Chapter 114
Odilia quietly looked at the man who had spoken to her.
The man, who seemed about 10 cm taller than her, had a cute appearance that didn't match his large stature, and his rabbit-like impression looked truly harmless. Moreover, even while smiling, there was freshness, excitement, and a hint of fear in it, enough to know that he had mustered up courage to speak to her.
"Hmph."
But she looked the man up and down once and then turned her head and walked towards the elevator.
It wasn’t that the man was particularly unattractive.
He clearly had charm with his cute face and tall stature, the fresh appeal that only people between boyhood and adulthood showed, and a pure charm that could never be found in playboys who liked anything in a skirt.
But whether that appealed to Odilia as charm...
Well…
It couldn't be said that it did.
She had lived too long to feel attraction to someone she just met.
And her stubbornness was too strong to let go of the first love settled in her heart.
"Ah, wait a moment. I just want to talk for a bit..."
But whether he knew or not about the Grand Witch's feelings, the man persistently followed her.
His appearance seemed to show the youth of a boy who didn't know how to give up, making her inadvertently smirk.
And when she smirked, the man seemed to take it as a positive signal and his face suddenly brightened. The man's voice changed from one filled with disappointment and desperation at being coldly rejected to one filled with hope and energy.
"Um... I won't take much of your time. Just while having coffee. Yes. I just want to talk while having a cup of coffee... Is that possible, perhaps?"
The Grand Witch stared at the man's face without answering his words.
Then, as if he realized something, the man hurriedly said.
"Ah, I'll pay for the coffee."
What could be so urgent?
What could show such youthfulness?
The Grand Witch had seen the overflowing vitality and youth of the children before leaving the room.
Because that vitality was something she didn't have.
Because she had already discarded it along with the long years, and instead gained stubbornness and prejudice.
That was why she had thought to just walk around aimlessly after leaving the room.
But seeing a man approach her with all his might as soon as she left the room, perhaps some whim had struck her.
Perhaps this was an old person's whim.
Perhaps she was moved by this young man's passion.
Perhaps in this strange and displeasing land of Russia, she felt like going along with it because something that moved her heart had happened.
Perhaps she thought of it as a way to pass time while waiting for the sorcerer.
"Alright. Lead the way."
Numerous 'perhaps' led to that answer.
This could be lucky for the young man, but it might become an even greater misfortune because she had no intention of accepting him.
The mirage of hope that seemed within reach but wasn't, when it appeared before one's eyes and then disappeared, tended to give deeper despair.
However, the man seemed pleased even with this whim and guided her to a coffee shop with a bright smile.
"What kind of coffee would you like?"
"Coffee, hmm."
He asked for her order as she sat by the window.
Odilia had numerous orders flash through her mind, but seeing the man looking at her with a seemingly happy smile, she pondered for a moment before opening her mouth.
"Order whatever you like."
At this, the man tilted his head as if surprised.
"Is it okay if I order as I please?"
"Go ahead."
At the Grand Witch's response that seemed annoyed, the man nodded and said he understood, then went to the counter. He ordered something, and soon came back to her with two coffees on a tray.
One was a coffee with foam like beer, and the other was a regular cafe latte. There was a heart drawn with latte art on top of the cafe latte, which made the Grand Witch smirk.
She imagined the sight of him asking the clerk to make a heart-shaped latte art with his cute face.
The man handed the cafe latte to her and took the foamy coffee for himself.
"I ordered a cafe latte because I didn't know what you'd like."
"Is that so?"
Odilia looked at the man with a gaze that seemed to look down on him, as if she had roughly guessed. Then she stirred the coffee stick to erase the picture and smelled the coffee's aroma.
"The aroma is good."
"Really? That's good. The taste should be fine too. Please try it."
Looking at his rabbit-like face that seemed proud, she brought the coffee to her mouth.
Then a chocolate-like aroma circled her mouth and nose, and the nuttiness from the milk and beans gently wrapped her tongue. Moreover, after fully enjoying that aroma and taste and swallowing, the aroma lingered for a moment and then disappeared as if washed away.
It was a taste that surprisingly matched her preferences.
"This is...?"
"Ah, do you like it? They had Indian Mysore Nuggets Extra Bold beans. So I asked for that."
"For cheap Asian beans, it's not bad."
She blurted out a comment that was unclear whether it was praise or criticism and continued drinking the coffee.
As if to say she would enjoy the coffee taste, so don't disturb her.
But the man spoke to her as if to interrupt her fully enjoying the coffee.
"What brings you to Russia?"
"That's a strange question. I could be Russian, you know? Why did you make that judgment?"
She snapped at the man as if annoyed at being disturbed. But the man rather looked at her quizzically and asked.
"Because I spoke to you in German and you answered, and you're still answering in German?"
"...Hmph."
Only then did she realize that she and the man were speaking German.
"Of course, just because you speak German doesn't guarantee you're not Russian. You could be Russian and speak German fluently. But I... Ah, what should I call you?"
"Call me whatever you like."
"I understand. Then just normally... Yes. Can I call you ‘lady’?"
Lady.
The witch laughed at that word the man uttered after pondering.
He showed with his whole body that he wasn't used to using the word ‘lady’.
The awkward way he used the word lady was like a boy imitating an adult, and she couldn't help but laugh.
