Chapter 3.5: The Bloody Witch of Meldech

Well, this was one of those 'boring days' here at the Holy Palatial Gardens…

"…"

For a time now, I've been keeping myself busy, all the while the others were doing their businesses as well. They said that the 'Holy Congress' was coming, and so, there were a lot of preparations were being done to accommodate the visiting human rulers. I had nothing else to do, given that Lily kept on shooing me away whenever I tried to offer my help, even to the other servants.

Maddie was once again right beside me, loitering around in the library. I didn't know, but ever since we got unofficially engaged, she would always make time to come and see me. Not that I disliked it; however, I'm anxious that I might become a nuisance for her daily responsibilities.

We're not married yet, and I'm seeing myself as a distraction to her.

"…"

And why am I thinking of marriage? I mean, it's not that I'm not attracted to Her Holiness and all, but she's technically a child. She looked like my students from before—maybe, in Earth's reckoning, she'd be of the same age. That girl should find someone more deserving of her love, other than this broke old guy from another world.

"Ow!"

A book from the shelf suddenly flew out and hit my head, fair and square. I turned to the Saint, who was reading a book several chairs away from me.

"…" Oh boy, she's glaring at me. Must be that she read my thoughts…

I went back to my book. In the corner of my eyes, I saw her stand, close the book gently and float towards me.

She rarely uses her legs…and it would be bad for her health…

"Fuu…"

"!!!" I felt her softly blew unto my ears, which made me jolt.

"Ah right. You're ticklish on your ears." she took out a quill with ink and started writing on her hand, "I've got to remember that part; it's one of your weaknesses!"

"Err…Your Holi—"

"Hrmph?" her face contorted horribly, and she pouted, upset. Haha! She's cute to behold!

"I-I mean, M-Maddie…" I quickly pretended to correct my mistake and switched back to calling her by her preferred nickname.

"Yes?" Maddie also reverted to her sweet, loving self.

Hmm…I wonder, are these the infamous 'mood-swings' of girls?

"Uh…well, don't you think we're going way too fast?"

"Hm? What do you mean, Kuro?"

"Well, our relationship. You see, you're still way younger than me. And honestly, we just met each other one season ago." I explained to her, "Aren't you creeped out with that setting?"

"Nope." Maddie chuckled, "Why would I fear the man who repeatedly saved and risked his life for me and my loved ones?"

Oh…so she thought of me that way, huh?

But well, honestly, I saved Maddie just because I found her situation contrary to my beliefs and ideals. Suicide was wrong. Forced marriages sucked. And she's my friend, so, naturally, I'm concerned about her. Even back on Earth, I treated my students as I treat her now.

"Well, isn't that love?" Maddie, who was reading my mind, asked. Well, I'm used to that attitude of hers anyway, so I'm just letting her be. Heh, I would be very much bewildered if an hour passed without her reading my thoughts…

"Hmm…it is. But it's a friendship-type of love, not a romantic one."

"Oh, is that so?"

"!!!"

Another book flew from the shelf and nearly missed my head as it traveled with great speed. It ended up hitting the wall of the library with such force that it was lodged in it.

"Kuro, are you telling me I'm friendzoned?" the gentle, seemingly cheerful smile on Maddie's face didn't match her threatening aura.

"N-no!"

"Then, is it because I'm not that attractive to you?"

"Ha? No!" I answered that question quicker and with greater conviction than the previous one. Heck, contrary to that, I found Maddie beautiful. Her long, silver hair gave her an appearance that seemed on par with the gods. And hey, those deep, silvery-blue eyes were charming to look at.

I also love looking at her eyes, see?

Not only that, her chest and hips…well, I didn't know what to say. I just find her form heavenly to my eyes. Add Maddie's lovely fair complexion and those supple red lips…

Heck, I can't understand why someone like her chose trash like me…

"Enough!"

"!!!"

A third book once again found its mark on the opposite side of the wall, right behind me.

What did I do wrong this time?

I noticed Maddie's face, blushing. Oh right, she must've kept on reading my mind and saw all those physical assets of hers that I find attractive. Heh, wait 'till she sees the charming aspects of her personality—

"Awawawawawawa!!! I said enough!" Maddie was already in panicking and fully embarrassed mode. I could picture steam rising from her head as her face got even redder. However, that's not my concern. In her attempt to distract me, she inadvertently caused the entire contents of the bookshelf behind her to fly around.

"Ah! Maddie, calm down!" Half-amused, half-panicking as well, I tried to appease this cute girl beside me. Good thing she calmed herself before the library got chaotic beyond control.

"Pervert!" Maddie playfully stuck her tongue out at me.

Oh well, that's what you get for violating my mind's privacy.

----------

Maddie could only pout to express her annoyance at what I just did. I patted her head to ease her heart, and to make amends as well.

"You know, you may hold me in your arms…" she suggested, still pouting.

