“Looks like I’ve been caught.”

At Marine’s question of “Who are you?”, the girl casually replied that she had been found out. Although she smiled as if it was nothing more than a prank gone wrong, those who saw her felt a chill run down their spines.

The words were a clear indication that the girl smiling before them was not the Florne they knew. Her words and actions were entirely different from the Florne they were familiar with, leaving people—especially those who had a personal connection with Florne—shocked in this situation.

With her legs seemingly giving way, Marine stumbled, while Dwight glared at the girl with eyes wide open in disbelief.

In response to their reactions, the girl burst out laughing.

“Haha! Look at your faces! Guess it was quite shocking, huh? Yeah, you should react this way! I put a lot of effort into not getting caught until now.”

As she laughed, the girl turned to the staggering Marine, a smile on her face, and asked,

“So, how do you feel seeing a different side of someone you considered a friend?”

Marine trembled with rage, unable to contain herself as she shouted,

“Y-you! What have you done to my friend, Florne? Give her back! Now!”

As Marine screamed, water droplets gathered around her, freezing into sharp icicle shapes, aiming threateningly at the girl.

The icicles, ominous as they seemed, were a direct threat, as if they would be unleashed if her friend was not returned.

“Are you threatening me right now? Haha, this is amusing.”

The girl laughed dismissively, leaning towards the icicles, inviting her to try it.

But at that moment, the expression on the girl’s face changed.

“M-Marine…”

She looked at her with a mix of surprise and hurt.

“…Ah.”

Seeing that expression revealed to Marine the truth of their years spent together.

“Fl-Florne…?”

She realized that the person standing before her was indeed her friend Florne.

And her friend was approaching.

She walked steadily towards the sharp icicles created by her.

“Ugh…!”

Naturally, Marine had no choice but to lower the suddenly formed icicles.

Simultaneously, laughter echoed around them.

The girl’s expression morphed again.

“What’s wrong? Wasn’t it a threat? If you want her back, you need to keep it up. If you want your friend back, even if it means she has to be full of holes.”

Marine was helpless against the girl’s mockery.

This was a fight she could never win, no matter what she did.

In a situation where her friend’s body was taken as a hostage, the only thing allowed to her was

“Ugh… Heh…”

Despair.

“What, is that it? Well, it was fun in its own way.”

The girl took a moment to laugh at despairing Marine, then her expression turned sadistic.

“But you still need to pay for daring to threaten me, a mere human.”

The girl pointed at Marine.

“Kneel before me.”

Marine was taken aback by the sudden command.

“Kneel? What do you mean?”

“What are you doing? Hurry up and kneel like I said.”

The girl spoke once more to Marine, clutching her own neck tightly as if to twist it.

“If you don’t want to see your friend die.”

It was a command that implied this was how threats were carried out.

Marine walked toward her with dead eyes, obeying the girl’s words.

The onlookers were outraged, but

“Ah, you all better not think foolish thoughts. If you get caught doing something reckless, well, you know what happens?”

Since Marine shook her head at them as if to plea for them to stay still, they had no choice but to close their eyes tightly.

And eventually, Marine reached the girl and knelt before her.

“Alright, alright. Now bend forward a bit more and touch the ground with your hands.”

Marine obeyed, leaning forward and placing her hands on the ground.

At that moment, the girl patted Marine’s head as if satisfied and sat on her back.

“Good. You’re pretty; it feels nice to sit here.”

With a crunch, blood burst from Marine’s lips.

A mix of shame and humiliation flowed like drops of red liquid onto the ground.

The sound fell like sweet music to the ears of the girl, who closed her eyes and savored it.

Dwight, with a stiff voice, asked her,

“…You, are you that witch? The one who once unleashed Demonic Beasts in the city and controlled people?”

To that question, the girl replied with a bright smile.

“Yep! Ah, that was so much fun back then. I wish I could have played more.”

