Chapter 18 : The Witch & The Villainess

"H-how did this happen?!"

The head of the Welford's family, Duke Henry von Welford stood right in front of the training ground with his guards, where the explosion came from.

He could see in the center of the training ground was destroyed completely leaving the only center of the part still attached there.

"Oh, isn't it Henry. How have you been in the capital?"

A familiar voice slowly closing by the man's right side, it was [The Sword Saint]–Rowan Threston his former teacher with Iris' maid Silvia Threston who's also Rowan's granddaughter.

"M-master!? Did something happen?! is Iris fine!? Where is the enemy! I shall cut them with my– Bughh!!"

Before Henry finished his words, Rowan hit his head using his fist.

"Seriously, is working in the capital have made you this dull? Calm down first and slowly observe your surrounding."

"I-i understand, sorry Master."

Rowan sighed after Henry apologized to him.

"So...did something happen Master?"

Henry asked cautiously, but Rowan and Silvi face stiffened a bit with a rather serious look on their face.

"Hmmm, it seems you have become dull Henry."

"W-what do you mean Master?"

"Silvi, you can explain everything to him."

"Understood, Ojii-sama."

Henry was confused at Rowan's words but listened intently to Silvi who started to explain what happened, from the start of her training and when everything quickly devolved into a disaster when she couldn't control her magic.

"What?! Iris have high level magic?!" Henry shouted in surprise after hearing the explanation from Silvi.

"Yes, even I don't know how did she have that much magical power."

Rowan shook his head in disbelief. He has been teaching her how to wield a sword for as long as he remembered but he never knew she was talented in magic as well.

"I see...even master doesn't know about it either, but..."

Henry looked around for a moment as if he was searching for something.

"Master...where is Iris?" He finally asked someone important, the only one who wasn't here.

Rowan and Silvi turned their head aside with a small sweat can be seen on their forehead.

"Ummmm..."

"Ojou-sama is..."

The two of them seems nervous to answer Henry's question, he was even more confused and slightly suspicious.

"Did something happen to her?!..."

Rowan stepped forwards with a stern look on his face, while Silvi looked down with complex look.

"Uhhh.. Henry, don't freak out... the truth is..." (Rowan).

******

'Father...Mother...Please help me!! [the Witch] Matilda-sama had kidnapped me!!!'

[The Magic Tower], a tall tower that have been standing for 100 years, the tower itself is filled with mystery and magic that was unknown to everyone and also the place where all the top mage resided in.

Now Iris was inside of a certain room, sitting face to face with [The Witch]–Matilda Threston on a couch.

Nervous was an understatement, she's very scared. Iris started to get teary-eyed as she thought how did things end up this way.

But Matilda in the other hand, she was making a tea on a teapot that flew around her and heating them up with fire magic while still sitting on her comfy couch as she read a book quietly.

*THUD*

Suddenly, she closed her book and turned her eyes to look at the little girl that was sitting across her stiffly.

"Now then little girl~ shall we get into the main topic."

Matilda started, placing the book down on the table.

"Y-yes?!"

Iris winced when she accidentally yelled. She blamed the tension in the air and her nervousness for that.

Matilda giggled and smiled at her amusing reaction. The tea that she made finally finished and she poured it from the teapot into a cup that she held.

"So little girl, I can guess that you have numerous questions about today's event and I have a suggestion for that."

"How about we exchange questions to one another?" Matilda suggested, sipping her tea.

Iris blinked, "Exchanging questions??"

"Yes, I will ask you one question and you have to answer them truthfully. After that you can ask me one question and I will answer you truthfully too~ how about that?" Matilda explained.

"Hmmm...then...can I have one question before we start?"

"Why, of course~" Matilda replied with a smile. "But after that, we will start with the real deal"

"Okay...so how can I know that all of your answer is the truth, Matilda-sama." Iris asked with a serious face.

Matilda widened her eyes a bit and smirked while rubbing her chin.

'Clever girl~'

Matilda suddenly snapped her finger and a magic circle started to show up underneath them.

[Notice!]

