Hold on — didn't you just say in the chat you were too busy to get away?
Shin's confusion lasted roughly one second before it was immediately swept aside by the Great Witch's follow-up message:
[Spreading Witch Factor]: Oh, this task couldn't have come at a better time~
[Spreading Witch Factor]: Last year my Shaya still had some physical issues that made going out freely a bit tricky, but the timing is perfect now — he can go do these tasks in my place~
The "physical issues" she was referring to were Shin's sensitivity to sunlight. He had only fully adapted to normal sunlight about a month ago.
[Spreading Witch Factor]: Having a child really does pay off in your old age — I'll have to count on everyone to keep an eye on him~
Shin: ?
[Aspiring to Be the Perfect Human]: Hang on, Great Witch — you're saying you have no intention of acting yourself, and you're leaving every task entirely to your child?
[Aspiring to Be the Perfect Human]: Isn't that a bit...
[Spreading Witch Factor]: Why, is there a problem?
[Spreading Witch Factor]: Jealous? Green with envy~? One look at you and I can tell — you're the type who has no one in the world who cares about them. Not a single person you could actually trust and rely on, am I right~?
[Spreading Witch Factor]: My child is more than capable of handling this task on his own. Your concern is unnecessary.
[Aspiring to Be the Perfect Human]: ...
It was clear the Great Witch still had a bone to pick over that earlier comment in the chat. Funny — in everyday life, Shin never would have taken her for someone who held grudges like this.
[Moon Princess]: Well, it's a perfectly viable approach~
[Moon Princess]: Honestly, I'd love to have someone handle things for me too — but I can't even get a message out... sigh~
Kaguya's explanation was telling. Being held as essentially a sealed source of spiritual contamination in the Lunar Capital left her severely limited in her ability to reach the outside world — small wonder she spent her days haunting the group chat.
But what occupied Shin's thoughts wasn't any of that — it was the fact that he was apparently about to do unpaid labor for the Great Witch's chat account again.
"...Well."
"Whatever. I gain something, I give up something."
"Even if I can't collect the 1,500 points directly — at least I have a way to go back and settle that score."
Shin shook his head. He wasn't particularly attached to the reward points — he just needed to take care of the debt he owed to the parents of this body, in the life before this one.
Besides, the points were with the Great Witch, not with some stranger. It wasn't much different from having them himself. He was fairly sure the Great Witch intended to keep lending him her account — and if the store refreshed with something he wanted, he could always ask her for it directly.
From the time he was small, the Great Witch had almost never turned down a request from him. Except, of course, when it came to pushing him toward marriage and children.
Whoosh — whoosh —
A hooded owl came to rest on the windowsill, head rotating ninety degrees.
"Young master. The Great Witch requests your presence. She asks you to come up to the second-floor library."
"Understood."
Shin glanced at the owl familiar that belonged to the Great Witch.
In the original Magical Girl Witch Trials timeline — after the witch clan was destroyed and the Great Witch vanished from Witch Island without a trace — this creature would pretend to serve Meruru while secretly defecting to the human government behind her back.
Shin wasn't sure what the Great Witch had been thinking, giving a familiar independent intelligence and leaving it completely unchecked.
But for now, this owl had only just been created. Its nature at its core amounted to little more than a desire to slack off.
The most likely explanation was that it eventually grew too exhausted by Meruru's near-delirious search for the Great Witch and decided to seek human cooperation as the path of least resistance.
As long as the witch clan wasn't wiped out, all of that future tragedy would be strangled before it could take root. This particular owl would never get the chance.
Second floor. The library.
The Great Witch, courtesy of her [Float] magic, still kept up her habit of going shoeless indoors. Her two small feet, swathed in white silken tights, swung back and forth idly on the sofa.
Floating in front of her were the witch clan's spell tomes — symbols and witch-script so obscure and dense they were no less demanding than advanced calculus.
"Mother. You wanted me?"
Following the owl familiar, Shin stepped into the second-floor library.
"You're here, Shaya~"
"Well? Convenient little thing, my new familiar, isn't it? Now when you come back from training outside, you won't have to make poor Meruru run all the way out to find you~"
The owl perched on the Great Witch's extended fingertip. At this moment, it was the picture of meek obedience — probably didn't dare so much as breathe a word about wanting to slack off.
"I've put my own magic into it, so I can keep tabs on Shaya's situation at any time~"
"Wherever you go from now on, you never need to be afraid — mom will always be right there with you~"
"...Well. As long as you're happy, mother..."
Was it really reassuring? Shin wasn't always sure what frightened him more — enemy threats, or certain other things.
I'll always be watching you.jpg
"Alright, there's something more important I called you up here for."
"Didn't you say it gets a bit dull staying on the island all the time? Well, perfect — mom has something she needs your help with~"
As expected — the Great Witch had called him up specifically about the task she'd just accepted in the group chat.
Over the past month she'd also shared quite a bit with Shin about the group chat and various facts about different worlds — even though Shin already knew most of it.
"Here's the situation. This time I'm going to have Meruru go with you — the two of you can look out for each other. Think of it as a little trip~"
"Whatever reward you want, just name it. If mom can do it, consider it done~"
After laying out the details of the chat group task, the Great Witch closed her book and blinked up at him:
"Come to think of it — with mom not around, you and Meruru won't have to feel restrained, will you?"
"My Shaya has grown up. I've had a front-row seat to all the self-restraint you've been practicing all this time, you know. When you and Meruru are alone together, you can do whatever you like — mom is really looking forward to hearing about two people going out and three coming back~"
Shin: "..."
...
To be continued…