Secrets of the Silent Witch - Volume 2 - Chapter Ep

EPILOGUE

A Soft Wall

“Heyyy, Monica. You awake?”

Lying back in the ruins of the fountain, Monica wheezed. Out of breath, she answered, “I…think.”

“Man, that was crazy,” continued Nero. “You’ve got basically no mana left, right?”

“…Yeah, I haven’t…used this much in a long time…”

Monica’s typical combat style involved using precisely controlled spells to defeat her enemy, keeping her mana consumption to a minimum.

But the Witch of Thorns’s rose cage had been too quick to regenerate. Her only option to defeat it had been to use an extremely high-powered spell.

Right now, all she wanted was to succumb to her exhaustion and fall asleep, but she still had things she needed to do. Slowly, she got to her feet.

Casey laughed weakly, her face haggard. “Ha-ha. I was only thinking about making you like me—I was totally fooled… I never really looked at you, the real you. And that’s why I lost.”

“Casey…”

The girl with the ponytail smiled sadly. She didn’t seem hateful or angry—it looked more like she’d just given up. “What’s that look for? I’m a bad guy. I deceived you.”

She’d been kind to Monica to get close to Felix. And she’d succeeded, too. By placing herself at Monica’s side, she’d found out what the student council members’ plans were and carried out her own scheme to assassinate the prince.

…Casey had used her.

“But I still…,” murmured Monica, clutching the fabric of her uniform as words rose from deep inside her chest. “When you said you’d teach me how to ride a horse, I…I was really, really happy.”

Even if everything Casey had said and done had been to take advantage of her, Monica still couldn’t bring herself to hate the other girl.

Not the girl who had put her fried fish between slices of bread and taken a big, hearty bite.

Not the girl who had casually smoothed things over when Claudia and Lana started to fight.

Not the girl who had unfolded that pretty handkerchief she’d embroidered with a bashful smile.

Monica had liked her.

“…Stop, Monica.” Casey closed her eyes and slowly shook her head. “I tried to kill the prince. I’m the worst of the worst… You have to hate me.”

For plotting to assassinate the prince, Casey and her family would be put to death.

…Executed…

A chill ran down Monica’s spine at the thought. As she tried to stop her heart from pounding its way out of her chest, Nero looked up at the sky and clicked his tongue.

“Hey, Monica,” he said. “We’ve got a problem. I’m gonna hide.”

Her familiar quickly leaped away—he would probably duck into the shadow of a tree and change back into a cat.

She’d known he’d show up sooner or later, once she’d tampered with the barrier. Her legs wobbled, but she managed to stand and steady herself before turning to look up at the sky.

Far in the distance, she could see a tiny black speck. It was heading this way at incredible speed… Had they even considered how they would land? Monica had a bad feeling and took a few steps back.

Moments later, two figures descended from the air—they were spinning like a top, with enough force to drill themselves into the ground.

One of them—a beauty in a maid’s outfit—continued her high-speed rotation, standing straight up. She stopped once she’d submerged herself in dirt up to her knees.

The other figure, who had been positioned behind her, swung his staff and levitated just in time, avoiding a crash landing.

The one with the staff was furious. “Why…you…horribly moronic maid! How many times have I told you to rethink your landings?!”

“I have named this one the Tornado Kick,” came the other’s monotone voice. “It has a high attack power and is extremely stylish.”

“You’re knee-deep in the dirt. ‘Stylish’ is the last thing I’d call it.”

With a dramatic click of his tongue, the man, dressed in a robe embroidered with gold thread and sporting a long braid, took a look around—it was the Barrier Mage Louis Miller.

Seeing Monica standing amid the remains of the roses and the fountain, he heaved a sigh. “…I knew something awful had happened to my barrier, so I came to have a look…and I see you were indeed the culprit, my esteemed colleague.”

“H-hello again, Mr. Louis.” Monica bowed her head.

Louis observed her face for a few moments; then his expression turned suspicious. “Well, this is unusual. You seem to have expended all your mana. I’ve never seen you use so much of it—you, who destroyed that entire pterodragon horde without breaking a sweat.”

Behind his monocle, Louis narrowed his eyes dangerously. Then, he looked toward Casey, who stood a short distance away.

