Chapter 65: The Witch

Ritsuka was honestly conflicted right now. She was currently staying in one of Ereshkigal and Ishtar's private mansions. Oh, she intended to choose some moderate housing but they really insisted to the point that she can't find any argument anymore. Ritsuka felt that her new home was already fortified using magecraft down to its foundation. Most of her Servants followed suit and then for the few, scattered for better broadcast.

Drake for example, purposely left alone in their former dorm in order to watch the Itsuka household twenty four seven… or that she thought it would be a waste to leave it because of its good location, particularly the liquor store that is not that far from them.

Ritsuka found herself inside the Master's bedroom, thinking of something while lying down, eyes up the ceiling, as if she found it interesting.

She was still thinking about their encounter with the mysterious Spirit and how through her confession, was the one responsible for implanting a power source inside her body and how the Spirit confirmed it was now deeply intertwined with her own soul, to the point removing it might spell death.

...

"This is honestly quite a revelation, Ritsuka." Da Vinci was really saddened upon telling her yesterday's event. The staff back from the Chaldea were conflicted too upon hearing the Last Master's current condition. Ritsuka was talking using the hologram from Mashu's shield.

One of the reasons why Ritsuka managed to have a communication with the Chaldea is that the mansion that Ishtar bought was perfectly inlined with this world's leyline.

Even the famous detective, Sherlock, was disappointed upon this news, even though he is quite correct on some hunch he suspected. His only wish was that he was proven wrong over these claims but it was now too late to deny it.

"One thing that we could confirm is that whatever was inside of you was making it incompatible with the rayshift process… this is all a dire situation." Da Vinci Lily explained.

"Nevertheless, despite the revelations, as long as Ritsuka is alive, it is still not the end of the world." she added. "We should be thankful that this world gave Ritsuka an opportunity to communicate with us everyday without little trouble, and proving that she was still alive and well until now."

Ritsuka agreed to that connotation that much. Unlike the previous rayshift destinations, this is so far the most normal place they have ended up sans the spacequakes and Spirits, which do rarely happen.

"I do believe that no matter what situation it is, we could definitely find a solution no matter what." Sherlock interjected as he caressed his chin.

Again, Ritsuka nodded in confirmation.


It was a fine morning and for Circe, it was a rare one. Looking up at the blue sky adorned by its clouds, the Caster could have thanked the gods above the sky for the fine morning. Circe was dressed in a simple dress, and used a simple glamour to hide her wings.

Circe knew that Ritsuka needed some time for herself after that disastrous revelation. With the help of Nightingale's Noble Phantasm, they managed to calm down their Master.

Instead of wallowing herself out of despair for her Master's condition, Circe used the time to explore the cities further and to relax. In Particular, she wanted to explore a small-time shop that sells an assortment of pets.

Of course, her little piggies are superior to any small species that can be found here. She almost reminded herself of the time she returned those accursed, pigified clones of Kurumi. If she didn't decide to give them back to their rightful owners, Circe must have certainly experimented on them if given time.

It doesn't hurt taking a peek inside the pet shop, and perhaps find a way to turn her victims into an assortment of pets, rather than a pig. Circe was visibly humming in enthusiasm upon thinking of it.

Her arms were dug into her pockets as she leaned sideways trying to greedily absorb everything she saw. Turns out that she underestimated these cute little critters. By the gods, they look so cute and fluffy.

Nevertheless, as a proper mage, she has sufficient self control to not to take everything on impulse. She must always remember that she's here for sightseeing and not for buying.

Seeing that she was indeed satisfied, she promptly left the shop in order to explore more. She thanked her photogenic memory (courtesy of her magecraft) in order to imprint every cute animal she laid her eyes upon for… research of course.

Upon reaching a fourteenth step or more, she bumped into someone accidentally, shoulder to shoulder contact.

Circe turned around to whip out a quick apology when she realized that the stranger looked different than the normal populace. Caster even scrunched up her eyebrows trying to discern who she was.

