vita nodded slightly.
“I don’t particularly mind.”
“I’ll come up with something no matter what, and return here the day after tomorrow.”
“Fumu, in that case, shall I also try to think of something?”
“You mean it? It feels reassuring to know that you guys will help.”
“No, the one to think will be me. That’s because…”

Vita jerked her chin and pointed at Elysione and the rest who were waiting.

“…they’re basically idiots who are bad at thinking.”

*heads dropping in disappointment*

Elysione and the rest hung down their heads in dismay.

“Rather, wouldn’t it be faster to have Lela assist?”
“I originally planned to have her help, but well…”
“If we gather both of our thoughts, we might be somehow able to find a key to our solution. At least, do your best. I’ll do mine as well.”

With that, Naga and the rest promised to meet once again the day after tomorrow and left the fort of Sraymeyer.

<noinclude>
==Translator's Notes and References==
<references/>

{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Prologue 2|Prologue 2]]
| Return to [[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 3 Chapter 2|Chapter2]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni

2016-04-05T22:20:54Z

Darkdhaos: /* Series Overview */

[[Category:Pending Authorisation]]
{{Teaser|English}}

[[File: Naga01_cover.jpg|286px|thumb|Volume 1 Cover]]

The light novel series Ochitekita Ryuuou (Naga) to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni (落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国) is written by Maisaka Kou and illustrated by Youta.

== Story Synopsis ==
In a world where witches are shunned and have been forced onto the brink of annihilation, a samurai with no memories is transported to the hideout of some of these witches. Having the name: "Dragon King" and a keen strategic mind, its up to him to help defend the witches from those that would seek them harm.(From Mangaupdates)

== Updates ==
*April 05, 2016 - Volume 2 Completed
*March 04, 2016 - Volume 1 Completed
*January 19, 2016 - Volume 1 Chapter 1 added
*May 18, 2015 - Volume 1 Prologues edited
*March 03, 2015 - Teaser page started

== Formalities ==

=== Registration ===
Those who wish to contribute are asked to notify the project manager beforehand.

Translators are asked to register which chapters they're working on.

::* [[Ochitekita Registration Page|Registration Page]]

=== Format Standards ===
Every chapter must after editing conform to the general format guidelines.

::* [[Format guideline|General Format/Style Guideline]]

===Changes to Page===
Please do not make any changes to this site without asking the project manager. There's specific code on this page, which can be harmed by your edits.
<br/>

==The ''Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni'' series by Maisaka Kou==
If you enjoyed the story, why don't you tell us in the [http://www.baka-tsuki.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=10533 Feedback Thread]?

<br /><br />
<div style="float: left; width:100%;">
<div style="float: left; margin: 5px 20px">
=== Volume 1 ([[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni:_Volume_1|Full Text]])===
<div style="float: left; width:380px;">
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Prologue 1|Prologue 1]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Prologue 2|Prologue 2]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Chapter 1|Chapter 1: The man who fell in the bathhouse]] [https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/chapter-1-the-man-who-fell-in-the-bath-house/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2: A battle of witches and humans]] [https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/chapter-2-the-battle-of-witches-and-humans-part-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Chapter 3|Chapter 3: 2nd Battle of the 1st fort]] [https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/ch-3-the-offence-and-defence-of-the-1st-fort-again-part1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Epilogue|Epilogue]] [https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/ochinaga-epilogue-1/ (Blog)]
</div>
<div style="float: left; width:200px;">
[[File: Naga01_cover.jpg|right|thumb|x200px|Volume 1]]
</div>
</div>
<div style="float: left; width:100%;">
<div style="float: left; margin: 5px 20px">

=== Volume 2 ([[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni:_Volume_2|Full Text]])===
<div style="float: left; width:380px;">
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Prologue 1|Prologue 1]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/vol-2-prologue-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Prologue 2|Prologue 2]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/vol-2-prologue-2/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Chapter 1|Chapter 1: The Night before the Battle ]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/vol-2-ch-1-pt-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Chapter 2|Chapter 2: Commence, the Opening of Hostilities ]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/vol-2-chapter-2/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Chapter 3|Chapter 3: The Second Step ]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/volume-2-chapter-3/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Chapter 4|Chapter 4: The Beginning and End of a Battle ]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/chapter-4-the-beginning-and-end-of-a-battle/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Epilogue 1|Epilogue 1]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/epilogue-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Epilogue 2|Epilogue 2]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/epilogue-2/ (Blog]
</div>
<div style="float: left; width:200px;">
[[File: Naga02_cover.jpg|right|thumb|x200px|Volume 2]]
</div>
</div>
<div style="float: left; width:100%;">
<div style="float: left; margin: 5px 20px">

== Project Staff ==
* Project Administrator: [[User:darkdhaos|Darkdhaos]]
* Project Manager: [[User:darkdhaos|Darkdhaos]]

=== Translators ===
===Active===
:*hachidori108 - [https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/ (Blog)]

=== Editors ===
:* [[User:Zexth|Zexth]]
:* [[User:darkdhaos|Darkdhaos]] (Translated Volume 1 Prologue)
:* [[User:Weslykan|Weslykan]]

== Series Overview ==
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国 (25 July 2012, ISBN 978-4-8401-4648-7)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国II (22 November 2012, ISBN 978-4-8401-4872-6)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国III (25 March 2013, ISBN 978-4-8401-5134-4)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国IV (23 August 2013, ISBN 978-4-8401-5281-5)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国V (24 January 2014, ISBN 978-4-04-066213-8)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国VI (21 November 2014, ISBN 978-4-04-066991-5)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国VII (24 April 2015, ISBN 978-4-04-067614-2)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国VIII (25 August 2015, ISBN 978-4-04-067746-0)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国IX (25 February 2016, ISBN 978-4-04-068111-5)

Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni

2016-04-05T22:15:23Z

Darkdhaos: /* Updates */

Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni

2016-04-05T22:13:54Z

Darkdhaos:

[[Category:Pending Authorisation]]
{{Teaser|English}}

[[File: Naga01_cover.jpg|286px|thumb|Volume 1 Cover]]

The light novel series Ochitekita Ryuuou (Naga) to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni (落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国) is written by Maisaka Kou and illustrated by Youta.

== Story Synopsis ==
In a world where witches are shunned and have been forced onto the brink of annihilation, a samurai with no memories is transported to the hideout of some of these witches. Having the name: "Dragon King" and a keen strategic mind, its up to him to help defend the witches from those that would seek them harm.(From Mangaupdates)

== Updates ==
*March 04, 2016 - Volume 1 Completed
*January 19, 2016 - Volume 1 Chapter 1 added
*May 18, 2015 - Volume 1 Prologues edited
*March 03, 2015 - Teaser page started

== Formalities ==

=== Registration ===
Those who wish to contribute are asked to notify the project manager beforehand.

Translators are asked to register which chapters they're working on.

::* [[Ochitekita Registration Page|Registration Page]]

=== Format Standards ===
Every chapter must after editing conform to the general format guidelines.

::* [[Format guideline|General Format/Style Guideline]]

===Changes to Page===
Please do not make any changes to this site without asking the project manager. There's specific code on this page, which can be harmed by your edits.
<br/>

==The ''Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni'' series by Maisaka Kou==
If you enjoyed the story, why don't you tell us in the [http://www.baka-tsuki.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=10533 Feedback Thread]?

<br /><br />
<div style="float: left; width:100%;">
<div style="float: left; margin: 5px 20px">
=== Volume 1 ([[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni:_Volume_1|Full Text]])===
<div style="float: left; width:380px;">
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Prologue 1|Prologue 1]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Prologue 2|Prologue 2]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Chapter 1|Chapter 1: The man who fell in the bathhouse]] [https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/chapter-1-the-man-who-fell-in-the-bath-house/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2: A battle of witches and humans]] [https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/chapter-2-the-battle-of-witches-and-humans-part-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Chapter 3|Chapter 3: 2nd Battle of the 1st fort]] [https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/ch-3-the-offence-and-defence-of-the-1st-fort-again-part1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Epilogue|Epilogue]] [https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/ochinaga-epilogue-1/ (Blog)]
</div>
<div style="float: left; width:200px;">
[[File: Naga01_cover.jpg|right|thumb|x200px|Volume 1]]
</div>
</div>
<div style="float: left; width:100%;">
<div style="float: left; margin: 5px 20px">

=== Volume 2 ([[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni:_Volume_2|Full Text]])===
<div style="float: left; width:380px;">
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Prologue 1|Prologue 1]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/vol-2-prologue-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Prologue 2|Prologue 2]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/vol-2-prologue-2/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Chapter 1|Chapter 1: The Night before the Battle ]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/vol-2-ch-1-pt-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Chapter 2|Chapter 2: Commence, the Opening of Hostilities ]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/vol-2-chapter-2/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Chapter 3|Chapter 3: The Second Step ]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/volume-2-chapter-3/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Chapter 4|Chapter 4: The Beginning and End of a Battle ]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/chapter-4-the-beginning-and-end-of-a-battle/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Epilogue 1|Epilogue 1]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/epilogue-1/ (Blog)]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 2 Epilogue 2|Epilogue 2]][https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/epilogue-2/ (Blog]
</div>
<div style="float: left; width:200px;">
[[File: Naga02_cover.jpg|right|thumb|x200px|Volume 2]]
</div>
</div>
<div style="float: left; width:100%;">
<div style="float: left; margin: 5px 20px">

== Project Staff ==
* Project Administrator: [[User:darkdhaos|Darkdhaos]]
* Project Manager: [[User:darkdhaos|Darkdhaos]]

=== Translators ===
===Active===
:*hachidori108 - [https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/ (Blog)]

=== Editors ===
:* [[User:Zexth|Zexth]]
:* [[User:darkdhaos|Darkdhaos]] (Translated Volume 1 Prologue)
:* [[User:Weslykan|Weslykan]]

== Series Overview ==
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国 (25 July 2012, ISBN 978-4-8401-4648-7)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国II (22 November 2012, ISBN 978-4-8401-4872-6)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国III (25 March 2013, ISBN 978-4-8401-5134-4)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国IV (23 August 2013, ISBN 978-4-8401-5281-5)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国V (24 January 2014, ISBN 978-4-04-066213-8)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国VI (21 November 2014, ISBN 978-4-04-066991-5)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国VII (24 April 2015, ISBN 978-4-04-067614-2)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国VIII (25 August 2015, ISBN 978-4-04-067746-0)

Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Chapter 1

2016-04-02T16:23:27Z

Darkdhaos:

== Chapter 1 ==

=== Part 1 ===

There was a group consisting solely of women, who lived inside the ‘black forest’ that extended till the remote borders.

People called them ‘witches’. In other words, they were beings with different abilities.

From the perspective of humans that believed in the one absolute god, who ruled over the overwhelming majority of people, it was clear that witches who worshipped the protection of hundreds of divine beings were heretics. For that reason the witches were detested and feared. While feeling fear toward the witches, they held feelings of envy and jealousy against those who possessed special abilities, unlike them.

Certainly, not being compatible with each other, they continued to fight each for a long time.

Witches, who were once proud of numerous comrades, as well as holding the power capable to influence the world, were now declining in number. It seemed as though they were slowly walking along their path of destruction. While aware of their inferior position, they wouldn’t try looking for any fights. Nevertheless, were their territory to be invaded , they wouldn’t hesitate to fight, even if it meant for their household to decline.

Because the frequency in the resistance against witches lowered for a while, many of them could live peacefully in a place far away from the city. However, it was only temporary due to the conflict between fellow human countries that had increased.

Once the great war, which involved many countries and numerous lives concluded, their eyes would return to the witches. It was just the natural course of action for the statesmen of the countries, which surrounded the land of witches, to consider the extermination of them.

The surrounding countries were now preparing for the extermination of witches.

While the church, under the pretext of sweeping witches from this world, supported the assault on them by each country, they schemed the plan of assassination the leader of witches by sending assassins.

Despite such actions taking places, the conflict between vassals and feudal lords for authority wouldn’t cease.

There were often times when the conflict would grow on a national scale, resulting in a new war.

While the conflict between fellow humans continued, they would still manage to steadily reduce the territory of the witches.

Despite the witches having high combat abilities, it was next to impossible for them to battle against hundreds and thousands of deployed units. As a result, while killing a huge number of the enemy’s forces, they would end up carrying out a tactical retreat without gaining a victory.

In the end, the vicious cycle of hatred from humans continued together with losing territory and comrades..

Even now witches were followed by the chain of defeats.

It seemed as though, there was no peaceful place for them in this world.

=== Part 2 ===

There were several groups among witches.

If presently described, these groups were close to the concept of ‘a clan’ . Several of these clans gathered and formed a loose alliance, which was pointed out and referred by the humans as ‘the country of witches’.

There were no men among their clans, as it consisted only of women, who were born as witches with special abilities. Witches wouldn’t add anyone besides those they considered as witches. Therefore, it was also known as the country of women.

One of the witches, who was the leader of one of the clans, was Harrigan Halliway Haindora.

Her household built a residence deep inside the black forest.

Apart from Harrigan, there were several other clans of witches ,who settled inside the black forest, nevertheless, hers used to be an influential one.

That’s right, it ‘used to be’ influential.

Due to their topographical location, they would be the first to be on the frontline, resulting in the decline of her clan. And once it declined, it was inevitable for them to lose their authority as a result. Because of that, Harrigan deeply suffered that lost as the leader.

While worrying about the future of her family, she immersed herself inside the open air bath made from the welling hot spring, which was located in the hilly area, inside the forest.

The bath house was a simplistic wooden-made arbor-styled one built in the free area, which was cutting through the loosely sloping land made from the small hills.

In the center of the bath house, which was transparent from 3 sides, a long and narrow wooden-made bathtub was placed on the wooden floor. The hot water, which pumped from the gushing source nearby, filled the bathtub as usual.

Inside the bathtub filled with hot water, which gave out a little bit of sulphurous odour, laid Harrigan with her graceful limbs.

What attracted one’s attention from Harrigan’s body, which was nakedly submerged inside the tub, was her blueish-black long hair, her bulging chest, the tight waist and her big buttocks. Indeed, one could say it was the figure of a full-fledged woman. The sign of her femininity was also seen between her groins, which was thickly covered with black bush.

Harrigan, who remained submerged inside the bathtub, stretched her limbs, and let out a small sigh, which she could care less whether it was heard or not.

How should we reach an agreement with humans? Or should we completely abandon that idea? Harrigan thought about it. Nevertheless, however much she would ponder about that, there was no sign for the future prospects, nor any hope for a better future…

Should she just wait calmly for their slow annihilation?

Or should they die magnificently in an all-or-nothing war?

There seemed to be only these two choices.

Raising her head, Harrigan shifted her sight toward the other side.

On the one side of the bath house, there was a small undressing room, nevertheless, the three remaining were transparent with no walls, despite there being beams. Because of that, Harrigan was able to look out over the surrounding.

Looking down from the hill, there was a thickly green virgin forest, which was receiving the dazzling sunray of the early summer, extending beneath one’s eyes. On the other side, where the virgin forest, also called by people 'the black forest', ended, there was a stretched land inhabited by humans. The land ruled by humans was wide and in comparison with the one of witches, it had a larger population. In addition to that, the land governed by witches was gradually reducing together with their population.

(Whether we fight or not, is it extinction that await us? Or perhaps fate? If so, then fighting magnificently and vanishing in the same way should be a brief entertainment…no.)

Harrigan looked at the young witch next to her.

(Fighting recklessly will only result in the death of my daughters. It would still be better for me alone, but taking along these daughters, there’s no way for that.)

"Yuuki."

The girl, whose Harrigan voice reached, raised her head.

"What’s the matter, Harrigan-nee?"

Despit the girl calling her by ‘Sis’, they were not actual sisters. Following their customs, the young witches would call Harrigan, who was their leader, such as Ane-sama, Aneue, Nee. On the other hand, Harrigan would call the young witches, and at the same time the members of this household, as her daughters’ very often.

Harrigan beckoned the witch.

"Come, enter together with me."

The wooden-made bathtub was big, so even if both of them entered, it wouldn’t be that tight.

"Is it fine? It seemed like you were immersed in your thoughts, so won’t I become a bother?"

"That’s fine, that’s fine. Come"

"Well then, sorry for my rudeness."

The girl stood up, taking off her clothes and becoming nude.

Her pair of chest hills were neither small nor big, they were of the beautiful size and shape, suitable at her age. The tips of her breasts were of cute pink color, her shoulders width was narrow, her bottom’s overhang was a bit moderate, her groins area’s shade was dim. In contrast to Harrigan, she had more girlish figure.

What caught the attention was her long shining hair tied up into two ponytails. This too, was contrasting to Harrigan’s bluish black hair.

The girl named Yuuki stepped in with her leg without any restraint and sat in the corner.

"Don’t just sit there in the corner. Hey, come here."

Raising her upper body, Harrigan stretched out her right arm and reached Yuuki’s only to pull her toward herself. She followed straight away without showing any resistance

Making her sit inside the area of Harrigan’s stretched legs, Harrigan wrapped Yuuki’s two chest hills with both of her palms.

"Ha…Harri-nee…."

So as to check their softness, Harrigan moved her palms while kneading.

"No…sto…. ahn."

(I want to give these daughters a future. I want them to have hope. This is as well the part of my duty, me who is the head of this family. But, just what can I do…?)

While contemplating about that, she gently moved both of her palms.

Nevertheless, however hard she pondered, there was no idea, which would break in the deadlock, crossing her mind.

"Ha…Harri-nee…I can’t take it anymore… aah.."

Hm? Returning back to herself, Harrigan stopped her palms.

(Oops, being immersed in my thoughts, I began squeezing them too seriously.)

Having a red face, Yuuki, who felt her body had lost its strength, entrusted her back on Harrigan’s chest.

(Fumu. But, what should I do? I don’t want to sacrifice this cute daughters of mine, but…despite saying so, without fighting we will be eventually driven away from this place. Once this happens, we will go further into the depth of the forest, ending in the world of only humans. Wouldn’t that be the same as falling into ruin?)

Feeling Yuuki’s body on her chest, she looked up into the space with her thoughtful face.

Suddenly, the bath house shook.

The space distorted in a swaying manner.

"W, what’s happening!?"

Harrigan, who took back her face, looked at the sky through the transparent side of the building.

Before one could notice, the sky was covered with dark clouds.

(What’s going on!? Just a while ago, it was a clear blue sky expanding!)

Harrigan could sense that something unusual was happening. Nevertheless, she couldn’t tell what it was.

Suddenly the raindrops began to hit the roof of the bath house.

The falling rain, changed at once into a heavy rainfall, Thunders together with lightings were running through the sky, which was dim, like at the time of dusk.

"What’s this heavy downpour!? Doesn’t it feel as though the bottom of the heaven fell out? Just what an earth… don’t tell me that this could be the sign of the water dragon manifesting?"

Seeing the eerie sight, Harrigan’s body began to shake tremble as well. She could understand that Yuuki was shaking as well from her back.

Immediately after that, a voice was heard from somewhere.

"≠◇▼￡=★!?"

Even though there were only Yuuki and Harrigan, someone else’s voice was heard. Rather than hearing the voice, Harrigan wondered whether it was something echoing inside her mind. And then, it was the voice of a man. Saying that, it was none other that a human man in the vicinity.

(Impossible, this shouldn’t be even possible.)

Searching for the source of the voice, Harrigan run with her eyes in all the directions, however, she couldn’t find the figure nor feel its presence.

I was probably just seeing things – Harrigan nodded as if convincing herself.

So as not to let any stray people nor the spies enter the village and the fortification, or rather, the residing territory of the witches, a barrier was put around the village. Here as well, it should be not possible for any common person to break through the barrier and pass into their territory. In addition to that, by covering their presence it shouldn’t let anyone approach this close, not even one chance on ten thousand, but on a million chances.

However, there was a voice. certainly it was heard. It was neither mishearing nor one’s imagination.

They couldn’t understand the meaning of the words, nevertheless, it was a powerful and high voice,which reached their ears.

"There’s a m-man, a man. (trembled voice.)"

As the proof, Yuuki, the man-hater, lost her composure. Her sensitivity toward men is greater than anyone’s.

"Where, where is the man? (trembled)"

Standing up while being completely naked, she looked on her left and right, and again at her right, moving her body and neck hurriedly.

"Calm down Yuuki."

Despite Harrigan calling out to her, Yuuki turned around her eyes and revolved with her body.

(Good grief, as expected, Yuuki’s hate for men is endless.)

Looking up at the confused Yuuki, who was in front of her eyes, she smiled wryly.

"Still, the voice before, just what on earth was…."

Taking off the smile on her face Harrigan looked over one more time as if searching for something.

Suddenly a man descended from the sky.

Such way of saying wasn’t exact. More accurately, the man fell from the from the ceiling of the bath house.

The descended man dropped into the bathtub making the water splashed.

"What!?"

Harrigan opened widely her eyes.

The fallen man did the same.

"A man a man man a man."

Yuuki too, opened widely her eyes and froze.

Harrigan had her attention caught by the man.

[[Image:Naga01 002-003.jpg|175px|thumb]]

It was a young man, with an strange attire that she had never seen or heard of before.

The man looked up dumbfoundedly in the midair, soon coming back to himself. He moved his body timidly using his head.

Harrigan’s sight and the man’s met each other.

"Wh… who are you? From where and how did you manage to come here?"

"★◇?"

The man responded to Harrigan using some sort of language, nevertheless, she couldn’t understand anything.

(Hm? Could it be that my words doesn’t go through to him? These strange clothes, could he be a foreigner? If so, it doesn’t seem unreasonable, but…)
Regarding the unfamiliar clothes and language, if one were to think he’s a foreigner, one could only agree on that. Nevertheless, you couldn’t agree with the fact that someone appeared all of a sudden in a bath. There was no explanation for that.

As Harrigan observed him, the man raised his right hand and pointed at her.

"☆■▽×≠♀￡§★→∋"

Harrigan frowned her eyebrows.

(I don’t understand at all what he’s saying. At least, it doesn’t seem like he’s an assassin send to kill me by the church.)

Interpreting his words, the man said this

'''"Breasts! And they’re huge!"'''

Being completely soaked, the man sidled up to Harrigan.

"W, w, w, what are you doing!?"

Being overwhelmed by the man’s vigorous attitude and look, Harrigan tried to step back, nevertheless, the edge of the bathtub was in her way.

[[Image:Naga01 041.jpg|175px|thumb]]

The man extended his right hand and, grab! – He tightly grabbed her breast.

"Aah?"

'''"I’ve never seen such splendid pair of breasts!"'''

"Don’t grab them that forcefully!"

'''"What a size, what a smoothness, what an elasticity."'''

"H.. hey, don’t just aah… grab a person’s aah… breasts at your own convenience aah!"

Hearing Harrigan’s scream-like, angry-like, and yet charming voice, Yuuki, who was stiff from being dumbfounded, came back to herself.

"What’s the matter Harrigan-nee."

What entered her eyes, which looked down at her own feet, was a man with a mysterious hairstyle and wrapped in clothes that she had never seen before, using both of his hands to grab Harrigan’s voluptuous breasts. It was a dreadful scene.

"A man a man a man is groping H-Ha-Harri-nee’s br…!?"

Yuuki’s hair was squirming as its color became darker

"Hey Yuuki! Calm down!"

'''"Big breasts! Big breasts! Big breasts!"'''

"You too, calm down! And what are you trying to say!? Speaking of which, stop groping my breasts!"

"Kill, kill, kill, kill the man."

"Argh! I said calm down!"

Harrigan’s long and blueish black hair lifted in the air from the hot bath.

Harrigan’s hair, which became a thick bundle swung vigorously.

Whack.

Harrigan’s hair gave out a dull sound as it knocked Yuuki’s back of head. Her neck folded diagonally.

With her eyes turning white, the girl lost her consciousness and fell in a position, which resembled her upper body hooked on the edge of the bathtub.

'''"I’ll touch them, rub them, lick them, bury in them!"'''

"I don’t know what you’re saying, but you too calm down!"

Whaack!

Once again her bundled hair swung, hitting the man in the back of his head, from which the man’s eyes turned white. Its hardness was unbelievable for a hair..

Losing the power from his own body, the man released his hands from Harrigan’s chest and lost his consciousness while falling on the top of her body.

"Just what’s with this man?"

Harrigan muttered while gazing sternly at the exhausted young man with an unusual clothing and look, hanging on her body.

"I’ve never heard before the language that he speaks, I wonder if he’s a foreigner… whether that’s the case or not, nobody should be able of breaking through my barrier without me noticing it. There should be no one able to get this close without me noticing it. It would be a different case for a witch like me, but at least, not for any human living in this world. If so, does it means that this guy came form another world? So he’s not a foreigner, but rather someone from a different world?"

Harrigan shifted slightly her sight.

Next to the man, the eyes of the naked Yuuki turned white as she lost her consciousness.

(Good grief, I’ll leave the inquiry of this guy’s true identity for later. First, I’ll have to take care of Yuuki so that she doesn’t go berserk, as once she wakes up, she will try to kill this man. I don’t know who this guy is, so it’s more reason to not let Yuuki murder him. Assuming he’s really fell from another world….)

Once again Harrigan caught the man in her sight.

A man with a weird hairstyle.

A man wearing queer clothing.

A man, whose words are unfamiliar.

A man that suddenly fell from the sky.

(I wonder if he knows of any way to save us from our crisis.)

Harrigan stood up from the bathtub. The hot water, which covered her smooth skin, turned into droplets while slipping off.

Her eyes, which looked down at the man, stopped at his waist.

"This guy’s sword has a strange appearance, doesn’t it? Well, rather than the appearance, If he wakes up only to swing at us with that sword, it will be troublesome. Should I take it out?"

Bending her waist, Harigan reached her hand toward his left lower back.

"What? It’s inserted in just a sash? It’s quite a careless way of wearing a sword. But."

As Harrigan raised, she stared at the specialized weapon, which she took from the man’s waist.

"It’s slightly curved. Indeed, this isn’t a shape one would see in this vicinity. It’s even different from the scimitar used in the eastern part of this world. Interesting. Still, how do you pull this out? Could it be, like this?"

While Pulling out the man’s sword, Harrigan encountered some trouble.

"Its out."

She raised the blade, which was radiating in silver color, in front of her eyes.

"It’s quite heavy. The blade is too, thick. And it looks beautiful more than anything. It feels as though my sight is attracted by it…but, it isn’t the right moment to admire. I’ve to deal quickly with this guy and Yuuki."

Once Harrigan put back the sword into its scabbard, she placed it casually on the wooden floor. After that, she turned around and walked toward the exit to open the door.

Carrying a clothing basket, which was inside the small room, Harrigan returned to the bath house. Once she kneeled down and put the basket on the floor, she curled up the clothes inside the basket, so as to grab them.

Remaining in that posture, she used her index finger nail to cut a single string of her long hair.

As soon as she transferred her magic power into that string, it immediately became stiff and stretched straightforwardly.

Harrigan thrusted the clothes, which she held in her left hand, with the hair string that turned into a long needle. Once it pierced through, her clothes began to squirm like a living object.

Her wriggling clothes jumped off her hand and descended onto the bath floor, squirming while gradually changing its shape. Finally, it took the form of human.

"Your master Harrigan Halliway Haindora orders you. Go and call my daughters – Ais and Lela."

Her clothes, which took the shape of human, bowed down toward her, just like a human being. Then, it jumped out from the bath house.

=== Part 3 ===

"Ane-sama, it’s me Ais."

"It’s Le-la."

Guided by Harrigan clothes, the two young witches – Ais Aishuria Haindora and Lela Laylah Haindora, who run up the hill to arrive, bowed down toward Harrigan as she stood naked on the bath house floor.

The daughters of Harrigan, in order to show that they’re part of her clan, they have the same third name.

"What’s the matter?"

Putting a smile on her face, the witch with a large build asked.

"Sorry for calling you out deliberately. I need you to help."

"Yeah, don’t worry."

The two of them gave the impression of being around their mid-to-late teens.

The one with the large build and pleasant smile was Ais. In comparison with Lela, she was taller, and the parts which should come out on her body have a great volume. She gave the aura of a grow-up.

On the other hand, Leyla’s physique wasn’t much different from Yuuki….rather than that, the parts which should come out were less than Yuuki’s. After all, if truth be told, she was tiny breasted.

However, both Ais and Lela wore clothes which exposed lots of skin. In Lela’s case, she had some kind of short skirt made of countless amulets coiling around her waist which standed out.

[[Image:Naga01 047.jpg|175px|thumb]]

"I want you to carry Yuuki."

Harrigan sticked out her right index finger and pointed it toward her feet.

"Just what have Yuuki done again…"

While Making a wry smile, Ais moved her eyes outside the bathtub. Once she noticed that it wasn’t just Yuuki, her breath was taken away.

"Wait, is that a man?!"