“Now then,” he said. “The young lady over there… I can see she’s a student of this academy. Is she an enemy or an ally?”

As Monica hemmed and hawed, Casey shrugged a little before stating plainly, “An enemy. A foolish enemy who tried and failed to assassinate Prince Felix.”

“I see,” said Louis. “Ryn, restrain her.”

The beauty in the maid’s outfit pulled her legs out of the ground and tied Casey’s hands behind her back. Casey didn’t resist—she just let it happen.

“Now then, my fellow Sage,” continued Louis, “I don’t expect a formal oral report…but could I trouble you to explain a little of what’s going on?”

“Ummm, she set up a Spiralflame in the west storehouse, where they were bringing in fireworks.”

The word Spiralflame made Louis frown. He, too, was well aware of the terrifying magic item—not to mention the havoc it might cause in close proximity to fireworks.

“And, um,” continued Monica, “I didn’t think I’d be able to completely prevent it with a defensive barrier of my own, so I, um, borrowed yours, Mr. Louis.”

“I seem to recall the esteemed Witch of Thorns having set a trap around the defensive barrier.”

“…I broke it. By summoning a Spirit King.”

“And I spared no effort layering dummy formula upon dummy formula to prevent others from rewriting it.”

“I’m good at figuring stuff like that out, so… Oh, but it took me almost a whole minute to do it. Really!”

“One minute… All that in one minute…? I spent a month making it… One minute?” Louis’s face twitched. His eyes looked vacant. “Henceforth, should another one of my barriers be rewritten, I shall immediately suspect you.”

“Hwah?!”

“What I mean to say is that almost no one else could manage that,” said Louis, muttering under his breath, “I wouldn’t stand for it. What hogwash.”

Monica pretended not to hear that last part. Louis Miller tried to appear refined, but deep down, he was considerably less polite.

“All right, I have a good understanding of the situation,” he said eventually. “Has the second prince discovered your identity?”

“N-no, I don’t…think so.”

“Good. We’ll retrieve the Spiralflame in secret and take the girl into custody. Please continue to guard the—”

“W-wait!” interrupted Monica.

Louis frowned—this wasn’t like her. “What is it?”

“C-Casey… What’s going to, um, to happen to her?”

“They’ll conduct an investigation and get the names of everyone involved in the assassination. If she’s too tight-lipped, they’ll probably use mental interference magecraft.”

Magecraft that interfered with the mind, such as to force someone to confess their crimes or obey a command, was generally designated as forbidden. It was permitted only in specific circumstances, such as interrogations of violent criminals, and it severely damaged the mind of the target. In the worst cases, the person would fall into a coma and never wake up.

Guessing from her expression what Monica was thinking, Louis smiled coldly. “You object to the use of mental interference magic, don’t you? Unfortunately, in her case, it may be better if she never wakes up. The attempted assassination of a member of the royal family demands capital punishment. Being executed while unconscious will at least spare her the pain.”

Casey went pale.

Monica swallowed the saliva that had built up in her mouth and forced her trembling body to look straight at Louis. “M-Mr. Louis, you’re…with the first prince’s faction…aren’t you?”

“Well, now that was abrupt. Why do you ask?”

“Please…answer my question.”

Louis leveled an intelligent, searching gaze at Monica. Normally, the Silent Witch would immediately look away—but now she was staring him dead in the eye. That caught his interest.

“All right, I shall. I went to school with First Prince Lionel. I’ve no objection to people thinking I am part of his faction. But there is one thing I don’t want you to misunderstand. I have no special desire for the first prince to ascend the throne.”

“…Huh?”

Monica had expected him to insist that Prince Lionel was the rightful heir, so she was a little taken aback.

Louis continued. “I claim to be part of his faction because I don’t like Duke Clockford or the second prince.”

“……”

That reasoning was very like Louis. But it was true that he was friends with the first prince. Now that she was sure, Monica made her next play.

“C-Casey is connected to Landor—she’s part of the first prince’s faction.”

Louis’s eyebrow twitched.

