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Translated by :
- Furuta, /u/GracedHarperd
Proofread by :
- Ringo, /u/Ringo_17
- Frusty, /u/TheFrustratedMan
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As she exhaled a cold, mist-like breath, the beautiful sunlight shined upon the snow as a fantasy.
The dazzling light made her eyes squint slightly. Her hand was on the side of a standing tree’s trunk, and she felt the rough bark on her palm. This was not an illusion, but the reality, a real touch.
She holds her palm tightly, closed her eyes towards the bright light, and lets the cold air fill her lungs and breathes it out again calmly.
???:「Sure enough, for hundreds of years without a physical body, I really am not used to any of this. 」
The cold wind blew through her pink hair, and the girl with a tone that didn’t match her appearance mumbled.
The girl has a lovely appearance, the blue pupils boarded a deep sense of rationality, a cute face that can not cover the noble and elegant charm. With just a single glimpse of it, you can perceive the extraordinary temperament of the girl.
Her young, immature limbs were covered by the girl’s white hoodie. This way, the gesture of barefoot walking on earth can be said to be extremely unguarded or unsafe.
Despite wanting to scream her emotions out, she wasn’t able to do so because of the weather. The forest in this area was completely covered in snow. The girl is walking in that snow, and her body is losing body temperature quickly. She begins to shake violently.
It has to be said that the girl’s travel attire is a complete failure because of the lack of consideration.
Sekhmet:『After so much work, ugh….! If you’ll be frozen to death, it’ll be hilarious…』
The shivering girl had a fascinating voice in her head.
Of course, the voice is completely different from the sound of the girl.
Omega:「It doesn’t seem to be a pleasant imagination. Even under my current circumstances, I still have the magic that can burn off this generation. You might want to stay silent Sekhmet.」
Daphne:『Hey, it’s not usual for you to sneak out during the night, what are you trying to find ? Of course, is this worth it for you DonaDona？』
Omega:「——」
Carmilla:『No, Daphne-chan stay silent. Echidna-chan isn’t malicious. Maybe just a little bit, right？You see, you’re resurrection already makes you lose…』
The sweet irony and clumsy excuses continued. These two voices are neither the girl nor the lazy woman they first heard
Different voices followed one after another in the mind of the girl. However, each voices is intertwined with the intimacy and is somewhat related to the girl.
In contrast, the adolescent girls—— no, they’re the 『Witches』 who have transferred their soul into the girl’s mind.
White hair and black pupils, that Witch known for her beauty and her position now has lost her original appearance. Now, the Witch’s soul is within the girl’s body, it’s resurrection in an incredible and unbelievable way.
In spite of the countless efforts she has made for this resurrection, despite the intricacies of the situation, she has been struggling. However, considering Echidna’s wisdom and manipulativeness, she eventually overcomes the difficulties and achieved her goals.
Omega:「I have lived in the state of a spirit for 400 years and I’ve not even noticed the outside environment at all…… beautiful….」
Sekhmet:『The blame is on you for being intoxicated. Dona, you’re so childish… you aren’t reliable at all….』
Omega:「I wouldn’t prefer to be recognised as a child by you but really, I’m really speechless……」
In any case, soon after she regained her consciousness and completed her resurrection, she would soon be frozen to death.
Although she prepared for it, she couldn’t care much right now, and Echidna started playing with her fingers.
The stiff and cold fingertips made a slight noise, and Echidna’s surroundings continued to ignite crimson. Echidna manifested a fireball, which was smaller than the palm of her hand, swayed while shaking, and the coldness of the frozen forest was successfully driven away. No one could possibly imagine that such a small fireball could have such a great power. Truly amazing. Echidna breathes out and realizes that there is no need to worry about the danger of freezing.
Omega:「The difference from my Gate is somewhat concerning. There seems to be no problem in using Magic though. Ahh……」
Typhon:『The next time you use fire magic, and if you’ll burn the forest down, I’ll laugh.』
Omega:「When this is over, the irony inside me will become really unstoppable. I have worked hard to make plans and strategies, and I’ve no choice but to play with my intrigues to bring you out. Now I must regret it.」
The voice that she heard was the fifth person. Echidna sighed. The hand of the girl unconsciously stretched out to the bare neck from the top of the kerchief, where the only thing that emphasised her existence was jewelry inlaid with the blue pyroxene.
Omega:「——」
Grabbing the hard pyroxene necklace, Echidna was temporarily lost in her mind. From the appearance, it is clear at a glance that the piece of jewelry is a hidden treasure with unique power. It is a high-purity magic crystal block that has more than common sense. The endless magic volume is used up, and overwhelming power is stored inside.
