Companions

The Scholar bent over the Witch of the Blue Rose with a severe expression, his hand operating his glasses. The lenses shifted colors. 

He was fascinated by this woman’s condition. Still, at the same time, the condition was so terrible that he couldn’t find any happiness in the new and fascinating discovery.

The Fleur and the Paladin stood behind the Scholar, waiting with bated breath.

“While I can’t perceive and manipulate mana like White Rose can to diagnose the issue,” the Scholar said, examining the Blue Witch’s body, “I can see that her mana is flowing from all the major and minor mana channels,” the Scholar said.

He readjusted his glasses, and the lenses returned to normal.

“I’ll trust what White Rose said—it’s consistent with what I see. I have heard of a similar case, but it was not an illness,” the Scholar. He closed his eyes to recall the information from long ago.

“It was around 50 years ago when someone was cursed, and the curse caused his mana channels to tear whenever he used his mana. The damage still happened when he didn’t use mana, but at a slower rate. In the end, he died a week later without finding the way to lift the curse or a cure to repair his mana channels.”

“I can see and smell the mana all over as if someone had spilled a bottle of perfume,” the Fleur said walking around the room. “There are some plants that can help restore and boost mana production, but they won’t help in this situation because the Blue Witch is too weak to handle their effects. The best I can maybe do is wrap her in vines that block mana. That way, it’ll prevent mana from leaving her body and return some mana to herself. It won’t be enough to help her get better. It’ll only slow the process.”

The Paladin who had been scanning the Blue Witch’s body up and down, clenching his hands. “This curse is all over her, both inside and outside of her body. Whoever did this was evil and wanted her to suffer. I think even if you wrap her body in that mana blocking vines you mentioned, as long as the curse is still active, her mana will have a hard time returning to her body.”

“How is it that neither of us could see the curse?” the Red Witch said, her hands trembling on her chest. Her concerned eyes roamed over Bluejoy’s body, examining every detail.

“Some curses can stay hidden until the right condition reveals itself,” the Succubus said. The stronger the curse is hidden, the stronger the Holy Power will be needed to reveal it. “Even I could only figure out that something was off, but couldn’t tell what was off until the Paladin came in with his body overflowing with Holy. Whoever cast this curse was not only very malicious but also very skilled.”

“That’s true. Even I couldn’t detect a curse before until the Paladin entered the room,” the White Witch said. “We need to repair her mana channels, but if we don’t eliminate the curse, that will be useless.”

“It’s a powerful curse,” the Succubus said. “It’s a growing curse that even demons hate to use. It’ll dig its roots into the host until it integrates with every being of the host. Right now, because of the protection amulet, the curse is still contained only in her mana channel. Eventually, it’ll spread to her muscles, bones, organs, and kill her.”

“Blue, who did you offend to come to this?” the Red Witch asked.

“I don’t think I offended anyone,” Bluejoy said weakly. “I’ve been traveling from city to city for the past two years. Even before the trip, I wasn’t aware I had enemies.”

The Red Witch nodded knowingly. She gave Blue a gentle smile. “Blue’s personality had always been mellow and easygoing. I don’t remember anyone hating her to the extent that they wanted to do something so terrible.”

“I can’t think of anyone, either,” White said.

She had not known Bluejoy for long, but to take the Seat of the Blue Rose, the person must pass a test assigned by each of the Rose Witches. While the test that White gave wasn’t technically difficult, it tested a person’s patience and character.

To the White Witch, an arcane artificer in power could do great harm. Therefore, she never tested people on their skills with magic. Instead, she tested their kindness, patience, compassion, and wisdom. The fact that Blue could pass her test greatly spoke of her good character.

“I can lessen her curse somewhat,” the Paladin said. “I can’t tell if I can remove it until I weaken the curse.”

“I’m grateful,” the Blue Witch said.

“Even lessening a little bit of her pain would be of great help,” the Red Witch said. Her hand that was held tight on her chest relaxed.

“I’ll need some peace if you don’t mind. This will be delicate work. I’ll need all the concentration I can get,” the Paladin said.

“We’ll leave her in your good hands,” the Red Witch said. “Please call us if you need anything. I’ll prepare a room for you.”

Everyone filed out of the room and left the Paladin to tend to the curse on the Blue Witch. The Red Witch, who was the last one to leave the room, closed the door quietly behind her. In her eyes were tears that had stubbornly refused to fall until now.

White went over and put her arms around Red. As an incomplete human and incomplete demon, White couldn’t feel the emotions as deeply or completely. Still, she did feel sadness, and she knew that it would bring Red comfort to hug her.

Red was not just Bluejoy’s mentor. Red raised Blue like she’s her daughter. Seeing Red’s tears full of motherly sadness, White was moved. White never had someone close to her, and she could not imagine the suffering that Red was going through. White didn’t like seeing her in pain.

Red sagged against White’s shoulder and wrapped her arms around her traveler’s jacket. Red knew White had trouble feeling and understanding emotions, but she was still grateful that White gave her a shoulder to lean on.

Yet again, the Succubus wanted to split the two apart but watched on. She had even less of a reason to do so this time. She might be a demon, but demons weren’t completely heartless. Their heart just operated a bit differently than a human’s.

“The man from 50 years ago might not have found a cure to repair his mana channels, but his friend never gave up and eventually found something that might have helped if the cursed friend had stayed alive,” the Scholar said.

“What is it?” the Red Witch asked, her head shooting up from White’s shoulder. Her wet bleary eyes looking hopefully at the Scholar.

“This might help, or it might bring you into more despair,” the Scholar said.