Chapter 14 : Chapter 14
Chapter 14 : Witch
After returning to Room 207 of Silver Fir House, the midday sunlight streamed through the window, filling the room with warmth. The air still carried the clean scent left behind by the morning’s tidying.
Ryan walked straight to the desk and set down what he was carrying. He casually placed the notebook with the shoe print on its cover to one side. He did not sit down immediately. Instead, he stood by the window, his gaze resting on the lush green courtyard outside. Yet there was no real focus in the depths of his gray-blue eyes. His thoughts had clearly already drifted elsewhere.
Emerald Courtyard...
The name circled in his mind.
In the original game, that place had been a gray-zone location that only gradually surfaced in the middle stages of the story. On the surface, it was a high-end social club and art trading venue. In truth, it was one of the hubs controlled by the Emerald Merchant Guild, connecting imperial nobles, merchants, and even foreign powers through the exchange of intelligence and利益. It also seemed to have some connection to that old bastard from the Velt family.
In the original plot, it was only when the protagonist’s group investigated a series of mysterious incidents related to the Seven Deadly Sin Witches that they followed the trail and uncovered this hidden thread, ultimately exposing the larger conspiracy behind the Emerald Merchant Guild.
And now, because of the original owner’s father, Viscount William Velt, and the dubious accounts tied to that idiot Karl’s master’s family, this hidden line had entered Ryan’s view far earlier than expected.
Trouble really does come looking for me on its own...
Ryan rubbed his brow.
He had wanted to keep a low profile and simply survive these next few years, but the warnings brought by the Eye of Probability and the mess left by the original owner seemed to be pushing him, step by step, toward the edge of the storm.
If he wanted to investigate the forces behind his father, perhaps he could start with this “Emerald Courtyard” and the Wood family connected to it. But that would undoubtedly be extremely risky.
Just as he was weighing the possible dangers, a faint rustling came from behind him. He did not need to turn around to know it was Cosette.
The little girl was carefully placing the other notebooks she had been carrying onto the shelf. Then she picked up a clean cloth and began painstakingly wiping at the dirty notebook’s cover, trying to lighten the shoe print. Her little face was drawn tight, and her lips were pressed into a thin line.
Ryan withdrew his gaze from the window and turned around. His eyes fell on Cosette’s cautious posture, on the way she seemed to want to shrink into herself. He was silent for a few seconds before speaking.
“You cannot wipe that off.”
Cosette’s hand jerked, and she nearly dropped the notebook.
She turned around, lowered her head, and said in a tiny voice, “I-I am sorry, Master... I-I am too useless...”
“That is not what I meant,” Ryan interrupted. He walked to the chair and sat down, then looked up at her. “I mean how you acted at the logistics office this morning.”
Cosette’s body stiffened, and she lowered her head even further.
“When I made that contract with you, what did I say?” Ryan’s tone was flat, as though he were asking an extremely simple question.
Cosette tried hard to remember. In a small, hesitant voice, she murmured, “M-Master said... you would give me food, and a place to stay, and protect me... and I-I had to follow Master and listen to Master’s words...”
“And what else?” Ryan pressed.
“...A-And what else?” Cosette raised her head a little in confusion, her hazel eyes full of bewilderment.
Were those not the terms of the contract? At the time, she had been too panicked to remember anything beyond the most essential conditions for survival.
Looking at the blank, foolish expression in her eyes, Ryan sighed inwardly. It seemed saying it once had not been enough. He would have to hammer it into her until it became instinct.
“I said,” he continued, slowing his speech slightly to make sure every word was clear, “that you are now a maid of the Velt family. My personal property, Ryan Velt’s.”
His gray-blue eyes met Cosette’s directly. The look in them was not severe.
“That means that aside from me, no one has the right to point fingers at you, criticize you, or, much less, lay a single finger on you. Your conduct represents my dignity. Your weakness makes others think that I am weak enough to bully. Do you understand?”
Cosette felt flustered under his gaze. She nodded instinctively, then hurriedly shook her head, her little face scrunching together. She clearly did not fully understand the logic behind it, but the thought that she might represent her master’s dignity, or make her master seem weak enough to bully, filled her with enormous pressure.
“I... I understand, but... Master, I-I could not beat him, and I did not know what to say...” Her voice was helpless and even carried a sob. The familiar sense of powerlessness from that morning rose up in her again.
“Who told you to fight him?” Ryan sounded almost helpless. “With your strength, if you tried to go head-on against a large idiot like that, are you hoping your bones break faster?”
Cosette choked on her words and stared at him blankly.
