"You… were a witch?"
Myra suddenly uttered those words with a grim expression. The menacing aura she exuded seemed as if she might kill us at any moment.
Wait, how did she know?
Just as I was thinking this, a jolt of electricity seemed to pass through my brain.
Ah, it must have been when she dropped the Heavenly Covenant earlier.
She did that to try and cling to me.
Moreover, Mirabelle had even awakened. She must be exuding the aura of a witch that I couldn't sense. As a clergy member, Myra would easily detect it.
I thought we'd gotten away safely, but I needed to quickly come up with an excuse.
"Haha, while my Mirabelle is certainly impressive, calling her that is a bit much. She's not at that level."
"Is that so? That staff looks quite extraordinary. Mind if I take a look?"
Damn, she's sharp as ever.
There was no easy way out of this.
"So what if Mirabelle is a witch? What are you going to do about it? Are you planning to fight again in that condition? Even if the entire Knight Order came at her, it wouldn't be easy, you know~"
I stood there at an angle, mockingly sneering her.
There was no need to be subservient anymore.
Mirabelle, with the highest potential in the story, had awakened as a witch. A mere priestess was no match for her.
"Oh really now? But that child doesn't seem to be in any condition for that?"
Huh?
When I checked Mirabelle's condition, she had reverted to her timid version, not the Mirabelle who had been thrashing Myra like a dog on a hot day.
Perhaps it was the effect of being away from the grimoire.
In that case…
"Hahahaha, it's a joke. Just a joke~"
"Too late."
Sigh, what should I do?
Should I give Mirabelle the grimoire again?
Maybe try the Daddy's leaving strategy one more time?
As I was racking my brains, Myra let out a deep sigh.
"Right, so that's why you trembled whenever you saw us. Now I understand. Why you looked at me like I was a murderer."
Myra muttered with a complicated expression. It seemed like she was talking to herself, and there was a hint of regret mixed in.
A slave trader's intuition.
This was an opportunity.
I couldn't let it slip away.
"This child lost her parents and became a slave just because she was a witch. Her life crumbled overnight despite committing no sin."
"Are you trying to appeal to emotions in front of a clergy member? For a witch?"
"The weak have to do even this to survive. That's how the world is. That was this child's reality."
"…Haa, fuck."
Myra, who had been glaring at me with displeasure, cursed and scratched the back of her head vigorously. Her face remained contorted as if she had been caught up in something troublesome.
After exhaling her irritation, she glared at me once more.
"You knew she was a witch, didn't you? So why are you keeping her around? Don't you know what witches are?"
"How could I not know? It's something everyone in the world knows."
"Stop changing the subject and answer."
Myra's narrowed eyes were reminiscent of a hawk's. As if searching for prey in a field—to uncover my hidden intentions.
I didn't cower nor shrank back. Instead, I sneered as if it were a ridiculous question.
"Isn't it uncomfortable to be forced to maintain a certain behavior just because you are a priestess? You might want to curse a bit, speak informally, doubt people freely, and throw a punch now and then. You don't have to be prim and proper to be a priestess."
"W-What?"
"It's the same with witches. While there are witches who conduct human experiments, there are also kind and cute witches like this one. How unfair is it to have your life threatened just for being a witch?"
"Stop beating around the bush and say it straight. What are you trying to get at?"
How demanding, when a slave trader's life depends on their silver tongue.
I pushed Mirabelle forward, using her as a shield. Startled when suddenly facing Myra, Mirabelle clung to me in surprise.
Taking the stance that even a slave trader was better than the clergy. I added another remark to Myra, who was looking at Mirabelle with complex emotions.
"Whether she's a witch or a demon makes no difference to me. As long as she's my slave, I'll take full responsibility for her care regardless of her identity. That's how you always raise good slaves. Once you start being picky, there's no end to it, you know?"
"Ha."
Myra let out a laugh of disbelief. Seeing her giggle, it seemed my answer pleased her quite a bit.
I had done as much as I could at this point. All that was left was to wait for her response.
What choice would she make?
If she said she would gather the knights to eliminate the witch, that was the end of the story. I couldn't even buy items with points anymore.
I had to rely on my silver tongue which could tie even a cherry stem into a ribbon, and my Master of Negotiation skill.
As the uncomfortable silence stretched on, my mouth was getting dry despite my outwardly calm appearance.
"…Go."
"Pardon?"
"I said go while I'm turning a blind eye. But if you get caught, you're dead. If it's discovered that I let you go, my head will roll too."
In the end, Myra decided to let us go.
Perhaps she never expected Myra to let her go. Mirabelle stared at her with eyes wide open.
"What. Never seen a kind clergy before? I feel bad for scaring you, so I'm letting you off."
"Do people usually go around calling themselves kind?"
"I wasn't talking to you, so kindly shut your mouth."
Unable to bear Mirabelle's burdensome gaze, Myra finally turned away.
Even when we met at the tavern, Myra had acted first before thinking. Though it ended in a misunderstanding, it was an action born from goodwill to help Mirabelle.
That didn't change even after learning Mirabelle was a witch. It was something only someone with firm personal beliefs could show.
I expressed my sincere gratitude.
"Haha, thank you for sparing us. But we can't leave right away."
