At night, monsters lurked everywhere.
If it weren't for the exorcism lamp hanging from Adele’s flying magic broom, those creatures would have likely pounced long ago.
Under these circumstances, leaving Cinderella’s remains exposed in the wilderness was clearly an act of extreme cruelty.
“You... you're right.”
Though she didn't want to face it, she had to. After taking a deep breath and steeling her resolve, Snow White turned her head to look at Cinderella’s skeleton once more.
“Let’s get to work.”
Adele produced a piece of white cloth and bent down to collect the remains.
“Mm...”
Snow White, who thought she had prepared herself, reached out with trembling hands. Yet, the moment she touched Cinderella, her eyes couldn't help but redden.
It was strange.
To be honest, Snow White thought she would lose control, feel helpless, or even be deeply repulsed when faced with her friend’s death and the necessity of collecting her remains.
But now, she was unexpectedly calm.
Even the tears welling in her eyes did not fall.
Why?
Snow White kept asking herself in her heart.
“In Dragon Country on Blue Star, there’s a saying: 'There is no greater sorrow than the death of the heart.' It means that when one encounters the ultimate tragedy, their thoughts become numb, and they fall into a state of utter despondency from which they cannot escape. You are in that state right now.”
At this moment, Snow White’s face was a mask of numbness. Tears swirled in her eyes, but her hands never paused. She repeated the same movements over and over, like a robot.
“But considering your relationship with Cinderella, it’s not surprising you’d react this way.”
From what Adele knew, the two had supported each other to get this far, making them the closest of comrades.
Now that her comrade had died such a miserable death, it would be hard for her not to be consumed by it.
“If only I had been stronger back then and dragged Cinderella with me to the Abandoned Land... maybe today’s tragedy wouldn't have happened.”
Snow White began to reflect on her choices, and Adele served as her audience.
“By then, maybe Cinderella would have received systematic training, and I could have learned other things too.”
“If that were the case, would this have happened?”
“Would I still have to feel this suffocating frustration of betrayal and the grief of a friend's passing?”
Snow White’s questions were directed at herself.
She knew that back then, it was Cinderella who had stubbornly refused to go to the Abandoned Land, wanting to stay and compete with Lan Qingyou, who was also self-taught.
But as she said...
If she had been more forceful and just dragged her away, today’s events would never have happened. That was a certainty.
With systematic learning, Cinderella might have even developed magic more powerful than the ‘Crystal Slipper’.
But it was all too late.
Even in a place filled with mana and magic like the Kalim continent, there was no such thing as a medicine for regret.
After all, time was not something just anyone could toy with.
“While the dead cannot be brought back to life, you can try to avenge Cinderella.”
Avenge!
Right! There was still revenge to be had!
Thud! Boom!
Adele used magic to create a pit. Then, Snow White placed Cinderella, wrapped in the white cloth, into the small hole along with the book she had been reading before her death.
Afterward, Adele used magic to backfill the earth.
Aside from the surface lacking weeds due to the digging, the small mound looked much as it had before; not much had changed.
“Should we set up a headstone?”
“Witches may be ageless, but they are not immortal. I’ve come to fully realize that today.”
It was unclear if she was being cynical or self-deprecating.
Snow White gave Adele a cryptic answer that didn't directly address the question.
In any case, having survived a disaster only to see her best friend reduced to a pile of bones, something seemed to have awakened within Snow White.
“I’ve decided I’m done with rapiers.”
After that mysterious statement, Snow White unbuckled the rapier, scabbard, and leather belt from her waist and thrust the weapon directly into the ground in front of Cinderella’s grave.
“Then what weapon do you plan to use?” Adele asked, puzzled.
“A scythe. The kind of war scythe Smith used earlier was quite good. It’s perfect for bisecting enemies and reaping their heads.”
“A war scythe, huh?”
“Yes. And if I can make it fly like your broom, I can even save myself the trouble of carrying a broom.”
“A flying war scythe... now that’s an interesting idea. I can help you ask if one can be custom-made.”
Adele raised an eyebrow.
Unsurprisingly, this incident had unearthed the dark side of this woman’s heart.
Whether it was a good or bad thing didn't matter.
What mattered was that she seemed to have found a clear goal.
Now, aside from inquiring about the custom flying war scythe, the only thing Adele could do was perhaps offer three seconds of silence for the people in this region.
Thus, over the following period, Snow White hunted every acquaintance who dared to leave the safe zone of the Adventurers' Guild.
To her, these so-called acquaintances were all damned betrayers who didn't deserve to live in this world.
During this time, Snow White even found Cinderella’s grey pigeon.
No...
It wasn't that she found it; rather, the pigeon had flown back on its own.
It happened one day while Snow White was resting in Cinderella’s now-defunct shelter.
...
...
Inside the Typhon City administrative building, several ministers sat in Diana’s office with heavy expressions, each holding a document and frowning as they read.
“Diana, what’s the meaning of this?”
Susie, the fastest reader, finished first. She put down the document and turned to look at Diana.
“As you can see, over the past three months, there have been more than thirty incidents of witch hunts in the outside world. These targeted witches who were unwilling to relocate to Typhon City.”
“If it weren't for the Tourism Department and Patrol Team members encountering these situations outside, we would likely still be in the dark.”
Sitting behind her desk with her chin resting on her hands, Diana spoke with a grim expression, giving a brief overview of why she had called them there.
It had been four months since Lan Qingyou ‘disappeared’ in the dungeon.
And yet, it was only today, upon receiving this news, that she realized someone had been hunting witches all this time.
During these four months, aside from discussions on the world channel about the several clan leaders being lost, there had been virtually no other news.
It was clear just how well these people had kept their secrets.
“This data was sent over by Adele. Along with it, she sent a familiar.”
As she spoke, Diana produced a confined grey pigeon.
Judging by the faint mark on its forehead, this pigeon had once been a familiar.
However, because its master had died, the contract had begun to weaken.
One day, once the contract completely failed, the familiar would regain its freedom.
Rate on N.U.
