LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 12
It seemed that Daniel only had Nina as his friend from the original story, but surprisingly, that wasn’t the case.
There was one more student who had helped Daniel, just like Nina.
Unfortunately, he was a dropout, so he couldn’t directly assist with the happenings inside the academy, but still, he was an invaluable ally to Daniel.
Paul Richter.
He was the second son of Baron Richter, who created a cure for the epidemic that once ravaged the Empire.
As a scion who received his title through medicine, he was a genius who developed various potions and enhancements.
However, due to some incident, he developed a social phobia.
Naturally, he dropped out of the academy and became a hermit at home, solely working on drug development.
‘He was quite a sympathetic character in many ways.’
Paul was an F-class student at Kia del Academy, learning herbal medicine and medical knowledge.
He was placed in F-class solely due to not showing a specific talent except for medicine.
Despite the unfair class assignment, Paul didn’t mind and absorbed new medical knowledge without discrimination.
During this field trip to the Witch’s Forest, his obsessive curiosity was evident.
With his eyes spinning at an environment full of herbs, he began collecting them wildly.
As a result, he forgot the warnings about the forbidden area and headed toward the center of the forest.
‘It was self-inflicted, but the punishment was far too harsh for purely seeking knowledge…’
As Paul entered the forbidden zone, he was captured by a witch living deep within.
After being kidnapped, he suffered horrible experiences multiple times in the witch’s hut.
Thanks to Daniel finally arriving with a group of professors, he narrowly survived, but the potions fed to him by the witch and the deep-seated shame etched in his body would never disappear.
Ultimately, this incident led Paul to suffer from social phobia and drop out of the academy.
Still, he expressed his gratitude to Daniel for saving him and vowed to be of help.
‘It would be nice to build a friendship with Paul, but it isn’t that important for me right now.’
Paul’s role was mostly to help Daniel become stronger.
He would create helpful potions for Daniel, ensure he took them regularly, and facilitate his awakening.
However, I was already strong enough without the power of potions.
What if I redirected Paul’s assistance to Nina instead of myself?
Even if the development becomes tangled multiple times, I could prevent any hindrance to Nina’s growth.
‘I will keep Paul at the academy and make him Nina’s assistant.’
Pleased with my brilliant idea, I moved deeper into the forest.
To eliminate the source of the problem, I had to reach the center of the forest.
Although each defense had a different environment, the center of the Witch’s Forest was just endlessly dark.
Spores that dulled my sense of direction were floating in the air, making it easy to lose my way.
Moreover, the noticeably larger plants were wriggling around, threatening me.
It felt like a warning that if I didn’t turn back immediately, I’d be in for a rough time.
“Can’t you do a bit of weeding?”
I pushed through the weeds that had grown up to my waist and continued forward.
When I refused to back down despite the warnings, a man-eating plant opened its mouth wide, and trees pulled out their roots and swung them like whips.
I unleashed some mana to create winds that whirled around me.
The raging blade-like winds chopped off the stems of the weeds and sent all the roots flying.
Though my main focus was spatial magic, I was also adept with other forms of magic.
Especially elemental magic, which I had mastered to the point of casting 5th level spells, the level of a high-ranking mage.
Crazy plants that attacked humans weren’t even a threat without bringing out my secret techniques.
“There it is.”
I had pinpointed the witch’s hut using spatial magic.
Even if I lost my sense of direction, the path to the hut was crystal clear—there was no way I could get lost!
With smoke billowing from the chimney, I figured it was safe to say there were no variables like her absence.
Once I was certain the witch was there, I bolted straight for the hut without stopping for even a moment, smashing the door with my shoulder.
“FBI! OPEN UP!”
“What, what is it?!”
“I came after hearing that a vile criminal lives here!”
The young witch was stirring a cauldron with a ladle.
I rushed at her, knocking her to the floor and using spatial control magic to keep her from moving.
The witch, caught off guard and quickly subdued, couldn’t hide her astonishment and yelled out.
“What are you doing?!”
“Shut it, you wicked criminal!”
Smack!
As I slapped the witch’s cheek, she gasped with her mouth agape and blinked repeatedly.
