The Witch regained consciousness.
She then gulped down that pink herbal tea on the table with great urgency.
Oh... well, whatever.
"Gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp— pahaaah, I-I thought I was gonna die, I swear..."
"S-sorry about that."
"My, my, what a shock. That was really something."
The Witch's vocabulary had gone thin. She flicked her three tails and sank into the black sofa.
"R-right..."
"No way, no way. That was a
Pseudo-Deification
Relic, of all things..."
"Pseudo... what?"
"My, my, you don't even know about it? Wof.
Pseudo-Deification
Relic. A legendary Relic, mind you. This is only the fourth
Pseudo-Deification
Relic owner I've ever seen."
"There are others!?"
This time, it was my turn to be surprised.
"Yep, yep. Two with Grade I. One in the Seihou faith. And one more besides that."
"The Seihou faith has one too?"
The Seihou faith — generally just called Seihou.
It's the world's largest religion. Most of the churches in towns and villages belong to the Seihou faith.
Its doctrine of "May Seihou's blessings be upon all" is widely known among the people.
That's about all I know about it.
Not many people probably know the details.
So the Seihou faith has an owner of a quasi-deification Relic. Is that even alright?
"The Grade I ones... those are said to be returns, right..."
"Ah, yes, Narcissus was one too. Oh my, but that means there are two Generous ones. Hmm."
The witch rested her chin on her hand, as though thinking.
I started to feel uneasy.
"Is something wrong?"
"No, no, nothing's especially wrong right this moment."
"Right this moment?"
"Well, as long as it doesn't come out that Wof can become Generous, that is."
"That's true too."
As long as no one found out, it was fine.
"Well then, with that, all our secrets are—"
"Not quite. I don't carry one anymore, but Witch, do you know about the restriction Relic called the Banishment Line?"
"Hmm, hmm. First time I've heard of that. So it was a restriction Relic, was it?"
I told her what happened at the Great Temple. About how I defeated Crown with it.
And about how the world had been altered through inductive reasoning because of it.
The witch listened in silence, then gave a small nod.
"Mm, mm. That's the work of the gods — and very ancient work at that."
"So it really is divine power?"
"That's right. Without a pseudo-deification Relic, it's not something you could ever hope to handle."
"I... it was a monster, but it was Crown. I completely erased the existence of a monster called Crown — The Fool. If I hadn't, Axe and Bidd would have... I know it saved everyone, but was that really the right thing to do?"
Sometimes I think about it. Sometimes I wonder.
But if the same choice were put before me again, I'd choose it again. I'd repeat it all the same.
Maybe that's exactly why it bothers me.
"Well, well. What's done is done, you know."
"That may be true, but..."
"Hey, hey, young Wof. Life is just a string of choices. You'll have regrets now and then, of course. But you learn from them and carry that forward — that's enough, don't you think?"
"Have you ever had regrets, Witch?"
"Oh my, more than you could ever imagine. No, truly more than a mountain's worth. And, and also, young Wof. Here's the thing — Kon once used a similar restriction Relic to do something similar, a long time ago."
"Wait — you too, Witch!?"
"Mm, mm. If things had gone differently, I would have kept this buried inside me until the day I died. But since you're Kon's student, and you share the same experience... I suppose it's alright to tell you."
"You're sure? Thank you."
"Oh my, oh my. In the deepest reaches of a certain dungeon... There was a first-class delver party led by the one they called the Dungeon Master, Alexander. The Ravensaga — the ravens who called forth a single night's light — were driven to the brink of total annihilation on Dungeon Road by a treasure-grade lower monster called Decatant. Kon squeezed out her last strength, and at the cost of their sacrifice, used the restriction Relic 'Destruction Zero.' That erased Decatant from this world completely. Just like that, it was as though it had never existed in the first place. Just as young Wof said, no one but Kon remembered a thing. 'Destruction Zero' was gone too. And to top it off, it ended up being recorded that the Ravensaga had defeated a gem-grade lower monster variant called Abstract Ego in the town dungeon. I couldn't help but laugh."
"Were Alexander and the others... dead back then? Could it be that this world just keeps changing every time something disappears like that...?"
The moment the words left my mouth, I was terrified.
What kind of world was that, even?
Even now, someone might be erasing something, changing the world as we spoke.
And someday, the world could simply vanish without anyone noticing.
The witch watched me growing anxious. She let out a soft chuckle.
"Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. Maybe so, maybe so. But you know, young Wof. Here's what Kon thinks. If things disappear, then new things are born. Maybe some things are born precisely because something was erased. And maybe there are things you can only encounter in the world that came to be because of that erasure, you know?"
"That's quite optimistic of you."
"Well, well, that's just how it is. That's the witch Kon for you."
And so, a witch she was.
Things that were born because Crown disappeared.
Things you could only encounter in a world where Crown had vanished.
Hmm. Still optimistic, at the end of the day. But it did make me feel a little relieved.
Well, I was glad that Axe and Bid were still alive.
The tragedy was gone too, which meant there were no victims.
Yeah. That was enough for now. I figured that was probably optimistic as well.
But maybe that was okay.
"Thank you, Witch."
"Nonsense — when a teacher sees her student troubled, giving advice is only natural."
The witch beamed with pride.
"Well then, that covers all of young Wof's secrets."
"There's still more."
"My, my. There's still more..."
Even the witch was half-impressed and half-exasperated.
I took out an Elixir Holy Egg from my pouch.
Instantly, the witch's eyes changed color.
"Well, well. A Holy Egg."
"It's an Elixir Holy Egg."
"My, my. Of all things, the most common variety. Well, I'm a little surprised, but Holy Eggs are relatively plentiful."
Is that so.
When Mineha was born, it was an Elixir Holy Egg that saved both mother and child.
But that Holy Egg had stayed empty after it was used, if I remembered right.
"Anyway, this Holy Egg fills back up in about ten minutes."
"What? What?"
The witch's reaction shifted entirely.
"Witch?"
"...My. My. My, my. In that case, let me see it for myself. I'm not doubting you, young Wof. I just want to see it. To see it actually fill up, kon."
"Alright."
I opened the lid and poured the contents into an empty white porcelain cup.
A transparent liquid with a slight viscosity that faintly glowed.
Hmm, yeah. No doubt about it. It's an elixir.
As she spoke, the witch picked up an hourglass from the shelf.
She flipped it over.
"That's exactly ten minutes, right?"
"Yep, yep. Come to think of it, I gave you a color variant a while back, didn't I?"
"I'm still getting good use out of it. While we wait, I'll bring out the last secret."
"...So there was still more."
The witch gave a wry smile. I pulled a square black plate out of my pouch. A red line ran horizontally across it.
When I set it on the table, the witch's eyes sharpened.
"It's a Relic Plate."
"Well, well, now this is something interesting..."
So she did know about it after all.
Former top-ranked Alexander had known too, come to think of it.
"Witch, are you a top-ranked delver?"
"Oh my, oh my, young Wof. You didn't know? Hmm. I haven't been delving much lately, but yes — I'm a top-ranked delver. They call me 'The Peerless Witch.'"
"...So that's how it was."
That raised a question I'd been turning over.
What was the witch's name, anyway? She'd told me to just call her "witch," so I'd been calling her "witch" this whole time.
Well, given her appearance and mannerisms, she clearly was a witch, so it never felt strange.
That was probably why I'd never thought to question it.
"What's the witch's name?"
"Hey there, young Wof. Would you mind if I touched the plate?"
"Ah, sure. That's fine, but—"
Was I just cut off?
When she touched the plate, the witch's eyes went wide, and she gave a wry smile.
Hmm. So names are taboo, then.