But the witch entangled with the farm wasn’t just Odilia.
No, rather, there was someone even more prominent among the suspects than Odilia.
[ I don’t get why you’re making such a fuss over me, but did you call that woman? ]
Someone who had far more contact with the farm than Odilia, who just briefly dropped by.
No, not just contact—she even went as far as buying a part of the farm!
That same person was the one who made contracts just to put Odilia in a tight spot.
Gabriella.
That Great Witch from Spain, running a cosmetics company and competing with Odilia across Europe. At the same time, she meddled in petty ways, annoying Odilia with every little thing she did, making Odilia shudder in frustration!
Isn’t she an even more likely suspect than Odilia?
[ I don’t even get why you assumed I was the culprit from the start… I guess it was a childish and annoying thing to do, wasn’t it? Huh? And yet, you blinded by money, calmly pulled off that ‘petty act,’ and now that something strange happened, you’re coming to me about it… Hah. Do all American men behave like you? ]
[ Huh? Witchcraft… Hah. Do you even know what witchcraft is? Did you think it’s some kind of animated TV show? You wave a staff once, and a candle with eyes flies around doing housework while the washing machine walks off washing clothes and hanging them up? Hey, if that were true, we should be called gods, not witches, right? ]
[ You say it’s blasphemous? No, you’re the one blaspheming. Just listening to your stupid remarks is an insult to god. What are you asking about? Can’t grasp it? You’re quite dim, you know. Your very existence is an insult to the divine. The fact that a foolish human like you was created by a god is blasphemy itself, don’t you see? I reckon you should be grateful to Darwin. In today’s terms, yes. Respect. You owe respect to Darwin. A hundred times, a thousand times. Without that man’s argument, you wouldn’t have a leg to stand on for breathing and being alive all this time, would you? ]
[ I’m talking to a fool like you, so listen carefully. Honestly, I don’t even understand what you’re saying, and I don’t know what nonsense you’re on to call me like this. Honestly, I feel like I’m going crazy from a curse or something… I hope this phone call marks the end of our entanglement. So listen well. Witchcraft doesn’t let you just pop up and use powers like you describe, plant protests, pfft. Yeah. It’s kind of funny when I try to say it. Anyway, it’s not a power that just creates plant protestors. It takes a minimum amount of time. So, I can’t be the culprit. What? Sneaking in… Hah. What am I even talking about with a foolish person like this… ]
[ Well, by your logic, can’t we hypothesize that an evil spirit broke into your farm and caused the trouble? Just because something pops out of your mouth doesn’t mean it’s a possibility. Well, fine. I have nothing more to say, and I don’t want to be further entangled, so don’t contact me again. Just what you did to me is already infuriating, and adding this kind of call on top of it… You really have no shame. I’m hanging up. ]
Thud—
Thus, Odilia could confidently assert.
I cannot be the culprit.
I can’t even fathom the reason they thought I was the culprit in the first place.
Isn’t there someone who should be questioned before me?
Why don’t you go ask that woman who sold part of the farm?
…It was not an incorrect statement.
Yeah.
What Odilia said was true.
Dealing with life force is quite a delicate and sensory task, and unless one has some notable skill, it’s impossible to provoke the odd happenings mentioned by the farm owner. Furthermore, this witchcraft is heavily influenced by talent; unless they are among those who can be called ‘Great Witches,’ they often specialize only in their own fields.
Just look at Anastasia.
Roaming the dream world, pulling out objects and beings from dreams.
That was a unique talent that no other witch could replicate.
And a very special skill it was.
But is that special skill everything that is witchcraft? No, it isn’t.
She has a unique talent related to dreams, but that’s all it is.
Witchcraft is like that.
Diverse like martial arts, but more dependent on talent.
Simultaneously varied yet restrictive, specialized but not universally applicable.
Yet all categorized under ‘life force’ as their energy source.
It’s such a special ability.
Had there been no other abilities, witchcraft might have become synonymous with ‘bizarre’ in people’s minds.
The bizarre and the utterly unpredictable abilities of magic.
