With everyone’s eyes on her, Scroll took fifteen minutes longer than before to quiet her mind and catch hold of that faint, hazy fluctuation of magic. When she opened her eyes, she was already inside the cramped Archives.
Phyllis materialized beside her in the appearance of a young witch. Centuries had left no mark on her body, and though Phyllis had lived far longer, standing there she looked like Scroll’s junior.
“What should we do next?” Scroll asked.
“Leave it to me.” Phyllis gave a confident smile, pushed open the iron door, and walked out.
Scroll followed.
The raucous, magnificent city opened before her again.
Phyllis scanned their surroundings and quickly fixed her gaze on a young man walking toward them. She took Scroll’s hand, crossed the distance in a few strides, and stepped into his path.
“Hello.”
He stopped. He had been looking at a small rectangular device in his hand; now he raised his head in confusion. When their eyes met, confusion became open shock. “Er—um, can I help you?”
“Sorry, I’ve lost my phone and can’t reach my friend. Could you—”
“I get it. Is a hundred dollars enough?” He had already fished his wallet from his coat pocket and was holding out a red bill, his voice carrying a note of sympathy. “I don’t mind being scammed, but whoever put you up to this—” he glanced at their clothes—“made quite an effort.”
Phyllis’s smile froze. “I just want to borrow your phone to make a call.”
He stood there for a moment. Comprehension, then embarrassment. He held out the small device, apologizing in a rush.
Phyllis shrugged and dialed.
Scroll did not know what to say. She had no clear picture of what was happening—only that the street pressed against her from all sides with its strangeness, a wall of it. Several people nearby had already noticed them and were staring openly, some of them with something that was not mere curiosity. It brought back a particular kind of memory: her sisters, exposed in public during the years of the Witch Cooperation Association.
“Don’t worry.” Phyllis had noticed. “All they can do is watch. Stare back and they’ll look away faster than you’d believe.”
At that moment, the small device beeped.
“Hello, is this Phyllis?”
Roland’s voice.
The pressure in Scroll’s chest released at once. This was still the Dream World. He was not far from them. The strangeness remained, but it no longer pressed. Even the stares lost their teeth.
She drew a slow breath and looked back at the onlookers. They glanced away immediately, suddenly interested in other directions.
The street seemed to start moving again.
“Yes, it’s me. Miss Scroll is right here.” Phyllis spoke into the phone, consulting something on the screen as she did. “The address is—yes, that’s what the map shows. Only two kilometers from your estate? Good. I’ll wait here, Your M—Brother.” She ended the call and tossed the device back to its owner. “Thanks.”
“N-no problem.” He hesitated, then, with the tentative air of someone taking a gamble: “Um—could I add you as a friend?”
Phyllis produced a string of numbers without apparent thought.
He recorded them as though she’d handed him something precious. Face lit, he bowed a farewell and left.
“That small device you borrowed,” Scroll said. “Could that be the wireless telephone—the one that can carry a voice over thousands of kilometers—that His Majesty often misses?”
“Yes. In this world, technology has advanced to the point where everyone carries one. You can speak to others on it, locate yourself, search for any information you need—it’s become nearly impossible to do without.” Phyllis glanced at her. “It’s also why remembering someone’s number is enough to reach them at any time. If there’s a person you’d rather not speak to, you refuse the call—or give them a wrong number.”
“I see.” The things His Majesty had said came back to her with new clarity. No wonder he had claimed that if they were both in the Dream World, finding each other would be simple.
“You adjusted more quickly than I expected.” Phyllis’s smile carried a hint of approval. “As expected of the Witch Union’s mentor.”
Scroll shook her head and said nothing.
She knew where her steadiness had come from.
He was already clearly a king, and he still talked about protecting his subordinates—as though that were the natural order of things, as though a king’s protection of those beneath him was simply what kings did. How long before he becomes a proper king? The thought moved through her with a kind of helpless fondness.
She had told herself, since the Witch Cooperation Association came under protection, that she ought to be the one standing in front, shielding the King. And yet here she was, still on the receiving end of that protection. Not much of a record.
But if everyone was this way—if no one outran the others—perhaps that was not the worst arrangement.
Let’s maintain the status quo a little while longer.
“Hey, look at those two.”
“That’s a medieval robe, aren’t they cosplaying?”
“They’re quite pretty, actually.”
