Chapter 97

The object in front of me.

Its true identity was none other than a staff.

An old, wooden staff.

The head was bent into the shape of a question mark, and in the center, a mysterious jewel floated in place.

Out of curiosity, I lightly touched the jewel with the hand wearing [Cloud Spider].

The jewel swayed gently before returning to its original position.

It seemed there was no thread or wire connecting the jewel to the staff.

‘It definitely looks like a magic staff…….’

A magic staff.

Naturally, it’s a tool witches or wizards use to make casting magic easier.

Of course, by itself, there’s nothing particularly special about it.

Since magic is still a field science hasn’t completely conquered, it’s only natural that scientists would want to study it.

Witches aren’t exactly a common sight, but having a staff like this in a lab wouldn’t be seen as anything extraordinary.

After all, you could’ve just left one lying around after a fight with a witch.

If anything, for a Stingray Group secret lab, this was quite a wholesome research subject.

At least it was better than seeing human organs floating around in glass tanks, wasn’t it?

But what bothered me wasn’t the fact it was a magic staff.

It was its “design.”

‘This… isn’t this Evangeline’s?’

Evangeline, the witch.

A witch who fell for the protagonist at first sight and became an ally.

Here, she was likely an unfortunate character who had been killed by Araya.

I suspected this magic staff might belong to Evangeline.

‘Of course, the odds are low.’

It didn’t make much sense.

Why would Evangeline’s staff, from a witch who had supposedly been killed by Araya, be here?

Out of all the countless witches the Stingray Group might have hunted down until now, the one staff that just so happened to be Evangeline’s was sitting in this secret lab I happened to find?

Come on, that’s forcing it.

Even a novel would get criticized for that kind of plot.

‘It’s probably just something that looks similar.’

Besides, I’d never actually seen Evangeline’s staff.

The original was a novel, so there had only been textual descriptions—no illustrations or pictures.

I just remembered one line in the novel describing “a jewel floating on the staff’s head,” and it stuck with me.

But honestly, I wasn’t even sure if it was made of wood like this one.

For all I knew, Evangeline’s staff could’ve been made of iron.

Or maybe, like Mimi’s magic wand, it could’ve been plastic.

Just because the jewel floated on the head didn’t mean it was hers, and her staff had surely ended up in Araya’s possession.

So yes, this suspicion was baseless.

“A magic staff, huh……”

Was there any use for it?

Thinking that, I carefully picked it up.

It didn’t seem fit to be used as a weapon.

Naturally, as someone who wasn’t a wizard, I couldn’t use magic.

Unless I took the blood of another witch like Araya, who had killed Evangeline, using magic would be impossible for me.

‘Well, even if I could, it’s meaningless.’

There was no reason to bother learning beginner-level magic when I had powerful modules at my disposal.

Sure, magic had its own romantic appeal, but the power of Arcane Modules was already unreal enough.

Wingardium Leviosa.

I waved the staff around a bit, then quickly lost interest and put it back.

I considered taking it with me, thinking I might destroy this lab later, but it felt cumbersome.

Where would I even walk around with something like this?

‘In the end, there’s nothing useful here.’

If there had been a broken Lv.5 Arcane Module prototype, the Stingray Group would’ve guarded this lab with everything they had.

Maybe the reason this so-called secret lab had its backup power cut and was left abandoned was simply because it held nothing important.

Unable to hide my disappointment, I turned to leave.

From the armor of [Cloud Spider], I pulled out a long thread.

I flicked my fingers, ready to unleash thousands of strands to bury everything.

“That is truly a curious thing, stranger.”

At the sudden, youthful voice from behind me, I froze.

Feeling an unexpected presence, I narrowed my eyes and tensed my whole body.

“Who are you?”

“That’s what I’d like to ask. Who are you?”

When I turned my head, there was a young girl standing there.

Her body was half transparent, clearly not an ordinary human.

‘Could she be a soul sealed inside the staff?’

Now that’s interesting.

I like situations like this.

Intrigued, I knelt down to meet the little girl at eye level.

She was so short that she barely reached my thigh, making it hard to look down at her.

The light seeping from the staff illuminated the space.

Thanks to that, we could see each other’s faces without using infrared camera functions.

The girl’s features were quite cute, with neatly cut platinum-blonde hair and striking red eyes.

Just like Evangeline.

“Aaron Stingray.”

“Aaron… Aaron Stingray…?”

The mysterious little girl frowned and stroked her chin.

She looked under ten years old, yet her gestures and tone were those of an old person.

Still, it was pretty cute, and personally, I liked this kind of character setting.

I felt my affection for this kid slowly rising.

“Stingray… that’s that strange group full of monster-like freaks, isn’t it? How are you connected to them?”

“Drake Stingray, the chairman, is my father. I’m his eldest son.”

“The eldest son of that villainous leader!?”

The little girl gasped in shock.

Did she have some bad memories with the Stingray Group?

