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 69: Execution and Marriage

Chapter 69: Execution and Marriage

[Tatsumori Haruto]

On the way to the castle, Ys was uncharacteristically quiet, trailing behind Bumblebee without a word.

Her facial wound had already healed, but she was visibly downcast—like a child who had just been thoroughly scolded by their parents.

“Yaa yaa, kept you waiting, huh? I’ve brought today’s guest of honor!”

The moment we reached the entrance, Bumblebee led me to the center of the grand hall.

I’d been here a few times before while fetching liquor for Ys, but compared to the pitch-black nights I remembered, it felt like a completely different place.

The fact that several witches were lined up around me might also have had something to do with that impression.

“…Bumblebee, why isn’t that human in shackles?”

“Snow. Lemme ask you the opposite—does he need to be?”

“……”

Snow, who was glaring at me like I was garbage, was clearly in a foul mood. But surprisingly, she didn’t press the matter further.

Bumblebee’s real point was probably not Does an innocent human need to be restrained? but rather In a room full of witches, does a powerless nobody like him even need to be restrained?

The witches surrounding me—Ys, Scarlet, and Bumblebee included—numbered nine in total. Most of them were familiar faces.

“Alright, who’s in charge of running this? If no one wants to, I don’t mind doing it myself.”

“Muhah~ Of course, I’m the one running this show!”

The one who spoke up was none other than Bubblegum, the ringleader of my kidnapping. She might be small in stature, but according to Scarlet, she’s one of the strongest witches in the combat division. After witnessing Bumblebee’s strength firsthand, it’s oddly easy to believe.

“Before we begin, mind if I ask something? Why is Ys even here? Wasn’t she supposed to be on house arrest in the dungeon?”

The brown-haired witch diagonally to my right shot Ys a glare. She had an incredibly cute face, but when angry, she looked downright terrifying.

“Muhah~ No need to sweat the small stuff, Latte! Sooo, why is Ys here?”

“Ys had something to say about Tatsumori-kun’s fate. I brought her along.”

“I see. Understood. Sorry for interrupting.”

Bumblebee seemed to have no intention of mentioning what had happened in the dungeon. Whether she was looking out for Ys, protecting her, or maybe both… either way, it was a fortunate situation for me.

“Muhah~ Alright then, lemme explain things real quick for our newcomer, Tattsun! Right now, we’re split into two factions—kill him or let him live! But since we can’t make a decision without Tattsun himself, we called him over! That’s all!”

“Thank you so much for that detailed explanation.”

Tattsun…? Wait, is she talking about me? I appreciate the friendliness, but you do realize I almost died because of you, right!?

“Muhah~ Alright then! Let’s hear from the ‘kill him’ faction first! Snow!!”

She kept things moving at an impressive pace, though it was hard to appreciate when my own life was on the line.

“A stranger of unknown origin is too dangerous to keep in the castle or release back into the world. Once Lady Abyss returns, executing him would be the best course of action.”

Snow was still glaring at me with that scary look in her eyes. She hadn’t changed her stance one bit. What a pain in the ass.

“Muhah~ Any rebuttals?”

“May I?”

The one who raised a hand was a green-haired witch. Her poised demeanor exuded an aura entirely opposite to Ys’s.

“Muhah~ Permission granted, Heather!”

“In my opinion, he’s just an utterly harmless and pitiful ordinary human. He just happened to be turned into a familiar by a witch, and he just happened to be brought here by Bubblegum. To kill someone like that would be—frankly—against all reason and morality.”

“Mufuu~ Snow?”

“Whether he’s pitiful or not is irrelevant, Heather. And what’s your proof that he’s harmless? The witch he was with disappeared alongside the witch hunters, didn’t she? If we let him go, they might extract information about our castle from him.”

I hated to admit it, but Snow had a point. If we were thinking purely about the safety of the organization, her logic was sound. Damn, she’s good at arguing.

“Mufuu~ This is getting looong. Heather, got any counterarguments?”

Bubblegum looked visibly bored. Not much help there. Heather, I’m counting on you!

“Fufu, Snow… I concede.”

Way too fast!! At least put up a fight!!

“Muhah~ Anyone else got a rebuttal?”

“Yes, yes, me too!”

The brown-haired witch next to Heather raised her hand.

“You see, Snow, don’t you think he looks like a really good kid? You can tell just by looking into his eyes! Killing someone like that would be just too cruel! He’s still a teenager—his life’s only just beginning!”

…That’s some incredibly flimsy reasoning. Zero substance.

“Muhah~ Snow?”

Bubblegum was clearly already bored of the discussion.

“Whether he’s a teenager or not doesn’t matter, Latte. And you can’t ‘see’ someone’s nature just by looking at their eyes. I’ll ask again—what’s your proof that he’s harmless? The witch he was with vanished alongside the witch hunters. If we let him go, they might extract information about our castle from him.”

“Wow, you literally just copy-pasted your previous argument. Scary. Never mind, I give up.”

Instant kill. And she did it with the same argument she used on Heather. The opposition is way too weak!!

“Muhah~ So far, looks like the ‘kill him’ faction’s winning. Anyone else on team execution?”

“Me.”

The one who raised her hand was the blue-haired girl from the café—the one who interrogated me. Brush, or whatever her name was. What the hell is her problem?

“This kid’s got an unnecessarily cute face, which means he’s bound to be popular with girls.”

“…What the hell are you even talking about?”

Seriously, what is this nonsense? Also, stop saying my face is ‘unnecessarily’ cute.

