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 36: Training Camp with the Immortal Lord

Chapter 36: Training Camp with the Immortal Lord

[Baba Sakurako]

──Friday.

The day after I had fun at the arcade with everyone, I found myself at the office. Vivian-san’s schedule had lined up, so I was here for training.

This marked the third session since the first day—when I cut off Vivian-san’s right arm.

“Hey, Bambi… about Sakurako’s training, would it be a problem if we did it in some open space nearby?”

“Of course it would be a problem. Just to be sure, why?”

“Well, wouldn’t it be more fun to fight outside rather than teaching bit by bit in the office?”

“I see. What a fun way of thinking. Go die.”

“Oh, but I’m immortal, you see.”

Ever since the incident with her right arm, my training had been focused on refining my control over magic.

The exercises were rather mundane—using my Kurobane (Black Feathers) to pick up an egg without crushing it, or shaping the feathers into specific forms as instructed.

Most of it was the kind of training I could do while sitting down.

Still, considering that I was forbidden from using magic outside of Vivian-san’s supervision, just being able to use magic at all made it enjoyable enough.

“Vivian-san… are you really immortal?”

“Oh? Still doubting me? Look at this—didn’t the arm you cut off reattach just fine?”

Apparently, Vivian-san was truly immortal.

Three days ago, when her right arm was severed from her body, she had picked it up as casually as if retrieving a dropped coin, then simply stuck it back onto her torso.

Of course, just pressing a severed arm to the wound wouldn’t normally reattach it, but in her case, it had healed perfectly, as if nothing had happened.

On top of that, even the blood pooling on the floor and splattered across the walls had turned into a dark red mist and been absorbed back into her body.

According to Vivian-san, it was all thanks to a magic called “Undead Body”, which allowed her to instantly heal from any wound, no matter how severe.

“Back in the day, people used to call me the Immortal Lord. Ah, such memories.”

“…‘Immortal Lord’? Does that mean you never killed anyone?” (T/N: It’s originally, 不殺卿, or Fusatsu-kyou, a lord who does not kill basically, but nuances exists even in japanese literature and Vivian meant that she was a lord that CANNOT be killed,)

Vivian-san often dropped surprisingly important pieces of information in casual conversation. Maybe “Immortal Lord” was a title from her Raven days. She was supposedly a Lord back then, after all.

“No, no, I killed plenty. The name doesn’t mean I don’t kill—it means no one can kill me… quite the ironic title, don’t you think?”

“…I see. That’s… something, I guess. By the way, how many types of magic can you use, Vivian-san?”

“Heh, prepare to be amazed! I can use a whopping three! Though they’re all Red Magic.”

“Huh, three…?”

“What’s with that lackluster reaction?”

From what I’d heard, witches usually only had access to one type of magic. On rare occasions, there were some who could use multiple kinds.

If that were the case, being able to use three types must have been quite impressive.

“Sorry, my knowledge about witches is still pretty shallow, so I can’t quite grasp how amazing that is.”

“Hmm, I suppose that’s fair… For reference, as far as I know, aside from myself, there are only three witches in existence who can wield more than three types of magic. Just three in the entire world. Pretty insane, right?”

“Wait, only three others? That’s… yeah, that’s crazy.”

“Right?! Right?! That said, Ibis can use five types, but… well, that one’s an exception, so I won’t count her.”

“Um… who’s Ibis?”

“Hm? Oh, an old comrade of mine. She was the leader of Ravens… or was she going by ‘Abyss’ these days?”

This is yet another unexpected revelation. The fact that she was the former supreme leader of the Witch Association, Seraph, and a former member of Karasu (Raven)… At one point, I thought she had been keeping these things hidden from us, but it seems that was just my own overthinking.

Rose-san had told Vivian-san to be careful and even sent Emilia-chan to monitor her, but perhaps it will all turn out to be nothing more than needless worry.

We’ve only spent a few days with Vivian-san, but she doesn’t seem like the type to be capable of scheming anything malicious.

“So… does that mean you were also part of Raven, Vivian-san?”