Lela, who had the same expression until now, as well raised her eyebrows with a twitch.

"Could he be an assassin sent by the chu-rch?"

The hair of the two girls shaked because of the goosebumps.

"No, don’t panic. It’s nothing like that. Probably."

"…..Huh?"

Ais and Lela cocked their heads in puzzlement.

I think the novel says: Harrigan explained quickly all that happened until now.

"So something like that happened?"

Ais opened widely her eyes while looking at both the man and Harrigan.

On the other hand, the daughter named Lela didn’t seem to show any surprisement.

Speaking with a monotonous tone

– It’s hard to believe, but there’s no way for ane-sama to li-e. And it’s a fact that there’s a man lying down he-re. If so, I have no choice but to a-ccept it.

As if trying to convince herself, she murmured that.

Trying to calm herself down with a deep breath, Ais faced toward Harrigan.

"Then, what should we do, ane-sama?"

"In any case, we can only inquiry information from this guy. That’s why I called you, thinking that you would help me carrying both of them. Lela will help to establish a mutual communication with this guy."

There was a reason for what Harrigan is saying. Lela possess a magic that allows communication with a foreigner that only speak its own language.

"Understood, but…"

While nodding, Lela cocked her head in puzzlement..

"It would be different story if he was a foreig-ner, but, it’s the first time for me to establish a mutual understanding with someone who comes from a diffe-rent world."

"Give it a try and if it fails, we will think of some other way at that time."

"Got tha-t."

"Ais, I’ll entrust those two to you."

"Yes, ane-sama."

Ais grabbed with both hands the body of the unconscious Yuuki, who was completely naked, and lightly lifted it. She put Yuuki on her right shoulder. Then, while holding Yuuki’s body, she bent her waist and did the same with the man drenched in water.

It’s true that compared to Lela or Yuuki, Ais had a bigger build. Nevertheless, she wasn’t a giant. In fact, Harrigan was taller than her. Judging by her looks, her muscles didn’t seen to be specially developed and yet, that physical strength.

Aisu seemed to be the owner of a monstrous strength, which one wouldn’t guess from her appearance.

"Where should I carry them ane-sama?"

Ais asked casually as if not sensing the weight of two people.

"For the time being, carry them to my room. I don’t want cause to cause any turmoil. Carry them silently so as not to bring other daughters’ attention."

"Understood."

"And Lela, won’t you please carry the sword lying over there?"

Lela looked at where Harrigan’s finger was pointing.

"Th-at? It has an strange shape, isn’t i-t?"

"You don’t know it either?"

"It’s my first time seeing i-t."

"It was sashed to the man’s waist."

Frowning her eyebrows, Lela directed her look at the man carried by Ais.

"He had a sword sash-ed. Then, isn’t he an assas-sin?"

"No, he’s not, probably."

(That’s because, that guy went to grab my breasts without showing any sign of drawing the sword.)

Naturally, Lela didn’t know about the man conducting such action, she couldn’t understand on what basis Harrigan was putting her assumption, but if she says it’s not, then it probably does mean so. For the time being, Lela buried her hatchet.

"Well then, go ahead, I’ll catch up with you soon."

"Yes, ane-sa-ma."

After Harrigan saw the two leave the bath house, the puppet familiar turned back to be normal clothes and then she put them on with a calm attitude.

=== Part 4 ===

Harrigan made Ais lay down the man on the bed inside her room, and the naked Yuuki was rolled on a thick cloth spread on the floor and had a bed cover put on.

"Lela, please carry that sword to my study and put it where no one can see."

Once Lela left, Harrigan moved her look toward Yuuki, who was rolling inside the bad sheet.

(There’s a fear that Yuuki might rampage once she wakes up. It can’t be helped.)

Harrigan ordered Ais to wrap Yuuki’s body into a roll using a thin cloth and in addition to that, a rope that was prepared. What’s more, so as to make sure that the other witches don’t hear Yuuki screaming, they put a mouth gag on Yuuki’s mouth. Harrigan still didn’t want to expose the man’s presence.

Due to the riot in the bath house, Harrigan’s body became cold. Because the man’s clothing were damp, there was a risk of him catching a cold. Harrigan kindled the fireplace, so as try to warm up the room.

Harrigan rubbed the fire-igniting stones together and triggered them to ignite. Once she threw them into the fireplace, the flame burned up red inside of it.

She run her sight over the man with a glance.

(Even if his clothes are wet, there’s probably no way for us to strip him at at our convenience.)

Harrigan didn’t lack the curiosity to see the naked young man, nevertheless, she was restraining herself in front of Ais.

(In the first place, even if we can strip the man, we have no spare clothes for him, and we can’t leave him naked until his clothes get dry. Despite that, we don’t know if people from another world can catch a cold.)

The room inside the wooden-made building gave out a simplistic impression. One could see documents, the writing desk and the chair put in the corner. On top of that, there was a bookshelf placed near the wall. One could say that all of these were handmade wooden goods, which used lumbered trees from the forest.

On that bookshelf, there were paper books lined up, which was rare in this period.

The paper was a high grade product, which was passed in no time from the eastern world. What’s more, in this period, there were no printing machines, therefore, the books were copied by hand. Because of that, it was not possible to mass produce them. that’s another reason why paper books were precious..

Other than the desk and the bookshelf, as expected, there were only a wooden-made bed and a small side table placed inside the room.

On top of the bed lay the unconscious young man in his strange clothes, who was stretched longly on it. Yuuki, who was roundly tied up and wrapped in the thick cloth, lay on the floor while naked.

Seeing the impossible scene, which unfolded inside her room, Harrigan felt as if getting a headache. At the same time, she herself felt the urge to laugh.

Returning to the room after a while, Lela occupied the front of the table while writing something on a small piece of paper.

Ais and Harrigan sat at the brought stools and watched silently Lela’s work.

The sound of the blazing firewood reverberated inside the room as its air warmed up.

Once Lela finished her preparations, Harrigan made Ais use the prepared smelling salts for the man to smell. Without having to wait, the man woke up.

"～X=≦∴℃#§★◇▲↑←⊆#†∩!"

After the man lifted his body, he faced toward Harrigan while speaking to her as if pressing for an answer.

"As expected, I don’t understand anything. Well, wouldn’t that be obvious? Despite that, this is a mysterious language for one’s ears."

"十˧△¶#>≡⇔∩↓◆☆*♂♀〆?"

"Well, calm down… even if I say that, you probably won’t understand."

Raising her right hand, Harrigan expanded its palm in front of the man’s eyes.

For now, stop talking – such was the meaning of her action, but, did the man sensed her intention? Once he closed his mouth. he scratched his head as if saying ‘good grief’.

(Hmm. He seems to have quite guts.)

Harrigan became dumbfounded and at the same time, filled with admiration at the man’s defiant like attitude.

(How can he remain this calm under such circumstances? Is this guy a big-shot or just a fool?)

Not letting her thoughts leak out, Harrigan shifted her sight to Lela.

"Are the preparations done?"

"Yes, ane-sa-ma."

Harrigan, who received two amulets presented by Lela, put up one of them in front of her eyes and pressed it against her own forehead. Even if she released her hand, the charm would stick to it.

Holding one more amulet in the left hand, she presented it to the man while showing her forehead with her empty right hand. She tapped her own charm with the index finger.

You too, follow my example and put this on your forehead. – is what she wanted to say, nevertheless, the man seemed to understand her as he received the amulet and slammed it vigorously on his forehead. Just like in case of Harrigan, the amulet wouldn’t fall despite him released his hand.

She slowly talked toward him.

"Do you, understand my words? Who are you? Where did you came from?"

Pressing the amulet against his forehead, the man frowned his eyebrows. Nevertheless, he finally raised his head and spoke.

"★※∪……words……▲↓……are becoming….understandable?"

"Oh, did he comprehend it?"

Harrigan looked at Lela, who waited next to her.

"As expected of Lela."

"Hmph."

Lela smiled slightly while puffing out her tiny chest.

"Well, this much is nor-mal."

"Ara. Even though you weren’t sure whether it would work or not."

Ais teased her from the side.

"I was just being mo-dest."

"Well, let’s leave it like that."

Hmm.

Lela stared at Ais

"Hey, won’t you be quiet?"

Being warned by Harrigan the two of them draw back their necks.

"Well then, how about now? Do you understand what I’m saying?"

"Yes, I do… but, this is an strange sensation. It feels like your words are reverberating directly in my head. Is it because of this?"

Using his right palm, the man tapped the amulet on his forehead.

"Thats right, if you consider it as an interpretation device foreign languages, then it should be fine."

"Wow, I wonder if it’s more convenient than strange. Well, speaking of strange…

After turning back his head, the man shifted in turns his sight over Harrigan, Ais and Lela.

"You’re also strange. Your hair color, skin color, eyes pupil, and then your clothes. I have never seen anything like it."

"For us too, it’s the first time that we see someone like you with that strange attire. So, who are you and from where are you from? How did you came here?"

"Me? I’m… I’m… Hmm? I’m… Who am I?"

"No, that’s what I’m asking."

The man folded his arms and, Hmm, started to make low groans.

"I don’t know. I mean, I can’t remember from where I am or who I am."

Releasing his folded arms, the man used both of his hands to scratch his loose hair.

"I am…my name is….damnit, what is this unpleasant feeling…"

Harrigan, Lela and Ais, all of them looked each other’s face.

"Ane-sama, could it be that this man, has lost his memory?"

Harrigan breathed out a sigh.

"If that’s the case, then he doesn’t know anything. now, what to do?"

"No… Naga…"

The man muttered as if moaning.

"Naga? What’s that?"

Being asked by Harrigan, the man released both of his hands from his face and turned toward her with a troubled expression.

"I have the feeling… That it’s a part of my name but… other than that, I can’t remember anything else. Just who am I?"

Harrigan pondered about the man’s words while hiding her own surprise.

(Naga… as in [{{furigana|Dragon King|Naga|}}]? Is he serious about that being part of his name? Or is this man just a lunatic?)

"Well, leaving my matter aside."

The man lifted his head.

"Who are you people?"

"You’re switching the topic too fast!"

Harrigan was a little taken aback.

"No, even if I try hard to remember, I won’t remember anything, so it can’t be helped right?"

"Hmm, You’ve got a positive way of thinking. No, rather, ain’t you turning on me?"

"Once I manage to recollect something, I’ll explain you. First, tell me something about you."

"Allright."

As soon as she corrected her seating posture on the stool, Harrigan pointed at herself.

"I’m Harrigan Halliway Haindora, the head of the witches that reside here."

The man wrinkled up his eyebrows.

"Witch…Witches? What are witches?"

"So I’ve to explain from that part? But…"

Harrigan looked up at the air while she pondered.

"Fu…mu, explaining to a person that doesn’t have a single clue is surprisingly difficult, isn’t it?"

Finally, returning her head position, Harrigan.

"If I were to describe witches with a single word, then it would be women that can use magic."

"Is that so? I don’t quite get it, but I get it."

"Which one is that?!"

"I don’t understand that thing called magic. Still, even if I am told incomprehensible words one by one, however much time passess, I won’t be able to progress, I see it that way. Leaving the minor parts for later and understanding them little by little should be fine. For the time being, I want to roughly grasp the things."

"Hou?"

What surprised Harrigan was that the man could unexpectedly maintain his calm attitude despite being thrown into a different world while losing his memories. On top of that, his way of dealing with current situations was surprisingly calm as well.

(Normally, if one were to learn about their own lost memories, they would feel shaken and confused, but…Well, could it be that his nerves are 2 or 3 times over the normal? Or could it be that his pattern of thinking is broken?)

"Well, What I want to know, or rather the thing I should know, is where is this place? And what year it is?"

"If I were to be told that, I could only say it’s the inside of ‘the black forest’. As for the year… If we were to use the calendar from the neighbouring country, it would the year 12 of Cassandra III. Then, using our chronicle it would be 415 years after the death of the great witch, Echidna."

"As expected, I don’t get it at all."

While thinking hard about it, the man talked quietly to himself.

"I’ve the feeling like I’ve heard about the country of westerners. I wonder if perhaps I wasn’t fired to such a country."

Hearing the man’s words, Harrigan

"Westerners…. what’s that?"

Once she asked, the man moved his sight toward Ais and Lela and replied.

"Just like the two of you, I’m speaking about people having red hair and blue eyes."

"My hair ain’t not red?"

"Ah, that’s right. Your’s would be of a similar color to ours."

"Ours? So the inhabitants of your world, does everyone has the same black hair? You can remember that?"

"No, that’s not it. That’s instinctive, rather than having or not the memories or the knowledge. I think it would be close to that. At least, in my world, the two of them… no."

The man shifted his eyes to the bagwormed appearance of Yuuki, who was on inside the sleeping mat, on the floor.

"At least there was no person who had hair color and eyes color like this one."

"Well then, please speak whatever you know based on your instinct. It should be fine like that."

"Even if you tell me that."

The man folded his arms while cocking his head many times.

"Once I try to explain something, it won’t convert into words. Saying that, what I said before won’t occur to me precisely."

"It’s somehow bothersome, isn’t it?"

Saying so, Harrigan made a sour face.

"I don’t feel particularly troubled by that. Indeed, I have forgotten about who I am, and then, I was fired into an unknown place, but, like that, I was rescued by you. Also, it seems that we can understand each other, so there’s no need to panic nor rush the things."

"You… certainly have the guts, don’t you?"

"Really? I’m just trying to accept the things in front of my eyes."

"That’s not something to be done casually, it’s hard to accept the reality in front of one’s eyes."

Despite the man thinking that there seemed to be something more in what she said, he decided not to point that out.

(I probably shouldn’t dig too much into another person’s circumstances. Rather than that.)

"Were I to say what the big problem is right now"

Saying that, Harrigan bent forward her body.

"Hou? what it is? try to say it."

"I feel hungry."

Not just Harrigan, but Ais and Lela as well, were taken aback by the man’s words. Finally, despite Harrigan raising her voice, she was smiling pleasantly.

"No no, that’s a big deal. To think you would say that you’re hungry under such circumstances, are you truly someone important? or just a big fool?"

"When you’re hungry, you can’t fight, or so they say… Hmm?"

"What’s the matter?"

"No…war… war? I’ve the feeling like I do nothing but that."

"Hou? a war? If it’s a war, then we do too. Despite saying so, recently, we haven’t won anything. We, witches, used to fight on equal terms with human armies, but now…"

Saying that, Harrigan laughed while self-mocking.

Hm? the man raised his face.

"Humans? So the enemy you’ve fighted with are humans?"

"That’s right. We witches and the humans aren’t compatible with each other. It could be said that we are… sworn enemies?"

"I don’t quite get it. For me you look like humans but ain’t you as well ‘humans’?"

"We do. It’s just that we are humans, who can use magic. We didn’t say that we aren’t people, but, humans would still distinct us. They would rigorously distinct and discriminate us, because, humans can’t use magic. Therefore, they would refer to those who can as ‘evil witches’. Witches are the established enemies of humans, that’s why they must exterminate us."

"You’re evil beings?"

Hearing the simplistic question directed by the man, a self-mocking smile reappeared on Harrigan’s face.

"Judging from the point of view of those, who can’t use magic, it probably seems so."

"Being filled with envy and jealousy over those, who unlike them, possess special abilities, in the end, you would say they will wish for those possessors to vanish? Indeed, they’re small-minded guys."

Harrigan directed her sight filled with sarcasm at the man.

"You too, won’t you probably fear and disdain us after seeing our power?"

"Huh? Why should I?"

"No, even if you say so…You are not scared of those with unusual abilities? Isn’t it eerie?"

"Whether you hold abilities or not, it depends on each person. If I were to be scared of possessors of abilities that I don’t have, I probably wouldn’t be able to live in this world. I still don’t know anything about your ‘magic’, but, you were the ones that rescued me. Were you to be hostile against humans, you’d probably just throw me out."

"That’s right, rather than getting rid of you."

Harrigan run her sight over Yuuki, who was rolling on the floor.

"If it were Yuuki, she will probably scream things like ‘ kill’."

Saying that, the man’s face became unpleasant as he looked at Harrigan.

"Why is it that only this girl is hostile toward me and ready to fight?"

"Even if I told you."

While answering, Harrigan made a depressed face.

"Yuuki’s disdain for men is bottomless."

"Despite there probably being other men, is that fine with you?"

"No, there are no men in our place."

"What? What’s the meaning of that?"

"It means exactly what I said. We are a group consisting of only women. In the first place, only women can become witches. That’s why Yuuki’s great disdain for men wouldn’t burst until now. Consider it as its spasm due to your sudden appearance."

"I… Is that so? I don’t get it, but I understand."

(Is that an unserius attitude, or rather a composed one? Somehow I can’t tell about this guy. More importantly…)

"Ais, Sorry for troubling you, but can you bring him a meal? I don’t mind if they’re leftovers."

"Yes, ane-sama."

"Shall I he-lp?"

"That’s fine. You stay here, Leyla. If the magic of the amulet runs out, you will probably have to replace it with another."

"That’s righ-t."

"Well then, I am going."

Seeing off Ais, Harrigan faced again the man.

"With that, please wait for the meal."

Haha – because the man started to laugh loudly, Harrigan’s expression became suspicious.

"What? What’s the matter?"

"This should be the continuation of what I said previously, but for you to let someone like me, whose origin is unknown, to eat, there’s no way for you to be evil."

"I’m glad for your words, but, not everyone is as understanding as you. There’s no way for them to understand what’s right or wrong. Rather, it’s because of the scarce number of people like you, that we have been fighting for a long time with humans."

"Well, I don’t understand, but, I’ve the feeling like there was no end to those worthless wars in the country, where I lived…"

The man looked up at the air with a distant eye as if reeling the memories which he had lost.

=== Part 5 ===

"Sorry for making you wait."

Soon after, Ais returned while holding a tray in both hands.

Once she put the wooden tray on the table, she grabbed an apple, which ripened early in the spring. This sort of fruits and wild plants were abundant in this black forest.

"I’ll now squeeze the fruit juice."

As soon she grabbed the apple in her right arm, she lifted it over the wooden-made wine cup covered with filter cloth. Ei – saying so, she inserted power into her right hand.

The flatly crushed apple dripped with juice. Seeing that, the man was a little taken aback.

"You’ve got an incredible strength."

"If it’s a person’s head, I can easily smash it single-handedly. So please don’t cause anything weird, ok?"

(This girl, is scary.)

While the man shuddered up, Harrigan smiled as as she spoke.

"For Ais, this much of arm power and gripping force would be just fragments of her ability. Once she uses her magic, she can further enhance her strength. Crushing stones, lifting big rocks, breaking a bear’s spine, and even catching and flinging away a one-horn rhinoceros."

"A bear’s spine!? That’s amazing. And what’s a rhinoceros?"

"They’re huge beasts with a big horn that lives in the plains. They are taller than me and 10-15 times heavier than an adult person."

"And you can fling away that guy?"

"Ooh, that’s right. Once she wrap its horn, she throws it like this- Eiyaah!"

Lifting up from her stool, Harrigan demonstrated how it looks.

"Ane-sama, you’re exaggerating things."

Ais’s cheeks became sullen.

Kuku – leaking a smile, Harrigan sat again.

"Well, Ain’t you scared?"

"Indeed it’s scary, but, such a thing probably be the same as a guy holding a weapon. There’s no particular reason for me to disdain you, I think."

(Hmm, that’s an interesting way of thinking from that man. Is he either thinking logically or rationally? At least, it doesn’t come from his sentiment.)

Seeing only people, who would feel emotional hatred toward witches, Harrigan took a deep interest for the man’s response and way of thinking.

The young Ais and Lela, who had never face anyone directly like Harrigan, weren’t hooked by the man’s way of judging things and thinking as much as Harrigan, nevertheless, despite them believing the man’s talk about him losing his memories and not knowing anyone, they were surprised and in admiration for the man having a calm attitude, even though he was had to face such an unusual situation.

"Because we have finished our breakfast, unfortunately, there’s not much left, but…"

After Harrigan said so, Aisu present the tray, which had baguette, soup and vegetables.

Soon after he received it, the man put the it on his thigh. Ais added the wine cup containing the juice squeezed by her on the tray.

"Oh, sorry for the trouble. Well then, Bon appetit."

The moment he reached out his hand toward the food, he stopped moving and plucked the amulet on his forehead.

"This thing is in my way."

Hanging down from till his nose tip, indeed, it was bothersome while eating.

"Is it fine for me to take it out?"

"That’s right. Maybe behind the head… no, it should be better to attach it on the back of the neck?"

As Harrigan looked at Lela.

"I don’t think it will cause any problem in its func-tion."

"Please repaste it."

Nodding a little, Lela detached the amulet on the man’s forehead. So as to peek behind the guy’s back, she bent her body and reattached the amulet behind his neck.

"How is it? Can you still understand my words?"

At Harrigan’s question, the man lifted his right arm while saying that there was no problem.

"Well, then, shall I eat? My stomach already feels hungry."

The man extended his hands to the bowls on the tray and put the vegetables and the bread in his mouth one after another.

"This thing….Heh? I see…it has quite a different taste… but, it’s delicious."

"You eat or talk? Decide on which one."

Not just Harrigan, but also Ais and Lela were watching astonished as the man was vigorously eating the food.

(This guy, he just bite completely into what was given to him without restraint nor leniency. Does he not know how to doubt strangers? Or could it be he’s trusting us? Is he an idiot or a clever man? Is he someone important or perhaps a lunatic? I can’t read him at all. Despite that, it’s highly probable he’s not a person from this world. It seems there’s no sense in searching for clues, so should we look after him for a while? At worst, he could be a form of killing time. If he tries to harm us, we can just kill him, but, once it comes to that…)

Harrigan took a glimpse at Yuuki, who was tied up roundly in the ropes and rolling on the floor. She breathed out a sigh.

(The big question would be how to suppress Yuuki.)

=== Part 6 ===

Soon after Harrigan was pondering on any idea, Yuuki woke up.

While being half-awake, she dimly looked over the inside of the room only to eye a man, who was energetically eating, which made her woke up at once. Yuuki tried to jump up, nevertheless, being tied up with the ropes, she couldn’t rise. On top of that, because she had a gag inserted, she couldn’t talk. Rather than trying to understand how she ended like this, Yuuki continued to move while trying to raise her body and kept shouting at the man.

"Mnn! Mnnnn! Mmmnnnnnn!"

With a perplexed face, the man ceased to eat and looked at Harrigan, Lela and Ais.

"I don’t understand at all what she’s saying?"

At the man’s question, Lela responded calmly.

"Kill you, I’ll absolutely kill you,… is what she’s say-ing."

"You can understand!?"

"That’s because we have hung out since we were li-ttle."

"Oh, that’s why."

The man felt awkward to ignore Yuuki with the killing intention while continuing to eat.

Thinking about what he should do, He looked at Harrigan.

Harrigan shifted her sight from Yuuki, who continued her attempt to scream out while bending her body like a shrimp, and breathed out a sigh as she faced toward Aisu, telling her "do it!" with her eye sign.

Ais, who moved forward, kneeled in front of Yuuki.

Putting a smile on her face, she grabbed Yuuki’s both shoulders and raised her while standing up by herself. Because Ais’s was taller than Yuuki, she lifted Yuuki to the level of her eyes. Yuuki’s toes were floating in the air.

Her body was shaking and her appearance, which was tied up in a roll, gave the impression of a bagworm swaying in the air.

Aisu grabbed firmly Yuuki’s shoulders over the ropes digging into them.

"Hmm hmm hmm!"

Yuuki’s face bent in pain.

With a casual face, Lela interpreted.

"Ow ow ow… is what she say-s."

Raising her arms further, Ais looked up to Yuuki’s face and, while keeping her smiling face, said.

"I wonder if you can stop making fuss, Yuuki. Ane-sama is also troubled. You understand that?"

"Hmm, mnnn, hmm, mnn, hmmmm!"

"I Got it, ow,I got it, ow, my shoulders are breaking… she say-s."

(What’s with that pleasant way of doing things?)

Taken aback, the man looked at Yuuki and Ais.

"I’m glad, you understood."

When Ais loosens her hands power, Yuuki’s neck loses its strength and fell to the front.

Aisu wouldn’t cease her smile.

(That girl Ais, despite her gentle look, her inner self is the most fearsome.)

The man couldn’t hide his surprise at the divergence in both Ais’s look and inside.

"Well then, you will remain obedient until that person finishes its eating, ok? But, I’m not saying it’s fine for you to make a fuss after that. You got that?"

kaku kaku kaku - Yuuki shook her head without strength.

"Ah, aaah、I was suffocating!"

Yuuki repeated taking deep breaths.

Ais, who turned back…

"With that, please continue your meal."

She urged the man.

"No, even if I’m told please, is it really fine?"

Having such suspicion, the man looked at Harrigan.

"I don’t mind. Please eat quickly. After that, I would like to talk a bit."

"That’s right. I want as well ask some questions, so should I finish this meal at once?"

The man grabbed the dishes again.

"Despite that, why do you hold such grudge toward men? Did something happened to you long time ago?"

As the man spoke nonchalantly, at that moment, Yuuki’s hair moved abruptly.

While looking down, a small muttering came from Yuuki’s mouth.

"Don’t… bring…. front… me."

"Haa? I cannot hear you."

Being in a rolled position, Yuuki warped her upper body while lifting her face. With a terrifically angry expression, she glared at the man and shouted…

"Don’t bring up that subject in front of me!!"

Despite being inside of the room, the wind arose and hitted Naga’s face and body.

Even till then she was speaking about ‘killing’, ‘ driving out’ men, nevertheless, it was clear now that her seriousness was different from that time.

The man jumped back unintentionally and touched his left waist on a spurt.

Not feeling the sensation in his right hand, the man looked at his left waist and smacked his lips.

(There’s nothing. Certainly I…)

"This is bad!"

Harrigan shouted sharply at Ais.

"Stop her!"

The ropes that binded Yuuki’s body began to split up. At the same time, Ais jumped toward Yuuki.

"Things like men, things like men, kill, kill, kill, I’ll kill them all?"

Snap

Hearing a weird sound, once the man moved his sight toward them, Ais twisted the girl’s neck from behind as she clinged to her.

Yuuki’s eyes turned white with her power leaving her body.

"That was dangerous, wasn’t it?"

Ais kept Yuuki in the same neck twisting position while smiling toward the man.

"No… just now, didn’t her neck snap? Will she be right? Her eyes seems to have turned white."

Looking down at Yuuki, whose body lost its strength, Ais spoke in an indifferent manner.

"Certainly, it will be fine. Yuuki is quite robust."

"I… is that so? In that case it should be fine, but, just now…"

The man moved his face toward Harrigan with the intention of wanting to ask, nevertheless, she wouldn’t break down that stern expression.

"Don’t inquire the reason behind Yuuki’s disdain for men. I too, don’t feel like explaining that to you."

"Got that… I’ll pay more attention from now on."

"Please do that. Rather than that, finish your food quickly."

"No, that’s fine. My stomach is already full, and also I don’t feel like eating more after making her angry with that harsh words of mine."

"Is that so?"

"Yea, it’s enough. Thanks for the meal, it was delicious."

Once the man returned to his original seat, he deeply bowed his head towards Harrigan.

"You rescued me, so I’ll say my thanks. Had it not been for you and me being given this meal, I’d probably had a dog’s death."

"It’s not a big deal, so don’t mind."

"No no, I consider this to be a big matter. Just a while ago, some words popped inside my head, which are [a debt of a night’s stay and a meal]<ref>It's from a japanese expression, it means to repay a debt of gratitude. </ref>? but, it it feels as though it applies in my situation. That’s why I’ll without doubt return this gratitude."

"You don’t have to take it that seriously."

Saying that, Harrigan too, didn’t seem to be in a bad mood.

The man bowed down to Ais and Lela.

"Thank you for rescuing me. You have my thanks."

"No, don’t mention it."

"Don’t worry about i-t."

Being thanked by the man, Lela and Ais didn’t seem to be that dissatisfied, nevertheless, Ais kept bending Yuuki’s neck while having a much queer expression.

"Well then, shall we talk a little?"

Saying that to the man, Harrigan gave instructions to Lela and Ais.

"I’ll have a small talk with this guy. Lela, you wait here. Ais, take Yuuki to your room and wake her up. Still, watch over her so to not let her go violent."

"Yes, ane-sama."

"And both of you, don’t talk about this man to other girls, got that?"

"Yes, ane-sama."

"Got th-at."

"Well then, come this way."

Being invited by Harrigan, the man left her room.

=== Part 7 ===

The room to which Harrigan led was a study room.

There was a bookshelf together with lined up books inside the bedroom as well, nevertheless, in this one, all the four walls were placed with high bookshelves, which were packed with books. The room gave out the impression of being buried inside books.

"You’re quite a reader, aren’t you? I Can’t even tell what kind of documents this are."

"These are indispensable for magic research and development. Rather than that, sit."

