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 94: Detective and Investigator

[Rachel Poker]

By the time I finished telling Emilia everything, the teapot was empty.

“…So, that’s the gist of it… What do you think?”

Even I’m not sure what I mean by “what do you think?” but this is my first time opening up, and I’m honestly pretty nervous.

“…I believe you.”

“…Huh?”

“Sakurako-san… no, Rachel-san, I believe your story. Thank you so much for telling me.”

Emilia, sitting across the table, reached out and squeezed my hand tightly.

“You’re taking this awfully well.”

I never expected her to accept it so easily. If I were in her shoes, a wild story like this? I’d struggle to believe it right away.

“A lot of things add up, and besides, your eyes don’t look like they’re lying.”

Emilia slowly let go of my hand, giving me a gentle smile.

“By the way, what things ‘add up’?”

“First and foremost, your magic. Rachel-san, your Kurobane is way beyond what someone who’s only had it for a month should be capable of.”

“…Well, yeah, considering I’ve been using it for five hundred years.”

Vivian said I picked it up too fast, too. Come to think of it, even when I first manifested Kurobane, it took me a few years to fully master it.

“And then there’s how you’ve been acting this past week.”

“…Was I that weird?”

“Well, quite a bit… Some days you looked like you could kill someone, others you were oddly calm, and then there was that time you were choking out a classmate in the bathroom—”

“Okay, yeah, that’s definitely not something the old me would’ve done.”

Setting the last one aside, if Emilia—who only sees me at lunch and after school—found me that suspicious, I wonder what Hikari, who lives with me, thinks about my recent behavior. She seemed normal when I left the house today, though…

“So, I have a suggestion.”

“What’s that?”

I had a hunch about what Emilia might say. Probably something like, “Why don’t we tell the others, too?”

“—How about we keep this a secret from everyone else?”

“…Huh?”

Completely off—actually, the total opposite.

“I know I asked you to open up, but I think we should avoid telling anyone else about this if possible.”

“Yeah, I agree—that’s why I’ve kept quiet. But why do you think so, Emilia?”

“First, the fact that you’re truly Rachel Poker, one of the Four Great Witches, is proven by your ability to use Kurobane and your Ravens membership card.”

“Yup, that’s right.”

“With that in mind, your current situation is clearly artificial. And it’s the work of someone with malicious intent.”

Exactly. Waking up dead, only to find myself as a high school girl in a foreign country? If that’s not the work of someone with bad intentions, what is?

“The question is: what’s the motive of the person who did this to you?”

When Emilia starts talking about “culprits,” she sounds like a sharp-witted detective. With her keen observation skills, she might actually be cut out for it.

“So, what’s their motive?”

“This is just my speculation for now, but… missing five hundred years of memories and waking up as Sakurako Baba, a Japanese high school girl? I think someone was trying to seal you away.”

I felt a chill at Emilia’s deductive skills. To piece that together just from what I told her… that’s beyond sharp observation. It’s almost scary.

“…Rachel-san, you can use magic other than Kurobane, right?”

“Well, I’m one of the Four Great Witches. Wouldn’t be surprising if I could handle a couple more, right?”

“So, what kind of magic can you use?”

There it is. Emilia’s probably already got a hunch about my true magic. Is she really sixteen?

“…You got me. I didn’t plan on saying this much, but you’re right on the money.”

“I knew it. In Karuta’s words, that’s some cheat-level magic.”

“It’s not that great… just ‘Copy Magic.’”

From what Rose told me, my magic as Rachel Poker was publicly known only as Kurobane. That means I must’ve kept this Copy Magic a secret.

And yet, Emilia saw right through it. This kid’s downright terrifying.

“Rachel-san, when did you remember about your magic?”

“A few days ago, when I recalled my memories from just before I turned twenty. How’d you figure it out, Emilia?”

“Your appearance was a big clue. If you’re really Rachel Poker, your very Japanese body is unnatural.”

“Yeah, no kidding.”

“So, I assumed your appearance was due to some kind of transformation magic. And when it comes to transformation magic, the most famous user is none other than Ibis Oldmaid.”

“…She’s famous for that?”

I thought Vivian was reluctant to tell me about transformation magic.

“The Seraph Witch Association is full of former Ravens members, so stories like that get around.”

Huh. Guess Vivian’s more loyal than I gave her credit for.

“One thing bothers me: both of your magics are the same as those of other Great Witches. And not just any magics—Kurobane and transformation magic, which are rare even among witches.”

“That alone made you think I have Copy Magic? Maybe I’m just really blessed with magic!”

She’s spot-on, but let’s hear Emilia’s reasoning. This is getting interesting.

“Of course, that’s not all. When we compare your current situation with the hypothesis of Copy Magic, one lingering inconsistency from five hundred years ago to now stands out.”

“…What inconsistency?”

“What did the culprit really want with Rachel Poker, one of the Four Great Witches? Historically, you’re recorded as dead, so the culprit likely wanted to kill you. But despite losing your memories, you’re still alive. That’s the inconsistency.”

Emilia’s starting to look less like a detective and more like a full-on private investigator.

“The culprit must have tried to kill you. But they failed—”

“…Why’s that?”

“Because you’re immortal, Rachel-san.”

DUN DUN DUN…! A suspense drama’s “the detective unmasks the culprit” sound effect blared in my head. Not that I’m the culprit—I’m the victim here!

“If, as hypothesized, you can use Copy Magic, then when you copied Kurobane, you must have also copied Vivian Hearts’ most famous magic… the ‘Undead Body.’”

Clap, clap, clap… I applauded Emilia’s brilliance.

“That’s incredible, Emilia. You nailed it. I did copy Vivian’s magic… or rather, I accidentally copied it, and ended up with a body that can’t die.”

“So, realizing they couldn’t kill you, the culprit had no choice but to switch from murder to sealing you away. That’s—”

“…the sealing and tampering of my memories. They even went so far as to create a fake mother. Pretty impressive effort, huh?”

Even I only recently came to this conclusion, and Emilia caught up in mere minutes.

“Rachel-san, you’re probably still being watched by the culprit. And they might be closer to us than we think.”

“Yeah, honestly, I’m starting to lose track of who to trust or suspect… Is it a coincidence that I’m regaining my memories, or is it deliberate—?”

“Either way, I can’t help but feel it’s not a coincidence that you’ve joined Vivian’s group, one of the Four Great Witches, at this exact moment.”

She’s right. Vivian spent four hundred years with the Seraph Witch Association, then suddenly left, and just a few decades later, she’s in contact with me. It feels… too convenient.

“But it was Hikari who invited me to the VCU, not Vivian directly.”

Right, it was during a date with Hikari and me—Sakurako—when a magical beast appeared by chance, leading me to join the VCU. Even Vivian couldn’t control magical beasts—

“…Was it really a coincidence that Hikari-san met you…?”

My heart… it felt like it stopped for a second.

“…Emilia.”

“I-I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have said that. Please, forget it.”

No way, right? It’s Hikari. She loves me… she loves me… Wait, now that I think about it—super late, but… why does Hikari love me?

I mean, we just happened to transfer to the school on the same day—

Was that really a coincidence?

Even our first conversation—she’s the one who approached me—

Yeah, I didn’t start talking to her, did I?

Now, I trust her enough to live together—

But in the end, I confided my secret to Emilia, not Hikari.

Haven’t I noticed it deep down? That Hikari might actually—