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 56: Burns and Hang

【Rachel Poker】

“—Muaa, thanks for the intel, Sakurako-chin! Thanks to you, I managed to capture an Inquisitor alive all by myself!”

“No, no, we should be thanking Bubblegum-san. You saved us, after all, so I’d say we’re even.”

The witch hunt’s attack on the hot spring town had somehow been resolved.

Once we confirmed everyone’s safety, we forcefully woke up Vivian and begged her to go assist Bubblegum-san.

After a while, Vivian returned with Bubblegum-san and informed us that all the witch hunters had retreated.

“Muaa, but damn, you guys really held your own! Those Inquisitors were already kinda beat up before I even got to fight them. You must’ve put up a pretty good fight, huh?”

“Yeah, well… but nearly all of them still managed to escape, even in that state.”

“Mufuu, those guys were prepared to run from the start! If they’re dead set on escaping, even I can’t take out every last one of them, y’know? Honestly, you should be praising me for capturing even one!”

Bubblegum-san puffed out her small chest proudly. Dressed in the Raven uniform, her confident stance somehow really suited her.

“Faaah… This one is still sleepy. Might this one return home and resume slumber?”

“Eh? You’re gonna sleep again, boss~? You didn’t do a damn thing this time, though~?”

“Indeed. As the leader of an organization, I must say, your lack of awareness is truly troubling.”

Even Raven’s Bubblegum-san, for all her quirks, was starting to get along with everyone. Meanwhile, Vivian’s reputation was plummeting by the second.

“For now, we’ll have the president carry the crocodile back to the pond. We’ll repair the cage while she does that.”

“Wait, wait, a crocodile?! Why must this one be tasked with such a thing?!”

Kanon-chan’s crocodile was currently being looked after by Shinya-san, who had arrived to assist.

Climbing down a ten-meter hole and hauling up a thousand-kilogram beast was no small feat. No small feat, but… well, Vivian could probably do it.

Her willingness to do so, however, was another matter entirely.

“…President. If I recall correctly, you came on this trip under the pretense of a ‘training camp,’ only to spend the entire witch hunt attack napping. I believe Yakuma-san should hear about this.”

“Nnngh, S-Sakurako, since when did you become so rebellious…?! W-Well! A mere crocodile or two is no problem for this one! This one is ever so magnanimous!”

—And thus, the chaotic hot spring training camp came to an end.

However, the great mystery that had befallen me remained unsolved.

Why had I believed myself to be Baba Sakurako? And more importantly—was I truly Rachel Poker?

The more I thought about it, the more I found no end to the questions. But, at the very least, I had an idea of how to confirm whether or not I was really Baba Sakurako.

“Hey, Sakurako, after we stop by the office, let’s all go out for dinner! We should celebrate driving off the witch hunters—maybe with a yakiniku feast…”

“…Sorry, Hikari-chan. I think I’ll pass today.”

“Hah? Why? Don’t tell me you got injured or something?!”

“No, it’s not that… It’s just—I really wanna go home and see my mom.”

***

【Hirata Masaki】

—The phrase “narrowly escaped death” couldn’t have been more fitting.

Though we had successfully completed our mission without losing a single member, the majority of our team was unconscious and undergoing treatment.

The fact that Subject Eleven had been able to use magic and create familiars was certainly a major irregularity.

But the biggest irregularity… was her.

The infamous witch of Ravens—

The Shirai Witch, Bubblegum Klondike. Anyone involved in witch hunting knew her name. Even among Raven, she was one of the strongest. The golden rule when encountering her? Run on sight.

And yet, despite being ambushed by that monster, not a single one of us had died.

As much as I hated to admit it, we owed our survival to the Andou siblings.

They had noticed my distress call belatedly, but their perfectly timed intervention allowed us to escape with our lives.

Their excuse for being late—”We were at the arcade and didn’t see the notification”—was absolute bullshit, but considering I had been dragged to a bridal fair mid-mission by Kokoro, I wasn’t in any position to judge. Besides, they really had saved us.

And so, having barely completed my mission, I was now at one of the scattered bases of the witch hunters—the Fourth Cathedral—to escort Subject Eleven, who called herself Kuzuhara.

“You did well, Hirata-kun. I heard you encountered Raven during the mission, yet you still managed to return safely. A testament to your skills as the Ninth Seat of the Inquisitors, wouldn’t you say?”

“Sir, such praise from Your Eminence is more than I deserve.”

Standing before me was Lord Burns Stake, the number two of the witch hunters.

Ordinarily, this Fourth Cathedral in the Far East was overseen by another cardinal—Lord Hang Neck. Burns should have been stationed at the First through Third Cathedrals.