The man,who stood next to a bookshelf while staring at the document, turned around.

Sitting on the wooden stool, Harrigan waited for the man to sit.

"Because you’ve lost your memory, I’ll restrain from asking you personal questions. In exchange, I’m thinking of telling you more about us."

"That would helps a lot. I too, want to learn fast about this world and you."

"I’ll explain that generally and briefly. There might be things, which you don’t understand, but leave the questions for later. Anyway for not just listen."

"Yeah, got that. Well then I’ll entrust you with that."

=== Part 8 ===

"First, I’ll tell you more about the war between witches and humans. Just as I said, we are disdained and estranged by humans due to us possessing unusual powers. While continuing to fight against the humans, we fell into decline, and it’s not just our household. Right now, the whole race of witches are on decline. Our race is on the verge of dying."

"However, the biggest reason behind that is our number. If I were to say why, it’s because we lose our power once we give birth to children. It’s not like we will lose instantly our power, but certainly it’s a big damage to that. That’s why, we can’t casually bear children. Once a witch diminish in her magic power, the only job remaining for her is raising a child."

"The partner is a man, you see? they would be chosen at one’s own discretion. For us, the father doesn’t play a big role. Another problem is that the born child doesn’t necessarily possess the quality of a witch. That’s right, there’s no telling whether or not a child will house magic power. That’s why our number won’t increase."

"A long time ago, it was bit better. A long time ago… that is when humans weren’t that many and the countries established by humans were not that strong. Back then, we were more powerful than now and there were people who would acknowledge us, nevertheless, the time has changed."

"The people passed through the mountains, creating new and numerous cities. Even now they’re doing so. The agriculture developed and so the number of harvest, which resulted in natural growth of population. Then, the people expanded here and there, increasing the conflict between both sides."

"We too can’t forget about the church’s expanding influence. In the first place, they’re our true enemy. The reason why there’s no compatibility between humans and witches is due to their influence. While considering us as heretics, they spread about us being the ones that should be destroyed. The more they implemented their roots in this world, the more influence they had, making us becoming the enemy of humans."

"Like that humans recognized us as their enemy and whenever there had a chance or a gap, they would seize our lands. Trying to exterminate us, they began to commenced assaults. We are more superior in terms of individual combat skills, nevertheless, they have more war power than us. Even if we can use magic, taking several hundreds of human soldiers… is a task next to impossible."

"Because of that, our lands were gradually encroached. Even now, we have been pushed quite an area, into the black forest."

"Ah, besides us, there are several other clans that lives in this forest. However, we don’t associate much. It seems that the humans describe us all with the term ‘the country of witches’ but, our activity doesn’t include deep integration with other clans. It seems that a long time ago, when the great witch was alive, the clans had stronger connections with each other. Despite that, we are all treated the same by humans."

"We would become the first to bear the brunt of Cassandra kingdom’s forces, since they’re the nearest human country to us. We somehow repelled it for the time being, but we don’t know how long we can keep resisting. If we were to fall out, the whole black forest would probably be in the humans’ hands. It would be much a different story if the other clans united, but…"

Harrigan talked dimly without anger, excitement not any lament.

"Then here is our fort. Beginning with this one, the majority of those who fight are packed in several of these forts located in this forest, beginning with this one. Children and elderly live in a hidden village. I’ll say it, but I can’t bring you there, and I don’t have that much trust on you yet."

"I understand this much."

The man raised his hand as to express his understand.

After finishing to explain in general, Harrigan breathed out a sigh and continued her while saying – well then.

"I explained broadly about us and our current situation, but did you understand?"

"That’s right. I don’t quite get it, but I understand in general."

"That’s why! which one do you mean!?"

"That one. I could understand roughly the course of action, but, after all, to know the things in detail, the only thing I can do is to experience them… or such."

Fufu – Harrigan smiled pleasantly.

(What an interesting man. Well, leaving aside whether he’s a clever man or a fool, it’s fine for him not to be scared of us.)

Harrigan had her interest caught by the man in front of her. No, perhaps she was attracted by the man itself.

The man that descended out of sudden from the air.

Even for a famous witch as Harrigan, a magic that could send people to the distant places was not seen or unheard of. Not to mention, rather than being fired from a distant place, it seemed more like he crossed the spacetime from the other place.

Harrigan thought about wanting to investigate that phenomenon.

And not just that.

She also wanted to learn more about the man himself.

A man, who could accept the situation with such a composure, despite being thrown into different world.

A man who asserts as someone unperturbed by emotions, of a deep faith that feels obligated to pay a meal and a night stay debt, and someone that doesn’t make differences between us witches and the humans.

The man, who held the name of Naga.

The word, which Harrigan knew, held the implication of ‘dragon’ or ‘dragon king’.

She didn’t know whether the word indicated his name in that way. However, the man that fell from the sky, whose name held the meaning of ‘dragon’ could imply something. Because of that, Harrigan didn’t plan to release the man. Nevertheless, as the head of the clan, there’s no way for her to prioritize her personal interest. Speaking honestly about themselves, she seeked for the man’s response.

As expected, the man showed a response according to her thoughts. He wasn’t scared of them nor denied them. On the other hand, he would normally make contact with them without any sympathising. It wasn’t an attitude that existed in this world. Assuming that the man indeed came from different world, perhaps, talking to him could open the path for the future of her clan.
There was no particular reason, nor established principles for that. Rather, it was her intuition as the witches’ chief.

Harrigan have decided.

She decided to take care this man as the part of her clan. If he becomes a burden, it should be fine to throw him away, and if he intends to do any harm, it should be no problem in killing him.

Such was Harrigan’s conclusion.

=== Part 9 ===

Once she revealed the man’s presence to the others and said that she intends to raise him, continuous objections and doubts were received from the witches. Without there being anyone, who would consent positively, if it was something decided by ane-sama, Lela and Ais would only show a passive approval without any opposing. Nevertheless, in the end, everyone came to acknowledge the man, on the condition of throwing him away, were he to cause any trouble.

Yuuki was the only one, who would continue to oppose till the end, everywhere, firmly, severely and stubbornly. In the end, despite many attempts of calming down and lecturing, Harrigan managed to forcibly overcome Yuuki’s opposition.

"This is what I concluded and I don’t intend to change it."

"If Harri-nee says so, that’s fine. Whatever happens, I don’t care."

Saying so, Yuuki became completely angry, nevertheless she didn’t seem to resort to any forceful methods, such as killing the man or throwing him out from the village. Because of that, Harrigan judged it would be fine to leave it like that for the time being.

It will be a problem to take care of a man, however, how should they refer to the man? For the time being, it wasn’t a good idea just to omit that.

(Because that guy said that he thinks his name is Naga something, there’s no way for us to ignore that. [{{furigana|Dragon King|Naga|}}]… should we go with that? I’ve the feeling like this name is too much for him. if it is was to be the real dragon king, it would probably get angry, still, if we consider it as a nickname, it probably won’t.)

Thinking so, Harrigan decided to referred to the young man as Naga.

Heh? is that so – After announcing that, it would be natural for a person to be surprised. Nevertheless, the majority of witches laughed instead. Their laugh had an element of mocking.

"It doesn’t suit him."

"That name is a fail."

"Won't he get killed by the real dragon king?"

Such impressions the witches had.

"Were you girls told of such things?"

Despite Harrigan spurring on, the man remained calm.

"In the first place, I don’t know what the dragon king is."

Is he an important individual or a fool? – Harrigan, who couldn’t measure that man with normal criteria, was taken aback.

(But well, if he’s just a simpleton, he probably won’t become of use, but if he’s an extravagant fool, then perhaps he can yield something. Shall I watch over him for the time being?)

=== Part 10 ===

With that, Naga, who had been decided to be supported by Harrigan and the others, for now decided not to take any action. Rather than that, because he didn’t understand most about Harrigan’s clan, as well about this world, even if he wanted to do anything, he wouldn’t be able.

Should I first allow myself to observe and study? – Naga started talking.

"That’s fine. Then, shall we walk around this fort once we finish the lunch?"

After that they took their lunch and went to take a walk around the inside of the fort. At that time Naga asked…

"Hey Harrigan. When I fell into the bath house, wasn’t there something I was holding to?"

"You mean that weird-shaped sword in your waist?"

Naga asked vigorously.

"That’s it! What happened to it!?"

"We are keeping it."

"Can’t I’ve you return it back to me? Somehow, my left waist feels lonely, I feel anxiety and insecure."

"We will keep it for a little while."

"…………"

"I’m telling you, that we will keep it, for a little while!"

"Naga’s face turned miserable."

"Do you think that I keeping it is dangerous?"

"That would be natural?"

"Uh… is that so? well, it probably would be."

"Rest assured. Once we learn more about you while living together, we will return it to you."

Naga breathed a small sigh and nodded.

"Then, that’s fine."

"Well, should we go on a stroll and treat ourselves?"

Being led by Ais and Harrigan, they walked around the inside of the fortification.

The fort mentioned as fort three, which could be said to be their main base, wasn’t as big in comparison with the others. It was surrounded by wooden fence, nevertheless, it had no ditches. Inside the ground, there were complex constructions, such as a residential building, storage house, weaponry, and a high watch tower. All of them were simple constructions made using woods.

It was probably a rare sight and unheard for him. Naga would frequently stop and look inside the buildings and ask about their name and functions. After having spent the afternoon like that and taking the dinner, Naga retired to a room offered by Harrigan.

"Oh my, as expected, today was a tiring one. I’ll allow myself to go sleep earlier. Is it fine for me to take this off?"

Naga pointed the amulet behind his neck.

"Lela will prepare for you a new one tomorrow, so don’t mind."

"In case I won’t be able to wake up tomorrow, please do it for me. I’m thankful for your meals and bedding. Well then, if you allow."

Raising his hand he gave a sign to Harigan, who escorted him until the room. As he suddenly began to take off his clothes, Harrigan became puzzled.

"Hey, what are you doing out of sudden?!"

"My clothes are still drying, so I was thinking about leaving them out to dry completely while sleeping."

"If so, do it once I leave the room!"

"Ah? I don’t particularly mind. Do you Harrigan?"

Despite Being a little bit red faced, Harrigan answered without averting her eyes.

"N, no, I wonder whether I too, don’t mind at all."

"Well then, isn’t that fine?"

[[Image:Naga01 090.jpg|175px|thumb]]

With just his loincloth, Naga composedly began to stretch his half-dried clothings.

(His body is quite trained… Wh, no no, it isn’t the time to be watching muscles.)

Once she left the room and closed the door, Naga’s snoring was heard from the inside.
(He surely falls asleep fast. Does he have much of courage, or does he have no wariness? He’s a man hard to measure.)

Shaking her head, Harrigan returned to her room.

=== Part 11 ===

The following day, after taking the breakfast together with Ais and Harrigan, Naga expressed his wish to walk around the fort once more.

Today as well, he was wearing his clothing, which Harrigan considered as queer, and had a special made amulet attached by Lela at the same place.

(Because there are no other clothings for him, it can’t be helped. I’ve to deal with that matter somehow. Well, should I leave that for later? However…)

There was no way to let Naga wander alone, so guiding was utmost necessary. That part could be done only by someone like Harrigan, nevertheless, she too had lots of duty piled up as the head of the clan.

"I too, can only help you in my free time, nevertheless… this isn’t what I mean."

Once she said it in that way with disagreeableness.

"That’s fine. In that case, you don’t have to guide. Because I’ll just hang around properly in this surrounding of the fort."

"The surrounding of the fort? do you plan to walk around the forest?"

"Yeah, I want to learn, even if it’s just a bit, about how this world looks. But first, I want to see with my very eyes this region where you live."

"A forest is a forest. However much you look at it, there are just trees."

"Ah, that’s fine. I wanna see it while inhaling some air."

(What a weird guy. In the first place, the way in which he appeared was weird, but…)

"Even if you say so."

"What? Is there something I shouldn’t see in the forest?"

"Not that’s not. But, people who walks this forest without knowing about it, will get lost. It’s because, in addition to the forest being deeply dark, we put a barrier. It would be different in case they were to focus much and set a benchmark, but…"

"A barrier…"

Naga pondered.

"Yea, think of it as one type of magic. It’s a magic used to deceive people’s eyes, who doesn’t know about this place."

"Is that so? Then, I cannot wander alone?."

Making a disappointed face, once he looked at the forest outside the fort, Lela, who was waiting a bit far away from them, stepped up.

"Ane-sama, Shall I do the gui-ding?"

"Is is right? Will you fine by yourself?"

"Even if the effect of the amulet runs out, I’ll be there, so there shouldn’t be pro-blem. Right now, there are things, which you need to do, so."

"This isn’t what I mean. Will you be fine being alone with that perverted guy? – is what I wanted to ask. I’ll say it, but this guys is a pervert?"

"Don’t ask rude things! And don’t say it!"

"Ah…."

"And you, don’t just start pondering about that!"

Bending her neck while having a stern face, Lela raised up her face and looked at Naga with a glance from his tip to toes.

"Well, it will be fine , I thin-k. When necessary, I’ll burn him using the fla-me spell."

"Is that so?Then I’ll leave it to you."

As soon as Harrigan said so, she whispered to Lela’s ear as if embracing her.

"Be careful of that man."

"That’s why, I can hear you! Such a lack of respect."

Kukuku – Harrigan chuckled as she once again put the emphasis on what she said.

"You better follow Lela guide obediently?"

"I know, good grief. If you worry so much it would be bad for your health."

"Not being worried about a man that comes and grope people’s chest out of sudden, what else should I worry about?"

"Ah… that’s right, I was confused that time at the sudden course of events. There’s no longer need to worry."

"I’d like to hope so…"

Shifting her sight away from him, Harrigan took a glance at Lela’s appearance. Nevertheless, the girl remained emotionless she would and looked at Naga.

(Despite her having an indifferent attitude toward things, it’s rare for Lela to be this positive. Could it be that she’s taking an interest into that man….?

Is it good or bad? Up to this point, Harrigan couldn’t understand. Still, she felt it could be a sort of a new fresh wind that began to blow through the monotonous witches in this mood stagnant village.

"Well then, I will entrust you with that Lela."

"Leave it to m-e."

Like that Naga was taken by Lela and they both moved from the fort toward the forest.

=== Part 12 ===

In this virgin forest, all the trees were high with numerous branches that were thickly overgrown with leaves.

Despite now being the noon, the forest was thickly dim. Nevertheless, the grass below one’s feet wasn’t that high, therefore, it didn’t cause problem when moving.

Because Naga walked with a fast and big pace, it was natural for him to be in front of Lela.

"Being inside this forest, seems to give me a depressing feeling."

Inside the dim forest, Naga shifted his sight left and right while walking as he muttered. Hearing that, Lela objected with a snap.

"It’s not because we want to live here that we are he-re. It can’t be helped but to live while avoiding conflicts with peo-ple."

Naga suddenly stopped and turned around.

"Are you guys content with that?"

Lela was caught off guard.

"I think I saw how the things are going in this fort yesterday and today, but somehow the atmosphere felt silent. You could say there was no mood nor ambition? and also you looked resigned?"

Naga took a glance at Lela’s face.

"Running inside the forest as if driven away by humans, and hiding you presence motionlessly here in order to avoid conflicts with them. Are you satisfied with that?"

"There’s no, way, for us to be satisfie-d."

Shouting without realizing that, Lela covered her mouth hurriedly.

Perhaps, Harrigan as well held the dissatisfaction while being the leader of the group. Naga noticed that and interjected.

"Forget about what just happened no-w…"

"If you say so, I’m not going to ask."

Again facing forward, Naga continued to walk.

On the other hand, Lela felt as if her body became heavy, being unable to take another step.

Meanwhile, Naga kept walking.

Once she returned to herself, there was no sight of Naga.

(Cra-p. For me of all the people to slack o-ff.)

While panicking, Lela tried to catch after Naga.

No matter how fast he is, he shouldn’t be able to walk far away while being the first timer in this forest. What’s more, as long there’s not much of distance between them, Lela can follow him up thanks to her own magic leaking from the amulet, so, she didn’t worry much.

Just as she anticipated, she spotted Naga’s back after walking a while.

It seemed as though he was hiding in the shadow, kneeling and holding his breath while peeking at something in front of im.

Because his tension passed along to Lela, she approached unintentionally with her stealthy steps.

As she gently approached, Naga turned behind as he noticed her and gave her sign to stoop using his hand.

Once she lined next to him while keeping low her head, she asked as if whispering.

"Is there a beast or some-thing?"

"A ferocious and brutal one."

Because Naga whispered back, Lela became tense.

Once she peek out with her face from the shadow of a thick tree trunk.

In front, there was a small valley-shaped river flowing, inside of which Yuuki was taking a bath. She was naked, which was natural one way or another.

"A…ah..indeed it’s a ferocious bea-st. A specific one among peo-ple, but.."

There was no doubt that she ditched the designated job and went to bath due to her facing previously with Naga at the fort.

(In that case, it’s you reap what you sow, but..)

Lela thought about what they should do.

Yuuki, who didn’t suspect anyone to peek her, climbed up the rocky area as she performed bold calisthenics, and jumped into the deep water from the rock while having fun.

Yuuki’s wet and naked body was radiating with the sunlight. Naturally, because she didn’t suspect anyone to peak, she wouldn’t think about hiding her body.

Her body had white skin, which was almost transparent.

Her shoulders and waist drew smooth curves.

Her chest hills, which were neither small nor big, bulged with a pretty shape.

On top of them, cute and pink nipples protruded.

The lightly golden bush between her groins was damp with water and stickily clinging to her abdomen.

And then, a smiling face, which Naga hadn’t seen until now, popped on her face.

"What’s that? So she could smile like this?"

[[Image:Naga01 099.jpg|175px|thumb]]

Naga’s sight was completely glued to Yuuki’s face and naked body.

Leyla peeked with her sidelong glance at Naga’s appearance.

(He’s zealously looking, isn’t h-e? Well, I can unders-tand that, but… her body isn’t the same as Ais’ still, Yuuki has quite an attractive bo-dy.)

Or at least it was more womanly than mine – is what Lela admitted.

(Nevertheless, he’s probably too enthusias-tic. At this rate, there’s a fear Yuuki will noti-ce. That girl is very sensitive to men’s sight-s.)

"Naga-sa-n."

As soon as Lela placed her hand on his shoulders, Naga looked aside with his startled face.

"A… ah, sorry, I couldn’t help it.."

Naga made an excuse, nevertheless, he didn’t seem to think that way.

"We have just come, so I haven’t seen much."

(He doesn’t seem so but, rather than th-at.)

"Don’t mo-ve! It can’t be helped that you have se-en. We can’t be spotted now that we have seen her important pa-r-ts."

"What do you mean?"

"If you’re spotted on peeking, you will di-e. Saying that, you will be killed by Yuu-ki. That’s is 9/10, 9 out 10, and 99 percent certain."

"Doesn’t the last one give me less than 10% of chance to avoid?"

"Yes, that’s why it’s certa-in. Even if ane-sama tries to stop her, Yuuki won’t probably listen to he-r."

Naga’s body shivered.

"You… could it be, you plan to report me to Yuuki?"

Without answering to Naga’s question, once Lela took out an amulet from her waist, she began to write down using her small brush.

"Yes, please attach th-is."

"W-what? What do you intend to do?"

At that time, Yuuki, who was about to jump off the rock area, stopped. Frowning her eyes suspiciously, she look on the sides attentively.

"We will be noticed, fast attach… rather than that I’ll attach i-t!"

Lela banged the new charm with a slap on Naga’s forehead.

"It’s an amulet that cuts off one’s presence. Remain sile-nt."

Just as Lela told, Naga ceased his movements and hid his breath while continuing to peek at Yuuki.

Yuuki, who was searching around for a moment with deep suspicion, suddenly yelled – Ah! Naga’s body froze thinking that he was spotted, however, it wasn’t that case.

"A smoke signal from the fort!"

Yuuki jumped toward her thrown clothings and wore before one could even notice. Once she did that, she run up the slope and disappeared in a blink of time inside the forest.

Waiting until she disappeared, Lela stood up.

"You narrowly escaped from death, Na-ga-san."

"A… ah, it seems to be so."

Once Naga breathed out a sigh of relief and loosened his body, Lela bent her waist while reaching out her right hand to scrape off the amulet on his forehead.

"Speaking of which, Yuuki said there was a smoke signal rising. Shouldn’t we head back as well?"

Lela looked up at the sky toward the fort.

Indeed there was a string of red smoke seen from between the trees.

"There’s no doubt that something happe-ned at the fort. Let’s head bac-k."

Naga slowly stood up.

"Despite that, why didn’t you report me to that guy?

"If I report, you will di-e? Even if I report you to Yuuki at the fort, instead of this place, you will be kill-ed."

"Are you actually considering me carefully?"

Lela raised the edges of her mouth with a grin.

"Let’s make a deal Naga-san."

"Ah, so it was like that."

Then Naga grinned when he understood the situation.

"Well? what’s the condition?"

"Whenever you manage to retrieve some of your lost memory, please talk about it to me first, no matter what it i-s."

"Are you fine with that?"

"You might think that it’s trivial, but for me it’s importa-nt. I definitely want to learn more about the other world, which doesn’t exist he-re."

Naga and Lela looked at each other. Their sights intertwined with each other in the air.

Naga couldn’t guess what kind of request she had, nevertheless, he nodded as he said – Yeah, fine.

"If it’s enough for you not to leak it, then it’s a cheap price. I’ll talk however much you want."

Lela lowered her sight and bowed down.

"Thank yo-u."

"No, that’s fine. By the way, can I ask you one thing?"

Naga spoke to Lela’s back as she was about to run.

"Wh-at?"

"Why does Yuuki disdain men so much?"

"Shouldn’t ane-sama already told you about not inqui-ring?"

"No, I was just bothered by it. She hasn’t shown that violent reaction until now?"

"That’s righ-t. Yuuki is specia-l."

"Why is that?"

"It’s not something I should answe-r. If ane-sama deems it as fine, she will probably talk to you about i-t."

"Such way of talk putting on airs."

"It seems that she made some unpleasant memories when she was small. Probably she can’t forget about the painful experien-ces."

Naga felt a throb in his chest.

He couldn’t explain the reason behind that, nevertheless, there’s no doubt, some fragments of his memories reacted at Lela’s words.

(I see. so she had some painful experiences at her childhood? It seems that I had gone through the same. When it comes to this, losing one’s memories doesn’t seem to be half bad, doesn’t it?)

A masochistic smile floated on Naga’s face.

[[Image:Naga01 106.jpg|175px|thumb]]

Seeing that painful smile on his face, Lela pulled back her head, nevertheless, Naga’s smile immediately vanished and his face turned back to a daring one.

"Ah, sorry for stopping you. We should hasten."

"Then… let’s ru-n. Please tag along without falling behin-d."

Because Lela break into a run inside the forest, Naga run after her.

(A smoke signal? Did something happened? Could it it that the fort was attacked?)

Naga’s anticipation were half right and half wrong.

<noinclude>
==Translator's Notes and References==
<references/>

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|-
| Back to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Prologue 2|Prologue 2]]
| Return to [[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
|-
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</noinclude>

Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Chapter 1

2016-04-02T16:21:18Z

Darkdhaos: Undo revision 483677 by Zexth (talk)

== Chapter 1 ==

=== Part 1 ===

There was a group consisting solely of women, who lived inside the ‘black forest’ that extended till the remote borders.

People called them ‘witches’. In other words, they were beings with different abilities.

From the perspective of humans that believed in the one absolute god, who ruled over the overwhelming majority of people, it was clear that witches who worshipped the protection of hundreds of divine beings were heretics. For that reason the witches were detested and feared. While feeling fear toward the witches, they held feelings of envy and jealousy against those who possessed special abilities, unlike them.

Certainly, not being compatible with each other, they continued to fight each for a long time.

Witches, who were once proud of numerous comrades, as well as holding the power capable to influence the world, were now declining in number. It seemed as though they were slowly walking along their path of destruction. While aware of their inferior position, they wouldn’t try looking for any fights. Nevertheless, were their territory to be invaded , they wouldn’t hesitate to fight, even if it meant for their household to decline.

Because the frequency in the resistance against witches lowered for a while, many of them could live peacefully in a place far away from the city. However, it was only temporary due to the conflict between fellow human countries that had increased.

Once the great war, which involved many countries and numerous lives concluded, their eyes would return to the witches. It was just the natural course of action for the statesmen of the countries, which surrounded the land of witches, to consider the extermination of them.

The surrounding countries were now preparing for the extermination of witches.

While the church, under the pretext of sweeping witches from this world, supported the assault on them by each country, they schemed the plan of assassination the leader of witches by sending assassins.

Despite such actions taking places, the conflict between vassals and feudal lords for authority wouldn’t cease.

There were often times when the conflict would grow on a national scale, resulting in a new war.

While the conflict between fellow humans continued, they would still manage to steadily reduce the territory of the witches.

Despite the witches having high combat abilities, it was next to impossible for them to battle against hundreds and thousands of deployed units. As a result, while killing a huge number of the enemy’s forces, they would end up carrying out a tactical retreat without gaining a victory.

In the end, the vicious cycle of hatred from humans continued together with losing territory and comrades..

Even now witches were followed by the chain of defeats.

It seemed as though, there was no peaceful place for them in this world.

=== Part 2 ===

There were several groups among witches.

If presently described, these groups were close to the concept of ‘a clan’ . Several of these clans gathered and formed a loose alliance, which was pointed out and referred by the humans as ‘the country of witches’.

There were no men among their clans, as it consisted only of women, who were born as witches with special abilities. Witches wouldn’t add anyone besides those they considered as witches. Therefore, it was also known as the country of women.

One of the witches, who was the leader of one of the clans, was Harrigan Halliway Haindora.

Her household built a residence deep inside the black forest.

Apart from Harrigan, there were several other clans of witches ,who settled inside the black forest, nevertheless, hers used to be an influential one.

That’s right, it ‘used to be’ influential.

Due to their topographical location, they would be the first to be on the frontline, resulting in the decline of her clan. And once it declined, it was inevitable for them to lose their authority as a result. Because of that, Harrigan deeply suffered that lost as the leader.

While worrying about the future of her family, she immersed herself inside the open air bath made from the welling hot spring, which was located in the hilly area, inside the forest.

The bath house was a simplistic wooden-made arbor-styled one built in the free area, which was cutting through the loosely sloping land made from the small hills.

In the center of the bath house, which was transparent from 3 sides, a long and narrow wooden-made bathtub was placed on the wooden floor. The hot water, which pumped from the gushing source nearby, filled the bathtub as usual.

Inside the bathtub filled with hot water, which gave out a little bit of sulphurous odour, laid Harrigan with her graceful limbs.

What attracted one’s attention from Harrigan’s body, which was nakedly submerged inside the tub, was her blueish-black long hair, her bulging chest, the tight waist and her big buttocks. Indeed, one could say it was the figure of a full-fledged woman. The sign of her femininity was also seen between her groins, which was thickly covered with black bush.

Harrigan, who remained submerged inside the bathtub, stretched her limbs, and let out a small sigh, which she could care less whether it was heard or not.

How should we reach an agreement with humans? Or should we completely abandon that idea? Harrigan thought about it. Nevertheless, however much she would ponder about that, there was no sign for the future prospects, nor any hope for a better future…

Should she just wait calmly for their slow annihilation?

Or should they die magnificently in an all-or-nothing war?

There seemed to be only these two choices.

Raising her head, Harrigan shifted her sight toward the other side.

On the one side of the bath house, there was a small undressing room, nevertheless, the three remaining were transparent with no walls, despite there being beams. Because of that, Harrigan was able to look out over the surrounding.

Looking down from the hill, there was a thickly green virgin forest, which was receiving the dazzling sunray of the early summer, extending beneath one’s eyes. On the other side, where the virgin forest, also called by people 'the black forest', ended, there was a stretched land inhabited by humans. The land ruled by humans was wide and in comparison with the one of witches, it had a larger population. In addition to that, the land governed by witches was gradually reducing together with their population.

(Whether we fight or not, is it extinction that await us? Or perhaps fate? If so, then fighting magnificently and vanishing in the same way should be a brief entertainment…no.)

Harrigan looked at the young witch next to her.

(Fighting recklessly will only result in the death of my daughters. It would still be better for me alone, but taking along these daughters, there’s no way for that.)

"Yuuki."

The girl, whose Harrigan voice reached, raised her head.

"What’s the matter, Harrigan-nee?"

Despit the girl calling her by ‘Sis’, they were not actual sisters. Following their customs, the young witches would call Harrigan, who was their leader, such as Ane-sama, Aneue, Nee. On the other hand, Harrigan would call the young witches, and at the same time the members of this household, as her daughters’ very often.

Harrigan beckoned the witch.

"Come, enter together with me."

The wooden-made bathtub was big, so even if both of them entered, it wouldn’t be that tight.