Monica continued, wasting no time. “If it was made public that a member of the first prince’s faction with ties to Landor plotted to assassinate the second prince…that would cause problems for the first prince’s faction, wouldn’t it?” If the truth got out, the first prince’s camp would be in a position of considerable disadvantage.

Louis’s lips curled, and he narrowed his eyes. “I never thought the day would come when you, someone so disinterested in politics, would try to make such a deal with me… How truly cunning of you.”

“Nobody knows of this attempted assassination,” said Monica. “Not even Prince Felix. The only ones who know are Casey and me.”

“Are you telling me to pretend this incident never happened, then?”

“……”

She hadn’t considered quite so convenient an outcome, but she wanted to prevent Casey from being executed at all costs.

Seeing that Monica wouldn’t back down, Louis gave her a little lecture. “The first prince’s faction isn’t monolithic. Frankly, both the first prince and his mother have no interest in the throne. They prefer to keep things aboveboard—they’d never go for an assassination…but that doesn’t necessarily apply to everyone supporting him.”

Louis paused there, directing a chilly stare at Casey. “That’s why they have to purge any problem elements from their group, such as those who might stupidly attempt an assassination of the second prince.”

“Th-there should be a way to, um, handle things s-secretly.”

Monica bit down hard on her lip and glared at Louis, tears in her eyes.

At the same time, Louis’s mind was racing with calculations. Using mental interference magecraft on Casey, forcing her to confess the name of the extremists, and then eliminating her and everyone else involved would be the safest option.

But if he did that, he would likely lose Monica’s cooperation in the future. The Silent Witch’s powers were even greater than she herself realized. She was too valuable a resource to give up.

Weighing his options, he made a proposal.

“If the girl confesses honestly to everything, I promise not to use mental interference magecraft. She’ll be sent to a convent, never to appear again in elite society.” That was the best Louis could do.

Monica bowed deeply. “Thank you, Mr. Louis.”

“In exchange, I want your continued cooperation guarding the second prince.”

“Yes, sir!” Monica nodded without hesitation. She took him at his word without a doubt in her mind.

That wasn’t a good sign. One of the reasons he’d chosen Monica to guard the prince was because of how much she distrusted others. The Silent Witch feared other people. She trusted no one, and she opened her heart to no one. That was why he’d thought she’d make a good bodyguard.

A trusting person made for a bad bodyguard.

“…Don’t you think you’ve grown a little soft?” he said.

“Huh?”

Louis pointed a finger right at her forehead and peered into her face. “You are Monica Everett, the Silent Witch, one of the Seven Sages… Monica Norton, student of Serendia Academy, is a false identity.”

Monica gave a start.

“Pray never forget that fact,” finished Louis.

“…Y-yes.”

Monica’s gaze wandered as she nodded.

Watching her, Louis couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

Thank goodness… At least I managed to stop Casey from being executed… I think.

Monica privately breathed a sigh of relief. Not only was Louis intelligent—he could talk, too. With her terrible negotiation skills, it was no easy task to win over someone like him.

But she’d been able to force him to compromise—a big victory as far as she was concerned.

As Ryn bound Casey, Louis gave her instructions. “Ryn, escort our esteemed noble to the nearby Magic Corps outpost. Give them my name, and they should provide her with a room.”

“Understood, sir,” replied Ryn. “What about you, Lord Louis?”

“I need to do something about this misshapen barrier,” he answered, gesturing with his chin at the collapsed fountain.

Monica had borrowed the barrier and rewritten it to contain the Spiralflame, so it was no longer capable of protecting the entire school. She knew he couldn’t just leave it like that. And even if he could, the remnants of the fountain and tattered roses had left the place in a terrible state. She shrank in on herself, feeling guilty.

Casey, her limbs bound, turned her way.

“Monica.”

Monica shook. She knew this would be her final farewell to Casey.

Casey would never return to the academy. But Monica didn’t know what to say to her.

She looked back at the other girl like a lost child, unable to apologize or say good-bye.

Casey lowered her eyebrows and offered a troubled smile. Then she laughed a little, as if to say, What are we going to do with you?

“I won’t say I’m sorry or thank you. I plotted the assassination of the second prince—I’m your enemy.”

“……”

“I’m not your friend. Not even close. So don’t make that face.”

