This year’s witches’ gathering was on a small island in Lake Ze, which was the territory of the Lake Ze witch Gloria. She was an elderly, solitary witch, with the common traits of the Lake Ze witches—she liked to build her house by the lake.
Freese rode a white unicorn, walking on the lake’s surface, stepping out ripples one after another.
The guiding purple ribbon transformed into a purple iris flower after she arrived, falling into her hand, while the unicorn turned into a bunch of emerald green branches and leaves. Freese casually tapped on the green branches, making them bloom into beautiful flowers.
She handed this bouquet of flowers to the Lake Ze witch Gloria, who came to welcome her.
“Welcome to your arrival, Freese.” The already aged-looking Gloria received her flowers and led her into the house.
The house that looked ordinary from the outside had another world within. Ordinary flowers and plants grew unusually large here. When a person walked inside, it felt like being in a land of tiny people.
Freese had long been used to it. As usual, she greeted the other witches. She was already one of the later arrivals, but there were still some who hadn’t yet arrived.
“Why hasn’t the Ocean Witch Aserni arrived?”
“Freese, Aserni lives closest to you. Have you seen her?”
Sitting upright in her seat, Freese tugged at the corner of her mouth, “No, I haven’t. Perhaps she went traveling all over the place again.”
Aserni lived near the ocean of the Forest-Sea Territory, yet as a forest witch, Freese did not like this nosy neighbor who always caused trouble.
“Whooosh——”
A gust of salty, damp sea wind suddenly rushed into the house, rushing into the magically constructed giant world.
The black-haired, blue-eyed Ocean Witch Aserni rolled in like a wave. She hugged Gloria, the hostess here, first, then sat next to Freese, smiling at her with ill intent.
“Freese, guess why I’m late?”
Freese lifted the tea Gloria had prepared and took a sip, “Oh? Could it be related to me?”
“I saw a very interesting commotion!” Aserni almost leaned on her, her tone gloating, “On the way here, I saw the swamp monster. The swamp monster actually went to our place. My God, in no time, there should be a large swamp in your territory. Perhaps the whole thing will turn into a swamp, who knows hahaha!”
Freese immediately remembered that Meili and the swamp monster were “friends.” The owl Bole had told her about this issue, but she hadn’t cared at the time.
Although the swamp monster was troublesome, it didn’t move around easily. Besides, they were so far apart, so she wasn’t worried it would chase over.
Now, her prediction seemed to have gone wrong. That swamp monster had really gone to her territory.
This unexpected development made her a little uneasy. Shaking off Aserni’s hand that was resting on her, she stood up and walked toward Gloria.
It seemed she needed to prepare to return early.
The witch sitting beside Aserni felt strange, “The swamp monster doesn’t migrate casually. Aserni, do you know why that swamp monster went to your place?”
“Who knows.” Aserni pursed her lips, recalling what she had seen, and started laughing again, “Freese often does mysterious things. Maybe she hid some sort of treasure that lured the swamp monster over.”
Quite interesting—otherwise, she would go join the fun again. Seeing Freese leave in a hurry, Aserni also stood up.
Meili had exposed the fact that she had already learned some magic. She no longer concealed anything and used her magic openly, turning the whole manor upside down.
She no longer obediently stayed in the study pretending she couldn’t learn. Instead, she hugged a book of fairy language, taking the swamp monster to occupy the garden.
She drained the water from the pond, leaving only a shallow layer to house the swamp monster, and artificially created a mud pit in the garden.
The servants all thought she had gone mad and tried to stop her. However, who could stop a witch who had completely let herself loose?
They couldn’t see the swamp monster, but they could see the inexplicable mud appearing throughout the manor. Unable to stop Meili, they had no choice but to busy themselves cleaning every day.
Alex, who wanted to stop her, was struck down repeatedly by Meili and shouted “crazy woman” before running out of the manor to hide somewhere quiet.
He had already given up, only hoping that when Freese returned, she would deal with her. Anyway, it was just a few days left. As long as she didn’t run out of the manor, whatever she did inside was fine.
No one dared to go to the garden anymore. Meili sat by the pond, holding the swamp monster with one hand and flipping through the fairy language book with the other, trying to learn as much as she could.
“I might only be able to stay with you for a few more days, so I won’t let anyone come and disturb us.” Meili cupped the swamp monster’s hand, speaking sorrowfully, her heart filled with reluctance at the impending farewell.
The swamp monster saw her occasionally show a rainy-day expression and didn’t know what was wrong with her. The gray, expressionless face even looked a little confused. He stayed in the pond in silent isolation for a while, then suddenly plunged his head into the mud, forming an arched shape.
Meili, who was pouring out her longing and reluctance: “…”
Why did he stop listening all of a sudden? Did he get tired of hearing it?