"Is it fine? It seemed like you were immersed in your thoughts, so won’t I become a bother?"

"That’s fine, that’s fine. Come"

"Well then, sorry for my rudeness."

The girl stood up, taking off her clothes and becoming nude.

Her pair of chest hills were neither small nor big, they were of the beautiful size and shape, suitable at her age. The tips of her breasts were of cute pink color, her shoulders width was narrow, her bottom’s overhang was a bit moderate, her groins area’s shade was dim. In contrast to Harrigan, she had more girlish figure.

What caught the attention was her long shining hair tied up into two ponytails. This too, was contrasting to Harrigan’s bluish black hair.

The girl named Yuuki stepped in with her leg without any restraint and sat in the corner.

"Don’t just sit there in the corner. Hey, come here."

Raising her upper body, Harrigan stretched out her right arm and reached Yuuki’s only to pull her toward herself. She followed straight away without showing any resistance

Making her sit inside the area of Harrigan’s stretched legs, Harrigan wrapped Yuuki’s two chest hills with both of her palms.

"Ha…Harri-nee…."

So as to check their softness, Harrigan moved her palms while kneading.

"No…sto…. ahn."

(I want to give these daughters a future. I want them to have hope. This is as well the part of my duty, me who is the head of this family. But, just what can I do…?)

While contemplating about that, she gently moved both of her palms.

Nevertheless, however hard she pondered, there was no idea, which would break in the deadlock, crossing her mind.

"Ha…Harri-nee…I can’t take it anymore… aah.."

Hm? Returning back to herself, Harrigan stopped her palms.

(Oops, being immersed in my thoughts, I began squeezing them too seriously.)

Having a red face, Yuuki, who felt her body had lost its strength, entrusted her back on Harrigan’s chest.

(Fumu. But, what should I do? I don’t want to sacrifice this cute daughters of mine, but…despite saying so, without fighting we will be eventually driven away from this place. Once this happens, we will go further into the depth of the forest, ending in the world of only humans. Wouldn’t that be the same as falling into ruin?)

Feeling Yuuki’s body on her chest, she looked up into the space with her thoughtful face.

Suddenly, the bath house shook.

The space distorted in a swaying manner.

"W, what’s happening!?"

Harrigan, who took back her face, looked at the sky through the transparent side of the building.

Before one could notice, the sky was covered with dark clouds.

(What’s going on!? Just a while ago, it was a clear blue sky expanding!)

Harrigan could sense that something unusual was happening. Nevertheless, she couldn’t tell what it was.

Suddenly the raindrops began to hit the roof of the bath house.

The falling rain, changed at once into a heavy rainfall, Thunders together with lightings were running through the sky, which was dim, like at the time of dusk.

"What’s this heavy downpour!? Doesn’t it feel as though the bottom of the heaven fell out? Just what an earth… don’t tell me that this could be the sign of the water dragon manifesting?"

Seeing the eerie sight, Harrigan’s body began to shake tremble as well. She could understand that Yuuki was shaking as well from her back.

Immediately after that, a voice was heard from somewhere.

"≠◇▼￡=★!?"

Even though there were only Yuuki and Harrigan, someone else’s voice was heard. Rather than hearing the voice, Harrigan wondered whether it was something echoing inside her mind. And then, it was the voice of a man. Saying that, it was none other that a human man in the vicinity.

(Impossible, this shouldn’t be even possible.)

Searching for the source of the voice, Harrigan run with her eyes in all the directions, however, she couldn’t find the figure nor feel its presence.

I was probably just seeing things – Harrigan nodded as if convincing herself.

So as not to let any stray people nor the spies enter the village and the fortification, or rather, the residing territory of the witches, a barrier was put around the village. Here as well, it should be not possible for any common person to break through the barrier and pass into their territory. In addition to that, by covering their presence it shouldn’t let anyone approach this close, not even one chance on ten thousand, but on a million chances.

However, there was a voice. certainly it was heard. It was neither mishearing nor one’s imagination.

They couldn’t understand the meaning of the words, nevertheless, it was a powerful and high voice,which reached their ears.

"There’s a m-man, a man. (trembled voice.)"

As the proof, Yuuki, the man-hater, lost her composure. Her sensitivity toward men is greater than anyone’s.

"Where, where is the man? (trembled)"

Standing up while being completely naked, she looked on her left and right, and again at her right, moving her body and neck hurriedly.

"Calm down Yuuki."

Despite Harrigan calling out to her, Yuuki turned around her eyes and revolved with her body.

(Good grief, as expected, Yuuki’s hate for men is endless.)

Looking up at the confused Yuuki, who was in front of her eyes, she smiled wryly.

"Still, the voice before, just what on earth was…."

Taking off the smile on her face Harrigan looked over one more time as if searching for something.

Suddenly a man descended from the sky.

Such way of saying wasn’t exact. More accurately, the man fell from the from the ceiling of the bath house.

The descended man dropped into the bathtub making the water splashed.

"What!?"

Harrigan opened widely her eyes.

The fallen man did the same.

"A man a man man a man."

Yuuki too, opened widely her eyes and froze.

Harrigan had her attention caught by the man.

[[Image:Naga01 002-003.jpg|175px|thumb]]

It was a young man, with an strange attire that she had never seen or heard of before.

The man looked up dumbfoundedly in the midair, soon coming back to himself. He moved his body timidly using his head.

Harrigan’s sight and the man’s met each other.

"Wh… who are you? From where and how did you manage to come here?"

"★◇?"

The man responded to Harrigan using some sort of language, nevertheless, she couldn’t understand anything.

(Hm? Could it be that my words doesn’t go through to him? These strange clothes, could he be a foreigner? If so, it doesn’t seem unreasonable, but…)
Regarding the unfamiliar clothes and language, if one were to think he’s a foreigner, one could only agree on that. Nevertheless, you couldn’t agree with the fact that someone appeared all of a sudden in a bath. There was no explanation for that.

As Harrigan observed him, the man raised his right hand and pointed at her.

"☆■▽×≠♀￡§★→∋"

Harrigan frowned her eyebrows.

(I don’t understand at all what he’s saying. At least, it doesn’t seem like he’s an assassin send to kill me by the church.)

Interpreting his words, the man said this

'''"Breasts! And they’re huge!"'''

Being completely soaked, the man sidled up to Harrigan.

"W, w, w, what are you doing!?"

Being overwhelmed by the man’s vigorous attitude and look, Harrigan tried to step back, nevertheless, the edge of the bathtub was in her way.

[[Image:Naga01 041.jpg|175px|thumb]]

The man extended his right hand and, grab! – He tightly grabbed her breast.

"Aah?"

'''"I’ve never seen such splendid pair of breasts!"'''

"Don’t grab them that forcefully!"

'''"What a size, what a smoothness, what an elasticity."'''

"H.. hey, don’t just aah… grab a person’s aah… breasts at your own convenience aah!"

Hearing Harrigan’s scream-like, angry-like, and yet charming voice, Yuuki, who was stiff from being dumbfounded, came back to herself.

"What’s the matter Harrigan-nee."

What entered her eyes, which looked down at her own feet, was a man with a mysterious hairstyle and wrapped in clothes that she had never seen before, using both of his hands to grab Harrigan’s voluptuous breasts. It was a dreadful scene.

"A man a man a man is groping H-Ha-Harri-nee’s br…!?"

Yuuki’s hair was squirming as its color became darker

"Hey Yuuki! Calm down!"

'''"Big breasts! Big breasts! Big breasts!"'''

"You too, calm down! And what are you trying to say!? Speaking of which, stop groping my breasts!"

"Kill, kill, kill, kill the man."

"Argh! I said calm down!"

Harrigan’s long and blueish black hair lifted in the air from the hot bath.

Harrigan’s hair, which became a thick bundle swung vigorously.

Whack.

Harrigan’s hair gave out a dull sound as it knocked Yuuki’s back of head. Her neck folded diagonally.

With her eyes turning white, the girl lost her consciousness and fell in a position, which resembled her upper body hooked on the edge of the bathtub.

'''"I’ll touch them, rub them, lick them, bury in them!"'''

"I don’t know what you’re saying, but you too calm down!"

Whaack!

Once again her bundled hair swung, hitting the man in the back of his head, from which the man’s eyes turned white. Its hardness was unbelievable for a hair..

Losing the power from his own body, the man released his hands from Harrigan’s chest and lost his consciousness while falling on the top of her body.

"Just what’s with this man?"

Harrigan muttered while gazing sternly at the exhausted young man with an unusual clothing and look, hanging on her body.

"I’ve never heard before the language that he speaks, I wonder if he’s a foreigner… whether that’s the case or not, nobody should be able of breaking through my barrier without me noticing it. There should be no one able to get this close without me noticing it. It would be a different case for a witch like me, but at least, not for any human living in this world. If so, does it means that this guy came form another world? So he’s not a foreigner, but rather someone from a different world?"

Harrigan shifted slightly her sight.

Next to the man, the eyes of the naked Yuuki turned white as she lost her consciousness.

(Good grief, I’ll leave the inquiry of this guy’s true identity for later. First, I’ll have to take care of Yuuki so that she doesn’t go berserk, as once she wakes up, she will try to kill this man. I don’t know who this guy is, so it’s more reason to not let Yuuki murder him. Assuming he’s really fell from another world….)

Once again Harrigan caught the man in her sight.

A man with a weird hairstyle.

A man wearing queer clothing.

A man, whose words are unfamiliar.

A man that suddenly fell from the sky.

(I wonder if he knows of any way to save us from our crisis.)

Harrigan stood up from the bathtub. The hot water, which covered her smooth skin, turned into droplets while slipping off.

Her eyes, which looked down at the man, stopped at his waist.

"This guy’s sword has a strange appearance, doesn’t it? Well, rather than the appearance, If he wakes up only to swing at us with that sword, it will be troublesome. Should I take it out?"

Bending her waist, Harigan reached her hand toward his left lower back.

"What? It’s inserted in just a sash? It’s quite a careless way of wearing a sword. But."

As Harrigan raised, she stared at the specialized weapon, which she took from the man’s waist.

"It’s slightly curved. Indeed, this isn’t a shape one would see in this vicinity. It’s even different from the scimitar used in the eastern part of this world. Interesting. Still, how do you pull this out? Could it be, like this?"

While Pulling out the man’s sword, Harrigan encountered some trouble.

"Its out."

She raised the blade, which was radiating in silver color, in front of her eyes.

"It’s quite heavy. The blade is too, thick. And it looks beautiful more than anything. It feels as though my sight is attracted by it…but, it isn’t the right moment to admire. I’ve to deal quickly with this guy and Yuuki."

Once Harrigan put back the sword into its scabbard, she placed it casually on the wooden floor. After that, she turned around and walked toward the exit to open the door.

Carrying a clothing basket, which was inside the small room, Harrigan returned to the bath house. Once she kneeled down and put the basket on the floor, she curled up the clothes inside the basket, so as to grab them.

Remaining in that posture, she used her index finger nail to cut a single string of her long hair.

As soon as she transferred her magic power into that string, it immediately became stiff and stretched straightforwardly.

Harrigan thrusted the clothes, which she held in her left hand, with the hair string that turned into a long needle. Once it pierced through, her clothes began to squirm like a living object.

Her wriggling clothes jumped off her hand and descended onto the bath floor, squirming while gradually changing its shape. Finally, it took the form of human.

"Your master Harrigan Halliway Haindora orders you. Go and call my daughters – Ais and Lela."

Her clothes, which took the shape of human, bowed down toward her, just like a human being. Then, it jumped out from the bath house.

=== Part 3 ===

"Ane-sama, it’s me Ais."

"It’s Le-la."

Guided by Harrigan clothes, the two young witches – Ais Aishuria Haindora and Lela Laylah Haindora, who run up the hill to arrive, bowed down toward Harrigan as she stood naked on the bath house floor.

The daughters of Harrigan, in order to show that they’re part of her clan, they have the same third name.

"What’s the matter?"

Putting a smile on her face, the witch with a large build asked.

"Sorry for calling you out deliberately. I need you to help."

"Yeah, don’t worry."

The two of them gave the impression of being around their mid-to-late teens.

The one with the large build and pleasant smile was Ais. In comparison with Lela, she was taller, and the parts which should come out on her body have a great volume. She gave the aura of a grow-up.

On the other hand, Leyla’s physique wasn’t much different from Yuuki….rather than that, the parts which should come out were less than Yuuki’s. After all, if truth be told, she was tiny breasted.

However, both Ais and Lela wore clothes which exposed lots of skin. In Lela’s case, she had some kind of short skirt made of countless amulets coiling around her waist which standed out.

[[Image:Naga01 047.jpg|175px|thumb]]

"I want you to carry Yuuki."

Harrigan sticked out her right index finger and pointed it toward her feet.

"Just what have Yuuki done again…"

While Making a wry smile, Ais moved her eyes outside the bathtub. Once she noticed that it wasn’t just Yuuki, her breath was taken away.

"Wait, is that a man?!"

Lela, who had the same expression until now, as well raised her eyebrows with a twitch.

"Could he be an assassin sent by the chu-rch?"

The hair of the two girls shaked because of the goosebumps.

"No, don’t panic. It’s nothing like that. Probably."

"…..Huh?"

Ais and Lela cocked their heads in puzzlement.

I think the novel says: Harrigan explained quickly all that happened until now.

"So something like that happened?"

Ais opened widely her eyes while looking at both the man and Harrigan.

On the other hand, the daughter named Lela didn’t seem to show any surprisement.

Speaking with a monotonous tone

– It’s hard to believe, but there’s no way for ane-sama to li-e. And it’s a fact that there’s a man lying down he-re. If so, I have no choice but to a-ccept it.

As if trying to convince herself, she murmured that.

Trying to calm herself down with a deep breath, Ais faced toward Harrigan.

"Then, what should we do, ane-sama?"

"In any case, we can only inquiry information from this guy. That’s why I called you, thinking that you would help me carrying both of them. Lela will help to establish a mutual communication with this guy."

There was a reason for what Harrigan is saying. Lela possess a magic that allows communication with a foreigner that only speak its own language.

"Understood, but…"

While nodding, Lela cocked her head in puzzlement..

"It would be different story if he was a foreig-ner, but, it’s the first time for me to establish a mutual understanding with someone who comes from a diffe-rent world."

"Give it a try and if it fails, we will think of some other way at that time."

"Got tha-t."

"Ais, I’ll entrust those two to you."

"Yes, ane-sama."

Ais grabbed with both hands the body of the unconscious Yuuki, who was completely naked, and lightly lifted it. She put Yuuki on her right shoulder. Then, while holding Yuuki’s body, she bent her waist and did the same with the man drenched in water.

It’s true that compared to Lela or Yuuki, Ais had a bigger build. Nevertheless, she wasn’t a giant. In fact, Harrigan was taller than her. Judging by her looks, her muscles didn’t seen to be specially developed and yet, that physical strength.

Aisu seemed to be the owner of a monstrous strength, which one wouldn’t guess from her appearance.

"Where should I carry them ane-sama?"

Ais asked casually as if not sensing the weight of two people.

"For the time being, carry them to my room. I don’t want cause to cause any turmoil. Carry them silently so as not to bring other daughters’ attention."

"Understood."

"And Lela, won’t you please carry the sword lying over there?"

Lela looked at where Harrigan’s finger was pointing.

"Th-at? It has an strange shape, isn’t i-t?"

"You don’t know it either?"

"It’s my first time seeing i-t."

"It was sashed to the man’s waist."

Frowning her eyebrows, Lela directed her look at the man carried by Ais.

"He had a sword sash-ed. Then, isn’t he an assas-sin?"

"No, he’s not, probably."

(That’s because, that guy went to grab my breasts without showing any sign of drawing the sword.)

Naturally, Lela didn’t know about the man conducting such action, she couldn’t understand on what basis Harrigan was putting her assumption, but if she says it’s not, then it probably does mean so. For the time being, Lela buried her hatchet.

"Well then, go ahead, I’ll catch up with you soon."

"Yes, ane-sa-ma."

After Harrigan saw the two leave the bath house, the puppet familiar turned back to be normal clothes and then she put them on with a calm attitude.

=== Part 4 ===

Harrigan made Ais lay down the man on the bed inside her room, and the naked Yuuki was rolled on a thick cloth spread on the floor and had a bed cover put on.

"Lela, please carry that sword to my study and put it where no one can see."

Once Lela left, Harrigan moved her look toward Yuuki, who was rolling inside the bad sheet.

(There’s a fear that Yuuki might rampage once she wakes up. It can’t be helped.)

Harrigan ordered Ais to wrap Yuuki’s body into a roll using a thin cloth and in addition to that, a rope that was prepared. What’s more, so as to make sure that the other witches don’t hear Yuuki screaming, they put a mouth gag on Yuuki’s mouth. Harrigan still didn’t want to expose the man’s presence.

Due to the riot in the bath house, Harrigan’s body became cold. Because the man’s clothing were damp, there was a risk of him catching a cold. Harrigan kindled the fireplace, so as try to warm up the room.

Harrigan rubbed the fire-igniting stones together and triggered them to ignite. Once she threw them into the fireplace, the flame burned up red inside of it.

She run her sight over the man with a glance.

(Even if his clothes are wet, there’s probably no way for us to strip him at at our convenience.)

Harrigan didn’t lack the curiosity to see the naked young man, nevertheless, she was restraining herself in front of Ais.

(In the first place, even if we can strip the man, we have no spare clothes for him, and we can’t leave him naked until his clothes get dry. Despite that, we don’t know if people from another world can catch a cold.)

The room inside the wooden-made building gave out a simplistic impression. One could see documents, the writing desk and the chair put in the corner. On top of that, there was a bookshelf placed near the wall. One could say that all of these were handmade wooden goods, which used lumbered trees from the forest.

On that bookshelf, there were paper books lined up, which was rare in this period.

The paper was a high grade product, which was passed in no time from the eastern world. What’s more, in this period, there were no printing machines, therefore, the books were copied by hand. Because of that, it was not possible to mass produce them. that’s another reason why paper books were precious..

Other than the desk and the bookshelf, as expected, there were only a wooden-made bed and a small side table placed inside the room.

On top of the bed lay the unconscious young man in his strange clothes, who was stretched longly on it. Yuuki, who was roundly tied up and wrapped in the thick cloth, lay on the floor while naked.

Seeing the impossible scene, which unfolded inside her room, Harrigan felt as if getting a headache. At the same time, she herself felt the urge to laugh.

Returning to the room after a while, Lela occupied the front of the table while writing something on a small piece of paper.

Ais and Harrigan sat at the brought stools and watched silently Lela’s work.

The sound of the blazing firewood reverberated inside the room as its air warmed up.

Once Lela finished her preparations, Harrigan made Ais use the prepared smelling salts for the man to smell. Without having to wait, the man woke up.

"～X=≦∴℃#§★◇▲↑←⊆#†∩!"

After the man lifted his body, he faced toward Harrigan while speaking to her as if pressing for an answer.

"As expected, I don’t understand anything. Well, wouldn’t that be obvious? Despite that, this is a mysterious language for one’s ears."

"十˧△¶#>≡⇔∩↓◆☆*♂♀〆?"

"Well, calm down… even if I say that, you probably won’t understand."

Raising her right hand, Harrigan expanded its palm in front of the man’s eyes.

For now, stop talking – such was the meaning of her action, but, did the man sensed her intention? Once he closed his mouth. he scratched his head as if saying ‘good grief’.

(Hmm. He seems to have quite guts.)

Harrigan became dumbfounded and at the same time, filled with admiration at the man’s defiant like attitude.

(How can he remain this calm under such circumstances? Is this guy a big-shot or just a fool?)

Not letting her thoughts leak out, Harrigan shifted her sight to Lela.

"Are the preparations done?"

"Yes, ane-sa-ma."

Harrigan, who received two amulets presented by Lela, put up one of them in front of her eyes and pressed it against her own forehead. Even if she released her hand, the charm would stick to it.

Holding one more amulet in the left hand, she presented it to the man while showing her forehead with her empty right hand. She tapped her own charm with the index finger.

You too, follow my example and put this on your forehead. – is what she wanted to say, nevertheless, the man seemed to understand her as he received the amulet and slammed it vigorously on his forehead. Just like in case of Harrigan, the amulet wouldn’t fall despite him released his hand.

She slowly talked toward him.

"Do you, understand my words? Who are you? Where did you came from?"

Pressing the amulet against his forehead, the man frowned his eyebrows. Nevertheless, he finally raised his head and spoke.

"★※∪……words……▲↓……are becoming….understandable?"

"Oh, did he comprehend it?"

Harrigan looked at Lela, who waited next to her.

"As expected of Lela."

"Hmph."

Lela smiled slightly while puffing out her tiny chest.

"Well, this much is nor-mal."

"Ara. Even though you weren’t sure whether it would work or not."

Ais teased her from the side.

"I was just being mo-dest."

"Well, let’s leave it like that."

Hmm.

Lela stared at Ais

"Hey, won’t you be quiet?"

Being warned by Harrigan the two of them draw back their necks.

"Well then, how about now? Do you understand what I’m saying?"

"Yes, I do… but, this is an strange sensation. It feels like your words are reverberating directly in my head. Is it because of this?"

Using his right palm, the man tapped the amulet on his forehead.

"Thats right, if you consider it as an interpretation device foreign languages, then it should be fine."

"Wow, I wonder if it’s more convenient than strange. Well, speaking of strange…

After turning back his head, the man shifted in turns his sight over Harrigan, Ais and Lela.

"You’re also strange. Your hair color, skin color, eyes pupil, and then your clothes. I have never seen anything like it."

"For us too, it’s the first time that we see someone like you with that strange attire. So, who are you and from where are you from? How did you came here?"

"Me? I’m… I’m… Hmm? I’m… Who am I?"

"No, that’s what I’m asking."

The man folded his arms and, Hmm, started to make low groans.

"I don’t know. I mean, I can’t remember from where I am or who I am."

Releasing his folded arms, the man used both of his hands to scratch his loose hair.

"I am…my name is….damnit, what is this unpleasant feeling…"

Harrigan, Lela and Ais, all of them looked each other’s face.

"Ane-sama, could it be that this man, has lost his memory?"

Harrigan breathed out a sigh.

"If that’s the case, then he doesn’t know anything. now, what to do?"

"No… Naga…"

The man muttered as if moaning.

"Naga? What’s that?"

Being asked by Harrigan, the man released both of his hands from his face and turned toward her with a troubled expression.

"I have the feeling… That it’s a part of my name but… other than that, I can’t remember anything else. Just who am I?"

Harrigan pondered about the man’s words while hiding her own surprise.

(Naga… as in [{{furigana|Dragon King|Naga|}}]? Is he serious about that being part of his name? Or is this man just a lunatic?)

"Well, leaving my matter aside."

The man lifted his head.

"Who are you people?"

"You’re switching the topic too fast!"

Harrigan was a little taken aback.

"No, even if I try hard to remember, I won’t remember anything, so it can’t be helped right?"

"Hmm, You’ve got a positive way of thinking. No, rather, ain’t you turning on me?"

"Once I manage to recollect something, I’ll explain you. First, tell me something about you."

"Allright."

As soon as she corrected her seating posture on the stool, Harrigan pointed at herself.

"I’m Harrigan Halliway Haindora, the head of the witches that reside here."

The man wrinkled up his eyebrows.

"Witch…Witches? What are witches?"

"So I’ve to explain from that part? But…"

Harrigan looked up at the air while she pondered.

"Fu…mu, explaining to a person that doesn’t have a single clue is surprisingly difficult, isn’t it?"

Finally, returning her head position, Harrigan.

"If I were to describe witches with a single word, then it would be women that can use magic."

"Is that so? I don’t quite get it, but I get it."

"Which one is that?!"

"I don’t understand that thing called magic. Still, even if I am told incomprehensible words one by one, however much time passess, I won’t be able to progress, I see it that way. Leaving the minor parts for later and understanding them little by little should be fine. For the time being, I want to roughly grasp the things."

"Hou?"

What surprised Harrigan was that the man could unexpectedly maintain his calm attitude despite being thrown into a different world while losing his memories. On top of that, his way of dealing with current situations was surprisingly calm as well.

(Normally, if one were to learn about their own lost memories, they would feel shaken and confused, but…Well, could it be that his nerves are 2 or 3 times over the normal? Or could it be that his pattern of thinking is broken?)

"Well, What I want to know, or rather the thing I should know, is where is this place? And what year it is?"

"If I were to be told that, I could only say it’s the inside of ‘the black forest’. As for the year… If we were to use the calendar from the neighbouring country, it would the year 12 of Cassandra III. Then, using our chronicle it would be 415 years after the death of the great witch, Echidna."

"As expected, I don’t get it at all."

While thinking hard about it, the man talked quietly to himself.

"I’ve the feeling like I’ve heard about the country of westerners. I wonder if perhaps I wasn’t fired to such a country."

Hearing the man’s words, Harrigan

"Westerners…. what’s that?"

Once she asked, the man moved his sight toward Ais and Lela and replied.

"Just like the two of you, I’m speaking about people having red hair and blue eyes."

"My hair ain’t not red?"

"Ah, that’s right. Your’s would be of a similar color to ours."

"Ours? So the inhabitants of your world, does everyone has the same black hair? You can remember that?"

"No, that’s not it. That’s instinctive, rather than having or not the memories or the knowledge. I think it would be close to that. At least, in my world, the two of them… no."

The man shifted his eyes to the bagwormed appearance of Yuuki, who was on inside the sleeping mat, on the floor.

"At least there was no person who had hair color and eyes color like this one."

"Well then, please speak whatever you know based on your instinct. It should be fine like that."

"Even if you tell me that."

The man folded his arms while cocking his head many times.

"Once I try to explain something, it won’t convert into words. Saying that, what I said before won’t occur to me precisely."

"It’s somehow bothersome, isn’t it?"

Saying so, Harrigan made a sour face.

"I don’t feel particularly troubled by that. Indeed, I have forgotten about who I am, and then, I was fired into an unknown place, but, like that, I was rescued by you. Also, it seems that we can understand each other, so there’s no need to panic nor rush the things."

"You… certainly have the guts, don’t you?"

"Really? I’m just trying to accept the things in front of my eyes."

"That’s not something to be done casually, it’s hard to accept the reality in front of one’s eyes."

Despite the man thinking that there seemed to be something more in what she said, he decided not to point that out.

(I probably shouldn’t dig too much into another person’s circumstances. Rather than that.)

"Were I to say what the big problem is right now"

Saying that, Harrigan bent forward her body.

"Hou? what it is? try to say it."

"I feel hungry."

Not just Harrigan, but Ais and Lela as well, were taken aback by the man’s words. Finally, despite Harrigan raising her voice, she was smiling pleasantly.

"No no, that’s a big deal. To think you would say that you’re hungry under such circumstances, are you truly someone important? or just a big fool?"

"When you’re hungry, you can’t fight, or so they say… Hmm?"

"What’s the matter?"

"No…war… war? I’ve the feeling like I do nothing but that."

"Hou? a war? If it’s a war, then we do too. Despite saying so, recently, we haven’t won anything. We, witches, used to fight on equal terms with human armies, but now…"

Saying that, Harrigan laughed while self-mocking.

Hm? the man raised his face.

"Humans? So the enemy you’ve fighted with are humans?"

"That’s right. We witches and the humans aren’t compatible with each other. It could be said that we are… sworn enemies?"

"I don’t quite get it. For me you look like humans but ain’t you as well ‘humans’?"

"We do. It’s just that we are humans, who can use magic. We didn’t say that we aren’t people, but, humans would still distinct us. They would rigorously distinct and discriminate us, because, humans can’t use magic. Therefore, they would refer to those who can as ‘evil witches’. Witches are the established enemies of humans, that’s why they must exterminate us."

"You’re evil beings?"

Hearing the simplistic question directed by the man, a self-mocking smile reappeared on Harrigan’s face.

"Judging from the point of view of those, who can’t use magic, it probably seems so."

"Being filled with envy and jealousy over those, who unlike them, possess special abilities, in the end, you would say they will wish for those possessors to vanish? Indeed, they’re small-minded guys."

Harrigan directed her sight filled with sarcasm at the man.

"You too, won’t you probably fear and disdain us after seeing our power?"

"Huh? Why should I?"

"No, even if you say so…You are not scared of those with unusual abilities? Isn’t it eerie?"

"Whether you hold abilities or not, it depends on each person. If I were to be scared of possessors of abilities that I don’t have, I probably wouldn’t be able to live in this world. I still don’t know anything about your ‘magic’, but, you were the ones that rescued me. Were you to be hostile against humans, you’d probably just throw me out."

"That’s right, rather than getting rid of you."

Harrigan run her sight over Yuuki, who was rolling on the floor.

"If it were Yuuki, she will probably scream things like ‘ kill’."

Saying that, the man’s face became unpleasant as he looked at Harrigan.

"Why is it that only this girl is hostile toward me and ready to fight?"