Only then did Monica realize how tightly she was clenching her teeth.

The inside of her nose stung. Her eyes were hot.

A hiccup escaped her throat just as a droplet fell from the corner of her eye.

“You can’t cry over your enemy.”

“B-but…I…I…”

“You’re so softhearted for a Sage. It’s going to get you killed in your sleep one day.”

Her astonished tone, the way she laughed—everything was just the same as always. This was Casey, the kind girl who took care of others.

“Hate me like you should. If you can’t, then forget about me.”

“…N-no.” Monica shook her head. “I’ll…never forget. I won’t.”

“What are we going to do with you…?” Casey laughed weakly. She really did seem at a loss.

Monica sniffled, and Casey turned to Ryn. “Take me away already.”

Ryn nodded and lowered her gaze.

A moment later, the two of them were wrapped in a wind barrier. Soon, they’d lift into the air, and Ryn would escort Casey away.

Suddenly, as if she’d just remembered, Casey lifted her head and turned back to Monica. “Oh, right. I won’t apologize for what I did, but…”

Through her tears, Monica saw Casey smile sadly.

“Sorry I won’t be able to…teach you horseback riding or make you that embroidery.”

And that was it—this time, she turned her back on Monica for good.

Ryn and Casey floated up into the air. Monica stared hard at their backs, burning the image into her memory.

Casey didn’t look at her again. But still facing away, she spoke one last time.

“Good-bye, Monica.”

The words sounded just the same as they had every other time she’d said them. The same as when she’d said them to Monica Norton, before she’d known Monica was the Silent Witch.

And then she began to float away into the distance.

Monica kept watching the sky, even after the two of them had vanished from sight.

Eventually, Louis pushed some of the fountain rubble out of the way and said, almost to himself, “You need to learn how to vent your emotions properly.”

“…I’m…not good at that.”

“Just take it out on some small fry.”

Only Louis would actually do such a thing without hesitating. As Monica wiped her tears on her uniform sleeve, Louis shoved his neat handkerchief into her face, then returned to the fountain.

“I’m very busy repairing the barrier a certain crazed witch turned to rubble,” he said. “If you’re not willing to help, then get out of here. I’ll handle the cover story for that girl.”

“…Your handkerchief.”

“My wife gave it to me on my birthday, so I want it back. After you wash and iron it.”

“…All right,” said Monica with a sniffle. She lowered her eyebrows and smiled at Louis’s familiar attitude.

After waiting for her tear-swollen face to recover somewhat, Monica headed to the student council room. The corners of her eyes were still a little red, but she figured no one would notice, since she always had her head down.

When a person’s mana was depleted, they experienced symptoms similar to anemia. That was exactly how Monica felt right now. Dragging her heavy body through the hallway, she eventually reached her destination and opened the door.

Everyone aside from Monica was there. Apparently, they had already finished overseeing the unloading of supplies.

As Monica wondered what to say, Felix turned to her with concern on his face.

“Cyril told me a stack of wooden beams toppled over,” he said. “Were you or your friend hurt?”

“N-no, we’re, um, fine…”

“I see. In that case, since we don’t have any regular work today, we can adjourn the meeting. I have something to take care of after this anyway.”

Monica secretly sighed in relief. To be honest, she was barely able to stand.

Ugh… My head is all fuzzy…

As she struggled to remain conscious, Neil looked at her with worry.

“Um, are you all right, Lady Norton?” he asked.

“…Yeff…”

“You don’t sound ‘all right’ at all!” he exclaimed.

The rest of the council members had already begun to leave.

Felix seemed to have some pressing business to attend to, and he left the room immediately. Bridget went straight back to her dorm as well.

Cyril got up to start checking the locks, and though Elliott kept casting glances at Monica, he eventually appeared to get fed up and left the room.

It’s been so long since I ran out of mana… My senses are— Anyway, I should leave so I don’t get in the way of Lord Cyril locking up… Her mind still fuzzy, Monica forced her heavy legs to move.

As she did so, still looking down at the floor, her head bumped into something. For a wall, it was pretty soft.

“………Hey.”

And now it was speaking in a low voice, too.

