Making Magic: The Sweet Life of a Witch Who Knows an Infinite MP Loophole Volume 7 E-Book

Aloha Zachou

• Herausgeber: J-Novel Club
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Serie: Making Magic: The Sweet Life of a Witch Who Knows an Infinite MP Loophole
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 300

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

The stampede is over, and the souls lost outside space-time have been purified. After spending a year helping out at a refugee camp, Chise can finally head back home to the Wasteland of Nothingness (now renamed the Witch of Creation’s Forest). However, her respite is short-lived. Three thousand refugees of many different races move into the Forest all at once, so it’s only a matter of time before issues start to rear their ugly heads. Can Chise really keep the peace between all of her neighbors, new and old?

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Chapter 0: Christmas in the Other World: The Witch’s Influence

Chapter 1: The World Trees Pierce the Sky

Chapter 2: To the Demons, Strength Is Everything

Chapter 3: The People under the Witch’s Protection

Chapter 4: The Witch’s Boarding School

Chapter 5: The Lamias’ Cosmetics

Chapter 6: The Multi-eyed Demons’ Magic Eyes

Chapter 7: The Minotaurs’ Farms and the Oni-Kin’s Alcohol

Chapter 8: The Mysterious Villages

Chapter 9: The Centaurs’ Duties

Chapter 10: The Complexities of Resident Affairs

Chapter 11: Leriel’s Present

Chapter 12: Chise, the Rookie Dungeon Master

Chapter 13: Material Absorption and New Installations

Chapter 14: The Truth behind the Strange Fruits

Chapter 15: The Ancient Dragon’s Lecture

Chapter 16: The Tropical Island Dungeon

Chapter 17: Secret Protectors of the Witch of Creation’s Forest

Chapter 18: Presents from the Witch of Creation

Chapter 19: Selene’s Family’s Visit

Chapter 20: Recovering Knowledge and Culture from the Ruins of a Fallen Nation

Chapter 21: The Death of Loved Ones and the Birth of New Lives

Chapter 22: The Simplest Yet Hardest Request

Chapter 23: Preparing for the Winter Solstice Festival

Chapter 24: The Last Performance of the Festival

Chapter 25: The Witch Practices the Dance

Chapter 26: The Witch’s Medals

Chapter 27: Afternoon at the Festival—the Martial Arts Tournament

Chapter 28: Night at the Festival—the Offering Dance

Chapter 29: Growing Land

Chapter 30: Parting Gift

Chapter 31: A Transformation Spell and a Slightly Older Me

Chapter 32: Looking for a New Destination

Extra Story: The Changed and the Unchanged

Afterword

Color Illustrations

About J-Novel Club

Copyright

Landmarks

Table of Contents

Color Images

Chapter 0: Christmas in the Other World: The Witch’s Influence

As the end of the year approached, Teto and I headed to a certain country far from the Witch of Creation’s Forest to take care of some personal business. As we strolled down the streets, I took in the festive ornaments adorning the surroundings.

“Look at this crowd. It reminds me of the Christmas season back in my old world,” I commented.

“Teto always gets super excited when it’s this time of the year!” Teto chirped.

The streets sparkled with Christmas lights crafted from magic stones, and the shops were bustling with products for the Winter Solstice Festival, which was the talk of the town. Couples and families filled the streets, their laughter echoing in the crisp air.

“I remember when every region used to have its own winter traditions. But nowadays, everyone celebrates the Winter Solstice, huh?” I noted.

Teto nodded. “It’s everywhere now!”

About a hundred years ago, a bunch of merchants all around the world worked together to try to boost sales during winter by coming up with the Winter Solstice Festival—a bit like Valentine’s Day in my previous world. Before, the winter celebrations were all religious events to offer prayers to the gods, spirits, and the deceased, but they had gradually evolved into more secular forms, losing their spiritual essence as they homogenized across the planet.

“Look, Lady Witch! A Winter Solstice Bear!”

The Winter Solstice Bears were pretty much this world’s equivalent of Santa Claus. According to a legend from a specific region, brown bear spirits emerged from the forest during the Winter Solstice season. They would leave basic necessities—such as food, firewood, and medicinal herbs—in front of the houses of good-natured people to aid them in surviving the winter. Simultaneously, they would confront and thwart any unsavory individuals attempting to harm the forest. Thus, parents always told their children to behave well if they wanted to be on the Bears’ “nice list” and get presents for the Winter Solstice.

