This whole week, William is troubled at the existence of the freeloading witch in his guild.
It seems like Merzalfit can't move beyond the room where the otherworldly door is connected. So she can't even go inside his room when he is sleeping.
Still, she is troublesome.
For every chance she gets, she always make sure to annoy him, asking for the way to get beyond the mysterious force blocking her to move forward from that room.
He didn't want to recruit her. He thinks she will just screw him up if he did so.
He tries to think of banishing her, hoping for the door to respond to his wishes. Sadly, it seems like the door didn't care about his desires.
He can only lament at the fact that this witch seems to have become very interested in this world and also at him.
Today, she is being insufferable once more.
"Come on big guy, just tell me how I can leave this room."
He clicks his tongue. "You can return back to your world! That'll do it!"
"That's funny! But I won't do it!~"
He is really hoping for another character that is not that dangerous to appear on the door next so he can persuade them to become a part of his guild. Though it seems like with Merzalfit's presence, it is impossible to do so.
It's been a week since then and not another new person is emerging from the door after Merzalfit's appearance. Even when she came back to her world one time due to some "Minor" business that she have to attend to, she just came back the next day and not a new person appearing.
He made a hypothesis, thinking that he must recruit the person that emerges from that door first before a new person appears. It is the only conclusion that he have because after Merzalfit appears, no one is appearing anymore other than the ones he already recruited.
He still haven't recruited her. He knows how a witch like her works. She will make a chaos whenever she goes, and it always go bad.
It might be funny seeing it behind the screen, but imagining it happening on real life will place a lot of trouble on his guild. He didn't want this witch to cause trouble just because of her whims.
"Can't you just give up already?" He said, hoping for a bit that he manages to persuade her.
"Haha, nope."
The way she rejected him in a laughing manner grates on his nerves. She have this mysterious trait that can seemingly cause anyone she is talking to to become annoyed.
"Damn girl, your so persistent!" He forces a confident smile on his face while feeling irritated at her.
"It's obvious. I'm a witch after all." She replied back without missing a beat.
The door slowly opens, making turn to it to see Elio entering this place. The girl points a short glare on the witch's direction before returning her gaze to the guild leader.
"William. I'll be going outside!"
"Ah... good luck out there."
With that, the small blonde girl moves out, passing besides the witch with hurried steps before she goes to the entrance door and leaves from there.
"Aw... I am really curious about that. Why won't you tell me how to pass through it?"
"Your a witch. You can't pass through there." It's utter bullshit, but he is just saying whatever to discourage her.
"So the same excuse? Try something else." She said with a smirk.
"Why would I? I'll say it whenever I want, and it will be up to you whether to believe it or not!"
"Hah. That's a smart one... but I already know it's a lie." She smirks, her gaze turning dangerous. "Why don't you tell the truth?"
This is also one of the things why he saw her as troublesome. This witch can shift from annoying to dangerous in a split moment. It's making him confuse whether he should push more or back down.
"... Even if you glare at me like that, I still won't budge. You'll be disappointed whether you wanted to stay or not."
"Oh. You are really so brazen in the presence of the witch." She moves closer to him with her eyes narrowing dangerously, her eyes glowing in a sinister light. "It might be a novel experience, seeing someone so brazen and not just because of an act of bravado or hatred, but that doesn't mean I have the patience of a saint."
"Do you want to see how I get angry?"
His mind froze for a bit at the sudden choking feeling on the atmosphere. It felt like his lungs are being stabbed repeatedly by the sheer amount of hostile intent that she is releasing.
'Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck!!!!!!'
He is panicking in his mind, and he can't help but grit his teeth, almost biting his lips. But he made a conscious effort to stay his gaze at hers without batting an eye.
'Please don't be serious! Please say it is a joke!'
He almost flinches as the girl slowly releases an intense aura that even him can feel. It's like all the malice of the world are coagulating on her form, like she is the avatar of evil itself.
Just as the choking feeling is becoming more intense, it suddenly vanishes. The witch's expression quickly morphing into a bright joking smile.
"Just kidding!"
As she says that, he didn't managed to stop himself as he unconsciously heaves a sigh of relief. When she heard her letting out a smug snort, he suddenly realized what he just did.
"Oya? Don't tell me that you got scared?"
He quickly composed himself as he directed a confident grin on her.
"Scared? What kind of crap are you spouting? I'll score it 1/10, and hey, that's me being humble."
"Oya? That's a nice comeback. I'll remember that quote!" She said with a smirk.
He felt so drained just by talking to her.
'Shit. This witch just doesn't know when to quit!'
His day continues on along with the witch who kept annoying him.
~~o~~
The sky has become orange when Elio came back carrying a pouch of money.
"William, did she do anything?" Elio asked as she walks pass near the witch, wholly ignoring her.
"Not really. She's just being her usual annoying self."
"Good!"
With that, the girl laid the pouch of silver to his table.
"Thanks." He said before taking it. "What about yours?"
"I have already pocketed my share, so everything in that pouch is yours."
"Thank you."
She dismissed his gratitude with her a wave of her hands. "It is natural as a chosen hero." She said.
"Pfft! What a laughable claim!" The witch said with a smirk on her face, her face leaning on her hand.
"Shut up, you evil spawn!" She turned her attention back to the guild leader. "Can't you do anything about that wench?"
"Not really. I can't force her to get out. It is up yo her whether she wanted to stay or not."
"Well. It can't be help then..." She said with a look of scorn directed at the witch.
"Oya? Even I have feelings you know? It truly hurts hearing you all say that!~" Despite her words, she make it sound so sarcastic.
"Ugh! Whatever! I'm leaving!"
Elio stomps her foot out of the guild, opening the otherworldly door and closing it after entering it. With that, only the two of them remains.
After she leaves, William is going to leave the place for a bit to buy something to eat, though the witch immediately stops him.
"Hey, can you--"
"I don't care!"
With her advances quickly shut down, he leaves the place. Leaving the witch alone on the guild.
~~o~~
After awhile, he came back with some bread and bottles of milk. He have no experience with cooking so he can't really use the kitchen.
He put the bag of bread on the table and the bottles of milk on it, sharing it with the witch. Merzalfit just looks at him with an amused expression as she graciously accepted his offer.
Despite her being annoying, he still sees her as a person. A very dangerous person, but still a person. It will be bad if he just totally neglected her when he was eating.
She might suddenly go on a rampage if he did that, so there is that reason too.
"You know, your the only odd person who treats me to meals like this."
"What? You think I'm a heartless bastard?"
She looks amused. "Not really. Your just an interesting boy who have too much spunk."
"Whatever." He continues gorging on his food without looking at her anymore.
The witch looks at him with an amused stare before turning her gaze on the bread.
'This guy is truly mysterious. Despite knowing my title as a witch, he is still willing to interact with me like this.' She thought while feeling something warm in her chest.
The two of them are their bread in silence, passing the night just like this before he goes back to his room to sleep.