“Celebrity level, easily—”
The whispers rose and faded around them. Scroll found she no longer minded them.
About ten minutes later, a smooth, rounded vehicle—white, low, built in a shape that had nothing in common with anything Scroll could name—pulled to the curb before them.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.” Roland leaned out from the driver’s window.
“Get in.” Phyllis opened the door and drew Scroll in after her.
The car slid into traffic and vanished, leaving a cluster of staring onlookers behind.
“Our luck is good.” Ling turned from the passenger seat to face them. “If Your Excellency’s territory’s link with the Dream World is only two blocks from the apartment, Faldi’s flying insects can put that whole area under continuous surveillance.”
Faldi nodded. “I swept the site already—no new signs of Fallen Evil activity. Safety can be assumed for now.”
“Good.” Roland’s voice was easy. “Then, Scroll—as the first witch to enter the Dream World under her own power—how does it feel?”
Scroll ran a hand along the seat behind her, then tapped the window. “So this is what a car is like in the Dream World.” The glass was smooth and cool. “The seat is softer than a couch. It’s so fast and so quiet—hundreds of times better than a steam-powered truck. If only we could build something like this…”
She noticed, belatedly, that Roland’s smile had gone slightly rigid. The three God’s Punishment Witches had pressed their lips together in identical expressions of restrained amusement.
“Um—did I say something wrong?”
“No, ahem—that day will certainly come.” Roland cleared his throat. “Anyway. Your Majesty, where are we going?” Scroll watched the city slide past the glass. “Weren’t we going to test the Realm of Mind?”
“We can do that later. Haven’t you noticed?” He did not turn his head. “The clothes you’re both wearing are drawing rather a lot of attention. Phyllis has a change in the back—she can manage. But we don’t have anything for you yet.” A beat. “The most important task right now is getting you a proper outfit.”
Clothes
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
With everyone’s gaze on her, Scroll took fifteen minutes longer than earlier to
calm her mind and catch hold of that hazy fluctuation of magic in her mind.
When she opened her eyes once more, she was already inside the cramped
Archives.
Then, Phyllis materialized by her side in the appearance of a young witch.
Centuries of time had not left any mark on her body and even though Phyllis
had lived far longer than Scroll, Scroll seemed to be Phyllis’ elder instead at
that moment.
“What should we do next?” Scroll asked.
“Leave it to me.” Phyllis revealed a confident smile, opened the iron door
and walked out of the room.
Scroll hastily hurried after her.
The raucous, bustling, and magnificent city once more appeared before her
eyes.
Phyllis glanced around her and very quickly locked her eyes on a young man
walking in their direction. She grabbed Scroll’s hand, directly strode over,
and blocked the young man’s way.
“Hello.”
Hearing her greeting, the man stopped, moved his gaze from a small box in
his hand, and raised his head in confusion. When their gazes met, the man’s
expression turned into shock. “Er… Um, can I help you?”
“Sorry, I’ve lost my phone and can’t contact my friend, can you—”
“I get it, is a hundred dollars enough?” The man quickly fished out his wallet
from his coat’s pocket and proffered a red bill before her. At the same time
there was a hint of pity in his voice, “I don’t mind being scammed, but
looking at your outfit, whoever put you up to this made quite an effort.”
Phyllis’s smile froze. “No, I just want to borrow your phone to make a call.”
The man stood there for a moment before he realized that he had committed a
faux paus. Embarrassed, he handed over the small box in his hand whilst
profusely apologizing to the duo.
Phyllis shrugged and dialed a number.
At this point Scroll didn’t know what to say as she still had no idea what was
happening. She could only pretend to be calm and stand in her spot despite
panicking inside. This place was too different to the world that she was
familiar with, the alienness of everything was like a suffocating wall
pressing against her. Several people around them had already noticed them
and unreservedly ogled them, some with malicious intent among them. It
brought back memories of how her sisters had been exposed in public during
the era of the Witch Cooperation Association.
“Don’t worry, the only thing they can do is watch.” Phyllis seemed to have
noticed Scroll’s uneasiness and turned her head to the side to reassure her.
“All you have to do is glare at them back and they’ll recoil faster than anyone
else.”
At this moment, the small box beeped.
“Hello, is this Phyllis?”
It was His Majesty Roland’s voice.
Scroll relaxed instantly.
This place was the Dream World after all, and His Majesty wasn’t far from
them.
