Chapter 459: Toward the Witch’s Place

After that meeting, Kouhei and Yuuna were the ones who remained at the hotel.

The others had already gone out to begin their respective tasks, leaving the hotel considerably quieter than it had been earlier.

"Kouhei-kun," Yuuna said.

Kouhei turned toward her.

"Right."

With that, both of them began getting ready to head toward the place where they were supposed to meet someone.

The meeting they were about to attend was important enough that Kouhei wanted to make sure they approached it properly. They were not simply going there for a casual conversation, after all, and the person they were going to meet was someone whose knowledge could potentially have a major impact on their situation.

While they were getting ready, Yuka suddenly appeared again.

"Can I go with the two of you?" she asked.

Kouhei and Yuuna both looked toward her.

Yuka continued before either of them could respond.

"You are going to meet the Witch of the Black Rose, aren’t you?"

Kouhei and Yuuna looked at one another for a moment.

Then they both looked back at Yuka.

"Why do you know that?" Kouhei asked.

Yuka gave him a small smile.

"Well, I just guessed," she said. "But if you think about it, isn’t it obvious enough? You are searching for a cure for Kozue, so naturally, you would ask someone who is powerful and knowledgeable, wouldn’t you?"

Kouhei remained quiet.

Her reasoning was annoyingly straightforward.

Yuka continued speaking while keeping that faint smile on her face.

"And the only person I would think you would need information about the cure from is the knowledgeable witch who lives in this country, don’t you think?"

Kouhei stared at her for a moment.

He honestly had no idea what he should do about this.

Allowing Yuka to accompany them could be useful, especially since she apparently knew exactly where they were going and had already figured out the reason behind their meeting. At the same time, Kouhei did not want to involve more people than necessary if doing so could potentially complicate the situation.

The decision was not something he could make casually.

"Besides, I have some sort of bond with her," Yuka added. "So I think it would be better to have me along so I can help make your meeting with her go smoothly."

That changed things somewhat.

Kouhei looked at Yuka again, considering what she had just said.

If she genuinely had some kind of bond with the Witch of the Black Rose, then bringing her along could make the meeting considerably easier. They were going there because they needed information about a cure, and if Yuka already had a connection with the person they needed to speak with, then having her present could prevent the conversation from becoming unnecessarily difficult.

Kouhei still had some doubts, but he could not deny that Yuka had a point.

At the very least, having someone who already shared a connection with the witch could give them a better chance of getting the information they needed. The last thing Kouhei wanted was to reach the meeting only to discover that they had somehow managed to make things difficult before they had even asked the important questions.

For the moment, Kouhei simply looked at Yuka while weighing his options, trying to decide whether bringing her along would be the right choice.

Considering everything they were dealing with, having another advantage available to them was probably something they should not casually throw away.

***

Kouhei had absolutely no idea what Yuka was thinking at the moment, but honestly, he figured it was probably better to let her come along with them anyway. Having someone who already knew the person they were going to meet would naturally make the conversation much easier, especially since neither Yuuna nor Kouhei actually knew anything about the witch beyond what they had been told beforehand.

Even if Yuka did not end up being particularly helpful, having her around still felt like the safer option.

At the very least, she could probably stop them from accidentally saying something stupid.

Kouhei was not entirely convinced that this was a guarantee, considering the people involved, but it was better than walking into a witch’s house completely blind and hoping everything somehow worked out.

Right now, the three of them were standing in front of a massive house.

Calling it a house almost felt like an understatement.

The building was enormous, with a large property surrounding it and a gate that looked like it belonged to some wealthy noble family rather than a person who had decided to live quietly away from everyone else. The front garden stretched farther than Kouhei had initially expected, and the sheer size of the place made him wonder just how much space one person actually needed.

Apparently, the answer was quite a lot if that person happened to be a witch.

According to the information they had received, this was the place where they were supposed to find the witch they had been looking for. Kouhei had expected something a little more mysterious, perhaps an old mansion hidden deep inside a forest or some creepy-looking tower surrounded by fog, because that was generally the kind of place that seemed appropriate for a witch.

Instead, they had arrived at what looked like an absurdly expensive residence.

Kouhei stared at the building for a while before looking toward Yuka.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" he asked, glancing back at the massive house.

"Quite sure," Yuka answered without hesitation.

Kouhei looked at the house again.

Somehow, that answer did not make him feel any better.

Before they actually met the witch, however, Kouhei thought it would probably be useful to clarify something about witches themselves, since the word could easily cause some misunderstandings.

Witches were not demons.

Despite the name and the reputation surrounding them, witches were actually humans who had acquired the ability to control mana. Their abilities were somewhat similar to those once possessed by the Saints, who were also known for being able to manipulate mana.

Saints had historically been recognized for their ability to control mana, and that power was the reason some of them had become famous for performing what people considered miraculous acts of healing. Their healing abilities were not necessarily the result of some mysterious divine intervention, but rather came from their ability to manipulate mana in ways that allowed them to repair injuries and restore damaged bodies.

Technically speaking, if those people had not used their powers to help others and perform acts that were considered good deeds, they probably would not have been called Saints in the first place.

The title was connected to how they used their abilities.

Witches and Saints were therefore much more similar than most people might initially assume.

Both were humans who could control mana, and both had abilities that could potentially be used for a wide variety of purposes. The major difference was how they chose to use those powers.

Saints generally used their abilities to help people, while witches became known for using their abilities to cause harm, pursue their own goals, or perform things that society considered evil.

That difference eventually turned the two groups into mortal enemies.

Their hatred for one another had apparently existed for centuries, and their conflict had become such a significant part of history that there had even been a war between them.

The conflict was known as the Saints-Witches War.

Interestingly enough, the war itself was not even recorded in modern history.

For something that had supposedly lasted hundreds of years, there was surprisingly little reliable information left behind about what had actually happened during it. Most of what remained were scattered accounts, incomplete records, rumors, and stories that had been passed down for generations.

Kouhei found that part particularly strange.

A war lasting hundreds of years should have left behind mountains of records, yet somehow, the Saints-Witches War had become almost like a forgotten Chapter that someone had torn out of history and then thrown into a furnace.

Kouhei looked toward the massive entrance gate again.

"Do you think she will even allow us to enter?" he asked, staring at the enormous house as though the building itself might suddenly answer him.

"Don’t worry about that," Yuka said casually.

She sounded surprisingly confident about the situation.

"I don’t think the witch would refuse to welcome two candidates for Demon Lord."

Kouhei slowly turned his head toward her.

"That is supposed to reassure me?"

Yuka gave him a look that suggested she genuinely believed it should.

"It should, actually."

"Somehow, I am still worried."

Yuuna, who had been standing nearby, quietly looked between the two of them.

"Considering who we are meeting, being cautious probably isn’t a bad idea," she said.

Kouhei nodded.

"That is what I was thinking."

The conversation ended there because something else suddenly caught their attention.

The gate was opening.

Kouhei blinked and looked toward it.

Nobody had called out to the house.

Nobody had knocked.

Nobody had even touched the gate.

It simply began opening on its own.

The large metal gate slowly moved aside, making a low sound as it opened the path toward the property.