Alchemy, which is similar yet distinct from witchcraft.
Summoning techniques that bring creatures from realms unknown, be they extraterrestrial or parallel worlds.
Contracts with beings known as transcendent beings or entities.
All these unusual abilities might be what has overshadowed witchcraft.
And this point has generally been a boon for witches.
The unknown can become a source of fear, but it can also be packaged as mystique.
Combined with the youthful and beautiful appearances unique to witches… yeah. It can definitely be used to enhance their image. They could wield that mystique whenever needed, instilling fear, driving away those who approach them with malicious intent.
However.
“Wow…”
What should I even say…
“…It feels a little unusual, like I’ve turned into an 8-year-old girl…”
Using the image of witchcraft, the image that witches have, feels a bit awkward. Especially for Odilia, who despite looking young, is certainly not in her eight years.
“Seriously…”
After finishing the call, Odilia gently placed her smartphone on the vanity and sighed softly. Then she covered her face with both hands, hiding her face that was already starting to turn red. Of course, her hands couldn’t cover her entire head, so her ears were visibly flushed, exuding heat that could not be hidden.
And there was someone watching her.
“…”
An Asian woman in a striped shirt and denim skirt, smiling.
It was Rise.
Rise was looking at Odilia with a beaming smile, which from afar seemed to radiate friendliness.
Yes.
From a distance, at least.
But upon closer inspection, while the corners of her mouth were smiling, her eyes were not, and her pupils gave off a feeling of sucking in light for some reason. Staring into her eyes felt like you might get sucked in, the emotions lying within so deep that they were hard to discern… like looking into the depths of clear water.
So, if one were to look closely, even a bit of observation would clearly reveal that Rise was not gazing at Odilia with a friendly eye.
“Odilia?”
No.
Perhaps there was no need for careful observation at all.
There was no hint of warmth or intimacy in Rise’s tone.
“What on earth do you keep doing?”
Rise said to Odilia, whose ears were flushed red. Then, she fixed her gaze on her as if urging her to remove her hands from her face.
However, even with Rise’s urging, even with her slightly irritated comments, and even with her artificial smile, Odilia showed no signs of lowering her hands. In fact, it seemed like Odilia’s grip only tightened.
Despite her red ears now having regained their color.
“Hmm…”
Rise looked disapprovingly at Odilia’s actions.
She could guess why Odilia was behaving like that, having heard what she said.
A passive resistance.
A light protest borne from not wanting to do this work.
‘She’s just like the witch characters that appear in dramas…’
Rise thought of the dramas she used to enjoy watching when she saw Odilia.
The witches in those dramas often displayed quirky yet childish traits.
In one drama, they were clumsily chaotic; in another, they had the personality of a cranky old man; and in yet another, there were characters who sulked when things didn’t go their way.
And as she watched those witch characters, Rise used to think:
That’s just for the drama; there’s no one with a personality like that in reality.
…But reality can be even more dramatic than dramas.
Sighing, Rise stared at the witch in front of her, who felt like she had stepped out from a drama.
Actually, some of the witches from the dramas she had watched might have been inspired by this Great Witch.
“Odilia, you really can’t keep slacking off. We’re not doing this alone; we’re supposed to be working in sync right now. If you keep breaking the flow like this—sigh….”
Yes.
It’s definitely true.
It would be strange if things weren’t like this.
“Are you even listening to me?”
I don’t like this.
I didn’t like it from the beginning, but now I dislike it even more.
And it’ll probably continue like this.
Rise looked at the Great Witch.
‘The plan laid out by the deity is not proceeding properly because of her slacking off…’
Doesn’t she break the harmony when hanging out with Jinseong and going sightseeing?
Even when Jinseong generously laid out plans for her, she interrupts the flow to take breaks and slack off, citing reasons like feeling embarrassed or saying it doesn’t sit well for someone her age to act childishly.
Even while she was channeling divine power and assisting the Great Witch, she didn’t seem thankful, just acting as though she was half-listening to her…
Nothing about it was pleasing.
So, it follows that.
‘I have to take control.’