"Even if I told you."

While answering, Harrigan made a depressed face.

"Yuuki’s disdain for men is bottomless."

"Despite there probably being other men, is that fine with you?"

"No, there are no men in our place."

"What? What’s the meaning of that?"

"It means exactly what I said. We are a group consisting of only women. In the first place, only women can become witches. That’s why Yuuki’s great disdain for men wouldn’t burst until now. Consider it as its spasm due to your sudden appearance."

"I… Is that so? I don’t get it, but I understand."

(Is that an unserius attitude, or rather a composed one? Somehow I can’t tell about this guy. More importantly…)

"Ais, Sorry for troubling you, but can you bring him a meal? I don’t mind if they’re leftovers."

"Yes, ane-sama."

"Shall I he-lp?"

"That’s fine. You stay here, Leyla. If the magic of the amulet runs out, you will probably have to replace it with another."

"That’s righ-t."

"Well then, I am going."

Seeing off Ais, Harrigan faced again the man.

"With that, please wait for the meal."

Haha – because the man started to laugh loudly, Harrigan’s expression became suspicious.

"What? What’s the matter?"

"This should be the continuation of what I said previously, but for you to let someone like me, whose origin is unknown, to eat, there’s no way for you to be evil."

"I’m glad for your words, but, not everyone is as understanding as you. There’s no way for them to understand what’s right or wrong. Rather, it’s because of the scarce number of people like you, that we have been fighting for a long time with humans."

"Well, I don’t understand, but, I’ve the feeling like there was no end to those worthless wars in the country, where I lived…"

The man looked up at the air with a distant eye as if reeling the memories which he had lost.

=== Part 5 ===

"Sorry for making you wait."

Soon after, Ais returned while holding a tray in both hands.

Once she put the wooden tray on the table, she grabbed an apple, which ripened early in the spring. This sort of fruits and wild plants were abundant in this black forest.

"I’ll now squeeze the fruit juice."

As soon she grabbed the apple in her right arm, she lifted it over the wooden-made wine cup covered with filter cloth. Ei – saying so, she inserted power into her right hand.

The flatly crushed apple dripped with juice. Seeing that, the man was a little taken aback.

"You’ve got an incredible strength."

"If it’s a person’s head, I can easily smash it single-handedly. So please don’t cause anything weird, ok?"

(This girl, is scary.)

While the man shuddered up, Harrigan smiled as as she spoke.

"For Ais, this much of arm power and gripping force would be just fragments of her ability. Once she uses her magic, she can further enhance her strength. Crushing stones, lifting big rocks, breaking a bear’s spine, and even catching and flinging away a one-horn rhinoceros."

"A bear’s spine!? That’s amazing. And what’s a rhinoceros?"

"They’re huge beasts with a big horn that lives in the plains. They are taller than me and 10-15 times heavier than an adult person."

"And you can fling away that guy?"

"Ooh, that’s right. Once she wrap its horn, she throws it like this- Eiyaah!"

Lifting up from her stool, Harrigan demonstrated how it looks.

"Ane-sama, you’re exaggerating things."

Ais’s cheeks became sullen.

Kuku – leaking a smile, Harrigan sat again.

"Well, Ain’t you scared?"

"Indeed it’s scary, but, such a thing probably be the same as a guy holding a weapon. There’s no particular reason for me to disdain you, I think."

(Hmm, that’s an interesting way of thinking from that man. Is he either thinking logically or rationally? At least, it doesn’t come from his sentiment.)

Seeing only people, who would feel emotional hatred toward witches, Harrigan took a deep interest for the man’s response and way of thinking.

The young Ais and Lela, who had never face anyone directly like Harrigan, weren’t hooked by the man’s way of judging things and thinking as much as Harrigan, nevertheless, despite them believing the man’s talk about him losing his memories and not knowing anyone, they were surprised and in admiration for the man having a calm attitude, even though he was had to face such an unusual situation.

"Because we have finished our breakfast, unfortunately, there’s not much left, but…"

After Harrigan said so, Aisu present the tray, which had baguette, soup and vegetables.

Soon after he received it, the man put the it on his thigh. Ais added the wine cup containing the juice squeezed by her on the tray.

"Oh, sorry for the trouble. Well then, Bon appetit."

The moment he reached out his hand toward the food, he stopped moving and plucked the amulet on his forehead.

"This thing is in my way."

Hanging down from till his nose tip, indeed, it was bothersome while eating.

"Is it fine for me to take it out?"

"That’s right. Maybe behind the head… no, it should be better to attach it on the back of the neck?"

As Harrigan looked at Lela.

"I don’t think it will cause any problem in its func-tion."

"Please repaste it."

Nodding a little, Lela detached the amulet on the man’s forehead. So as to peek behind the guy’s back, she bent her body and reattached the amulet behind his neck.

"How is it? Can you still understand my words?"

At Harrigan’s question, the man lifted his right arm while saying that there was no problem.

"Well, then, shall I eat? My stomach already feels hungry."

The man extended his hands to the bowls on the tray and put the vegetables and the bread in his mouth one after another.

"This thing….Heh? I see…it has quite a different taste… but, it’s delicious."

"You eat or talk? Decide on which one."

Not just Harrigan, but also Ais and Lela were watching astonished as the man was vigorously eating the food.

(This guy, he just bite completely into what was given to him without restraint nor leniency. Does he not know how to doubt strangers? Or could it be he’s trusting us? Is he an idiot or a clever man? Is he someone important or perhaps a lunatic? I can’t read him at all. Despite that, it’s highly probable he’s not a person from this world. It seems there’s no sense in searching for clues, so should we look after him for a while? At worst, he could be a form of killing time. If he tries to harm us, we can just kill him, but, once it comes to that…)

Harrigan took a glimpse at Yuuki, who was tied up roundly in the ropes and rolling on the floor. She breathed out a sigh.

(The big question would be how to suppress Yuuki.)

=== Part 6 ===

Soon after Harrigan was pondering on any idea, Yuuki woke up.

While being half-awake, she dimly looked over the inside of the room only to eye a man, who was energetically eating, which made her woke up at once. Yuuki tried to jump up, nevertheless, being tied up with the ropes, she couldn’t rise. On top of that, because she had a gag inserted, she couldn’t talk. Rather than trying to understand how she ended like this, Yuuki continued to move while trying to raise her body and kept shouting at the man.

"Mnn! Mnnnn! Mmmnnnnnn!"

With a perplexed face, the man ceased to eat and looked at Harrigan, Lela and Ais.

"I don’t understand at all what she’s saying?"

At the man’s question, Lela responded calmly.

"Kill you, I’ll absolutely kill you,… is what she’s say-ing."

"You can understand!?"

"That’s because we have hung out since we were li-ttle."

"Oh, that’s why."

The man felt awkward to ignore Yuuki with the killing intention while continuing to eat.

Thinking about what he should do, He looked at Harrigan.

Harrigan shifted her sight from Yuuki, who continued her attempt to scream out while bending her body like a shrimp, and breathed out a sigh as she faced toward Aisu, telling her "do it!" with her eye sign.

Ais, who moved forward, kneeled in front of Yuuki.

Putting a smile on her face, she grabbed Yuuki’s both shoulders and raised her while standing up by herself. Because Ais’s was taller than Yuuki, she lifted Yuuki to the level of her eyes. Yuuki’s toes were floating in the air.

Her body was shaking and her appearance, which was tied up in a roll, gave the impression of a bagworm swaying in the air.

Aisu grabbed firmly Yuuki’s shoulders over the ropes digging into them.

"Hmm hmm hmm!"

Yuuki’s face bent in pain.

With a casual face, Lela interpreted.

"Ow ow ow… is what she say-s."

Raising her arms further, Ais looked up to Yuuki’s face and, while keeping her smiling face, said.

"I wonder if you can stop making fuss, Yuuki. Ane-sama is also troubled. You understand that?"

"Hmm, mnnn, hmm, mnn, hmmmm!"

"I Got it, ow,I got it, ow, my shoulders are breaking… she say-s."

(What’s with that pleasant way of doing things?)

Taken aback, the man looked at Yuuki and Ais.

"I’m glad, you understood."

When Ais loosens her hands power, Yuuki’s neck loses its strength and fell to the front.

Aisu wouldn’t cease her smile.

(That girl Ais, despite her gentle look, her inner self is the most fearsome.)

The man couldn’t hide his surprise at the divergence in both Ais’s look and inside.

"Well then, you will remain obedient until that person finishes its eating, ok? But, I’m not saying it’s fine for you to make a fuss after that. You got that?"

kaku kaku kaku - Yuuki shook her head without strength.

"Ah, aaah、I was suffocating!"

Yuuki repeated taking deep breaths.

Ais, who turned back…

"With that, please continue your meal."

She urged the man.

"No, even if I’m told please, is it really fine?"

Having such suspicion, the man looked at Harrigan.

"I don’t mind. Please eat quickly. After that, I would like to talk a bit."

"That’s right. I want as well ask some questions, so should I finish this meal at once?"

The man grabbed the dishes again.

"Despite that, why do you hold such grudge toward men? Did something happened to you long time ago?"

As the man spoke nonchalantly, at that moment, Yuuki’s hair moved abruptly.

While looking down, a small muttering came from Yuuki’s mouth.

"Don’t… bring…. front… me."

"Haa? I cannot hear you."

Being in a rolled position, Yuuki warped her upper body while lifting her face. With a terrifically angry expression, she glared at the man and shouted…

"Don’t bring up that subject in front of me!!"

Despite being inside of the room, the wind arose and hitted Naga’s face and body.

Even till then she was speaking about ‘killing’, ‘ driving out’ men, nevertheless, it was clear now that her seriousness was different from that time.

The man jumped back unintentionally and touched his left waist on a spurt.

Not feeling the sensation in his right hand, the man looked at his left waist and smacked his lips.

(There’s nothing. Certainly I…)

"This is bad!"

Harrigan shouted sharply at Ais.

"Stop her!"

The ropes that binded Yuuki’s body began to split up. At the same time, Ais jumped toward Yuuki.

"Things like men, things like men, kill, kill, kill, I’ll kill them all?"

Snap

Hearing a weird sound, once the man moved his sight toward them, Ais twisted the girl’s neck from behind as she clinged to her.

Yuuki’s eyes turned white with her power leaving her body.

"That was dangerous, wasn’t it?"

Ais kept Yuuki in the same neck twisting position while smiling toward the man.

"No… just now, didn’t her neck snap? Will she be right? Her eyes seems to have turned white."

Looking down at Yuuki, whose body lost its strength, Ais spoke in an indifferent manner.

"Certainly, it will be fine. Yuuki is quite robust."

"I… is that so? In that case it should be fine, but, just now…"

The man moved his face toward Harrigan with the intention of wanting to ask, nevertheless, she wouldn’t break down that stern expression.

"Don’t inquire the reason behind Yuuki’s disdain for men. I too, don’t feel like explaining that to you."

"Got that… I’ll pay more attention from now on."

"Please do that. Rather than that, finish your food quickly."

"No, that’s fine. My stomach is already full, and also I don’t feel like eating more after making her angry with that harsh words of mine."

"Is that so?"

"Yea, it’s enough. Thanks for the meal, it was delicious."

Once the man returned to his original seat, he deeply bowed his head towards Harrigan.

"You rescued me, so I’ll say my thanks. Had it not been for you and me being given this meal, I’d probably had a dog’s death."

"It’s not a big deal, so don’t mind."

"No no, I consider this to be a big matter. Just a while ago, some words popped inside my head, which are [a debt of a night’s stay and a meal]<ref>It's from a japanese expression, it means to repay a debt of gratitude. </ref>? but, it it feels as though it applies in my situation. That’s why I’ll without doubt return this gratitude."

"You don’t have to take it that seriously."

Saying that, Harrigan too, didn’t seem to be in a bad mood.

The man bowed down to Ais and Lela.

"Thank you for rescuing me. You have my thanks."

"No, don’t mention it."

"Don’t worry about i-t."

Being thanked by the man, Lela and Ais didn’t seem to be that dissatisfied, nevertheless, Ais kept bending Yuuki’s neck while having a much queer expression.

"Well then, shall we talk a little?"

Saying that to the man, Harrigan gave instructions to Lela and Ais.

"I’ll have a small talk with this guy. Lela, you wait here. Ais, take Yuuki to your room and wake her up. Still, watch over her so to not let her go violent."

"Yes, ane-sama."

"And both of you, don’t talk about this man to other girls, got that?"

"Yes, ane-sama."

"Got th-at."

"Well then, come this way."

Being invited by Harrigan, the man left her room.

=== Part 7 ===

The room to which Harrigan led was a study room.

There was a bookshelf together with lined up books inside the bedroom as well, nevertheless, in this one, all the four walls were placed with high bookshelves, which were packed with books. The room gave out the impression of being buried inside books.

"You’re quite a reader, aren’t you? I Can’t even tell what kind of documents this are."

"These are indispensable for magic research and development. Rather than that, sit."

The man,who stood next to a bookshelf while staring at the document, turned around.

Sitting on the wooden stool, Harrigan waited for the man to sit.

"Because you’ve lost your memory, I’ll restrain from asking you personal questions. In exchange, I’m thinking of telling you more about us."

"That would helps a lot. I too, want to learn fast about this world and you."

"I’ll explain that generally and briefly. There might be things, which you don’t understand, but leave the questions for later. Anyway for not just listen."

"Yeah, got that. Well then I’ll entrust you with that."

=== Part 8 ===

"First, I’ll tell you more about the war between witches and humans. Just as I said, we are disdained and estranged by humans due to us possessing unusual powers. While continuing to fight against the humans, we fell into decline, and it’s not just our household. Right now, the whole race of witches are on decline. Our race is on the verge of dying."

"However, the biggest reason behind that is our number. If I were to say why, it’s because we lose our power once we give birth to children. It’s not like we will lose instantly our power, but certainly it’s a big damage to that. That’s why, we can’t casually bear children. Once a witch diminish in her magic power, the only job remaining for her is raising a child."

"The partner is a man, you see? they would be chosen at one’s own discretion. For us, the father doesn’t play a big role. Another problem is that the born child doesn’t necessarily possess the quality of a witch. That’s right, there’s no telling whether or not a child will house magic power. That’s why our number won’t increase."

"A long time ago, it was bit better. A long time ago… that is when humans weren’t that many and the countries established by humans were not that strong. Back then, we were more powerful than now and there were people who would acknowledge us, nevertheless, the time has changed."

"The people passed through the mountains, creating new and numerous cities. Even now they’re doing so. The agriculture developed and so the number of harvest, which resulted in natural growth of population. Then, the people expanded here and there, increasing the conflict between both sides."

"We too can’t forget about the church’s expanding influence. In the first place, they’re our true enemy. The reason why there’s no compatibility between humans and witches is due to their influence. While considering us as heretics, they spread about us being the ones that should be destroyed. The more they implemented their roots in this world, the more influence they had, making us becoming the enemy of humans."

"Like that humans recognized us as their enemy and whenever there had a chance or a gap, they would seize our lands. Trying to exterminate us, they began to commenced assaults. We are more superior in terms of individual combat skills, nevertheless, they have more war power than us. Even if we can use magic, taking several hundreds of human soldiers… is a task next to impossible."

"Because of that, our lands were gradually encroached. Even now, we have been pushed quite an area, into the black forest."

"Ah, besides us, there are several other clans that lives in this forest. However, we don’t associate much. It seems that the humans describe us all with the term ‘the country of witches’ but, our activity doesn’t include deep integration with other clans. It seems that a long time ago, when the great witch was alive, the clans had stronger connections with each other. Despite that, we are all treated the same by humans."

"We would become the first to bear the brunt of Cassandra kingdom’s forces, since they’re the nearest human country to us. We somehow repelled it for the time being, but we don’t know how long we can keep resisting. If we were to fall out, the whole black forest would probably be in the humans’ hands. It would be much a different story if the other clans united, but…"

Harrigan talked dimly without anger, excitement not any lament.

"Then here is our fort. Beginning with this one, the majority of those who fight are packed in several of these forts located in this forest, beginning with this one. Children and elderly live in a hidden village. I’ll say it, but I can’t bring you there, and I don’t have that much trust on you yet."

"I understand this much."

The man raised his hand as to express his understand.

After finishing to explain in general, Harrigan breathed out a sigh and continued her while saying – well then.

"I explained broadly about us and our current situation, but did you understand?"

"That’s right. I don’t quite get it, but I understand in general."

"That’s why! which one do you mean!?"

"That one. I could understand roughly the course of action, but, after all, to know the things in detail, the only thing I can do is to experience them… or such."

Fufu – Harrigan smiled pleasantly.

(What an interesting man. Well, leaving aside whether he’s a clever man or a fool, it’s fine for him not to be scared of us.)

Harrigan had her interest caught by the man in front of her. No, perhaps she was attracted by the man itself.

The man that descended out of sudden from the air.

Even for a famous witch as Harrigan, a magic that could send people to the distant places was not seen or unheard of. Not to mention, rather than being fired from a distant place, it seemed more like he crossed the spacetime from the other place.

Harrigan thought about wanting to investigate that phenomenon.

And not just that.

She also wanted to learn more about the man himself.

A man, who could accept the situation with such a composure, despite being thrown into different world.

A man who asserts as someone unperturbed by emotions, of a deep faith that feels obligated to pay a meal and a night stay debt, and someone that doesn’t make differences between us witches and the humans.

The man, who held the name of Naga.

The word, which Harrigan knew, held the implication of ‘dragon’ or ‘dragon king’.

She didn’t know whether the word indicated his name in that way. However, the man that fell from the sky, whose name held the meaning of ‘dragon’ could imply something. Because of that, Harrigan didn’t plan to release the man. Nevertheless, as the head of the clan, there’s no way for her to prioritize her personal interest. Speaking honestly about themselves, she seeked for the man’s response.

As expected, the man showed a response according to her thoughts. He wasn’t scared of them nor denied them. On the other hand, he would normally make contact with them without any sympathising. It wasn’t an attitude that existed in this world. Assuming that the man indeed came from different world, perhaps, talking to him could open the path for the future of her clan.
There was no particular reason, nor established principles for that. Rather, it was her intuition as the witches’ chief.

Harrigan have decided.

She decided to take care this man as the part of her clan. If he becomes a burden, it should be fine to throw him away, and if he intends to do any harm, it should be no problem in killing him.

Such was Harrigan’s conclusion.

=== Part 9 ===

Once she revealed the man’s presence to the others and said that she intends to raise him, continuous objections and doubts were received from the witches. Without there being anyone, who would consent positively, if it was something decided by ane-sama, Lela and Ais would only show a passive approval without any opposing. Nevertheless, in the end, everyone came to acknowledge the man, on the condition of throwing him away, were he to cause any trouble.

Yuuki was the only one, who would continue to oppose till the end, everywhere, firmly, severely and stubbornly. In the end, despite many attempts of calming down and lecturing, Harrigan managed to forcibly overcome Yuuki’s opposition.

"This is what I concluded and I don’t intend to change it."

"If Harri-nee says so, that’s fine. Whatever happens, I don’t care."

Saying so, Yuuki became completely angry, nevertheless she didn’t seem to resort to any forceful methods, such as killing the man or throwing him out from the village. Because of that, Harrigan judged it would be fine to leave it like that for the time being.

It will be a problem to take care of a man, however, how should they refer to the man? For the time being, it wasn’t a good idea just to omit that.

(Because that guy said that he thinks his name is Naga something, there’s no way for us to ignore that. [{{furigana|Dragon King|Naga|}}]… should we go with that? I’ve the feeling like this name is too much for him. if it is was to be the real dragon king, it would probably get angry, still, if we consider it as a nickname, it probably won’t.)

Thinking so, Harrigan decided to referred to the young man as Naga.

Heh? is that so – After announcing that, it would be natural for a person to be surprised. Nevertheless, the majority of witches laughed instead. Their laugh had an element of mocking.

"It doesn’t suit him."

"That name is a fail."

"Won't he get killed by the real dragon king?"

Such impressions the witches had.

"Were you girls told of such things?"

Despite Harrigan spurring on, the man remained calm.

"In the first place, I don’t know what the dragon king is."

Is he an important individual or a fool? – Harrigan, who couldn’t measure that man with normal criteria, was taken aback.

(But well, if he’s just a simpleton, he probably won’t become of use, but if he’s an extravagant fool, then perhaps he can yield something. Shall I watch over him for the time being?)

=== Part 10 ===

With that, Naga, who had been decided to be supported by Harrigan and the others, for now decided not to take any action. Rather than that, because he didn’t understand most about Harrigan’s clan, as well about this world, even if he wanted to do anything, he wouldn’t be able.

Should I first allow myself to observe and study? – Naga started talking.

"That’s fine. Then, shall we walk around this fort once we finish the lunch?"

After that they took their lunch and went to take a walk around the inside of the fort. At that time Naga asked…

"Hey Harrigan. When I fell into the bath house, wasn’t there something I was holding to?"

"You mean that weird-shaped sword in your waist?"

Naga asked vigorously.

"That’s it! What happened to it!?"

"We are keeping it."

"Can’t I’ve you return it back to me? Somehow, my left waist feels lonely, I feel anxiety and insecure."

"We will keep it for a little while."

"…………"

"I’m telling you, that we will keep it, for a little while!"

"Naga’s face turned miserable."

"Do you think that I keeping it is dangerous?"

"That would be natural?"

"Uh… is that so? well, it probably would be."

"Rest assured. Once we learn more about you while living together, we will return it to you."

Naga breathed a small sigh and nodded.

"Then, that’s fine."

"Well, should we go on a stroll and treat ourselves?"

Being led by Ais and Harrigan, they walked around the inside of the fortification.

The fort mentioned as fort three, which could be said to be their main base, wasn’t as big in comparison with the others. It was surrounded by wooden fence, nevertheless, it had no ditches. Inside the ground, there were complex constructions, such as a residential building, storage house, weaponry, and a high watch tower. All of them were simple constructions made using woods.

It was probably a rare sight and unheard for him. Naga would frequently stop and look inside the buildings and ask about their name and functions. After having spent the afternoon like that and taking the dinner, Naga retired to a room offered by Harrigan.

"Oh my, as expected, today was a tiring one. I’ll allow myself to go sleep earlier. Is it fine for me to take this off?"

Naga pointed the amulet behind his neck.

"Lela will prepare for you a new one tomorrow, so don’t mind."

"In case I won’t be able to wake up tomorrow, please do it for me. I’m thankful for your meals and bedding. Well then, if you allow."

Raising his hand he gave a sign to Harigan, who escorted him until the room. As he suddenly began to take off his clothes, Harrigan became puzzled.

"Hey, what are you doing out of sudden?!"

"My clothes are still drying, so I was thinking about leaving them out to dry completely while sleeping."

"If so, do it once I leave the room!"

"Ah? I don’t particularly mind. Do you Harrigan?"

Despite Being a little bit red faced, Harrigan answered without averting her eyes.

"N, no, I wonder whether I too, don’t mind at all."

"Well then, isn’t that fine?"

[[Image:Naga01 090.jpg|175px|thumb]]

With just his loincloth, Naga composedly began to stretch his half-dried clothings.

(His body is quite trained… Wh, no no, it isn’t the time to be watching muscles.)

Once she left the room and closed the door, Naga’s snoring was heard from the inside.
(He surely falls asleep fast. Does he have much of courage, or does he have no wariness? He’s a man hard to measure.)

Shaking her head, Harrigan returned to her room.

=== Part 11 ===

The following day, after taking the breakfast together with Ais and Harrigan, Naga expressed his wish to walk around the fort once more.

Today as well, he was wearing his clothing, which Harrigan considered as queer, and had a special made amulet attached by Lela at the same place.

(Because there are no other clothings for him, it can’t be helped. I’ve to deal with that matter somehow. Well, should I leave that for later? However…)

There was no way to let Naga wander alone, so guiding was utmost necessary. That part could be done only by someone like Harrigan, nevertheless, she too had lots of duty piled up as the head of the clan.

"I too, can only help you in my free time, nevertheless… this isn’t what I mean."

Once she said it in that way with disagreeableness.

"That’s fine. In that case, you don’t have to guide. Because I’ll just hang around properly in this surrounding of the fort."

"The surrounding of the fort? do you plan to walk around the forest?"

"Yeah, I want to learn, even if it’s just a bit, about how this world looks. But first, I want to see with my very eyes this region where you live."

"A forest is a forest. However much you look at it, there are just trees."

"Ah, that’s fine. I wanna see it while inhaling some air."

(What a weird guy. In the first place, the way in which he appeared was weird, but…)

"Even if you say so."

"What? Is there something I shouldn’t see in the forest?"

"Not that’s not. But, people who walks this forest without knowing about it, will get lost. It’s because, in addition to the forest being deeply dark, we put a barrier. It would be different in case they were to focus much and set a benchmark, but…"

"A barrier…"

Naga pondered.

"Yea, think of it as one type of magic. It’s a magic used to deceive people’s eyes, who doesn’t know about this place."

"Is that so? Then, I cannot wander alone?."

Making a disappointed face, once he looked at the forest outside the fort, Lela, who was waiting a bit far away from them, stepped up.

"Ane-sama, Shall I do the gui-ding?"

"Is is right? Will you fine by yourself?"

"Even if the effect of the amulet runs out, I’ll be there, so there shouldn’t be pro-blem. Right now, there are things, which you need to do, so."

"This isn’t what I mean. Will you be fine being alone with that perverted guy? – is what I wanted to ask. I’ll say it, but this guys is a pervert?"

"Don’t ask rude things! And don’t say it!"

"Ah…."

"And you, don’t just start pondering about that!"

Bending her neck while having a stern face, Lela raised up her face and looked at Naga with a glance from his tip to toes.

"Well, it will be fine , I thin-k. When necessary, I’ll burn him using the fla-me spell."

"Is that so?Then I’ll leave it to you."

As soon as Harrigan said so, she whispered to Lela’s ear as if embracing her.

"Be careful of that man."

"That’s why, I can hear you! Such a lack of respect."

Kukuku – Harrigan chuckled as she once again put the emphasis on what she said.

"You better follow Lela guide obediently?"

"I know, good grief. If you worry so much it would be bad for your health."

"Not being worried about a man that comes and grope people’s chest out of sudden, what else should I worry about?"

"Ah… that’s right, I was confused that time at the sudden course of events. There’s no longer need to worry."

"I’d like to hope so…"

Shifting her sight away from him, Harrigan took a glance at Lela’s appearance. Nevertheless, the girl remained emotionless she would and looked at Naga.

(Despite her having an indifferent attitude toward things, it’s rare for Lela to be this positive. Could it be that she’s taking an interest into that man….?

Is it good or bad? Up to this point, Harrigan couldn’t understand. Still, she felt it could be a sort of a new fresh wind that began to blow through the monotonous witches in this mood stagnant village.

"Well then, I will entrust you with that Lela."

"Leave it to m-e."

Like that Naga was taken by Lela and they both moved from the fort toward the forest.

=== Part 12 ===

In this virgin forest, all the trees were high with numerous branches that were thickly overgrown with leaves.

Despite now being the noon, the forest was thickly dim. Nevertheless, the grass below one’s feet wasn’t that high, therefore, it didn’t cause problem when moving.

Because Naga walked with a fast and big pace, it was natural for him to be in front of Lela.

"Being inside this forest, seems to give me a depressing feeling."

Inside the dim forest, Naga shifted his sight left and right while walking as he muttered. Hearing that, Lela objected with a snap.

"It’s not because we want to live here that we are he-re. It can’t be helped but to live while avoiding conflicts with peo-ple."

Naga suddenly stopped and turned around.

"Are you guys content with that?"

Lela was caught off guard.

"I think I saw how the things are going in this fort yesterday and today, but somehow the atmosphere felt silent. You could say there was no mood nor ambition? and also you looked resigned?"

Naga took a glance at Lela’s face.

"Running inside the forest as if driven away by humans, and hiding you presence motionlessly here in order to avoid conflicts with them. Are you satisfied with that?"

"There’s no, way, for us to be satisfie-d."

Shouting without realizing that, Lela covered her mouth hurriedly.

Perhaps, Harrigan as well held the dissatisfaction while being the leader of the group. Naga noticed that and interjected.

"Forget about what just happened no-w…"

"If you say so, I’m not going to ask."

Again facing forward, Naga continued to walk.

On the other hand, Lela felt as if her body became heavy, being unable to take another step.

Meanwhile, Naga kept walking.

Once she returned to herself, there was no sight of Naga.

(Cra-p. For me of all the people to slack o-ff.)

While panicking, Lela tried to catch after Naga.

No matter how fast he is, he shouldn’t be able to walk far away while being the first timer in this forest. What’s more, as long there’s not much of distance between them, Lela can follow him up thanks to her own magic leaking from the amulet, so, she didn’t worry much.

Just as she anticipated, she spotted Naga’s back after walking a while.