[You are now inside [Truth Shall be Answered and Lies Shall be Punished] magic zone]

Iris widened her eyes after seeing the [Notice] board in front of her.

'This is...?'

"This is a magic skill that I created myself, quite neat huh am I right?~"

"A magic skill? That you create yourself?"

"Indeed, this is an interrogation magic that I created. [Truth Shall be Answered and Lies Shall be Punished], so you have to answer it truthfully or something is going to happen to you~ but don't worry, I will answer you truthfully as well because I wasn't exempt from the magic." Matilda explained with a smirk.

Iris gulped down, feeling a bit nervous and slowly met her gaze.

"So~ do we have a deal?" Matilda asked, raising one of her eyebrows.

"Okay...I understand. We have a deal." Iris answered.

"Great~ now then let's start with my question first~"

Iris nodded as she regained her composure.

"What is your real name, little girl." Matilda asked straightforwardly.

At first Iris was about to answer it immediately but she hesitated and thought about it first before she finally came up with an answer.

"As you know, I am Iris may Welford, the daughter of the duke–Henry von Welford. But at the same time...I'm also Hanamachi Yomi, the soul of a young girl that resided inside her body."

Matilda didn't flinch nor responded towards her answer.

'Hmmm, it seems she is telling the truth since the magic that I casted didn't respond. Very interesting~"

Matilda smirked for some reason as she stared at her, making Iris a bit confused with her reaction.

"I see, now is your turn little girl~"

"O-oh! sorry...ummmm...Matilda-sama, how did you know that I was hiding something?"

"I'm using my skill [Insight] which is pretty much similar to your [Foresight] but the difference is that this skill is to [read certain information] rather than [reading the future] and well...you already get the gist of it." Matilda waved nonchalantly.

Iris nodded at her explanation.

'I see...now I understand how she managed to know about my swords and magic mastery."

"Now it's my turn, what is your purpose of coming here, Hanamachi Yomi-san~"

"Purpose?...Hmmmm..."

Iris looked down before she answered.

"The truth is...I don't even know what my purpose for coming to this world. I was sleeping in the hospital after taking care of someone that got into unconscious because of me and when I wake up I was already inside of this body."

"I see. That sounds unbelievable but knowing that my magic didn't respond again, seems like you are telling the truth."

Matilda couldn't help but accept the answer that she gave to her.

"Okay, your turn now~"

"Then....Matilda-sama, what do you think about this abnormality such as myself here?"

"Hmmm~ I think it's pretty interesting."

"I-interesting?"

"Absolutely. I know about reincarnation magic from my teacher's studies a long time ago but even so I never seen it in my life. What's more is that, you have two affinity elements inside of you."

"I-i see."

"Well then, can you tell me what kind of world you were living?"

"The world where I used to live before is different, they have advanced technology which doesn't require magic like the magic tools in this world."

"Hoho~ that's quite interesting. I would love to hear more but we'll save that for later~"

When Matilda's eyes sparkle with renewed interest, Iris can only laugh awkwardly after seeing that.

"What kind of magic is this that you are using? I mean...I never heard that there's a magic that doesn't require elemental in it." Iris asked again on her turn of questioning.

'...I mean just like [Barrier], it's just a lump of mana that has been structured to protect the user and can be fused with other kind of mana. But I never saw an option to learn this magic before...'

"Oh~ are you curious about this magic?"

"Y-yes!"

"Then can you tell me a good reason why you want to know about it?"

When Matilda asked, Iris' expression slowly darkened and looked down.

"....The truth is, I want to go back to my old world..."

"Mhm, what is the reason?"

"Because I want to go back to where my loved one lies on the bed...because of me, he got injured and went unconscious for so long...that's why I need to search the way to go back my old work."

"Hmmm...I see, is he your lover?"

Iris looked up towards her so suddenly. Her cheeks quickly getting warm and red.

"N-no! W-we're not dating...yet...well...it's more like an unrequited love...if anything...I want us to be lover..."

"Ohhh~ how cute~"

Iris shyly fiddled her index finger against each other.

"U-umm...Matilda-sama! P-please answer the question..."

Matilda laughed and smiled warmly towards her.

