Surviving as a Witch in a World that Hunts Heretics-Chapter 39 : Chapter 39

Volume 2, Chapter 8. The End of One Thing, the Beginning of Another
“Stano? Oh, so you’re a boy after all.”
Ilo turned her head aside in apparent disappointment, looking at the stream below. “When I saw you, I had a little expectation. I thought if you were a stranger, it might be interesting. What a disappointment.”
Your words are completely disconnected, and your logic is insane.
“Well, that’s a big help.”
Leticia smiled faintly. “I’d rather not have some dubious person take an interest in me.”
“...”
Ilo turned her head back again, staring at Leticia for a while.
Then, suddenly, she laughed, leaning closer like a little dog, sniffing at Leticia. “You really are interesting!”
“Thanks for your fondness, but I can’t afford it.”
Leticia sensibly kept her distance. When a girl threw herself at you so proactively, anyone with a brain would feel wary—unless they were some harem-brained protagonist or the kindest person alive.
“Don’t be like that. Rona and I are good friends, you know. You and Joey calling her out here—what are you planning?”
Curiously glancing at the two faint figures under the bridge, Ilo lowered her voice. “Could it be that they've got some dark secret, and you’re the villain behind it?”
“I think you’re overthinking.”
Pressing her fingers to her brow, Leticia let the dizziness in her head help keep her emotions stable. Otherwise, she might have just fainted.
“Heh... so then, what are those two talking about?”
“How would I know?”
Shrugging, Leticia propped her chin on her hand, watching the sun sink toward the horizon. “That’s their business. Whatever happens happens. I only gave Joey a push, so this could happen sooner.”
“Stano, you’re very wise.”
Ilo kept her gaze fixed on Leticia’s face, speaking softly. “Just like Father...”
“What did you just say?”
“Mm, nothing.”
Ilo denied it immediately. “Nooothing at all. Just your imagination, Stano! Anyway, how do you see love?”
“Why suddenly ask that...”
“Fufufu, it just came to mind, so I asked. After all, there aren’t many people in the village I can really talk to.”
That sense of loneliness... it wasn’t fake.
Leticia’s intuition told her so. Tilting her head slightly, she thought for a moment.
“What does Ilo think love is?”
“Eh, throwing the question back at me? That’s sneaky, Stano!”
Ilo puffed her cheeks in mock anger. “Don’t you know, men who are too sly never find true love!”
“So that’s your view of love... And where exactly was I sly???”
No matter the world or the age, love always sparked these kinds of talks, didn’t it?
It all felt strangely unreal.
“Hmph, I don’t have anyone I admire, nor does anyone admire me.”
Leticia spoke with a trace of self-mockery. “Like an ugly duckling that never grows up, I don’t know what love is. But...”
“But?”
Ilo blinked.
“Mm. I think love is something that makes both people feel happiness and joy.”
Leticia said it casually, just some personal thought. It had nothing to do with the Church, and no one would think it strange coming from a child. “It’s something enviable, I think.”
“Enviable, huh...”
From beneath the bridge, the two children at first seemed awkward. But as words flowed, the “distance” their growth had created between them slowly melted away. They were returning to how they once were—childhood companions, inseparable. Even if they held back, their hearts were clearly drawing closer.
Leticia couldn’t help but smile faintly, her own heart moistened, no longer so parched.
“Hard to understand.”
Ilo, too, watched the scene under the bridge. But her eyes carried a more complicated look. “Still, it seems good.”
“Yes. A good thing...”
Somehow, something felt off. But she couldn’t say what.
This child...
Leticia studied the one who called herself Ilo. Of course she couldn’t find anything strange.
Honestly, if she had, that would’ve been strange. She didn’t have fiery eyes or a demon-revealing mirror. She couldn’t just tell someone “I can see you’re not human at a glance,” could she?
“So, why did Stano come here?”
At Ilo’s question, Leticia thought for a moment. “I just walked here. I’ll be leaving soon.”
“Eh, I see.”
Oddly, it felt like Ilo exhaled in relief when she said that.
An illusion? Or real?
“Mm, looks like those two are finished.”
Glancing at Joey and Rona walking toward them, Leticia smiled, eyes narrowing. “Yes, and it seems the outcome was good.”
Both faces were flushed, their eyes avoiding each other yet never straying from each other either. Tsk, you could smell the dog food even from a distance.
If the two of them could end with happiness, it would be nice.
“Um...”
Standing before Leticia, Joey bowed deeply. “Thank you!”
“Huh? Ilo, you’re here too?”
Thinking their moment with Joey might have been witnessed, Rona flushed red.
“Fufufu, I didn’t interrupt you two!”
Ilo laughed cheerfully. “I was talking with Stano!”
“Eh, really?”
Rona cast a suspicious look, but when her eyes fell on Leticia, they held a trace of gratitude.
“Yes!”
As if to prove her words, Ilo grabbed Leticia’s arm. “See, right?”
Tch.
The instant she was grabbed, Leticia thought she saw a twisted smile at Ilo’s lips. At the same time, she felt that warmth creeping closer, as if probing her, examining her.
This girl...
Something troublesome was bound to follow...
The faint dizziness in her mind seemed to warn her as much.