"Rejuvenation without a price? That's far better than the Time Curse. Vanessa, you actually came across something this good?"
This was what the Duchess said when the tiny witch went to visit her at her bedside. She was not teasing her; she was genuinely envious. After handing her teacup to Tifa beside the bed, she spoke while touching her own face:
"Why didn't I encounter something like that? Look at you, Vanessa. Not only were you the first witch among us to advance from the Twelfth Order, but now you've even become the youngest witch of our generation. And you're actually unhappy about it?"
Thus, even the Earth Witch herself did not know what emotions she ought to be feeling.
It happened to be Monday, so Shade planned to visit the Forest Elf for this week's gift and complete the ritual in the woodland at the same time.
Normally, demon-summoning rituals had to be completed late at night, and many had the strict requirement of being performed precisely at zero hour. But the safe version modified by Doctor Schneider had to be completed within the two hours around noon. That was why Shade dared to truly attempt it.
The disturbance among the High-Ring Arcanists had not affected the life of the Elf Miss who cared for the Unicorn and Luku Birds in the woodland. No matter how special she was, the Thirteenth Ring was still far beyond her, and Shade suspected that she possessed enough Time Resistance to be immune to the effect as well.
"I wonder how Emilia is doing now."
When Shade spotted the Elf Miss in the distance, playing with a Unicorn in the forest, he sighed again.
Besides the four "pure maidens" following him to help conduct the ritual, more than a dozen mid-ring girls and