Chapter 13 : In Pursuit of The Wolf Witch Part 3

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Gilbert-sama drew his sword out and at the same time, a black wolf leaped out from the darkness. 

“GYAUU!!”

The black wolves appeared from the darkness out of thin air, as if it had no presence at all. There were three of them. Gilbert-sama mowed his sword at the black wolf that had jumped on him. 

Dietrich-sama also joined the fight. He jumped and heat-butted the wolf, utilizing the spring of his feet to its maximum. I also didn’t just stand there absentmindedly. Although I couldn’t use offensive magic, there were other things I could do. 

“Light, shine upon the darkness!’

I raised my parasol and casted light magic on the wolves. 

“GYAAAUUUNNN!!”

Dietrich-sama rammed his body at the wolf that had been blinded by the light. The wolf got smashed toward the cave’s rock and died from the impact. 

“Let’s move on.”

Step by step, we continued on, making our way through the ominous cave. In the middle of the road, the path was split into two. 

Which path should we take? 

“Mu?”

“Big brother, what’s the matter?”

“I heard a voice coming from the left.”

“Maybe it’s Marierose-sama.”

I quickened my pace, heading toward the voice when I realized something was amiss. I stopped on my track and strained my ear but still, I couldn’t hear anything. 

“Melodia, what’s wrong?”

“Umm… I don’t really know why but I just have a bad feeling about this.”

“That’s not good.”

“That voice might be a trap.”

Gilbert-sama took something out of his pocket. It was a paper with the shape of a human. He blew on the paper and the paper moved, as if it was alive. 

The human-shaped paper ran toward the left path and disappeared into the darkness. A few dozen seconds later, BOOM! We heard the sound of an explosion. A gust of wind with rubbles blew from the left path. 

“Melodia!”

Dietrich-sama shielded me from the wind. 

“The left path is a trap?”

“That wretched Wolf Witch! She dares to use an underhanded trick like this!’

That meant, the correct path must be the right one but just to be safe, we had another human-shaped paper to go through the right path first. Five minutes later, the human-shaped paper returned. It also brought a ribbon on its hand. 

“This is Marierose-sama’s ribbon!”

“Let’s go!”

The human-shaped paper led the way through the cave. Gradually, I felt more suffocated. Probably because we were getting closer to the Wolf Witch’s barrier so the power felt stronger.

Finally, we managed to reach an open area but the stench of blood was too strong, it startled me. I felt like I was in another dimension entirely. This strange smell that was wafting through the air must be the stench of boiling blood. The sight of freshly beheaded wolf heads scattering here and there couldn’t be described as anything but ominous. 

A large pot was placed in the middle of the space, it seemed something was cooking inside it. There was a young girl stirring the pot. She was wearing a long coat that reached the ground along with a deep hood. 

“Is that…. The Wolf Witch?”

“Yes but that’s not the real body.”

“It’s the Wolf Witch’s shadow.”

Further into the space, I saw the figure of Marierose-sama and her maid tied up with ropes. They appeared to be unconscious and were huddled up together. The Wolf Witch’s shadow stopped stirring the pot and took off her hood. 

“Hiiii!!”

The Wolf Witch had the face of a wolf. Her yellow eyes squinted as she smiled while licking her lips. That was our cue to start moving. 

First, the freshly severed wolf heads started to move even without its body. The heads were flying straight at us like arrows being shot from a bow. Gilbert-sama slashed down the flying wolf’s flying heads one by one and Dietrich-sama struck the head back with his long tail. As for me, I used my naturally good reflex to avoid the incoming heads. Repeatedly jumping horizontally proved to be a good thing to do to avoid the heads. 

Dietrich-sama bit on the ear of the severed head and flung it away and then, Gilbert-sama slashed the head with his sword before throwing it away. These brothers were working really well together. 

Then, Dietrich-sama jumped in front of the Wolf Witch. 

“You!! That’s enough for you!!”

Dietrich-sama bit the Wolf Witch’s neck but it looked like Dietrich-sama wasn’t able to inflict significant damage on her. Despite having the bone of her neck crushed, the Wolf Witch was still standing firm on her feet. Only after Gilbert-sama pierced her heart with his sword that the Wolf Witch finally fell to the ground. Then, the body turned into sand, disappearing into the air. 

“It was… Unexpectedly quick.”

“The Wolf Witch relies entirely on her wolves to attack after all.”

“She’s been using her shadow and wolves in secret since the olden days.”

“Ah, I see.”

Did my parents die due to the attack by the Wolf Witch’s wolves?

When I thought about that possibility, my heart ached. 

“Melodia….”

“Ah, we need to help Marierose-sama.”

I’m on a mission right now. This is not the time to be thinking about my own problems. 

Fortunately, both Marierose-sama and her maid were left unharmed but we couldn’t find any of her jewelry and silverwares though. Nevertheless, we were able to save their lives. Count Cellotene must be feeling very grateful for this. 

Dietrich-sama then explained that the fight against the Wolf Witch was repetitive. 

“I intend to end this pointless fight in my generation.”

“Big brother….!”

Gilbert-sama was so moved that there were unshed tears on his eyes. Dietrich-sama’s determination was very cool indeed but because of his dog form, I couldn’t really focus on hearing what he was talking about. 

“Melodia.”

“Yes?”

“After our war with the Wolf Witch is over…. I want you to marry me.”

“Umm… My apologies but when you say it now, it feels like you’re raising a bad flag here… I’d really appreciate it if you’d say that after our war is truly over… Ah, but that doesn’t mean I will accept your proposal. It means I will think about it after all of this is over.”

A cold, chilling wind blew between me and Dietrich-sama. 

Was I being too blunt? Maybe I should’ve used a more gentle word instead?

I glanced at Dietrich-sama. 

“Phew~ You’re a tough one for sure. Well, the harder you are to get, the more excited I am to get you.”

“……..”

I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing Dietrich-sama didn’t seem to mind my blunt remark. 

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T/N: Dietrichhhh! Don’t raise any weird flag here! You’re foreboding the bad ending! （>﹏<）