CH 35

Upset by Lulurun, the Witch of the North pressures Lulurun by straightforwardly asking her, “Is there someone who likes you?”

“Answer me?” the Witch of the North said. “Is there someone you like?”

“I don’t like… anyone,” Lulurun said.

“Then why are you rejecting me?!” the Witch of the North yelled.

“Because I’m a woman, that’s why!” Lulurun cried.

She continues to deny the words of the fired-up Witch of the North.

Lulurun sticks out her hand to try to appeal to her, but the Witch of the North gently grasps it and puts it on her chest.

“Hold up a minute!!!???” Lulurun yelled.

The flesh spills between her fingers as Lulurun grabs it, the softness is enough to shatter her calm.

In a panic, Lulurun pulls her hand from the Witch of the North’s chest, but Lulurun’s face turns bright red as she puts distance between them.

“If you’re a woman, you shouldn’t be so embarrassed… right?” the Witch of the North said.

“No, that’s not, even a woman would be embarrassed… you know!” Lulurun yelled.

As the magical girl makes painful excuses, the Witch pursues her.

“You’re not a human of this world, are you?” the Witch of the North said.

She says it with certainty.

“Huh??” Lulurun asked.

“Hmm, yes! You’re more like a person from another world, aren’t you?” the Witch of the North said.

She easily guesses Lulurun’s identity. Her words cut to the core, it violently upsets Lulurun.

“… That’s a great imagination you have there,” Lulurun said.

The upset on her face can’t be concealed, Lulurun tries to think of a topic to distract with all her might, but she can’t think of anything. The Witch of the North continues to talk without regard for Lulurun.

“In that other world, you were a man and an excellent wizard, weren’t you?” the Witch of the North said.

“What makes you… think that?” Lulurun asked.

“Observation and a little bit of intuition,” the Witch of the North said.

“How could you tell?”

“The way you talk and your gestures aren’t womanly at all,” the Witch of the North said.

How can she see so much in such a short time? There’s no evidence of her using magic, it should be impossible to use sensing magic on Lulurun, and if she had figured out Lulurun’s identity just by observing and her gut feelings, this Witch was especially sharp.

After almost losing sight of the fact because of how playful she was, Lulurun reminds herself that this woman before her is a Witch.

“It seems that you were well integrated into the human’s world there, but here, you are a Witch,” the Witch of the North said.

“I’m aware of that,” Lulurun said.

“Oh, you didn’t deny you were from another world,” the Witch of the North said.

“No, I’m going to face you on equal terms,” Lulurun said.

“Then, you are a man after all,” the Witch of the North said.

“… That’s right,” Lulurun said.

She was ready to reveal her identity.

“There’s a lot of circumstances around it, but I was originally a man,” Lulurun said.

“Mmfufufufu, incredible job, after all, me!” the Witch of the North said. “I’ve got amazing eyes for character.”

She seems delighted by being proven so skillful at reading people.

“You’re hiding that, too,” the Witch of the North said.

“I don’t have to tell you, and if I did, you’d think I was delusional,” Lulurun said.

“You’re living a normal life, hiding your identity, and that you can use magic,” the Witch of the North said.

“That’s right.”

“Why do you do this?” the Witch of the North asked curiously.

“Why do I do this?” Lulurun asked.

“Do you want to secretly play hero? Do you wish to discreetly defeat the enemies of the world, the Witches? And then do good deeds, huh?! Is that what you want!? Do you want me to praise you? Do you want amazing amounts of riches? Do you want a high position? Do you want to hide the fact that you can use magic and happily live a comfortable life?”

The Witch of the North keeps asking questions to gauge Lulurun’s humanity.

“You’re wrong,” Lulurun said.

There was no lie in her words.

“Then, do you still want to get married?” the Witch of the North said. “If you can use magic, you’ll be treated as a Witch and you can’t get married, but now? You’re a man, aren’t you?”

“That’s wrong, too!” Lulurun yelled.

“Then what is this all for?” the Witch of the North said. “Why do you hide and live in the shadows of normal human beings?”

There was no lie in Lulurun’s words. But if there is conviction there, it is vague. He has only vague feelings about this world. That is why she cannot reveal her true identity.

“I’ve only been in this world for a few months now, to be clear, so I’m still trying to decide,” Lulurun said.

“You are so strong, why do you have to go through such a roundabout path?” the Witch of the North said.

“Because I know that power alone will not change the world,” Lulurun said.

Lulurun recognizes her powerlessness, no matter how good a wizard she was, it is difficult to change the roots of a person, if you try to force it, there will always be resistance and that will not solve anything, so that’s why Lulurun wants a dialogue as a solution.

That is why if the prejudice against Witches is common sense in this world, she must change that first, and for that reason, she will set up a company that can do that in this world.

“That’s why I still want to live with the people of this world, and I don’t want to add extra confusion and chaos to this world until I know exactly where I stand,” Lulurun said.

“That’s a lot of pretty fluff,” the Witch of the North said.

“Even so, I’m just doing what I can, and I think it’s my job to save the people who can be saved,” Lulurun said.

She doesn’t think she can pay back all the kindness and warmth of all the people she’s come to know in the past few months, to solve their worries and the problems of the world, but she wants to at least save as much as is within her reach. That’s what Lulurun thought. And it is not an exception only for Rhynes and her friends, but also to the woman before her, the Witch.

