The day Elizabeth first ca to Lady Fortune's castle.
Lady Fortune asked her new apprentice, Elizabeth.
"What do you think a witch is?"
Elizabeth showed a pensive expression, and soon spoke hesitantly.
"W-well? I don't know."
"It's okay if you get it wrong, so speak freely."
"Then...S-soone who wears a cone hat and carries a broomstick?"
"No way, how can that be?! If so, all the street cleaners would have been called witches!"
"You said I could speak freely..."
Lady Fortune, who had inadvertently shouted at the ridiculous answer, massaged her temple as if she was having a headache.
"Haa...It seems I'll have to teach you the basics first."
She gave a short sigh when she saw Elizabeth with a vacant expression. Even though she knew Elizabeth had little knowledge regarding witches, she never thought she would be ignorant to such an extent.
"Listen carefully. Witches are beings who can communicate with the astral world. Wait...I'm sure you already know what I an when I say astral world, right?"
"Uh...um...I an...I think I've heard of it..."
"...I can't believe I have to teach such an airhead. Signing the contract was a mistake the more I think about it."
"Hehe..."
Lady Fortune let out another sigh with a face full of regrets. Flicking her finger, a teddy bear standing next to her dragged a big blackboard from sowhere.
After picking up a piece of chalk, a round shape similar to Earth was drawn on the blackboard.
"In simple terms, the concept of the universe is largely divided two ways. First, an observable universe in which ti and space are represented. Naturally, this is the real world we live in."
"Yes, yes."
Lady Fortune stood on her tiptoes and drew another circle opposite of the first circle.
"And here opposite the real world is the astral world. However, this place doesn't actually exist and is a universe made up of pure information. So it's impossible to observe it by normal ans."
"Ah! R-right! That's exactly what I was going to say!"
"Just stay quiet and listen."
"...Yes."
Elizabeth's ears drooped in a despondent manner. anwhile, Lady Fortune drew a thin dotted line between the two circles.
"Every soul is born on this channel connected to the astral world. So to speak, it would explain things like intuition or sixth sense. But..."
Swoosh
Swoosh
She suddenly picked up a blackboard eraser and erased the dotted line connecting the two circles.
"The channel is blocked for most beings not long after birth. Do you understand up to this point?"
"Uh...maybe...Yes?"
"Haa...I hope that's true."
Elizabeth's vacant expression wasn't very credible, but nevertheless, Lady Fortune continued her explanation.
"Sotis this channel doesn't close, or there are beings that are born more extraordinary and brighter than others."
Unlike before, she drew a clear solid line in place of the erased line. As a result, a thick solid line was created between the two circles, connecting the real world and the astral world.
"The na may vary depending on the ti and dinsion, but... these beings are often referred to as witches today."
"A-ah..."
"The reason why witches can predict the future using tarots or crystal balls is because their souls are connected to this channel."
Lady Fortune paused and picked up a different colored chalk. The chalk was then laid flat and placed next to the solid line on the blackboard.
"And..."
Screech
Screech
As the chalk scratched the blackboard, an unpleasant fricative sound was heard. Soon, she pointed to the new line.
"...This is what the channel your soul is connected to looks like."
"..."
A thick line connecting the real world and the astral world.
It was incomparable to the solid line from earlier...The thickness was more suited to be called a shape than a line.
Elizabeth stared blankly at the blackboard, then she asked in a tentative tone.
"Uh...So, that's good...right?"
"If you simply consider it in terms of a witch's talent, you can say it's a great talent that would be hard to find in the entire history of mankind."
"Huh! Noah was right! It seems I really was talented!! So, can I be of help to him?"
Elizabeth shouted with an expression full of hope. The way her ears were twitching and her cheeks were red, it seed she was in a rather good mood.
However, Lady Fortune answered with a bitter look.
"...This isn't sothing to be so happy about."
"Wh-why? Didn't you say I had great talent?"
"Huu...the astral world is a forbidden place not permitted to mortals. The thick channel connecting it cos with a risk."
