"I'm terribly sorry..."
Tsuruno lowered her head in dejection.
"I never thought Mifuyu would take me hostage..."
"Don't blame yourself. Honestly, even I never expected her to do something like that."
Yachiyo sighed, waved a hand, then looked toward Red Ponytail beside her.
"To be honest, I thought you would make a move back then."
In fact, when Mifuyu took Tsuruno hostage, everyone present had been stunned. Yachiyo had even worriedly glanced at Red Ponytail. Knowing her, Yachiyo thought she might charge in and cut her down with a single swing. Yet to Yachiyo's surprise, Red Ponytail acted as if she had seen nothing. So Yachiyo agreed to Mifuyu's exchange terms, returned the twins to Mihoyo, and watched helplessly as they left.
"There was no need. I didn't have much magical power left at the time either."
Red Ponytail shook her head. Hearing that, Yachiyo immediately understood why she had remained silent. After all, Red Ponytail and Felicia had been the ones fighting so many witches earlier, along with the twins. Though it looked like Red Ponytail's side had won overwhelmingly, it was easy to imagine that she had expended quite a bit of strength.
It was not just Red Ponytail. Yachiyo and the others had also used up a great deal of magical power fighting the Rumor Witch of Lucky Water. Under those circumstances, fighting the enemy would clearly have been unwise.
"But what do we do now...?"
Kozue asked anxiously, while Red Ponytail remained quite relaxed.
"There's nothing to worry about. Why do you think I let them go? Because we already know their weakness."
"Their weakness?"
"That's right. We now know clearly that they need to achieve their goals by spreading those rumors. It doesn't matter that we couldn't find their base this time. From now on,