Secrets of the Silent Witch - Volume 3 - Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

A Kind Ghost

After telling Monica they were going to find her some warmer clothing, Felix took her to an especially extravagant two-story building on a main street. As they walked through the brilliantly decorated door, she was met with the scents of flowers arranged in ornate vases and perfume, creating a bewitching mixture.

From the prince’s suggestion, she’d assumed they’d be going to some sort of clothing store. But it was very clear, even to Monica, that this place did not deal in clothes.

What this shop offered its patrons was a thrilling time with beautifully adorned women.

“B-b-but, b-but—!”

“Are you trying to imitate a chicken?” asked Felix, tilting his head in confusion.

Monica shook her head and desperately tried to get her voice to work.

“But this place, it’s not…”

“This is Madam Cassandra’s establishment,” he answered, removing his mask as a woman appeared from the back of the shop. Her cherry-blond hair was loosely tied, and she wore a dress that exposed a bold amount of her shoulders and chest.

The woman smiled like a cat who had just found her next meal. She went up to Felix and, clinging to his neck, laid a passionate kiss on his cheek. “Oh, sir! It’s been so long,” she said. “You haven’t been coming at all recently. We’ve been so lonely.”

“Hey, Doris. Sorry about that—things have been pretty busy.”

“As long as you ask for me tonight, mm? Now that you’re here, I’ll cancel all my other appointments.”

Felix returned the kiss on Doris’s cheek and answered smoothly, “Sorry, but I actually need to speak with Madam Cassandra first.”

“Hmm?” Doris, finally noticing Monica, moved her neck to give the girl a once over while still clinging closely to Felix. There was no hostility in the woman’s eyes—she was simply evaluating Monica’s worth.

“Hmm. For someone you brought, I doubt she’ll attract many patrons…,” murmured Doris, looking up at Felix. “Well, no matter. Madam Cassandra is in the back. Come on—this way.”

Doris linked her right arm through Felix’s left and began to walk. When Monica hesitated, the woman called to her in exasperation, “What are you idling about for? His other arm is free, you know!”

“…Huh?”

The woman beckoned for Monica to come over and positioned her at Felix’s right side. Then she grabbed Monica’s hand and passed it through his right arm before finally moving back to the prince’s left and linking arms with him again.

“This is how you link arms! And push your chest into him more… Oh, hmm, I suppose you don’t have much of a chest to begin with.”

What are they trying to make me do? wondered Monica, casting a troubled look up at Felix.

Felix, clearly suppressing a laugh, said, “We’ll go say hello to the madam first.”

“R-right…,” answered Monica vaguely.

Her arm still linked with Felix’s—well, it was more like she was hanging on to him with her hand at this point—they began to walk. She felt like a lost child being escorted.

Madam Cassandra’s establishment was one of the more thriving businesses in the area, and it didn’t matter where you looked—the pillars, the door decorations, the rugs—the entire place was so glamorous, it made her eyes hurt.

Mary Harvey’s mansion had been luxurious as well, but Monica felt certain it had been considerably classier.

Eventually, they came to a door at the end of the hallway, and Doris stopped in front of it. “Madam!” she called. “Madam Cassandra! I’ve got a good one here to see you, for a change!”

“Come in,” a woman’s voice, hoarse from drinking, called from inside the room.

Doris happily opened the door and brought Felix and Monica inside. While the hallway on the way here had been ornate, this room was on another level: rugs with lots of red coloring, velvet curtains, decorations and tassels using plenty of gold and silver thread… And on the extravagant cabriole-legged sofa in the center of the room rested a woman.

Her gray hair was done up beautifully, and she wore a vivid scarlet dress and wide-brimmed hat. She looked a little too old to be considered middle-aged but far too full of life to be called an elderly woman.

Her sharp, glinting eyes locked on to Felix as her lips, bright red with lipstick, curled up into a wide smile.

“Oh, hello, sir,” she drawled. “It has been a while. So long, I should say, that our girls were starting to lose their motivation. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do.”

“I do apologize, Madam,” answered the prince. “I’ve had much business to attend to of late.”

What business was he supposed to be up to? Felix was a student. Though looking at him now, nobody would suspect it—he was far too at home here in the midst of the nightlife.

I probably shouldn’t say anything unnecessary…, thought Monica, taking a step back to hide in Felix’s shadow.

But just then, the woman called Madam Cassandra gestured at her with her chin. “Who’s the girlie?”