Lady Fortune summoned her usual tarot deck.
Cards unfolded in the air, conveying information received from the astral world in an abstract form in which humans could interpret.
"It's also the reason why I use these indirect objects when I predict the future. Rather than as a ans to supplent my spirituality, it's more so that I don't look directly into the astral world."
"S-so are you going to teach how to read cards?"
"No. That's sothing to learn later. The important issue at hand is to stop the precognitive dream that you're having. Afterall, the path in which a carriage passes through every day is bound to beco wider and wider."
"Heuk! D-don't tell I'm not allowed to sleep at night from now on?"
"Well, it doesn't need to be so extre. It's not to the point where it's serious, so if you don't force yourself to open the channel, there won't be a big problem. From now on I'll slowly teach you how to control it."
"A-ah...That's a relief."
Elizabeth sighed.
When Lady Fortune saw Elizabeth's bumbling expression, she warned her in a stern tone.
"But you should never forget. If a mortal looks too deep into the astral world...One day they'll get lost and beco a wandering soul."
In fact, it wasn't sothing ordinary witches had to normally worry about. However, for a special talent like Elizabeth, it was better to be careful in advance.
Elizabeth lowered her head with a rather modest expression like that of a new bride.
"Thank you for your concern. Mother. I'll keep that in mind."
"Wh-what? Who is your mother?! Didn't I tell you not to call that?!"
"Hehe, I understand. Teacher!"
"Heung, tsk."
Lady Fortune clicked her tongue briefly when she saw Elizabeth smiling brightly.
Elizabeth, who began to be taught by Lady Fortune, was soon able to completely escape the nightmares that had plagued her.
Not only that, she had been growing at an incredible rate ever since.
If this continued, it seed that soday the legendary king of witches would be born.
Lady Fortune was also relieved there wouldn't be too much trouble for her in the future.
However, this was all before the incident in Hong Kong that would happen a few months later.
* * * * * * * * * *
Uhmm...
Elizabeth, who had suddenly co to her senses, lifted her eyelids and blinked heavily.
What caught her eyes was the procession of countless stars that sparkled like jewels in an endless universe.
Huh?
Speechless, she stared blankly at the expanse with her mouth agape.
Wh-what?
When she looked down, she found that her body was translucent. She seed to have entered the astral world again without realizing it.
Ever since the Hong Kong incident, she had been waking up more frequently in the astral world.
Like an asteroid under the influence of gravity, it was closer to an instinctive attraction that was beyond her control.
A recent phenonon she had been experiencing regardless of ti.
As such, there was a considerable sense of familiarity now and it wasn't a big surprise.
However...
Wh-where the hell am I?
Until now, even if she entered the astral world, her body wasn't far from the real world...
Where she was floating now was a place she had never experienced before.
She looked around with a stiff expression. No matter where she looked, there was nowhere for her body to return to.
Instead, what caught her eye was an overwhelming sight that couldn't be fully expressed in re human language.
* * *
[ Translator - Yasi ]
[ Proofreader - Karane ]
* * *
Flas of a supernova on the brink of extinction lighting up the darkness like an incandescent light bulb, and in the distance, sothing indescribable was swimming among the blue nebulae and devouring the stars.
Despite only trying to understand the phenona reflected in her retina, she felt like she was going to lose consciousness under the weight of their boundless concept.
H-how did I end up in a place like this...
It seed she had inadvertently entered too deep.
A warning from Lady Fortune ca to mind.
[If a mortal looks too deep into the astral world...One day they'll get lost and beco a wandering soul.]
Did the warning she gave ant the current situation?
Elizabeth felt as if her heart was sinking. If she couldn't find her way back, would she have to wander around the astral world forever?
I-I can't!
There were still many things she wanted to do.
She had to go shopping with Noah. She had to watch a movie with Noah. She had to visit a good restaurant with Noah. When Noah grew up, they had to go on a trip to a remote island village, but because it was overbooked by mistake, they would have to sleep in the sa room, and then the cute underwear she wore by chance that day...
