Lucy Philiaz

“You mean, who I killed?”

Lucy chuckled and put the pipe to her lips.

“Hmm, it would be wonderful if I could know even something so convenient, dear. Whenever these young ones came to ask for advice, I could have helped them.”

Lucy tapped the ash into the ashtray.

“However, I do know the name of the person you killed recently.”

Lucy snapped her fingers.

Snap—!

A pillar wrapped in several layers of vines covering the garden moved toward the pavilion.

When it drew close enough to Lucy, the vines slowly unraveled.

Ferda realized it was not an ordinary pillar.

It was a crystal.

Inside the transparent crystal was a woman, like a mosquito trapped in amber.

“Dear, do you know that child’s name?”

It was a truly simple question.

“Echidna Philiaz.”

She was Echidna.

Her face was peaceful, as though she were lying in a coffin opened before a funeral.

“Your rune did that to her.”

Lucy pointed at her as she spoke.

“If you have something to say, say it.”

There was a clear implication that Ferda should choose his words carefully.

Ferda looked at her and asked,

“Did she go without pain?”

His tone was utterly indifferent.

“Heh.”

Lucy’s laughter echoed throughout the pavilion.

“Hehehehehe…….”

The witches grew tense at her laughter.

A witch’s aura spread outward.

It stimulated his entire body with force comparable to Dragon Fear.

“Dear, you are truly, truly shameless.”

Lucy rose from her seat and descended the stairs.

“You killed a child of Philiaz, and all you have to say is whether she died without pain?”

She stood before Ferda.

He had not noticed from a distance, but it was clear now.

She was shorter than Luri.

“A witch’s grudge is like frost that falls for a hundred years. It doesn’t simply mean that only you will die painfully.”

Mana imbued her voice.

It touched all five of Ferda’s senses.

It was not merely a threat; it was as though she were showing him the future he would face.

“I will slowly destroy everything around you, prevent you even from choosing suicide, and reduce you to nothing by the very end of your life.”

There had been many people who lived and died in such misery.

It was even recorded in history, but Ferda paid it no heed.

Ferda already knew.

She was bluffing.

“Aren’t we both equally shameless, Pavilion Master?”

“What?”

One of Lucy’s eyebrows shot upward.

Ferda pointed with his chin at the crystal containing Echidna.

“If locking a living person inside a crystal while lying that she was dead isn’t shameless, then what is?”

The moment Ferda said that, the situation changed.

The witch’s aura Lucy had used to threaten him faded.

And, as though nothing had happened, the anger disappeared from her voice.

“How did you know?”

“Didn’t you say it yourself? A witch’s grudge is like a century of frost, and you curse people for generations.”

Ferda turned his head toward the crystal.

He looked at Echidna’s peaceful face.

“If you truly intended to curse me because she died because of me, I can’t imagine you would leave her with such a comfortable expression and have me face her like this.”

“Hoho, it seems you know witches rather well.”

Lucy lifted herself into the air, looking satisfied.

She flew toward the crystal where Echidna was, her clothes fluttering.

“Echidna, this poor child. I told you so many times that loving men could only end in tragedy, but you insisted on being stubborn.”

“Are you pitying the person you exiled?”

“She simply did not agree with the name Philiaz. That does not change the fact that I cherish this child.”

It was hardly the sort of statement one would expect from the leader of witches who hated all men.

Lucy looked up at the crystal for a moment before speaking.

“Dear, since she died because of your mistake, I shall take this child back.”

Ferda immediately rejected the unilateral declaration.

“I refuse.”

This time, the witches seemed offended, and a witch’s aura burst forth from their side.

“How amusing. Do you think you’re in a position to refuse?”

“We’ve been indulging you too much. Should we show you a little of the bitter taste of reality?”

Despite the mindless cackling that filled the pavilion, hatred and fury could be felt within it.

“Silence.”

Even that vanished at Lucy’s two syllables.

Seeing her suppress those masses of malice made it clear how tightly Big Sister held the witches in check.

“Don’t worry. I’m not foolish enough to be unable to distinguish public and private matters. If there is something to lose, there must also be something to gain.”

Hmm…….

While she puffed hard on her pipe, deliberately letting her breath be heard, Lucy finally spoke.

“How about this?”

A spark leaped from her small index finger.

It was a red spark.

‘Heaven-Reversing Lightning.’

Lucy Philiaz was casually emitting the pure power she had left behind—impossible to wield without a medium—without a care.

“You’re a mage, and you seem to have an aptitude for lightning. If you learn just a little, I think you’ll grasp the knack in no time. What do you say? I shall teach you personally.”

What did she mean, “what do you say?”

‘It’s an attractive offer.’