Having probably never been hit in her life, the shock must have been significant.
But soon, she regained her composure and began to argue in frustration.
“What exactly did I do to deserve this?!”
“What did you do? Are you seriously asking that?”
“I haven’t gone outside the forest in nearly 300 years! Of course, I haven’t done anything personal to anyone!”
“Of course, you have no personal feelings. I came here because of the countless heinous acts you committed in the past and that you will continue to commit.”
“So what wrong have I committed to be treated like this?!”
“The Elixir of Rejuvenation.”
Cutting her off, I mentioned the potion used in her crimes, and she turned her head away.
She was probably avoiding eye contact because something was weighing on her mind.
“Is it strange? When did the Elixir of Rejuvenation become illegal?”
“The potion itself isn’t illegal. But forcing someone to drink it without consent to fulfill your selfish desires is a crime.”
“What, what are you talking about? I’m the only one drinking the Elixir of Rejuvenation…!”
“This senile lady is still trying to deny it! If you won’t confess, then I have no choice.”
Using spatial magic, I brought to the surface the witch’s secrets hidden underground in her hut.
A bed appeared in midair, and on top of it, little children were sleeping soundly.
Seeing that scene, the witch exhaled a rough breath and even started drooling.
“What’s better than children?”
“More children…! Hah!”
“Are you still pretending to not know, Pedophile Witch?”
Celestia, the witch who had lived for a thousand long years.
She was a legendary witch who had created countless visionary spells, but her true form was simply a witch who loved children too much!
Fortunately, she merely enjoyed the act of raising children without the desire for sexual gratification.
But in this world, no child can remain eternally young. Children inevitably grow up over time.
Despairing over that fact, Celestia committed insane acts.
[If I have the Elixir of Rejuvenation, I can keep the child in a pure state forever!]
The Elixir of Rejuvenation that Celestia created not only kept the body young but also made the mind immature.
So, she began kidnapping those who entered the center of the forest and forced them to take the Elixir of Rejuvenation.
Turning them into clueless little children and raising them while ensuring they drank the potion regularly to prevent them from growing up forever.
Paul, who was kidnapped by Celestia, also found his body becoming younger after being forced to drink the Elixir of Rejuvenation.
While he managed to suppress his mental regression with a suppressor he created, as a side effect, he would live his life in a childlike form.
With his small stature, he was destined to be bullied by classmates for life, making dropping out of the academy a necessity.
“Kidnapping, drug abuse, confinement, and violation of child protection laws, etc. Quite a splendid array of crimes!”
“Child protection laws…?”
“Do you have any last words you want to say?”
Celestia shook her head vigorously, signaling her acknowledgment.
“There must be the barrier I painstakingly set up in the hut! How did you get in?”
“I broke through the barrier.”
“That’s preposterous…! No, considering you’re handling space magic, I can’t say it’s impossible.”
“Is that all you want to say?”
“Wait! I have one more question I want to ask!”
“What is it?”
“What’s your real purpose for coming to find me?”
“…….”
“Are you seriously going to spout some nonsense about coming to judge me? If that was your intention, you would’ve killed me instantly from the start.”
It was accurate.
Though I had easily subdued her, she was the legendary witch Celestia.
On par with sages and supreme magicians, had I not possessed spatial magic, I wouldn’t have even been able to lay a finger on her.
Considering the possibility of being reversed on her, killing her would have been the rightful choice.
And yet, the reason I didn’t kill Celestia but tied her up was because I had something I wanted to ask of her.
“Sharp as a tack.”
“So what is it you want from me?”
My main purpose was to prevent Paul from being kidnapped.
However, this goal was technically achieved the moment I appeared and subdued Celestia.
So now, I could present my other objective to her while ensuring her freedom and overlooking her crimes.
“For the next three days, you will become my servant and do my bidding.”
“Contraceptives are on the right shelf! They can divide the eggs, so triplets will be an easy feat…♡”
“Not a sex slave.”
“Tch!”
This crazy hen of a witch was so earnest about children that she was ready to think about having them herself.
I couldn’t help but feel that none of the women I got entangled with were normal!