Witch Rina Reverse had remained by Solacius’s side the entire time.
It was because she was anxious that Solacius might reveal her identity.
As a result, the story that Rina was Solacius’s personal attendant had come to be accepted as nearly fact, and lately, rumors had even spread of a love story that transcended their social status.
“You are eighteen?!”
Solacius’s eyes widened when he learned Rina’s true age for the first time.
At the same time, his gaze swept over Rina’s body.
“That creeps me out! Do not look me over like that!”
Rina frowned as she shot back at Solacius’s gaze.
“How old are you, then?”
“Twenty-one.”
After considering whether to give his age on Earth or his age here, he gave Solacius’s age.
“We are not that far apart in age......”
Rina Reverse kept glancing at the golden-haired, golden-eyed knight.
“If you have golden hair and golden eyes, are you imperial royalty?”
She had vaguely learned Roan Shalut’s identity from the members of the Subjugation Force. She was only asking to keep the conversation going.
“Yes.”
Solacius did not comment on Rina’s obvious question and answered indifferently.
“I see......”
Rina continued looking at Roan with eyes mixed with curiosity and affection.
Then, she ran her fingers through her gray hair.
“So, are you going to tell me now?”
Solacius’s voice came from beside her.
“There is no one around to eavesdrop.”
Night had already fallen, and aside from those standing watch, most people had gone inside their tents.
Solacius and Rina sat side by side in front of their respective tents.
“Tell me what happened to your master.”
Solacius’s golden eyes glinted beneath the night sky.
***
One day, Rina’s master, Isabel, brought something home.
“Master, what is that?”
Inside a magically treated glass vial was a fist-sized orb made of black flames.
“It is a commission from the Witch of Ashes.”
“The Witch of Ashes? You mean Luhan’s Chancellor?”
“Yes.”
With an affectionate smile, Isabel stroked Rina’s golden hair.
“I heard from the Witch of Ashes that it is called a Shadow Core. We received a commission to study it.”
With careful hands, Isabel placed the Shadow Core on a worktable in the workshop.
SSSSS.
The Shadow Core on the worktable moved its black flames unpleasantly. It looked as though the glass vial containing the core might shatter at any moment.
“M-Master...... This feels wrong.”
At the sight, Rina instinctively felt a bad omen.
For some reason, it felt as though their peaceful daily life would end because of this.
She had experienced one of the rare visions that came only a few times in a witch’s life.
“I know this is dangerous. But...... It cannot be helped. Nobles like the Chancellor, who look after Necromancers like us, are rare.”
Bitterness appeared on Isabel’s lips as she looked at Rina.
Apology for her disciple filled her eyes.
“I am sorry. Other witches are busy bragging about their disciples...... But because you met me, a Necromancer, you will have to spend your whole life in hiding. I feel as though I have committed an unforgivable sin against you.”
“No, Master! Becoming your disciple is what makes me happiest!”
Rina shook her head rapidly, tears welling in her eyes at Isabel’s words.
“If Master had not taken me in, I would not even be in this world!”
Ten years ago, it was Isabel who had taken in Rina after she had been swept down a river unconscious.
Isabel had spent her entire life studying necromancy while living in hiding. She had always been alone.
She had deliberately avoided taking on disciples because she did not want to pass on such a miserable fate.
Then, one day, the child named Rina had suddenly come into her life like fate itself.
Though she knew she should not, the lonely Isabel took Rina in.
At first, she did not teach Rina necromancy. But Rina, who had a talent for magic, learned her master’s necromancy on her own and eventually became Isabel’s official disciple.
“To think you feel that way...... Thank you so much. Rina, you are like my own daughter. You are my everything.”
Moved to tears by Rina’s words, Isabel tightly embraced the golden-haired, golden-eyed apprentice witch.
Isabel raised Rina like her own daughter.
She spared nothing for her.
Even the robes and hat Rina wore now were not ordinary items.
‘But this child......’
As Isabel held Rina tightly, she looked at the crown of her childlike disciple’s head.
Golden hair. Golden eyes.
Isabel knew well what that meant.
‘Though she has lost her memories, they are not entirely gone. One day, Rina will leave me......’
Rina also seemed to vaguely remember her original identity.
Though she had become an orphan at a very young age and lost many of her memories in the process, some memories still remained.
‘That must be why she casually lets slip that she would like to visit the Fairy Forest one day.’
There were also such reasons why Isabel was especially secretive about Rina’s existence.
‘Even if she leaves one day, I will raise her without regrets. At the very least, so she will not be beaten wherever she goes!’
Isabel occasionally heard witches she interacted with brag about their disciples.
Whenever that happened, she scoffed inwardly.
No matter how she looked at it, Rina was far more outstanding than those children.
Perhaps because she was a royal, the child overflowed with talent.
With her interest in magic and her hard work added to that, there was no way her skill could be lacking.
She was only an apprentice witch in name. In terms of ability, she was about as skilled as an ordinary intermediate witch.
Whenever Isabel saw that, she wanted to brag about Rina so badly.
But she held herself back because she might draw resentment for no reason.
The witches who associated with Isabel only knew that she had one disciple.
They did not know her name, age, or appearance.
‘If I successfully complete this commission, I might be able to raise Rina openly.’
There was another purpose behind Isabel’s decision to take on the Witch of Ashes’s commission despite the danger and bad omen.