“I still can’t believe your bear golems became the Winter Solstice mascots.”

Because, of course, they had; the Winter Solstice Bear legend had first emerged in one of the regions surrounding the Witch of Creation’s Forest. Apparently, the bear golems Teto had created to monitor and look after the forest would occasionally sneak out to the nearby villages and offer them supplies during particularly harsh winters. As the years passed, the legend spread worldwide.

“They’re always super excited at this time of the year!” Teto said.

“Well, that’s not too surprising; they get to play with all the kids, after all.”

This whole Winter Solstice Bear tradition got reverse-imported back to the Witch of Creation’s Forest; during winter, the bear golems donned red hats and clothes, wandering through the forest to distribute presents to the children.

As we strolled through the town, immersing ourselves in the Winter Solstice Festival ambience, I noticed something familiar on the screen of the magic communication device down the street.

“That’s one of our World Trees, isn’t it?” I said.

“Whoa, it looks pretty from there!”

Now that magic-powered cameras were available for purchase anywhere in the world, people could take pictures of anything and everything. We didn’t allow outsiders deep into the forest, so I assumed someone must’ve taken that picture from right outside. Hundreds of years had passed since we planted those trees, and they were now so large one could see them clearly even from afar. Judging by the scenery, it appeared the photo was snapped during winter: the World Trees stood tall, dominating the leafless forest, their lush leaves emitting a faint glow, with what seemed like colorful orbs dancing around. These were actually spirits, attracted by the World Trees’ rich mana.

A voice emanated from the device. “This spot near the Witch of Creation’s Forest is a particularly popular sightseeing attraction during winter. You can admire the beautiful, lush World Trees as well as the natural festive lights created by the spirits gathering around them. And if you go there on the day of the Winter Solstice, you’ll even get to attend the Stargazing Festival—an event that has been celebrated for centuries in the Witch of Creation’s Forest! I highly recommend you choose it as your next winter date or sightseeing spot!”

Magic communication devices had evolved significantly since I first created them, with the latest version functioning much like a TV.

A little smile graced my lips as I listened to the anchor’s explanation. “The Stargazing Festival, huh? When was the last time we attended?” I muttered.

“Around a hundred years ago, maybe?” Teto said.

“Oh, you’re right. We stopped going when it turned into a holiday tourism thing.”

The Stargazing Festival we organized every winter in the forest had been around for way longer than the Winter Solstice and used to be a completely separate thing. At first, it had just been an occasion for everyone to gather together and eat good food around a bonfire while doing a purification dance to guide the souls of the deceased to the sky. However, the bigger the population of the forest got, the larger the scale of the festival became, and the more traditions were born out of it. For instance, the inhabitants started installing evil-repelling bells on their front doors and ringing them on the day of the Winter Solstice to pray for good health for the upcoming year. Over the years, this became a tradition of the Winter Solstice Festival as well.

As I reminisced, a wave of nostalgia swept over me, and I pondered how people celebrated the Stargazing Festival nowadays. “Maybe we should go this year,” I suggested.

“Good idea, Lady Witch! Teto wants to go check it out too!”

We hadn’t attended the Stargazing Festival in a hot minute; it seemed that there was always something coming up around this time of the year and, being immortal and all, we always told ourselves that we’d go “next year.” But it had been so long since the last time we went, I was curious to see how it had changed.

“All righty, let’s make sure to keep our calendars open for the Stargazing Festival this year.”

“Yep! Teto’s sooo excited to spend one more winter with you, Lady Witch!”

We resumed our walk, wandering through the lively streets that were abuzz with anticipation for the Winter Solstice Festival. We did this every year, experiencing all of the new and subtle changes in the atmosphere.

This is the story of how the witch came up with a festival to guide the dead to the sky, as per a certain goddess’s request. It is also the story of the witch and her guardian preparing to resume their travels and entrust the land to their people.

Chapter 1: The World Trees Pierce the Sky

A year had passed since we finished relocating the refugees who had lost their homes in the stampede. After taking in three thousand refugees, the Wasteland of Nothingness was officially renamed the Witch of Creation’s Forest. The once-barren land now possessed all of the necessary resources to sustain all of these people.

“Lady Witch, how is the barrier?” Teto asked me as I put a hand against the large barrier surrounding the region.

“It’s much weaker than before. At the rate things are going, it should disappear within the next thirty years or so.”

