A flying dwarf appeared, carrying the little witch over his shoulder.
But then the mysterious dwarf’s body suddenly distorted, transforming into a white-haired woman.


Her pure white hair, like freshly fallen snow, fluttered in the wind.
A large pointed hat with cat ears sat over her head.
It kind of looked like a witch’s hat.


The men’s clothing she had been wearing had somehow transformed into a white dress as well.

A white pointed hat, a white dress, and hair that was just as white.
It was as if someone had covered her from head to toe in pure white paint.
There wasn’t a single trace of the dwarf left anymore, not in her figure or even in her clothing.


The same telltale distortion that came with the little witch’s transformation. Flying through the air with levitation magic. A pointed hat like a witch’s. And on top of all that, the same white hair as the little witch.


I couldn’t say for certain, but I was almost sure of it.

This woman in white was a witch.


She had to have been using magic to disguise herself as a dwarf.
I thought transformation magic could only turn someone into an animal, so it came as a surprise that it could turn someone into a human too.


This was the third witch I’d seen since becoming an Alraune.

This witch seemed to be a different person from the one I saw at the Demon King’s castle.
The witch I saw in Fire Dragon-sama’s room had white hair with streaks of it dyed blonde.
If my memory serves me correctly, that witch said she was the Queen’s Aide from the Witches’ Village.


I never thought I’d end up seeing three white-haired witches, including the little witch.
They all have the same hair color. It’s so confusing!
Is there some rule that says all witches have to have white hair or something?



Anyway, even though she wasn’t the witch I saw at the Demon King’s castle, there’s no doubt that this woman in white was the one who appeared in the older Dryad sister’s memories from fifty years ago.


After all, her face was the spitting image of the swordswoman who was in the Hero’s party.
I couldn’t believe that some completely unrelated person who just happened to look exactly like her would show up now of all times.

So I decided to take the plunge and ask.


“You’re the swordswoman… who was one of… the Hero’s companions… fifty years ago, right?”


Hearing my question, the white witch opened her mouth and gave an exaggerated look of surprise.


“Nyaha. How does Crimson Flower Princess-chan know about that, I wonder?”


“Why? Why?” the white witch asked, meeting my eyes with a gaze of intense curiosity.


“Could it be that you ate not only the saint, but Feagismeinnicht too? And you absorbed her memories along with her? Ahh, nya see, nya see~”


The white witch nodded to herself, satisfied with her own conclusion.
Unlike the little witch, this one seemed to have a much more expressive personality.
And what’s more, her guess was pretty much correct.


I wasn’t the only one who noticed that this witch had the same face as the swordswoman who had once traveled with the Hero.
Unable to hide how shaken she was, Lady Dryad asked the white witch.


“Just as Alraune said… are you not Fidessa, the swordswoman who died in this forest fifty years ago?”

“That’s right. I’m Fidessa from back then. And you’re the younger Dryad sister, aren’t you? Long time no see~”


The white witch openly revealed her identity without the slightest attempt to hide it.
I’d half expected her to say something like, “Now that you know my identity, you’ll have to die,” so her incredibly casual response almost left me feeling let down.


“Of course, Fidessa was just an alias. Besides, faking a corpse is easy-peasy for me.”


The swordswoman Fidessa hadn’t actually died.
And the truth was that Fidessa had been this white witch all along.


“Why… did you become… one of the Hero’s companions?”

“I don’t have any obligation to tell Crimson Flower Princess-chan that, do I?”


The white witch’s eyes suddenly widened as she stared at me.
For just an instant, she gave off something that felt like murderous intent.
A chill ran through my entire body, like a frog frozen beneath a snake’s gaze.


──She’s strong.

It was just my intuition as a former saint, but I could sense about as much power from this white witch as I did from that golden birdman who used to stalk me, or from the older Dryad sister, the Spirit Princess.


She wouldn’t tell me why, but I had little doubt that this witch had been up to no good fifty years ago.
Using transformation magic that allowed her to take the place of other people, she had disguised herself as the Hero and both Dryad sisters.

In doing so, she deliberately threw the Hero and the others into confusion.
As a result, the Hero and the others in his party died, while the older Dryad sister fell to darkness.


“I know… that you were behind all sorts of things… fifty years ago!”

“And now that you know, what exactly does Crimson Flower Princess-chan intend to do about it?”


The white witch provoked me, seemingly entertained by this whole situation.


“Are you planning to avenge the Hero from the past? If you inherited Feagismeinnicht’s memories, I suppose I couldn’t blame you for feeling that way~”

“No. I’m not… interested in that.”


After all, that happened fifty years ago.
Admittedly, after witnessing the older Dryad sister’s memories, I was starting to feel some sympathy for her. But right now, there was something far more important I needed to deal with first.


“Please give… the little witch… back!”


The white witch had been holding onto the little witch this entire time.
No matter what else happens, getting her back comes first!


“Oh, this girl?” the white witch said, gently stroking the little witch’s head.

“No. You can’t have her. She’s my precious daughter, after all.”


D-Daughter!?

A-A-Are you… the little witch’s mother……!?


But wait a second.
I’m pretty sure the little witch said her parents were dead.
So what exactly is going on here?


“Nyahaha, of course I didn’t actually give birth to her. Though since I’m the one who made her into a witch, I suppose I am her mother in a sense~”


The little witch had said she became a witch when she was six years old.
Which meant that this white witch was the one who turned her from a human into a witch.

Come to think of it, I don’t actually know how witches are created.
At the very least, I guess that means this white witch has the power to turn humans into witches.

Just who in the world is she?
But still────


“It doesn’t matter… who you are.”


I don’t know who she is, but the little witch is precious to me like family.
The little witch has never once mentioned this woman, either.
So I’m sure she’d rather stay with me too.


“If you refuse… then I’ll… take the little witch back… by force!”

“…Interesting. How interesting. This might actually be a first.”


“Nyahaha,” the white witch laughed softly, a quiet smile spreading across her face.

“In all my long life as a witch, I’ve never been spoken to like this before by a plant… how delightful. I suppose living a long life really does have its rewards.”


Her eyes narrowed into a grin as she looked down at me, as though sizing me up.
The white witch and I locked eyes in silence.

But then she suddenly looked away.


“Took you long enough.”


Following her gaze, I saw a figure flying through the sky on a broom.

Another witch had arrived.

And guess what? It was another white-haired witch!

The new witch had streaks of gold mixed into her white hair.
She was the one I saw at the Demon King’s castle, the woman who called herself the Queen’s Aide from the Witches’ Village.


The Queen’s Aide hovered beside the white witch.


“I’ve been looking all over for you. You said you’d be at the Adventurer’s Guild, so why are you out here in the forest?”

“Things changed. Don’t get mad, okay?”

“Haaah… well, I managed to find you, Witch Queen, so I suppose it’s fine.”


──Wait.
Did she just say Witch Queen…?


I had already suspected that the white witch wasn’t just some ordinary witch.
But if the Queen’s Aide was calling her that, then that settles it.

The white witch in the cat-eared hat who had turned the little witch into a witch.


That woman was the Witch Queen, the one who ruled over the witches, the enemies of humanity.

***

Author’s Note:

In other words:《The elderly dwarf adventurer = the Witch Queen》and《Fidessa the swordswoman (from fifty years ago) = the Witch Queen》

Both of them were disguises the Witch Queen had assumed.

Next Time: The Witch Queen’s Scheme