In any case, she didn't want to wander around in this dark space where there was no one for the rest of her life.
I-I have to go back!
She shouted in desperation. However, no matter how much she focused, she couldn't see any way back.
On the contrary, her surroundings beca increasingly incomprehensible.
An entire winding tree withering in a vivid blue light.
A fragrance emanating from flowers that blood in water flowing backwards.
An empty scream from sowhere burrowing into her ears.
Birth and death. Past and Future.
Conflicting concepts that could never coexist in the real world were entangled, creating strange phenonons beyond what was perceivable.
Don't try to understand it...No, let's not even look.
She couldn't let herself be misled by what she was seeing.
As such, she closed her eyes tightly. Then, a bright darkness ca and revealed her surroundings in the dark.
She seized onto her fading consciousness and forced her steps. No, was she walking in the first place?
Heuk, huk...
As soon as she took a step to the right, there was a self who took a step to the left.
A myriad of possibilities constantly diverging at the sa ti as her choices.
Every ti it happened, she felt her sense of self beco increasingly disconnected.
N-no, at this rate...
What awaited her was to be swallowed, engulfed by the huge flow of information.
The self called Elizabeth would disappear, and what would be left was a naless soul.
A-ah...Noah.
Her mories and all the elents that defined her were scattering. The mont her soul finally reached its limit,
Shii
Shii
From sowhere, there was a sound of heavy cloth rustling against the floor.
?!
Soon, a soft curtain like velvet covered everything. Then ca pure darkness where not a single speck of light leaked through.
Another bizarre sight she couldn't understand. However, there was no longer the terrible star-eating existence.
Like the night that embraced everything, a warm energy wrapped around her, and before she knew it, her soul that had been scattering regained its place.
I-I was definitely...
She hurriedly checked her condition when she ca to her senses.
The body that was superimposed with endless possibilities had returned to a single form.
Wh-what happened...?
She looked around with a bewildered expression. At the end of her gaze was a bright light.
Like the spotlight on a stage, it was the only place where light shone in the dark.
She could feel it instinctively. The reason why she could maintain her sense of self was because of the existence there.
Everything beca clearly visible as she got a little closer.
A single tea table sat alone like a prop on the stage of a play. And a woman in a cone hat, holding a teacup in one hand and sipping coffee gracefully.
As if bewitched, she spoke to the woman.
"Uh...excuse ...?"
The woman's eyes slowly turned to Elizabeth.
Pitch black hair, and eyes like rubies beneath them.
Features that felt so familiar as if Elizabeth was looking into a mirror.
"Wh-what the hell..."
She stared at the woman with a shocked expression. The woman smiled with her eyes.
"Hello? This should be our first ti eting?"
"Y-you're...No, that can't be..."
Elizabeth trembled.
It was because the woman in front of her had a face that looked exactly like hers.
"D-doppelganger? O-or is it like illusion magic...?"
"Huhu, you really think that's what this is?"
"T-tell ! Tell ...! Wh-what the hell are you?"
"Well? I think you already know that."
Elizabeth shook her head fiercely as if in denial of the woman in front of her. Even though they were just having a conversation, she felt a more instinctive incongruity towards her than anyone else she had ever t.
However, she could already feel it. She could tell without hearing an answer.
The woman's identity...
"I'm you. Neither a doppelganger nor an illusion. In other words, the sa Elizabeth."
Elizabeth put down her teacup and approached Elizabeth.
"B-but that's impossible! I'm Elizabeth!"
"Uhm, Elizabeth is you in the current world. That's not wrong. Then I...Should I call myself Elizabeth from the first round?"
"F-first round? What the hell are you saying...?"
"Well, even if you didn't ask, I was going to explain it slowly. Because I've been waiting a long ti for you just for this mont."
With a red glint in her eyes, Elizabeth stared at Elizabeth and asked.
"Elizabeth. You...How much do you know about the secrets of the world?"
Soon, the two sat face to face and began talking.
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