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“But then, what will happen when you reveal you’re a Witch?” the Witch of the North asked.

“… What’s that? Are you threatening me?” Lulurun asked.

“It’s jealousy and bargaining both!” the Witch of the North said, puffing up her cheeks as she turns away from Lulurun.

“Your bargaining is terrifying…” Lulurun said.

“Because I’m a witch, they’re scared of witches, that’s the way things are…” the Witch of the North said. “You can’t live with someone who can’t use magic. Those who can’t use magic are afraid of us. We are only objects of fear, do you really think that you can reveal your identity and go on the same as before?”

“That’s…” Lulurun said.

She doesn’t think she can, she’s known it since she came to this world.

“That’s why!” the Witch of the North said. “You can live here with me, and you won’t get involved with humans, you can live quietly, I won’t be alone with you around, so it doesn’t matter if you look like a woman! That’s why you should be with me!”

Lulurun isn’t sure everyone in this world would extend understanding as Rhynes has. She’s seen the extent of the discrimination against Witches, so pervasive it’s just common sense, it cannot be easily changed, and it was just as ingrained and viral in her previous world.

Lulurun thinks and thinks, what is magic to this world?

“The fear of Witches may change if they actually meet and talk to one,” Lulurun said.

“That’s just wishful thinking!” the Witch of the Night yelled. “With how skilled you are, is your head just empty?”

“I don’t think you’re a bad witch!” Lulurun cried.

The Witch of the North’s face changes at that one comment.

“I’m not an ordinary human being!” the Witch of the North screamed. “Even if you’re not malicious, even if you don’t hurt anyone, even if you’re just a woman in heat who just wants to get married, you’re still a Witch and Evil! Isn’t that what the world thinks?!”

“It doesn’t matter! You may be a Witch, but that doesn’t make you evil!” Lulurun yelled.

Their thoughts are parallel to each other and are unconnected, their ideas and values are different, to begin with. In the face of Lulurun’s foolish hopes, the Witch’s anger doesn’t subside, she spits out words as if to end the argument:

“This world doesn’t judge Witches as good or bad, we’re just an evil existence that threatens the world, our power is innately evil, but you, a human not of this world can’t understand it!” the Witch of the North yelled. “I can’t even be allowed to love a man because of my power, that’s just the way this world is!!”

“That’s not true,” Lulurun said.

The Witch of the North continues to reject Lulurun’s denials.

“Don’t you understand? It’s a curse to be a Witch, I’ve been discriminated against, hated, and persecuted since I was born! I didn’t do anything! I could only use magic! How can you say this isn’t a curse? Right? It’s a curse, isn’t it?! This is what I keep trying to tell you, all this time, all this time! But…”

The Witch remembers how she was treated, it doesn’t matter whether she is a bad witch or not, she recalls how she was discriminated against by her parents, and as a result, she was abandoned.

“The world didn’t listen to me…” the Witch of the North said.

The Witches are evil. It’s a given, that’s who she is, that’s what she’ll always be, so she’ll just be an evil witch, right? That’s alright, that’s what she’s always done, she’ll always do it because being a witch is a curse.

“I have always been cursed, I’m evil, evil… because I’m a witch!”

There should have been a conviction in those words, but it was just sadness…

“Why do you look like that?” Lulurun asked.

“What are you talking about?!” the Witch of the North yelled.

“You don’t say ‘I’m an evil witch.’ with a face like that…” Lulurun said.

Lulurun accepts the Witch of the North’s words and conveys her honest thoughts. It’s not the face of a human who despises the world, nor the voice of one, and Lulurun’s seen it before.

It was the expression of those who couldn’t be saved, who once fell from the hands of Keisuke Yokoi.

“A face like that?” the Witch of the North said. “I’m just threatening you and toying with you for fun, don’t get me wrong.”

“Don’t you dare call yourself a Witch with that look on your face!” Lulurun yelled.

“What?”

Yes, she knows it, the answer from the very start.

“That was why I wanted to become the best wizard in the world from the start,” Lulurun said.

Lulurun takes the Witch of the North’s and forcibly pulls her toward her.

Suddenly, the Witch of the North loses her balance and falls down as her face smashes into Lulurun’s chest.

“Huh?”

As Lulurun hugs the Witch of the North tightly, she’s too confused to respond, Lulurun tells her confidently:

“Come with me, I’ll make sure, I’ll make sure! I’ll make a world you can’t be discriminated against because you’re a Witch, because you can use magic, or anything else!!”

“!?”

“I will definitely change such moronic values!! I promise!! I absolutely promise!!”

To eliminate the stupid disparities in broken, crappy worlds, that was the meaning of life for Lulurun and for Yokoi Keisuke! Use magic to make people happy and develop the world with magical power. She had made an effort to create a company for that purpose and to achieve that goal as much as she could.

If there is a person in front of you who has closed their eyes to the discrimination and given up, what is the point of eliminating that discrimination if she doesn’t reach out to them? What is magic if not for the people!!

Lulurun couldn’t let go of that when he saw the Witch of the North saying “that’s just how the world works.”

“Hold up… why… huh?”

“So don’t make that face anymore,” Lulurun said.

With her head in Lulurn’s chest, a bewitching atmosphere was created, the woman called the Witch of the North blushed ferociously red like a flustered young woman.