That barrier had been erected by the gods to cut the land off from the rest of the world. With our trees producing so much mana—which was then consumed by the demons and mythical beasts, multiplying its density—the forest had a much higher mana concentration than the rest of the world. This led to the great barrier slowly getting weaker and weaker, to the point where some of its functions had already stopped working. The only thing it did now was ward off uninvited individuals, but thanks to Teto’s ever-growing bear golem security net, even that might soon become unnecessary.

“Let’s head home, shall we?” I said.

“Roger!”

I straddled my staff and had Teto sit behind me, and the two of us soared into the sky. Looking down, I could see wild critters darting through the trees in the forest. Most of them had either migrated from the other side of the barrier voluntarily or were the descendants of the animals we had brought in when we were trying to rebuild the wasteland’s ecosystem. Different areas of the forest were separated by rivers, springs, and plains, with the occasional settlement visible in the clearings. In contrast, the center of the region was densely forested, with one enormous tree standing out conspicuously among the others.

“It’s really gotten huge, hasn’t it?”

“All of the World Trees have merged together!” Teto chirped.

That’s right: in the one year we spent in the refugee camp in Ischea, the forest had undergone a drastic transformation. Many years ago, I had planted World Tree saplings to generate mana in the wasteland and built the forest around them. However, in the past year, the World Trees—which were already much taller and thicker than the regular trees—had somehow fused together into a colossal, one-hundred-meter-tall tree. On top of that, the ratatosks and other mythical beasts had helped even more World Trees sprout, and these too had merged together, creating several more giant trees.

“World Trees sure have a weird growth process, though,” I noted. Well, this was a fantasy world—I supposed I shouldn’t be too surprised.

“It’s so impressive how big it got!”

I nodded and said, “Let’s stop here for a bit.”

“Roger!”

I halted my staff right above one of the highest branches of the World Tree at the center of the forest, which was the biggest and oldest of all the World Trees, and the two of us hopped down. The branch was so thick it didn’t even budge under our weight. Sitting down, I took in the forest landscape. I hadn’t stopped here for any particular reason other than to enjoy the scenery with Teto by my side.

Most creatures never flew or climbed this high, so it was just the two of us up there; the only sound came from the leaves rustling in the wind. We stayed there for a bit, taking in deep breaths of fresh forest air and admiring the landscape in silence, when all of a sudden, a growl came from Teto’s stomach.

“Teto’s a bit hungry,” she confessed.

“I can tell, yeah,” I said with a little chuckle. “Let’s head back to the mansion, then.”

And so we did just that.

“Welcome home, Master, Lady Teto,” the mechanoids greeted us as soon as we walked in.

“Hi guys, we’re back!” Teto chirped. “What kind of snack did you make for us?”

“We have prepared custard pudding using milk from the gaurens, eggs, and honey,” one of the maids explained.

“Master, there are some reports for you to go through regarding the newly established settlements. We have put them in the office,” another one told me.

I nodded. “Noted. I’ll go take a look at them later.”

My workload had skyrocketed ever since we took in the three thousand refugees. While I could technically foist it all onto Beretta and the other mechanoids, I refused to do that. I wanted them to have time to rest and find hobbies to keep themselves occupied, just like regular humans. After all, they had evolved to become real people—I could hardly treat them like soulless machines anymore.

To alleviate the burden on Beretta’s and the others’ shoulders, we took in children above a certain age as apprentice servants and had them work in the mansion. Of course, we made sure they received a proper education. This went smoothly: not only did Beretta and the other maids have a lot more free time on their hands now, but the kids excelled.

As the two of us strolled through the mansion, we stumbled across a group of children receiving instructions from one of the maids.

“Ah, welcome home Master, Lady Teto!” a little girl said when she spotted us.

“Hi, Naia. You’re not calling us ‘big sis Chise’ and ‘big sis Teto’ anymore, huh? Pity.”

“Teto’s a bit sad.”

“U-Uh... I’m sorry!” the girl exclaimed, looking flustered.

Naia, the little devilkin girl we had met at the refugee camp, was now working alongside the other kids at the mansion. She always had the funniest reactions, which made me want to tease her even more.

“No, I’m sorry, I was just messing with you,” I said, opening my magic bag and taking out a little pouch. “Here, have some candy and get back to work.”

“Come, everyone! We have candy for you!” Teto announced to the other children.

