Ayato stared at the spot where Eunithus had disappeared and stared at the ground.
"That Magic Seal isn't all that, huh..."
"What is it, Ayato?"
The Councilwoman asked the boy. He stood up and looked up at the rooftop.
"It seems like that guy can only teleport to certain places."
"What? That doesn't make sense at all."
Ashley commented, putting her wand back into the. bag around her waist. She walked up to Ayato.
"What doesn't?"
"Not even I or Anti-Magic know the full details of each of their Magic Seals but I've seen them use their abilities like pros. The way Eunithus uses his ability shows that he can teleport anywhere."
"Tell me why he didn't teleport me to somewhere further away or into the air."
Ashley tilted her head.
For someone who could teleport, it would've been easy to injure Ayato by dropping him at a height. It would be stupid to say that Eunithus had no evil intentions. Not teleporting Ayato into the air was one thing, but teleporting him somewhere else would've been better, just in case they attacked again.
"Magic Seals and magic work at a higher dimension. However, the dimension that the purple-haired guy's teleportation must work at probably can't handle free teleportation. I think that his ability works like a world map in a game."
"A world map in a game?"
The three of them repeated, all confused. Ayato furrowed his brow.
"You mean... You haven't played games...? No, you know what, never mind."
He didn't want to explain the concept of games to the women. If he did, he knew that he would be bombarded with nonsensical questions.
"In an open-world game, you can access a map. Unlike real life, there are select locations on the map which allow you to teleport. So, you can teleport from point A to point B. I think that's what he can do. Once he selects, a location, he can only teleport there. I don't know how it works exactly but that should be the gist of it. How he manages to use it so proficiently isn't up to me."
He explained to them.
The boy put his hand on his chin. He was thinking about something.
·———·
The three of them went to the nearest hotel where Ashley had rented out a room for a few days.
"Nice to meet you two. I'm Ashley Renthral, 19 years old and a witch. I work as a personal enforcer for the Queen."
She said to the two of them. Haukea had left after that incident. She joined back up with her bodyguards, who she had originally ditched.
All three of them sat on the chairs for the dining table. It was the only appropriate place to chat in Ashley's hotel room. Her room was larger than the average hotel room but it lacked furniture and a separate living room. The dining table and kitchen meddled in the living room space.
"I'm Akari Chiori and he's Ayato Kyouya."
The boy nodded as the woman introduced them. Ashley raised her eyebrows in surprise.
"A Japanese Councilwoman and World Magician. That's quite the combination."
It wasn't much of a surprise for foreigners to know Akari but it's not like everyone checks news on other countries. Only some British people would be able to identify Ayato as a World Magician.
"It's in my job. I often check information related to new things in the world. My superior wanted me to check on Japan not too long ago. I saw new information about you."
The girl said, sensing the suspicion from Ayato's gaze. Ayato nodded.
"Well, Renthral, I want to know about the reason as to why the three of them are chasing after you?"
Linking her fingers together, Akari asked her.
"Why they're chasing after me? That's simple. That's because I'm a witch."
"What exactly is a witch? We—at least I—don't understand what they are because the UK seem to be the only world power to have them."
Ayato said to the girl.
Ashley looked out of the large window pane beside her. The window that she was staring at was a wall of the apartment. She could see the city from that window.
"Witches... Where to start? Right,"
She added.
"Witches are magicians who use curses. Curses are spells of yore. The best way to describe them would be the accumulation of negative mana concentrated into a curse."
A spell was simply the name of the accumulation of mana. The accumulation of negative mana—named cursed mana—was a type of spell called a curse.
"Curses are far more versatile than spells. Since it all depends on the cursed mana somebody possesses. Unlike mana, cursed mana is determined at birth. Ah, and don't think that you can use curses if you try! Let's ignore the fact that it takes years of training, only women can use curses, thus the title of a witch."
Ayato was pretty sure that he hadn't had any superfluous thoughts such as those said but he didn't want to touch the subject. He continued listening.
"It's said that the origin of curses originated from Baba Yaga. The British were jealous of the power of that old witch and they did their best to claim her power. The witches' use of curses could said to have originated from the Russians, but it was the British who utilised it and prevented it from dying out over centuries."
Ashley stood up and walked over to the window that she was looking at. The girl looked down at the buildings of London.
"Witches use curses for many purposes. Most of them are for battle."
"Are there any curses that can either kill somebody instantly or torture them cruelly?"
Akari asked, rather nonchalantly. She was doing her best not to draw embarrassment to herself. Ashley chuckled lightly.
"No, that stuff is only in movies. While some curses can kill people, real curses differ from the types of hexes seen in films and novels."
She turned to the two of them.
"That's it. I don't know how much more I can explain without repeating myself."
Ashley told them.
"Thank you for the explanation. Now we can understand witches better. Anyway, do you know why they're after you?"
The girl looked down at the expensive rug, nervous. She looked back up and exhaled.
"Curses... There are special curses that are entrusted to those worthy of it and people who are close to the monarch. I was granted one of those special curses. I possess the Curse of Despair; it summons a meteorite down to Earth..."