“And if he ends up dating someone, that means one less girl in this world who could have been mine… A truly grave crisis. Therefore, we should kill him.”

“Muhah~ Okay, ignoring that idiot—anyone else in the ‘let him live’ faction?”

Looks like Brush’s argument got thrown out entirely. I’m gonna pretend I never heard it, too. No way I’m wasting brain cells on that nonsense.

──”Oi, I’ve been keepin’ quiet and listenin’, but what the hell are ya goin’ on about—livin’ or dyin’? Who said ya get to decide that, huh!?”

Ys roared from behind me. The sheer volume nearly stopped my heart.

“Muhaha~! And what the hell are you goin’ on about? Are you drunk?”

“I’m sober, you idiot! Listen up, you bastards! I’ve already decided—this Haruto is gonna be my wife!!”

…She actually went and did it. This idiot just made things way more complicated—

“Muwah!? Oi, Ys, don’t screw with me! He’s supposed to be my pet!”

“Bubblegum, what nonsense are you spewing!? Execution, execution!!”

“U-Uh, I… I wanna turn him into a scarecrow…”

“Lilac, why are you casually saying something so terrifying!? Tatsumori-kun should be sent back home!”

“My Ys has been stolen from me. Let’s kill him.”

“Since when the hell did I become yours!? Brush, I swear, I’ll burn you alive!!”

This is hopeless. There’s no getting this under control. Everyone’s arguing back and forth with their own insane claims, but the only one saying anything remotely sane is Scarlet.

“Alright, alright, let’s calm down a little. Heh, things are gettin’ real interesting now.”

With a snap of Bumblebee’s fingers, the rowdy witches fell completely silent. Damn, Bumblebee’s seriously impressive.

“So, from what I’ve gathered, there are only two options worth considering.”

“Muhaha, obviously, my ‘pet’ plan is one of them!!”

“Bubblegum, that one’s off the table.”

“Muhah!?”

Bubblegum got sidelined so fast, it was almost graceful.

“U-Um… W-What are those two options?”

“The first one—Snow’s execution plan.”

“…Naturally.”

My heart skipped a beat. Somewhere inside, I had hoped Bumblebee would be on my side.

“The second one—Ys’s marriage plan.”

“…Naturally.”

A deep chill froze the atmosphere. Every witch, except Ys, stared at Bumblebee in utter shock.

“Y-You’re joking, right, Bumblebee? There’s no way Ys can marry a human—”

“I don’t joke.”

“T-Then why!?”

Snow demanded, her face torn between anger and disbelief.

“If we’re being realistic, if the Boss were here, Tatsumori-kun would definitely be executed.”

“…Then why?”

“Because even if the Boss were here, there’s one condition that would force her to abandon the execution option.”

I had an idea of what Bumblebee was getting at.

“‘A fellow kin’s family, even if human, must be treated as kin.’ That’s an old, unchanging rule of the Ravens.”

That’s right. Ys did say something like that before—

“I’ll make ya my wife. Even Abyss wouldn’t be able to execute my wife, and at least ya won’t get killed right away!”

“N-No way…”

“First time hearin’ it? It’s been around since the Ravens were first founded. Not many of us remember all the rules now—just me, the Boss, and Bubblegum, us old-timers.”

Could it be… Ys actually knew about this rule? If so, then her sudden declaration would make perfect sense.

“Wait, that’s a rule? First I’ve heard of it!!”

You didn’t know!? I was embarrassed, thinking she was doing this to save me!!

“Muwah, that’s weird. I don’t remember that either.”

You probably just forgot, idiot.

“Oh, pardon me, looks like we’re down to two choices. But I hope you understand now—if Ys really marries Tatsumori-kun, then execution is no longer an option.”

“B-But we could still send him home…”

“I already told you, Scarlet. The Boss would never let him live. Even I thought the same until Ys brought up marriage.”

──Marriage.

Of all the possible options—execution, escape—marriage had now been thrown into the mix. It made no damn sense.

“Well, what’s it gonna be, Tatsumori-kun? If you agree to marry Ys, you officially become one of us… and you won’t be executed.”

“I-I mean, you can’t just throw that at me out of nowhere…”

This is bad. Really bad. My choices are execution, escape, or marriage. Obviously, execution is out. So it’s escape or marriage.

But I don’t even have a solid escape plan, and failure means execution.

In other words, I’m really just choosing between execution and marriage—

“Oi, Haruto, make up your damn mind! Someone else is gonna start spouting nonsense again!”

“Muhah! Oh, I got it! How ‘bout I marry Tattsun, and then keep him as a pet!?”

“See!? I told ya!!”

Dammit, now things are even more complicated!!

“W-Well, then… I-I’ll marry him and turn him into a scarecrow…”

“I-In that case, I reluctantly accept… I’ll marry him and then execute him!”

“W-Wait, that’s basically insurance fraud! If it comes down to that… t-then I’ll marry him!! That way, I can take him home to meet my family afterward, right!?”

“…Hey, Heather. Scarlet’s acting kinda weird, don’t you think? Like she’s been waiting for this chance?”

“I was just thinking the same thing, Latte.”

“Oh dear, oh dear, Tatsumori-kun! You’re so popular!”

“…Bumblebee-san, you’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

In the end, the whole discussion was put on hold, and I was thrown back into the underground prison.

Marriage.

I always figured it’d be one of the biggest decisions in my life—but I never thought it’d be this heavy.

Who would’ve guessed… that I’d have to get married just to stay alive?