Even if it is a magical storage capacity that is used by a thousand magical masters, it is hard to believe that only one piece of magical crystal can be used to complete it. But in fact, anyone can imagine that the capacity is completely used up.
No one would possibly believe that this Pyroxene Necklace could possibly store the souls of the remaining five witches.
It is the most troublesome to ensure this magic crystal and the container of my own spirit. After four hundred years of being a mere soul, it took ten years for the plan to gradually take shape—the moment when the goal was finally achieved.
Minerva:『Echidna ! I said Echidna! Are you even listening !？』
Omega:「——I’m listening. Don’t always be in my ear Minerva……No, it’s hard to say whether you’re in my ears or not. Don’t you always yell in my senses. My head will hurt. Anyways」
Minerva:『Hey! It’s not like you’re our master ! You, show me next ! I’m next！』
Daphne:『Next……？』
Suddenly, the red flames engulfed the forest and the fire spread along the neighboring trees.
Looking roughly, it can be roughly guessed that the fireball fired by Echidna had ignited the trees and eventually ignited the forest fire.
Omega:「This is so wrong.」
Sekhmet:『What a good life, haaaa..』
Omega:「What is this? It’s not necessary to be overwhelmed by this level of difficulty and obstacles. Although the fire is indeed unexpected…」
Right when she stopped talking, Echidna turned her palms towards the burning trees and closed her eyes.
Omega:「It’s still burning……」
Daphne:『Like I said, Daphne thinks… this thing is not the dream world that Dona Dona made, but I just can’t interfere with the two things. 』
Omega:「It wouldn’t be right…」
Carmilla:『Big, big miscalculations……right？』
Typhon:『Dona, you set the fire ? Dona, are you one of the bad guys? Do you want to compete with Typhon？』
Minerva:『There is no time for discussion! Now ! Faster ! Go and extinguish the fire! I’m serious！』
Omega:「Of course. Now’s the time……Uh」
Echidna suddenly felt a dizzy sensation when she was trying to activate a fire extinguish spell. The technique that had not yet been casted was also unsustainable and had drifted away from its composition
The technique that has not yet been written is also unsustainable and has collapsed from its composition.
What happened ? When the Witches were in a mess, Echidna quickly understood the circumstances.
Omega:「To manifest water during the usage of magic… It appears that this body is somewhat incapable of doing so…」
In other words——
Omega:「The fire will kill us.」
Minerva:『Then immediately, give me a go——！！』
As the fire grew bigger and bigger, even the escape route seemed to diminish. Even before that time, even if she had not used this body yet, even if she had not done a little physical work for four hundred years, Echidna could only breathlessly fled to the outside of the forest.
Omega:「The cruelty of the outside world is a bit different from my imagination……」
Her body feels very heavy, and the cold air that collided with her skin would damage her soon.
Although she was being tortured by her own body, she thought that it was a feeling she hadn’t felt for hundreds of years, it was exhaustion ——
Omega:「No, it has to be possible……」
Fortunately, thanks to the desperate attempt to escape, Echidna successfully avoided the fate of being burned to death.
Despite the fierce flames that burned the forest, as long as Echidna consumes a little magic to manipulate the wind direction, she can induce the direction of the spread of fire. This is the most critical factor in ensuring the escape route.
Omega:「Unusual heavy snowfall and a burning forest……Isn’t that enough? It’s quite a lot for a girl with a piece of cloth, is it——?」
???:「Take it easy. We saw the same thing……Don’t move!」
Omega:「Hmmm…?」
Suddenly, Echidna was surrounded by multiple people, all men.
This, fascinating feeling the girl expressed, wasn’t right.
Those people were all wearing the male costume. The group looks like a group that is emitting a dangerous atmosphere. There were eighteen in total. It was even maybe funny that the young girl was surrounded by these man.
Omega:「I guess your purpose is the Oousagi……In other words, you’re the『Corpse Scavengers』, aren’t you ?」
Scavenger:「What？」
Scavenger 2:「N..？What do you mean？ 」
Echidna is silently puzzling in her mind, men are as straitened as seeing something creepy. She
Four hundred years ago,『Corpse Scavengers』had a reputation of some renown— the occupation, in short, involved finding places which had been attacked by Demon Beasts, and plundering all the treasures left untouched during the chaos.
Although their presence would be less prevalent than it had been during Daphne’s lifetime, in this era, Demon Beasts still roamed. Of particular note was the Oousagi; while their rampage left no traces whatsoever of anything organic, anything else would be left untouched, leaving a perfect hunting ground for『Corpse Scavengers』.