She exhaled in relief at how comfortable this was, hardly paying any attention to the voice coming from above her.

It seemed that as she leaned into the wall, her mana had begun to recover. And it was cold against her forehead, which felt nice…

“L-Lady Norton. Lady Norton!” exclaimed Neil in a panic.

Monica gave a start and looked up. Her eyes met Cyril’s. He was looking back down at her. She’d been leaning against his back.

Flustered, Monica stumbled backward and bowed to him. “I-I-I-I’m so s-sorry! I, um, wasn’t paying attention!”

And then Monica remembered.

Cyril Ashley had a physical trait that made it easy for him to store up mana. Because of that, his broach—actually a magical item—expelled the unnecessary mana from his body.

In other words, the mana density in the area around him was a little higher than usual. Deprived of mana, Monica’s body had unconsciously sought him out.

He’ll scold me. He’s going to yell at me; I just know it.

Monica squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the sound of shouting, but after a few moments, she still hadn’t heard it. Nervously, she looked back up. Cyril had furrowed his brow, his expression conflicted.

“Lord Cyril?”

Cyril tried twice to say something but stopped each time. Suddenly, he looked anguished and bowed his head low.

Both Monica and Neil next to her were baffled by his behavior.

“Lord Cyril?”

“V-Vice President?”

Hesitantly, they called out to him. When Cyril replied, his tone was bitter.

“I’m sorry.”

He was apologizing to Monica.

Monica was very confused. At first, she thought he was apologizing to Neil, not her, but he was definitely facing her direction. So he was apologizing to her.

“Um, Lord Cyril… Please don’t apologize. Wh-why are you…apologizing?”

“…I was so distracted counting everything as it was carried in that I didn’t check to make sure the ropes were secure. The accident was my fault.”

“B-but, but that’s…”

It wasn’t Cyril’s fault. In fact, Casey had been the one to make a cut in the rope.

But by standing up for Casey, she’d made the accident out to be Cyril’s fault. Did I make him…into the bad guy?

The moment she realized this, she felt all the blood drain from her body. A wild mix of emotions rushed into her head. She couldn’t think.

“Lord Cyril, you’re…… It’s not your…”

The moment she spoke, the floodgates seemed to open and her tears came rushing back, along with her hiccupping sobs and snot, too. Monica started whimpering and crying.

Cyril and Neil panicked.

“H-hey, Accountant Norton!” exclaimed Cyril.

“Lady Norton, um, I, er… J-j-j-just calm down, okay?!” cried Neil.

Monica’s tears didn’t stop.

Cyril held his head in his hands. “Why are you crying when I’m the one apologizing?!”

“I’m…sowwy…ngh…,” she said between sniffles. “I’m, I’m so…so sorry… I’m sorry…”

Monica crumpled to the floor, where she sat sniveling. They weren’t tears of sadness. They were tears of guilt.

I’m sorry for deceiving you. I’m sorry for lying to you again and again and again…

She continued to cry, and cry, and cry… Before she knew it, she’d lost consciousness.

“D-did she…fall asleep?” wondered Cyril aloud.

“I think the crying tired her out,” said Neil.

Sitting on the floor, her face a teary mess, Monica was breathing steadily now.

Cyril and Neil exchanged glances, not knowing what to do.

Ten minutes later…

“…And why, exactly, did you call me here?”

Claudia Ashley always had a gloomy expression, but now that she’d been summoned to the student council room, it grew even drearier. She stared at her older brother—the one who had dragged her here.

Cyril looked awkwardly toward Monica sleeping on the sofa and said, “When Accountant Norton wakes up, I want you to bring her to her room. We’re obviously not allowed in the girls’ dormitory.”

“…I am not your errand girl, you know.”

Cyril didn’t know how to respond to his sister’s hostility. Neil, however, looked up at Claudia, his face troubled.

“Um, won’t you do us this favor, Lady Claudia?” he asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” she replied. “Monica and I are good friends. And a good friend helps her friend to her dorm whenever she needs it.”

The abrupt and vivid change in her attitude made Cyril’s face twitch, but looking over at Monica snoring on the sofa, he swallowed his angry retort and silently put his blazer over the sleeping girl.