The sense of unfamiliarity was still there but it was no longer stifling. Even
the obvious stares upon them no longer brought her any embarrassment or
discomfort.
Scroll inhaled deeply and stared back at the onlookers. Just as Phyllis said,
they all immediately avoided her gaze and furtively looked in other
directions.
The flow of people on the streets seemed to begin to move again.
“Yes it’s me, Miss Scroll is right by my side. The address is… Yes, that’s
what it says on the map. It’s only two kilometers from your apartment’s
estate? That’s great. Yes, I’ll wait for you here, Your M—Brother.” Phyllis
ended the phone call and threw the small box back at the young man.
“Thanks.”
“No—No problem.” He faltered for a long time and then hesitantly asked,
“Um, can I add you as a friend?”
Phyllis casually responded with a string of numbers.
The man recorded it down as if he had been given a treasure. With his face
shining with delight, he bade farewell to the two and left.
“The small box that you borrowed just then, could that be the wireless
telephone that can communicate over thousands of kilometers that His
Majesty often misses?” Scroll asked.
“Yes, the technology in this world is already at the stage where everybody
has a wireless telephone. Not only can you talk to others on it, you can also
know your location and search up information—it’s almost impossible to do
without it now,” Phyllis explained. “It’s also because of this that as long as
you remember their phone number, you can contact another person at any
time. If you encounter a person you don’t want to talk to, just reject them
directly or give them a random phone number.”
“So that’s how it is.” Scroll said in revelation. It was no wonder His Majesty
said that if they were both in the Dream world, they would be able to reunite
very quickly.
“But you have adjusted a lot quicker than I thought, as expected of a Witch
Union mentor,” Phyllis said with a smile.
Scroll lightly shook her head but didn’t reply.
She knew where her courage came from.
Even though he was already clearly a king, he had not improved at all—for a
king to say that they would protect their subordinate, this was probably only
something His Majesty Roland would do. Really, just how long will he take
to become a proper king?
Seriously, what was she doing? Ever since the Witch Cooperation
Association received protection, she should have been standing in front,
guarding the King, but up until now, she was still accepting the King’s
protection, this was hardly a qualified performance of her.
But… if everyone was like this, it didn’t seem too bad.
Since it’s like this, then let’s just maintain the status quo a little while
longer.
“Hey hey, look at the two over there.”
“That’s a medieval robe, are they cosplaying?”
“Speaking of which, they’re really quite pretty!”
“They’re on the level of celebrities…”
Now and then whispers would come from around them, but Scroll no longer
felt any uneasiness.
About ten minutes later, a smooth, round vehicle stopped in front of them.
“Sorry to have kept you waiting.” His Majesty poked his head out from the
window of the driver’s seat.
“Get on.” Phyllis opened the car door and pulled Scroll into the car with her.
Afterwards they drove off under the disbelieving gazes of onlookers and
disappeared into the traffic on the main road.
“Our luck is really pretty good.” Ling, who was sitting in the passenger’s
seat turned her head around. “If Your Excellency’s territory’s link with the
Dream World is only two blocks away from the apartment, then Faldi’s flying
insects will be able to subject that region under 24 hour surveillance.”
Faldi nodded. “That place had already been cleaned out once, there are
currently no new traces of Fallen Evil activity, safety can probably be
assured.”
“That’s good then.” Roland laughed. “Then as the first witch to enter the
Dream World with her own power, Scroll, how do you feel?”
“So this is what a car is like in the Dream World?” Scroll felt the seat behind
her and knocked the car window a few times. “The seat is softer than a
couch. It’s so fast and drives so silently, this is hundreds of times better than
steam-powered trucks… if only we could create such advanced
transportation tools.”
For some reason, she suddenly felt that Roland’s smile had frozen a little and
the other three God’s Punishment Witches had pursed their lips together, as if
suppressing something.
“Um… did I say something wrong?”
“No, ahem… that day will surely come,” Roland said, clearing his throat.
“Oh yeah, Your Majesty, where are we going now?” Scroll said, observing
the changing scenery outside, “Weren’t we going to perform a test on the
Realm of Mind?”
“We can talk about that later. Haven’t you noticed? The clothes you two are
wearing are attracting too much attention,” Roland said without turning his
head. “Phyllis’s clothes are in the car and she can change later, but we
currently don’t have any clothes that suit you. So the most important job right
now is definitely to get you a new set of clothes!”