Witches and Saints

Translated by SoundDestiny

Edited by Zil

Raidorl, the younger brother of the king, Granard.

The battle between the Keeper of the Holy Sword and the Witch’s Apostle ends in victory for Raidorl.

Meanwhile, on the walls surrounding the outer perimeter of the royal city, the army of Raidorl had broken through the city gates and was rushing in.

As soon as the walls were breached, the knights and guards surrendered without putting up any futile resistance.

In the first place – it was as if victory or defeat had been decided from the start.

The soldiers who remained in the Royal Capital were rear-guard troops who had not taken part in the war with the Empire. Ranid Zens, who was in command, was an excellent commander, but there was a limit to what a poorly trained soldier could endure.

Raidorl’s armies, on the other hand, had excellent commanders such as Justy Oigist, Angelica Ilkas and Saara Leifet, and they were all united in the common goal of making Raidorl king. Morale was also very high.

Originally, the reason why Raidorl’s army attacked the castle gate was to turn the eyes of the knights guarding the royal palace to the outside.

They did not intend to kill the soldiers needlessly, but to disarm them quickly and detain them.

Both individual battles and military battles were won by Raidorl, bringing the battle to an end.

〇　　　　　　〇　　　　　〇

“It’s a boring result. I wasn’t expecting it.”

North of the battlefield of Royal Capital. There was a woman sitting on the branch of a tall tree in the forest.

The woman is beautiful, with soft waves of blonde hair blowing in the wind and a thin white dress over her uneven, glamorous legs.

Her eyes, as golden as the full moon, shone brightly in the dusk of the forest.

Her name is Grasslead.(グラスリード)

(TL:Do tell in the comments, if you prefer Grasslead or Gurasurīdo)

She is the leader of the Six Witches of Doom, a legendary monster that has almost destroyed the world many times, and is the one who gave Granard the magic sword.

In Grasslead’s eyes, she saw the battle that had taken place in the distant city of Royal Capital.

Granard, whom he had chosen as her apostle, had been defeated before Raidorl and had been easily killed. At the gates of the city, two armies were fighting, but the death toll was disappointingly low.

The witch, who had been expecting a bloody struggle with many men killing each other, fiddled with her hair with her fingertips in boredom.

“I was expecting a few more people to die, but.... I guess not. Is he too light to be put on the same balance as the boy with the Dáinsleif?”

She has the beauty of a goddess, but her eyes are of a dusky colour.

She seemed unconcerned that Granard had lost his life.

After all – Granard was probably just being used by the vicious witch.

Grasslead’s choice of the cornered king as her apostle was a mere game without any deeper meaning.

“Well, that’s fine. It was great to see Nei-chan in good health.... She’s got terrible taste in men, as usual. You fall in love with people you shouldn’t, you know. Next time I see you, I’ll have to teach you a lesson.”

And with that, Grasslead’s body floated up into the air.

She stroked her cheek thoughtfully with the palm of her hand as she soared through the air like a cloud.

“I can leave it like this, but.... it’s a bit frustrating to be left beaten. That ‘cursed’ boy looks tired and down, so why don’t I have a bit more fun?”

The witch raises her red lips in amusement and holds out her hand in the direction of the capital.

A huge amount of magic power gathered in the palm of her hand. If there was a wizard here who could sense magic, he or she would have been stunned by the immense condensation of power.

“Shall I send a poisonous rain to kill the boredom and then go home?　Or turn up the temperature to a hundred degrees? With this kind of magic power, I can only kill a few thousand people......It’s just a way to pass the time anyway. That’s about right, isn’t it?”

There is no guilt in Grasslead’s eyes about killing people. In her golden eyes there is the innocence of a child playing with ants.

The magic gathered in Grasslead’s hands. The magic power of dozens of court magicians, if released, would take the lives of a thousand, as declared.

“Ara?”

However – the hand of the Grim Reaper was not swung down.

Before Grasslead could activate her magic, countless spears rained down on the body of the witch floating in mid-air.

Grasslead uses the magic she has gathered in her hands to create a defensive spell around her body. A semi-transparent barrier protects the beautiful witch from the rain of dull-coloured spears flying at her.

“.... Who would want to do something bad to their mama, like surprising her?”

“It’s me...., Witch Grasslead.”

The high-pitched answer came from a small girl in pilgrim’s clothing.

Like Grasslead, she floated in the air, holding in her right hand a tin staff decorated with metal rings. Her silver hair and piercing red eyes peeped out from her hooded pilgrim dress.

“My name is Seraphina Orlean. Crusader Knight of the Cross of the Holy Church by Goldcross Theocracy”

The girl who called herself Seraphina grabbed the top of the tin staff in her hand and pulled it upwards.

Then the rings collided and made a cool, shattering sound, and the blade inside the tin cane was exposed to the open air. The slender sword, glinting orange in the westerly sunlight, was pointed at Grasslead’s chest.

“And....this is the Arondight, the holy sword with the power of ‘creation’!　It is the sacred weapon of the Savior of the world, given to avenge the enemies of God!”