Chapter 162

#162 Episode: The Witch and the Magical Contract (4)

Rapunzel thought there were three turning points in her life.

The first was being sold by her parents because they were broke.

Her brother protested fiercely, but their parents, who had already deemed her a ‘disturbing’ child, couldn’t be swayed, especially since they were struggling through a famine.

The reason her parents disliked her was simple.

Rapunzel’s hair grew at an abnormal speed.

Nay, it wasn’t just fast; calling it ‘incredibly’ or ‘unbelievably’ fast would be more fitting.

In less than a week, her bob cut could reach her knees.

This was beyond simply being an oddity; it was enough for her parents to see her as something not human but more akin to a monster or a cursed being.

Three silver coins.

That’s pretty outrageous for a little girl who hadn’t been educated and was of no help in labor.

It was a time when even people could be sold in fairy tales.

However, this peculiar condition didn’t bring only misfortune to Rapunzel.

The merchant who bought her regularly cut her hair to sell wigs, and they became quite popular.

Thanks to that, while other slaves were often beaten and starved for failing jobs, she managed to avoid such treatment.

The rationale was simply that it would be problematic if something happened to her and her ‘product value’ dropped.

Other than facing jealousy and ostracism from the other slaves, her life as a slave was relatively comfortable. At least she didn’t have to worry about food.

The second turning point came when her brother came to find her.

To be honest, Rapunzel didn’t recognize him at first.

Though he was already considerably older, he looked drastically gaunt when they reunited. It was as if he had just returned from a toxic mine.

Initially, the merchant threw a fit, refusing to release Rapunzel, but after a few ‘discussions’ with her brother, he turned docile and let her go.

She inquired if they were going home, but her brother merely shook his head without a word.

She couldn’t get a single word about what had happened to their other siblings and parents. All she could do was infer through his dark expression.

The years spent with her brother came to an abrupt end on a rainy day.

He merely left a brief note saying he wouldn’t be able to show his face for a while and vanished, leaving Rapunzel with a profound sense of despair.

It almost made her wonder if the reason he taught her to read was to use her in moments like this.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t guess the reason.

He always tried not to show it in front of her, but given the strong scent of blood that occasionally clung to him and his frequent absences, it would take a miracle not to notice something was off.

Eventually, he acknowledged his identity, sending undead creatures to deliver various items.

While his sending money wasn’t a big deal, the audacity of sending food with a corpse was something she wanted to smack his face over.

Living alone in a secluded forest was quite tough, but at the same time, it had its moments of peace.

Thanks to her brother’s help, her finances weren’t too dire, and given her past, she was somewhat accustomed to rough situations.

Had it not been for the third turning point, she might have been able to live a tranquil life.

“Witch! There’s an evil witch living in the forest!”

“I saw dead animals bringing her treasures! Where do you think those treasures come from? She must have harmed others to take them!”

“The forest beasts have become feral because of the witch’s curse!”

“In truth, the witch is a monster who’s lived for hundreds of years, draining the vitality of young maidens to maintain her beauty!”

“Her house has a huge spinning wheel that turns straw into gold! If that’s not magic, what is?”

Rapunzel was dumbfounded.

Using corpses to gather wealth? Maybe she could accept that.

Considering her brother’s line of work, she never thought that money was squeaky clean to begin with.

From the same perspective, she wouldn’t be shocked by accusations of ‘harming others to steal their money.’

Whether those witness reports were true or not was questionable, but having received money more than once, it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility one of those instances got witnessed.

Yet, that was as far as she would concede.

Controlling wild beasts? If she had that ability, there’d be no need for her to practice self-defense every day.

Sucking the vitality of maidens and being a hundred-year-old monster? Why on earth would she be featured in such stories at not even twenty?

As for the rumor about turning straw into gold, she found it ludicrous.

Her hair grew like weeds every day. It was hard to sell it for wigs like before, and tossing it away every day was exhausting, so she had just been stacking it up, and it seemed that got twisted into something bizarre.

Though she fervently protested that she was neither an evil witch nor a necromancer dealing with corpses, people refused to listen.

At this rate, it felt as if they’d hang her on a pole and burn her at the stake.

Rapunzel thought of an audacious escape, but then the noble lady stepped in.

“I cannot believe she is an evil witch.”

“I will take her as my adopted daughter to prove this.”

At the words of the wise and kind noble lady, the townsfolk lowered the tools they had raised high. Rapunzel discreetly unclenched her fist.

That shouldn’t have happened.

The price of relaxation was catastrophic, and what awaited Rapunzel wasn’t a warm, elegant noble life but a cold prison.

No matter how hard she struggled to escape, she found herself completely powerless in front of the prison she couldn’t flee from.

As she languished under the weight of her dreary future, a bone mouse that looked suspiciously like “Ah, that’s definitely a creation of an evil necromancer!” appeared right before her.

A mix of overwhelming delight and anger at the root cause of the situation.

