Joen Village was not far, only 18 kilometers from the town.
Filusa pulled Millie along as they hitched a ride on a passing carriage. The road was constantly bumpy, making Millie’s head spin. Filusa pulled Millie close, letting her lean against her shoulder.
It was supposed to be romantic, but the shoulder was too hard.
It would have been better to rest against her chest; that area would definitely be soft, right?
However, Millie cared about her dignity; she couldn’t bring herself to do something so embarrassing.
Just showing a bit of affection already had the fellow travelers whispering and pointing. If she actually lay in Filusa’s arms, wouldn’t that make headlines immediately?
After about two hours, the carriage stopped at the entrance of the village.
Filusa hopped down first, then picked Millie up in her arms. Millie’s face turned beet red, but she couldn’t resist. This was the witches’ territory, and they had to play the part of a lovey-dovey couple.
At this stage, they couldn’t afford to let all their previous efforts go to waste.
Hand in hand, they walked down the rural path.
Thatched cottages were scattered about in an orderly fashion, wheat stalks swayed with the breeze, birdsong rose and fell, and mountains layered upon one another in the distance. The scenery was pleasant and the local customs seemed simple and honest; it felt as if their hearts were being cleansed.
“Wow, it’s so beautiful here!”
Filusa didn’t see the sincerity in it and assumed Millie was still acting.
“Only such a place is worthy of my little wife, right?”
Filusa took Millie’s hand and kissed the back of it directly. Millie’s face flushed. She wanted to shove her away, but then she remembered this was the witches’ domain.
Glancing sideways, she saw a village girl doing farm work.
Millie didn’t dare be careless; she felt like the village girl was a witch in disguise.
“Don’t be in such a hurry, shouldn’t we find a place to stay first?”
Her voice wavered with a flirtatious lilt as she deliberately swayed her chest from side to side.
Filusa swallowed hard, taking a long time to calm down. It was Millie’s fault for being too alluring. She used to have the primness of a Saintess, but now it felt like a switch had been flipped.
With such a stunning beauty right there, who could possibly resist?
“Filu… Sister Fina, let’s hurry to the inn!” Millie looked around bashfully. “I can’t wait to be intimate with you, Sister!”
“And you told me not to hurry? I think you’re the one who’s impatient.”
Filusa pinched the tip of Millie’s nose, and Millie let out a soft “Ah-nnn~~” sound.
The older women working in the fields were stunned. Where did this bombshell suddenly come from? How was anyone supposed to focus on work now?
Millie ducked into Filusa’s arms and took the opportunity to whisper a warning.
“Be careful. The surroundings are full of witches in disguise.”
“Uh,” Filusa was momentarily speechless. “How could there be that many witches?”
“You don’t understand, do you? You can’t judge a book by its cover!” Millie said nervously. “Look at that village girl swinging the sickle. That sickle might be used for killing people.”
“That’s impossible…”
“Look at their small farm plots again. Those are raw materials for poison. Haven’t you heard? A witch has two bottles of medicine: one is an antidote, and the other is poison!”
“What on earth, I’ve never heard of that…”
Just then, a little girl ran out of a thatched hut.
The girl looked about eight years old. She skipped over to the village woman and held out a pale pink flower.
“Mommy, this flower is for you!”
“Wow, what a good girl!” The young mother patted her daughter’s head. “Alright, Mommy still has work to do. Go play inside, okay?”
“Mhm, I’m going to play!~~”
The little girl skipped away.
Filusa gave Millie a flat look and pointed toward the distant courtyard.
“Don’t tell me that little girl is also a witch in disguise.”
“Uh, that’s not what I meant…”
Millie was also a bit embarrassed. No matter how devious a witch was, it was impossible to kidnap an eight-year-old child and have her call them ‘Mommy,’ right?
Even if she considered it might be charm magic, it would be detectable.
People under a charm, especially little girls, would have very dull expressions. This little girl sounded perfectly innocent and lively.
In other words, Millie had simply been wrong.
Ugh, this is so embarrassing. I better change the subject quickly!
“Let’s hurry and find an inn…”
“Maybe we shouldn’t. What if the inn staff is a disguised witch? Oh, and the old hens in the yard—they must be the witches’ familiars, right?”
“Ugh, are you quite finished!”
Millie huffed indignantly while Filusa burst out laughing.
“Keep annoying me and I’ll really get angry…”
It took quite a bit of coaxing to get Filusa to stop.
They walked around the village. Despite how she acted, Millie was still a Saintess; her sensitivity to magic was far beyond normal people, making it easy for her to find clues.
However, she didn’t discover anything suspicious.
Was this really the site of a degenerate party?
Could she have been tricked? Was this one of Filusa’s pranks? No, last night it was clear as day—that was definitely the aura of a witch next door!
Perhaps the witches hadn’t come out yet?
After all, a mass gathering for a degenerate party wouldn’t likely start in broad daylight.
It wasn’t a total loss; at least they had figured out the village’s terrain. If a fight broke out, they would be able to pursue or escape with ease.
—
A moment later, they booked a room at the inn. It felt like they had just moved from one inn to another without the mission progressing at all.
As soon as they entered the room, Millie flopped onto the bed.
“I need to rest for a while. I’m exhausted!”
Setting aside the fatigue of the journey, having to show off her affection with Filusa just to fool some witches—who might not even be there—was draining. She didn’t even know if there were any witches.
It was very likely that everything they had done was in vain.
“Don’t you dare sneak up on me. I need to conserve my energy to fight the witches tonight!”
“Why are you so violent?” Filusa said helplessly. “Don’t forget, our goal is to infiltrate, not to start an open war…”
“It’s basically the same thing…”
Millie looked away bashfully, a faint blush creeping onto her cheeks.
Actually, she would rather just fight. At least then she wouldn’t have to sell her charms. Now, she was going to have to wear revealing clothes to attend some shameless party.
Forget it, don’t think about it. We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.
Millie shifted her position and closed her eyes to rest.
“If any bad guys come, don’t try to be a hero,” Millie said dizzily. “Because you’re weak, remember? Don’t get taken hostage again, or I’ll have to save you all over again.”
“I am a Saintess after all; I have the ability to protect myself. If you’re tired, just sleep. I’ll stand guard here first. You can rest easy.”
“Fine, I’m leaving it to you…”
Millie drifted off into a daze, falling into a deep sleep.
Filusa sat at the desk, an unbridled smile playing on her lips.
The plan was nearing its end. The next step was to use her identity as a witch to tease her dear sister Millie.
Filusa couldn’t help but look toward Millie.
Her sleeping face was very peaceful; she looked completely off-guard.
Lately, it seemed like Millie was gradually falling in love with her. While that was nice, Filusa preferred the way Millie looked when she was resisting.
Otherwise, how could she humiliate her?
As expected, the identity of a witch was more straightforward.
Millie’s words had actually reminded her of something. There seemed to be a flaw in the original plan. If Millie was pushed too hard, she might try to go down in a double suicide.
But if there was a hostage in hand, it would be different. She could use a hostage to force Millie to submit. Millie would never suspect that the kidnapper and the hostage were actually the same person!
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