Miss Witch, Please Don't Leave Your Fragrance Everywhere[TL]

"—you will die within seven days."

　　The crystal ball is ineffective for the dead. Angelica tried to predict the future of the dead, and the result was the same as Samuel's, reflecting a completely dark future. If the same phenomenon occurred in the prediction of the living, it meant that Samuel was already dead on the seventh day.

　　"Will I die? How, how is that possible! I don't remember having any sequelae!"

　　"Calm down, it might be an accident."

　　"…Is this considered consolation?"

　　"I didn't say I was comforting you. If there's anything you want to do, I suggest you hurry up. You don't have much time."

　　Angelica couldn't guarantee whether Samuel would die tomorrow or on the sixth day. The only thing that was certain was that Samuel on the seventh day was already dead. Otherwise, Angelica could at least predict who the murderer was.

　　Samuel clenched his fists.

　　"I don't want to die... I can't die. If I die, my sister won't be able to live."

　　"Oh? Are you the only one responsible for supporting your family?"

　　"I...well, I'd better tell you directly, my father...has a habit of drinking and gambling."

　　Samuel sighed and told the truth with a slightly melancholy tone.

　　"When I was young, my family was relatively well off. My father was a businessman, and my mother raised me and my sister at home. Until one day, my father made some friends, and those adults took him to gamble on horses. After my father became addicted, his business plummeted, and he lost all the money in the family."

　　I see, he is addicted to horse girls... Oh no, it should be pure horse betting. In the other world, gambling games such as cards are not very popular. Instead, horse racing is very popular. At first, it was a sport that only nobles could enjoy. Later, someone suddenly had an idea:

　　Why don't we open up the racetracks to the common people and let them bet on which horse will win?

　　Thus horse racing was created from the beginning. Angelica's comment was that the first person who proposed this suggestion should be hanged on a street lamp just like the person who created the Gachapon mechanism. Why did he create such a bad civilization?

　　"Every time he lost money, my father would go to the pub to drink to relieve his boredom. He would get drunk and gradually become an alcoholic. His temper became more and more violent. He took out all his anger on my brother, sister and mother, beating and kicking us."

　　"That's how you got the injuries. What about your mother?"

　　"Last year, my mother had a serious illness. I worked very hard to earn money for her medical expenses, but my father took all the money and squandered it. My mother left me and my sister in the winter. In the end, my mother grabbed my hand and told me to take good care of my sister."

　　Samuel still has some strength and can work as a laborer to supplement the family income. His sister is different. Their father squandered the family fortune only in the last two years. His sister has never done any housework. Even the textile factory shakes their heads when they see her.

　　"So I absolutely cannot die... But I have to admit that I'm really reaching my limit. I can't even get enough food. If I continue like this, I'll either die of exhaustion or starvation, so..."

　　Samuel knelt directly in front of Angelica.

　　"Please, you know magic, right? You were able to carry the flour to the bakery, it must be thanks to magic."

　　"Magic is not omnipotent. I said that the future I foresaw is absolute. Even if I use magic to protect you, you still can't live to the seventh day."

　　"I don't need to do anything more. As long as I have the strength, I won't die."

　　Samuel stubbornly begged Angelica for help. In his understanding, the cause of his death was probably malnutrition and inability to keep up with the physical exertion. If he had enough physical strength, he would never have died.

　　Angelica wanted to say that there was actually a possibility of death due to an accident within seven days, but it seemed that Samuel would not give up unless she agreed.

　　Angelica turned Samuel around and drew a symbol on his back.

　　"I have cast a spell on you that will make you as strong as an ox within seven days. After seven days, my mark will disappear, and you will return to normal."

　　"Thank you. I will definitely make it through these seven days."

　　Samuel looked very happy, but Angelica thought that Samuel might not have a good understanding of the inevitability of magic. Just as doctors and patients themselves could best understand terminal illnesses, Samuel had no common sense of magic. Perhaps in Samuel's view, he could avoid death by not dying from hard labor.

　　After the witch gave Samuel the protection, he immediately left and returned to work. Angelica actually had no reason to stay in Leo Village any longer, after all, she couldn't make much money at the moment, so she sat in the shade of the tree for a while and decided to stay for a few more days.

　　Angelica was used to attending the funerals of old friends, so a young man she met by chance was no different.

　　In the following days, Angelica continued to make predictions in the village. Occasionally, travelers passing through Leo Village would be interested in her. The daily reward was barely enough for Angelica to pay for the hotel and meals.