“I was hoping you could pick out some clothing for her.”

Oh, thought Monica. So they were here to get her warmer clothes. Most regular clothing shops would have been closed by now anyway. If you wanted an outfit, paying money at an establishment like this was quicker.

“Ah, in that case, leave it to me,” said Doris, grabbing Monica by the wrist. “This way!”

“Um! I, ummm…!” Monica panicked, looking between Felix and Doris.

The prince offered her a smile and a wave of his hand. “Get her to pick out something cute.”

“Um, well, er…!”

“Come on, time’s a-wastin’!”

Doris yanked on Monica’s wrist and began to walk with large strides, practically dragging her off into another room.

After watching Doris pull Monica away, Felix turned back to Madam Cassandra and took a seat on the sofa across from her.

Opening up a locked drawer filled with small items, she removed a few envelopes and placed them in front of the prince. “From the nobles you met here at the shop,” she explained.

“You have my thanks, as always, Madam.”

Felix took the envelopes and tucked them away. The nobles whose names were written on them had a certain thing in common—all of them were under Duke Clockford’s influence, and all of them harbored some measure of dissatisfaction toward the man. Some were even anxious to rebel.

Madam Cassandra, sharp as she was, had surely put two and two together.

“I’m not about to dig into your past or identity at this point,” she said. “…But will this be your last visit?”

“Most likely yes.”

She sighed. “We’ll be very sad to see you, and your money, go.”

Felix placed a bag stuffed with gold coins in front of her. “Please use this to throw a fantastic banquet tonight. One lively enough to match the bells guiding the souls of the dead.”

“You will, of course, be at this banquet, yes?”

“Unfortunately, I have other things to do. I only need to borrow a bed to sleep on for tonight.”

Looking unhappy, Madam Cassandra took out a pipe and placed it between her scarlet lips. “It’s your last night here. Invite any of the girls you want to your bed.”

“I came out fully prepared to take you up on that offer,” explained the prince, “but I’ve unexpectedly made a new friend to go out on the town with. I’d like to prioritize her tonight.”

“…Oh?” Her eyes, which had been narrowed in displeasure, opened wide, and she blinked. “You don’t mean that plain girlie from before…?”

“A friend of mine,” answered Felix smoothly.

Madam Cassandra put a hand to her forehead and looked up at the ceiling. “What in the world? I thought for sure you meant to sell her to us…”

Just as she said this, they heard a pattering from out in the hallway. Then the door opened, and Doris flew in, carrying Monica under her arm.

“Madam! Madam! Maaadam!” she cried.

Monica’s eyes were vacant, and she was muttering numbers under her breath.

Felix’s eyes went wide at the sight before him. Doris had put Monica in a thin, lingerie-like dress—the kind the ladies here wore. It showed off a lot of skin and looked great on women with more voluptuous figures. But on a thin girl like Monica, it only emphasized what she didn’t have. She looked colder than ever.

The rich wine color of the fabric simply made her pallid complexion stand out, and one of the shoulder straps had already fallen halfway down her shoulder, dangerously close to revealing what little chest was there.

As Felix looked on in shock, Doris scratched her head and apologized.

“Sorry, sir. Since you brought her here to sell to us, I tried to teach her how to please a man with a little demonstration… Then she suddenly got like this. What is she even doing? Would hitting her in the head fix it?”

Doris’s demonstration had evidently been a bit too stimulating for Monica, and the girl had taken another little trip to the world of numbers.

“I apologize, Doris,” said Felix. “I should have given you clearer instructions.”

“What? You came to sell her to us, right?” said Doris. “I mean, I can’t imagine she has any relatives. She’s just a little too skinny. I don’t think she’ll find many customers like this, but don’t worry—you can leave her with me. I’ll fix her up and make sure she gets the hang of it. I’ll take perfect care of her.”

“No, that’s not what I…”

As Felix tried to clear up the misunderstanding with Doris, Monica continued muttering numbers, her gaze totally blank.

Squish.

Monica came to as she felt something soft touch her cheek.

“Oh! A paw…!”

She was certain that Nero was squeezing her face with his soft little feet. But when she looked around, she wasn’t in her mountain cabin or in her attic room. Wherever she was, the amount of red and gold was beginning to make her eyes hurt. And when she turned to look at the source of the sensation on her left cheek, she saw Felix gazing at her with an expression she found difficult to describe.