“Use your head.” Ryan tapped his temple with a finger. “You are my maid. When you run into a mad dog like that, first, say my name. Second, rebuke him loudly and tell him to get lost. Third, if he does not listen, turn around immediately, leave, and come back to tell me.”
He spoke at an even pace, as though teaching an extremely simple set of instructions.
“Just like today. When he asked whose servant you were, you should have straightened your back and clearly said again, ‘I am Master Ryan Velt’s maid.’ If he questioned you, you should have asked, ‘What right do you have to question my master’s arrangements?’ If he moved closer, you should have stepped back and said loudly, ‘Stay back! Approaching without permission will be treated as a provocation against the Velt family!’ Then you leave immediately and ignore him. Dogs like that always bully the quiet and fear the loud. The more you endure, the further they will push.”
Cosette listened in a daze.
Those reactions were completely unfamiliar to her. They almost overturned the logic she had lived by for more than ten years. When faced with the strong and with malice, hiding, enduring, and making herself small had always been the only way to survive.
Straighten her back? Rebuke someone loudly?
Could she... really do that?
“B-But... what if he is not afraid? What if he really does hit me?” she could not help asking. That was the deepest of her fears.
“That is why I told you to leave immediately and come back to me.” Ryan’s tone made it sound perfectly obvious. “You are my maid. If someone bullies you, naturally I will deal with it. Just like today.”
He glanced at the stained notebook and added, “Of course, that assumes you did not start the trouble yourself. If you get bored, pick a fight with someone, and then come back crying after being beaten, I will only think you deserved it.”
Cosette hurriedly shook her head hard. “I would not! Master, I absolutely would never go looking for trouble!”
“Then remember what I just said.” Ryan leaned back in his chair and picked up another clean textbook from the desk, as though ready to end the conversation. “A maid of the Velt family can be foolish, can temporarily know nothing, but she cannot be some punching bag anyone can walk up and kick around. If it belongs to me, then unless I say otherwise, other people should not even entertain the thought of touching it. You are included in that.”
Cosette stood there, trying to absorb his words. Her heart was pounding, but not out of fear.
So... she did not always have to be afraid?
So... with the name of her “master” behind her, she could try refusing and rebuking malicious people?
So... being protected, being counted among what belonged to him, was not only responsibility and restraint, but also a kind of permitted strength she could rely on?
“I... I understand, Master.” She took a deep breath and tried to stand a little straighter. Her voice still trembled, but there was something new in her eyes. “I will do my best to remember. Next time... next time I definitely will not be like I was today!”
Ryan’s words had clearly lifted Cosette’s spirits, but they also sent his own thoughts drifting for a moment.
As he looked at this little girl, whose eyes were now shining and who had temporarily forgotten the grievance of the morning, an almost forgotten yet critically important setting from the game suddenly resurfaced in his mind.
Witch.
This seemingly soft, foolish, timid little maid, who appeared to have nothing going for her except her face, was in the original game actually the mid-story character that countless players both loved and hated—the Witch of Envy, Cosette.
In this world, a Witch was almost synonymous with both overwhelming magical power and the potential for catastrophe.
They were not some separate race, but human women born with magical potential several times, dozens of times, or even more absurdly greater than ordinary people.
That potential was like a sleeping volcano. Once awakened by some trigger, their magical talent would begin growing at an exponential rate so astonishing that, in a short time, it could reach heights ordinary mages would struggle to attain even after decades of training.
And among them, the special witches who bore the names of the Seven Deadly Sins possessed potential and danger far beyond that of ordinary witches.
So... the one at my side is actually a walking humanoid strategic-grade investment? Or a time bomb?
The thought felt almost absurd to Ryan. Over the past few days, he had been so busy calculating survival odds from the Eye of Probability and dealing with Cosette’s eating, dressing, and literacy problems that he had nearly forgotten the most fundamental setting of all—Witch.
Awakening.
That was the true key.
But the trouble was there as well. A witch’s awakening was not the result of controlled cultivation. It was more like a random trigger, or the unlocking of talent catalyzed by extreme emotion or a significant event.
In the original game, the awakening process of each witch was never described in detail. Most were mentioned only in passing, or used as the explosive turning point in some crisis event. Many witches went their entire lives without ever awakening, existing only as ordinary people with somewhat higher magical reserves. But once awakened, if they could not control the sudden surge of power, they were extremely likely to suffer magical rampage, cause destruction, expose their identities, and invite fear, rejection, or even hunting.
The kind Witch from the original story who infiltrated the Church, protected the young Saintess, and was ultimately burned alive was a living example of that. When she controlled her power perfectly, no one noticed anything. But the moment she used her full strength to save someone, she was instantly branded a heretic.