I already knew the answer, having heard about it from Rose-san, but since Vivian-san didn’t know that I knew, I feigned ignorance.

“More than just part of it—Ibis and I founded the organization together. Originally, Ibis was leading a volunteer army called the ‘Black Alliance,’ and when I joined, we reformed it into what became Raven.”

“The Black Alliance…?”

It seems certain that Vivian-san and Abyss were the ones who founded Karasu (Raven), but now a new name has surfaced—Kuro no Dōmei (The Black Alliance)—something Rose-san never mentioned.

“It was an organization made up entirely of Black Witches. We went around hunting down Inquisitors who persecuted witches, as well as reckless witches who openly flaunted their power and tried to rule over humans. And when I, a witch of noble blood, joined their ranks, we rebranded as Raven. Other nobles followed suit and joined as well.”

“I see… So there are noble witches too?”

“Indeed. There are noble families that have preserved witch bloodlines for generations. There’s my own Hearts family, the Klondike family, and though they’ve since died out, there was once the Hanaawase family from the Far East.”

So Vivian-san wasn’t just acting high and mighty for show—she was actually a noble.

Come to think of it, Klondike… Wasn’t that the name of that Ravens member I met at the Seraph Witch Association? Bubblegum Klondike, if I remember correctly. So she was a noble too…

“──Vivi, Baba Sakurako. How long do you two plan to sit around chatting?”

A grim voice cut in abruptly, reminding me that I was supposed to be training.

“Ah, I’m sorry! I got sidetracked talking about unrelated things…”

“It’s fine. I just got caught up reminiscing. Though someone went and killed the mood…”

“Want me to heat things up for you?”

With an exasperated smirk, Yakuma-san pressed a lit cigarette against Vivian-san’s cheek. She yelped and rolled off the couch, thrashing around on the floor.

Yakuma-san sure didn’t hold back. Seeing a grown man pressing a cigarette against a little girl’s face was honestly a bit jarring.

Then again, it was strange how Vivian-san had been completely unfazed when her arm was cut off, yet reacted so dramatically to a mere cigarette burn…

“Ah! Speaking of heat, I just remembered—there’s a hot spring town in the mountains near this city! I want to soak in a hot bath!”

“…That’s a pretty odd thing to say right after getting burned.”

“If we go to the hot springs, Baba Sakurako won’t be able to train, dumbass.”

“No, no, on the contrary! The training will thrive precisely because we’re going! A thrilling magical girl hot springs training camp—it’s practically destined!”

Her reasoning was completely nonsensical, yet somehow, the mere mention of a “training camp” made it sound oddly convincing.

“There’s no way we can train magic in a hot spring town.”

Yakuma-san was right.

“I said it was in the mountains, didn’t I? We can train there!”

“That mountain is probably someone’s private property, you idiot.”

Yakuma-san hits again.

“Oh, in that case, there’s no issue. My family owns all the land around the Irie Hot Springs.”

“…Kanon-chan?!”

Turning toward the voice, I saw Kanon-chan standing there.

“We’re here too!”

“Hikari-chan and the others…?”

Not just Kanon-chan, but also Hikari-chan, Karuta-chan, and even Emilia-chan were here. The entire VCU crew, assembled.

“Well, that settles it… Tomorrow, we’re heading out for a one-night, two-day hot springs trip!”

“What happened to the training camp?!”

And so, our weekend hot springs training camp was set in motion—

Today, while I was in the middle of my special training, everyone was supposed to be out at karaoke. But… could it be that they were actually waiting for me to finish?

“──Kanon, is what you just said… true?”

“Yes, the land surrounding the Irie Onsen town is all part of our family’s estate. A little exercise in the back mountain… should be no problem at all.”

Hearing Kanon-chan’s words, Vivian-san smirked, curling up the corners of her lips. Yakuma-san, meanwhile, exhaled a puff of smoke as he gazed up at the ceiling.

“Kuku, it’s decided then…! Tomorrow, we’ll be heading off for a one-night, two-day hot spring trip!”

“Oi, what happened to the training camp?”

And so, the weekend turned into a hot spring training camp──