"Hmm…as much I wanted to, I can't do that just yet." I gently replied.

"Eh? A girl's already inviting you, and you're refusing her?"

"Well, I have to." I answered, before explaining, "I respect you and your family, see? It's not that I don't find you unattractive; I'm doing this because we're all alone in this library, and you're a pretty girl, so…"

"So…?"

"Haha! I'm a healthy human male, even if I'm way too older than you. Do you get the idea? Alone and in love…"

Maddie never uttered a word. She just floated with her back turned towards me. However, I could see Maddie's ears as red as a beet.

I hope she understands what I mean…it's for her best, anyway.

"O-of course!" I heard her say, "And that's the very reason I fell for you in the first place, Kuro."

Oh god, now it's my turn to blush. Not wishing to wallow in this sickeningly sweet air around us, I told her something I wanted to say before, "You know, would it be fine to you if we take our time to get to know each other well?"

"Isn't that what we're doing now?"

"Of course."

"Don't worry, Kuro!" Maddie winked at me, "It's not like I'm in a hurry to marry; I still want to do many things before settling down. I just want to make sure that you'll be mine."

"Oh…okay…" Honestly, I'm impressed by her straightforward manner of expressing her feelings. If it was me, I'd find myself dilly dallying and mincing my words before I spoke what I meant to say.

Is that from her mother as well, I wonder?

I better not let Maddie's expectations down.

----------

Honestly, that conversation I had with God remained at the back of my mind ever since that time. Questions like, "what does He mean by 'Chersea's greatest crisis'?" and, "Will there be another human-demon war?", permeated my thoughts whenever I'm alone.

Devras' face then appeared in my thoughts. That guy's the first person (male) in this world I truly had an enjoyable talk with. It would be a shame if we ended up fighting against each other.

To know what God might was talking about, I went browsing through the library's volumes of history books. Maddie was at the table where we were before, floating free as she slept.

I didn't know. Though she may be Chersea's Saint and the ultimate person concerned with this land's daily affairs, I felt like I shouldn't bother Maddie with this problem just yet. I mean, she had been through a lot of heavy stuff recently, and I wanted her mind to take a break off in the meantime.

That's why I'm doing this while she's asleep.

Ah anyway, in other related matters, the good thing was that I could somewhat understand the letters of this world even when I just got summoned. Chersea's writing was quite complex, and there were a few punctuations present in their grammar system. For example, narrative statements were usually written from bottom to top, and there were no quotation marks used to show dialogue. You'd only know that it was a character-spoken statement when the sentence was written top to bottom.

Whether this is an effect of my summoning, or magic, I don't know. What I got was that this phenomenon was convenient for me. Saved me a lot of time that would be spent on learning Chersea's writing and language.

So anyway, after looking out for the right book, I finally found the thing I'm searching for…

'Chronicles of the Demon War'

Since this thick book was the last one among a series of equally impressive volumes with similar titles, I assumed that the last one was the most recent record of the history of human-demon wars. It was heavy, so I carefully pulled it off from its spot—a relatively tall shelf, and carried it back to my table.

"…"

Hmm…the Chronicles of the Demon War, volume XI. This is the account of the most recent human-demon war, which started when the demon king, Melqart Buvor, succeeded in the infernal throne…

----------

The eleventh volume of the book about the human-demon wars was a detailed history of everything related to that topic. It chronicled its background, which was said to have started the moment the previous conflict ended, and up to the legacy it gave to all races that were involved.

"…"

Well, I'm a fast reader, but I still hadn't been able to finish the entire book. I guess it would require several sittings—so I planned to read that again sometime later.

For now, I just need to know about the summary of that conflict. Maybe I'd get some clues about that crisis God is telling me…

"…"

Alright, so if you're wondering, here's a summary of what I understood.

The most recent demon war began with the succession of the demon king, Melqart Buvor, to the infernal throne of the demon race. Upon uniting the entire demon lordships, he embarked on an ambitious plan to conquer the human realm—the first step in his revanchist desire after their defeat in the previous conflict with humanity.

Aided with a new, powerful form of magic, King Melqart launched an invasion that destroyed the kingdoms of Venn and Thelmose, as well as many other duchies and principalities that are in their path. Many humans suffered and died; either from the murderous demons or the famine and plagues that followed their destruction.

The northern countries were the most affected. They tried to ask for the help of the Empire of Chersea—the strongest human state, but their pleas fell on deaf ears. The Imperials also sought to strengthen their defenses, should the armies of the demons arrive in their borders, and the process left the northern Cherseans to their ruin.

It was at this time that in the part of the Empire nearest the armies of the demon king, the duchy of Nerfes called for the aid of the heavens. They collaborated with the Saint, who refused to evacuate and decided to stand with her loyal paladins. Under the auspices of the great god, Gaius and his consort, Arame, they summoned powerful individuals to help humanity survive the bitter struggle against the demons. These men and women are now called 'Heroes'.