We resumed our walk to the kitchen, handing out candy to all the kids we saw along the way. I really hoped that we’d manage to raise these children into knowledgeable workers able to look after the different settlements in the forest, as well as exchange with the outside world.

We swung by the kitchen to get some custard pudding and headed to the office. Beretta was already there, taking care of some office work along with a few maids, demons, and other refugees who had volunteered to help us with all of the paperwork. All of them had experience working on administrative tasks and were pretty helpful to have around.

“Welcome back, Master,” Beretta greeted me. “What brings you here? Today is supposed to be your day off.”

“Hey, Beretta. It’s snack time, so we brought you guys some pudding,” I said.

“Time for a break!” Teto added.

As soon as the words left our mouths, the office staff looked up from their desks and shot pleading looks at Beretta.

“Understood. You went out of your way to bring it to us, after all. You may take a break, everyone,” she told the staff.

“Thank you very much, Miss Beretta!” they replied in perfect sync as they stood up and started preparing some tea and plating the pudding.

A smile curled on my lips as I watched them.

“Master, Lady Teto, please have some tea,” one of the maids offered, setting down two cups in front of us.

“Thanks. I’m digging in!”

“It looks so yummy!” Teto chirped.

I brought my spoon to my lips, and my eyes instinctively closed in delight when the smooth yet rich custard flavor hit my tongue. Beside me, Teto was in a similar state. The slightly bitter taste of the caramel mixed with the sweetness of the vanilla custard was nothing short of heavenly. Whenever my mouth got tired of the sugary taste of the pudding, I took a sip of black tea to reset my palate, ready to savor the flavors once again. Needless to say, I devoured the sweet treat in the blink of an eye.

“That was delicious,” I commented before turning to Beretta. “Beretta, how are the new recruits doing?”

“Are they handling their work well?” Teto asked.

The office staff froze mid bite and shot anxious looks at Beretta. I could understand why; after all, if Beretta told me she was dissatisfied with their work, why would I keep them around? This must’ve been the thought that raced through their minds as they waited for Beretta’s answer.

The tense atmosphere lingered until, finally, Beretta spoke. “They are doing well. All of them have their own strengths and weaknesses, and we cannot entrust them with important matters just yet, but I believe it should not take long for them to get there.”

As soon as they heard Beretta’s response, some of the office staff let out quiet sighs of relief, while others discreetly smiled and rejoiced.

“I am especially impressed by Lucas over here,” she said, gesturing at a young human in his midteens. “He is highly educated and handles his tasks with remarkable efficiency.”

I was a bit surprised to see a young man like him working in the office, since most of the human refugees we had taken in were either babies or seniors. Lucas was still in the middle of eating his pudding; when he heard Beretta mention his name, he looked up at us with surprise and hurriedly shoveled the rest of his snack into his mouth.

“Slow down, you’re not in trouble.” I smiled to reassure him. “Well then, keep up the good work, everyone. Careful, though: you’re not allowed to slack off or get cocky just because Beretta complimented you, all right? She’ll notice for sure.”

“Y-Yes!” the office staff all replied at once, finishing off the last of their pudding to recharge their batteries before resuming their work.

“The maids told me we’ve received reports from the new settlements; can you take them out for me?” I asked Beretta.

She nodded and grabbed a thin stack of papers on one of the desks. “Here they are.”

I quickly scanned all of the documents. The forest was undergoing a period of transition as all of the newly arrived refugees fumbled around, trying to get used to their new lives. It seemed that things were going pretty smoothly—at least according to the reports. The corners of my mouth lifted up into a relieved smile.

“Lady Witch? Are you happy with the reports?” Teto asked me.

“Very. With the way things are going, we’ll soon be able to fully implement the council system we’ve been envisioning.”

I was technically the ruler of this land, but I had spent the past year away from home and helping the refugees, leaving all of the administrative tasks to Beretta and the others. And to be completely honest, I didn’t have the slightest interest in ruling over anyone; all I wanted was to keep on enjoying my sweet, relaxed life with my friend. For that reason, I came up with the idea of forming a council with representatives of all of the forest’s different races and having them take care of the administrative tasks.

“Reign but not rule,” I muttered.

We had already started laying the groundwork for the council, which would have Beretta and the other maids at its core. This would lift a huge weight off of my shoulders, and I was looking forward to it.

However, just as that thought crossed my mind, there was a ruckus outside of the mansion’s main entrance.