Something must have gone down regarding the recent Harami-jima incident. Some kind of political maneuvering, no doubt.

“Now then, I’d like you to release her restraints immediately.”

I doubted my own ears. This guy… Had he not even read my report before summoning me?

“With all due respect, Your Eminence, Subject Eleven has fully established her own sense of self. Releasing her now would be dangerous.”

“It’s fine. Do it.”

Burns’ gaze was unwavering.

A cold sweat ran down my back, but in the end, I complied, undoing Subject Eleven’s restraints as instructed.

“…Phew. It has been a while, Your Eminence. First and foremost, allow me to apologize for the significant delay in the plan.”

“Hmph, I see you’re in good health. So, what happened?”

As soon as the restraints were removed, Experiment Eleven—’Eleven’—lowered her head to Barnes and began speaking fluently. Barnes responded as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“During my escape from Harajima, a storm capsized my ship, causing me to lose consciousness for a time. That likely resulted in some form of damage to my memory storage, and—”

“Ah, keep it brief. And explain it in a way he can understand.”

Barnes interrupted, gesturing toward me with his eyes.

This was bad. This was the worst possible development.

“Apologies. Allow me to introduce myself again. I am Kuzuhara Mai, a direct intelligence operative under His Eminence. Up until recently, I had infiltrated Harajima.”

“…Your Eminence, what exactly is going on here?”

As far as I knew, Kuzuhara Mai was a researcher on Harashima under the jurisdiction of Lord Hang Neck. According to records, she had assisted in Eleven’s escape but had drowned in an accident at sea.

And yet, here she was—alive in the form of Experiment Eleven, no less—revealing herself as one of Barnes’ subordinates.

And, worst of all, she was openly admitting it in front of me—

“I apologize for answering your question with another question, but a sharp mind like yours has likely already pieced most of it together, hasn’t it?”

“…As you suspect, I was acting under His Eminence’s orders, funneling data from the secret experiments Lord Hang was conducting. Once the final phase of the experiments concluded, I took the results and disposed of the island in the process.”

“Oh, and as for the information leak that led the witch to attack the island? That was intentional. It wasn’t just about stealing Hang’s research—I also wanted to frame him for losing both his base and his subordinates. At the same time, it helped flush out certain meddlers sniffing around our organization. A triple win, wouldn’t you say?”

There was no time to stand around contemplating the intricacies of power games.

I—we—had been completely caught up in one.

The island’s attack, the failure of our security—everything had been orchestrated by them.

And now, they were laying it all out in front of me.

Either they planned to kill me here… or—

“Your Eminence, if I may speak out of turn.”

“Hoh? What is it?”

“To put it bluntly, Lord Hang Neck was a worthless, degenerate bastard.”

“…Oh? Oh-ho-ho. Go on.”

Kuzuhara was looking at me like I had lost my mind. But Barnes grinned, his lips curling upward. I had a chance.

“Hang Neck handled even critical matters through a single sealed letter, never verifying anything properly. He spent his days drowning in alcohol and women. I never once saw him actually do his job. Frankly, calling him a pig in clothing wouldn’t be an exaggeration… No, actually, that would be an insult to pigs. Pigs, after all, are clean animals and contribute to our dining tables. He’s more like a maggot-infested piece of filth.”

Hurling insults at the organization’s second-in-command like this should have gotten me executed on the spot.

But this was the correct route.

“…Kuh… Kuhahaha! Hah! Hah! Hah! Now that’s good. I knew I liked you. Not only are you sharp, but you’ve got a fine sense of humor.”

“I-I’m honored.”

It seemed I had avoided immediate execution.

But I had been dragged into something far worse.

I had taken on this island security assignment specifically because it was supposed to be low-risk. And yet, that very decision had landed me right in the middle of a power struggle among the cardinals.

“From now on, you’ll be working directly under me. There’s someone I want to introduce you to right away.”

At Barnes’ signal, the door behind him opened, and a woman stepped inside.

“She is an old friend of mine and a trusted partner.”

“Nice to meet you. So, you’re Kuzuhara Mai, yes? I’ve heard a lot about you from Barnes.”

Both Kuzuhara and I stiffened at her casual tone.

An old friend, sure. But to address a cardinal by name alone? Just who was this woman?

“…H-Hello. I’m Kuzuhara Mai, and, uh…”

The woman extended her hand. Kuzuhara hesitated for a moment before shaking it—though she was so nervous she fumbled her words.

“…Ah… Aaa… Aaaaaahh.”

Wait.

Something was wrong.

Kuzuhara was trembling—her whole body shaking violently.