“We thank the gods for bringing night upon us! Now, it is time for the heretic trial!”
It was the fourth day since Daisy and Viola arrived at Baron Bolus’s estate. Or rather, the day Viola had been taken away by a crowd of rumor-driven, manipulated religious fanatics.
Most of the day had passed in transport.
No matter how absurd or ugly the things happening in the world were, time still flowed as usual. Day became dusk, dusk became night. The world never stopped or cared for anyone.
Late at night, after being transported by carriage under the supervision of priests and others, Viola had arrived in Viscount Clyde’s city and was still tightly bound in chains and shackles. She had been thrown into the damp, dark basement of some unknown building.
The underground room smelled of dust and rot. Dim candles lit the space. Torture devices hung from the walls beside rusted chains, and dry bones lay scattered in corners.
Viola sat tied to an iron chair, restrained by magic-sealing shackles and thick iron chains, while the pretentious priest began his grand “final judgment.”
“Witch! You bewitched the righteous Baron Bolus! You murdered Viscount Clyde through evil magic! You even destroyed a sacred crystal blessed by the gods! Your sins are unforgivable!”
The priest paced around her, face twitching with restrained fury.
“But our gods are merciful! I will give you one final chance to repent! Confess your sins and beg for forgiveness! If your repentance is sincere, perhaps your punishment after death will be slightly lighter!”
Viola stared at him calmly.
“So whether I repent or not, you’re still killing me?”
Her beautiful face showed the same cold indifference as always.
“Drop the fake kindness already. Do whatever you’re capable of, humans.”
“W-WITCH!!!!!!!!!!”
The priest finally exploded.
He snatched up a sharp iron spike and raised it toward Viola’s eye.
“I’LL BLIND THOSE DISGUSTING EYES OF YOURS FIRST!”
Meanwhile, in a noisy tavern elsewhere in the city, a rather unusual group had drawn everyone’s attention.
“Hahahaha! I’ve been with the Brady dragon-slaying family for years and I’ve never heard a joke this good!”
Laughing loudly with a beer mug in hand was the dragon slayer squad leader, Becker.
“She got mistaken for a witch? Then actually got dragged back by those idiots? The legendary Ash Dragon?! Hahahahaha!”
His team had been tracking Viola for days without success. Then suddenly they heard about Viscount Clyde’s mysterious death and rumors of a witch captured nearby.
During Viola’s public humiliation procession earlier that evening, Becker had secretly confirmed something with a magical detection telescope.
It was dragon magic.
Their impossible-to-find target had practically delivered herself to them.
The female mage beside him frowned.
“Captain Becker, this isn’t exactly funny.”
“A dragon of that level could never be caught by ordinary people. She’s clearly baiting us.”
Becker smirked.
“Maybe so. But there’s one thing even she won’t expect…”
He raised his bandaged arm and fitted armor over it.
“She’ll never know I’m carrying a secret weapon capable of killing her.”
“All I need… is a single opening.”
Back in the torture chamber, the sounds tonight were unusually loud.
Only the victim wasn’t screaming.
“Take this, witch!”
One interrogator swung a spiked hammer with enough force to crush a skull.
CLANG!
Sparks flew.
The hammer bounced away.
Viola remained completely unharmed.
Another interrogator clamped giant pliers onto her fingernail and pulled with all his strength.
“COME OFF ALREADYYYYYY!”
Nothing moved.
Another pressed a glowing-hot branding iron against her shoulder.
SSSSSSSS
Nothing.
Not even her clothes burned.
Because human-made magic restraints meant nothing to a dragon.
Even if all her magic were sealed, Viola’s body itself was absurdly strong.
The priest stared blankly at his bent iron spike.
“What… what is happening…?”
Earlier, he had stabbed toward Viola’s eye.
She had simply closed it.
The spike hit her eyelid, sparked, and bent.
He’d kept trying until the metal itself deformed.
Nothing happened.
Shaking, he muttered:
“No… no! I can’t be frightened by this! I’m a priest! Tomorrow’s execution by holy flames will purify her completely! Justice always wins! The gods are with us!”
Meanwhile Viola sat there bored.
She yawned.
“Yaaawn…”
Looking up at the ceiling, she murmured softly:
“I wonder if Daisy ate properly… and went to sleep yet.”
At the same time, far away in Baron Bolus’s estate…
Daisy curled up alone on the corner of the bed in their room.
The lunch and dinner brought for her sat untouched on the table, already cold.
She hadn’t eaten.
She hadn’t slept.
She simply sat there in the dark.
Worried.
Viola… are you really okay?
If You Notice any translation issues or inconsistency in names, genders, or POV etc? Let us know here in the comments or on our Discord server, and we’ll fix it in current and future chapters. Thanks for helping us to improve! 🙂