“How could you…? The Demonic Beasts controlling people back then should all have been cleaned up…”

“Haha, well, that’s—”

Just as the girl was about to answer the question, a magic circle appeared from mid-air, pouring magic towards the girl’s head.

The girl’s body twisted as she was hit by the spell.

The attack that struck her head was not an offensive one, but a purification spell.

Dwight had struck as a surprise attack, remembering that the way to deal with the Demonic Beasts controlling people was through purification magic.

“…Didn’t I tell you not to do something reckless?”

Despite being hit directly by the purification magic, the girl continued to speak nonchalantly, which stiffened Dwight’s expression.

The girl showed her irritation at being interrupted and muttered to herself.

“Taking such actions after I warned you, are you saying her life doesn’t matter to you?”

With her chilling mutter, Dwight hastily bowed his head and shouted,

“Wait…! I’ll do anything, just don’t do that…!”

“What? Anything?”

“Yeah… I’ll do anything you say…!”

At Dwight’s plea, the girl smiled brightly and said,

“Then recite it. ‘Let me enjoy the honor of being my master’s footrest.’”

“…Let me enjoy the honor of being my master’s footrest.”

“Haha, that’s right, that’s right. What are you doing just lying there? Come on and get to work.”

“…Yes.”

In response to the girl’s playful order, Dwight lay flat beneath her with a stiff expression.

The girl placed her feet on Dwight’s back and began to tap his head softly with her soles, murmuring to herself.

“Footrest, since you’re so good-looking, I’m forgiving you with this wide-hearted kindness. I’ve been eyeing you and the chair since old times. This one here has been obedient to my words since childhood, seeking out pretty and handsome people quite earnestly. You guys are going to be added to the special collection, selected with such strict criteria.”

Marine, who was lying beneath the girl, shuddered at her words.

It reminded her of how Florne used to follow around only the most attractive people when they were very young.

Marine let out a silent gasp.

When did Florne start hanging around with this creature…?

While Marine was lost in thought, the girl continued with the conversation that had been interrupted earlier.

“Right, our footrest. I organized the Demonic Beasts that were in your heads back then, but is it strange that there are still some who are loyal to me? Honestly, it’s a bit frustrating. How can you compare those hastily made replicas to these kids?”

As the girl muttered this, black tears began to flow from her eyes.

“That purification magic you shot at me earlier? That’s not even close.”

No, what was flowing from the girl’s eyes wasn’t tears.

As the onlookers saw the tears that didn’t flow down her face, they realized its true nature.

“If you want to retrieve this girl from me, you’ll need to cast purification spells from head to toe, enough to reach every corner of her body.”

The black substance was composed of tiny Demonic Beasts, a swarm of them.

The fierce little creatures that had dwelled within the girl’s body began to pour out as if showcasing their presence.

From her eyes, nose, ears, and mouth.

From the minuscule sweat pores on her skin.

It looked like her small body was some kind of jar containing the Demonic Beasts, and an enormous number of them streamed out.

In horror at the bizarre sight, the people shrank back, but the Demonic Beasts vanished back into the girl’s body as if they had never appeared.

Some among them noticed.

The nimble and carefree movement the Demonic Beasts displayed couldn’t possibly have been visible through the barrier.

One of those who realized this was Dwight, who let out a sigh from beneath the girl.

“…How, is this possible.”

It was a city surrounded by barriers.

For there to be a number of Demonic Beasts like that, especially one that could manipulate a robust body like Dolos among the heroes, was logical to be considered impossible.

But how could this be?

The unanswered question was a murmur.

“’How,’ huh.”

The girl replied with a smirk.

“You somehow believed in that barrier, huh?”

She mocked the people.

“That’s not something that existed from the beginning.”

And what the girl wanted to share was,

“I’ll tell you a special story from a long time ago.”

A story from a time before the barrier was erected, a distant past.

“Have you ever heard of the Witch of Lust?”

It was a tale about how an entire family became puppets of the witch.