Do I really have to wait until she is in mortal danger, or until I face some great crisis, before she explodes and awakens?
Ryan frowned. The risk was too high. Pinning his hopes on an uncontrollable crisis trigger was nothing less than gambling with his life.
Maybe... I can guide it?
A thought surfaced.
If awakening was related to magical potential and emotion, then would systematic magical education—especially basic training in sensing and controlling one’s own Mana—serve as a key that could open that door more gently and more controllably?
At the very least, it might give her a much better chance of staying conscious and controlling her power when awakening did come, instead of turning into a destructive source of disaster.
And from the most practical angle possible, investing early in the future Witch of Envy, even if only by laying a foundation, was absolutely an unbelievably worthwhile survival investment.
Of course, the risks of that investment were equally serious.
Countless thoughts collided and weighed against one another in Ryan’s mind. In the end, he made his decision.
Looking at Cosette’s brightly shining face, he poured the necessary bucket of cold water over her.
“From today on, aside from daily cleaning and the tasks I assign you, your main duty will be learning to read. I will set your progress for you.”
As expected, the moment she heard “learning to read,” the light on Cosette’s face dimmed instantly. She even unconsciously pouted a little, revealing a trace of silent misery. Those twisting lines were, to her, more troubling than carrying heavy things.
Ryan took in the little expression completely. He found it faintly amusing, though his face remained serious.
“When you can more or less recognize the common characters and understand basic instructions and simple passages,” he continued, changing direction, “I will start teaching you magic.”
“Magic?!” Cosette jerked her head up, her hazel eyes going round. Instantly, an even brighter light burst from them.
She had spent only a single day in a magic academy, yet she had already directly felt what the word “magic” represented—mystery, power, and a lofty distance that made people look up in awe.
The young masters and ladies around her talked about magic. The distant towers shimmered with magical radiance. Even the lighting and heat preservation in the dining hall relied on basic magic arrays. And she, a maid who had still been struggling in the slums yesterday, might also have a chance to touch that power?
“I... I can learn magic too?” Her voice wavered with excitement. Most of the servants she had ever seen—including the well-trained ones from this morning—were ordinary people with strong bodies and nimble hands. Servants who could use magic were exceedingly rare, the kind of “high-end feature” only the greatest noble houses could afford.
“Mm.” Ryan nodded. “However...”
He deliberately drew out the word, watching Cosette’s face tense again at once.
“The condition is that you learn your letters properly. Magic theory, chant recitation, rune drawing, potion formulas... which of those can be done without literacy? If you are an illiterate fool who cannot even properly write your own name, then stop dreaming right now and resign yourself to being an ordinary maid who can do nothing but clean.”
That cold dose of reality was full of ice shards, but when it landed on Cosette’s burning heart, it only ignited an even stronger fighting spirit.
“Yes, Master!” she nearly shouted. She straightened her still-slender back with all her might, clenched her little fists tightly, and her eyes burned with determination unlike anything before. “I will study my letters properly! I definitely will!”
For the sake of learning magic, and for the sake of becoming someone more useful to her master, someone who would not stand there helplessly being bullied like she had that morning, she would force herself to memorize those complicated characters even if it killed her.
Watching the little maid switch in an instant from wilted misery to blazing determination, Ryan’s lips curled almost imperceptibly. Good. As long as she had motivation.
“Remember what you just said.” He picked up his book and prepared for the final bit of review before the afternoon lecture. “Go get your literacy textbook. When I come back this afternoon, I will test your memory of the first ten characters.”
“Yes, Master!” Cosette responded brightly. She turned and dashed into her little room to fetch the children’s primer Ryan had bought for her at the inn earlier, the one with simple pictures matched to words. Her steps were light, as though the gloom of the morning had already completely vanished.
Ryan watched her energetic back for a moment, then withdrew his gaze and lowered it again to the specialized text in his hands.
Guiding a witch’s growth was no different from raising a dangerous but beautiful flower on the edge of a cliff.
But now that he had already picked up this seed, it was better to try shaping and pruning it himself, guiding it to grow in a direction beneficial to him, than to spend every day anxiously waiting for the moment it might explode.
The first step would begin with the most basic things: literacy and Mana perception.
As for how far she could go, and how he would conceal any abnormalities that might emerge...
He would deal with it one step at a time.
After all, he was already playing an ultra-high-difficulty survival game. One more variable hardly seemed like something worth worrying over. If anything, too many debts stopped mattering.
He turned the page of his book. Outside, the sunlight shone just right, filling the room with brightness and warmth. From the little room, there was already the sound of halting, stumbling, yet unusually earnest recitation.