A Witch That Is Good at Hunting

Chapter 3: Male Witch (3)

The place the people guided them to was a hill that overlooked the entire Sinain village.

Even the pounding rain could not quell the villagers’ fury. The resentment and fear they had endured for fifteen years finally exploded.

Of course, these emotions were only emboldened because they stood behind the shield of the witch hunters.

The hill was not so high, but to actually find it one had to wander deep through the mountains.

And there stood the home of the boy in the mountains.

‘Someone really lives here?’

The crumbling hut was closer to a ruin.

The roof could not keep out the rain, weeds grew rampant, and mold and mushrooms spread all over the wooden pillars.

On top of that, animal bones were scattered in disarray near the house.

‘What is all this…’

This was decisive proof that this was not a human home, but the nest of a beast or monster.

The more Rowen looked, the less sense it made. She frowned as she continued to observe.

“Come out, demon! Today you will pay for your sins!”

“Come out! We will kill you! How dare you hurt my boy!”

“Come out at once! If you don't, we will burn your house!”

“Just kill him! Burn it!”

The enraged villagers of Sinain shouted. The torches they carried embodied their wrath.

The more terrified the dog, the louder and fiercer it barked.

Just what had driven them to this state?

The two witch hunters waited calmly for the door to open.

Creak-

At last, with a sound of collapse, the hut’s door opened.

In the darkness, with rain pouring down, a gray beast staggered out.

“…Huh?”

Rowen’s eyes widened in disbelief at the sight.

She had expected something grotesque and terrifying.

But what appeared was the very image of a young nobleman.

If not for his ragged clothes and filthy appearance from not bathing, anyone would have praised his handsome looks.

The boy yawned, rubbing his eyes as if he had just woken from sleep.

“Yawn~ Who?”

“Interesting.”

The middle-aged hunter, Vigo, lit a cigarette. He left the matter to Rowen and watched.

“Filthy witch bastard! Confess your sins!”

The chief held an axe in one hand and a torch in the other. Though the distance was wide, he dared not step closer.

“Sins?”

Flash! Lightning struck.

The boy’s unreal beauty was revealed fully. It was so striking it raised goosebumps.

Boom. Thunder rolled in the distance.

In the silence broken only by the rain, as lightning flashed again, something flickered in Rowen’s eyes.

‘It is too far-fetched to think that a calm child like this could have committed such horrors. There is no way an infant killed grown women. The tale must be fabricated or distorted memories born of fear. But the livestock with missing livers, the shattered human jaw, the bones scattered nearby, these prove the child is dangerous. Above all… that presence he gives off is not human. What is this aura? A witch? No… a witch cannot be male. Impossible. If I assume the culprit is a boy…’

The most likely explanations were a bandit or a human tainted by a monster.

Even if not a witch, the boy was clearly dangerous.

After swift deduction, Rowen reached her conclusion.

“Everyone, step back.”

She planted her cane on the ground and limped forward.

“I don't know what it is, but I will subdue it here.”

“Kill him quickly please!”

Click.

Rowen twisted the handle of her cane. A sharp blade slid out. The sound of steel rang through the rain.

It was a sword stick.

Without hesitation, Rowen swung at Nike.

Then something shocking happened.

“Huh?”

Screech-

 The sword stick bent like a bow.

She had aimed precisely at Nike’s throat, but the blade warped backward and lost all function.

“Ambush. Attack.”

Both witch hunters turned to look at Nike.

“Huh…?”

“His eyes are…?”

The boy’s innocent appearance was gone.

His pupils glowed red.

Within them was something never seen before, something unknown, something no one could comprehend.

Crash! Thunder roared.

An unknown being wearing the mask of a boy sang of calamity.

“Ambush. Attack. Hostility. Death.”

No one was able to breathe.

“Death. Attack. Destruction. Curse.”

The boy’s gray hair flowed as he muttered his ominous words.

Some unknown dreadful power cloaked him.

“A-Ahh…”

“W-Witch… it’s a real witch…!”

Flash!

In that frozen moment, someone moved like lightning.

It was Vigo.

‘That thing is dangerous…!’

He had been observing from behind, but now he sensed the danger had spiked and moved on instinct.

Whoosh!

Vigo lunged to protect his disciple, striking at the boy with his fist.

“Huh?”

But once again, hostility did not reach the boy.

Vigo felt something like a powerful barrier blocking his punch.

No… his movements themselves were sealed.

His arm trembled as if locked in a struggle against an unseen wall.

The boy tilted his head and stared at him with those cold red eyes.

“You too. Enemy?”

Vigo looked into those eyes and recoiled in shock.

‘Those eyes… could it be…!?’

Boom!

In an instant, Vigo was hurled back. Rowen as well.

As they fell, the boy strode forward, spitting ominous words with blazing eyes.

They had angered the witch.

Only death awaited.

“A-Ahh… spare me…”

“Run! Run now!”

Vigo shouted at the villagers. Panic erupted as they fled.

“Rowen!”

“Here!”