Fortunately, the swamp monster quickly lifted his face again. The mud could not stick to his body. Still gray-white, the swamp monster dug out something from the mud and placed it in front of her.
It was a tiny swamp fairy.
Gray-black skin, clothes made of fallen leaves, a serious expression… she had seen this swamp fairy before!
Before she could even express her confusion, the swamp fairy opened his mouth and asked her: “What’s wrong with you?”
“The swamp is very worried about you. Your mood is affecting him.” The little mud figure spoke rigidly and extremely seriously, “I sensed his plea for help, so I came to ask you. You can say whatever problem you have. We swamp fairies will help you.”
Had she cornered something this adorable to the point that he learned how to actively seek help from the little mud people?
She didn’t know how to describe her mood—soft and wanting to laugh at the same time.
“Actually, I am about to die.” Meili said, “I have to leave him.”
The swamp fairy looked confused: “But you are not like ordinary humans. This body of yours has vigorous life force like us fairies, and you can live for a long time.”
Meili had not known this, but she immediately understood. This must be the reason why Madam Pegg and Freese both wanted her body. So this was the special part!
She explained again: “There is a very powerful witch who wants to take my body.”
Swamp fairy: “Then why don’t you defeat her?”
Meili: “…I can’t win.”
Swamp fairy: “I understand.”
Seeing the fairy language book that Meili held in front of her chest, he jumped down from the swamp monster’s palm and said: “Witches’ magic originates from us fairies. What they chant are actually the songs loved by various fairies. The ones recorded are ordinary spells, but truly powerful witches all have magic unique to themselves. That is a song loved by the fairies who only gift it to them alone.”
“I can give you the special song of our swamp fairies. You can use our power.”
The tiny swamp fairy flew up, circled around Meili’s head, and sang a short chant. Finally, he bumped his forehead against her brow.
“All done.” He said seriously, “The swamp loves you. You will possess powerful magic.”
The swamp fairy burrowed into the mud and left. Meili was still a little dazed. She touched her forehead and tugged on the swamp monster’s gray hair, “Just now, that little mud person meant that I can use very powerful magic related to the swamp?”
Could it be… earth magic?!
Filled with excitement and uncertainty, Meili pointed at a flat patch of grass-covered soil, chanting the swamp fairy’s chant from earlier.
In the blink of an eye, that patch of ground rose upward, instantly lifting five meters high.
She was just… doing a very ordinary little test.
This was the power of magic, and this was only the simplest magic.
Meili’s chest rose and fell. She grabbed a cluster of green iris leaves by the pond, and in her hand shimmering with yellow light, the iris suddenly grew several meters tall, its branches and leaves thick enough for a person to climb.
She stared at her own hand, momentarily confused. Making plants grow, did that count as earth magic?
But, who cared!
Turning around, Meili’s eyes sparkled as she threw herself onto the swamp monster, unable to hold back her shout: “My God! You’re amazing!”
This was power the swamp lent her.
So he was basically a generator, she had been using him the wrong way before!
“I’ll definitely be able to go back with you.”
Freese hurried back, discovering that her magic circle had failed, and the manor had already become a complete mess. Her face darkened.
“Who can tell me what on earth is going on here!”
Alex stood before the half-collapsed manor covered in dust and dirt. Seeing her, his eyes lit up for a moment, followed by an awkward and anxious expression, “I’m not really sure either. For some reason, Meli suddenly gained powerful magic, and our manor was destroyed by her…”
“Although she escaped, Mr. Bole has already chased after her. Freese, you’ll definitely be able to catch her soon.”
Freese’ expression was ugly, “Why were none of you able to stop her?”
Alex carefully leaned in to hug her, feeling a bit frustrated, “Her body will be used by you in the future. How could I hurt her body? Also, the magic you left inside the necklace was too little. I already used it all up.”
Freese shoved him away and snatched the sapphire necklace from his hand, waving it twice in the air. The fairies in the wind brought Meili’s scent. She immediately chased in that direction.
“Freese! Wait for me!” Alex mounted his horse and followed after her.
Meili walked with the swamp monster through the seaside canyon. In order to escape from the manor, she had nearly exhausted all the magic in her body and could only let the swamp monster carry her along.
She thought, next they should find a place to hide first. Once she became stronger, she would no longer need to fear Freese. Thinking optimistically, maybe by then Freese would already be dead.
But… where should they hide?
To the left was the sea, deep green and blue intertwined. To the right was canyon grassland mixing blue-green with lush green.
The owl flying overhead suddenly landed, “I sensed Lady Freese’ aura. She is already pursuing.”
Meili abruptly sat up, hugging the swamp monster’s neck tightly, “Why is she so fast!”
Where else could they hide?
Suddenly, a black-haired, blue-eyed woman appeared before them. She waved the large conch shell in her hand, “Hey, little girl, want to hide at my place for now?”
