Chapter 38 The Witch Of The Valley (Part Three)
"Kill that person here. That's the condition."
I followed the direction of her pointed finger. The person she pointed to was Midoritani Tsubasa.
"What?!"
My thoughts and body freeze. Everyone, with eyes wide in astonishment, alternates between The Witch of the Valley and Tsubasa.
(No, that's absurd. Tsubasa's combat prowess will definitely be necessary in the future. So why kill her here? That can't be...)
Finally, after considering this, I retorted to the Pixie.
"That's impossible. She's an excellent archer. Absolutely essential in battle. No, even before that, she's a friend. There's no way I could kill her!"
Following me, Shuichi Kondo spoke up.
"That's right! Why do we have to kill Midoritani-san in the first place? Was it because of the rude thing she said earlier?"
Morimura was indignant, but then continued.
"No matter how capricious the witch is, it's outrageous to say 'kill her' based on the earlier statement!"
And Alice expressed her anger openly.
"This doesn't make sense! We shouldn't have come here! Unbelievable that Tsubasa should be killed without a proper reason! I can't believe it!"
Then the pixie tilted her head.
"Everyone's saying weird things. She hasn't spoken once since coming here, and she shouldn't be an archer in the first place."
She said, then clapped her hands.
"Got it. You've got it all wrong. When I said 'kill,' I wasn't referring to the girl who just mocked me. It's the girl behind her!"
I looked back at Tsubasa again. Hiding behind her was... Nemoto Reiko. Nemoto Reiko had a bewildered expression.
"Wh-why me?"
I asked Pixie the same way.
"Why her?"
But The Witch of the Valley looked at Nemoto Reiko with cold eyes.
"Didn't you hear in town? To make a wish to me, you need to pay an appropriate price."
And then she stared at me.
"If you want me to answer Akito's question now, you'll have to pay the price."
(With that tone, Pixie probably won't speak any further. Does that mean she won't explain the reason...)
Tsubasa said, anger seeping through her words.
"Akito, there's no point in staying here any longer. Let's go back."
Then Pixie said, seemingly uninterested.
"It's fine, I didn't ask you to come. If you want to go back, feel free."
"Right, I'll do that. Coming here was a mistake."
"But at this rate, I don't think you'll make it to town safely."
Tsubasa directed a sharp gaze at the Pixie who said that.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean it literally. Perhaps after you leave this valley, you will all be wiped out."
The Witch of the Valley yawned as she spoke.
"This is ridiculous. Akito, let's go back."
Tsubasa said that to me, but I didn't move right away.
(This is strange. The Pixie, The Witch of the Valley, shouldn't be an evil witch. So far, she has never made such malicious demands.)
I looked at the Pixie again. She seemed to have lost interest, playing with a puzzle box that had appeared out of nowhere.
(So far, the Pixie has been more of an ally to us. She is also beloved by the townspeople. So why is she telling us to kill Nemoto Reiko?)
I looked around at everyone. My classmates had expressions of anger and dissatisfaction. And Nemoto Reiko was looking at me with an anxious gaze.
(Am I missing something?)
But Nemoto Reiko had been with me from the beginning. She shouldn't have had any contact with monsters or suspicious people. I can assert that she is not suspicious.
"Akito-kun, what's wrong? There's no point in staying here any longer."
Kondo said that. Then Nemoto Reiko approached me.
"Akito-kun, what are you thinking? Are you thinking of killing me, by any chance?"
She pleaded with an anxious expression.
"No, it's not like that..."
Thoughts swirled within me.
(Should I trust The Witch of the Valley or the classmates I have been with until now...?)
Ordinarily, what Pixie is saying would sound like nonsense. However, in the countless loops I've gone through, she has never given me advice that turned out to be detrimental. That being said, Nemoto Reiko has been with me ever since she came to this world.
(No, wait. Were we really together the whole time? When we went to the underground dungeon, Nemoto Reiko was supposed to stay in town. If it's suspicious that she stayed in town, then Alice, Aoki Runa, and Mizuno Kaede were with her too. What makes Nemoto Reiko the only suspicious one?)
At that moment, the words of the necromancer in the underground dungeon came to mind.
