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 at 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—"

*BAM*

"Bughh—!!"

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

"Seriously, is working in the capital have made you this dull? You need to calm down first and observe your surrounding closely." Rowan reminded him.

Henry blinked for a moment, then he sighed, "I-i understand, I'm sorry Master." Then he apologized to him.

Rowan sighed, "Seriously, if you are that worried about her, you need at least to put guard for her." He suggested.

"Y-yes, but...she keep rejecting me when I offer her that." Henry sulked a bit.

"Then, how about I let [him] work for her? Since he is also my [disciple]." Rowan offered.

"[Him]? Is it alright for you to decide it?" Henry asked.

"Of course, since he is my [disciple] and he need a new experience after all." Rowan replied.

"That's true." Henry spoke while he look displeased.

Rowan looked at him, "So, are you gonna reject your master's gift??" While he leaking out his aura around him.

"N-no! Of course not! I am happy! Hahaha!" Henry replied quickly.

"Then that's good." Rowan huffed and smiled.

"But Master,...what did exactly happen here?" Henry asked cautiously, but Rowan and Silvi face stiffened a bit with a rather serious look on their face.

'Does he not know? Or he pretend to ask that?' Rowan thought while looking at him.

But Rowan realised it by glancing at his disciple's expression, which was the same as his, confused by what had happened.

'Interesting, it seems your daughter hid it pretty well about her magic circle and her talent.' Henry smirked when he discovered Iris's talent.

But when he looked at Henry again, he clicked his tongue, "Tsk, it seems you have become dull, Henry."

Henry could tell that his master looks disappointed at him, "W-what do you mean Master?"

"Silvi, you can explain everything to him." Henry then turned around to observe the scenery again.

"Understood, Ojii-sama." Silvi respond and approached Henry.

Henry was confused at Rowan's words, then he began to 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.

But more importantly.

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

"Yes, it appears that your daughter has always been talented in both magic and swords; I am aware that she is a [Magic Swordsman], but at this age?"

"She is a genius among geniuses I ever met, I don't even know, how did she managed to hide these from you all." Rowan explained while he 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.

Henry felt confused, "I don't know either....one day she just change, from being a kid who always throw tantrum and being cute."

"Into a calculative girl who know how to be smart and strong."

"Now..." Henry looked around to look at the destroyed scenery.

"To think she have this talent in early age...I am a failure as a father for not noticing it." Henry commented about himself.

Rowan looked at him and sighed, "Being a parents is hard indeed, but there's one thing that you can learn from."

"What is it, master?" Henry replied.

"Knowing that your child will grow up to be an amazing person one day." Rowan answered him.

Henry widened his eyes and smiled, "That is...indeed true." He replied.

Then he soon realized it, and immediately look around again as if he was searching for something.

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

"...?!"

Rowan and Silvi were surprised about that question then they 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..." Then finally, Rowan gave his answer to him.

******

At the same time.

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

They currently at [The Magic Tower].

[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 as 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." Matilda spoke to her.

"Y-yes." Iris replied.

"But with the little amount of time I had, I don't think we can finished it in one day."

"So I would like to suggest a method for that." Matilda suggested.

"A [method]?" Iris repeated it.

"Yes, 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."

"Of course, the same as you, you can ask me any one question and I will answer you truthfully too~ how about that?" Matilda explained.

"Hmmm...then...can I have one question before we start?" Iris immediately raised a question before they 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] domain magic]

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

'This is...?'

"This is a magic that I created myself, quite neat, am I right?~" Matilda explain.

"A magic? That you create yourself?" Iris replied.

"Indeed, this is an interrogation magic that I created for myself."

"[Truth Shall be Answered and Lies Shall be Punished], a domain magic that allow someone to answer everything truthfully."

Iris felt complexed after hearing the name, 'The name is too long.'

"But if they broke the rule by answering a question with a lie, they will be punished by this magic~" Matilda teased with her smirk.

"—?!" Iris stunned for a moment, as she felt nervous from this. 'Such magic exist?'

"But you don't have to worry, because I will also answer you truthfully, because within this domain, I wasn't exempt from the magic." Matilda explained with a smirk.