　　Samuel would often pass by Angelica's stall. Thanks to the protection of magic, he no longer had to be crushed by heavy objects. He would always give Angelica a thankful smile every time he passed by.

　　Until the fifth night -

　　"It's so noisy outside..."

　　In the early hours of the morning, Angelica was awakened by the noise outside the inn. Generally speaking, unless it was a holiday, the tavern had to close at a specified time and was not allowed to stay open all night, so there were always only patrolling guards and night watchmen in the village at night.

　　Today was not a special holiday. Angelica dressed neatly and walked out of the inn. She found that most of the people in the village had gathered on the street. They were holding torches and shouting in fear.

　　The Archon struck the gong in his hand and shouted loudly.

　　"Please don't panic! The Lord's guards have already taken action. I believe they will bring us results soon!"

　　Angelica quietly came up behind the innkeeper and patted him on the shoulder.

　　"What happened?"

　　"——Someone has killed someone."

　　The innkeeper said in panic that although the murderer was not among the crowd and the consul notified the lord of Leo Village as quickly as possible, and the lord sent his elite guards to hunt down the fugitive, the people in the village were obviously still in fear.

　　For most people, the murderer was only mentioned in idle chats among neighbors and after drinking. No one expected the murderer to appear in the village.

　　"Have you found out who it is?"

　　"I heard a kid killed his father!"

　　The people around also joined the discussion.

　　"I heard that the crime scene was extremely bloody, and his father's head was twisted off!"

　　"You must be kidding. How can a child have so much strength?"

　　"There is a saying that when a person wants to harm a loved one, the devil will appear and grant that person endless power."

　　"Oh my god, this is horrible. God bless you, how could there be a kinslayer in our village?"

　　"He'll go to hell! The lord will definitely take care of it!"

　　"Hang him! We cannot let the parricide live. He dared to kill even his closest relatives. What else will he not dare to do in the future?"

　　"Devil! A devil must have appeared!"

　　The villagers of Leo Village were outraged, with a mixture of panic, shock and anger.

　　Although no name appeared, Angelica had guessed the truth.

　　It's Samuel.

　　He killed his father, and he had a motive for doing so.

　　Angelica also knew that with the magical protection she bestowed, it would be easy for Samuel to break a person's neck.

　　Angelica retreated silently, and the Archon was busy calming the people's unrest and did not notice that someone in the crowd quietly slipped away.

　　[Witch TIPS]

　　Angelica used to be good at dancing classical ballet.

　　"I've forgotten it all! Don't ask me where I learned it!"

　　In the forest outside Leo Village, Miss Witch easily found Samuel. With the help of magic, it was not difficult to locate a person at a close distance.

　　"Hello, Samuel, we meet again."

　　"…It's you. Why can't I move?"

　　"Because you're already dead."

　　Angelica smiled as she told the cruel truth. Samuel was lying in the forest far outside Leo Village. He fell under a tree with bloody wounds on his abdomen and chest. Before Angelica arrived, Samuel had actually died from his injuries. What Angelica did was to use magic to keep the soul in the dead body. The soul of a person after death would not go to the underworld immediately, but would continue to wander in the world.

　　Caelum Sequence 6: Soul Shackles, which allows the soul to continue to stay in the dead body, but cannot move, and is not a true resurrection. The purpose of doing this is to explain the last words, or to ask who is the murderer, or to let the deceased take one last look at the world. However, if the death time is too long or the body is too severely damaged, the soul shackles will not work.

　　"I used magic to keep your soul here for a while. Do you know what terminal lucidity is? It's similar to that."

　　"…I see."

　　"The villagers in Leo Village are talking about you killing your father."

　　"Um."

　　"With the magic I gave you, your father will never be your opponent. So it must have been the guards of the Lord of Leo Village who did it, right?"

　　Magic in the other world is not extremely rare. Although Leo Village is an inconspicuous little village and its lord is just a small baron, his guards are still elite knights who master magic and can use it in combat.

　　"...After my father came home that day, he lost a lot of money again and got drunk. He started beating my sister, saying that she looked like my mother and that if I didn't stop him, my sister would be beaten to death by my father. Perhaps because of the long-standing conflicts, I accidentally beat my father to death."

　　There was no unnecessary emotion in Samuel's words. This was the drawback of soul shackles. The dead who were regaining consciousness could not express their emotions well and could only passively state the facts.

