Chapter 34: Witch of Pain

Chapter 34: Chapter 34: Witch of PainOn the train.

They had set out with four people and a cat, but now they were returning with an extra passenger—an old man.

"So, what exactly do you discuss at these regular meetings, Master?" Nate asked out of curiosity.

Lucy, hearing this, also perked up, interested in the answer.

Makarov, half-asleep, mumbled in response, "The Guild Masters' Alliance mainly conveys decisions made by the Magic Council, helps mediate opinions among guild members, and oversees the conduct of guild mages..."

Lucy, surprised, asked, "Guild members cooperate with each other?"

"That happens sometimes, like when several guilds team up to take down a dark guild," Makarov said, finally opening his eyes fully. "The dark guilds in the magic world are like stars in the sky. Compared to them, the legal guilds are the minority."

Lucy's eyes widened in shock. There were that many dark guilds, like Eisenwald?

"That sounds a bit too official, Master," Nate said with a smile. "From what I saw, everyone at the meeting was just eating, drinking, and chatting."

Makarov's face flushed with embarrassment as he defensively raised a finger.

"Ahem... well, sometimes building relationships between guild masters is an important part of the job too!"

Got it.

Public funds being used for food and drinks, huh?

Nate couldn't help but chuckle.

'So that's the truth?' Lucy thought, feeling like some idealized image had just shattered.

At that moment, a message notification popped up from the group chat.

It was from the "Food Sharing" chat group.

Knight: "@Everyone, how are things going on your side? Is everything okay? Did you deal with Erigor?"

Erza really was concerned about the situation.

Lucy smiled slightly as her fingers flew across the keyboard, chatting with Erza.

Lucy: "It's all taken care of, Erza."

Lucy: "This is what happened..."

She began recounting the events from the previous day.

Nate, sitting next to her, glanced at the conversation but didn't pay much attention to it.

Suddenly.

"Huh?" Nate raised an eyebrow slightly, sensing that something in his magic had broken through a key barrier, significantly boosting his power.

[Host: Nate]

[Age: 20]

[Race: Human]

[Magic Power: ★★☆]

[Magic: Internet, Tremor, Photography, Six Eyes, Flight]

His magic had upgraded!

It had been about a week since his last breakthrough to two stars. If he could continue advancing at this rate, in another month, his magic power could reach four stars or more, putting him on the same level as Erza.

"Maybe even faster?" Nate mused. "I just handed out over 7,000 magic rings. If they all activate, I'd be getting 'fees' from 7,000-8,000 users daily."

As he pondered, Nate logged into the magic network and opened the post he had made the previous night.

There were over 300 replies and more than 1,000 views, but no one had yet claimed the 1,000-point reward.

Then Nate noticed a particular reply.

Witch of Pain: "A Thought Projection, huh? To master that magic, you'll need incredibly strong magic power. If you're serious about learning it, add me as a friend. I can teach you."

Is that for real?

Nate rubbed his chin, intrigued. 'Who is this person?'

He thought it might be a good idea to develop a new feature where users' appearances were recorded during registration, allowing him, as the developer, to verify their identities. Or maybe a "monitoring" feature to see what people looked like on the other side of the network.

For now, that was just an idea.

Nate focused on the nickname.

'Witch of Pain?' That's a pretty depressing name.

Honestly, Nate was more curious about this user than the Thought Projection magic itself. If he really wanted to, he could ask Makarov to teach him. He was sure the old man probably knew it—after all, if Joseph from Phantom Lord knew it, Makarov likely would too.

After thinking it over, Nate added her as a friend.

He sent a message: "You know Mind Magic: Thought Projection?"

The reply came almost immediately, and she accepted the friend request.

Then a private message followed.

Witch of Pain: "I'm a Council member, Ultear."

Witch of Pain: "You might not know my name, but I've been hearing a lot about you lately, Nate."

Nate was speechless for a moment.

'So it's you, huh? No wonder you'd pick a nickname like that.'

As for how she knew "Sigma Male" was him, that wasn't surprising. His identity wasn't exactly a secret—anyone who looked into it could find out.

Sigma Male: "So it's Council Member Ultear-san. Nice to meet you."

Witch of Pain: "No need to be so formal. You really helped us out by dealing with Lullaby last night."

Witch of Pain: "But unfortunately, the prisoners were rescued, and the Lullaby flute was stolen."

Nate raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

They had only been separated from the Custody Enforcement Unit for a couple of hours. Who had the guts to pull off a jailbreak?

No wonder the Magic Council had always been toyed with in the original story, especially by Ultear herself.

Wait a minute... could she have been behind the jailbreak?

'What's her motive? Is she after Lullaby?'

Nate couldn't help but feel suspicious.

Sigma Male: "So, who did it?"

Witch of Pain: "We don't know... Oh, and Nate, this information is classified, so don't leak it, okay?"

Witch of Pain: "If it gets out, I'll be in trouble."

Nate narrowed his eyes slightly.

'Red flag!'

It seemed like she was deliberately sharing this with him to create some kind of bond—holding a shared secret to make them feel closer. Was her target... 'me'?

Sigma Male: "Don't worry, Ultear-san, I can keep a secret."

Witch of Pain: "Pinky promise.jpg"

Witch of Pain: "Anyway, about the Thought Projection magic. If you're interested, you can come to the Council, and I'll teach you."

Sigma Male: "Really? But I'm pretty busy these days. I've got to keep working on the internet."

After typing that out, Nate scoffed inwardly.

'As if I'd go to the Council. That'd be like walking into a lion's den.'

Meanwhile, at the Magic Council headquarters...

In a dimly lit room, a massive green magic circle stretched across the floor, surrounded by ten Council members.

"The unit transporting Eisenwald was attacked!"

"How disgraceful! Who would dare?"

"We don't know yet. We'll have to wait until the survivors are rescued and questioned."

"And Lullaby was stolen again. Why is it that dangerous magic always gets stolen so easily? It happened with Eisenwald, and now it's happened again!"

"Someone has to take responsibility for this. One of us might be held accountable."

"What are you implying, Siegrain? Are you trying to push the blame on us?"

"I'm not suggesting that, but if we don't act, we'll certainly face reprimands from above." S~eaʀᴄh the nôvel_Fire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

As the other Council members argued about the jailbreak, Ultear seemed detached from it all, happily chatting with Nate online.

Witch of Pain: "Nate, you really are a busy person. Are you still interested in learning Thought Projection? This is your one and only chance~"

Sigma Male: "Why don't you come to our guild and teach me instead?"

Seeing this, Ultear rolled her eyes.

Witch of Pain: "But I'm busy too. Remember, I'm a Council member."

Sigma Male: "Alright, I won't keep you any longer. Go handle your work."

Ultear's eyes flashed with irritation, her mood instantly souring.

'This brat!'

~~~

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