"So, is there something wrong with Hope coming to me?"

At the small round table, Dorothy poured a cup of hot tea for everyone. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 infoThere is a little tea stalk floating in the clear tea soup, and it swirls with the rising heat.

Hope reached out and took the white porcelain cup in his hand. While feeling the heat from the cup, he spoke.

"Well, this time I'm here to say goodbye. ”

"Farewell?"

"Well, as I told you before, I have plans to travel the world. ”

"It's too far away, and Dorothy can't remember, right?"

"Yes. ”

Hope took a sip of tea, the slightly bitter liquid flowing through the taste buds on the tip of his tongue, making him frown slightly.

"So, I can't bring you prey in the future. ”

"That's right. ”

Dorothy took a sip of tea. But I don't know if it's because she was born with a unique sense of taste, or if she's used to this way of drinking 'invented' by hunters, and her face doesn't fluctuate at the moment of the tea soup.

"Excuse me, prey?"

Snow White, who was listening on the sidelines and was frowning to put sugar cubes in the tea soup, raised her head when she heard this.

She held up a hand, made a 'sorry' gesture, and then pressed with interest.

"Dorothy, did he find your materials for you?"

"Well, because Dorothy is not good at sports, and her brain is not very good. ”

"Oh, that'......."

Snow White glanced at the hunter with a subtle expression.

"That's pretty good, Mr. Hunter. ”

"It's over. ”

"Where, I'm a witch too. I still know how troublesome this kind of thing is. ”

“……”

The hunter's eyes narrowed and he stopped talking, but Little Red Riding Hood was stunned.

With a forced smile, she poked the hunter in the side. It wasn't until the hunter squinted her eyes with a disgruntled expression that she gritted her teeth and asked softly.

"Hey, teacher, what's the matter with the witch or something?"

"Isn't that what you heard? ”

"But—"

"It seems that this young lady is biased against us witches. ”

"Huh?"

But that voice is still too loud, no, it's not so much loud as self-deception, right?

Snow smiled and inserted the conversation between the hunter and Little Red Riding Hood, and then, holding up a finger.

"First of all, I don't know where you heard about 'witches', but if it's a bedtime story, I don't think it has much reference. ”

Then, she held up a second finger.

"Secondly, although we don't know what other witches are like, for us, witches are just 'secondary jobs' in life. Dorothy over there, she's the manager of the prop shop - even though there are no customers at all. And I, as I just introduced, am the princess of this kingdom. ”

“……”

"Take Dorothy, for example. ”

"Eh, me?"

"Do you think she's like a kid who can do bad things?"

"Huh?"

"Well...... this"

Little Red Riding Hood glanced at Dorothy hesitantly, just in time for the child's innocent eyes. She immediately turned her head away, then muttered.

“…… Okay, but why are you telling me that? ”

"Well~"

Bai Xue nodded her cheek and narrowed her eyes.

"I just don't want my people to misunderstand. ”

Little Red Riding Hood felt that she was not telling the truth, but because their relationship was only a new acquaintance, they did not say anything.

On the other side, while the two were talking, the hunter had already finished what he had to say.

He drank the rest of the tea in one gulp, then stood up.

"Well, it's almost time to leave. ”

He had only come to say goodbye, and since Dorothy had other guests, he didn't want to bother him too much.

"Well, goodbye then. ”

Dorothy staggered to her feet, and then, suddenly, something happened.

"Oh, yes, Hope. ”

"What?"

"What you told me last time is ready. ”

"What?"

"Something that will explode if you hit it, I'll make it for you. ”

Hopeless's expression instantly became like a ghost.

“****？”

"I don't know what it is, but Dorothy did it for you. ”

As she spoke, the girl pulled out a large bag from the corner of the room. Hope took it and weighed it, about a kilogram or so.

"Thank you. ”

"Hey, hey. ”

Hope untied the string and glanced into the bag. It was all black powder, and it had a slightly pungent bitter taste, like some kind of Chinese medicine mixed with sulfur.

"Bump it and it explodes?"

Bai Xue sat down in her seat and took a sip of tea, as if the sugar had finally had enough, and her eyebrows were completely stretched.

"Gunpowder?"

"Sort of something like that. ”

Hope put the bag away and saluted to Snow.

"Then, Your Highness Princess, let's see you soon. ”

"Well, let's see you soon. ”

Snow raised her teacup and watched the hunter leave the cabin.

Then she turned her gaze to Dorothy and smiled very happily.

"And that's him?"

"What?"

"The guy you talked about. ”

Shirayuki was talking about a week ago, when she and Dorothy had only recently become good friends, and although they had a strong relationship of trust, they didn't know each other well.

During that time, as two witches who were not treated by the world, the two of them exchanged a lot of things. And during that time, Dorothy had said a piece of news that Bai Xue was quite concerned about, but it was difficult to ask about - that is, someone was helping her collect materials.

For a witch, this was really startling news. After all, no one in this world likes witches, and sometimes even they are like themselves.

Snow can't imagine anyone collecting magical materials for witches unless they're controlled by witchcraft, like the 'Black Witch' in many bedtime stories.

"Dorothy doesn't like riddles. ”

"Really? Forget it. ”

Does Dorothy really not know? Bai Xue didn't believe it, but she wouldn't continue to ask. If Dorothy wanted her to stop there, she had no reason to keep going.

"Let's continue our conversation with that. ”

Shirayuki turned her gaze to the corner of the room. There, a white curtain obscured something.

"What's that?"

"Dorothy's companion. ”

"Partner?"

"Well, because Dorothy can't do anything, she can't do it without a partner. ”

Dorothy walked over and lifted the curtain.

There was a suit of armor, a lion, and a scarecrow. They were motionless, but they exuded an eerie aura, like living creatures.

"You activated them?"

Snow White stepped forward with great interest and fiddled with her armor. She opened the helmet and examined it closely: there were no seals or potions, but a cloud of black smoke swirled in her throat, glowing a faint red.

Snow recognized it: it was a necromancy, something that every witch was good at fiddling with. Something that is not necessarily evil, but is not good either.

Unlike normal creatures, the Necrons do not die. But just as life fears death, so they are afraid of their own 'defects'.

They will cling to self-completion and use this as the motivation for their own 'survival'. And it is this way that Dorothy puts these things in her 'toys' and uses them to give them life.

"That's a ......"

It's a very, very powerful, but not commendable approach. In the past, many powerful witches have done similar things, but they have either been burned at the stake or defeated by bounty hunters - in short, none of them have ended well.

After all, this is a desecration of life, a crime that many witches themselves cannot bear.

"What the hell are you going to do?"

"Go home. ”

Dorothy smiled and spun around, patted the lion's head, and adjusted the scarecrow's arm.

"Dorothy is a lost child, and so is Hope. Although he never said it, Dorothy knew it. ”

That smile was a little crazy, as if something was broken, and it made people shudder.