As far as he could see, three figures stood right in the middle of the courtyard entrance:
The creatures on either side looked similar, each with two long rabbit ears twitching atop its head, seemingly cute;
But farther down, the picture changed abruptly: blood-red eyes, exposed gums, and uneven, sharp teeth bared to the air;
Their bodies were lanky, their claws enormous, and their long nails gleamed dark silver in the moonlight;
Behind each was a pair of featherless, scaleless wings, trembling slightly.
Dick did not know what these creatures were, but he was certain they were monsters.
Because the hunched old woman in the middle looked very familiar.
She wore a tattered robe, her hair hung loose and disheveled, and her nose was as large as a red pepper, as though the creator had stuck it carelessly onto her face.
One hand held a broom while the other rested on her hip, gently stroking the enormous, ragged sack at her waist-a Broom Witch.
Another Broom Witch!
Had what I did before been discovered? This revenge seemed to have come much too early. It hadn't been anywhere near half a month, had it?
Countless thoughts raced through Dick's mind, but he calmed down in an instant and asked, "Who are you?"
"You don't recognize me~? Oh, that's right, we've only met once." The Broom Witch laughed, her voice hoarse and shrill.
"But surely you find my clothes and appearance familiar.
"It was you!" As she spoke, she pointed at the witcher with the index finger of her sharp, withered-branch-like hand. "You killed my third sister, didn't you?"
"Third sister? What third sister?"
Dick's expression remained unchanged, but he secretly assessed the difference in their strength.
He was now certain that the monster before him had come for revenge.
Dick began thinking to himself:
I don't know how strong the two monsters beside the old woman are, but they're huge. They probably won't be easy to deal with.
And almost every Broom Witch has her own unique skills, making her even harder to handle.
Looks like I should find a chance to escape.
I'm no individual hero who steels himself to fight a difficult enemy head-on, betting on a genetic mutation or a last-minute breakthrough and power-up.
That treatment is reserved for the protagonist, and the protagonist of this game world is that big, white-haired fellow from the School of the Coyote, not me.
"Don't play dumb, Dick. I've already found my third sister's pitiful remains in the Black Forest. She suffered so terribly. You severed her neck clean through with your sword.
"All I could do was take the head of my dearest loved one. Though we weren't related by blood, we'd worked together for decades, after all.
"You killed her and made me so sad. Whatever shall we do? How-will you compensate me?"
"What proof do you have that I killed your third sister?" Dick stalled as he spoke, slowly edging to the right.
He planned to vault over the courtyard wall the moment her attention slipped, then shout loudly to attract the patrolling soldiers.
The Broom Witch glanced at him but did not stop him. "Heh heh, witcher, don't waste your effort. I've cast a confinement spell on this courtyard. No one outside can hear anything that happens inside, and you can't climb out over the walls either."
Dick's heart sank at her words. He approached the wall to test it and, seeing that the Broom Witch had not moved, leaped upward. A thud rang out; something had clearly blocked his head.
Helpless, Dick could only turn around again, tighten his grip on his sword hilt, and stare at the monsters:
The Broom Witch was telling the truth. Looks like I can only stall and let the patrolling soldiers or Xiya notice something wrong here.
Hopefully, Xiya can finish the Dimeritium Bomb early, notice something unusual when she comes, and notify Kebi in time.
At that thought, Dick suddenly relaxed.
Since he could not escape, he would keep stalling.
If he truly could not stall any longer, he could only fight to the death.
"Why aren't you running anymore?"
The Broom Witch gave a mocking smile. When the witcher did not answer, she continued, "And as for my saying you killed my third sister, though you people call me a monster, I still believe in evidence."
With that, she reached one hand into the ragged sack at her waist and rummaged for a while before slowly lifting something out.
A head.
A Broom Witch's head.
Dick recognized her very well. She was the very one he had slain.
By now, so much time had passed that livor mortis had appeared on her face.
The old woman before him held her third sister by her sparse hair, extending her arm as though she were holding a lantern.
And her third sister's head swayed from side to side with her movements.
"Look, here's the evidence." The Broom Witch laughed. "Third sister, third sister, open your eyes and look. Is the witcher before you the murderer who killed you?"
Dick was horrified. Could she really make the dead speak?
And when the old woman finished speaking, her third sister's head actually opened its eyes.
The eyeballs were grayish white, with worms rapidly crawling in and out, but the pupils fixed themselves on Dick.
"It was him! It was him!" The head sounded like a rooster with its windpipe slit.
"Witcher, you've got nothing left to say now, have you?" The old woman smiled smugly. "Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm the second sister of the Three Witches. You can call me Second Granny."
Dick pressed his lips together without answering. He would never call a monster Granny.
The third sister's head shouted again, "Second sister, second sister, avenge me!"
"Hmph! Noisy."
Then the old woman swiftly stuffed her third sister's head back into the sack.
"Witcher, you've got nothing left to say now, have you?"
Dick continued stalling. "She made a deal with me without carrying a single crown, and she even wanted to kill me. Naturally, I killed her in self-defense."
"Hahaha, that makes perfect sense."
"What makes sense?" Dick asked.
"Of course it makes sense. The monster world and the human world are the same: the strong prey on the weak, and strength reigns supreme.
"She wasn't as strong as you. If you killed her, so be it.
"Besides, I never said I had to kill you today. I've come to work with you."
"Work with me how?"
"As you know, the Jatu want to conquer Odinburg, and my eldest sister and I have already begun working with them. Once they succeed, the two of us will receive endless experimental materials.
"The commoners here are all fine material for experiments."
At that, the old woman laughed happily.
A moment later, she continued, "If you want to wipe the slate clean between us, all you need to do is one tiny little thing."
Then she reached into her cloth sack again and pinched out a flexible tube of reagent between the tips of two long nails:
"There's some food seasoning inside. I know you're on very good terms with Kebi, the current castle commander.
"Don't look at me so suspiciously. As a Broom Witch, how could I not know a few little hypnosis tricks? I only had to grab a resident near the market to find out everything.
"Next, when they eat tomorrow morning, pour this special seasoning into the soldiers' cooking pot. Afterward, those soldiers will fall to the ground and sleep soundly like docile sheep.
"I don't need to tell you what happens next, do I? Well? Dick, will you choose cooperation-or death?"