‘If I can handle this Shadow Core properly, it will be a great help in the war against the Empire. If I add shadow magic to necromancy...... Necromancy will no longer be treated as black magic.’
Then, Rina might not leave her.
Isabel hugged Rina in her arms tightly as her eyes gleamed.
Time passed.
Every day, Isabel and Rina observed and studied the Shadow Core.
SSSSS.
As time passed, the Shadow Core grew larger and denser.
It had become so intense that they now had to confine it within a specially made magic formation.
“Master...... I think this is far too dangerous!”
Rina cried out for what felt like the hundredth time.
“That is true. Where in the world did the Witch of Ashes find something like this?”
Isabel also stared blankly at the Shadow Core.
‘With power like this!’
Her greed continued to grow.
With this much power, she felt she could end the war against the Empire.
No, she felt she could place this entire continent beneath her feet.
THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP, THUMP.
Her heart raced.
The bastards who had always ignored and oppressed her would revere her instead.
She would show off the Reverse School’s necromancy everywhere and boast about her talented, beloved disciple Rina.
To her heart’s content!
‘In the open! Yes, if I can live openly with Rina, this much danger is nothing!’
“Heh heh heh heh heh......”
Isabel felt good for no reason.
Without realizing it, she let out an unsettling laugh.
“Master......!”
Rina’s face darkened.
Her master, who had become especially gloomy lately, felt unfamiliar to her.
Several more weeks passed.
The Shadow Core was still inside the magic formation.
But the black flames it emitted had long since begun leaking outside the magic formation.
“HEE HEE HEE HEE HEE......!”
Those black flames easily consumed Rina’s master, who had become wrapped up in desire and inferiority.
“GRRRAAAAAH......”
Isabel was no longer the master Rina knew.
She had become a Necromancer consumed by the Shadow Core.
“......Master.”
Even after seeing her master transformed into a monster, Rina did not run away.
Though Isabel had lost her reason after being consumed by the Shadow Core, she did not attack Rina.
‘Master, I will definitely save you!’
By the time the Shadow Core began consuming her master in earnest, Rina had already realized that it was too late.
There was no way to destroy the Shadow Core through magic or physical force, and whenever she tried to move her master far away from it, Isabel’s heart would begin to stop.
‘This Rosario might work!’
Instead, she took out the necklace she always kept in her Subspace Inventory.
It was the Rosario that she had supposedly been wearing around her neck when she was swept down the river.
Her master had always told her never to show the Rosario outside.
Rina had secretly studied the Rosario a little each day, hoping that it would restore her lost memories.
And she had learned a few things.
‘This Rosario contains the power of light.’
The ordinary-looking Rosario was actually a very high-grade magical device.
‘It would have been better if it had its counterpart.’
And it was currently only one half of a pair.
While her master was being consumed by the Shadow Core, Rina had researched a way to deal with the Shadow Core using the Rosario.
And now, at last, all of her preparations were complete.
“KHEH! AAARGH!”
The crazed Isabel standing before her let out a pained cry.
Her master’s silky black hair was now wildly disheveled.
To prepare for any possibility, Rina bound her master’s limbs.
Even while Rina restrained Isabel’s body, Isabel remained still.
Sniff!
Whenever she saw her master like that, the young witch shed tears.
But this tragedy would end now.
“HAAAH!”
Rina used every magic formation, magic stone, and magical device she had secretly prepared to suppress the Shadow Core.
She intended to seal the evil power of that core inside the Rosario.
FLASH!
A dazzling light burst out of the Rosario.
“AAARGH!”
Her master, whose limbs were bound, screamed in pain.
“You! Rina! How dare you do this to me! To me! I will kill you! I will kill you! You fucking bitch! You...... I!”
For the first time, Isabel showed aggression toward Rina.
The Shadow Core trapped in the magic formation also began to shake violently.
When the ritual, which had begun at night, continued until dawn—
[SCREEEECH!]
The magic formation shattered.
The Shadow Core was the victor.
“......!”
With a despairing expression, Rina looked at the mass of shadow freed from the magic formation.
“Rina......? What have I been......!”
But fortunately, Isabel’s mind temporarily returned.
[SHRIEEEEEK!]
The Shadow Core targeted Rina rather than Isabel.
A powerful will to never leave Rina alive was transmitted to both witches.
“No!”
Realizing the Shadow Core’s intent, Isabel threw herself in its path in place of the exhausted Rina, who had collapsed to the ground.
“AAARGH!”
“Master!”
Rina screamed as she watched her master.
FWOOSH.
At the same time, the Rosario around her neck glowed and began absorbing part of the Shadow Core that was heading toward Isabel.
“AAAAAH!”
But Isabel, who was struck head-on by the Shadow Core’s physical body rather than its will, did not escape unharmed.
Rina, who had received the Shadow Core through the Rosario, also suffered the aftereffect of her eyes and hair turning gray.
“Rina...... Hurry, run...... GRRRAAAAAH!”
Isabel was covered in black flames and rampaged before her disciple’s eyes.
The cottage and workshop where the two witches had lived together were contaminated in an instant.
All kinds of corpses burst out from underground and began forming a legion.
The rampaging Necromancer left the workshop, leaving her young apprentice behind.
The apprentice witch stared blankly through the workshop window at the place her master had gone.
SCREEEECH!
AAAAH!
People’s screams rode the wind and entered through the window.