Heaven-Reversing Lightning was a legendary element whose secrets Ferda still had not managed to grasp.

He had conducted countless studies on a branch of the World Tree that had been struck by the Heaven-Reversing Lightning she had dropped, but he had not even found a clue.

He had researched it repeatedly through the staffs he created, yet there had been so little progress that even generations of study had accomplished nothing.

‘If I could wield that power…….’

He would become stronger.

Just as he had during the days when he was an eighth-circle archmage.

That was why Ferda answered,

“I refuse.”

Lucy’s hand faltered.

Even Lucy, who had thought it an appropriate reward, had apparently not expected him to refuse the offer.

“Oh? Is this child really so precious to you?”

“She is important.”

“More important than Heaven-Reversing Lightning?”

It was the best magical element for making Ferda stronger.

Ferda had always needed to become stronger.

“She is important.”

But for Ferda now, becoming stronger was a secondary matter.

“There is someone who needs to know happiness.”

Valdrova had always been Ferda’s first priority.

“For that person to be happy, Echidna’s abilities are necessary.”

“So you intend to use her, dear. As Big Sister and Pavilion Master, I am not some foolish woman who would hear that and simply let it pass.”

“Aren’t humans simply using one another anyway? Just as she makes use of me, I am only making use of her.”

Ferda did exploit the innocent Echidna, but that did not mean Echidna was being taken advantage of without realizing it.

Zed and Mori could serve as witnesses to that.

“Yes, that is what society is.”

Lucy exhaled smoke as though sighing.

She snapped her fingers.

Snap—!

At that moment, the transparent crystal began to melt into water.

The witches watching it asked in surprise,

“Oh my, are you going to release her?”

“I thought it was an attractive offer, but if you don’t need it, what can I do?”

It was strange that she did not cling to the matter like a true witch.

Lucy looked only at Ferda.

Beneath the black cloth, the lower half of her face that was barely visible could not hide her interest.

Before long, the crystal had melted completely, and even the contents inside it awoke.

She seemed unconscious, but somehow she remained standing on both feet.

Echidna’s brows trembled as she awoke from her peaceful slumber.

“Huh? What on earth happened……?”

She rubbed both hands over her head, then looked around.

The first person she spotted was Ferda.

Perhaps because she had received so many hateful and disgusted looks, her gloomy smile felt almost angelic.

“Oh my, Regeeent. You’re handsome today too. Hehe…….”

She gave a quick glance around and surveyed her surroundings.

“Huh? This looks like a place I know…… Why does it feel so similar to the Rose Pavilion…….”

Her words cut off when she saw Lucy, Big Sister, standing beside her.

“H-Hiee!? B-B-Big Sister!?”

Echidna was startled out of her wits.

She was so shocked that she even bit her own tongue.

It was practically an insult, but Lucy responded as though she did not care.

“It has been a long time, child. Have you been well?”

“Y-Yes! O-Of course! I’ve been doing well!”

“I may have been the one who excommunicated you, but I distinctly recall telling you to contact me frequently. You must have heard me with half an ear.”

“Th-That’s because…… I can’t contact anyone from inside the castle…….”

“Oh? So you’re saying it’s the regent’s fault? There, should I beat up that regent?”

“What? No! Of course not!?”

Echidna quickly turned her head to look at Ferda and said,

“I absolutely did not mean it that way!”

Regardless.

“Of course I might make you uncomfortable. But we are practically family, sharing the same blood, so shouldn’t you at least let me hear your voice?”

“U-Uncomfortable? I’ve never once thought anything like that!”

She forced a smile as she spoke, but it was utterly unconvincing.

The other witches watched her and snickered before chiming in one by one.

“Oh my? That’s a lie.”

“A lie? Sisters, I didn’t think anything like that…….”

“Come on, just be honest.”

“You’ve already been excommunicated, so what’s the problem? Even if she is Big Sister, she won’t be able to say anything.”

“Besides, it’s important to see how an outsider evaluates the situation, isn’t it?”

Their voices chattered around Echidna.

Ferda saw through their intentions.

They were trying to lure Echidna into a trap like prey being bewitched.

“Uh…….”

Echidna hunched over like a frightened turtle, nervously watching the others before opening her mouth.

“I…… suppose it is a little uncomfortable?”

Lucy’s hand tightened around her pipe.

“H-Honestly, I do feel uncomfortable whenever someone who lived longer than my grandmother calls herself a girl…….”

“Pffft…….”

“Kikik…….”

The witches who had egged her on desperately suppressed their laughter.

Lucy’s reaction was very simple.

Snap—!

When she snapped her fingers, the roots that had moved the crystal wrapped around Echidna’s entire body.