"Okay okay~" She chuckled, "Hmm...well, the magic that I'm using is more like my own original magic but it does still require elemental affinity. Just like you know, we have 7 affinity elements which are fire, water, earth, wind, lightning, darkness and light."

"Most of the people can only have 1 elements ever since they were born, unless you have [Mage] job or something related to magic you can either have 2 or 3 elements that can be learned as long they are compatible with."

"In your case, not only you have one rare affinity, but two and both are contradiction to each other."

"Light have a property of healing and purifying, meanwhile Darkness have property of destroying and deception."

"I-i see, so how do you know whether you are compatible or not??"

Matilda blinked in surprise for a bit. She felt like this interrogation slowly become like teaching in a class.

"We can learn about that later, after we finished our games here, little girl~"

"Eh—?! Ah...s-sorry!"

"Hahaha~ it's fine~ it's fine~"

After those explanations, Iris went deep in her thought as Matilda observed her intently.

'So I'm a rare case...then what about Ray-sama? Is he a rare case too? Since he have [Blacksmith] job yet he could do what [Magic Swordsman] can do...'

"Well let's continue, about the magic I'm using...it has two important things that it needs to be done. The first one requires affinity with darkness and secondly, it needs...a condition and a condition."

"Darkness affinity...and a condition and a condition?"

"Yes, as you already know about the property of the darkness affinity, this affinity is still unknown of how to use it and that's exactly why it's perfect to create this kind of magic. but it also requires another thing which is...a condition."

"A condition?"

"Mhm, but it's more like a rule that was set on the user itself who swore to follow it until the end. The stricter the rule is...the stronger the magic will be."

"And thus [Truth Shall be Answered and Lies Shall be Punished] was created, I set the rule by [Everyone who stood on the magic circle shall answer every question truthfully or else they will get punished] and that's...including myself."

"So...since I have darkness affinity, does that mean I can create my own magic?"

"It depends on your hardwork and understanding about magic. After all...you are a [Magic Swordsman] who excels on magic and swords~"

"I see..."

Iris somehow brightened up after hearing it, and it seems like Matilda was getting even more interested on her.

"Now then, is there anything you wanted to ask before I give you one last question?"

"Ummmm...what about that [Barrier] that you make?... I couldn't hear everyone from the outside and it seems they couldn't hear us either."

"Oh that? it's a [Barrier] that I fused with wind element that prevented the sound coming from the outside and of course from the inside as well."

"W-woah..."

Iris couldn't help but be amazed about it, she could feel that her curiosity to learn slowly rising up.

"Okay, is there anything else? I can see that you are going to ask a lot of magic stuff~ but don't worry, I shall answer them after this one last question."

"O-okay, well what is the question?"

"Don't be too stiff~ it's something simple..."

"...Are you...an enemy or an ally?"

The smile and friendly attitude on Matilda fell, replaced by a serious look. The whole room was filled with silence and it made Iris remembered that she was speaking with the legendary witch of this world.

But despite that, Iris stayed calm and looked straight into her eyes.

"I...don't know how to answer this, but I can be sure that I'm not going to be an enemy as long you all won't get into my way...because I promise to myself..."

"That if someone get into my way...I won't hesitate to kill them..."

When Iris spoke, her eyes suddenly changed color into blood red like before.

Matilda who saw this slowly smirked and suddenly laughed out loud

"Hahaha~ very good! I love those determination of yours~ and that's it! From now on you are [The Witch]'s student, Iris May Welford or should I call you Hanamachii Yomi?"

"You can call me Iris, since I still need to hide my real identity from my family."

"Very well~ Iris. Now, shall we head back to your manor–"

Suddenly...

*KNOCK* *KNOCK*!!

"Who is it?!"

Matilda shouted after the door from their room was knocked by someone. A person with a purple robe and hood came in.

"Matilda-sama!! it's emergency!! There's a raid outside of the tower!!"

"Who is the fool who tried to raid my tower!!"

"I-it's...Duke Welford..."

When they heard the name, Iris and Matilda widened their eyes.

"What?!"

To be continue...