Sophie tried her best.
No, she really did give it all she had.
To what, you ask? Keeping people safe.
If Lunetta got angry and unleashed a devastating spell on the castle, the whole building was bound to go flying. On second thought, good riddance! It’d be way too funny to see the castle leveled to nothing more than an empty lot!
Even then, however, it wouldn’t do to hurt people along with the castle. After all, the witches who’d made their way out of this depressing castle hadn’t been the type to wish for someone’s death—and neither was Lunetta. They’d been noble witches who had desperately clung to life so that they might protect their kingdom as princesses.
Sophie wanted Lunetta to let out her anger on a massive scale, and a castle like that was long overdue for a demolition, but they couldn’t let people die. Neither tears nor regret would be fitting.
Which was exactly why Sophie—under the instruction of Azuello—was now casting a defensive spell so that the people inside the castle wouldn’t be hurt, and so the aftermath wouldn’t spread beyond the castle.
On her own, Sophie had no idea how to string together the spell, nor was there any hope of her holding back a spell from an astounding witch like Lunetta. But Sophie did have a god on her side.
Despite addressing them as “the likes of humans,” Azuello was deeply fascinated by humans and bore a strong sense of duty. He was a mischievous god.
Just what sort of god was the one who had fallen in love with Sarnette?
That’s right... Sophie thought, growing a bit sad. If Livio had departed this life while they were separated, Sophie would’ve been stricken with sadness, so bitter that she might not even be able to accept his death. She might very well curse people in her longing to see Livio once more.
I’m glad Livio’s so strong, Sophie thought, opening her eyes.
Leaving the god behind had to have been painful for Sarnette as well. She had to have felt so lonely. That was why the god hadn’t been able to give up on Sarnette.
Livio can’t be the only one. I have to get stronger too.
Sophie had made up her mind that she’d make Livio happy.
Looking at the large, glowing white magic circle, Sophie burst into a grin. She was delighted to feel the magical energy slipping out of her body.
Lunetta’s incantation came to a stop.
Normally, Lunetta didn’t use incantations. Incantation was a method for improving the base level and stability of one’s magical energy. After all, Lunetta could unleash devastating spells in the blink of an eye without any incantation at all.
There was only one reason Lunetta was using incantation now: She was serious—really, really serious—about unleashing her spell.
“Master, here it comes.”
“All right!”
“Brilliant Scream!”
It was a strange sound.
An unusual wind caressed Sophie’s hair and face. It was like someone was singing, or screaming, or laughing. It was shining but heavy. It was a howling tempest yet warm against her skin.
To be fair, the castle walls and furniture and all sorts of other things weren’t being caressed—they were being blown away, one after another. Ha ha ha, now there’s a beautiful sight!
The objects flying through the air collided with Sophie and Azuello’s homemade defensive wall, broke, fell down to the ground, and broke once more.
But as the spell was one that automatically defended people, the rubble that came falling down upon Sophie and Lunetta fell to the ground as if it were being deflected before it could ever hit them. The spell had turned out quite well.
Lunetta continued to pour out her magical energy as the tempest raged on, leading more magical energy to flow from Sophie’s body in turn. Thanks to Azuello, however, it wasn’t painful in the slightest.
“This is kind of fun, isn’t it, Azuello?” she asked.
“Indeed,” Azuello replied. “The witch doth quite well for herself.”
Clearly, the two of them felt safe enough to enjoy a carefree conversation.
Glancing to the side, Sophie saw Vyce and Livio clutching their stomachs in laughter. They both seemed like they were having an amazing time.
At their feet, the king had turned pale. Oh? He’s the only one whose hair’s all whirred up like that!
“Azuello, is the king okay?”
“Naught to worry,” Azuello replied. “However, it doth appear the witch wove her spell to only destroy only nonliving things. Mayhaps she failed to recognize him as a human? Regardless, with our defensive wall in place, he shan’t die.”
“Oh, I see...”
Well in that case, there’s nothing to worry about! Sophie nodded along in agreement, as her field of vision grew wider and wider. Oh wow—just look how pretty the sky is.
Sophie and Lunetta hadn’t seen them since they’d suddenly descended into the castle, but the castle had had a gazebo and a fountain and other various amenities—all of which were getting more and more smashed by the minute. They were colliding and crashing and crumbling.
There was something immensely refreshing about watching seemingly expensive items get positively obliterated. Sophie hadn’t realized she had such a destructive urge. She was positively thrilled to discover this new side of herself.
Before she knew it, their surroundings had transformed into a mountain of stones. It was neither a figure of speech nor a poetic description—it was a simple matter of fact. It was reality.
Lunetta had done a fine job carefully smashing the ruins into nothing more than gravel. It was a testament to the artist’s tastes and techniques—or rather, it made her anger quite apparent.
The wind had stopped howling, so Sophie dropped her hands. Feeling like her legs might give way, Sophie stumbled back and found herself supported by—no, sinking into—a fluffy coat of fur.
“Thou hast done well, master.”
“Thank you...”
I just got complimented by a god!
She’d almost never been told she’d done well, so to think a god would say such a thing to her! Burrowing into the back of the god-in-bear-form sitting on the ground like a dog, Sophie couldn’t help but laugh.
“Getting angry sure does tire you out, huh?” Lunetta said, panting as she wiped away her sweat. “But I feel better now.”
“That’s right,” Vyce said with a laugh as he walked over to Lunetta, hoisting up her small frame.
With a terribly surprised expression on her face, Lunetta looked positively adorable as Vyce took her flailing hands. “Grab on,” he said as he chuckled and placed Lunetta’s small hands on his shoulders.
Sophie felt something fidgety and warm in her chest, a feeling like she almost wanted to shout. Sophie clenched Azuello’s fur. So fluffy!
“Sir Vyce,” Livio started, “this is seriously going to make things complicated, so I really do think you should watch what you’re doing!”
As he pulled his massive sword out of the ground, Livio’s eyes seemed lifeless somehow. Make what complicated? Sophie thought, tilting her head to the side. Azuello gave a gaping yawn.
“M-My castle... All those years of history...in my castle...”
Standing in a spacious field of stones, Sophie watched the people who had been scattered around, seemingly uninjured but flustered and taken aback by what had happened.
The king sputtered after sitting in silence for a bit. His hair was disheveled, and his clothes were even more ragged than they had been before.
“It’s gonna take a whole lot of money to rebuild that castle,” Vyce said. “There enough gold and treasure for the job in there?” Sneering with his typical cynical grin, Vyce looked up at Lunetta in his arms, and she puffed out her chest defiantly.