Chapter 24

Chapter 24: The Witch (1)

Ascetic Families.

He had a rough idea of what they were.

Master had mentioned them once in passing, a long time ago.

Ascetics were, by nature, wanderers who drifted from place to place, accumulating Karma in their own way. That was why most of them couldn't settle in one spot for long.

But Ascetic Families were the exception.

They received a task from a god and settled in one place, devoting themselves to that task for generations.

That task was to settle in some remote corner untouched by nations or temples, and to protect those who had no one else—in the name of their god.

"Also, they guard nature, welcome travelers, and tend to livestock. That's what he said."

A conversation with Master surfaced in his mind. About Ascetic Families...

"In short, they're worthless trash."

"And since I got my ass handed to me again today, I'll at least ask. Why are they trash? Helping people is a good thing, isn't it? Aren't they accumulating Karma in their own way?"

Anagin might not have cared, but even he knew the difference between right and wrong.

Master had sneered.

"You think they do that because they genuinely want to help people? Not a chance. Those bastards just compromised because they couldn't accumulate Karma the proper way. They put leashes on their own necks and became lapdogs so they could live in comfortable mediocrity. I can't respect people like that."

Master hadn't bothered to hide his disgust for them.

Well, if what he'd said was true, Anagin could somewhat understand. That kind of compromise was pathetic.

"Not that I need to share his grudge, though."

Anagin thought this as he looked again at the Ascetic standing before him.

Green hair, tall frame, solid build, sturdy leather armor, and what looked like expensive shoes and equipment.

He definitely looked like a son of a well-off house.

"Excuse me. Did you not hear what I said?"

The man addressed Anagin again, politely.

Anagin had been zoning out, lost in thought about Ascetic Families.

Snapping back to his senses, he answered.

"You said you came to hunt the Witch?"

"That's right. The locals here asked for help and told me where to find her."

It seemed the Red-Feather Helmet Man had run into this man—Spanichi—on his way back. Or maybe it was someone else. Either way, it didn't matter.

"The villagers say the Witch is extremely cunning and dangerous. So please, go back."

Oh... Perhaps because he was an Ascetic who had settled in one place to protect its people, his manner of speech was exceedingly polite. It was probably because he lived among the common folk. Ascetic Families didn't just protect people—they also had to build influence in the region and elevate their god's honor. That made sense.

Influence wasn't something you could wield through sheer strength alone.

Well, that was that, and this was this.

Anagin shook his head.

"Sorry, but I'm an Ascetic too. And I also came to hunt the Witch."

"?!"

The man called Spanichi looked startled. It wasn't just surprise—there was wariness in his expression too.

"......"

"An Ascetic...? May I ask which god you serve?"

"I don't serve any god."

No plans to start, either.

He didn't bother saying that part out loud.

Spanichi briefly showed a look of relief.

"Ah... so you're a 0-star Ascetic."

"0-star?"

"One who hasn't received a star... meaning an Ascetic who hasn't yet been chosen by a god. My apologies if that was rude."

The man apologized considerately.

Before Anagin could figure out why, Robe Girl whispered in his ear.

"Ascetics chosen by the gods receive a star along with their blessing. The star is your rank as an Ascetic—every time you receive a blessing, you gain another star. One star, two stars, three stars, and so on."

This was the first he'd heard of it. Or... was it? Had Master told him?

He probably hadn't paid attention and let the details slip past him. He never paid attention to begin with.

Robe Girl leaned in closer and added.

"0-star Ascetics are basically treated as Ascetic hopefuls rather than real Ascetics. Meaning they're not the real thing."

"I don't agree with that."

"At the very least, Ascetics who've received stars see it that way."

It sounded idiotic to him, but he could also see where they were coming from.

In Anagin's hometown, that kind of idiocy happened sometimes too. The more elaborate the patterns carved into a wooden sword, the stiffer the owner's neck. It had nothing to do with actual swordsmanship. If they got that full of themselves over measly wooden swords, imagine what Ascetics were like...

Still idiotic, though.

"Guess I'll be a 0-star my whole life."

"Huh?"

Spanichi asked with a pitying look. He'd misunderstood—thinking Anagin was putting himself down.

"Ah... don't worry. If you work hard, you can receive God's blessing and earn a star."

Spanichi offered his consolation.

"I assume that's why you came here, isn't it? I understand. You want to distinguish yourself quickly and catch a god's eye. But you mustn't overdo it..."

How should he put this? This man Spanichi seemed to have gotten the wrong idea about him. Badly.