“Back in the real world?” he asked.

“Pri-Pri-Pri-Pri—”

Before she could say Prince, Felix pressed his index finger to her mouth. Monica’s eyes swiveled about, trying to get a read on the situation. She was currently sitting on a magnificent sofa, leaning against Felix. On another sofa across from them was Madam Cassandra, with Doris waiting nearby.

When her eyes met Doris’s, the woman twirled a finger through her cherry-blond hair and gave an apologetic grin. “Sorry about all that,” she said. “I thought for sure he’d come to sell you to us.”

“O-oh…”

And that was when Monica finally realized what she was wearing—a thin, wine-red, lingerie-like dress. Doris had forced her to put it on a few minutes ago.

“Choo!” She sneezed.

Doris laughed. “Seriously, sorry! I’ll lend you the warmest furs I have, okay? And you could probably do with some gloves, too, huh?”

“Um, if you can just…give me my clothes back, that would be— Hk-choo!”

When Monica sneezed again, the dress—its strap already slipping—fell down to about her waist. She lifted the strap back up with a “whoops” and pulled it over her shoulder again.

Felix and Doris stared at her, dumbstruck.

Madam Cassandra removed the pipe from her lips and furrowed her brow. “She’s an odd one.”

“Ummm, can I have my clothes, please…?”

“Doris, give them back.” Madam Cassandra gestured with her chin.

“Got it,” said Doris, beckoning for Monica to follow. When the girl hesitated, Doris scratched her cheek, a little troubled. “I’m just giving you your clothes back, that’s all. Come on.”

“Oh, um, okay…”

“Although if you want to know how to make him happy, I can give you a few tips on the sly.”

Monica shook her head so hard, it seemed like it might fly off. Doris cackled.

After that, Doris returned Monica’s navy dress and white coat, then threw a fur cape over her shoulders and lent her some gloves. Finally, she passed her one of the belled ash-wood staffs everyone at the festival had been carrying. The cape was dark brown, and the hood had fake animal ears sewn onto it for decoration. This must be a festival costume, thought Monica.

She put up the hood and gave the sewn-on ears a couple of tugs. Slender and tapered at the end, they were a good bit shorter than a rabbit’s. Horse ears? she wondered.

She’d heard most of the festival costumes were of animals that walked on land, as they were all subjects of the King of the Earth Spirits. Horses were chief among them. They’re probably horse ears, she thought, convinced.

Felix grinned. “Ever the little squirrel,” he said.

“Huh?!” Monica blurted out. “I, um, I think these are horse ears…”

“I’m looking at a little squirrel.”

Even Doris and Madam Cassandra agreed she was a squirrel.

Monica’s eyebrows drooped as she looked up at Felix. “You said you wouldn’t call me that anymore…”

“Sorry, sorry,” said the prince. “Why don’t we get going, Monica?”

Felix subtly held his left arm out toward her. She knew the right thing to do was to link her arm with his, like Doris had just taught her. Unfortunately, there was quite a height difference between the two of them: Monica was petite, and Felix was rather tall. After puzzling over it for a few moments, she used the hand not holding the staff to grab his sleeve instead. This way, she wouldn’t have to worry about getting lost.

Felix didn’t offer any comment. He just started walking, matching his stride to hers.

As they left Madam Cassandra’s establishment, Felix put his mask back on and headed for the main street. He didn’t even pause to think about it—he must really have been used to going out at night like this.

“There’s a shop I want to visit,” he said, “but why don’t we take a little walk first? It’s actually pretty fun to look at all the stalls and open-air shops.”

Felix then picked a street with a lot of such shops and started walking. In addition to stalls providing refreshments like meat skewers and fruit juice, there were a few others dealing in foreign rugs and accessories.

“Hello, sir!” called one of the dealers. “Come have a look at my shop. I’ve got a lot of good accessories here! Why not get a cute bracelet for the girl?”

“I suppose I’ll have a look,” said Felix, stopping to peruse the items lining the stall.

The stallkeeper smiled and rubbed his hands together like he was about to greet a VIP. “We’ve got the best of the best here,” he said. “All of them were blessed by a very famous mage.”

“Really?” asked Felix. “Are they magic items?”

“Well, yes, something along those lines.”

Apparently, calling them charms or blessings went over better with young people.

