Chapter 76.2

“If there’s a spell you wish to learn, name it.”

“Weather! I want to learn a barrier that controls the weather!”

“Ah, a high-level barrier that utilizes spirit magic, is it? Very well.”

“Really?!”

“Yes. In exchange, what vision will you offer, Witch?”

“I… um…”

At first, it seemed like my master’s decision was working well.

After all, she was the first to establish the Witch Assembly, and true to her declaration, she shared the visions of a Grand Witch with everyone.

“She’s really sharing the Grand Witch’s visions!”

“Pack up! We’re heading straight for the Witch Assembly!”

“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rise through the ranks!”

This was a monumental shock to the closed-off world of witches.

Witches from across the continent flocked to the Witch Assembly.

Most of them were witches of low or mid-rank, whose standings were precarious at best.

Even though they traded their meager visions — hardly worth mentioning — in exchange for the visions of a Grand Witch, an undeniably unfair transaction…

“Thank you! Thank you so much!”

“Thanks to Lady Haran, I was finally able to break into the 4th Circle!”

Master, too, felt fulfilled as she watched the Witch Assembly grow and as she saw the witches genuinely happy and grateful.

“Isabelle, I am so happy and proud right now.”

She had never looked so happy.

But happiness, as it always is, was fleeting and smaller than a speck of dust.

“Why are witches suddenly getting so strong these days?!”

“Don’t you know? That crazy witch Haran started some kind of ‘Witch Assembly’ and is giving out visions like candy!”

“What did you just say?!”

The Grand Witches, who were on par with Master, were not happy with this turn of events.

They neither understood nor respected Master’s actions.

To them, the sight of low-rank witches, whom they had always looked down on, suddenly rising to stand at their level was a serious threat.

“Did you hear the news?”

“What news?”

“They say that Lady Haran, the head of the Witch Assembly, is compiling all the spells, magic, and spirit techniques she’s exchanged so far.”

“Huh? What do you mean by that?”

“It means she’s including the visions that we offered as part of the deal.”

“What?! I mean, I get that she’s compiling them, but what is she planning to do with it?”

“She’s planning to turn it into a textbook for the Witch Assembly.”

“Wait… Are you saying Lady Haran intends to make the Witch Assembly’s visions available to all its members?”

“Exactly.”

“And what’s the price?”

“Hmm?”

“The price! What’s the cost to learn it?!”

“There isn’t one. As long as you join the Witch Assembly and swear to follow its rules, anyone — yes, even men — can learn it.”

“!!”

As time went on, even the witches who had learned from the Master began to change.

After all, witches were human too. And just like humans, witches weren’t free from greed and envy.

“This is ridiculous! I had to offer up a precious vision just to barely obtain a spell, and now she’s giving it away for free?!”

“And she’s even including the visions we offered in that textbook?!”

“This isn’t right! No matter how much respect we have for Lady Haran, this is too much!”

They complained and criticized her, despite the fact that they themselves had initially benefited from the very same system.

Just like the old saying, “A frog forgets it was once a tadpole.”

Less than three years after its founding, the Witch Assembly began to fracture.

Master’s noble will was gradually ignored.

“There’s been a lot of noise from the witches lately. Is it about the Witch Assembly?”

“Yes. That despicable organization founded by the Grand Witch, Haran.”

“The Mage Towers alone are already dangerous enough. If a Witch Assembly is added to the mix… it will be the ultimate blasphemy against the Holy Order.”

“Now is the perfect time. Send inquisitors to infiltrate the Witch Assembly and make contact with its members.”

The enemies outside didn’t miss this opportunity.

“The Grand Witch Haran is compiling the witches’ visions?”

“Yes! And apparently, it’s caused quite a stir among the witches.”

“We must obtain that compiled spellbook for our Mage Tower at all costs!”

“We’ll look for ways to contact the high-rank witches who dislike Haran.”

The Holy See.

The mages of the Mage Tower.

Both sides salivated at the chance to seize the Witch Assembly and the witches themselves.

At a time when we should have united to fight them together, instead…

“Haran! We won’t stand for your lunacy any longer!”

“Dissolve the Witch Assembly immediately!”

Both witches within the Assembly and witches outside of it…

“I’m officially leaving the Witch Assembly today!”

“Lady Haran, I ask that you remove the vision I submitted from the compiled spellbook.”

…all began pointing fingers and bickering with each other.

Division, rivalry, and outside pressure.

The passage of time only made it worse.

“…Were we doomed from the start?”

Eventually, the Witch Assembly — no, Master herself — was completely isolated.

“Master…”

“How utterly miserable.”

For the first time in my life, I saw Master with a face filled with disappointment and despair.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Master! We have to run! This central barrier won’t hold much longer!”

“Isabelle, even if I die, I will finish this. So… you must run.”

Inside the central barrier of the Witch Assembly, which could collapse at any moment…

Master didn’t stop writing the spellbook.

It was the last determination of a failed witch. Her unwavering resolve to leave behind this one thing, even if it cost her life.

“Master!!”

“Don’t call me ‘Master.’ You should call me Haran. It’s been a while since you became independent, after all.”

I was on the verge of losing my mind with fear.

At any moment, it felt like the inquisitors would break in.

It felt like the mages of the Mage Tower would break through the barrier at any second.

It felt like the high-rank witches would bombard me and Master with every curse they had.

“I haven’t paid much attention to the outside world while writing this spellbook, but… I have a bad feeling. Leave, Isabelle. No one will blame you.”

“I… I…”

Even with Master’s words, I couldn’t bring myself to leave. Was it loyalty? Devotion? Love?

No, it was none of those. It was fear. Pure, selfish fear.

If I fled on my own, I knew exactly what awaited me. I’d be branded as the “only disciple of Haran” for the rest of my life.

I’d be hunted endlessly by the inquisitors and high-rank witches.

That’s why I needed it.

A shield.

A shield strong enough to protect me from all the storms to come.

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