Book 14 Chapter 43
Episode 46
“Sorry, but that’s as far as you go.”
I felt anger that the stage where I would shine had been taken from me, but at the same time, I received immense inspiration.
That’s as far as it goes.
Yes, that’s it. Someday, when a similar situation to today arises, I will utter that line. Add to [The Strongest Mage’s Bucket List].
“May the spirit of dancing flames now burn all impurity on the land and above it, sweep away, oh fire of the bright flame.”
The spellcasting of witches and mages might appear similar, but their principles are entirely different.
This is because witches draw power through communion with spirits.
Spirits are a kind of atom belonging to nature, with spirits existing for each attribute known as the four great elements, and witches wielded this power.
“What, Friede?”
While mages cause phenomena themselves through interpreting providence, witches induce such phenomena using spirits – that’s the difference.
“Friede, you say?”
Therefore, a witch’s sorcery, though less powerful than a mage’s magic, allowed for more meticulous and precise control.
“Friede, the priestess of the Fire Dragon?”
Just like this very moment, where the flames incinerate all magical beasts and poisonous energy, yet inflict only minor damage on nature like trees or rocks.
“Burn them, burn them all!”
“Fight, fight, fight!”
Particles of flame floated in the air, chattering. Those were spirits, looking exactly thirty times smaller than Sval.
“Gyung!”
But when Sval suddenly bluffed in front of them, the spirits began to tremble in dismay.
“It’s the Spirit King!”
“Attention! Attention!”
But their obedience was short-lived, as a bird appeared.
This looks somewhat familiar…?
Golden feathers, a red beak, and an elegant harmony of crest… it was the legendary divine beast, the Sun Parrot. A divine beast that could shroud itself in flames.
It was twice as large as the Sun Parrot of some Cecile I saw during the Svalaragh subjugation battle. Meaning, it was an adult.
“Get lost, get lost, don’t touch my subordinates and get lost.”
“Gyung-gyu-gyu-gyu-gyu-gyung!”
The owner of those spirits and the Sun Parrot, in other words, the witch who had appeared from above, landed next to us.
“Don’t call my name so casually, you ugly things.”
Her hair, fluttering as she dismounted from her broom to the ground, was a radiant red, as if woven strand by strand from flames.
Above all, that distinctive wide-brimmed hat was precisely the pointed hat famous as a "witch's hat" in the world.
The witch put a pipe in her mouth and smiled sweetly. The Sun Parrot returned and landed on the pipe.
“Of course, you’re an exception, Rista. Because you’re pretty.”
“Friede!”
Rista jumped up in joy and called out that name. It seemed like the first time I’d seen Rista so happy.
“Long time no see, Rista. Your personality, so easily deceived by trashy men, is still the same.”
“Trash, trash, trash, same.”
“What, what, what, when and how did you get here with Pipi? We were supposed to meet in the Red Mountains.”
As if to prove she was from a sun-drenched republic, Friede’s skin was bronzed.
Is this the priestess of the Fire Dragon?
The only being in the history of witches to be acknowledged by the Fire Dragon Bel’dakidun.
“As you know, something serious came up. I ended up here while going around catching escaped prisoners.”
Friede’s genius had been proven by becoming the youngest witch ever, then the youngest priestess ever.
The priestess, a leader of the theocracy of the Republic, was the only one in an era! Or were there two?
Anyway, it means she’s the strongest.
Meeting the strongest in another field, I once again thought how well I had done to follow Rista.
When such a powerful priestess glanced at me, Rista pulled my shoulder forward as if to introduce me.
“This is Rin, the mage we recruited for our party! How is she? Cute, right? So cute, isn’t she?”
I prefer being called strong rather than cute. The witch stared at me intently, then blew a thick cloud of smoke right into my face.
“Cough, ack, cough-cough, my eyes, my eyes hurt! Are you crazy, ma’am?”
The reason was this:
“Kyahahaha! As the priestess of the Fire Dragon, I have to breathe out a bit for a first greeting. How’s my breath? Amazing, right? Supreme? Great? Doesn’t it just make respect well up for my dragon-like appearance?”
“Amazing, supreme, great, Friede is the best.”
“Kyah, Pipi is just so smart.”
“Kyah, Kyah, Kyah.”
From the moment of that first meeting, I knew.
This woman is crazy.
I immediately understood why Rista held my eccentricity in high regard. It must be because without my level of passion (madness), one couldn’t last a single day in this crazy party.
“Then, since I’m [The Strongest Mage], I should probably use a 5-star magic spell right from our first meeting.”
“Oh, you want to give it a try?”
Just as I was constructing a serious magic circle on my palm, the Sun Parrot, called Pipi, landed on my head.
“Pipsqueak, pipsqueak, pipsqueak, you’re no match for Friede.”
Then Sval, who had been hiding in my arms, popped out and bravely confronted the Sun Parrot, puffing himself up as much as possible like a pufferfish!
“Gyugyut, Gyuwooooh!”
Seeing that, the chain-smoking priestess raised an eyebrow.
“A spirit? What, I’ve never seen a spirit with such immense spiritual energy before? Where did you bring this from?”
But the Sun Parrot was confident.
“Bring it on, bring it on, bring it on.”
As the Sun Parrot menacingly enveloped itself in flames… within that heat, my hair shriveled and dried, turning into strange curly locks.
In the midst of all this, Sval did nothing. He really was utterly useless.
Seeing my hair shriveling and curling, the priestess burst into roaring laughter, even spitting as she did so.
“Well done, Pipi! You’ve immediately established the pecking order by showing that you’re the cutest in our hero party! No matter how cute, they’re no match for our Pipi, right?”
The audacious Sun Parrot returned to the crazy witch’s shoulder.
“Kyahat, Kyahat, Kyahat, Pipi’s pecking order established.”
The witch rubbed her cheek against the Sun Parrot’s head, and the Sun Parrot happily rubbed its head back.
Yes, that’s how we met.
Friede and Pipi… my lifelong friends and companions in the hero party, who journeyed together until the end of this turbulent era.
Ah, even now, if I listen closely…
I feel as though I can hear Friede laughing, "Kyahat," and Pipi's chirping, mimicking her laughter.