In the morning, sunlight pierced the mist. As Lucia arrived at the training ground and picked up a wooden sword, she saw a village kid, Briel, coming over with a conspiratorial look on his face.
He said, 「Lucia, did you hear about that thing? The witch thing.」
Lucia looked at him, puzzled. 「What witch thing? You mean the Mars business?」
A few days ago, the drastic personality shift of Mars, Gil, and Ron spread through the village like wildfire; the children were hardly exempt.
After learning of it, Lucia had even made a point of meeting all three and had truly felt how completely they’d changed.
Unlike those peddling creepy conspiracy theories, she felt that even if it really was “possession,” then whatever “evil” it was had done a good deed.
Isn’t that miles better than the original trio?
As for witches, she had no idea—though it probably had to do with the trio’s possession incident.
Briel shook his head. 「No. It’s like this: yesterday, while the village elder was investigating, he found out that Hans saw them the night before they were ‘possessed.’ Looked like they were carrying a bunch of tools, planning to attack Miss Yvette.」
「Attack？」 Lucia blinked, surprisingly not shocked—that fit perfectly with the trio’s usual, morally rotten style.
She hurriedly asked, 「And then?」
「Then— they turned into what they are now!」 Briel spread his hands. 「So these days I’m hearing adults suspect that all of this has to do with Miss Yvette.」
「Yeah, yeah, my mom said so too!」 A sweaty boy passing by chimed in. 「My mom says Miss Yvette might be a witch! She must’ve fed Mars and the others some evil potion to make them like this!」
「A witch?」
「Yeah!」
「But witches are usually old and creepy, not that pretty—what I heard is Miss Yvette must be a ‘witch.’ She ate Mars and the others’ souls and swapped in fakes, that’s why they’re so docile now!」
「No way—」
The kids started chattering at once. Hans had only just supplied the key clue yesterday, and already ten-odd embellished versions were making the rounds today.
As they gabbed away, they kept shooting fearful glances toward the edge of the training ground, as if worried the mysterious silver-haired witch might appear the next second.
At that point, Lucia couldn’t hold back.
She cut off their gossip, retorting, 「Quit it, alright? Yvette’s only staying here because she lost her memory. Do you have proof? How can you talk about her like that?」
On the Radiant Continent, thanks to the mythic top villain the “Witch of the End,” outside of exceptions like the “Silver Witch,” the term “witch” usually doesn’t describe female mages. It denotes a powerful, mysterious, evil being with pronounced feminine traits—basically a slur.
So right now, whether “witch” or “sorceress,” these kids were just calling Yvette a bad person in a roundabout way—no wonder Lucia was angry.
She didn’t know the truth, but after half a year together, she could at least be sure Miss Yvette was a good person. That much was beyond doubt.
She couldn’t stand seeing a good person maligned!
「But everyone’s saying it—」 Briel muttered. 「Think about it, Lucia: she’s so pretty and so rich—why not live in the city? And that silver hair, those red eyes—she’s nothing like a normal person—」
Lucia gave him a look, then hesitated and didn’t press the point.
She could have refuted the money angle—after all, Yvette had an ancient gold coin on her, worth a fortune.
On the other hand, Yvette really was the village’s most mysterious figure. Linking the trio’s “possession incident” to her was almost too reasonable.
With mixed feelings, Lucia wrapped up her morning practice, skipped lunch, and headed straight for the secluded cottage in the woods. At the door, she ran into Gil’s mother, Aunt Masha, who had just come out, looking dazed.
With no small talk, Aunt Masha simply nodded and left.
Lucia walked in, puzzled, and saw Yvette lying on the bench, head turned to look at her.
Spring sunlight fell in through the doorway, carving out a small patch of light; Yvette remained in shadow, dark-red eyes carrying a hint of a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, as if she’d been waiting for Lucia to show up.
Lucia’s heart gave a sudden thump.
For the past half-year, she and Yvette had gotten along harmoniously. Yvette would share little trinkets or ready-to-eat snacks she bought in town; Lucia often dropped by—sometimes to help tidy up, sometimes to bring vegetables or cured meat, sometimes to shoo off unsavory types.
She had never found anything odd about Yvette’s behavior. And neither of them was of the village’s native stock—one red-haired, one silver-haired—making them both outsiders. From the start, this gave Lucia extra empathy and fondness for the silver-haired girl, as if seeing herself.