“Echidna, my pathetic Echidna.”

Her voice was filled with anger.

It was completely different from the performance she had shown Ferda.

“Since you haven’t been beaten by your sisters, you’re spouting ‘things you don’t mean’ again. You mustn’t say such frivolous things in front of others.”

“Aaaah! My arms are going to fall off! My arms, my arms!”

“Don’t worry. If your arms fall off, I’ll pull out your legs too and decorate the place with them, so they won’t feel left out.”

“I’m sorry! Big Sister isn’t short! You’re a very small girl! A beautiful girl!”

The witches cackled as they watched Echidna being tortured.

Only after viciously tormenting her with thorny vines did they finally release her.

Echidna’s hair was disheveled and her eyes were red-rimmed as she trembled and crawled toward Ferda.

“Waaah, Regeeent. My arms and legs hurt so much. It hurts, I need a hug, a hu—blegh!”

“Get away.”

Ferda pushed her head aside.

The witches burst into outright laughter.

With nowhere else to go, Echidna whined and lowered her gaze to the floor.

“Are you really planning to take that defective thing with you?”

This time, the question sounded as though Lucy was worried about him.

“If that were a defect, I wouldn’t have brought her with me in the first place.”

“If that is what you mean, then I understand.”

Lucy gave up surprisingly readily.

It was ending so anticlimactically that it was suspicious.

What scheme did she have in mind?

Ferda did not let his guard down until the very end.

“Go back, Echidna. Make sure to contact me at least once a week.”

“Yes, I will. Regent, shall we go back?”

When Echidna reached out her hand, Lucy forcibly lowered it.

“The regent will be staying with me a little longer.”

“What? Here, all by himself?”

It was a shocking statement to Echidna.

This was the headquarters of witches who treated men as playthings.

Ferda was no different from defenseless prey.

Lucy scolded her as though she were being pathetic.

“He already walked right into the middle of the place. What difference does it make whether you stay or not?”

“Ah, I suppose that’s true, but…….”

Anxious like a prairie dog watching an approaching storm, Echidna glanced at Ferda.

Ferda read her expression and answered,

“There’s no need to worry. Go back and deliver a message to Luri.”

“W-What message should I give her?”

“Tell her I’ll be back soon. That will be enough.”

“Y-Yes, of course…….”

At Lucy’s gesture, Echidna’s body disintegrated and vanished.

She had probably returned to the study where she had originally been.

Lucy watched her disappear, then said to Ferda,

“Let’s take a walk. I want to discuss this with just the two of us.”

Leaving the witches sitting quietly behind, she led the way.

They left the Rose Pavilion and walked through the garden.

There was no such thing as nature there; it was a place created purely through Lucy’s will.

That was why its colors and shapes differed from anything found in nature.

The leaves were sky blue, and the sky was purple.

“It truly is a beautiful garden, isn’t it?”

Lucy asked.

“It’s grotesque.”

“Then that is fortunate.”

She put the pipe to her lips.

“That must mean you haven’t gone completely mad yet.”

The words, accompanied by a smile, made Ferda tense.

Just as he was trying to decipher the meaning behind that smile,

he sensed something from the rose vines.

Ferda used the Shadow Hand hidden beneath his clothes to yank his head aside.

Something flew toward the spot where his head had been.

Whoosh!

A giant’s cavalry lance.

No, it was a rose thorn so enormous that calling it that would not have been an exaggeration.

Ferda quickly widened the distance between them.

“……What are you doing?”

“There’s no need to think deeply about it. I attacked you, exactly as it appears.”

“Why?”

“Rather than engage in shallow provocation or conversation, wouldn’t it be better to get straight to the point by attacking you directly?”

In other words, she was trying to provoke a fight.

Just as she said, Ferda did not intend to get caught up in that provocation.

Getting entangled would be madness.

Although he had once been an archmage, he was now a fourth-circle mage.

His opponent was the leader of the witches, whom even eighth-circle mages could not handle.

And this was her home ground at the same time.

‘Besides, Lucy isn’t battle-crazed enough to provoke someone like this without reason.’

There was certainly a reason behind her provocation.

What was she plotting?

“Are you curious about my intentions?”

Lucy was a mage who had lived for a very long time.

Reading Ferda’s thoughts was as easy for her as eating cold porridge.

“Rather than tell you such things, I shall give you a reason you have no choice but to act.”

She jerked her pipe at him like a pointing finger.

The vines in the rose garden writhed like thorny worms.

“If you don’t attack me, I shall erase your existence from that ill-fated lizard’s life.”

Her lips curved into a sardonic smile.

That, too, was a provocation whose true intention was plainly visible.

Light burst from Ferda’s eyes.

He could not back down.