Sorry to ruin the mood you just set, but we really can't go yet.
"What?"
"There's something we need to find here. We can't leave until we get it."
"What do you mean you can't leave? Are you not grasping the situation?"
"If I couldn't grasp the situation, I wouldn't be a slave trader. But what can I do? If we don't get it, we're doomed anyway. Well then, we'll meet again someday. Come on, Miss Mirabelle. Say goodbye!"
"Ah, goodbye… See you again?"
"Uhh, yeah. …Huh?"
Before the dumbfounded Myra could come to her senses, I grabbed Mirabelle's hand and dashed off.
Then came back.
"W-What now?"
"I forgot the money."
***
A few days after the Mirabelle rampage incident.
Nothing much had changed.
The aftermath was well handled, and the lord who received the bribe didn't press charges against us. Moreover, with Mirabelle on my side, they couldn't easily touch us.
They don't know she can't use those spells anymore.
I asked Mirabelle to try using the magic from that time, but she couldn't. It seemed only possible with the grimoire, which unfortunately had been returned to Myra.
Due to the high level of demonic energy corruption, even purification couldn't resolve it. There was no choice but to incinerate it.
As a service, they deciphered it before burning it. Apparently, it was a goblin's delusional notebook about becoming a god and punishing humans.
In modern terms, it was like a wish-fulfillment power fantasy novel. The kind where you awaken SSS-rank skills and become invincible. Except the protagonist was a goblin.
It was absurd that Mirabelle awakened through that.
That's why she awakened in a form I didn't know about.
It was a shame she couldn't use those spells anymore, but it didn't matter much since she did awaken. We've taken a big step towards Mirabelle's liberation.
Now that her physical specs had been upgraded, the next important thing was Mirabelle's mental state.
The morning sunlight streamed into the inn room.
As I was having a sandwich for breakfast and checking the news in the newspaper, Mirabelle, who had finished her meal, stared at me intently.
"What's wrong?"
"W-Well…"
Mirabelle fidgeted with her fingers, unable to continue. Seeing this, I let out a small sigh.
"If you want to do it, go ahead."
Upon hearing this, a faint blush appeared on Mirabelle's face. She got down from her chair, fidgeted a bit, then climbed into my lap.
She seemed to have been greatly shocked by my attempt to leave her alone, as she refused to be separated even for a moment. Whether walking, sleeping, or even bathing.
Of course, I've managed to prevent that last one somehow.
While her increased dependency was troublesome, it wasn't a major concern.
I had seen dozens of endings where this was resolved in the end.
This time would be no different.
So for now, my role was to be there for Mirabelle when she needed support.
***
Do you know what starts after clearing a dungeon?
You have to clear another dungeon.
We still hadn't obtained the Soul Grimoire. Without it, we couldn't progress.
Because of this, Mirabelle and I spent days running dungeons over and over again.
The dungeon map was no longer necessary. Thanks to Mirabelle learning detection magic through academic exchanges with Delphine's mages after the incident.
Mirabelle took the lead through the cave, and we easily reached the boss room. The goblins in the boss room were already dead.
"Excellent. Another perfect hit."
As soon as we entered the dungeon, Mirabelle had cast a spell, and the magic arrow that flew through twists and turns had struck the monsters in the boss room.
It was an ability that could be mistaken for a circus act.
Mirabelle's magic skills improved exponentially day by day. I suspected it was due to her brief experience as an awakened witch.
"Hehe."
Mirabelle grinned, pleased with herself.
Leaving her behind, I rummaged through the goblin shaman's corpse.
How many times had this been?
I felt like I had done this at least fifty times.
The Goblin Shaman's Grimoire wasn't a 100% drop rate, and even when it did drop, it wasn't the Soul Grimoire. If it had appeared right away, we wouldn't still be doing this.
This shitty double gacha.
To apply this to a key item. It wasn't this cruel even in the game.
As I complained mentally, my hand touched a book. Fortunately, one had dropped this time.
[Goblin Shaman's Grimoire]
As usual, I handed the grimoire to Mirabelle.
Mirabelle could interpret what kind of book it was just by looking at it. It could be because she was a witch, or it could be due to the main character's plot armor.
Even Narsha, an ordinary noble lady, could easily learn swordsmanship.
If that applied to me too, I'd be mowing down enemies by now.
But it didn't, so I struggled through each day.
"Master, this…"
Mirabelle showed me the grimoire while I was lost in thought.
"What's wrong? Is there a problem?"
Mirabelle's expression was peculiar.
Don't tell me it's not the right one again?
Another endless dungeon grind?
"This… has instructions on how to control souls."
The moment those words left Mirabelle's mouth.
[Goblin Shaman's Grimoire]
>
[Soul Grimoire]
The item name changed.
It finally appeared.
The last piece for liberation.
I looked up at the cave ceiling and let out a long sigh. A very long one.
After releasing everything that had been heavy on my chest, I met Mirabelle's eyes as though a weight had been lifted.
Her indigo eyes, now sparkling with vitality, were clearly different from when we first met.
She had grown accustomed to the short skirt and no longer felt embarrassed.
There were also many other changes.
All that remained for the girl who had become a proper witch was her wounded heart.
This was the final step.
"Let's go. It's time to take revenge on your father."