“We request an audience with Lady Witch!”

Chapter 2: To the Demons, Strength Is Everything

“What’s that?” I asked, rushing over to the window along with Beretta and Teto.

Meanwhile, the office staff were all frozen in shock.

Looking out the window, I could see a fair number of youngish demons—mostly devilkin, oni-kin, and minotaurs—insisting that the maid at the door let them in.

“Master only receives visitors who have requested an appointment in advance. Please leave,” she said. “You are scaring the children.”

“Listen, girlie, we ain’t got time to deal with you. We need to talk to Lady Witch about this ‘council’ thing!” one of the demons said.

Behind him, his comrades echoed, “That’s right!”

“Then please fill out a report and send it to Master.”

The maid wasn’t budging, and I could see sparks of tension forming in the air.

“We should go see what’s going on before they explode,” I said. “Beretta, Teto, let’s go.”

“Roger!”

“Understood, Master.”

We hurriedly ran down the corridor and exited the mansion through the front door.

I quickly raised my hand to cast a soundproofing barrier around the demons, the maid, and us, and said, “You guys want to see me, right? Well, here I am.”

“You’re going to startle the children!” Teto chided them.

“Lady Witch!” one of the demons exclaimed, a grin splitting across his face. “There is something we need you to reconsider. Please!”

The demons’ eyes were fixed on Teto and me, almost as if Beretta and the maid were invisible.

“Fine, I’ll hear you guys out,” I said before turning to the maid. “You can head back inside now.”

“Understood, Master.” She bowed and returned to her tasks.

Switching my attention back onto the demons, I asked, “I’ve heard you guys yelling about the council system. What’s the matter? You’re not satisfied with it?”

“Not at all!” one of them replied, outraged. “We want to report to you directly. We don’t mind cooperating with those equal to us, but why do we have to negotiate with those beneath us?!”

“And we’ve heard you wanna have that little maid girlie be the head of that ‘council’ or whatever it’s called. We won’t accept that!” another added.

“Damn right! Why do you surround yourself with weaklings anyway? You’re so strong, you should have an entourage full of strong or good-looking people, not children!”

They kept at it for a few more minutes, telling me in great detail why they would never accept the council idea.

“So, basically, you’re all right with reporting to Teto and me because we’re strong, but don’t want to cooperate with the others, as you don’t know their strength and you’d much rather order them around. You also think that my attendants aren’t anything special and that they shouldn’t have such a high position in the forest’s hierarchy. Is that right?” I summarized.

“Succinctly put, yes.”

At least these guys don’t beat around the bush, I thought.

A lot of the demons were fervent believers in a “might makes right” philosophy and, for that reason, refused to report to or cooperate with people weaker than them. I had observed a similar sentiment among a few of the settlement representatives, but they hadn’t been the majority. Teto and I had participated in the stampede, so they respected us, and the same went for the Great Elder, the godkin, and the dragonkin. But Beretta and the other mechanoids had mostly been working behind the scenes, so the demons were still skeptical about their abilities.

“The representatives of the settlements have all agreed to the council system, though,” I pointed out.

“Well, we don’t! We have no interest in reporting to people whose only merit is that they’re close to you!”

So I might have managed to convince the representatives of the settlements with my ideas, but the young people still weren’t okay with it, huh?

“Then if Beretta proves to you that she’s strong, you’ll agree to cooperate with her?” Teto asked.

The demons all burst into laughter. “Ha ha ha! Sure! If that girlie is stronger than us, then we’ll listen to her!”

It seemed that they had taken Teto’s suggestion as a joke. I was seeing red; they were making fun of Beretta, and I didn’t like it.

“Then how about you fight her?” I suggested. “If she wins, we’ll proceed with the council, if not, we won’t. Beretta, is that okay with you?”

“If that is your command, Master,” she replied with a polite bow.

Instantly, the demons became serious once more. “For real? You’ll cancel the project?”

“Yes. Well, if you win, that is,” I said, a provocative smile curling on my lips.

They enthusiastically agreed to the fight.

“All right then, let’s move to a more suitable place for the battle. Let’s see... The maids’ training grounds perhaps?”

“There’s nothing there, so you can go all out!” Teto added.