As Anagin debated whether to clear up the misunderstanding or just ignore it and go on his way—

Woooooo...

The beasts strewn across the ground began to rise, one by one.

Wolves, wild dogs, bears—creatures that had been killed by the blade.

"Corpse magic?!"

Spanichi shouted upon seeing the rising corpses.

It seemed to be magic that revived or controlled the dead.

With corpses scattered everywhere, Anagin and the others found themselves naturally surrounded.

"Stay close to me."

Spanichi, true to his role as an Ascetic who protected people, showed a strong sense of responsibility. He led Anagin and Robe Girl to a corner and shielded them.

It was... quite admirable and worthy of respect.

KUWAAANG!!

A revived bear corpse roared and swung its forepaw.

Its roaring, attacking form looked threatening at first glance, but it wasn't nearly as dangerous as it had been alive. Being a corpse, its movements were slow and clumsy.

Just look at that. Spanichi blocked the forepaw with his round shield, deflected it, then swung his sword in a flowing motion to sever the bear's foreleg.

The problem was...

KUUUNG—!

That corpses felt no pain and no fear.

A living beast would have fled when its arm was cut off, or thrashed in agony—but a corpse had none of that.

And when beasts like that came in numbers, the pressure was immense.

"This could go on forever."

Anagin said, watching Spanichi deal with the corpse beasts.

He was strong and skilled, but matched against the wrong enemy, he was struggling.

No matter how many times he cut and stabbed, he couldn't land a decisive blow on the corpse beasts. Well, of course—they were already dead.

"This approach won't work. We need to find the totem."

Robe Girl spoke up like she knew what she was talking about. Anagin asked what a totem was.

"A medium that channels the Witch's magic. At the Witch's level, she can't project magic across this distance on her own. There has to be a medium relaying the magic, and if we destroy it, they'll all revert to corpses."

"You're a mage?"

Spanichi was surprised by Robe Girl's knowledge.

He quickly scanned the surroundings for anything suspicious.

Anything that could be transmitting the corpse-controlling magic.

But he found nothing. Their enemy wasn't foolish enough to leave something like that out in the open.

And the corpse beasts weren't about to wait patiently either.

Grrrrrr!!

"Ah, can't find it."

Anagin dashed forward and swung his bag at a corpse wolf lunging toward Spanichi.

The bag collided with the corpse wolf.

CRUNCH!

With a thunderous crack, the corpse wolf shattered into pieces.

Just as he'd thought—smashing them apart was the way to beat them.

---

"What is that?"

A swamp shrouded in faint mist, dark despite it being daytime.

Atop an old tower standing in that swamp, an old Witch muttered as she gazed into a crystal ball.

The crystal ball showed a madman swinging a bag at the beasts she had revived.

Each time the swinging bag connected, the beasts shattered to pieces and lost their form entirely.

Naturally, they couldn't move anymore.

"Grrrrk...!"

The Witch made a phlegmy sound of anger.

She'd already been irritated that the Dolos family had sent some brat, and now some random fool had appeared out of nowhere?

Clink. Clink. Flutter. Flutter.

As the Witch irritably moved her wing-arms, her feathers rustled. The bracelets wrapped around her wing-arms clinked as well. Incidentally, these bracelets were magic tools that assisted with spellcasting, much like a magic staff.

"Wait...!"

As she irritably circled and observed the crystal ball, the Witch noticed something.

Her disciple who had run away on her own was there. That cheeky little cat who pretended to be cute!

"Why is she there...? Did they fail?"

The Witch thought of the village slaves she'd sent to capture her runaway disciple, and of her disciple. She'd wondered why they hadn't returned—had they failed? Or was it betrayal? Was it because I've grown old?!

"Master!"

Just as her paranoia was about to spiral, a disciple of hers who had been monitoring another crystal ball spoke up.

He seemed to have noticed the runaway cat as well, but that wasn't what he meant.

"I think that's him!"

"Him?"

"You know—the one who showed up at the artificial Ruins the Monster Merchant made a while back."

"......"

The Witch thought for a moment, then dredged up the memory.

She used to remember things easily, but age had made it so she had to think carefully before memories surfaced.

"Damn it..."

The Witch cursed the cruelty of time and continued the conversation.

"The one who nearly killed that insolent Monster Merchant...?"

"Yes! Didn't they say he wiped out all the Monsters they'd been raising there? By getting hit with something like a bag."

That was indeed what had happened.

When she'd first heard it, she'd thought it was nonsense, but now she could see it was true.

Wasn't she watching the beasts she'd revived get smashed to bits by a bag?