Now, though, thinking of those eerie rumors and seeing the unreadable smile on Yvette’s face, she suddenly realized that perhaps everything before was just her wishful thinking.
「Yvette.」 Lucia hesitated, then spoke. 「I—have some questions.」
「Mm.」
「About Mars and the others—」
「It was me.」
「？」 The question hadn’t even been asked clearly, and she got an unmistakable answer. Lucia froze for a beat, then reacted. 「It really was you?」
Yvette nodded, closed her eyes, calm with a trace of languor—as if what she’d just said wasn’t important at all.
Lucia stared at Yvette in shock. She’d never imagined that the “weak one who needed protecting” in her eyes was actually the instigator of the mysterious incident!
So for half a year, she’d been spending time with… a witch?
「Why did you—」 She opened her mouth, but swallowed the rest.
In the quiet, she heard Yvette speak again. 「Originally—I planned to live here as an ordinary person. But later I realized that, if I wanted peace and quiet, showing a little strength was indeed necessary.」
Lucia couldn’t help asking, 「So— you’re not amnesiac? You really are a witch?」
「Maybe.」 Yvette gave no definite answer.
It wasn’t her being cryptic—she’d just realized that, as a transmigrator, she’d effectively lost her “Zero Era” memories. Saying she was amnesiac wasn’t exactly wrong, was it?
Besides, she was the Silver Witch—but that “witch” wasn’t the same as the “witch” of the End. How could those be the same thing?
What do you mean, “maybe”— Lucia bristled, then thought for a moment, and suddenly grew solemn. 「Sister Yvette, y—you should go! I’ll hold my dad back!」
The air went quiet.
After several seconds, Yvette said, 「Huh?」 and tilted her head. 「—Go?」
「Yes, Yvette. You’re a witch. Once you’re exposed, shouldn’t you run right away? What if the villagers and the church catch you? They’ll burn you, won’t they?」 Lucia’s eyes were full of worry.
On the Radiant Continent, witches are symbols of calamity—that’s a fact acknowledged by all three churches of the true gods. There’s no specific class or race officially called “witch,” but swap in demon, devil, criminal, or monster and you’re close enough.
Precisely because Lucia had heard of innocents being burned as witches, she was that worried about Yvette’s situation.
Setting aside the naïveté, deep down she still believed Yvette was a good person—and good people shouldn’t be burned.
After all, what happened to the trio was obviously their own doing. How could that be Sister Yvette’s fault?
Beyond that, Lucia knew a top-secret fact: her father, Eamon, was a super-strong magic swordsman hiding his strength—far stronger than the resident priest, Arnold—possibly at the legendary Gold-tier adventurer level. In Autumnwind City, he’d be the number one expert.
If he got serious, whether “sorceress” or “witch,” it’d be ten deaths out of ten.
「Thanks for the concern, but you don’t need to worry about me. No one’s coming to arrest me,」 Yvette said, glancing at her, tone easy again.
「Why?」 Lucia couldn’t understand.
「Because I haven’t done anything bad. Why should I be afraid?」 Yvette closed her eyes and smiled.
Of course, that was just humoring a kid. In truth, there were three decisive factors.
First, there was no decisive evidence—suspicions alone weren’t enough to prove she was the culprit.
Second, the villagers were afraid of her now; no one dared play the pioneer and her. Third, the trio’s transformation actually perfectly aligned with everyone’s interests.
Including Aunt Masha, Gil’s mother.
Before Lucia came, Aunt Masha had paid Yvette a visit, begging the witch to turn her son back. Yvette didn’t refuse, but she did make several points clear: there would only be one chance. If he didn’t change back, there’d be no future hidden risks—her son Gil would remain as he was now, docile and dutiful, serving her and caring for her in her old age.
If he did change back, the real Gil would return, yes—but would that son truly shoulder responsibility and care for Aunt Masha? Wouldn’t it already be an improvement if he simply caused less trouble and wasted less money?
Faced with such a question, Aunt Masha couldn’t give a clear answer and left in a daze. Yvette believed she probably wouldn’t come again.
Same body, same stored memories—if you can choose the better version, why pick the one you raised into a wastrel?
There was no need to spell out these complicated matters. All Lucia needed to know was that she was a good witch.
Book 3: Chapter 196: The Good Witch
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