And so the three of us led the demons to the transfer gate and headed to the plain we used as our training grounds. The ground was bare in places, the uppermost layers having been stripped off during our many hours of training. Beretta used telekinesis to retrieve her adamantium gauntlets from her own shadow, put them on, and took up a combat stance. The mechanoid race was created after Beretta, who was still an attendant doll back then, merged with a dark spirit. This had granted them the ability to use advanced Dark Magic, including telekinesis and gravity spells, along with the capacity to hide objects in shadows.

“Please come at me in whichever order you prefer. You may attack me all at once,” she declared.

“Beretta, you sounded so cool right now! Good luuuck!” Teto cheered.

“You’re using your gauntlets, huh?” I noted. “You’re armed to the teeth.”

So she wants to show them the full extent of her strength, I mused, unable to suppress a wicked grin. I could tell that the demons were surprised by the sudden change in Beretta’s aura; their own smiles quickly faltered.

“Come!” Beretta urged them.

“U-Uuuoooh!” One of the demons lunged forward, swinging his weapon and attacking in earnest. Beretta easily blocked his attack with her gauntlets.

“You have good momentum, but you should always think of a backup plan in case your first attack gets intercepted,” Beretta lectured him. She grabbed at his weapon and pulled it, throwing the demon off-balance and making him roll to the ground with a pained cry.

“Who’s next? Come at me together!”

“Ooooooh!” This time, three demons rushed her, each from a different direction.

Beretta dodged all of their attacks at the last second, occasionally using her gauntlets to block some of the hits as she prepared for a counterattack. One by one, she grabbed their arms, threw them off-balance, and swept their legs out, making them tumble to the ground.

“Try to stop my attack with those skinny arms of yours!” a young oni-kin man roared as he threw his club at Beretta.

The force of his attack made the weapon spin in midair, but Beretta effortlessly bent backward under it. But the oni-kin wasn’t done: seeing as Beretta’s focus was on the club, he quickly closed the gap between them, and was about to bring his fist down on her, when...

“Good strike. However, your form could use some improvement,” Beretta said, stopping the man’s fist with her hand.

Her form was still perfectly intact as she grabbed the oni-kin’s arm and sent him flying.

“No way... We couldn’t win with numbers, and she easily defeated the strongest of us too...” one of the demons muttered in shock.

“Surely, she won’t be able to stop my spell! Flare Burst!” a young devilkin man chanted, extending both hands in front of him and creating a massive fireball. It split into countless flaming projectiles, hurtling towards Beretta.

“Magic, hm? Not bad. However...”

Beretta raised a hand. In the next instant, eight short swords flew from the shadow beneath her feet, intercepting the incoming barrage of fiery missiles.

“I have spent years coming up with methods to protect Master. Such a weak attack is not enough!”

“Oooh, I almost forgot she had those,” I noted. “I wonder if she’s been practicing that technique with the other maids.”

“The range of my telekinesis is quite long too,” she said, launching one of her swords at the demon who had cast the spell and stopping right in front of his face.

“W-We can’t win against her...”

“We’re not done yet! Keep the pressure up; eventually she’ll run out of energy!”

“Right! If she uses up all of her mana, she’ll be helpless!”

If they couldn’t win against Beretta through numbers, close-quarters combat, or long-range attacks, then their only hope was a war of attrition. An amused smile curled on Beretta’s lips as they lunged at her.

“Impressive willpower! Show me your determination!”

“Looks like she’s having fun,” I noted.

“Teto wants to go play too!” Teto pouted next to me.

“Just sit back and enjoy the show this time.”

It was already obvious who would win. Still, the demons refused to let up, and Beretta was clearly having fun turning this battle into a teachable moment. I found the spectacle quite amusing.

Finally, after three hours...

“Haah...haaah... D-Damn it! We lost!”

In the end, the demons hadn’t been able to exhaust Beretta’s mana. Instead, they were the ones lying on the ground, completely out of breath.

“You’ve considerably improved your coordination. Keep up the effort,” Beretta told them.

Despite fighting for hours, she didn’t have a single hair out of place, looking as refined as ever.

“There is one last thing I would like you to see. It is a little too dangerous to use against other people, so I have refrained from using it during our fight.”

The demons slowly sat up, looking at Beretta with quizzical looks on their faces; Teto and I did the same.

“Haaa!” Beretta thrust her right fist towards the sky, emitting a shock wave that instantly dispersed the clouds overhead.

“I directed it upward to avoid damaging the ground or causing harm to anyone, but I have become quite adept at it,” she said lightly, as if she hadn’t altered the weather with a single punch.