"Nine times out of ten, it's him. The one who took down Bander, Diodia, and the Monster Merchant!"

There couldn't be two Ascetics using a bag as a weapon. He wasn't wrong.

"Besides, isn't the runaway girl right there next to him?"

"I saw that too."

The other disciples nearby voiced their confusion.

"But why did that guy come here? After running away..."

"She must have seduced him. She's good at buttering people up. She didn't just peek at Master's collection—she's trying to steal it...! This is actually good, Master."

The disciple who had been speaking eagerly to the Witch grew more agitated and shouted.

"It's like a stray cat that ran away bringing back a fish in its mouth! Let's lure them near the Tower and just capture them!!"

Another disciple objected.

"Wait, why lure them all the way here? We can just go capture them ourselves!!"

"You idiot! He may look like that, but he's the one who took down Bander, Diodia, and the Monster Merchant. We can't let our guard down!"

"Bander and Diodia were just 0-star Ascetics who never got chosen by a god, weren't they?"

"They were 0-star Ascetics, sure, but they were still better than most Ascetics! Why do you think they controlled an entire region?! Besides, we need to capture him with as few wounds as possible! So Master can properly fatten him up and eat him. If she eats him, Master will be young aga—"

The disciple, who had been ranting with full loyalty to the Witch, suddenly wore an expression of "oh no."

In his excitement, he'd touched on the Witch's most sensitive subject.

Realizing his mistake too late, the disciple looked to the Witch to make amends—but it was far too late.

FWIP FWIP FWIP FWIP!

Before the disciple could even finish his excuse, the Witch swung her wing-arm, piercing his body with feathers as hard as steel.

Pierced by dozens of feathers, the disciple trembled violently and collapsed.

"......!"

The terrified disciples all bowed at the waist and shut their mouths.

"...Send no more beasts. It'll be pointless. Instead, hold them off with the corpses—just enough to stall—and prepare the Tower's illusion magic and trap magic. I want to capture him in good condition."

The Witch quoted her dead disciple's plan as if it were her own.

"Yes, Master!"

Having witnessed their Master's wrath, the disciples left without complaint and followed her orders.

The Witch gazed once more at the Ascetic and the runaway girl in the crystal ball and thought.

When her disciple had first fled, she'd wondered if she'd made a mistake taking a Monster as a disciple. But now, she wondered if it hadn't been a stroke of luck.

If she fattened up and devoured the Ascetic who had defeated the Monster Merchant, she wouldn't just regain her youth—she might grow even stronger.

---

BANG!

Anagin swung the subspace bag—stuffed with all manner of junk and even rocks—and the last corpse beast shattered.

No more corpses were moving. This was how it should be.

When you're dead, you should be buried properly in the ground, not walking around.

"...Do you happen to know Karnos, by any chance?"

Spanichi asked, looking at Anagin. More precisely, he was looking at the sword at Anagin's waist. At first, he'd assumed Anagin was just someone who wanted to make a name for himself and was throwing his life away. But after seeing him smash corpse beasts with nothing but a bag, he'd changed his mind. So Spanichi had watched Anagin carefully, and soon spotted the rough sword at his hip.

A familiar object. It belonged to Karnos, the Monster butcher.

Anagin glanced at the sword at his waist and replied.

"You know him?"

"We've done business a few times. May I ask how you came by that sword?"

"He gave it to me at the Ruins Village as thanks for helping. Not that I'd intended to help."

Anagin told him without hesitation. It wasn't exactly a secret.

But Spanichi was stunned.

Because he'd heard about what had happened at the Ruins Village. The trap laid by the cunning Monster Merchant. The Ascetic who had defeated him.

If those words were true, then the man before him was the "Hero of the Fringe."

The hero who had appeared like a comet, toppling the Bander Peddler Band and Diodia who had been exploiting cities and villages—and even defeating the Monster Merchant.

"...Something you want to say?"

Spanichi made a sudden proposal.

"How would you like to defeat the Harpy Witch together with me?"

"...What?"

Anagin asked back.

Just moments ago he'd been told to leave because it was dangerous, and now he was being asked to fight together. It made no sense. And "Harpy Witch" didn't make sense either.

Robe Girl tugged at Anagin's collar and explained.

"My former Master is a Witch, but she's not a normal human Witch. She's a Harpy... You know what a Harpy is, don't you, big brother?"

"Of course I know."

Anagin answered confidently. He’d heard about them from Master.

“You mean those talking baby birds?”

Robe Girl clutched her head as if it were aching.