The man started explaining how this necklace would make people more attracted to you or how that ring would help ward off disasters, his tone very serious. Each of the products was lit up by lanterns hanging from the eaves and glittered beautifully. The dealer was probably well aware that selling things in the dark of night made it more difficult to tell expensive articles from cheap imitations.

Monica quietly scanned through the wares. None of them seems to be functional as a magic item… Things that looked like magic symbols had been engraved on ring settings and clasps, but none of them was real.

Felix probably realized this as well. He was doing a good job at acting interested, but she didn’t see any enthusiasm in his eyes as he perused the goods. He really was just having a look; that was all.

Monica’s gaze drifted past the accessories, only to stop on a broach near the back. This was the first item she’d seen with a real magic formula engraved into it.

A simple barrier, thought Monica. Not that precise, but…

The stallkeeper noticed her staring and raised his voice, trying to sound excited. “Oh, you have a sharp eye, miss! This broach was specially made, unlike the others.”

He paused there, then squatted down a little and lowered his voice like he didn’t want anyone else to hear. “Would you believe it? One of the Seven Sages made this. The Gem Mage, to be specific.”

“Huh…?” Monica felt her heart skip a beat at the words Seven Sages.

Felix put a finger to his chin. “The Gem Mage Emanuel Darwin… I’ve heard he’s a genius at creating magic tools.”

“You sure know your stuff,” replied the stallkeeper. “You’re right! Any item made by the Gem Mage would sell for as much as a house in the royal capital if obtained through the usual routes. But I can give it to you at a much lower price… What do you think?”

“May I see it?” asked Felix.

“Sure, go right ahead!” said the stallkeeper amicably, putting a cloth around the broach and handing it to the prince.

Felix took it and brought the gemstone embedded in it up to the light—probably to verify that a magic formula was floating inside. And it was. Behind the formula, the name “Emanuel Darwin” was carved in very small letters.

Thinking logically, it had to be a fake. The magic formula wasn’t very precise, and no magic item made by one of the Seven Sages would ever be found at a shop like this. But it was the ornamentation that caught Monica’s attention. She’d seen a broach almost exactly like this one somewhere else.

It looks like Lord Cyril’s broach.

Cyril Ashley’s body tended to accumulate mana more easily than others, so he always wore a magical broach to absorb the mana back out of his body and release it. In fact, Monica had physically held that broach in the past, and so she had no doubt.

Lord Cyril’s broach had the Gem Mage’s name engraved in it, too. And it hadn’t had any protective formulas.

The broach in Felix’s hands was imbued with only a rough defensive barrier. The two items were very similar—both in their style and the peculiarities of their magic formulae.

“Actually, I like this,” said Felix. “I’ll take it.”

“Heh-heh! You’re a generous one, sir. Thank you, thank you!”

After paying far more than seemed right for a street stall, Felix took the broach. Then his blue eyes shifted behind his mask to look at Monica.

“Monica,” he said, “are there any accessories you would like? If anything catches your eye, I’ll buy it for you.”

“…No, I’m fine,” she said, shaking her head sluggishly.

Felix bent down a little to peer into her face. “You were wearing makeup the day of the chess competition, weren’t you? It looked very good on you.”

“Oh.”

“Would you allow me to give you an accessory that would have suited you as well?”

Felix’s sweet, honeyed whispers would have made most noblewomen red in the cheeks. Monica’s heart, however, didn’t budge. She wondered why that was and came up with a reason. Awkwardly, she asked him, “Um, do you remember…the first time we met?”

“In the old gardens. You’d dropped all your berries.”

“When you picked them up for me, I was…really, really happy.”

Having just arrived at the academy, Monica hadn’t been close with anyone. She hadn’t known right from left back then. That was why the ribbon Lana had given her and the berries Felix had picked up for her had felt like such treasures—enough that she almost hadn’t wanted to eat them.

“Um, I can’t explain it very well… But if you were to buy me an, um, accessory right now, I don’t think I’d be…as happy as the time with the berries.”

“…Ah,” said Felix, his voice somehow lonely, its tone different from the one he used when sitting in the student council president’s chair.

Monica started to feel very guilty. Whatever the reason, she’d flatly refused his gesture of goodwill.

Panicking, she continued. “Um, and anyway, I only recently got interested in fashion, so I’m a complete beginner! And, well…I think accessories are still too much for me… Yes, they’re for advanced fashion practitioners, and I’m just not ready!”