It seemed as though he was hiding in the shadow, kneeling and holding his breath while peeking at something in front of im.

Because his tension passed along to Lela, she approached unintentionally with her stealthy steps.

As she gently approached, Naga turned behind as he noticed her and gave her sign to stoop using his hand.

Once she lined next to him while keeping low her head, she asked as if whispering.

"Is there a beast or some-thing?"

"A ferocious and brutal one."

Because Naga whispered back, Lela became tense.

Once she peek out with her face from the shadow of a thick tree trunk.

In front, there was a small valley-shaped river flowing, inside of which Yuuki was taking a bath. She was naked, which was natural one way or another.

"A…ah..indeed it’s a ferocious bea-st. A specific one among peo-ple, but.."

There was no doubt that she ditched the designated job and went to bath due to her facing previously with Naga at the fort.

(In that case, it’s you reap what you sow, but..)

Lela thought about what they should do.

Yuuki, who didn’t suspect anyone to peek her, climbed up the rocky area as she performed bold calisthenics, and jumped into the deep water from the rock while having fun.

Yuuki’s wet and naked body was radiating with the sunlight. Naturally, because she didn’t suspect anyone to peak, she wouldn’t think about hiding her body.

Her body had white skin, which was almost transparent.

Her shoulders and waist drew smooth curves.

Her chest hills, which were neither small nor big, bulged with a pretty shape.

On top of them, cute and pink nipples protruded.

The lightly golden bush between her groins was damp with water and stickily clinging to her abdomen.

And then, a smiling face, which Naga hadn’t seen until now, popped on her face.

"What’s that? So she could smile like this?"

[[Image:Naga01 099.jpg|175px|thumb]]

Naga’s sight was completely glued to Yuuki’s face and naked body.

Leyla peeked with her sidelong glance at Naga’s appearance.

(He’s zealously looking, isn’t h-e? Well, I can unders-tand that, but… her body isn’t the same as Ais’ still, Yuuki has quite an attractive bo-dy.)

Or at least it was more womanly than mine – is what Lela admitted.

(Nevertheless, he’s probably too enthusias-tic. At this rate, there’s a fear Yuuki will noti-ce. That girl is very sensitive to men’s sight-s.)

"Naga-sa-n."

As soon as Lela placed her hand on his shoulders, Naga looked aside with his startled face.

"A… ah, sorry, I couldn’t help it.."

Naga made an excuse, nevertheless, he didn’t seem to think that way.

"We have just come, so I haven’t seen much."

(He doesn’t seem so but, rather than th-at.)

"Don’t mo-ve! It can’t be helped that you have se-en. We can’t be spotted now that we have seen her important pa-r-ts."

"What do you mean?"

"If you’re spotted on peeking, you will di-e. Saying that, you will be killed by Yuu-ki. That’s is 9/10, 9 out 10, and 99 percent certain."

"Doesn’t the last one give me less than 10% of chance to avoid?"

"Yes, that’s why it’s certa-in. Even if ane-sama tries to stop her, Yuuki won’t probably listen to he-r."

Naga’s body shivered.

"You… could it be, you plan to report me to Yuuki?"

Without answering to Naga’s question, once Lela took out an amulet from her waist, she began to write down using her small brush.

"Yes, please attach th-is."

"W-what? What do you intend to do?"

At that time, Yuuki, who was about to jump off the rock area, stopped. Frowning her eyes suspiciously, she look on the sides attentively.

"We will be noticed, fast attach… rather than that I’ll attach i-t!"

Lela banged the new charm with a slap on Naga’s forehead.

"It’s an amulet that cuts off one’s presence. Remain sile-nt."

Just as Lela told, Naga ceased his movements and hid his breath while continuing to peek at Yuuki.

Yuuki, who was searching around for a moment with deep suspicion, suddenly yelled – Ah! Naga’s body froze thinking that he was spotted, however, it wasn’t that case.

"A smoke signal from the fort!"

Yuuki jumped toward her thrown clothings and wore before one could even notice. Once she did that, she run up the slope and disappeared in a blink of time inside the forest.

Waiting until she disappeared, Lela stood up.

"You narrowly escaped from death, Na-ga-san."

"A… ah, it seems to be so."

Once Naga breathed out a sigh of relief and loosened his body, Lela bent her waist while reaching out her right hand to scrape off the amulet on his forehead.

"Speaking of which, Yuuki said there was a smoke signal rising. Shouldn’t we head back as well?"

Lela looked up at the sky toward the fort.

Indeed there was a string of red smoke seen from between the trees.

"There’s no doubt that something happe-ned at the fort. Let’s head bac-k."

Naga slowly stood up.

"Despite that, why didn’t you report me to that guy?

"If I report, you will di-e? Even if I report you to Yuuki at the fort, instead of this place, you will be kill-ed."

"Are you actually considering me carefully?"

Lela raised the edges of her mouth with a grin.

"Let’s make a deal Naga-san."

"Ah, so it was like that."

Then Naga grinned when he understood the situation.

"Well? what’s the condition?"

"Whenever you manage to retrieve some of your lost memory, please talk about it to me first, no matter what it i-s."

"Are you fine with that?"

"You might think that it’s trivial, but for me it’s importa-nt. I definitely want to learn more about the other world, which doesn’t exist he-re."

Naga and Lela looked at each other. Their sights intertwined with each other in the air.

Naga couldn’t guess what kind of request she had, nevertheless, he nodded as he said – Yeah, fine.

"If it’s enough for you not to leak it, then it’s a cheap price. I’ll talk however much you want."

Lela lowered her sight and bowed down.

"Thank yo-u."

"No, that’s fine. By the way, can I ask you one thing?"

Naga spoke to Lela’s back as she was about to run.

"Wh-at?"

"Why does Yuuki disdain men so much?"

"Shouldn’t ane-sama already told you about not inqui-ring?"

"No, I was just bothered by it. She hasn’t shown that violent reaction until now?"

"That’s righ-t. Yuuki is specia-l."

"Why is that?"

"It’s not something I should answe-r. If ane-sama deems it as fine, she will probably talk to you about i-t."

"Such way of talk putting on airs."

"It seems that she made some unpleasant memories when she was small. Probably she can’t forget about the painful experien-ces."

Naga felt a throb in his chest.

He couldn’t explain the reason behind that, nevertheless, there’s no doubt, some fragments of his memories reacted at Lela’s words.

(I see. so she had some painful experiences at her childhood? It seems that I had gone through the same. When it comes to this, losing one’s memories doesn’t seem to be half bad, doesn’t it?)

A masochistic smile floated on Naga’s face.

[[Image:Naga01 106.jpg|175px|thumb]]

Seeing that painful smile on his face, Lela pulled back her head, nevertheless, Naga’s smile immediately vanished and his face turned back to a daring one.

"Ah, sorry for stopping you. We should hasten."

"Then… let’s ru-n. Please tag along without falling behin-d."

Because Lela break into a run inside the forest, Naga run after her.

(A smoke signal? Did something happened? Could it it that the fort was attacked?)

Naga’s anticipation were half right and half wrong.

<noinclude>

==Translator's Notes and References==
<references/>

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|-
| Back to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Prologue 2|Prologue 2]]
| Return to [[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Chapter 1

2016-03-04T19:50:00Z

Darkdhaos:

=== Part 1 ===

There was a group consisting solely of women, who lived inside the ‘black forest’ that extended till the remote borders.

People called them ‘witches’. In other words, they were beings with different abilities.

From the perspective of humans that believed in the one absolute god, who ruled over the overwhelming majority of people, it was clear that witches who worshipped the protection of hundreds of divine beings were heretics. For that reason the witches were detested and feared. While feeling fear toward the witches, they held feelings of envy and jealousy against those who possessed special abilities, unlike them.

Certainly, not being compatible with each other, they continued to fight each for a long time.

Witches, who were once proud of numerous comrades, as well as holding the power capable to influence the world, were now declining in number. It seemed as though they were slowly walking along their path of destruction. While aware of their inferior position, they wouldn’t try looking for any fights. Nevertheless, were their territory to be invaded , they wouldn’t hesitate to fight, even if it meant for their household to decline.

Because the frequency in the resistance against witches lowered for a while, many of them could live peacefully in a place far away from the city. However, it was only temporary due to the conflict between fellow human countries that had increased.

Once the great war, which involved many countries and numerous lives concluded, their eyes would return to the witches. It was just the natural course of action for the statesmen of the countries, which surrounded the land of witches, to consider the extermination of them.

The surrounding countries were now preparing for the extermination of witches.

While the church, under the pretext of sweeping witches from this world, supported the assault on them by each country, they schemed the plan of assassination the leader of witches by sending assassins.

Despite such actions taking places, the conflict between vassals and feudal lords for authority wouldn’t cease.

There were often times when the conflict would grow on a national scale, resulting in a new war.

While the conflict between fellow humans continued, they would still manage to steadily reduce the territory of the witches.

Despite the witches having high combat abilities, it was next to impossible for them to battle against hundreds and thousands of deployed units. As a result, while killing a huge number of the enemy’s forces, they would end up carrying out a tactical retreat without gaining a victory.

In the end, the vicious cycle of hatred from humans continued together with losing territory and comrades..

Even now witches were followed by the chain of defeats.

It seemed as though, there was no peaceful place for them in this world.

=== Part 2 ===

There were several groups among witches.

If presently described, these groups were close to the concept of ‘a clan’ . Several of these clans gathered and formed a loose alliance, which was pointed out and referred by the humans as ‘the country of witches’.

There were no men among their clans, as it consisted only of women, who were born as witches with special abilities. Witches wouldn’t add anyone besides those they considered as witches. Therefore, it was also known as the country of women.

One of the witches, who was the leader of one of the clans, was Harrigan Halliway Haindora.

Her household built a residence deep inside the black forest.

Apart from Harrigan, there were several other clans of witches ,who settled inside the black forest, nevertheless, hers used to be an influential one.

That’s right, it ‘used to be’ influential.

Due to their topographical location, they would be the first to be on the frontline, resulting in the decline of her clan. And once it declined, it was inevitable for them to lose their authority as a result. Because of that, Harrigan deeply suffered that lost as the leader.

While worrying about the future of her family, she immersed herself inside the open air bath made from the welling hot spring, which was located in the hilly area, inside the forest.

The bath house was a simplistic wooden-made arbor-styled one built in the free area, which was cutting through the loosely sloping land made from the small hills.

In the center of the bath house, which was transparent from 3 sides, a long and narrow wooden-made bathtub was placed on the wooden floor. The hot water, which pumped from the gushing source nearby, filled the bathtub as usual.

Inside the bathtub filled with hot water, which gave out a little bit of sulphurous odour, laid Harrigan with her graceful limbs.

What attracted one’s attention from Harrigan’s body, which was nakedly submerged inside the tub, was her blueish-black long hair, her bulging chest, the tight waist and her big buttocks. Indeed, one could say it was the figure of a full-fledged woman. The sign of her femininity was also seen between her groins, which was thickly covered with black bush.

Harrigan, who remained submerged inside the bathtub, stretched her limbs, and let out a small sigh, which she could care less whether it was heard or not.

How should we reach an agreement with humans? Or should we completely abandon that idea? Harrigan thought about it. Nevertheless, however much she would ponder about that, there was no sign for the future prospects, nor any hope for a better future…

Should she just wait calmly for their slow annihilation?

Or should they die magnificently in an all-or-nothing war?

There seemed to be only these two choices.

Raising her head, Harrigan shifted her sight toward the other side.

On the one side of the bath house, there was a small undressing room, nevertheless, the three remaining were transparent with no walls, despite there being beams. Because of that, Harrigan was able to look out over the surrounding.

Looking down from the hill, there was a thickly green virgin forest, which was receiving the dazzling sunray of the early summer, extending beneath one’s eyes. On the other side, where the virgin forest, also called by people 'the black forest', ended, there was a stretched land inhabited by humans. The land ruled by humans was wide and in comparison with the one of witches, it had a larger population. In addition to that, the land governed by witches was gradually reducing together with their population.

(Whether we fight or not, is it extinction that await us? Or perhaps fate? If so, then fighting magnificently and vanishing in the same way should be a brief entertainment…no.)

Harrigan looked at the young witch next to her.

(Fighting recklessly will only result in the death of my daughters. It would still be better for me alone, but taking along these daughters, there’s no way for that.)

"Yuuki."

The girl, whose Harrigan voice reached, raised her head.

"What’s the matter, Harrigan-nee?"

Despit the girl calling her by ‘Sis’, they were not actual sisters. Following their customs, the young witches would call Harrigan, who was their leader, such as Ane-sama, Aneue, Nee. On the other hand, Harrigan would call the young witches, and at the same time the members of this household, as her daughters’ very often.

Harrigan beckoned the witch.

"Come, enter together with me."

The wooden-made bathtub was big, so even if both of them entered, it wouldn’t be that tight.

"Is it fine? It seemed like you were immersed in your thoughts, so won’t I become a bother?"

"That’s fine, that’s fine. Come"

"Well then, sorry for my rudeness."

The girl stood up, taking off her clothes and becoming nude.

Her pair of chest hills were neither small nor big, they were of the beautiful size and shape, suitable at her age. The tips of her breasts were of cute pink color, her shoulders width was narrow, her bottom’s overhang was a bit moderate, her groins area’s shade was dim. In contrast to Harrigan, she had more girlish figure.

What caught the attention was her long shining hair tied up into two ponytails. This too, was contrasting to Harrigan’s bluish black hair.

The girl named Yuuki stepped in with her leg without any restraint and sat in the corner.

"Don’t just sit there in the corner. Hey, come here."

Raising her upper body, Harrigan stretched out her right arm and reached Yuuki’s only to pull her toward herself. She followed straight away without showing any resistance

Making her sit inside the area of Harrigan’s stretched legs, Harrigan wrapped Yuuki’s two chest hills with both of her palms.

"Ha…Harri-nee…."

So as to check their softness, Harrigan moved her palms while kneading.

"No…sto…. ahn."

(I want to give these daughters a future. I want them to have hope. This is as well the part of my duty, me who is the head of this family. But, just what can I do…?)

While contemplating about that, she gently moved both of her palms.

Nevertheless, however hard she pondered, there was no idea, which would break in the deadlock, crossing her mind.

"Ha…Harri-nee…I can’t take it anymore… aah.."

Hm? Returning back to herself, Harrigan stopped her palms.

(Oops, being immersed in my thoughts, I began squeezing them too seriously.)

Having a red face, Yuuki, who felt her body had lost its strength, entrusted her back on Harrigan’s chest.

(Fumu. But, what should I do? I don’t want to sacrifice this cute daughters of mine, but…despite saying so, without fighting we will be eventually driven away from this place. Once this happens, we will go further into the depth of the forest, ending in the world of only humans. Wouldn’t that be the same as falling into ruin?)

Feeling Yuuki’s body on her chest, she looked up into the space with her thoughtful face.

Suddenly, the bath house shook.

The space distorted in a swaying manner.

"W, what’s happening!?"

Harrigan, who took back her face, looked at the sky through the transparent side of the building.

Before one could notice, the sky was covered with dark clouds.

(What’s going on!? Just a while ago, it was a clear blue sky expanding!)

Harrigan could sense that something unusual was happening. Nevertheless, she couldn’t tell what it was.

Suddenly the raindrops began to hit the roof of the bath house.

The falling rain, changed at once into a heavy rainfall, Thunders together with lightings were running through the sky, which was dim, like at the time of dusk.

"What’s this heavy downpour!? Doesn’t it feel as though the bottom of the heaven fell out? Just what an earth… don’t tell me that this could be the sign of the water dragon manifesting?"

Seeing the eerie sight, Harrigan’s body began to shake tremble as well. She could understand that Yuuki was shaking as well from her back.

Immediately after that, a voice was heard from somewhere.

"≠◇▼￡=★!?"

Even though there were only Yuuki and Harrigan, someone else’s voice was heard. Rather than hearing the voice, Harrigan wondered whether it was something echoing inside her mind. And then, it was the voice of a man. Saying that, it was none other that a human man in the vicinity.

(Impossible, this shouldn’t be even possible.)

Searching for the source of the voice, Harrigan run with her eyes in all the directions, however, she couldn’t find the figure nor feel its presence.

I was probably just seeing things – Harrigan nodded as if convincing herself.

So as not to let any stray people nor the spies enter the village and the fortification, or rather, the residing territory of the witches, a barrier was put around the village. Here as well, it should be not possible for any common person to break through the barrier and pass into their territory. In addition to that, by covering their presence it shouldn’t let anyone approach this close, not even one chance on ten thousand, but on a million chances.

However, there was a voice. certainly it was heard. It was neither mishearing nor one’s imagination.

They couldn’t understand the meaning of the words, nevertheless, it was a powerful and high voice,which reached their ears.

"There’s a m-man, a man. (trembled voice.)"

As the proof, Yuuki, the man-hater, lost her composure. Her sensitivity toward men is greater than anyone’s.

"Where, where is the man? (trembled)"

Standing up while being completely naked, she looked on her left and right, and again at her right, moving her body and neck hurriedly.

"Calm down Yuuki."

Despite Harrigan calling out to her, Yuuki turned around her eyes and revolved with her body.

(Good grief, as expected, Yuuki’s hate for men is endless.)

Looking up at the confused Yuuki, who was in front of her eyes, she smiled wryly.

"Still, the voice before, just what on earth was…."

Taking off the smile on her face Harrigan looked over one more time as if searching for something.

Suddenly a man descended from the sky.

Such way of saying wasn’t exact. More accurately, the man fell from the from the ceiling of the bath house.

The descended man dropped into the bathtub making the water splashed.

"What!?"

Harrigan opened widely her eyes.

The fallen man did the same.

"A man a man man a man."

Yuuki too, opened widely her eyes and froze.

Harrigan had her attention caught by the man.

[[Image:Naga01 002-003.jpg|175px|thumb]]

It was a young man, with an strange attire that she had never seen or heard of before.

The man looked up dumbfoundedly in the midair, soon coming back to himself. He moved his body timidly using his head.

Harrigan’s sight and the man’s met each other.

"Wh… who are you? From where and how did you manage to come here?"

"★◇?"

The man responded to Harrigan using some sort of language, nevertheless, she couldn’t understand anything.

(Hm? Could it be that my words doesn’t go through to him? These strange clothes, could he be a foreigner? If so, it doesn’t seem unreasonable, but…)
Regarding the unfamiliar clothes and language, if one were to think he’s a foreigner, one could only agree on that. Nevertheless, you couldn’t agree with the fact that someone appeared all of a sudden in a bath. There was no explanation for that.

As Harrigan observed him, the man raised his right hand and pointed at her.

"☆■▽×≠♀￡§★→∋"

Harrigan frowned her eyebrows.

(I don’t understand at all what he’s saying. At least, it doesn’t seem like he’s an assassin send to kill me by the church.)

Interpreting his words, the man said this

'''"Breasts! And they’re huge!"'''

Being completely soaked, the man sidled up to Harrigan.

"W, w, w, what are you doing!?"

Being overwhelmed by the man’s vigorous attitude and look, Harrigan tried to step back, nevertheless, the edge of the bathtub was in her way.

[[Image:Naga01 041.jpg|175px|thumb]]

The man extended his right hand and, grab! – He tightly grabbed her breast.

"Aah?"

'''"I’ve never seen such splendid pair of breasts!"'''

"Don’t grab them that forcefully!"

'''"What a size, what a smoothness, what an elasticity."'''

"H.. hey, don’t just aah… grab a person’s aah… breasts at your own convenience aah!"

Hearing Harrigan’s scream-like, angry-like, and yet charming voice, Yuuki, who was stiff from being dumbfounded, came back to herself.

"What’s the matter Harrigan-nee."

What entered her eyes, which looked down at her own feet, was a man with a mysterious hairstyle and wrapped in clothes that she had never seen before, using both of his hands to grab Harrigan’s voluptuous breasts. It was a dreadful scene.

"A man a man a man is groping H-Ha-Harri-nee’s br…!?"

Yuuki’s hair was squirming as its color became darker

"Hey Yuuki! Calm down!"

'''"Big breasts! Big breasts! Big breasts!"'''

"You too, calm down! And what are you trying to say!? Speaking of which, stop groping my breasts!"

"Kill, kill, kill, kill the man."

"Argh! I said calm down!"

Harrigan’s long and blueish black hair lifted in the air from the hot bath.

Harrigan’s hair, which became a thick bundle swung vigorously.

Whack.

Harrigan’s hair gave out a dull sound as it knocked Yuuki’s back of head. Her neck folded diagonally.

With her eyes turning white, the girl lost her consciousness and fell in a position, which resembled her upper body hooked on the edge of the bathtub.

'''"I’ll touch them, rub them, lick them, bury in them!"'''

"I don’t know what you’re saying, but you too calm down!"

Whaack!

Once again her bundled hair swung, hitting the man in the back of his head, from which the man’s eyes turned white. Its hardness was unbelievable for a hair..

Losing the power from his own body, the man released his hands from Harrigan’s chest and lost his consciousness while falling on the top of her body.

"Just what’s with this man?"

Harrigan muttered while gazing sternly at the exhausted young man with an unusual clothing and look, hanging on her body.

"I’ve never heard before the language that he speaks, I wonder if he’s a foreigner… whether that’s the case or not, nobody should be able of breaking through my barrier without me noticing it. There should be no one able to get this close without me noticing it. It would be a different case for a witch like me, but at least, not for any human living in this world. If so, does it means that this guy came form another world? So he’s not a foreigner, but rather someone from a different world?"

Harrigan shifted slightly her sight.

Next to the man, the eyes of the naked Yuuki turned white as she lost her consciousness.

(Good grief, I’ll leave the inquiry of this guy’s true identity for later. First, I’ll have to take care of Yuuki so that she doesn’t go berserk, as once she wakes up, she will try to kill this man. I don’t know who this guy is, so it’s more reason to not let Yuuki murder him. Assuming he’s really fell from another world….)

Once again Harrigan caught the man in her sight.

A man with a weird hairstyle.

A man wearing queer clothing.

A man, whose words are unfamiliar.

A man that suddenly fell from the sky.

(I wonder if he knows of any way to save us from our crisis.)

Harrigan stood up from the bathtub. The hot water, which covered her smooth skin, turned into droplets while slipping off.

Her eyes, which looked down at the man, stopped at his waist.

"This guy’s sword has a strange appearance, doesn’t it? Well, rather than the appearance, If he wakes up only to swing at us with that sword, it will be troublesome. Should I take it out?"

Bending her waist, Harigan reached her hand toward his left lower back.

"What? It’s inserted in just a sash? It’s quite a careless way of wearing a sword. But."

As Harrigan raised, she stared at the specialized weapon, which she took from the man’s waist.

"It’s slightly curved. Indeed, this isn’t a shape one would see in this vicinity. It’s even different from the scimitar used in the eastern part of this world. Interesting. Still, how do you pull this out? Could it be, like this?"

While Pulling out the man’s sword, Harrigan encountered some trouble.

"Its out."

She raised the blade, which was radiating in silver color, in front of her eyes.

"It’s quite heavy. The blade is too, thick. And it looks beautiful more than anything. It feels as though my sight is attracted by it…but, it isn’t the right moment to admire. I’ve to deal quickly with this guy and Yuuki."

Once Harrigan put back the sword into its scabbard, she placed it casually on the wooden floor. After that, she turned around and walked toward the exit to open the door.

Carrying a clothing basket, which was inside the small room, Harrigan returned to the bath house. Once she kneeled down and put the basket on the floor, she curled up the clothes inside the basket, so as to grab them.

Remaining in that posture, she used her index finger nail to cut a single string of her long hair.

As soon as she transferred her magic power into that string, it immediately became stiff and stretched straightforwardly.

Harrigan thrusted the clothes, which she held in her left hand, with the hair string that turned into a long needle. Once it pierced through, her clothes began to squirm like a living object.

Her wriggling clothes jumped off her hand and descended onto the bath floor, squirming while gradually changing its shape. Finally, it took the form of human.

"Your master Harrigan Halliway Haindora orders you. Go and call my daughters – Ais and Lela."

Her clothes, which took the shape of human, bowed down toward her, just like a human being. Then, it jumped out from the bath house.

=== Part 3 ===

"Ane-sama, it’s me Ais."

"It’s Le-la."

Guided by Harrigan clothes, the two young witches – Ais Aishuria Haindora and Lela Laylah Haindora, who run up the hill to arrive, bowed down toward Harrigan as she stood naked on the bath house floor.

The daughters of Harrigan, in order to show that they’re part of her clan, they have the same third name.

"What’s the matter?"

Putting a smile on her face, the witch with a large build asked.

"Sorry for calling you out deliberately. I need you to help."

"Yeah, don’t worry."

The two of them gave the impression of being around their mid-to-late teens.

The one with the large build and pleasant smile was Ais. In comparison with Lela, she was taller, and the parts which should come out on her body have a great volume. She gave the aura of a grow-up.

On the other hand, Leyla’s physique wasn’t much different from Yuuki….rather than that, the parts which should come out were less than Yuuki’s. After all, if truth be told, she was tiny breasted.

However, both Ais and Lela wore clothes which exposed lots of skin. In Lela’s case, she had some kind of short skirt made of countless amulets coiling around her waist which standed out.

[[Image:Naga01 047.jpg|175px|thumb]]

"I want you to carry Yuuki."

Harrigan sticked out her right index finger and pointed it toward her feet.

"Just what have Yuuki done again…"

While Making a wry smile, Ais moved her eyes outside the bathtub. Once she noticed that it wasn’t just Yuuki, her breath was taken away.

"Wait, is that a man?!"

Lela, who had the same expression until now, as well raised her eyebrows with a twitch.

"Could he be an assassin sent by the chu-rch?"

The hair of the two girls shaked because of the goosebumps.

"No, don’t panic. It’s nothing like that. Probably."

"…..Huh?"

Ais and Lela cocked their heads in puzzlement.

I think the novel says: Harrigan explained quickly all that happened until now.

"So something like that happened?"

Ais opened widely her eyes while looking at both the man and Harrigan.

On the other hand, the daughter named Lela didn’t seem to show any surprisement.

Speaking with a monotonous tone

– It’s hard to believe, but there’s no way for ane-sama to li-e. And it’s a fact that there’s a man lying down he-re. If so, I have no choice but to a-ccept it.

As if trying to convince herself, she murmured that.

Trying to calm herself down with a deep breath, Ais faced toward Harrigan.

"Then, what should we do, ane-sama?"

"In any case, we can only inquiry information from this guy. That’s why I called you, thinking that you would help me carrying both of them. Lela will help to establish a mutual communication with this guy."

There was a reason for what Harrigan is saying. Lela possess a magic that allows communication with a foreigner that only speak its own language.

"Understood, but…"

While nodding, Lela cocked her head in puzzlement..

"It would be different story if he was a foreig-ner, but, it’s the first time for me to establish a mutual understanding with someone who comes from a diffe-rent world."

"Give it a try and if it fails, we will think of some other way at that time."

"Got tha-t."

"Ais, I’ll entrust those two to you."

"Yes, ane-sama."

Ais grabbed with both hands the body of the unconscious Yuuki, who was completely naked, and lightly lifted it. She put Yuuki on her right shoulder. Then, while holding Yuuki’s body, she bent her waist and did the same with the man drenched in water.

It’s true that compared to Lela or Yuuki, Ais had a bigger build. Nevertheless, she wasn’t a giant. In fact, Harrigan was taller than her. Judging by her looks, her muscles didn’t seen to be specially developed and yet, that physical strength.

Aisu seemed to be the owner of a monstrous strength, which one wouldn’t guess from her appearance.

"Where should I carry them ane-sama?"

Ais asked casually as if not sensing the weight of two people.

"For the time being, carry them to my room. I don’t want cause to cause any turmoil. Carry them silently so as not to bring other daughters’ attention."

"Understood."

"And Lela, won’t you please carry the sword lying over there?"

Lela looked at where Harrigan’s finger was pointing.

"Th-at? It has an strange shape, isn’t i-t?"

"You don’t know it either?"

"It’s my first time seeing i-t."

"It was sashed to the man’s waist."

Frowning her eyebrows, Lela directed her look at the man carried by Ais.

"He had a sword sash-ed. Then, isn’t he an assas-sin?"

"No, he’s not, probably."

(That’s because, that guy went to grab my breasts without showing any sign of drawing the sword.)

Naturally, Lela didn’t know about the man conducting such action, she couldn’t understand on what basis Harrigan was putting her assumption, but if she says it’s not, then it probably does mean so. For the time being, Lela buried her hatchet.

"Well then, go ahead, I’ll catch up with you soon."

"Yes, ane-sa-ma."

After Harrigan saw the two leave the bath house, the puppet familiar turned back to be normal clothes and then she put them on with a calm attitude.

=== Part 4 ===

Harrigan made Ais lay down the man on the bed inside her room, and the naked Yuuki was rolled on a thick cloth spread on the floor and had a bed cover put on.