Well, it wouldn’t be strange.

It wasn’t like the corporation hadn’t been waging wars with the Mystics while trying to establish colonies.

Best to just take it as it is.

“Then… are you my enemy?”

Wait, why are you asking me that?

“I don’t particularly want to be your enemy.”

I answered honestly.

Seeing a kid this young as an enemy from the start would already make me a terrible human being.

Even if she wasn’t an ordinary child, outwardly she looked like one—what could I do?

“But if you choose to be hostile toward me, I’ll be hostile toward you. On the other hand, if you’re willing to respect me, I’ll respect you.”

“Willing? Don’t use difficult words!”

“……”

What.

She just used tricky words like ‘villainous leader’ herself, so why is she telling me not to use them?

I really don’t get her standard for “difficult.”

Still, the conversation had to continue.

“I’m saying it depends on how you act. So, what will you do with me?”

“Mmm…!”

The ghost girl fell into thought.

But her contemplation didn’t last long.

“I’ve decided! You are my benefactor!”

“Benefactor?”

“Yes! Without you, I wouldn’t have been able to return to the present world! So the one who allowed me to return is my benefactor!”

A strange feeling.

As I talked to this girl, I kept feeling something off.

No—rather than “off,” it was a strange “expectation.”

Because she resembled Evangeline, I kept holding on to a useless hope.

But she should already be dead.

And if this little girl really were Evangeline, then a system message about achieving a new achievement should have appeared.

Suppressing my bitter feelings, I asked her again.

“Then what can you do?”

“Huh…?”

“If I’m your benefactor, shouldn’t you repay me somehow?”

Even as I said it, I felt a slight pang of guilt.

Seriously, what kind of strongest-in-the-world character tries to extort something from such a tiny girl?

It made me feel pathetically small-minded…

Well, that aside, I was just probing in case she really could give me something.

If she said she had nothing, I would’ve just let it go.

“T-There’s nothing I can do right now…”

“……”

I didn’t expect her to actually say she couldn’t do anything.

I’d at least hoped that, as the spirit of a magic staff, she might bestow some sort of blessing.

Then again, thinking about it, even if she did, it’d probably get erased if I got hit by Anti-Rain.

Tch. No point being greedy.

If I just think of this as a fun experience, it’s not so bad.

“Then I suppose it can’t be helped.”

“W-Wait! That’s not what I meant…!”

Maybe my disappointment showed, because the girl cried out urgently.

“I-It’s just that I can’t do anything in my current state! If you could lend me just a little more strength, I could regain my power and…”

“There’s no need to push yourself that much.”

“B-But…”

I spoke in a calming tone.

“You don’t need to feel indebted to me. I didn’t really do anything. I just touched that staff, and you popped out.”

“T-That can’t be. There’s no way such a convenient thing could happen. It must be because you called my name that I was able to return.”

“…?”

What?

I called your name?

Feeling the strange sense of dissonance grow stronger, I opened my mouth.

“Kid.”

“Don’t call me ‘kid.’”

“Is that staff yours?”

Ignoring her protest, I asked, and the girl shook her head.

“No, it’s not mine.”

“Then what connection does it have to you?”

“That was merely the ‘bucket’ I happened to ride up on.”

“Bucket?”

“Beneath that place flows a deep ‘river.’ It’s a river where all the world’s unconscious, souls, and mana swirl together in a winding current. Magic is the process of using consciousness to draw out the power overflowing in the unconscious into the outside world.”

“……”

I didn’t understand even half of that.

“And to a witch, a staff is the ‘bucket’ that draws water from that river flowing far beneath the well, deep underground.”

She continued speaking.

“I was floundering, drowning in that ‘river.’ My… my… body was gone, and only my soul remained, waiting for someone to draw it up.”

She stumbled over her words, likely unable to recall the term “physical body.”

Yet she could say “soul” just fine.

Well, I’d let that slide.

Her words weren’t something I could simply dismiss.

“If what you say is true, then when you were sinking in that ‘river,’ the one who pulled your soul up was…”

“It was you.”

She nodded firmly.

“I don’t know how to use magic, though.”

“That doesn’t matter.

When you touched the staff while calling my name, you opened the well and lowered the bucket. The rest was something I did myself. After all, I ‘was’ a great witch!”

With an ahem! she planted her hands on her hips as if making a show of authority.

It was an adorably cute gesture, but I had no time for such thoughts.

“In any case, I am the one who should be asking. Who are you, that you knew my name? How were you able to summon my existence?”

I had called her name.

Suppressing the pounding of my heart at her words, I asked one last question.

“What’s your name?”

“Huh? This is strange. If you didn’t know my name, you wouldn’t have been able to call me…? Well, I suppose it doesn’t matter.”

Tilting her head in puzzlement, the girl then straightened and answered with confidence.

“I am the Crimson-Blooded Witch, Evangeline de Armedia!”

Ah.

All I could let out was a short sigh.

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