Felix’s eyes went wide in surprise behind his mask. As Monica played with her fingers, wondering if she’d been rude, a faint smile crossed his lips. “We’ll leave it at that, then,” he said, heading to the next stall over.

This one appeared to be selling baked sweets. They were flat and round, about the size of her palm, and had an intricate design pressed into the surface.

“Those sweets…have such pretty designs,” remarked Monica, locking on to the patterns rather than the food itself.

Felix laughed. “They’re traditional sweets for the Bell-Ringing Festival. You break them in half to eat them.” He bought one of them, split it in two, and gave one half to Monica. “You’ll let me treat you to this at least, right?”

“Ummm, y-yes, thank you…”

Inside the bread-like dough, sweetened with honey, was a generous filling of dried grapes, figs, and walnuts. As she took a few bites to disguise the awkwardness she felt, a pair of fingers reached in from the side and plucked a bit of fruit from Monica’s face.

“There was some on your cheek,” said Felix.

The moment his fingers touched her mouth, she unconsciously tensed up and gave a violent start.

Probably hearing the stifled shriek that shook her throat, Felix commented a little sadly, “You said you weren’t afraid of horses, but you’re afraid of people, aren’t you?”

He was exactly right.

Monica wasn’t scared of animals or bugs, but humans frightened her. And that had been the case since long before she’d enrolled at Minerva’s and met Bernie.

Tall men were the worst. Whenever one so much as lifted his hand, visions of it coming down on her would flash through her mind and cause her legs to give out in fear. The same thing had happened when she’d bumped into Bartholomeus. She knew logically that not everyone would get violent with her, but her body reacted anyway. Her head would go blank, dominated by fear.

I always ruin it whenever anyone tries to be nice to me…, she thought, her face clouding over with guilt. Voice trembling, she managed a stilted “…sorry.”

Felix didn’t criticize her. Instead, he constructed a gentle smile. “If you really are frightened of people, you can just think of me as a ghost. After all, the spirits of the dead visit our world tonight—that’s why they’re ringing the bells.”

He reached toward the staff in Monica’s hand. Hanging from the end of the ash-wood staff Doris had lent her was a cute little golden bell. Felix poked the bell to shake it a little. The clear jingling was meant to mourn and guide the spirits of the dead who had wandered into the festival.

“Your friend Ike is actually a ghost who doesn’t exist. So he can’t hurt you.”

His joking tone—and the blue eyes behind his mask—were sad but full of kindness.

Monica’s mouth popped open and closed. She thought she should say something. But she couldn’t think of anything fitting, so her puffs of white breath simply disappeared into the night sky.

“I’m a little thirsty,” said Felix. “I’ll go and get us some fruit juice, so wait right there.” He turned, the hem of his cloak fluttering, and disappeared into the crowd.

I have to follow him, she thought. I’m his bodyguard. But just as she took a panicked step forward, she heard a voice from behind her.

“Silent Witch,” it said.

Surprised, Monica turned around to find a beautiful woman in maid attire—the wind spirit Ryn.

She continued in her usual impassive, flat tone. “Would this be a proper situation to use the ‘don’t lay a hand on my woman’ tactic?”

That was the first thing out of her mouth. Apparently Felix, in costume, had looked to Ryn like bad news—a man trying to bully her.

If the spirit dressed up in those showy clothes from the chess tournament and staged a repeat performance now, it would be disastrous. Monica rejected her proposal in a hurry. “N-no! That’s the prince!”

“Oh my.” Ryn’s voice never had any intonation, but she seemed surprised, at least. She put a hand to her chin in a rather dramatic show of thoughtfulness, quirking her head to the right as she did. Three solid seconds later, she returned her head to its normal position. “In that case, will you be continuing to guard Prince Felix tonight?”

“Y-yes. If you could keep your distance and provide support, um, that would be great…”

“Very well, then— Oh?” Noticing something, Ryn looked up. Monica followed her gaze and spotted a bird with its wings spread flying through the air despite the time of day—and heading right for them. Her eyes widened.

Eventually, the bird glided down, came to a rest on Ryn’s head, and hooted. It was an owl. And upon closer inspection, she noticed a ring around its foot holding a tube.

Monica recognized the star seal on the item. “Could this be the Starseer Witch’s familiar…? Um, Miss Ryn, could you squat down a little?”

“Certainly.”