"Lela, please carry that sword to my study and put it where no one can see."

Once Lela left, Harrigan moved her look toward Yuuki, who was rolling inside the bad sheet.

(There’s a fear that Yuuki might rampage once she wakes up. It can’t be helped.)

Harrigan ordered Ais to wrap Yuuki’s body into a roll using a thin cloth and in addition to that, a rope that was prepared. What’s more, so as to make sure that the other witches don’t hear Yuuki screaming, they put a mouth gag on Yuuki’s mouth. Harrigan still didn’t want to expose the man’s presence.

Due to the riot in the bath house, Harrigan’s body became cold. Because the man’s clothing were damp, there was a risk of him catching a cold. Harrigan kindled the fireplace, so as try to warm up the room.

Harrigan rubbed the fire-igniting stones together and triggered them to ignite. Once she threw them into the fireplace, the flame burned up red inside of it.

She run her sight over the man with a glance.

(Even if his clothes are wet, there’s probably no way for us to strip him at at our convenience.)

Harrigan didn’t lack the curiosity to see the naked young man, nevertheless, she was restraining herself in front of Ais.

(In the first place, even if we can strip the man, we have no spare clothes for him, and we can’t leave him naked until his clothes get dry. Despite that, we don’t know if people from another world can catch a cold.)

The room inside the wooden-made building gave out a simplistic impression. One could see documents, the writing desk and the chair put in the corner. On top of that, there was a bookshelf placed near the wall. One could say that all of these were handmade wooden goods, which used lumbered trees from the forest.

On that bookshelf, there were paper books lined up, which was rare in this period.

The paper was a high grade product, which was passed in no time from the eastern world. What’s more, in this period, there were no printing machines, therefore, the books were copied by hand. Because of that, it was not possible to mass produce them. that’s another reason why paper books were precious..

Other than the desk and the bookshelf, as expected, there were only a wooden-made bed and a small side table placed inside the room.

On top of the bed lay the unconscious young man in his strange clothes, who was stretched longly on it. Yuuki, who was roundly tied up and wrapped in the thick cloth, lay on the floor while naked.

Seeing the impossible scene, which unfolded inside her room, Harrigan felt as if getting a headache. At the same time, she herself felt the urge to laugh.

Returning to the room after a while, Lela occupied the front of the table while writing something on a small piece of paper.

Ais and Harrigan sat at the brought stools and watched silently Lela’s work.

The sound of the blazing firewood reverberated inside the room as its air warmed up.

Once Lela finished her preparations, Harrigan made Ais use the prepared smelling salts for the man to smell. Without having to wait, the man woke up.

"～X=≦∴℃#§★◇▲↑←⊆#†∩!"

After the man lifted his body, he faced toward Harrigan while speaking to her as if pressing for an answer.

"As expected, I don’t understand anything. Well, wouldn’t that be obvious? Despite that, this is a mysterious language for one’s ears."

"十˧△¶#>≡⇔∩↓◆☆*♂♀〆?"

"Well, calm down… even if I say that, you probably won’t understand."

Raising her right hand, Harrigan expanded its palm in front of the man’s eyes.

For now, stop talking – such was the meaning of her action, but, did the man sensed her intention? Once he closed his mouth. he scratched his head as if saying ‘good grief’.

(Hmm. He seems to have quite guts.)

Harrigan became dumbfounded and at the same time, filled with admiration at the man’s defiant like attitude.

(How can he remain this calm under such circumstances? Is this guy a big-shot or just a fool?)

Not letting her thoughts leak out, Harrigan shifted her sight to Lela.

"Are the preparations done?"

"Yes, ane-sa-ma."

Harrigan, who received two amulets presented by Lela, put up one of them in front of her eyes and pressed it against her own forehead. Even if she released her hand, the charm would stick to it.

Holding one more amulet in the left hand, she presented it to the man while showing her forehead with her empty right hand. She tapped her own charm with the index finger.

You too, follow my example and put this on your forehead. – is what she wanted to say, nevertheless, the man seemed to understand her as he received the amulet and slammed it vigorously on his forehead. Just like in case of Harrigan, the amulet wouldn’t fall despite him released his hand.

She slowly talked toward him.

"Do you, understand my words? Who are you? Where did you came from?"

Pressing the amulet against his forehead, the man frowned his eyebrows. Nevertheless, he finally raised his head and spoke.

"★※∪……words……▲↓……are becoming….understandable?"

"Oh, did he comprehend it?"

Harrigan looked at Lela, who waited next to her.

"As expected of Lela."

"Hmph."

Lela smiled slightly while puffing out her tiny chest.

"Well, this much is nor-mal."

"Ara. Even though you weren’t sure whether it would work or not."

Ais teased her from the side.

"I was just being mo-dest."

"Well, let’s leave it like that."

Hmm.

Lela stared at Ais

"Hey, won’t you be quiet?"

Being warned by Harrigan the two of them draw back their necks.

"Well then, how about now? Do you understand what I’m saying?"

"Yes, I do… but, this is an strange sensation. It feels like your words are reverberating directly in my head. Is it because of this?"

Using his right palm, the man tapped the amulet on his forehead.

"Thats right, if you consider it as an interpretation device foreign languages, then it should be fine."

"Wow, I wonder if it’s more convenient than strange. Well, speaking of strange…

After turning back his head, the man shifted in turns his sight over Harrigan, Ais and Lela.

"You’re also strange. Your hair color, skin color, eyes pupil, and then your clothes. I have never seen anything like it."

"For us too, it’s the first time that we see someone like you with that strange attire. So, who are you and from where are you from? How did you came here?"

"Me? I’m… I’m… Hmm? I’m… Who am I?"

"No, that’s what I’m asking."

The man folded his arms and, Hmm, started to make low groans.

"I don’t know. I mean, I can’t remember from where I am or who I am."

Releasing his folded arms, the man used both of his hands to scratch his loose hair.

"I am…my name is….damnit, what is this unpleasant feeling…"

Harrigan, Lela and Ais, all of them looked each other’s face.

"Ane-sama, could it be that this man, has lost his memory?"

Harrigan breathed out a sigh.

"If that’s the case, then he doesn’t know anything. now, what to do?"

"No… Naga…"

The man muttered as if moaning.

"Naga? What’s that?"

Being asked by Harrigan, the man released both of his hands from his face and turned toward her with a troubled expression.

"I have the feeling… That it’s a part of my name but… other than that, I can’t remember anything else. Just who am I?"

Harrigan pondered about the man’s words while hiding her own surprise.

(Naga… as in [{{furigana|Dragon King|Naga|}}]? Is he serious about that being part of his name? Or is this man just a lunatic?)

"Well, leaving my matter aside."

The man lifted his head.

"Who are you people?"

"You’re switching the topic too fast!"

Harrigan was a little taken aback.

"No, even if I try hard to remember, I won’t remember anything, so it can’t be helped right?"

"Hmm, You’ve got a positive way of thinking. No, rather, ain’t you turning on me?"

"Once I manage to recollect something, I’ll explain you. First, tell me something about you."

"Allright."

As soon as she corrected her seating posture on the stool, Harrigan pointed at herself.

"I’m Harrigan Halliway Haindora, the head of the witches that reside here."

The man wrinkled up his eyebrows.

"Witch…Witches? What are witches?"

"So I’ve to explain from that part? But…"

Harrigan looked up at the air while she pondered.

"Fu…mu, explaining to a person that doesn’t have a single clue is surprisingly difficult, isn’t it?"

Finally, returning her head position, Harrigan.

"If I were to describe witches with a single word, then it would be women that can use magic."

"Is that so? I don’t quite get it, but I get it."

"Which one is that?!"

"I don’t understand that thing called magic. Still, even if I am told incomprehensible words one by one, however much time passess, I won’t be able to progress, I see it that way. Leaving the minor parts for later and understanding them little by little should be fine. For the time being, I want to roughly grasp the things."

"Hou?"

What surprised Harrigan was that the man could unexpectedly maintain his calm attitude despite being thrown into a different world while losing his memories. On top of that, his way of dealing with current situations was surprisingly calm as well.

(Normally, if one were to learn about their own lost memories, they would feel shaken and confused, but…Well, could it be that his nerves are 2 or 3 times over the normal? Or could it be that his pattern of thinking is broken?)

"Well, What I want to know, or rather the thing I should know, is where is this place? And what year it is?"

"If I were to be told that, I could only say it’s the inside of ‘the black forest’. As for the year… If we were to use the calendar from the neighbouring country, it would the year 12 of Cassandra III. Then, using our chronicle it would be 415 years after the death of the great witch, Echidna."

"As expected, I don’t get it at all."

While thinking hard about it, the man talked quietly to himself.

"I’ve the feeling like I’ve heard about the country of westerners. I wonder if perhaps I wasn’t fired to such a country."

Hearing the man’s words, Harrigan

"Westerners…. what’s that?"

Once she asked, the man moved his sight toward Ais and Lela and replied.

"Just like the two of you, I’m speaking about people having red hair and blue eyes."

"My hair ain’t not red?"

"Ah, that’s right. Your’s would be of a similar color to ours."

"Ours? So the inhabitants of your world, does everyone has the same black hair? You can remember that?"

"No, that’s not it. That’s instinctive, rather than having or not the memories or the knowledge. I think it would be close to that. At least, in my world, the two of them… no."

The man shifted his eyes to the bagwormed appearance of Yuuki, who was on inside the sleeping mat, on the floor.

"At least there was no person who had hair color and eyes color like this one."

"Well then, please speak whatever you know based on your instinct. It should be fine like that."

"Even if you tell me that."

The man folded his arms while cocking his head many times.

"Once I try to explain something, it won’t convert into words. Saying that, what I said before won’t occur to me precisely."

"It’s somehow bothersome, isn’t it?"

Saying so, Harrigan made a sour face.

"I don’t feel particularly troubled by that. Indeed, I have forgotten about who I am, and then, I was fired into an unknown place, but, like that, I was rescued by you. Also, it seems that we can understand each other, so there’s no need to panic nor rush the things."

"You… certainly have the guts, don’t you?"

"Really? I’m just trying to accept the things in front of my eyes."

"That’s not something to be done casually, it’s hard to accept the reality in front of one’s eyes."

Despite the man thinking that there seemed to be something more in what she said, he decided not to point that out.

(I probably shouldn’t dig too much into another person’s circumstances. Rather than that.)

"Were I to say what the big problem is right now"

Saying that, Harrigan bent forward her body.

"Hou? what it is? try to say it."

"I feel hungry."

Not just Harrigan, but Ais and Lela as well, were taken aback by the man’s words. Finally, despite Harrigan raising her voice, she was smiling pleasantly.

"No no, that’s a big deal. To think you would say that you’re hungry under such circumstances, are you truly someone important? or just a big fool?"

"When you’re hungry, you can’t fight, or so they say… Hmm?"

"What’s the matter?"

"No…war… war? I’ve the feeling like I do nothing but that."

"Hou? a war? If it’s a war, then we do too. Despite saying so, recently, we haven’t won anything. We, witches, used to fight on equal terms with human armies, but now…"

Saying that, Harrigan laughed while self-mocking.

Hm? the man raised his face.

"Humans? So the enemy you’ve fighted with are humans?"

"That’s right. We witches and the humans aren’t compatible with each other. It could be said that we are… sworn enemies?"

"I don’t quite get it. For me you look like humans but ain’t you as well ‘humans’?"

"We do. It’s just that we are humans, who can use magic. We didn’t say that we aren’t people, but, humans would still distinct us. They would rigorously distinct and discriminate us, because, humans can’t use magic. Therefore, they would refer to those who can as ‘evil witches’. Witches are the established enemies of humans, that’s why they must exterminate us."

"You’re evil beings?"

Hearing the simplistic question directed by the man, a self-mocking smile reappeared on Harrigan’s face.

"Judging from the point of view of those, who can’t use magic, it probably seems so."

"Being filled with envy and jealousy over those, who unlike them, possess special abilities, in the end, you would say they will wish for those possessors to vanish? Indeed, they’re small-minded guys."

Harrigan directed her sight filled with sarcasm at the man.

"You too, won’t you probably fear and disdain us after seeing our power?"

"Huh? Why should I?"

"No, even if you say so…You are not scared of those with unusual abilities? Isn’t it eerie?"

"Whether you hold abilities or not, it depends on each person. If I were to be scared of possessors of abilities that I don’t have, I probably wouldn’t be able to live in this world. I still don’t know anything about your ‘magic’, but, you were the ones that rescued me. Were you to be hostile against humans, you’d probably just throw me out."

"That’s right, rather than getting rid of you."

Harrigan run her sight over Yuuki, who was rolling on the floor.

"If it were Yuuki, she will probably scream things like ‘ kill’."

Saying that, the man’s face became unpleasant as he looked at Harrigan.

"Why is it that only this girl is hostile toward me and ready to fight?"

"Even if I told you."

While answering, Harrigan made a depressed face.

"Yuuki’s disdain for men is bottomless."

"Despite there probably being other men, is that fine with you?"

"No, there are no men in our place."

"What? What’s the meaning of that?"

"It means exactly what I said. We are a group consisting of only women. In the first place, only women can become witches. That’s why Yuuki’s great disdain for men wouldn’t burst until now. Consider it as its spasm due to your sudden appearance."

"I… Is that so? I don’t get it, but I understand."

(Is that an unserius attitude, or rather a composed one? Somehow I can’t tell about this guy. More importantly…)

"Ais, Sorry for troubling you, but can you bring him a meal? I don’t mind if they’re leftovers."

"Yes, ane-sama."

"Shall I he-lp?"

"That’s fine. You stay here, Leyla. If the magic of the amulet runs out, you will probably have to replace it with another."

"That’s righ-t."

"Well then, I am going."

Seeing off Ais, Harrigan faced again the man.

"With that, please wait for the meal."

Haha – because the man started to laugh loudly, Harrigan’s expression became suspicious.

"What? What’s the matter?"

"This should be the continuation of what I said previously, but for you to let someone like me, whose origin is unknown, to eat, there’s no way for you to be evil."

"I’m glad for your words, but, not everyone is as understanding as you. There’s no way for them to understand what’s right or wrong. Rather, it’s because of the scarce number of people like you, that we have been fighting for a long time with humans."

"Well, I don’t understand, but, I’ve the feeling like there was no end to those worthless wars in the country, where I lived…"

The man looked up at the air with a distant eye as if reeling the memories which he had lost.

=== Part 5 ===

"Sorry for making you wait."

Soon after, Ais returned while holding a tray in both hands.

Once she put the wooden tray on the table, she grabbed an apple, which ripened early in the spring. This sort of fruits and wild plants were abundant in this black forest.

"I’ll now squeeze the fruit juice."

As soon she grabbed the apple in her right arm, she lifted it over the wooden-made wine cup covered with filter cloth. Ei – saying so, she inserted power into her right hand.

The flatly crushed apple dripped with juice. Seeing that, the man was a little taken aback.

"You’ve got an incredible strength."

"If it’s a person’s head, I can easily smash it single-handedly. So please don’t cause anything weird, ok?"

(This girl, is scary.)

While the man shuddered up, Harrigan smiled as as she spoke.

"For Ais, this much of arm power and gripping force would be just fragments of her ability. Once she uses her magic, she can further enhance her strength. Crushing stones, lifting big rocks, breaking a bear’s spine, and even catching and flinging away a one-horn rhinoceros."

"A bear’s spine!? That’s amazing. And what’s a rhinoceros?"

"They’re huge beasts with a big horn that lives in the plains. They are taller than me and 10-15 times heavier than an adult person."

"And you can fling away that guy?"

"Ooh, that’s right. Once she wrap its horn, she throws it like this- Eiyaah!"

Lifting up from her stool, Harrigan demonstrated how it looks.

"Ane-sama, you’re exaggerating things."

Ais’s cheeks became sullen.

Kuku – leaking a smile, Harrigan sat again.

"Well, Ain’t you scared?"

"Indeed it’s scary, but, such a thing probably be the same as a guy holding a weapon. There’s no particular reason for me to disdain you, I think."

(Hmm, that’s an interesting way of thinking from that man. Is he either thinking logically or rationally? At least, it doesn’t come from his sentiment.)

Seeing only people, who would feel emotional hatred toward witches, Harrigan took a deep interest for the man’s response and way of thinking.

The young Ais and Lela, who had never face anyone directly like Harrigan, weren’t hooked by the man’s way of judging things and thinking as much as Harrigan, nevertheless, despite them believing the man’s talk about him losing his memories and not knowing anyone, they were surprised and in admiration for the man having a calm attitude, even though he was had to face such an unusual situation.

"Because we have finished our breakfast, unfortunately, there’s not much left, but…"

After Harrigan said so, Aisu present the tray, which had baguette, soup and vegetables.

Soon after he received it, the man put the it on his thigh. Ais added the wine cup containing the juice squeezed by her on the tray.

"Oh, sorry for the trouble. Well then, Bon appetit."

The moment he reached out his hand toward the food, he stopped moving and plucked the amulet on his forehead.

"This thing is in my way."

Hanging down from till his nose tip, indeed, it was bothersome while eating.

"Is it fine for me to take it out?"

"That’s right. Maybe behind the head… no, it should be better to attach it on the back of the neck?"

As Harrigan looked at Lela.

"I don’t think it will cause any problem in its func-tion."

"Please repaste it."

Nodding a little, Lela detached the amulet on the man’s forehead. So as to peek behind the guy’s back, she bent her body and reattached the amulet behind his neck.

"How is it? Can you still understand my words?"

At Harrigan’s question, the man lifted his right arm while saying that there was no problem.

"Well, then, shall I eat? My stomach already feels hungry."

The man extended his hands to the bowls on the tray and put the vegetables and the bread in his mouth one after another.

"This thing….Heh? I see…it has quite a different taste… but, it’s delicious."

"You eat or talk? Decide on which one."

Not just Harrigan, but also Ais and Lela were watching astonished as the man was vigorously eating the food.

(This guy, he just bite completely into what was given to him without restraint nor leniency. Does he not know how to doubt strangers? Or could it be he’s trusting us? Is he an idiot or a clever man? Is he someone important or perhaps a lunatic? I can’t read him at all. Despite that, it’s highly probable he’s not a person from this world. It seems there’s no sense in searching for clues, so should we look after him for a while? At worst, he could be a form of killing time. If he tries to harm us, we can just kill him, but, once it comes to that…)

Harrigan took a glimpse at Yuuki, who was tied up roundly in the ropes and rolling on the floor. She breathed out a sigh.

(The big question would be how to suppress Yuuki.)

=== Part 6 ===

Soon after Harrigan was pondering on any idea, Yuuki woke up.

While being half-awake, she dimly looked over the inside of the room only to eye a man, who was energetically eating, which made her woke up at once. Yuuki tried to jump up, nevertheless, being tied up with the ropes, she couldn’t rise. On top of that, because she had a gag inserted, she couldn’t talk. Rather than trying to understand how she ended like this, Yuuki continued to move while trying to raise her body and kept shouting at the man.

"Mnn! Mnnnn! Mmmnnnnnn!"

With a perplexed face, the man ceased to eat and looked at Harrigan, Lela and Ais.

"I don’t understand at all what she’s saying?"

At the man’s question, Lela responded calmly.

"Kill you, I’ll absolutely kill you,… is what she’s say-ing."

"You can understand!?"

"That’s because we have hung out since we were li-ttle."

"Oh, that’s why."

The man felt awkward to ignore Yuuki with the killing intention while continuing to eat.

Thinking about what he should do, He looked at Harrigan.

Harrigan shifted her sight from Yuuki, who continued her attempt to scream out while bending her body like a shrimp, and breathed out a sigh as she faced toward Aisu, telling her "do it!" with her eye sign.

Ais, who moved forward, kneeled in front of Yuuki.

Putting a smile on her face, she grabbed Yuuki’s both shoulders and raised her while standing up by herself. Because Ais’s was taller than Yuuki, she lifted Yuuki to the level of her eyes. Yuuki’s toes were floating in the air.

Her body was shaking and her appearance, which was tied up in a roll, gave the impression of a bagworm swaying in the air.

Aisu grabbed firmly Yuuki’s shoulders over the ropes digging into them.

"Hmm hmm hmm!"

Yuuki’s face bent in pain.

With a casual face, Lela interpreted.

"Ow ow ow… is what she say-s."

Raising her arms further, Ais looked up to Yuuki’s face and, while keeping her smiling face, said.

"I wonder if you can stop making fuss, Yuuki. Ane-sama is also troubled. You understand that?"

"Hmm, mnnn, hmm, mnn, hmmmm!"

"I Got it, ow,I got it, ow, my shoulders are breaking… she say-s."

(What’s with that pleasant way of doing things?)

Taken aback, the man looked at Yuuki and Ais.

"I’m glad, you understood."

When Ais loosens her hands power, Yuuki’s neck loses its strength and fell to the front.

Aisu wouldn’t cease her smile.

(That girl Ais, despite her gentle look, her inner self is the most fearsome.)

The man couldn’t hide his surprise at the divergence in both Ais’s look and inside.

"Well then, you will remain obedient until that person finishes its eating, ok? But, I’m not saying it’s fine for you to make a fuss after that. You got that?"

kaku kaku kaku - Yuuki shook her head without strength.

"Ah, aaah、I was suffocating!"

Yuuki repeated taking deep breaths.

Ais, who turned back…

"With that, please continue your meal."

She urged the man.

"No, even if I’m told please, is it really fine?"

Having such suspicion, the man looked at Harrigan.

"I don’t mind. Please eat quickly. After that, I would like to talk a bit."

"That’s right. I want as well ask some questions, so should I finish this meal at once?"

The man grabbed the dishes again.

"Despite that, why do you hold such grudge toward men? Did something happened to you long time ago?"

As the man spoke nonchalantly, at that moment, Yuuki’s hair moved abruptly.

While looking down, a small muttering came from Yuuki’s mouth.

"Don’t… bring…. front… me."

"Haa? I cannot hear you."

Being in a rolled position, Yuuki warped her upper body while lifting her face. With a terrifically angry expression, she glared at the man and shouted…

"Don’t bring up that subject in front of me!!"

Despite being inside of the room, the wind arose and hitted Naga’s face and body.

Even till then she was speaking about ‘killing’, ‘ driving out’ men, nevertheless, it was clear now that her seriousness was different from that time.

The man jumped back unintentionally and touched his left waist on a spurt.

Not feeling the sensation in his right hand, the man looked at his left waist and smacked his lips.

(There’s nothing. Certainly I…)

"This is bad!"

Harrigan shouted sharply at Ais.

"Stop her!"

The ropes that binded Yuuki’s body began to split up. At the same time, Ais jumped toward Yuuki.

"Things like men, things like men, kill, kill, kill, I’ll kill them all?"

Snap

Hearing a weird sound, once the man moved his sight toward them, Ais twisted the girl’s neck from behind as she clinged to her.

Yuuki’s eyes turned white with her power leaving her body.

"That was dangerous, wasn’t it?"

Ais kept Yuuki in the same neck twisting position while smiling toward the man.

"No… just now, didn’t her neck snap? Will she be right? Her eyes seems to have turned white."

Looking down at Yuuki, whose body lost its strength, Ais spoke in an indifferent manner.

"Certainly, it will be fine. Yuuki is quite robust."

"I… is that so? In that case it should be fine, but, just now…"

The man moved his face toward Harrigan with the intention of wanting to ask, nevertheless, she wouldn’t break down that stern expression.

"Don’t inquire the reason behind Yuuki’s disdain for men. I too, don’t feel like explaining that to you."

"Got that… I’ll pay more attention from now on."

"Please do that. Rather than that, finish your food quickly."

"No, that’s fine. My stomach is already full, and also I don’t feel like eating more after making her angry with that harsh words of mine."

"Is that so?"

"Yea, it’s enough. Thanks for the meal, it was delicious."

Once the man returned to his original seat, he deeply bowed his head towards Harrigan.

"You rescued me, so I’ll say my thanks. Had it not been for you and me being given this meal, I’d probably had a dog’s death."

"It’s not a big deal, so don’t mind."

"No no, I consider this to be a big matter. Just a while ago, some words popped inside my head, which are [a debt of a night’s stay and a meal]<ref>It's from a japanese expression, it means to repay a debt of gratitude. </ref>? but, it it feels as though it applies in my situation. That’s why I’ll without doubt return this gratitude."

"You don’t have to take it that seriously."

Saying that, Harrigan too, didn’t seem to be in a bad mood.

The man bowed down to Ais and Lela.

"Thank you for rescuing me. You have my thanks."

"No, don’t mention it."

"Don’t worry about i-t."

Being thanked by the man, Lela and Ais didn’t seem to be that dissatisfied, nevertheless, Ais kept bending Yuuki’s neck while having a much queer expression.

"Well then, shall we talk a little?"

Saying that to the man, Harrigan gave instructions to Lela and Ais.

"I’ll have a small talk with this guy. Lela, you wait here. Ais, take Yuuki to your room and wake her up. Still, watch over her so to not let her go violent."

"Yes, ane-sama."

"And both of you, don’t talk about this man to other girls, got that?"

"Yes, ane-sama."

"Got th-at."

"Well then, come this way."

Being invited by Harrigan, the man left her room.

=== Part 7 ===

The room to which Harrigan led was a study room.

There was a bookshelf together with lined up books inside the bedroom as well, nevertheless, in this one, all the four walls were placed with high bookshelves, which were packed with books. The room gave out the impression of being buried inside books.

"You’re quite a reader, aren’t you? I Can’t even tell what kind of documents this are."

"These are indispensable for magic research and development. Rather than that, sit."

The man,who stood next to a bookshelf while staring at the document, turned around.

Sitting on the wooden stool, Harrigan waited for the man to sit.

"Because you’ve lost your memory, I’ll restrain from asking you personal questions. In exchange, I’m thinking of telling you more about us."

"That would helps a lot. I too, want to learn fast about this world and you."

"I’ll explain that generally and briefly. There might be things, which you don’t understand, but leave the questions for later. Anyway for not just listen."

"Yeah, got that. Well then I’ll entrust you with that."

=== Part 8 ===

"First, I’ll tell you more about the war between witches and humans. Just as I said, we are disdained and estranged by humans due to us possessing unusual powers. While continuing to fight against the humans, we fell into decline, and it’s not just our household. Right now, the whole race of witches are on decline. Our race is on the verge of dying."

"However, the biggest reason behind that is our number. If I were to say why, it’s because we lose our power once we give birth to children. It’s not like we will lose instantly our power, but certainly it’s a big damage to that. That’s why, we can’t casually bear children. Once a witch diminish in her magic power, the only job remaining for her is raising a child."

"The partner is a man, you see? they would be chosen at one’s own discretion. For us, the father doesn’t play a big role. Another problem is that the born child doesn’t necessarily possess the quality of a witch. That’s right, there’s no telling whether or not a child will house magic power. That’s why our number won’t increase."

"A long time ago, it was bit better. A long time ago… that is when humans weren’t that many and the countries established by humans were not that strong. Back then, we were more powerful than now and there were people who would acknowledge us, nevertheless, the time has changed."

"The people passed through the mountains, creating new and numerous cities. Even now they’re doing so. The agriculture developed and so the number of harvest, which resulted in natural growth of population. Then, the people expanded here and there, increasing the conflict between both sides."

"We too can’t forget about the church’s expanding influence. In the first place, they’re our true enemy. The reason why there’s no compatibility between humans and witches is due to their influence. While considering us as heretics, they spread about us being the ones that should be destroyed. The more they implemented their roots in this world, the more influence they had, making us becoming the enemy of humans."

"Like that humans recognized us as their enemy and whenever there had a chance or a gap, they would seize our lands. Trying to exterminate us, they began to commenced assaults. We are more superior in terms of individual combat skills, nevertheless, they have more war power than us. Even if we can use magic, taking several hundreds of human soldiers… is a task next to impossible."

"Because of that, our lands were gradually encroached. Even now, we have been pushed quite an area, into the black forest."

"Ah, besides us, there are several other clans that lives in this forest. However, we don’t associate much. It seems that the humans describe us all with the term ‘the country of witches’ but, our activity doesn’t include deep integration with other clans. It seems that a long time ago, when the great witch was alive, the clans had stronger connections with each other. Despite that, we are all treated the same by humans."

"We would become the first to bear the brunt of Cassandra kingdom’s forces, since they’re the nearest human country to us. We somehow repelled it for the time being, but we don’t know how long we can keep resisting. If we were to fall out, the whole black forest would probably be in the humans’ hands. It would be much a different story if the other clans united, but…"

Harrigan talked dimly without anger, excitement not any lament.

"Then here is our fort. Beginning with this one, the majority of those who fight are packed in several of these forts located in this forest, beginning with this one. Children and elderly live in a hidden village. I’ll say it, but I can’t bring you there, and I don’t have that much trust on you yet."

"I understand this much."

The man raised his hand as to express his understand.

