Chapter 113: Chapter 113
Chapter 113 - The Witch’s Garden
A sudden murder.
For a brief moment, silence reigned, and then panic erupted.
"H-Hah...!"
"L-Lord Regent committed murder...!!"
In front of everyone, he had killed a person without the slightest hesitation.
Amid the chaos, only Ferda remained completely unfazed.
He simply stared down at the woman he had killed.
"What a waste of time."
The woman did not move.
Naturally.
How could she, when her forehead had been pierced?
While everyone else was frozen by Ferda’s unexpected action,only Ferda remained calm and resolute.
"Drop the pointless act, Witch. It must be exhausting lying there like that."
At that moment, the body everyone believed to be dead began to twitch.
"Gah!"
"T-The corpse is moving!"
Like a marionette with its strings improperly attached, it jerked awkwardly before rising to its feet.
With a hole still through its forehead, it opened its mouth.
"...How did you know?"
An unnatural smile spread across the terrified woman’s face.
Crack.
A moment later, the figure began to split apart.
Its skin peeled away as though shedding a shell, revealing the true body hidden inside.
Hair made of white scales.
Vertically slit pupils.
A staff entwined by two serpents.
A forked snake tongue flicked out from her mouth.
Everyone recognized her identity at once.
"The Witch of Poison and Serpents, Yor Phyliaz!"
"A witch has entered the castle!"
The people who had been kneeling scattered in panic.
In an instant, a circular space formed around the Witch and Ferda.
’Yor Phyliaz.’
Ferda knew that name as well.
Even among witches, her notoriety ranked among the very worst.
As befitted a powerful Witch, her demonic energy was overwhelmingly dense.
And that dense demonic energy crushed everything around her without restraint.
The Witch lifted the hem of her skirt and gave a playful curtsy.
"It’s a pleasure to meet you, Regent Valdrova."
Her voice was not hoarse but bright and high-pitched.
Yet the malice within it was unmistakable.
"You’re the first person who’s pierced my forehead the moment we met. As the husband of the Grand Duchess, shouldn’t you treat a lady with a bit more dignity?"
"Spare me the theatrics. If I had truly intended to kill you, I would have used another method."
"My, how brave you are. My favorite pastime is ripping the hearts out of brave humans like you..."
She slowly licked her blade-like fingernails.
"Are you volunteering to indulge that hobby?"
Before she even finished speaking, Yor’s figure disappeared.
No—
something moving too fast for the eye to follow had slammed into her.
It was Luri.
She had pinned Yor to the ground by crushing her neck beneath her foot.
"Your heart will be the first one torn out, Witch."
Luri growled.
But the Witch showed no sign of panic.
Instead, she simply looked up at her as though she were adorable.
"What a cute little clingy girl. You should calm down and learn to be a little more easygoing. That’s how you become an adult."
Then her gaze casually drifted beneath Luri’s skirt, and she smiled with satisfaction.
"Pretty cute."
"You crazy bitch—"
"Enough."
Just as Luri’s fist was about to smash her mouth apart, Ferda stopped her.
"I have no time to play games with you, Yor Phyliaz."
Ferda flicked a finger.
"Stop trying to fish for information with those pointless provocations. Deliver Big Sister’s message and leave."
Hearing that, Yor narrowed her eyes.
The exaggerated expression vanished from her face, replaced with genuine surprise.
"I’ll overlook the fact that you realized I was gathering information... but how did you know that?"
"Because Echidna’s death ended far too cleanly."
Witches and demons.
Anyone who became entangled with either of them usually met a miserable fate.
"Your kind pursues anyone who kills a Witch forever, cursing them without end."
"Hmm... What a foolish thing to say. You do know Echidna had already been expelled, don’t you?"
"When it comes to witches, any excuse will do."
"Hehe. That’s true enough."
At that moment, the Yor whom Luri had pinned down dissolved into dozens of snakes.
As though nothing had happened, Yor casually stepped out from within the crowd.
"Our Regent certainly knows an awful lot about witches."
She looked utterly bored.
"Anyway, here’s Big Sister’s message."
One of the snakes wrapped around Yor’s staff writhed before coughing up something long.
It was a sealed scroll.
Clearing her throat, Yor read its contents aloud.
"Ferda Valdrova, you are hereby invited by Lucy Phyliaz, pillar of the roots of the Phyliaz, Mother of Witches, and Big Sister. It is hereby proclaimed that you are obligated to accept this invitation."
She playfully mimicked a royal envoy before extending the invitation toward Ferda.
"The moment you open this invitation, you’ll arrive in the Witch’s Garden."
Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she smiled brightly and added,
"There aren’t any traps."
Ferda silently looked down at the invitation.
"You must not accept it."
Luri grabbed his arm from beside him.
"Sorry, clingy girl, but this is a conversation between adults. Mind stepping aside?"
"Shut up, Witch."
Luri’s expression grew even fiercer.
The rage and hatred radiating from her now were on an entirely different level than before.
"The only reason your filthy mouth hasn’t been ripped apart yet is because I’m restraining myself."
"My, how scary. But you see, this big sister’s mouth is already ripped open. Want to see?"
The skin around her mouth split apart with a sickening rip, opening wide enough to swallow an entire human head.
"Eek!"
The grotesque sight of the Witch sent everyone stumbling backward in horror, while Yor burst into delighted laughter.
Ferda alone paid no attention to the atmosphere, his eyes fixed solely on the invitation.
"Why should I go?"
He asked her.
Smiling with her eyes, Yor answered,
"Because Echidna died while tampering with the rune you created."
A simple answer.
One he already knew.
"That’s sufficient."
"Are you serious?"
Luri turned to Ferda in disbelief.
She was so shocked that the murderous aura surrounding her vanished completely.
"The other party is a Witch. The leader of them, no less. They hate men and treat them like playthings. Are you truly going to trust her words?"
"Oh my, what a hurtful thing to say. You know, we witches have feelings too."
While making exaggerated gestures in response to Luri’s words, Yor stole a glance at Ferda.
Her eyes sparkled with curiosity.
"Still, I’m curious too. What exactly gives you this confidence?"
Without answering, Ferda accepted the invitation.
Yor merely shrugged.
"Well, it doesn’t matter. Come alone. Though you’ll only be able to come alone anyway. I’m just saying it to save you the trouble."
Then...
Her gaze shifted toward someone else.
It was Zed.
Seeing him, she smiled sweetly.
"Handsome little swindler. Been well?"
"Oh, I’ve been doing just fine. And how have you been, big sis?"
"Hoho, since when did I become your big sister? Still, hearing someone as handsome as you say that does make me happy."
Despite the smile in her eyes, murderous intent seeped through them.
"You know, don’t you? There are plenty of women holding grudges against you."
"Haha. I know, but I don’t really care."
"Good. Don’t care. That way, when you let your guard down, I’ll be able to kill you in the most agonizing way possible. Keep living just like that for the rest of your life."
She smiled at Zed and flicked her fingers.
"Adieu~"
Her body sank into the ground and vanished completely.
The Witch’s departure left behind an eerie silence.
Everyone looked at one another before finally letting out relieved sighs.
They all returned to their daily lives.
Only two people remained where they stood.
Ferda silently stared at the invitation in his hand.
"You must not go."
Luri stopped him once more.
"Do you even know where you’re going?"
"The Witch’s Garden."
The Witch’s Garden.
A sanctuary for all witches, where every Witch is born and receives the name Phyliaz.
Since Lucy Phyliaz herself had summoned him, that was undoubtedly where he would be taken.
"Do you even know where the Witch’s Garden is?"
Limbo.
The space between dimensions.
The instant spent passing through that tiny gap was so brief that ordinary humans could never perceive it.
Lucy Phyliaz, the First Witch, had built the witches’ sanctuary there.
"If you enter, Lord Ferda, you may never return."
"That won’t happen."
"And what makes you so certain?"
"Because she formally invited me into her own domain."
Ferda understood witches well.
They had rules of their own.
The Witch’s Garden was sacred territory.
They could not turn that sacred place into a trap fueled by hatred and malice.
Not even against a man they despised.
"And I have to bring Echidna back."
"That Witch isn’t that important."
Luri simply could not understand.
To her, it looked as though the man who had vowed to live for Valdrova was now risking his life for a single Witch.
"If you walk into a trap and die, Lady Valdrova will be left all alone."
Those words shook Ferda.
He could picture Valdrova standing alone.
"Please... do not forget your position."
But as her words continued, Ferda became aware of something.
My position...
My position is...
That he was still not worthy enough to stand beside her.
Ferda unfolded the invitation.
***
A sensation of being pulled in.
His body was coming apart.
From a body...to masses.
From masses...to molecules.
From molecules...to atoms.
And then even those atoms were torn apart.
It was a sensation that would drive not only ordinary humans but even mages insane.
Ferda was no exception.
Even his instincts screamed without end that it was fatal for someone like him—a Four-Star Mage recognized as a full-fledged mage.
Yet, despite every warning, Ferda’s body was transported safely.
Incredible.
