Season 1 Side Story Chapter 16. Witch (5)
"... A sheep?"
Raina displayed a slightly dumbfounded expression. It was understandable if one didn't know the full story.
"Wha... What's this?" Raina turned to Almond and asked.
"Ah... This is..."
Almond began to explain about his ally, but the appearance of that ally came first.
Kwang!
From out of nowhere, a white smoke burst and someone leaped out from it.
"Sorry to interrupt such a romantic moment!"
Thud.
A short figure landed in mid-air.
"It's me, making an entrance!"
It was Lorang, whom Almond had asked for help.
"The desert witch has arrived, you know~!"
No, she was the Desert Witch.
***
The witch's sudden appearance was utterly unexpected, at least for everyone except Almond.
"Wi... Witch?"
"Lorang?"
"The desert witch... was real?"
The mercenaries started trembling and stepped back.
That was expected. Stories about the Desert Witch were as feared in this world as tales of the Grim Reaper. Besides the religion of goddesses, she was considered evil in other religions.
"So? Of course, I exist. Were these guys always this gullible? Huh?"
However, Lorang was still just Lorang in Almond's eyes.
The Desert Witch was described as having wavy reddish-brown hair, emerald green eyes, playful freckles, and... the overtly long nail on her pinky finger.
Indeed, Lorang had always grown that nail and blatantly hinted that she was a witch. Amazingly, no one ever suspected her.
"Look. There is so much evidence gathered here."
Wooong...!
Her nail emitted a dense magical aura and a beam shot out like a laser.
Ping! Ping! Ping!
It began connecting various pieces of evidence.
"Hey, Almond. I thought you wouldn't be able to call me, you know? As you know, witches can't use magic properly unless they're called by name and asked for help. You even wrote 'To the Desert Witch Lorang' in the letter!"
Yes, she was still Lorang with her chatty mouth. Only now, she wore a skirt and transformed into a cute girl. The witch was indeed a witch.
— Ha! Kudos to those who got it right!
— It's hard for many to guess this in one go. Kudos!
— Oh my... Lorang was the witch!
— Lol
— Lorang's face got a massive upgrade lol
— Come on, the old man said that if there was a demon, it would've burned already lol. The witch was right in front of them lol
Some viewers caught on, and some had seen this story before. Quite a few already knew. However, this could be easily missed by those playing for the first time. Almond, being quite observant, managed to catch on.
'It made no sense.'
In hindsight, Lorang had always been an oddity from the beginning. She used rare magic to transform him into a sheep and effortlessly knocked out Beret, the priest...
A boy his age simply couldn't possess such abilities. A player could simply gloss over it in the game, but on closer inspection, too many oddities existed. Among boys, it was unusual for someone to maintain such well-kept nails. Above all, Almond couldn’t learn about Ran without Lorang.
From the beginning, Lorang wanted to carry out this grand scheme through Ran. It was probably Lorang who opened up Lete to accept a player, or in this case, a god.
"... Your comrade?" Raina asked while wiping away her tears.
The way she asked felt somewhat prickly like she didn't like being left out of their relationship.
"No... Not a comrade. Just... that person brought me here."
"Oh..."
Raina glanced at Almond again.
"... Is that your real face?" she asked and quickly looked away.
— This is crazy, lol.
— How many times does Raina fall for Almond?
— But this... is this Raina's 3-star clear reward? It seems related.
— There are occasionally related stories, but Raina's 3-star is quite rare.
"Yes, this is my real face."
"I see. It suits you better," Raina said in a more cheerful tone.
Almond pushed aside the suspicious feeling that she wouldn't have been happy if it were a fake face and asked how she'd been.
"How have you been?"
Almond was curious.
They escaped the battlefield together, but he never heard anything about what happened afterward.
"As you can see..." Raina proudly pointed at her group of mercenaries. "I'm the leader of this mercenary group."
Right. Even then, Raina played the role of a leader. She seemed to have a knack for leading people like that. That was probably how she later became a champion.
"We've been tracking these potions. While trying to find out how to make a summoner, we found out about this thing called Blue Hole."
"... Yeah, me too. Not because of anything to do with summoners though. That kid named Ran almost died because of it. He also lost his girlfriend..."
"I know. I decided to include him in our plan. We've been looking for an inside informant. When Ran showed up, we thought we could execute the plan right away..."
Raina looked at her deceased comrades with a bitter expression.
"... It seems the informant wasn't just here."
