Don't Burn Them! Even Witches Have Value!

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"What are you talking about, you small fry! This has been the territory of my Forestsea Clan since ancient times!

Look, our ancient tree is right..."

"Eh... Eh? Eh!"

The haughty elf raised her slender, jade-like hand, pointing in the direction of the towering, giant tree in her memory.

But she saw nothing.

An expression of disbelief replaced her original arrogance.

"Haha, taking a nap makes it easy to lose one's sense of direction. It should be over here..."

After letting out a few awkward laughs, she turned around and looked toward another direction once more.

But what was reflected in her emerald-green eyes was only the boundless Blackstone Mountain Range.

"...Eh?"

She gently rubbed her eyes.

Was it that her posture upon opening her eyes was wrong?

Never mind the vanished ancient elven tree.

Why was the boundless Forestsea in her memory nowhere to be seen either?

That's right, where was the Forestsea!

"Ahhhh! Where did the Forestsea go! What are these disgusting black stones and ugly-looking crooked-necked trees!"

Flora let out a sharp, explosive shriek.

"You are not allowed to insult my territory! Waaaaah!"

Flora puffed out her cheeks, and although she already looked as if she was about to cry, she still stared viciously at Lynn, who had drawn her anger:

"Damned human! What did you do to my home!"

"This is my de jure territory! What do you mean your home! I shall invoke... Waaaaah! Stop whipping! I was wrong! Although I don't know what I did wrong, I am deeply sorry!"

For some reason, Flora's expression at this moment was closer to crying from anxiety than Lynn, who was being whipped into a wild spin.

She extended the vines beneath her feet, looking down all around.

But other than those ugly human buildings by her feet and the magical beast auras scattered around, she couldn't even see many signs of living things.

But she was very certain that this place was the Forestsea.

Because she could clearly feel that on those ugly tree trunks around her, there were remnants of magic from the same source as her own.

The Forestsea was the living area built by her clan using wood magic for generations, so this connection originating from blood and even soul was impossible to mistake.

But, why, why had it become like this?

Did her clansmen fail to manage it properly?

That's right, her clansmen, where were her clansmen?

As if grasping a lifesaving straw, Flora stopped the tears that were about to overflow from her eyes.

She opened her cherry-like small mouth, crossed her arms over her chest, and began to hum a complex and beautiful melody.

The elven song drifted with the wind, spreading into the distance.

The people of Blackstone Town raised their heads, listening curiously to this obscure and beautiful melody.

The silent trees swayed in the waves of sound, as if responding to this long-lost singing.

Whenever an elf sang, other clansmen who heard it would respond with their own songs, until it became a symphony echoing in the Forestsea.

But now, there was only her solo here.

No one responded to her call.

One person's solo gradually became low and deep, until finally turning desolate, the lingering notes disappearing.

"My father once told me an ancient story.

In the days when Milan was still a kingdom, when Frost had not yet walked out of the Northern Plains, and when the Church had not yet been established, Blackstone Fief was once a boundless forest.

This place originally did not belong to demi-humans, did not belong to humans, nor did it even belong to magical beasts, but belonged to the long-lived elves.

It was said that they were aloof from the world, and would even entertain humans lost in the forest with wine brewed from fruits."

Elysia's voice broke the silence after the singing disappeared.

Standing on the vine, Flora's long ears twitched, but she did not turn her head to look at her.

"However, that was nearly seven hundred years ago.

This story was able to be passed down because it was accompanied by another story that followed closely behind.

And that is the legend of curse magic."

In widely circulated tales, the black stone was the product of a curse, and the curse came from a terrifying witch.

No one knew her life story, but the only thing that could be confirmed was that shortly after she unleashed the curse, three people crusaded against and judged her.

And these three people were the first Pope, the initial Holy Saintess of Light, and the first Grand Commander of Knights. Not long after that, they officially established the Church.

Just like that, the Church's power continuously grew stronger, until it became the colossus of the World Island today.

Perhaps out of fear of the cursed witch, the Church had always insisted on implementing the witch trial system.

This system ensured that witches either naturalized, stayed under real-time surveillance, or became acquaintances.

"How could this be... how could this be... I only took an afternoon nap."

Flora still maintained her original standing posture, but her body trembled involuntarily.

She really wanted to deny Elysia's statement and question this human's words.

However, everything perceived by her magic was proving that this story, which was mind-boggling to her, was real.

Those black stones had replaced the beautiful Forestsea.

And all traces of her clansmen had vanished into that period of history.

But what if she believed in its truth?

Everything in her memory was just like yesterday, completely different from what she saw before her eyes.

Her intellect could perhaps accept it, but what about her heart?

A ridiculous sense of dissociation assailed her overwhelmingly.

Flora felt dizzy.

And as her small body fell from the rapidly withering vine,

voices from the past lingered in her ears once more.

Warm, ordinary, and yet so distant...

"That hurt like hell. Finally put me down."

Lynn, who had once been whipped unconscious, woke up after his chin knocked against the ground.

He looked at the curled-up elven old-hag-loli, and then looked at Elysia's complex expression beside her.

After thinking slightly for a bit, he immediately gave a thumbs-up:

"Knocked her unconscious by relying on a sneak attack? As expected of my employee!"

Veins bulged on her beautiful face.

"Thud!"

After retracting the fist she had used to knock Lynn unconscious, Elysia let out a sigh:

"Let's bring her back. She's too pitiful.

Although I don't know what on earth happened here back then, I feel those guys from the Church definitely won't let her off."

"Mmm, what about the Boss?"

"Just leave him there. It would be best if a passing coyote carried him off."

"Awoo! Wolves won't eat him!"

"True, eating him would cause poisoning."

————————

"This is so unfair! You actually just left your Boss outside!"

Lynn, who was woken up by the cold in the evening, crawled back to the castle, grumbling in dissatisfaction to Elysia, who had arranged a new room and was comforting Flora inside.

"You can just treat him as air, Flora... Miss? Can I call you that?"

"...Hmph, then I will reluctantly accept..."

"Hey, don't mess up the generational hierarchy. She is an old hag of at least seven hundred years."

"Should I knock him unconscious?"

"Ugh... for some reason, after hearing this bastard small fry speak, I don't seem quite as sad anymore, but certain emotions in my heart have grown even stronger."

"That is killing intent, Miss Flora. I understand."

"Hey, don't discuss such terrifying things."

Looking at the pop-up window of a massive drop in favorability that he had grown accustomed to, Lynn wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and then cleared his throat:

"Ahem, then again, I have an extremely major doubt. I wonder if you have noticed it."

Flora was still drooping her face on the bed, while Elysia raised her eyes, revealing a "spit it out" expression.

Lynn pointed at the former and voiced the question he had originally wanted to ask, but had never had the chance to because he was constantly being whipped:

"Why are you communicating barrier-free with us, who speak Milanese!"