Omega:「In case that there is a Witch to eat the rest, someone would easily be disguised as a Witch these days. It can be said that that’s a clever way. For you, rotten food is the vocation.」
Scavenger:「Rotton food……？What the fuck are you talking about!?……」
Shaking his head, the man standing at the front took a hatchet and walked towards Echidna. There was a strong sense of killing in the eyes and a glimmer of fear for the little girl.
Omega:「I’m not completely sure about your business. But our life is on our side and it’s already not easy, plus this fire……and now I find you here.」
Scavenger:「Shut up, stop talking! Where are the other Elves ? 」
Scavenger 2:「Despite this girl being really strange, it looks like she isn’t that bad.」
A dazed smile appeared on her face, and the girl slapped her ears softly. These movements implied the physical characteristics of Echidna.
Minerva:『——』
Omega:「——Oh？」
For a moment, the man was lost for words at the sensation of goosebumps prickling up on his skin. The other men seemed to be feeling that as well; all of them were astir, talking about what was going on right now.
The only person who knew what was going on was Echidna. She touched the Pyroxene necklace on her chest and tried to calm down the Witch of Wrath’s outburst.
Scavenger:「Hey! Whether you’re a kid or a youngster, don’t think about using tricks on us……」
Omega:「That reaction makes sense. Our reactions aren’t that different from each other. You basically want to catch me to earn some money, right? However, I just want to travel like this. So I want to propose a mutual solution…」
Scavenger:「Solution !？Don’t you realise in what position you are to propose something ? !」
Omega:「Just listen to it. There is a way that we all will be safe and have a smooth life after this .」
Echidna tilted her head and smiled while asking the man. The man sighed out of exhaustion. Immediately after revealing his expression that he could not believe that he had made such a response, he immediately said,
Scavenger:「Keep going and talk…」
Omega:「Alright, good, really good. My proposal is really simple. Stand in front me for thirty seconds. If you succeed in standing in front me for thirty seconds, I’ll walk with you silently. Interesting?」
Scavenger:「Ha! What do you think this is ? Just your way of thinking, do you actually think we will be afraid of……」
Omega:「——From now on, thirty seconds. Go on.」
As the conditions had been agreed to, that next instant, Echidna made a physical appearance right behind the Omega. With long white hair, and black eyes, she gazed upon the men.
Everyone:「——」
The men stand frozen in front of Echidna with the expression of not knowing what just happened. In their eyes, they saw a girl who was about ten years old until suddenly a girl with white hair appeared.
Then before this question was answered, the men had fallen because of the successive changes.
Scavenger:「Oh… Oh……」
The man with the hatched squatted on the floor. His eyes that were going back and forth in the void have lost their focus, and a large amount of white foam has emerged from the corner of his mouth.
Such things happened to not just him, but all men around Echidna began to become like him.
The eighteen people who weren’t able to reach the proposal’s goal were all unbearable affected by Echidna’s wickedness and madness.
Grabbing at the neck, turning up his white eyes, spitting at the mouth, falling to the ground, blocking his throat with his tongue, cutting his head with a knife, and burying his head in the snow, the men went mad in a variety of ways.
Omega:「——Time is up! 」
After thirty seconds of counting, Echidna patrolled around. The only thing is left are corpses, blood and vomit. Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be any Sages here, who could endure these thirty seconds of hell, and successfully obtain the qualifications to make the six witches their own.
Omega:「This is a very regrettable scene. We could have talked a bit more. Well, lets continue to travel as I wanted. Also, allow me to borrow your clothes. They won’t be used anyway.」
Saying that, Echidna stripped the fallen men away and wore relatively well-fitting clothes and shoes.
Omega:「Can’t hold on for a long time…? But now it’s only a matter of getting used to it…」
Looking back at the fallen men, Echidna’s eyes reflected the dark-haired teenager.
How could it be unusual for a teenager who was surrounded by enraged witches to remain in a state of calmness? Echidna is afraid that she herself is completely unaware of it.
Omega:「After getting used to things, I’ve to go to the city as soon as possible. I still look forward to have a cup of tea after a few hundred years, it be a bit different……——」
Echidna turned around again and stepped forward towards the goal-less journey again.
Just at the moment they were about to leave, Echidna had a sudden gratitude for the men who gave their clothes and shoes.
Omega:「What I’ve done is quite disrespectful——I will always remember you all as benefactors in my mind…」
Inadvertently speaking, there is no hint of bullying, but mere facts.
Echidna won’t forget their “kindness”. Those who acted as 『Corpse Scavengers』 and who encountered『Witches』here won’t forget this scene until their souls disappear.
Omega:「Oh, now I remember again what to do… You noisy guys, let’s move」
As the Witches within her brain responded to her voice, they started a leisurely journey towards their goals.
——The sky was bright as the sunshine was a blessing for the Witches who had not seen it for centuries.
《End…》
There free