In contrast, the demons were at an absolute loss for words. By now, they had understood that Beretta was a force to be reckoned with, way above their league.

“Whoa! Beretta, that was so cool! How did you do it?” Teto asked excitedly.

“She probably released all the shock she had absorbed with her gauntlets all at once,” I surmised.

Beretta’s adamantium gauntlets—the Protector of the Earth—could absorb any shock waves and redirect the force in whatever direction she wished. She had spent three hours blocking attacks from the demons, which had been enough to bring forth a shock wave that could split the sky.

“Good work out there, Beretta,” I said, walking to the little group. “So, what do you guys think? Is Beretta strong enough?”

“Y-Yeah... We won’t oppose your ‘council’ project anymore or go against Lady Beretta from now on.”

The demons all scrambled to their knees and bowed deeply in front of Beretta.

“You’re always welcome to let us know when you’re not pleased with something,” I said with a wry smile. “But you disrespected Beretta just because you arbitrarily decided she wasn’t strong enough, despite never having seen her fight. I couldn’t let it fly.”

“If you have a good reason to not want something, Lady Witch will hear you out!” Teto assured.

Well, I couldn’t anticipate the forest’s residents to be perfectly rational actors. This simply wasn’t how humans worked; quite the opposite actually. Emotions, such as the desire to follow the strongest or the wish to repay someone for their help, were what drove people to act.

“Got it... We’re not really the brainy type, but, next time, we’ll try to give it a bit more thought before coming to find you.”

“Good to hear. I’m looking forward to seeing you guys again, then,” I replied with a smile.

The demons’ mini rebellion had come to an end. In all fairness, they hadn’t been the first ones to oppose the council idea: when I had run it by the settlements’ representatives, a couple of them had similar reactions; just like this time, it had taken Beretta making a little show of strength to convince them. The demons headed back to their settlements, where they received a warm welcome and were comforted by those who had already experienced Beretta’s prowess firsthand.

Chapter 3: The People under the Witch’s Protection

The forest’s council was finally established—although not without some trouble—and their first meeting was a success. I had decided to sit this one out to really teach the council members how to make decisions without my input; currently, I was reading the report Beretta had written.

“I see. So you guys mostly talked about expanding the variety of goods we export,” I summarized when I was done.

“Yes. We plan on adding honey produced by the queen bees and fabric woven by the arachnes to our trade inventory,” Beretta explained.

Melissae and arachnes were two matriarchal demon races. The melissae’s specialty was using flower nectar and pollen to make honey, and the arachnes all lived in tree houses; needless to say, the forest was the perfect environment for them. As it turned out, the honeybees we had introduced to the forest a few years back were a very helpful addition, as the melissae relied on them to gather pollen to make high-grade honey and beeswax. The same went for the red-eyed spiders one of the maids had insisted we start raising—which had since then evolved into albino spiders, a completely new subspecies, thanks to the cherry blossom tree’s mana. The arachnes used a mix of the string they produced themselves, webs from the albino spiders, and cocoons from the silkworms to weave glossy cloth that they then dyed using natural pigments. Every single woman living in the forest dreamed of having clothes made from that fabric.

“Honey would do well as a luxury item. And the arachnes’ fabric has a nice feel to it; you never want to stop petting it,” I noted.

Beretta and the maids had already made several dishes and desserts using the queen bees’ honey, as well as pajamas with the arachnes’ silky fabric. Teto seemed to like the latter as much as I did, as she was always rubbing her face against them.

“The queen bees’ honey is really sweet and yummy!” Teto chimed in. “But the oni people were saying they wanted to use it to make alcohol. Would there still be enough?”

The “oni people” she was talking about were the oni-kin, a humanoid demon race. The men were all burly and strong, while the women looked almost exactly like regular humans if you ignored the horns on their heads. Most oni-kin men were mercenaries, as their superhuman strength allowed them to make short work of most monsters. The women stayed home for the most part, looking after the village and brewing alcohol for supplemental income. Teto was looking forward to tasting the oni-kin women’s mead, so she was worried there wouldn’t be enough honey left if we started exporting it.

“That question came up during the meeting,” Beretta said. “For now, we plan to prioritize local demand by treating it as a luxury item and only trading small quantities. The melissae have also insisted on sending you honey on the regular.”

Apparently, the maids had used the melissae’s honey to make the custard pudding from last time. Teto and I almost drooled thinking back on how delicious it had been.