The Witch and Her Companion: I'm Just a Normal High School Student, but I Became the Familiar of the Highest-Ranked Witch. Also, It Seems I'm the Only Guy in the Witch Organization I Joined

Chapter 26: Bandages and the Monstrous Young Girl

[Todoroki Ryuna]

After roughly cleaning up the scattered fried rice and the remnants of the table, we pulled ourselves together and started the strategy meeting.

“From what I’ve investigated, there’s no record of the test subject being taken in by any organization at this point. That means it’s either been taken in by a civilian or is hiding somewhere on its own.”

Fluffy-head tapped a finger against the documents laid out on the desk as he spoke. It had been about a week since the test subject escaped, and it seemed they’d done a fair amount of searching.

“Well, from the looks of the documents, it’s got the intelligence level of a small child, right? The chances of it deliberately hiding seem pretty low.”

“I mean, isn’t it possible it’s already dead?”

The Andou siblings were taking the meeting seriously, but perhaps due to their grief over the lost fried rice, they looked somewhat melancholic.

“That’s not possible. I haven’t been given the full details, but it’s confirmed that the test subject is alive.”

From the way Fluffy-head was talking, it seemed even he hadn’t been given much intel from above.

Still, the fact that they were so certain that Fuu-chan was alive despite not having a tracker on it was concerning.

The reasoning behind Fuu-chan being in this city had also been pretty vague, yet in reality, Hare had already taken Fuu-chan in.

Maybe the organization actually had a way to track Fuu-chan’s whereabouts and condition—they were just keeping it from us. That theory made the most sense.

Either way, we had too little information about Fuu-chan right now.

“—If it ended up in Minato, things could get a little tricky. We’ll check that area.”

While I was lost in thought, they had already started assigning search zones. For now, I decided to focus on the immediate task.

“Alright, then the Andou siblings will take South New City and Minato. Ryuna’s team will search the North District.”

South New City was an industrial zone facing the sea. Beyond that lay a reclaimed area known as “Minato”—an artificial island where criminals and vagrants had gathered after disasters, forming their own community.

Since the Andou siblings were from Minato, it was only natural to leave that area to them.

I took advantage of the situation to request the North District. That area was the connection point between the old city and the new city—in other words, it was where Hare and Fuu-chan were. My true objective.

“Then we’ll search the Central District.”

The one who volunteered to take the Central District, home to our school and numerous commercial facilities, was Gozaru.

As long as I got the North District, the rest didn’t matter. No matter how much they searched elsewhere, they weren’t going to find Fuu-chan.

“No, I want Leonardo’s team to take the West District. The Central District will be handled by the Torayashiki group.”

I didn’t really care, but an unexpected interruption came.

“Torayashiki…? The ones who didn’t show up today?”

Charlotte tilted her head, pressing a finger to her cheek. The pose was deliberately cute, but for some reason, when a foreigner did it, it actually worked.

“Yeah. Torayashiki has taken down over ten witches in the past few months. Because of that, they’re given more freedom by the higher-ups. Apparently, they specifically requested the Central District.”

“Why didn’t they show up today in the first place?”

“Probably because the last witch they hunted was tough. Sounded like it was a flashy fight. They’re recovering from the aftereffects.”

“Aftereffects” meant that Torayashiki’s partner had used their exoskeletal armor. The aftermath of using that thing left them barely able to move for days.

“Even so, Torayashiki himself could have come, right? Did he get hurt too?”

“Who knows? The higher-ups signed off on it, so it’s not really an issue. Anyway, let’s get back on track. My team will take the East District.”

Fluffy-head volunteered for the East District. I wasn’t too familiar with what was there.

“Fufu, if I recall correctly, there’s a grand chapel in the East District… So, that means our wedding will be a chapel wedding, right, darling?”

“All I got from that was that you’re hopelessly dumb.”

Fluffy-head let out a long sigh, clearly exasperated. What exactly was their relationship?

“Alright, that settles things. We’ll meet back here at the same time in a week. Be careful not to cause any trouble in the meantime.”

With that, the meeting wrapped up. Dad casually gathered up Leonardo’s fried rice.

“I’ll heat it up again. I’ll make some for the Andous too, so stick around and eat.”

The Andou siblings, who had been radiating sorrow just moments ago, instantly brightened up, their eyes sparkling. It made me wonder how they had even survived in Minato.

“Hirata, Kirisaki, you two not eating?”

Despite his restaurant being wrecked, my dad was still being generous. Fluffy-head and Kirisaki both looked taken aback.

“…Well, since you’re offering, I’ll have some. Kokoro, make sure you properly apologize to Todoroki-san again.”

“Yes… I’m sorry for breaking your shop. And I’d like a large portion of fried rice, please.”

So you wanted to eat, huh.

“Also, Ryuna-san, here, use this.”

Kirisaki pulled a bandage from her pocket and handed it to me. It had a cute floral design.

“…What’s this for?”

“I think a splinter or something must have hit you when I broke the desk. You’ve got a cut on your forehead. Sorry for marring your pretty face—though of course, it’s not quite as pretty as mine.”

I touched my forehead and saw a bit of blood on my fingers. Looked like I had a small cut—not that I had even noticed.

“Are you apologizing or picking a fight? Pick one.”

I snatched the bandage from her. This kind of scratch would heal quickly anyway, but since it was a gesture of goodwill, I figured I shouldn’t just ignore it.

Still… even if I wore a bandage on my face, that idiot Hare probably wouldn’t even notice. The thought left me feeling strangely sentimental.

“—Hey, Hirata. You actually saw the ones who attacked the island, right?”

After finishing his fried rice, Andou Ten spoke in a low voice, a toothpick in his mouth.

Right now, I was sitting at the table with Goza-ru, Ando Tem, and Fluffy-head. Orca and Kirisaki were doing dishes as punishment for wrecking the shop.

“Yeah. We were on guard duty, so we didn’t just see them—we fought them.”

“I see. What kind of enemy were they?”

I was curious too. If Fluffy-head and Kirisaki were assigned to guard duty, that meant they were highly skilled fighters.

And yet, even they failed to take down the attacker or even uncover their identity. Just what kind of opponent were they dealing with?

“Where do I even start… That thing was insane. First of all, it was a little girl.”

“…A little girl?”

Everyone at the table reacted simultaneously. It was hard to believe, but we had all heard the same thing.

“I know it sounds ridiculous, but she was just strolling around the island, holding a glass of tomato juice like she was on a casual walk.”

“No way. Wasn’t the attacker supposed to be a witch?”

Ando’s brother was visibly shaken. I was too. Attacking a witch-hunting facility was no small feat—definitely not something a normal human could do.

“That’s the thing. She was using magic, so she was probably a witch, but she looked about seven or eight years old.”

“And you let a kid like that escape? Don’t tell me you hesitated because she was a child.”