Rowen pulled a blue glass bottle from her cloak and tossed it to Vigo. Both uncorked the bottles and downed the potion inside.

Crack.

Muscles swelled, senses sharpened, and veins stood out around their eyes in an instant.

It was the awakening drug used for witch hunting.

No matter how hardened a human body is, one could not fight a witch without it.

“U-Unbelievable…”

When taken, the drug revealed what the naked eye could not see.

The flow of corrupted power granted by the evil god.

Magical power.

It came into view.

“…This is unbelievable.”

Seeing the magic flow, Vigo wanted to deny reality.

That vile energy only witches or demons could possess and wield…

It coursed inside the boy and circled around him.

A boy.

He was using magic.

A boy. With demonic eyes.

‘Such a thing is possible?’

Vigo’s pupils widened. His heart raced. His mind stuttered.

He could not believe it, but he could not deny it either.

That boy was a witch.

Chills ran down his spine as Vigo shouted.

“Rowen! Focus only on subduing him! Forget everything else!”

“Yes, Master!”

Vigo thrusted his hand into the darkness.

Shadows gathered into his grip and took shape. A great scythe forged of shadow.

“For a man to be a witch… what a twisted fate.”

Nearly every witch-hunting request turned out to be a misunderstanding born of ignorance.

Even if witches existed, witch hunters did not believe the tales.

Vigo and Rowen thought the same. The target was a boy. A boy could not hold magic.

But now that truth was broken, the shock was doubled.

Beyond fear, the situation itself felt unreal.

Whooom.

An overwhelming pressure radiated from the boy, more dangerous than any killing intent they had ever felt from a witch.

Rowen’s will faltered under terror. Sweat poured like rain.

“Heheheh…”

Had he gone mad? For some reason, Vigo laughed.

Splash, splash.

The gray-haired boy closed the distance with deadly intent.

The hunters exchanged glances, then split apart, circling him.

Rowen slipped into his blind spot and hurled a dagger. But it froze in midair.

Then, bang!

The dagger split apart midair, bursting into green smoke that gnawed at magic.

“Khak, khak!”

The boy coughed, dropping to one knee. The veteran hunters seized the chance.

Wearing a long-beaked mask, Vigo sliced through the smoke with his scythe.

Clang!

A surge of resistance pushed back against the blade.

“Gghh…”

The boy drooled and sniveled, yet his red eyes glared as he cast his magic onto Vigo’s great scythe.

“What a stubborn brat this is!”

Vigo abandoned the scythe and thrusted his left arm forward.

The boy’s demonic eyes followed.

Craaack!

His left arm twisted grotesquely, skin wrinkling and splitting.

“Urgh!”

An ordinary man would have fainted from pain, but Vigo was a veteran.

Losing a limb was nothing new to him. He had already gambled with his left arm before attacking.

With his leftover right arm, he struck the boy’s abdomen.

“Ghhuk!”

All the magic shrouding the boy dispersed at once.

An opening was made.

Thrust!

Rowen rushed in and drove a silver blade into Nike’s shoulder.

“Agh, gyaahh…”

The boy glared with hateful red eyes, with his whole body trembling.

Moments later, the demonic eyes vanished. His gaze returned to gray as he collapsed unconscious.

* * *

“Haaghh!”

Vigo collapsed to the ground drenched in sweat. Rowen’s arm trembled uncontrollably as well.

“M-Master! Are you all right!?”

They had barely subdued the rampaging boy. Vigo groaned, feeling the shattered bones of his arm.

He removed his mask and muttered.

“Ugh… give me some liquor, Rowen.”

“You want to drink in your current state?!”

With no other choice, Vigo pulled out a flask with his good hand and drank. Only strong liquor could dull such pain.

His arm was completely crushed, not merely broken.

“Damn…! Emergency treatment is pointless in this state. I will fetch a doctor right now!”

“Forget it. The bones will knit before any doctor comes anyway.”

“T-Then…”

Vigo clicked his tongue and lay back.

“No doctor can heal this. I’ll just have to see the Captain.”

“…Understood.”

Rowen accepted reluctantly and turned to the unconscious boy.

Neither hunter had calmed down yet.

Their fingers trembled against their will, hearts pounded, and the chill refused to fade.

The aftermath was worse than any witch they had faced.

Even Vigo, veteran among veterans, who had never flinched before a witch…

Even he had frozen for a moment before this boy.

“This is insane… just what is he…”

Rowen clutched her chest and whispered.

“The silver blade… it truly worked. Only a witch would be harmed by it.”

“It’s a witch… but he is a boy.”

Vigo muttered in disbelief.

Because he spent thirty years facing witches, the shock of a male witch hit harder.

“His body definitely emitted magic, and he suffered from the anti-magic smoke. He was weakened when pierced by silver too.”

“They are all signs of a witch…”

They wanted to deny it, but all the evidence pointed to one truth.

The boy was a witch.

Vigo groaned and closed his eyes tight, deep in thought.

“What shall we do now? This bastard… He is still alive. The safest way is to kill- ”

“No.”

Vigo cut her off.

“Killing him would be too great a waste.”