Chapter 1 (1/2)
Translator: Kenar, Editor: NixiePixie, Proofread: Orang
Chapter 1 - The Wish of The Witch
Shatifal the Witch fell to the ground while vomiting blood. Beneath flowing long silver hair and a black pointy hat is the beautiful face of the witch. She looked up at the enemy before her without showing a single weakness in her face.
”I ask of you, o Brave! Why do you hunt us, witches?”
”That's because witches are a wicked existence. You, who wield heretic powers, do not belong to the nation, are nothing but a threat to the populace.”
The man who was referred as Brave uninterestedly answered Shatifal's question. And then he thrust his sword at her throat. Shatifal didn't struggle against it and relaxed her face hearing the almost philosophical answer.
”So what is it that makes you deem us witches as a wicked existence? Did a witch attack a city? Did a witch join hands with a demon? What did we do wrong?”
However the Brave couldn't answer the following questions. His wavering eyes and the slight shake of his sword showed that he was at a loss for words, seeing that, Shatifal continued with her words.
”So we the witches are deemed as a wicked existence just because we wield an unknown power. If that's the case, how about you, Brave? Your power is a kind of unknown power, correct?”
”Silence! Unlike you, I'm trusted by the populace! For I am, their hope!”
”That is nothing more than a fleeting trust. Once you finish hunting all the witches… do you know what will be their target of fear after the witches?”
Shatifal said so while smiling. Thereupon the Brave's eyes waver greatly. The Brave swayed his body and lowered his sword. It's as if the path he had been walking suddenly crumble. Shatifal narrowed her eyes. She calmly and coldly looked at the Brave's figure.
”Brave, have you seen this world with your own eyes and walked the path with your own feet? Were witches truly a wicked existence? Were those who you had killed so far, really had been a rebel existence? Can you truly place your trust in your companions who aren't here right now?”
The Brave's companions who aren't here didn't storm Shatifal's house, and offered to the Brave to be lookouts at the outside of the house. The Brave himself accepted the offer and rode alone to Shatifal's house. The Brave thought that it was a kind of tactic at first. He thought that his companions would be lookout so that they can prevent the enemy from the outside from entering. However, what would happen if that wasn't the case?
”I… I…”
”…it's the end for me. Brave, please grant my wish. Please erect a tomb for my fallen sisters…”
Shatifal said her final wish whilst holding down her pierced stomach and stared at the ”greatly-shaken-over-the-possibilities” Brave. Dropping her head, she calmly breathed her last.
Thus, the last of the seven witches, Shatifal, the Witch of Wisdom was buried. After hunting all the witches, the Brave who carried out his duty was praised as the hero. And then the Brave received the promised reward and he was supposed to be living leisurely in the royal capital. However the Brave abruptly disappeared one day without telling anyone.
Why did the hero of the people suddenly disappear in the royal capital? Such rumor became a hot topic and the Brave quickly become famous as the disappeared hero. The only one who knew the truth behind those rumors was none other than the Brave himself. Thus it brought down the curtain on the story of the Brave's fierce battles.
Five years have pa.s.sed since then. The witch hunt and the disappearance of the Brave little by little began to fade from people's memories and the world started moving in peacetime.
There was a village located far from the royal capital and deep in a mountain. The village, which travelers rarely visit, was isolated from the outside world. That place, which has a peculiar custom, didn't seem to get wind of the witch nor about the demons and the villagers lived there peacefully.
In that village, there lived a strange girl. She was a pretty girl with silver hair tied behind her back and sharp eyes. People usually ask whether she is angry or not because she had a stern look. The name of the girl is Shatia.
”Shatia, it's getting late. Please come home.”
”I understand, my esteemed mother.”
The sky started to be dyed red so Shatia's mother called out to her and she replied in a tone uncharacteristic of a child. No matter how hard you look at her, her appearance is of a normal girl. The skirt she wore suited her look and a cute ribbon was resting on top of her head. However her countenance was unbelievably dignified that you couldn't think of her as a child. Her eyes were so clear as if she can see through everything.
”Oh my dear Shatia. I'm always telling you to speak more like a girl of your age, do I not?”
”I apologize, my esteemed mother. I, however, am more used to this tone.”
Shatia's mother always warned her about her tone but Shatia, for reasons unknown, failed to fix it at all. Oftentimes a change in tone is influenced by the surroundings, however no one in her surrounding environment speaks with such an odd speech. That was why Shatia's mother had a question regarding where she picked up that kind of speech.
”My goodness. I wonder who you take after…”
Shatia's mother got into the house while complaining like that. Shatia followed after her but she suddenly laid her eyes on a puddle along the roadside. It must have been acc.u.mulated since last night. She abruptly looked into it. Naturally, what reflected there was her own figure. The face of a pretty girl. But she had a pleasant smile at her face when she stared at it.
”Well done if I say so myself. To think that I would reincarnate into a daughter of a human… good gracious, it's an endless area if one tries to pursue it, even in the path of magic,” Shatia said while moving her face left and right. Nay, she was the person who became Shatia, the reincarnation of the witch named Shatifal.
She activated reincarnation magic, which was still halfway researched, as soon as she died and then was reborn as a daughter of a female human. Reincarnation magic was a forbidden technique as it was still completely uncontrollable, however Shatifal managed to successfully do it. She was able to reincarnate into a completely new intelligent life form while retaining all her memories, magic power, and magecrafts.
”The Brave is somehow missing, huh. It'd be wonderful if he believed in my words though.”
However, even if she managed to reincarnate, it wasn't as if she remembered anything when she was at a tender age. Shatia just recently remembered her memories as Shatifal. Therefore she had a gap in her memories and not to mention that she wasn't used to her current body yet. Even then she still couldn't sort through her memories about events that had happened in the span of a few years ago. The disappearance of the Brave. What is the true meaning behind that? Shatia had amused herself with those thoughts while putting her hand on her chin.
”Well that can wait. First thing first, should I explore what this body is capable of?”
She thought that she had managed to reincarnate into a young and pure body at such great pains. In other words, she has clear magic power and this period is extremely good for growth. As a former Witch of Wisdom, she was familiar with almost all kinds of magic but she had the chance to gain a new experience as Shatia. There was no way that this couldn't be an unenjoyable moment for her. The one who was called the Witch of Wisdom has descended again to the world with a new body. What does a girl with an insatiable inquisitive mind possibly want? Shatia quietly went back home while smiling.
The next day, Shatia decided to practice magic while her mother is away from home. It wasn't a matter that there was a fault in her reincarnation but she currently couldn't possibly bring out her power in the past life while in a child's body. After confirming how much she was capable of, she decided to try and practice magic.
”All right. I can use most of the magic from my past life.”