Iris gulped down, feeling a bit more 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~" Matilda smiled as she finally start this game.

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." Iris introduced herself truthfully towards her.

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 it is your turn little girl~" Matilda finally replied.

"O-oh! O-okay." Iris was flustered that she didn't even questioned about her not being the real Iris.

"Then...Matilda-sama, how did you know that I was hiding something?" Iris asked her the question that she have been meaning to ask.

Matilda smiled, "To answer that, I am currently using my unique skill, it's called [Insight]." She answered.

"[Insight]?" Iris repeated.

"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.

'So, it is similar to [Status Appraisal]?...now I understand how she managed to know about my swords and magic mastery.' Iris thought of it.

"Now it's my turn, what is your purpose of coming here, Hanamachi Yomi-san~?" Matilda asked her a question this time.

"The purpose?" When being questioned like that, 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 I know who got into accident because of me."

"Then, when I wake up I was already inside of this body." Iris explained.

"....." Matilda observed her closely, soon she sighed,

"I see. It does sounds unbelievable to hear it."

"But knowing that my magic didn't respond again, it seems like you are telling the truth." Matilda couldn't help but accept the answer that she gave to her.

"Okay, your turn now~" Matilda spoke.

"...?" Iris was confused again, because she didn't ask nor surprised by her words.

Then, she decide to ask, "Then....Matilda-sama, what do you think about this abnormality such as myself here?" A question about herself to her.

Matilda smiled, "Hmmm~ I think it is pretty interesting."

"I-interesting?" Iris was surprised by her statement.

"Absolutely, knowing that there are many things that I didn't know is one of the best things in my life."

"Knowing the unknown, that's what my teacher told me." Matilda explained.

"I became a [Mage] not because I was forced to, but because I want to know...the truth about everything and hidden from this world."

"I know about reincarnation magic from my teacher's studies a long time ago but even so, I never seen once in my life." Matilda added.

"Does that satisfied your answer?" Then she asked back to Iris.

"Yes." Iris responded, admiring Matilda's aptitude to stay organised after hearing her strange story.

"What's more is that, you have two affinity elements inside of you, and the rarest one, but that will be another question." Matilda muttered while smiling.

"I-i see" Iris replied as she felt something bad going to happen if this continue.

"Well then, can you tell me what kind of world you were living?" Matilda decide to ask.

"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." Iris answered her truthfully.

Matilda was bewildered by her story, "Hoho~ that's quite interesting. I would love to hear more but we'll also 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...' Iris was amazed by the structure of the magic around them.

"Oh~ are you curious about this magic?" Matilda replied.

"Y-yes!" Iris answered her.

"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..." Then she answered.

"Mhm, what is the reason?" Matilda asked again.

"Because I want to go back to where my loved one lies on the bed."

"Because of me, he got injured and went on coma for so long...that's why I need to search a way to go back my old world." Iris explained.

"Hmmm...I see, is he perhaps..."

"Your lover?" Matilda got curious of this person.

But, when 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..." Iris answered her while she shyly fiddled her index finger against each other.

Matilda would smile, "Ara~ how cute~"

"U-umm...Matilda-sama! P-please answer the question..." Iris tried to change the topics.

Matilda laughed and smiled warmly towards her, "Hahaha~ my apologies, it just I love to tease the young one's love~"

"But to answer your question, it is quite difficult for your level." Matilda gave her the answer.

"W-why is that, Matilda-sama?" Iris asked.

"Because, the magic that I'm using now is my own [Original Magic]." Matilda answered.

'[Original Magic]? I never heard of those.' Iris thought of it.

"[Original Magic], is a magic that you created it by yourself, a magic that doesn't require any logic or anything."

"A magic that you forge with wide imagination just like your little magic that you did." Matilda pointed it out.

'[Dark Pulse] is [Original Magic]?' Iris thought of it.

"Although this magic still require elemental affinity." Matilda explained.

"As you already know, in this world, we have 7 elements that represent all kind of [Skill] and [Magic]."

"[Fire], [Water], [Earth], [Wind], [Lightning], [Darkness] and finally [Light]." Matilda explained.

"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...