In the midst of those emotions, Rapunzel roared at her brother whom she despised…

***

“…so there was a misunderstanding. I’m truly sorry.”

Diving down.

The sight of the girl almost flat on the ground in apology was reflected beyond the mirror.

Initially, she had been a girl who raised her voice while shaking off the mouse, but once she regained her composure and realized the bone mouse wasn’t sent by her brother, she made a complete about-face.

What a stroke of luck it was.

At least that mouse’s sacrifice, which required the use of half its body in chalk, had not been in vain.

Additionally, it was still a secret that her brother was no longer among the living.

Given that the amount of chalk needed to convey messages from Dorothea was limited, it would be troublesome if the shock thwarted the girl into wasting time stumbling over her words.

[“The Tin Knight” wonders if witches are fundamentally strong, right?]

[“The Tin Knight” is puzzled as to why the villagers are so aggressive in their witch hunts, especially if they could end up getting bitten back!]

In response to the Tin Knight’s question, Dorothea scoffed.

“Not all witches have the abilities of a 4th Grade Witch, and the average person has no way of accurately gauging a witch’s strength. Truth be told, that perception isn’t wholly incorrect. Remember that bandit chief who kidnapped Adel? He wielded sword mastery.”

[“The Tin Knight” recalls that guy could even compose music!]

“That kind of bandit—where do you think he properly learned martial arts or mana control? He probably picked up fragmented knowledge somewhere or just figured it out instinctively.”

Dorothea explained that the same goes for wizards.

“Not all wizards learned their magic formally under a master; sometimes a naturally gifted kid learns family witchcraft or picks up a spell from some weird book and uses it constantly. For an ordinary person, that could be considered an excellent wizard or a witch.”

Thus, perceptions of wizards and witches varied greatly by region.

There were places where the stories of respected, beloved wizards were passed down, and others where people trembled in fear at their very names.

Some places treated them as foolish beings easily duped by children’s tricks, while others viewed them as fragile beings who could perish simply by being thrown into a furnace.

“The perception of witches in this region is likely something like this: ‘They’re unpleasant and disgusting, but rather than tremble in fear, it’s better to strike first.’”

She muttered about how such sentiments were more pronounced in the countryside than in the big cities before she made the bone servant scribble anew.

It was a relief that Rapunzel could read.

─Want to get out?

The girl on the other side of the mirror responded.

“Yes, please! I don’t want to be stuck in here any longer!”

─Just go down now. I’ll handle the guards in front of the tower. First, we need to open that door. Grab the mouse and bring it to the doorknob—

“Wait a sec. The front of the tower? What about the guards inside the tower?”

Dorothea’s eyebrows furrowed.

─Inside? I didn’t see anyone other than you in there.

“I’ve broken out a few times before. I know my way around.”

As Rapunzel raised her hand, her mana flickered. It was something that could be called sword mastery—or maybe hand energy or fist energy.

Her companions recalled Rapunzel mentioning she practiced self-defense earlier.

“But on every occasion while going down, I ended up caught by strange beings.”

─Strange beings, you say?

“I’m not exactly sure. They wear armor, but the parts of their skin are covered in a black mud-like substance…”

After a moment’s thought, Dorothea responded.

─Alright, then I’ll head up from this side, so wait. If you have spare mana, sharing some with the mice would be good.

After confirming Rapunzel nodded, Dorothea spoke to Adel.

“Adel, you still have that mask you used when you dashed around at Justitia, right? The one that muddles people’s perception?”

“Yes.”

“If you use it along with this gem, anyone who isn’t a significant player won’t be able to figure out who you are. Go open the door, and then head up the tower.”

“Got it. I’ll try.”

Adelheid nodded with determination.

[“The Tin Knight” asked what he should do!]

“Just wait. We can’t guarantee that things won’t go sideways and we won’t be attacked.”

As soon as the burden of responsibility was lifted, action was swift.

Adel donned the mask and sprinted toward the tower while clutching the gem near her chest.

“Who goes there! Stop this instant—cough!”

The guards stationed at the tower tried to intercept her, but regular soldiers were no match for someone who could wield mana.

Adel knocked them out cold and sliced the heavy door of the tower in one swing before racing up its stairs.

Recalling the floor the mouse had climbed, she dashed into the second floor just as she turned the corner.

At that moment, she caught sight of something blurry before her and instinctively swung her sword.

The blade, acting almost out of courtesy, halted just inches away, cutting only a few strands of hair.

“Huh?”

A girl in a roomy pajama outfit stared wide-eyed at the sword thrust at her.

Her expression and the atmosphere surrounding her were nothing out of the ordinary.

Adel surveyed her surroundings.

There were three or four rooms. The girls, caught off guard by the sudden intruder, froze in place.

It looked like a scene one would expect if a group of girls were gathered and preparing to sleep soundly.

The desolation and barrenness observed by the mice were nowhere to be found.

The room where Dorothea was, the girl in the mirror, nervously asked,

“Uh, are we there yet? How much longer do I need to wait?”