Limbo was the minute space that existed between spaces.
A place that could neither exist nor be perceived.
Because it did not truly exist, it was infinite.
To pinpoint that location and transport someone there intact...that was something utterly impossible for Ferda.
It was proof that they had lived within Limbo for an unimaginably long time, understood it, and learned to use it.
At the same time, it was proof of why witches could never be eradicated from the Cerdes Continent, no matter how great a threat they were considered.
Ferda slowly opened his eyes.
Above him stretched a sky swirling with countless vibrant colors.
Below lay dark, damp grass and a narrow path.
At the end of the path stood a hedge wall of thornbushes intertwined with black roses.
Ferda quietly walked along the path.
Ahead of him stood an enormous wooden gate of a distinctly foreign style.
It was architecture that existed only in ancient records.
—Ho?
A voice echoed throughout the entire garden.
Ferda recognized it immediately.
It belonged to Lucy Phyliaz.
—The invitation hasn’t even been delivered for an hour... no, not even ten minutes, and you’ve already opened it? What an impatient child you are. Or perhaps you’re simply that confident in your own abilities?
She let out a soft laugh.
Creeeak—
The gate leading into the garden slowly opened.
—Either way, I’d like to see your face, child. Come inside.
Beyond the gate, now no longer hidden, stood a building of an unfamiliar architectural style.
That place was known as the Rose Pavilion.
—My, he actually came.
—The husband of the Dragon really entered the witches’ domain.
Frivolous voices echoed throughout the Witch’s Garden.
Soon afterward, the dignified voice guided Ferda once again.
—Come closer, child.
Ferda took a step forward.
As a guest who had accepted an invitation, he carried himself with proper courtesy.
And as the husband of the Red Dragon, he maintained his dignity as he advanced.
As he climbed into the pavilion and stepped through the entrance, he was greeted by a group of women seated together in harmony.
Though each wore different clothing, every one of them concealed her face beneath a black veil.
Such was the custom of the witches who belonged to the Witch’s Garden.
Among them, only one person sat in the highest seat at the center.
From her silhouette alone, one could only guess that her build was roughly similar to Luri’s or Mori’s.
Yet the sight of her lounging on a long wooden bench with a smoking pipe between her lips carried the composure of someone who had lived for ages.
The master of the Rose Pavilion.
The Mother of All Witches.
Big Sister.
She was Lucy Phyliaz.
Though a black veil hid her face, Ferda could feel her gaze slowly sweeping over his entire body.
"You look rather delicate for someone capable of such fearless deeds."
The pressure she radiated was on an entirely different level from what he felt when facing someone of a similar build like Luri.
"Welcome to the Maidens’ Garden, child."
Ferda answered her.
"Thank you for inviting me, Big Sister."
"My, you’re not even using honorifics with our Big Sister?"
"Looks like he’s desperate to be cursed."
"Should I grant his wish while we’re at it, little brat?"
The witches’ voices were razor-sharp.
"Silence."
The moment Lucy gave that brief command, even the witches held their breath.
"This maiden apologizes on their behalf. My children carry many grudges where men are concerned."
"I don’t mind. If anyone has been rude, it was probably me. Shall I speak more formally?"
"That won’t be necessary."
A stream of pure white smoke drifted from behind her veil.
"Hearing honorifics from a monster like you would make me uncomfortable."
"A monster?"
"Did that bother you? Well, of course it would. Saying such a thing to a child who’s only nineteen years old must seem terribly unfair."
She let out a dry chuckle as another cloud of smoke escaped her lips.
"But these old eyes of mine have seen far more than most would imagine."
Now he understood why her gaze had felt so unsettling.
Those eyes were literally seeing straight through him.
"It is simply the insight one gains from living for a very long time. Among other things, I can see how many people a person has killed."
Lucy slowly tilted her head to one side.
"So many people have died within your eyes."
"..."
Was she speaking only about the time after he had returned?
Even then, he had certainly killed many people.
But the word monster did not fit the Ferda of the present.
A monster...
Yes.
She was right.
He had hated people in order to nurture his hatred.
He had been hated by countless people.
And he had killed even more than hated him.
Even those who never deserved to be sacrificed were eliminated if leaving them alive might one day create a significant threat.
The Ferda of those days truly had been a monster.
Is that karma something even time itself cannot undo?
Was it because the feelings in his heart remained unchanged, even after turning back time?
Was that why that voice still lingered deep within him?
As those questions crossed his mind, another thought suddenly surfaced.
"Do you know whom I’ve killed?"
Among those countless victims...
Lucy Phyliaz herself had been one of them.
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