The war lasted for several seasons, even with the help of the heroes. It is the most destructive and bitterest conflict ever to face humankind. Millions died, kingdoms obliterated, the lands to the further north of Chersea turned to desolate wastelands. But in the end, humans prevailed and drove the invaders back to their lands…

Ah well, it's pretty interesting to note the names of the heroes brought together by the Saint of that time.

The knight, Jimmy Nee Rubinforth (Maddie's great ancestor, and Ruro's first love).

Terebia of the Bow.

The shield-bearer Asteritt Falias.

Magus Olime Tammy Feenas.

Cassandra David, the Golden Sword of Heavens.

That last hero, Cassandra David…her name sounds familiar to me. I didn't know where exactly I heard of it, but it felt like I uttered that name before…

Anyway, long story short, the general history of the human-demon war was: before heroes—defeat, after heroes—win. A typical ending for any fantasy novel out there, I know. But well, it's on the after-effects of that conflict that I once again became interested.

Because, during the war, the heroes were supported by the duchy of Nerfes and other autonomous states of the Empire that were still functioning. The Holy Palatial Gardens also helped the heroes, and that caused a rift in the relationship of those surviving northern duchies and the rest of the Imperial Chersea.

When the war was over, the Empire was forced to grant further autonomy to Nerfes and elevated its status into a client kingdom, to preserve the Imperial authority in those parts. However, it was too late. In the next few seasons after the human-demon conflict, the northern states of the Empire rebelled and proclaimed independence from the Imperial rule.

Why would they continue to be ruled under a country that didn't care for them, anyway? And so, that led back to the present, and the geopolitical situation of Chersea, the realm of humans.

Wait, nothing was answered in my questions. This was 'humanity's greatest crisis'—at least, it was way back during those dark times.

However, what about God's words? What crisis is He referring to?

----------

Having hit a dead end, I took the book and put it back on its shelf. Well, it's not like I wasted time researching on nothing; I learned more about Chersea's past. But I guess, to answer my questions, I had to scan around the entire history section of the library, which was…uh…I guess it'd take a long while…

Who knows, I might stumble again on some interesting stuff if I did just that.

Going down the ladder that was for accessing the higher parts of the library (Chersea's history books about the human-demon war occupied a tall shelf), I accidentally missed a step and almost fell crashing on the floor. Fortunately, I grabbed hold of a sturdy part of the shelf before me, thus avoiding a painful accident.

"!!!"

However, some books that were out of their proper place were the ones that fell. It caused a muffled crashing sound, which was good, since I didn't want to disturb Maddie in her sleep.

Having gone down safely from the ladder, I picked the books that fell to place them back in their former positions. I looked into the titles just to be sure I'm arranging it to help the maid sorting it.

"!!!"

A book with blood-red letters for its title caught my attention. Singling it out, I read the words on the thick leather cover…

'Bloody Witch of Meldech'

Hmm…pretty interesting title, huh? I wonder if this is a novel, or—

Oh right, this is the history section…

So Cherseans had legends like this classified as official history. I mean, come on, the book title reeked of chuunibyou. How could someone take this seriously?

The Bloody Witch of Meldech. For several seasons, the people of Nerfes' capital city were terrorized by this horrible creature. A perfect bogeyman for the children, and the worst nightmare for the adults. This demon in the shape of a human was never easily satiated with their blood…

A demon in human form, or a human with a heart of a demon? Find out the—

"!!!"

I was shocked when the book—as heavy as it weighs—suddenly flew away from my hands. I was about to run from fright when I saw Maddie behind me.

"What? Was that you who knocked that book away from my hand?" I sighed with relief as I saw her. I almost thought it's a ghost, or something else.

"Ah yes. Was wondering about that book you're reading…"

"Oh, that? It's some weird book about a 'Bloody Witch' of something…"

"I see…" Maddie then uttered a spell that caused all the books scattered nearby to return neatly by themselves to their respective places. I couldn't help but marvel at the ability she displayed; it's just way too cool for me to handle.

"Ah anyway, Kuro, can I ask you something?"

"Hm? Sure, what is it?"

"Uhm…can you please refrain from mentioning this 'Bloody Witch' thing?" Maddie then brought the book that talked about that very topic; it seemed like she purposefully left it out with her when she returned the other books on their shelves, "I didn't know that there's still a copy of this book here; please forget anything that you read about it."

Then, without uttering a word, she burned it to ashes.

"…"

Honestly, I'm all creeped-out by Maddie's sudden change in character. Even without her speaking, I could sense that she's dead serious with her request for me to forget what I just saw.

"Kuro, please, can I count on your cooperation in this matter?"

"A-alright." I was bewildered by the sudden turn of events that I thought little of my answer.

Ah, it's not like it had something to do with me anyway, I hope…