...I'm just here to find cute undead materials, you know...
...Really, it's been a pain to search for someone so insignificant. Just a mere human without any magic, they can't be easily detected...
That's right, how did the necromancer know about us? Our appearance and characteristics. At that time, I thought for sure Witch Queen must have told him...
(The necromancer was searching for undead materials. But what if it was in the middle of the town? At that moment, someone, no, Nemoto Reiko, encountered the necromancer...)
Suddenly, something flew in from the side. The flying object came to a stop in front of my abdomen. As I looked closely, it was a puzzle box that Pixie had been playing with. Stuck in the puzzle box was a filthy, sludge-like stick.
And that stick... was protruding from Nemoto Reiko's abdomen. I could hear Pixie's mocking voice from behind.
"Well, if you can't see through a trap of this level, maybe you should go to the 'Swordsman of the Lake's Isle' before going to the 'Old Man of the Black Forest.'"
She was right. If Pixie hadn't protected me with the puzzle box, I would have been impaled by the sludge-like stick coming out of Nemoto's abdomen.
I shouted as I leaped backward.
"Everyone, get down!"
Everyone quickly moves away from Nemoto Reiko. But Nemoto Reiko was targeting only me. From her abdomen and protruding arms, numerous slimy tentacles come out. The tips of the tentacles were sharp. They were tentacles for stabbing.
Now, those tentacles come at me all at once! I quickly draw my sword to defend against them. But the squirming tentacles are not easy to cut with a sword. I look at Nemoto Reiko herself. Her eyes, pupils, and whites have already turned completely black. It looks as if there are holes. And from her eyes, nose, and open mouth, black liquid is flowing out.
(She's no longer human... If that's the case, all at once...)
I flick away the tentacles and quickly close the distance with Nemoto Reiko, slashing diagonally. But the sensation... it's not the feeling of cutting flesh. It's a strange sensation that is softer and more elastic.
Instinctively feeling the danger, I curled up and rolled on the floor. Then, something like slime flew out from Nemoto Reiko's severed part. And it covered the place where I was. I rolled and quickly got up, readying my sword.
"What is this...?"
"It's a putrid flesh slime."
The Witch of the Valley, Pixie, who had come to my side without me noticing, answered.
"It's one of the magic spells used by necromancers. It kills humans and creates slimes from their rotten flesh. Naturally, physical attacks like swords or bows won't work. She probably traded her soul for the conditions set by the necromancer without knowing she would end up like this."
Pixie extended her right hand towards the putrid flesh slime that had transformed into Nemoto Reiko.
"Wearing the skin of a living human to infiltrate this house... quite an elaborate plan. But I have a keen sense of smell, you know. Well, even before that, Lexa really hates undead creatures."
Just as I thought she said that, the putrid flesh slime was enveloped in a blue sphere. And in the next moment, the inside of the sphere was engulfed in blue flames.
"Gyurururu, gujieeeeeezujujujuju×△＊□〇××＊＊＊!"
The putrid flesh slime let out a strange and eerie death cry. And a few seconds later, it disappeared without a trace. As everyone watched in astonishment, the Witch of the Valley turned towards me with an unwavering smile.
"I'll consider this a loan. I'll have you return it someday, Akito."
Hello, we have a NEW project about mc whose heroines want to become his mother instead of his lover. You can read it on here => Link
Hello, we have other project about someone who has returned from an isekai. The main character is a hero who has defeated the Demon Lord. However, for some reason, the human-demon war has resumed and will take place in the MC's original world. The MC, unaware of this, meets a Saint from that world and asks them to join the war. But what does the MC say? They refuse. Is it because their love was rejected by the princess when they adventured together in the past or are they simply fed up? And are the MC will join later? You can find out by clicking on the following => [Link]
We have a new work with genre second life. The story is about a former s*x worker who didn't want to be a loner again, and fulfilling his second life. It has a life conflict and the protagonist will solve it one by one. You can find out in => [Link]
We also have a similar genre returned from isekai but has different MC's characteristic. The story is punishing someone who troll in SNS, someone who cheat and many more. You can find out in => [Link]
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Donate me
Support Me with USDC
(ERC20)
Support Me with XLM
(Stellar Lumens)