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“Come along now, Matthew. You can’t be lagging behind so much if you want to be Golden Guard.”
I try not to wince in pain as I quickly move to catch up with Lord Belos, dipping my head in apology as he gazes at me. Lord Belos has done quite a lot to assist with my bad foot by giving me a healing elixer I take every day. Although it reduces my foot pain, it doesn't get rid of it completely and I still struggle to move fast and run.
I don't dare complain about this to Lord Belos though. The last thing I'd want him to think is that I'm ungrateful for his generosity and care towards me. And if he found out that the pain interfered with my training.... I can’t bear to think about the possibility of abandonment. Life is already difficult for powerless witches like myself, but survival would be even harder with my bad foot.
Lord Belos’ voice breaks my train of thought. “Stay alert, Matthew. We’re almost to the next town. The wild witch may try to attack us.”
I nod fervently as I grip my staff harnessed with artificial magic. Lord Belos made it especially for me, but he only ever lets me use it for training when he can monitor me. Today is my first time using it on act actual mission. I can't help but be a little excited about it.
Up ahead I spot a small town coming into view. Lord Belos informed me that apparently, some wild witches have been spreading rumors about him, tricking townsfolk to turn against him. There is supposedly one of these wild witches in this town that he wants to hunt down and capture.
"Now Matthew, I need you to be on guard. The wild witch may try to attack us as we go through the own."
"Yes, Lord Belos" I respond as I gently bow my head in reverence, holding onto my staff defensively I scan my surroundings.
Shortly after Lord Belos and I enter the town, we're confronted by a short woman who looks only a few years older than me. She points her palisman staff at us threateningly and glares at us. "HEY! You're the 'Belos' who tried to kill everyone in my town! Blamed it on "wild witches" or whatever you called them! Yeah! Stay out of this town, or else! We don't want you here!"
Belos tries to capture her with his magic staff, but she quickly breaks free and dashes off I quickly try to run after her [despite the twinging pain in my foot] and use my artificial magic to block her way by knocking over a stack of barrels. However, I struggle to cast the spell gracefully as the barrels knock into a nearby child playing in the street.
When I catch up to the wild witch, she's trying to help the child get it up. It looks like the child's knee got scraped. They cry a little, but she speaks kindly, trying to comfort them. The girl's palisman, who looks like a little bear, also tries to comfort the child.
"Wild witch! Stay where you are!" I say to her as I point my staff at her.
She doesn't flinch and instead smirks at me. "You're with the Belos guy, aren't you?" she scoffs. "You know I meant what I said about him killing everyone else in my town, right?"
"Why should I believe you?" I say demandingly, trying to keep my cool.
I notice how the little kid clings to her arm. If a child isn't afraid of her, than maybe she's not really evil? No - Belos said she's a wild witch. Wild witches try to trick other people. But how exactly would she trick me - by being kind to an injured little kid?! That doesn't make sense.
I sigh and lower my staff as my head spins with conflicting thoughts. "I... I don't know what to believe. I'm sorry to hear your town got destroyed but... so did mine. Wild witches destroyed my town and killed my parents and without Lord Belos' help, I would've been left for dead..."
Her expression changes to one of guarded sympathy. "You know there's other people besides him that can help you, right? You don't have to stay as his little minion, doing his dirty work and all that."
I raise an eyebrow. Her voice has genuine pain in it and her eyes look sad and tired. She probably also lost her family in the attacks on her town. I wonder how she's been surviving with her town gone.
I glance at the bear palisman. It looks at me gently, and I can't help but smile a little. How kind...
"There's a few of us survivors trying to work together to-"
"MATTHEW!" I jump out of my skin as I hear Lord Belos approach me. The wild witch quickly helps the child escape before he gets closer.
"Ah, good work. You've captured her. Now put an end to her, Matthew. Show me you're worthy of your staff."
I look at the young woman whose name I don't even know as I process Lord Belos' words. He wants me to kill her, but she doesn't even look afraid. In fact, she doesn't even want to fight back, her palisman still sitting on her shoulder. Despite this, she has a spark of resistance in her eyes.
"You can't make him do this to me, Belos. I know what you've been doing and I'm not going to let you kill any more of these townsfolk!"
Foolishly, I glance at Lord Belos, but he gives me a harsh glare back.
"Do it now, Matthew."
"S-sir... I... she..."
"Don't tell me you've fallen prey to wild witches!!! You are naive and hopeless if you believe the words of a witch you barely know over the advice of your uncle who saved you! Now END HER!"
My entire body is trembles as I glance back and forth between Lord Belos and the wild witch. My head spins... I don't know what to do. But with Lord Belos growing angrier by the second, I realize I am also trapped just like this wild witch. Even if I could make a mad dash for it, Lord Belos is incredibly powerful and would easily catch us. Then he might end both of us...
Seeing as there is no other option, I am my staff at the wild witch, clos my eyes, and shoot a sharp beam of magic through her. I hear her body fall to the ground.
For a moment, Lord Belos says nothing. I hear footsteps and then a crack; he harvested the magic from her palisman. I don't open my eyes; I refuse to look at her dead body and her palisman's empty shell.
I then feel Lord Belos put a hand on my shoulder. I flinch in response. "Come now, Matthew. Let's head back." His voice seems more sly and smooth than usual.
I give a nervous nod as I turn around, finally open my eyes, and follow Lord Belos back to the caravan. I refuse to look back, even though the urge to is strong.
Shortly after we've left the town, I hear a loud explosion that startles me. I jolt around to see the town is now bursting into flames. Lord Belos shakes his head in disgust.
"Can't trust those Wild Witches, Matthew. Look what they did."
I try to shake away thoughts about how girl said to me about Belos being the one to cause the explosion that killed everyone in her town as we continue to walk back to the caravan, but then I'm reminded of something else she said. She mentioned a "group of survivors" that are trying something. Maybe some sort of alliance?
Despite knowing practically nothing about the "group of survivors" she was trying to tell me about, I make sure not to forget about it, in case the opportunity arises. The thought that Lord Belos' might be my only hope brings me a tinge of comfort.