The details of their operation had been exposed. Someone had sealed the gate as if welding it shut, meaning they'd known about the operation long beforehand.
"It was a good plan, sneaking right into the enemy's base and escaping with all the evidence."
Raina chuckled and nodded at Almond.
"We owe you again. Without you, we'd all be dead."
— Is Raina, by any chance, wanting to go to the restroom? Why is she twisting her body like that?
— Is Raina a worm? Lol.
— I'm loving this, damn it. Lol.
— Whoa, I thought it was just Ran's story mode and wasn't expecting much. But this twist is crazy!
The resistance from the viewers grew stronger as Almond spoke with Raina. For him, it was simply meaningful to check in on Raina, his childhood friend, after a long time.
"You've... become a champion?"
"... Yes."
Almond didn't know how to respond, so he just agreed. In reality, he was the summoner in the game and Raina was the champion.
"Hmm. If I die a hero, can I become like you?"
"... It's better not to die."
“Pfft,” Raina laughed at Almond's response and agreed. "It was nice to see you."
Raina reached out and Almond shook her hand in return.
"You're leaving soon, right?"
Generally, he couldn't stay long because of the summoner.
“Perhaps.”
Raina shook his hand and waved...
Whoosh.
She pulled him close and kissed him on the lips.
“...”
“Farewell.”
***
The severely injured Red Mercenaries took their spoils and left. The Desert Witch decided to handle the aftermath.
Raina bid her farewell with quite a cool demeanor. Perhaps she realized that Almond was a champion and didn’t want to have any regrets.
Anyway, the speed at which the Desert Witch worked was beyond imagination. It was frightening to the onlookers. After all, she could manipulate minds as she wished. This was one of the Desert Witch’s abilities and the most terrifying. She could make people perceive her as she wanted. For instance, making herself seem like Lorang, the freckled boy student from before...
They finally realized how she infiltrated the school.
However, such perception manipulation was a time-consuming task.
“Ugh, it’s annoying. Damn it,” she said and turned most of them into sheep.
Thud!
The resisting believers all became sheep.
“Hahaha! How does it feel to become the lambs you all love so much? Huh?”
Lorang, perhaps having a deep grudge against these believers, even kicked the sheep.
“I regret not hitting that bastard Beret once!”
Life in that school had probably been challenging.
‘Could it be...?’
Almond briefly wondered if all those sheep at the school were people she found annoying. Later, Lorang vehemently denied it.
“Now, they will act immediately in Taran with this evidence.”
Taran was the name of a country. Among the alliances, it was the most powerful and valued freedom. Thus, it had the most modernized system. Their police force would move after securing the evidence.
“But... Lorang.”
Almond carried the fallen Ran and asked, “How did you come to the school in the first place? You said you can't use your powers without being asked.”
“I can use it moderately. I can always turn someone like you into a sheep,” Lorang chuckled as she said this.
It seemed careless to reveal such a business secret, but she probably felt that confident.
“But... manipulating the perception of an entire school is a big deal, especially those bound by a strong faith.”
It was said that believers of a religion were much harder for witches to manipulate. Almond considered visiting a church in the future.
“Alright. Here we are.”
Suddenly, a vast plain stretched out before them. Was this also the witch's magic? The battle had surely started at night, but now it was a bright morning.
“Alright, little lambs! Feast!”
“Baaah~”
The sheep, who were once devout believers, rushed into the meadow with their fluffy wool.
'Wow.'
Could such a peaceful scene exist? White sheep hopping around in a green meadow.
“Uh... um, Master Almond.”
From behind, Ran woke up and called out to him.
“Is this... home...?”
It was understandable for Ran to be mistaken. This meadow resembled the one from the school and that place was Ran’s homeland.
“Ah, Ran. No, this is where that factory was.”
“That... is it? Did... everything get resolved?”
“Yes, everything was─”
Almond couldn't finish his sentence.
[Revenge (★★★) Cleared!]
[Story Mode Cleared!]
His journey had ended.
Thud...
“... Huh? Ma... Master Almond?”
Slam!
Almond, who had been walking well, suddenly collapsed.
Ran hurriedly got up and turned him over.
“Ma... Master Almond? No... Lete?”
Ran’s voice trembled. He had a bad feeling.
“Ran,” the Desert Witch called out to Ran.
“Look at his arm.”
“...?”
Ran looked at Lete’s arm and broke down crying.
[Protect Ran... even if I die.]
“Baaah~”
The cries of the numerous grazing sheep somewhat masked Ran's intense grief.
[Side Story End]