　　"Even so, you should have been arrested and publicly executed, not just beaten to death."

　　Although Samuel committed the heinous crime of parricide, procedural justice is still necessary. He must first be arrested and sent to a judge for trial. Even if Samuel had a reason, he would most likely be sentenced to death. However, it is illogical that Samuel was seriously injured and died by the guards.

　　"I didn't try to resist. I was taken to the prison, but the guard suddenly asked me if it was my sister who was seducing my father."

　　"ha?"

　　"My father beat my sister and tore her clothes... The guards told me that people in the village were saying that she seduced my father. She was also a victim, so why would anyone spread such rumors? I couldn't let the rumors spread. If I let the rumors continue to spread, the monastery would refuse to adopt my sister... Although it's probably too late now. I chose to escape from prison. If I must die within seven days, at least I want to silence those who spread the rumors."

　　Later, because the prisoner escaped from prison, the guards chose to attack Samuel in a way that was fatal. The prisoner who escaped from prison and took someone's life would be judged as an extremely vicious criminal, and the law allowed the guards to fight back in self-protection.

　　The protection that Angelica gave to Samuel only gave him strength, not a body of steel. Samuel, who was a mortal, escaped from prison with serious injuries, but before he could find out who spread the rumors, he bled to death in the forest outside the village.

　　"I suddenly felt very sad... Our family was poor, my sister and I were often abused by our father, and no one was willing to stop him... Why did he spare no effort in spreading unrealistic rumors in the end?"

　　"It's probably a cost issue."

　　"cost?"

　　"Your father was an alcoholic. People avoid alcoholics for fear of getting into trouble. You killed your father, and were taken away by the guards and thrown into prison. Your sister lost all protection... For them, it was nothing more than gossip. There was no cost and no price to pay."

　　Angelica finally understood why the people of Leo Village panicked. It was not because Samuel killed his father. After Samuel was arrested voluntarily, someone in the village speculated about Samuel's ragged sister. At first, it was just speculation out of curiosity, but it eventually turned into a pure rumor that Samuel's sister seduced her father. The rumor reached the guards, who were interested and decided to ask one of the parties directly.

　　The villagers of Leo Village were in panic because of Samuel's escape from prison. At this moment, they didn't know that Samuel had been seriously injured and died.

　　"People are always curious and curious, otherwise there is no way to explain why ghost stories can be sung from place to place. They may not hate you or your sister, but they are just interested in the possibility and discuss it."

　　"But this... damages my sister's reputation. The monastery will no longer adopt her..."

　　After a brief hesitation, Samuel knew that he didn't have much time left and there was no reason to remain reserved.

　　"Can you please look after my sister?"

　　"I have somewhere else to be."

　　"Then please take her to a place where she can be properly accommodated... She can't continue to live in Leo Village."

　　"Do you mind if I take her somewhere far away?"

　　"The farther away the better... This place will only bring sadness to my sister..."

　　The only person Samuel could trust was Angelica; they had no other relatives here.

　　But in the end, Samuel still had a question.

　　"By the way… if you had given me a stronger protection, would I have been able to survive…?"

　　"No way."

　　Angelica rejected Samuel's little hope. If the witch hadn't given Samuel magic, Samuel's fate might have been to be beaten to death by his over-alcoholic father. But Angelica gave Samuel magic, which made it impossible for ordinary people to compete with it. So fate arranged for Samuel to have a conflict with the guards who also mastered magic, and eventually died of serious injuries.

　　If Angelica gave Samuel more protection, the situation would still develop in a worse direction, and it might even turn out that the witch would kill him herself.

　　"You may find it hard to believe, but I used to actively resist fate. But I won't do that anymore. Just accept your damn fate. Maybe your sister is destined to drift far away."

------

The civilization of the other world is generally based on the Middle Ages. Although Angelica is curious why it has never evolved into a more advanced civilization, as time goes by, some changes are still witnessed by Angelica.

　　For example, clothes were originally made with tailors. In other words, if you wanted to buy clothes, you would go directly to the tailor's shop to find the tailor himself. There were no stores that specialized in selling clothes. Nowadays, in some more prosperous towns, clothing stores are no longer a novelty. After all, many tailors, although skilled, are not necessarily good at sales.

　　"Perfect! It suits you so well!"

　　The female manager of the clothing store invited the girl to the floor-length mirror and asked her to look in the mirror and admire herself in her gorgeous attire.