After finishing to explain in general, Harrigan breathed out a sigh and continued her while saying – well then.

"I explained broadly about us and our current situation, but did you understand?"

"That’s right. I don’t quite get it, but I understand in general."

"That’s why! which one do you mean!?"

"That one. I could understand roughly the course of action, but, after all, to know the things in detail, the only thing I can do is to experience them… or such."

Fufu – Harrigan smiled pleasantly.

(What an interesting man. Well, leaving aside whether he’s a clever man or a fool, it’s fine for him not to be scared of us.)

Harrigan had her interest caught by the man in front of her. No, perhaps she was attracted by the man itself.

The man that descended out of sudden from the air.

Even for a famous witch as Harrigan, a magic that could send people to the distant places was not seen or unheard of. Not to mention, rather than being fired from a distant place, it seemed more like he crossed the spacetime from the other place.

Harrigan thought about wanting to investigate that phenomenon.

And not just that.

She also wanted to learn more about the man himself.

A man, who could accept the situation with such a composure, despite being thrown into different world.

A man who asserts as someone unperturbed by emotions, of a deep faith that feels obligated to pay a meal and a night stay debt, and someone that doesn’t make differences between us witches and the humans.

The man, who held the name of Naga.

The word, which Harrigan knew, held the implication of ‘dragon’ or ‘dragon king’.

She didn’t know whether the word indicated his name in that way. However, the man that fell from the sky, whose name held the meaning of ‘dragon’ could imply something. Because of that, Harrigan didn’t plan to release the man. Nevertheless, as the head of the clan, there’s no way for her to prioritize her personal interest. Speaking honestly about themselves, she seeked for the man’s response.

As expected, the man showed a response according to her thoughts. He wasn’t scared of them nor denied them. On the other hand, he would normally make contact with them without any sympathising. It wasn’t an attitude that existed in this world. Assuming that the man indeed came from different world, perhaps, talking to him could open the path for the future of her clan.
There was no particular reason, nor established principles for that. Rather, it was her intuition as the witches’ chief.

Harrigan have decided.

She decided to take care this man as the part of her clan. If he becomes a burden, it should be fine to throw him away, and if he intends to do any harm, it should be no problem in killing him.

Such was Harrigan’s conclusion.

=== Part 9 ===

Once she revealed the man’s presence to the others and said that she intends to raise him, continuous objections and doubts were received from the witches. Without there being anyone, who would consent positively, if it was something decided by ane-sama, Lela and Ais would only show a passive approval without any opposing. Nevertheless, in the end, everyone came to acknowledge the man, on the condition of throwing him away, were he to cause any trouble.

Yuuki was the only one, who would continue to oppose till the end, everywhere, firmly, severely and stubbornly. In the end, despite many attempts of calming down and lecturing, Harrigan managed to forcibly overcome Yuuki’s opposition.

"This is what I concluded and I don’t intend to change it."

"If Harri-nee says so, that’s fine. Whatever happens, I don’t care."

Saying so, Yuuki became completely angry, nevertheless she didn’t seem to resort to any forceful methods, such as killing the man or throwing him out from the village. Because of that, Harrigan judged it would be fine to leave it like that for the time being.

It will be a problem to take care of a man, however, how should they refer to the man? For the time being, it wasn’t a good idea just to omit that.

(Because that guy said that he thinks his name is Naga something, there’s no way for us to ignore that. [{{furigana|Dragon King|Naga|}}]… should we go with that? I’ve the feeling like this name is too much for him. if it is was to be the real dragon king, it would probably get angry, still, if we consider it as a nickname, it probably won’t.)

Thinking so, Harrigan decided to referred to the young man as Naga.

Heh? is that so – After announcing that, it would be natural for a person to be surprised. Nevertheless, the majority of witches laughed instead. Their laugh had an element of mocking.

"It doesn’t suit him."

"That name is a fail."

"Won't he get killed by the real dragon king?"

Such impressions the witches had.

"Were you girls told of such things?"

Despite Harrigan spurring on, the man remained calm.

"In the first place, I don’t know what the dragon king is."

Is he an important individual or a fool? – Harrigan, who couldn’t measure that man with normal criteria, was taken aback.

(But well, if he’s just a simpleton, he probably won’t become of use, but if he’s an extravagant fool, then perhaps he can yield something. Shall I watch over him for the time being?)

=== Part 10 ===

With that, Naga, who had been decided to be supported by Harrigan and the others, for now decided not to take any action. Rather than that, because he didn’t understand most about Harrigan’s clan, as well about this world, even if he wanted to do anything, he wouldn’t be able.

Should I first allow myself to observe and study? – Naga started talking.

"That’s fine. Then, shall we walk around this fort once we finish the lunch?"

After that they took their lunch and went to take a walk around the inside of the fort. At that time Naga asked…

"Hey Harrigan. When I fell into the bath house, wasn’t there something I was holding to?"

"You mean that weird-shaped sword in your waist?"

Naga asked vigorously.

"That’s it! What happened to it!?"

"We are keeping it."

"Can’t I’ve you return it back to me? Somehow, my left waist feels lonely, I feel anxiety and insecure."

"We will keep it for a little while."

"…………"

"I’m telling you, that we will keep it, for a little while!"

"Naga’s face turned miserable."

"Do you think that I keeping it is dangerous?"

"That would be natural?"

"Uh… is that so? well, it probably would be."

"Rest assured. Once we learn more about you while living together, we will return it to you."

Naga breathed a small sigh and nodded.

"Then, that’s fine."

"Well, should we go on a stroll and treat ourselves?"

Being led by Ais and Harrigan, they walked around the inside of the fortification.

The fort mentioned as fort three, which could be said to be their main base, wasn’t as big in comparison with the others. It was surrounded by wooden fence, nevertheless, it had no ditches. Inside the ground, there were complex constructions, such as a residential building, storage house, weaponry, and a high watch tower. All of them were simple constructions made using woods.

It was probably a rare sight and unheard for him. Naga would frequently stop and look inside the buildings and ask about their name and functions. After having spent the afternoon like that and taking the dinner, Naga retired to a room offered by Harrigan.

"Oh my, as expected, today was a tiring one. I’ll allow myself to go sleep earlier. Is it fine for me to take this off?"

Naga pointed the amulet behind his neck.

"Lela will prepare for you a new one tomorrow, so don’t mind."

"In case I won’t be able to wake up tomorrow, please do it for me. I’m thankful for your meals and bedding. Well then, if you allow."

Raising his hand he gave a sign to Harigan, who escorted him until the room. As he suddenly began to take off his clothes, Harrigan became puzzled.

"Hey, what are you doing out of sudden?!"

"My clothes are still drying, so I was thinking about leaving them out to dry completely while sleeping."

"If so, do it once I leave the room!"

"Ah? I don’t particularly mind. Do you Harrigan?"

Despite Being a little bit red faced, Harrigan answered without averting her eyes.

"N, no, I wonder whether I too, don’t mind at all."

"Well then, isn’t that fine?"

[[Image:Naga01 090.jpg|175px|thumb]]

With just his loincloth, Naga composedly began to stretch his half-dried clothings.

(His body is quite trained… Wh, no no, it isn’t the time to be watching muscles.)

Once she left the room and closed the door, Naga’s snoring was heard from the inside.
(He surely falls asleep fast. Does he have much of courage, or does he have no wariness? He’s a man hard to measure.)

Shaking her head, Harrigan returned to her room.

=== Part 11 ===

The following day, after taking the breakfast together with Ais and Harrigan, Naga expressed his wish to walk around the fort once more.

Today as well, he was wearing his clothing, which Harrigan considered as queer, and had a special made amulet attached by Lela at the same place.

(Because there are no other clothings for him, it can’t be helped. I’ve to deal with that matter somehow. Well, should I leave that for later? However…)

There was no way to let Naga wander alone, so guiding was utmost necessary. That part could be done only by someone like Harrigan, nevertheless, she too had lots of duty piled up as the head of the clan.

"I too, can only help you in my free time, nevertheless… this isn’t what I mean."

Once she said it in that way with disagreeableness.

"That’s fine. In that case, you don’t have to guide. Because I’ll just hang around properly in this surrounding of the fort."

"The surrounding of the fort? do you plan to walk around the forest?"

"Yeah, I want to learn, even if it’s just a bit, about how this world looks. But first, I want to see with my very eyes this region where you live."

"A forest is a forest. However much you look at it, there are just trees."

"Ah, that’s fine. I wanna see it while inhaling some air."

(What a weird guy. In the first place, the way in which he appeared was weird, but…)

"Even if you say so."

"What? Is there something I shouldn’t see in the forest?"

"Not that’s not. But, people who walks this forest without knowing about it, will get lost. It’s because, in addition to the forest being deeply dark, we put a barrier. It would be different in case they were to focus much and set a benchmark, but…"

"A barrier…"

Naga pondered.

"Yea, think of it as one type of magic. It’s a magic used to deceive people’s eyes, who doesn’t know about this place."

"Is that so? Then, I cannot wander alone?."

Making a disappointed face, once he looked at the forest outside the fort, Lela, who was waiting a bit far away from them, stepped up.

"Ane-sama, Shall I do the gui-ding?"

"Is is right? Will you fine by yourself?"

"Even if the effect of the amulet runs out, I’ll be there, so there shouldn’t be pro-blem. Right now, there are things, which you need to do, so."

"This isn’t what I mean. Will you be fine being alone with that perverted guy? – is what I wanted to ask. I’ll say it, but this guys is a pervert?"

"Don’t ask rude things! And don’t say it!"

"Ah…."

"And you, don’t just start pondering about that!"

Bending her neck while having a stern face, Lela raised up her face and looked at Naga with a glance from his tip to toes.

"Well, it will be fine , I thin-k. When necessary, I’ll burn him using the fla-me spell."

"Is that so?Then I’ll leave it to you."

As soon as Harrigan said so, she whispered to Lela’s ear as if embracing her.

"Be careful of that man."

"That’s why, I can hear you! Such a lack of respect."

Kukuku – Harrigan chuckled as she once again put the emphasis on what she said.

"You better follow Lela guide obediently?"

"I know, good grief. If you worry so much it would be bad for your health."

"Not being worried about a man that comes and grope people’s chest out of sudden, what else should I worry about?"

"Ah… that’s right, I was confused that time at the sudden course of events. There’s no longer need to worry."

"I’d like to hope so…"

Shifting her sight away from him, Harrigan took a glance at Lela’s appearance. Nevertheless, the girl remained emotionless she would and looked at Naga.

(Despite her having an indifferent attitude toward things, it’s rare for Lela to be this positive. Could it be that she’s taking an interest into that man….?

Is it good or bad? Up to this point, Harrigan couldn’t understand. Still, she felt it could be a sort of a new fresh wind that began to blow through the monotonous witches in this mood stagnant village.

"Well then, I will entrust you with that Lela."

"Leave it to m-e."

Like that Naga was taken by Lela and they both moved from the fort toward the forest.

=== Part 12 ===

In this virgin forest, all the trees were high with numerous branches that were thickly overgrown with leaves.

Despite now being the noon, the forest was thickly dim. Nevertheless, the grass below one’s feet wasn’t that high, therefore, it didn’t cause problem when moving.

Because Naga walked with a fast and big pace, it was natural for him to be in front of Lela.

"Being inside this forest, seems to give me a depressing feeling."

Inside the dim forest, Naga shifted his sight left and right while walking as he muttered. Hearing that, Lela objected with a snap.

"It’s not because we want to live here that we are he-re. It can’t be helped but to live while avoiding conflicts with peo-ple."

Naga suddenly stopped and turned around.

"Are you guys content with that?"

Lela was caught off guard.

"I think I saw how the things are going in this fort yesterday and today, but somehow the atmosphere felt silent. You could say there was no mood nor ambition? and also you looked resigned?"

Naga took a glance at Lela’s face.

"Running inside the forest as if driven away by humans, and hiding you presence motionlessly here in order to avoid conflicts with them. Are you satisfied with that?"

"There’s no, way, for us to be satisfie-d."

Shouting without realizing that, Lela covered her mouth hurriedly.

Perhaps, Harrigan as well held the dissatisfaction while being the leader of the group. Naga noticed that and interjected.

"Forget about what just happened no-w…"

"If you say so, I’m not going to ask."

Again facing forward, Naga continued to walk.

On the other hand, Lela felt as if her body became heavy, being unable to take another step.

Meanwhile, Naga kept walking.

Once she returned to herself, there was no sight of Naga.

(Cra-p. For me of all the people to slack o-ff.)

While panicking, Lela tried to catch after Naga.

No matter how fast he is, he shouldn’t be able to walk far away while being the first timer in this forest. What’s more, as long there’s not much of distance between them, Lela can follow him up thanks to her own magic leaking from the amulet, so, she didn’t worry much.

Just as she anticipated, she spotted Naga’s back after walking a while.

It seemed as though he was hiding in the shadow, kneeling and holding his breath while peeking at something in front of im.

Because his tension passed along to Lela, she approached unintentionally with her stealthy steps.

As she gently approached, Naga turned behind as he noticed her and gave her sign to stoop using his hand.

Once she lined next to him while keeping low her head, she asked as if whispering.

"Is there a beast or some-thing?"

"A ferocious and brutal one."

Because Naga whispered back, Lela became tense.

Once she peek out with her face from the shadow of a thick tree trunk.

In front, there was a small valley-shaped river flowing, inside of which Yuuki was taking a bath. She was naked, which was natural one way or another.

"A…ah..indeed it’s a ferocious bea-st. A specific one among peo-ple, but.."

There was no doubt that she ditched the designated job and went to bath due to her facing previously with Naga at the fort.

(In that case, it’s you reap what you sow, but..)

Lela thought about what they should do.

Yuuki, who didn’t suspect anyone to peek her, climbed up the rocky area as she performed bold calisthenics, and jumped into the deep water from the rock while having fun.

Yuuki’s wet and naked body was radiating with the sunlight. Naturally, because she didn’t suspect anyone to peak, she wouldn’t think about hiding her body.

Her body had white skin, which was almost transparent.

Her shoulders and waist drew smooth curves.

Her chest hills, which were neither small nor big, bulged with a pretty shape.

On top of them, cute and pink nipples protruded.

The lightly golden bush between her groins was damp with water and stickily clinging to her abdomen.

And then, a smiling face, which Naga hadn’t seen until now, popped on her face.

"What’s that? So she could smile like this?"

[[Image:Naga01 099.jpg|175px|thumb]]

Naga’s sight was completely glued to Yuuki’s face and naked body.

Leyla peeked with her sidelong glance at Naga’s appearance.

(He’s zealously looking, isn’t h-e? Well, I can unders-tand that, but… her body isn’t the same as Ais’ still, Yuuki has quite an attractive bo-dy.)

Or at least it was more womanly than mine – is what Lela admitted.

(Nevertheless, he’s probably too enthusias-tic. At this rate, there’s a fear Yuuki will noti-ce. That girl is very sensitive to men’s sight-s.)

"Naga-sa-n."

As soon as Lela placed her hand on his shoulders, Naga looked aside with his startled face.

"A… ah, sorry, I couldn’t help it.."

Naga made an excuse, nevertheless, he didn’t seem to think that way.

"We have just come, so I haven’t seen much."

(He doesn’t seem so but, rather than th-at.)

"Don’t mo-ve! It can’t be helped that you have se-en. We can’t be spotted now that we have seen her important pa-r-ts."

"What do you mean?"

"If you’re spotted on peeking, you will di-e. Saying that, you will be killed by Yuu-ki. That’s is 9/10, 9 out 10, and 99 percent certain."

"Doesn’t the last one give me less than 10% of chance to avoid?"

"Yes, that’s why it’s certa-in. Even if ane-sama tries to stop her, Yuuki won’t probably listen to he-r."

Naga’s body shivered.

"You… could it be, you plan to report me to Yuuki?"

Without answering to Naga’s question, once Lela took out an amulet from her waist, she began to write down using her small brush.

"Yes, please attach th-is."

"W-what? What do you intend to do?"

At that time, Yuuki, who was about to jump off the rock area, stopped. Frowning her eyes suspiciously, she look on the sides attentively.

"We will be noticed, fast attach… rather than that I’ll attach i-t!"

Lela banged the new charm with a slap on Naga’s forehead.

"It’s an amulet that cuts off one’s presence. Remain sile-nt."

Just as Lela told, Naga ceased his movements and hid his breath while continuing to peek at Yuuki.

Yuuki, who was searching around for a moment with deep suspicion, suddenly yelled – Ah! Naga’s body froze thinking that he was spotted, however, it wasn’t that case.

"A smoke signal from the fort!"

Yuuki jumped toward her thrown clothings and wore before one could even notice. Once she did that, she run up the slope and disappeared in a blink of time inside the forest.

Waiting until she disappeared, Lela stood up.

"You narrowly escaped from death, Na-ga-san."

"A… ah, it seems to be so."

Once Naga breathed out a sigh of relief and loosened his body, Lela bent her waist while reaching out her right hand to scrape off the amulet on his forehead.

"Speaking of which, Yuuki said there was a smoke signal rising. Shouldn’t we head back as well?"

Lela looked up at the sky toward the fort.

Indeed there was a string of red smoke seen from between the trees.

"There’s no doubt that something happe-ned at the fort. Let’s head bac-k."

Naga slowly stood up.

"Despite that, why didn’t you report me to that guy?

"If I report, you will di-e? Even if I report you to Yuuki at the fort, instead of this place, you will be kill-ed."

"Are you actually considering me carefully?"

Lela raised the edges of her mouth with a grin.

"Let’s make a deal Naga-san."

"Ah, so it was like that."

Then Naga grinned when he understood the situation.

"Well? what’s the condition?"

"Whenever you manage to retrieve some of your lost memory, please talk about it to me first, no matter what it i-s."

"Are you fine with that?"

"You might think that it’s trivial, but for me it’s importa-nt. I definitely want to learn more about the other world, which doesn’t exist he-re."

Naga and Lela looked at each other. Their sights intertwined with each other in the air.

Naga couldn’t guess what kind of request she had, nevertheless, he nodded as he said – Yeah, fine.

"If it’s enough for you not to leak it, then it’s a cheap price. I’ll talk however much you want."

Lela lowered her sight and bowed down.

"Thank yo-u."

"No, that’s fine. By the way, can I ask you one thing?"

Naga spoke to Lela’s back as she was about to run.

"Wh-at?"

"Why does Yuuki disdain men so much?"

"Shouldn’t ane-sama already told you about not inqui-ring?"

"No, I was just bothered by it. She hasn’t shown that violent reaction until now?"

"That’s righ-t. Yuuki is specia-l."

"Why is that?"

"It’s not something I should answe-r. If ane-sama deems it as fine, she will probably talk to you about i-t."

"Such way of talk putting on airs."

"It seems that she made some unpleasant memories when she was small. Probably she can’t forget about the painful experien-ces."

Naga felt a throb in his chest.

He couldn’t explain the reason behind that, nevertheless, there’s no doubt, some fragments of his memories reacted at Lela’s words.

(I see. so she had some painful experiences at her childhood? It seems that I had gone through the same. When it comes to this, losing one’s memories doesn’t seem to be half bad, doesn’t it?)

A masochistic smile floated on Naga’s face.

[[Image:Naga01 106.jpg|175px|thumb]]

Seeing that painful smile on his face, Lela pulled back her head, nevertheless, Naga’s smile immediately vanished and his face turned back to a daring one.

"Ah, sorry for stopping you. We should hasten."

"Then… let’s ru-n. Please tag along without falling behin-d."

Because Lela break into a run inside the forest, Naga run after her.

(A smoke signal? Did something happened? Could it it that the fort was attacked?)

Naga’s anticipation were half right and half wrong.

==Translator's Notes and References==
<references/>

{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Prologue 2|Prologue 2]]
| Return to [[Ochitekita_Ryuuou_to_Horobiyuku_Majo_no_Kuni|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni

2015-11-09T13:54:35Z

Darkdhaos:

{{Teaser|English}}

[[File: Naga01_cover.jpg|286px|thumb|Volume 1 Cover]]

The light novel series Ochitekita Ryuuou (Naga) to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni (落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国) is written by Maisaka Kou and illustrated by Youta.

== Story Synopsis ==
In a world where witches are shunned and have been forced onto the brink of annihilation, a samurai with no memories is transported to the hideout of some of these witches. Having the name: "Dragon King" and a keen strategic mind, its up to him to help defend the witches from those that would seek them harm.(From Mangaupdates)

== Updates ==
*May 18, 2015 - Volume 1 Prologues edited
*March 03, 2015 - Teaser page started

== Formalities ==

=== Registration ===
Those who wish to contribute are asked to notify the project manager beforehand.

Translators are asked to register which chapters they're working on.

::* [[Ochitekita Registration Page|Registration Page]]

=== Format Standards ===
Every chapter must after editing conform to the general format guidelines.

::* [[Format guideline|General Format/Style Guideline]]

===Changes to Page===
Please do not make any changes to this site without asking the project manager. There's specific code on this page, which can be harmed by your edits.
<br/>

==The ''Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni'' series by Maisaka Kou==
If you enjoyed the story, why don't you tell us in the [http://www.baka-tsuki.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=10533 Feedback Thread]?

<br /><br />
<div style="float: left; width:100%;">
<div style="float: left; margin: 5px 20px">
=== Volume 1 ===
<div style="float: left; width:380px;">
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Prologue 1|Prologue 1]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Prologue 2|Prologue 2]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Chapter 1|Chapter 1: The man who fell in the bathhouse]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2: A battle of witches and humans]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Chapter 3|Chapter 3: 2nd Battle of the 1st fort]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Epilogue|Epilogue]]
</div>
<div style="float: left; width:200px;">
[[File: Naga01_cover.jpg|right|thumb|x200px|Volume 1]]
</div>
</div>
<div style="float: left; width:100%;">
<div style="float: left; margin: 5px 20px">

== Project Staff ==
* Project Administrator: [[User:darkdhaos|Darkdhaos]]
* Project Manager: [[User:darkdhaos|Darkdhaos]]

=== Translators ===
===ACTIVE===
:*hachidori108 - [https://koreyorihachidori.wordpress.com/ (Blog)]

===INACTIVE===
:* [[User:darkdhaos|Darkdhaos]] (Translated Volume 1 Prologue)

=== Editors ===
:* [[User:Zexth|Zexth]]

== Series Overview ==
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国 (25 July 2012, ISBN 978-4-8401-4648-7)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国II (22 November 2012, ISBN 978-4-8401-4872-6)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国III (25 March 2013, ISBN 978-4-8401-5134-4)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国IV (23 August 2013, ISBN 978-4-8401-5281-5)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国V (24 January 2014, ISBN 978-4-04-066213-8)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国VI (21 November 2014, ISBN 978-4-04-066991-5)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国VII (24 April 2015, ISBN 978-4-04-067614-2)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国VIII (25 August 2015, ISBN 978-4-04-067746-0)

Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni

2015-11-08T12:17:10Z

Darkdhaos:

{{Teaser|English}}

[[File: Naga01_cover.jpg|286px|thumb|Volume 1 Cover]]

The light novel series Ochitekita Ryuuou (Naga) to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni (落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国) is written by Maisaka Kou and illustrated by Youta.

== Story Synopsis ==
In a world where witches are shunned and have been forced onto the brink of annihilation, a samurai with no memories is transported to the hideout of some of these witches. Having the name: "Dragon King" and a keen strategic mind, its up to him to help defend the witches from those that would seek them harm.(From Mangaupdates)

== Updates ==
*May 18, 2015 - Volume 1 Prologues edited
*March 03, 2015 - Teaser page started

== Formalities ==

=== Registration ===
Those who wish to contribute are asked to notify the project manager beforehand.

Translators are asked to register which chapters they're working on.

::* [[Ochitekita Registration Page|Registration Page]]

=== Format Standards ===
Every chapter must after editing conform to the general format guidelines.

::* [[Format guideline|General Format/Style Guideline]]

===Changes to Page===
Please do not make any changes to this site without asking the project manager. There's specific code on this page, which can be harmed by your edits.
<br/>

==The ''Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni'' series by Maisaka Kou==
If you enjoyed the story, why don't you tell us in the [http://www.baka-tsuki.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=10533 Feedback Thread]?

<br /><br />
<div style="float: left; width:100%;">
<div style="float: left; margin: 5px 20px">
=== Volume 1 ===
<div style="float: left; width:380px;">
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Prologue 1|Prologue 1]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Prologue 2|Prologue 2]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Chapter 1|Chapter 1: The man who fell in the bathhouse]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2: A battle of witches and humans]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Chapter 3|Chapter 3: 2nd Battle of the 1st fort]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Epilogue|Epilogue]]
</div>
<div style="float: left; width:200px;">
[[File: Naga01_cover.jpg|right|thumb|x200px|Volume 1]]
</div>
</div>
<div style="float: left; width:100%;">
<div style="float: left; margin: 5px 20px">

== Project Staff ==
* Project Administrator: [[User:darkdhaos|Darkdhaos]]
* Project Manager: [[User:darkdhaos|Darkdhaos]]

=== Translators ===
===ACTIVE===

===INACTIVE===
:* [[User:darkdhaos|Darkdhaos]] (Translated Volume 1 Prologue)

=== Editors ===
:* [[User:Zexth|Zexth]]

== Series Overview ==
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国 (25 July 2012, ISBN 978-4-8401-4648-7)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国II (22 November 2012, ISBN 978-4-8401-4872-6)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国III (25 March 2013, ISBN 978-4-8401-5134-4)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国IV (23 August 2013, ISBN 978-4-8401-5281-5)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国V (24 January 2014, ISBN 978-4-04-066213-8)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国VI (21 November 2014, ISBN 978-4-04-066991-5)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国VII (24 April 2015, ISBN 978-4-04-067614-2)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国VIII (25 August 2015, ISBN 978-4-04-067746-0)

Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni

2015-08-27T19:03:04Z

Darkdhaos: /* Series Overview */

{{Teaser|English}}

[[File: Naga01_cover.jpg|286px|thumb|Volume 1 Cover]]

The light novel series Ochitekita Ryuuou (Naga) to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni (落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国) is written by Maisaka Kou and illustrated by Youta.

== Story Synopsis ==
In a world where witches are shunned and have been forced onto the brink of annihilation, a samurai with no memories is transported to the hideout of some of these witches. Having the name: "Dragon King" and a keen strategic mind, its up to him to help defend the witches from those that would seek them harm.(Mangaupdates)

== Updates ==
*May 18, 2015 - Volume 1 Prologues edited
*March 03, 2015 - Teaser page started

== Formalities ==

=== Registration ===
Those who wish to contribute are asked to notify the project manager beforehand.

Translators are asked to register which chapters they're working on.

::* [[Ochitekita Registration Page|Registration Page]]

=== Format Standards ===
Every chapter must after editing conform to the general format guidelines.

::* [[Format guideline|General Format/Style Guideline]]

===Changes to Page===
Please do not make any changes to this site without asking the project manager. There's specific code on this page, which can be harmed by your edits.
<br/>

==The ''Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni'' series by Maisaka Kou==
If you enjoyed the story, why don't you tell us in the [http://www.baka-tsuki.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=10533 Feedback Thread]?

<br /><br />
<div style="float: left; width:100%;">
<div style="float: left; margin: 5px 20px">
=== Volume 1 ===
<div style="float: left; width:380px;">
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Prologue 1|Prologue 1]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Prologue 2|Prologue 2]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Chapter 1|Chapter 1: The man who fell in the bathhouse]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2: A battle of witches and humans]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Chapter 3|Chapter 3: 2nd Battle of the 1st fort]]
:* [[Ochitekita Ryuuou to Horobiyuku Majo no Kuni: Volume 1 Epilogue|Epilogue]]
</div>
<div style="float: left; width:200px;">
[[File: Naga01_cover.jpg|right|thumb|x200px|Volume 1]]
</div>
</div>
<div style="float: left; width:100%;">
<div style="float: left; margin: 5px 20px">

== Project Staff ==
* Project Administrator: [[User:darkdhaos|Darkdhaos]]
* Project Manager: [[User:darkdhaos|Darkdhaos]]

=== Translators ===
:* [[User:darkdhaos|Darkdhaos]]

=== Editors ===
:* [[User:Zexth|Zexth]]

== Series Overview ==
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国 (25 July 2012, ISBN 978-4-8401-4648-7)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国II (22 November 2012, ISBN 978-4-8401-4872-6)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国III (25 March 2013, ISBN 978-4-8401-5134-4)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国IV (23 August 2013, ISBN 978-4-8401-5281-5)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国V (24 January 2014, ISBN 978-4-04-066213-8)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国VI (21 November 2014, ISBN 978-4-04-066991-5)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国VII (24 April 2015, ISBN 978-4-04-067614-2)
#落ちてきた龍王〈ナーガ〉と滅びゆく魔女の国VIII (25 August 2015, ISBN 978-4-04-067746-0)