“A witch…”
“…”
The man muttered, but there was no response from the woman. However, she stared intently at the bearded man who had entered the room. With only moonlight for illumination, the room was mostly dark, but the woman’s red eyes gleamed.
As the man’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could see various things. Bandages were wrapped around the woman’s arms, matching the reports of being shot with an arrow on the first day. Her chestnut hair appeared almost black in the darkness of the night. And the witch sat huddled in the back of the room, revealing her chest and legs due to her scant clothing.
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“Hehe, she looks pretty good on closer inspection……”
“…………”
The man approached the witch, slowly entering the room as if cornering her. The witch’s expression was tense, her body stiff, but she didn’t attempt to escape.
And when he reached the center of the room, the man noticed something.
“…Huh?”
There were writings on the floor at his feet.
The room was too dark to notice, but the floor was covered with circular patterns and intricate shapes.
A magic circle. The word popped into the man’s head, and the witch snapped her fingers.
“Huh…?”
Suddenly, the door in the room swung open, and three men appeared.
“What the hell are you guys doing!?”
“…”
The bearded man was flustered by the sudden appearance of the three men. And in the moment of surprise, the three men attacked, grabbing his arms and pinning him to the floor.
“What are you trying to do!?”
“…”
Unable to cope with the sudden situation, the bearded man was immobilized. The three men who attacked him didn’t speak a word, silently restraining him. Upon closer inspection, the trio wore the same guard armor as himself, revealing them to be his colleagues.
“Hey! Ben! Bags! Roland! What the hell are you guys doing…!? Let me go…!”
“…”
Calling out the names of his colleagues yielded no response. They seemed like puppets manipulated by some magic or force.
At that moment, the witch moved, approaching the restrained bearded man. She then pulled out a small parchment from her pocket and pressed it against the man’s throat. The parchment she held bore a magic circle, emitting a faint light.
“Wh…at… are… you… doi…ng…!?”
The man began to emit voiceless sounds. It felt like his mind was being prodded and twisted, his vision distorting. He knew he was being attacked by the witch’s magic, but he couldn’t break free from his three colleagues who restrained him.
“Wh…at… are… you…!”
“…”
The man attempted to move his limbs in resistance, but gradually, his strength waned, and he stopped struggling. He no longer understood why he was here, why he had tried to escape, his vision becoming blurry and unfocused.
Eventually, the faint light emitted from the parchment with the magic circle held by the witch disappeared, and she took a few steps back.
“Release him. Stand.”
“…Yes.”
As instructed by the witch, the trio released the restrained man, and he slowly stood up. Just standing up, there was no sign of attempting to capture the witch like before. He stood there like a puppet, eagerly awaiting the witch’s next command.
Aoi had used mind-control magic on the bearded man. Magic related to the mind could have a strong effect, and mind control was a dangerous application of magic.
Normally, mind-related magic was used for therapy, mood alteration, and the like, but with a bold approach, brainwashing was possible.
It was a difficult and dangerous technique, but with Aoi’s skills, she could handle it somehow. The large magic circle drawn on the floor of the room, as well as the magic circle on the parchment paper held to her throat, were for mind control magic.
“You guys, come back here.”
“…Yes.”
“…Yes.”
As Aoi muttered, the four men slowly went out of the room. Then, as if nothing had happened, they walked through the city at night and returned to the checkpoint office.
“Back. How was the patrol?”
The subordinate asked the chin-bearded man who had returned.
“No abnormalities in the southwest district.”
“I see, good job.”
With just that word, Aoi succeeded in disappearing again for another day.
That’s how Aoi gradually turned the checkpoint guards into her puppets over several days. The officials without knowledge of magic couldn’t break Aoi’s daring undercover operation.
And then, after a few more days had passed.
The checkpoint guards desperately searched for the witch with the poison pouch, and requested reinforcements from nearby outposts to increase manpower, but they couldn’t find the witch.
Sometimes, paralysis powder was scattered near the city, and some of the city guards were unable to move, but no clues were found to corner the witch.
While Aoi used the brainwashed guards to scatter paralysis powder and disrupt the investigation, she reduced the number of guards who could move.
“…………”
And Aoi began to prepare for her final move. She put on the armor of the brainwashed guards, covered her head with a helmet, and headed to the checkpoint.
Thud thud, Aoi’s heart pounded.
Today, she was trying to cross the border. If her identity as a witch inside the armor was revealed, she could be detained on the spot and even killed. Although her body was tense with nervousness and fear, Aoi walked confidently without showing any signs of inner tension.
The checkpoint building was large, with a wide road running through the center, surrounded by brick buildings. Large walls were set up around the checkpoint, and passing through this checkpoint was the only way to get from this town to the neighboring country.
Aoi crossed the wide road of the checkpoint.
She had a chance of winning. The checkpoint was short-handed due to the paralysis powder she had scattered over the past few days, and furthermore, Aoi had brainwashed several guards. There were far fewer enemies than usual for Aoi.
“Hey.”
“…!”
However, Aoi was stopped by one of the guards. Looking at his face, she could tell he wasn’t one of the brainwashed humans. Aoi broke into a cold sweat, but she turned around naturally, trying not to show her inner fear.
“…… What is it?”
“…What are you doing wandering around here? Where do you belong?”
The eyes of the guard who called out glinted, and Aoi let out a small breath while keeping her face hidden under the helmet. Then she spoke slowly in a voice altered by voice-changing magic.
“I belong to the third team, Bags-Adon. I’m here to submit documents to the neighboring country’s office.”
“…………”
Aoi handed the documents she was holding to the man. The man stared at the documents and the stamped seal.
The documents were real. Aoi had extracted information from the brainwashed guards, including the names of the soldiers and the internal situation of the checkpoint. Among that information, she learned that there was a job that would allow her to enter the neighboring country naturally, and she was trying to take on that task.
“…Got it, good work.”
“Thank you.”
The man who stopped Aoi returned the documents to her. The documents were genuine, and the stamped seal was also genuine, and she also had a genuine travel permit. The man let Aoi pass.
She crossed the border checkpoint. On the opposite side of the checkpoint was also a large city, with a lot of foot traffic, so she couldn’t let her guard down. However, the checkpoint was getting further and further away with each step she took. Aoi walked calmly, trying not to show her nervousness, fear, or joy, with each step.
And then she entered the back alley, confirming that there were no more people around, she discarded the heavy armor. Then, she lowered her head again, trying to attract as little attention as possible, and left the city.
Once out of the city, as she walked along the highway, her pace naturally quickened. Faster, faster, faster, to get away from that country as soon as possible. Around the highway, there was a vast grassland, and there were hardly any pedestrians now. With the country that had tormented them at their backs, Aoi ran desperately to get as far away from it as possible.
“Haah… haaah…!”
After running all night, they arrived near the neighboring town. The morning sun was just peeking out from the mountains, and the morning was about to begin. Smelling the scent of the lush green grass wet with morning dew, Aoi sat down and looked at the neighboring town, tears streaming down her face.
If they had come this far… If they had come this far…
Relieved, her chest filled with emotion, and tears overflowed one after another.
“Uwah… uuu, uuuu…”
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