"My lady has an atmosphere that Germans have. I don't know how to describe it... You know, each culture has a peculiar feeling that people from there exude. You might not notice at first, but as you travel around the world, you naturally start to distinguish it. That's how I could tell."
Traveled around the world?
What a show-off.
Odilia muttered to herself that men, whether old or young, always show off.
She lifted her cup to drink the cafe latte to hide the natural sneer appearing on her face.
"Um, when I realized you were German, I just couldn't stay still."
He took out a bundle of papers from his small bag and put it on the table. Then he held it out to her as if asking her to read it.
『 Survey on European Cultural People's Interest in Preferred Supernatural Abilities 』
It was a questionnaire.
As soon as she read those words, the Grand Witch glared at the man as if to ask what this was, and the man slightly avoided her gaze as if embarrassed and said.
"I-I'm sorry. Um... For my research, I need to create a sample of 100 people from each European country... And I made a mistake and missed one person..."
"...And?"
"But the schedule is set, so I had to come to Russia anyway... I just need one more person, but I couldn't find any Germans at the airport... And then I happened to find you, la-dy, at the hotel. Yes..."
The man slightly shrank his body as if embarrassed, then looked up at her and asked.
"Would it be okay...?"
Odilia was about to say no and storm out of her seat.
But at that moment, something caught her eye.
It was the cafe latte.
The coffee made with Indian Mysore Nuggets Extra Bold beans, which had shattered her prejudice that all Asian varieties were cheap.
If it had been just an ordinary coffee, she might have not only stormed out of her seat but also thrown the bundle of papers in the man's face, but...
"...Hah."
The Grand Witch pointed at the coffee the man hadn't even touched.
"Give me that coffee."
"Huh? Okay."
The man handed the coffee to Odilia. As the coffee moved, the foam bubbled, and the Grand Witch stared at it blankly before taking a sip. Unlike the hot cafe latte, the cold coffee cooled her mouth while spreading its aroma, and unlike the cafe latte's aroma that exploded like steam, a heavier, settling, but more intense and sharply stimulating aroma passed over her tongue and went down her throat.
"This coffee is good too. Nitro coffee made with the same beans?"
"Huh? Yes."
"Fine. I was going to just get up if this coffee tasted bad, but I'll do it. In return, take it and leave quickly."
She took out a pen from her handbag and read the contents.
『 Hello,
This questionnaire is to find out about preferred supernatural abilities in European cultures. Your answers in this questionnaire will be very valuable data.
The answers used in this questionnaire will only be used for research, and we promise to keep them confidential.
Thank you for taking your precious time to fill out this questionnaire.
Please mark v or O for the applicable items.
If there is no applicable content in the item, please select 'Other' and write the content.
What is your gender?
Male
Female
What is your nationality?
France
Italy
United Kingdom
Germany
...
Are you a supernatural ability user?
O / X
3-1. If you are a supernatural ability user, what ability do you use?
(Please answer only if you responded O to question 3.)
...
...
... 』
The questionnaire consisted of two pages, and the content of the first page was nothing special.
It was no different from the questionnaires handed out on the street asking for a moment of your time.
Odilia roughly filled out the first page and looked at the next page.
"This, it's misprinted."
The second page was so smeared with ink that it was impossible to read any letters.
No, it was so covered in ink that it was questionable whether there were any letters to begin with.
"Huh? This, this shouldn't be..."
The man muttered as if flustered seeing the state of the second page.
Then he sighed deeply as if the ground would sink and said to Odilia.
"I'm sorry... You took the time like this, but because of another mistake of mine... Hah..."
"Well, I didn't waste much time, so it's fine."
Odilia blurted out those words.
Words that might sound like comfort.
The man made a curious expression at Odilia's behavior, and seeing that expression, the Grand Witch slightly frowned as if annoyed and glared at him.
"What?"
"Ah, it's nothing. But... Um. This paper. Doesn't it look like a picture?"
The man, flustered by Odilia's sharp question, hurriedly changed the subject. He showed her the paper with an attitude that anyone could see was trying to change the subject.
The picture drawn on the paper looked like spilled ink, but if you looked at it carefully, it was indeed a picture that reminded one of something.
"It does."
"It's interesting, isn't it...? Um... It seems to resemble something, but I can't quite figure it out. Does anything come to mind for you, lady?"
"Well, to my eyes, it looks like a hammer."
"Ah, a hammer. Right! I had something to give you!"
At her answer, the man seemed to remember something and started rummaging through his bag.
"Ah, um... I have something to give to those who answered the questionnaire. It's a souvenir..."
He rummaged through his bag for a while and then took out a book about the size of a palm. The book was made of thin paper like that used in Bibles, and despite its small size, it was quite thick. However, the cover seemed to be made of leather, giving it a luxurious feel.
"It's just a small souvenir. I hope you'll accept it."
"Well, give it here."
At Odilia's haughty words, the man smiled brightly and pushed the book in front of her.
The cover had no special decoration or picture, and was only full of what looked like handwritten letters.
『 MALLEUS MALEFICARUM, M■leficas, & earum hæresim, ■t phramea p■tentissima conte■ens 』
Although some letters were smudged in the middle, those letters were very familiar to Odilia.
She glared at the man with eyes full of anger.
"What is this?"
The hammer that judges all witches and heretics like a spear.
It was the title of the book that fired the starting signal for witch hunts, called Malleus Maleficarum.