Nervously, Monica reached for the tube stuck to the owl’s foot. Inside it was a small, folded-up letter. The writing on the paper was so fancy, you’d think it was an invitation to the royal palace—but instead, it said this:

“Someone’s made off with Starweaving Mira. Could you help a girl out? Pweeeeez?”

“Wha…? Whaaaaat?!”

Monica studied the letter again, her lips quivering. Despite the beautiful handwriting and casual phrasing, this was a matter of grave importance.

Ryn, peering at the letter from the side with the owl still on her head, seemed to agree. “This appears to be an emergency,” she muttered.

Frankly, Monica had no idea what to do. Both guarding Felix and recovering the stolen item were important missions. Starweaving Mira was capable of absorbing the mana from a very large area of land and converting it into a powerful attack spell.

If a bad person used Starweaving Mira to attack the town…

Just the thought of it sent a shiver down her spine. On a night like this, the item could easily level the whole of Corlapton.

Mr. Louis said the seal has already been removed. There’s no telling when it might be used…

It was Monica’s duty as a Sage to protect the town from this magical threat. And above all…, thought Monica, putting a hand to her chest and closing her eyes. She could hear the jingling of bells all over town—the sound meant to mourn and guide the spirits of the dead. Above all, there are people here who will find salvation in mourning…like me.

She couldn’t allow the festival to be ruined. Slowly, she fixed her gaze ahead. The hesitation left her eyes. “Miss Ryn,” she said, “are you able to sense its mana?”

“No,” replied the spirit. “I am excellent at picking out noises, but not very skilled at mana detection.”

Monica could use magecraft that would allow her to sense mana. That said, detection spells were so complicated, some people made it their life’s work. Not only was it difficult to cast the spell itself, you needed a sharp intuition to understand the information it gave you.

Monica could reproduce the spell with perfect precision, but she’d never been very good at analyzing the results. In fact, those from the Magic Corps were much better at it than she was, given all their practical combat experience.

But I have to do it.

She closed her eyes and focused, then triggered the detection spell.

Behind her eyelids, a scene like a starry sky filled her vision. The stars were so small she had to strain to pick them out. Each one of them was a mass of mana, and she could discern its quantity and element by the size of the star and its coloration.

Unfortunately, when it came to creatures with large mana capacities—higher dragons and spirits, for example—they would frequently conceal their own power, making them impossible to detect. Many magic items, too, couldn’t be detected until they were triggered; that was how Casey’s assassination tool, Spiralflame, had worked.

Starweaving Mira supposedly has the ability to absorb mana. So if I look for a mass that’s slowly growing…

Little by little, Monica widened her search area. But the more she did, the easier it was to overlook things.

Sweat broke out on her forehead as she observed the countless stars hovering behind her eyelids. It was like looking at comets flying around the night sky at random. The stars were so small, you had to really focus to see them, and they were flitting all around, so the task demanded a lot of focus.

But among this cluster of stars, Monica managed to find one moving unnaturally. It was traveling awfully fast, from the center of town straight toward its outer limits, growing ever more radiant as it did. It was absorbing the mana in its environment.

“Found you!”

The signal was a good distance away from Monica’s current location. And at that speed, the culprit would be out of town before she caught up.

She needed to swiftly retrieve the stolen item, come back here, and continue to protect Felix.

“While I go get the magic item, you stay here and watch the prince, Miss Ryn. Also…” She squeezed her ash-wood staff and set her gaze in the direction she’d be going. There was a tall, thin bell tower in that direction—it would serve as a good landmark. “I want you to shoot me as hard as you can toward that bell tower.”

“I was under the impression you couldn’t use flight magecraft, my lady,” replied the spirit.

“I can’t. But I could probably manage just the landing… Maybe.” If she could use wind magecraft to cushion her fall, she could probably avoid being injured. In any case, as clumsy as she was, she’d never catch them if she had to run through the crowd. This was the only way to close the distance.

“Very well, my lady. In that case…”

The gorgeous maid nodded her owl-laden head and raised a hand. Wind swirled at Monica’s feet, causing her coat hem to flap.

“I will create a soundproof barrier in that region of the sky so you may feel free to scream to your heart’s content.”

“………Huh?”

“I shall send you there at the highest speed a human body can withstand.”

“Oh, um, if you can, please, er, limit the speed to— Higyaaaaaahhhhhhhh!”

A moment later, Monica’s body launched into the air and hurtled through the sky like a comet.