What am I supposed to know about what's going on in your head?… Ais lowered her head and pressed her lips together without arguing further. Angry as she was, not knowing whether the Nighthawks were ready yet, stalling and keeping this Witch present was the obvious play.
Seeing Ais go quiet, Edith's smile tugged upward as she continued:
"I understand how you feel right now — but think about it: what you've gained is more, isn't it? Setting aside a Witch's diverse and comprehensive supernatural abilities, the Witch potion's gift of beauty that doesn't fade is something most people couldn't obtain even in their dreams."
Ais looked up into Edith's emerald eyes and asked with genuine surprise:
"Doesn't fade? You mean it won't deteriorate with age?"
Edith shook her head:
"No — a Witch can't maintain eternal youth. What doesn't fade is the charm itself. In simple terms: you won't become ugly. For instance, any wounds a Witch takes in combat — no matter how many — will ultimately leave no scars. Unless the injury immediately causes a permanent disability.
But even then — as long as you drink the potion and successfully advance, your body will return to its most perfect state. Because from Witch onward, every potion in the Witch pathway carries a significant effect on charm, and being whole in body is naturally part of that."
That does sound appealing, objectively — but I've lived for years as a man… Ais stubbornly pushed back:
"But the price—"
Edith shook her head again and cut her off:
"No. The price only feels steep because you've just advanced and haven't adjusted yet. You'll adapt faster than you expect. And when you do, you'll understand how small that price really is. You won't feel like you've lost much — because for a Witch with supernatural charm, men are nothing more than obedient pets. And besides…"
She paused, glancing at Ais's chest, and continued with meaningful weight:
"Women can experience pleasures men simply cannot."
So you've completely stopped minding being on the bottom, have you… Ais abruptly realized that arguing with someone this far gone was a waste of time. She followed Edith's gaze to her own chest with a deliberate grimace, lowered her head, and changed the subject:
"Ma'am — I don't understand. Why do I look so much more prominent than you? Didn't you just say you should be more charming than me?"
Edith inhaled and replied, mildly exasperated:
"The potion's standard for charm isn't exactly the same as a man's. As for your figure — no Witch is plain-bodied, but someone like you, I genuinely haven't seen. It probably has something to do with your body before the advancement. Though, well… I'm not certain. When you have the opportunity, try testing it against a Forsaken person yourself."
Does this mean anything? You're weirdly passionate about this particular research question… Ais watched Edith growing slightly animated even as she talked about it, and steered with her:
"So, Miss Edith — if I wanted to develop new members there the way you're doing here, what would I need to do?"
Edith's smile deepened a fraction, but she still shook her head:
"It's still too early for you. And our focus isn't in the north right now."
Your focus isn't in Forsaken because you can't handle the enthusiasm?… Ais was already composing the snark internally, but nodded in silence. She was running out of things to say and could feel the conversation drifting toward the subject of joining the cult.
So where are the Nighthawks ? They said a few seconds of delay was all they needed — why isn't anything happening yet? Surely they didn't fail to anticipate that this Witch would come in the middle of the night?… While by all reasonable standards experienced Nighthawks were unlikely to miss something like this, the continued silence was making Ais entertain the darker possibility against her will, adding another layer of complexity to an already complicated mood.
Noticing Ais's slightly discouraged expression, Edith spoke with a barely contained energy:
"Enough of that — plenty of time later. Let's talk about something more enjoyable~"
The slightly excited uptick in Edith's voice pulled Ais's head up instantly. She looked at the smile spreading freely across Edith's face, felt a premonition of something bad, and took a deliberate step away from the woman:
"What did you want to talk about, ma'am?"
Edith responded as if the answer were obvious:
"Joining us, of course. Honestly, you have no other real option. You should still remember what I said — no organization trusts an Beyonder who isn't on the same pathway as them. Even if someone agreed to take you in, you'd always be a subordinate beneath them. Given that, why not join…"
Where are the Nighthawks ? Why still nothing? Are they even here, or are they watching to see what happens next?… Looking at Edith drawing steadily closer, Ais — already anxious — was heading toward an increasingly cynical interpretation of events.
Just as Ais was running out of patience and preparing to simply act — Edith suddenly stopped speaking and stopped moving. Her upper eyelids began to slide helplessly downward, as if she'd been hit all at once by an extreme exhaustion.
Thank goodness— Ais, now sure the Nighthawks ' ethics hadn't sunk that low after all, immediately melted into the shadows, circled quickly to Edith's side, drew her knife, and brought it down without hesitation — Full-Force Strike behind it — targeting the back of Edith's neck, partially concealed by her light brown hair.
The reason she didn't attack from the front was that Ais wanted to trigger the mirror double while also keeping some of that deranged woman's hair. For a Witch skilled in Curses, a few strands of hair were effectively an enemy's spare life.
At that exact moment, a voice outside spoke a phrase in Ancient Hermes — carrying unmistakable gravity. Ais could make out only two words she recognized within it: "mirror" and "jump."
With her heightened inspiration she sensed a change spreading through the area around her — though she didn't know what it meant.
Edith, whose inspiration was sharper, was jolted awake by it. Feeling the danger, she immediately activated her mirror double proactively.
Ais's intent was thwarted. Cutting the hair wouldn't count as a lethal attack and couldn't passively trigger a mirror double — but it would still register as an "attack" to an actively triggered double and be deflected accordingly.
After slicing through the compact mirror that appeared out of nowhere at Edith's previous position, Ais immediately felt thread after invisible thread winding around her limbs, making fast, free movement impossible.
Already warned, she immediately conjured black flame at her bound hands and feet. The flame couldn't burn through the invisible threads, but it disrupted their control — making them easier to slip free of.
Before she'd gotten loose, a ball of orange-yellow fire slammed into the room's only wooden door.
Boom. The door exploded outward. Edith, materialized beside it, charged through without hesitation.