The stranger looked back at Circe with a teasing smile, Overall, the goddamn stranger was wearing what looks like a skin tight suit, similar to certain Lancers back in Chaldea while adorned with stars. The stranger also wore a large-brimmed hat with a pointy end - a goddamn witch hat. Looking down, she has the perfect curved body that could have been sculpted by the gods, with how ample her bosoms and how her hips curved perfectly.

Of course, Circe bears no jealousy from the woman's body. It was so perfect, too perfect that Circe suspected that there was something else at work.

Circe then reminded herself to beat-up that individual who thought of the estranged hat as an iconic accessory of a witch. All in all, except for a brooding black cat and broomstick, Caster could certainly say that the stranger was cosplaying a famous anime character with the way she posed sexily in front of her.

Circe must have rolled her eyes in annoyance if it weren't for the telltales of Spirit powers she sensed from the woman. There is no doubt that the witch cosplayer is indeed a Spirit.

"Do I look beautiful, nee-san?" The witch cosplayer said with its alluring voice and an accompanied wink. Did the woman seriously try to charm the famous witch herself? Circe felt a tick former on her forehead.

Circe's left eyes twitched in annoyance as she continued on her way, it seemed that it was a mistake to lay an eye on that voluptuous witch cosplayer.

Even not looking back, Circe could feel the witch cosplayer sulking at her ignorance. What would Circe do? Obviously leave it to the care of Ratatoskr… maybe she would message them of the appearance of a Spirit later. She is in no mood to play with a witch cosplayer.

"Ho? So this is how I will be treated by a fellow Spirit?"

Circe paused for a moment when the witch cosplayer said it. Of course it occurred to her that her usual spell in muting her uncanny nature as Heroic Spirit doesn't work as efficiently against a Spirit and now that this witch cosplayer who confirmed herself as a Spirit has no doubt, identified her as a Spirit of this world.

Circe then turned back, eyes calculating for her next move and a plethora of spells already churning in her mind in her steadfast preparation.

Now that she has continually been aware of her environment, she realized that there are no people around then.

Is this the extent of the unknown Spirit's power? No one knows. It's also rare that no spacequake alarm occurred recently so that means that she was present in this world longer than she could have imagined.

The witch cosplaying Spirit just grinned. Maybe she was expecting Circe to say something, as Circe remained frigid in her current position.

"... and what will you do next once you know I'm a 'Spirit'?" Circe wanted to ask more questions but for the sake of being advantageous, she feigned ignorance and asked a trivial question.

The Spirit then 'hmped', as she tried to speak in her proud nature, now that Circe noticed her somehow haughty nature. "I'm just making sure that-Hey!" She interrupted with abrupt annoyance.

The Spirit's speech was cut short when her only audience decided to leave her on her own as if she was just a wind. The Spirit was naturally furious at Circe's lack of attention all over her body.

The witch Spirit then hurriedly strutted toward Circe, for the Caster walked faster than she had imagined and took a sharp left to a lonely alley.

The Spirit, seemingly uncare of this mysterious development, immediately picked up the pace to catch up with the 'interesting Spirit' and when she laid her eyes in the alley, she paused for a moment.

Circe was gone and the witch Spirit wondered how fast she walked for an individual. She took a step into the alley and tried to track Circe bravely. She's not afraid of course. She would show that 'fellow spirit' that she was worthy of attention.


Circe just sighed in annoyance as she saw that stupid witch cosplayer entered the alley without any precaution. Did she really chase her just for the sake of her attention?! Really, she really wanted facepalm herself. No, she has no right to compare these naive Spirits to the more mature Heroic Spirits. Yes, that's right!

Thanks to the witch cosplayer's insistent behavior, Circe finally decided to take some attention to this bothersome Spirit. Perhaps, a little experiment won't hurt anyone, especially if this is for the sake of Master's condition.

Circe brought out an interesting jagged dagger out from the thin air, materializing in her hand as she gripped it handily. The Noble Phantasm of her dear niece as her nature as a Witch of Betrayal. The question on how she can easily conjure such powerful objects can be attributed to her A-Ranked Item Construction.

A dagger that nullifies any kinds of magecraft, Circe thought it will be interesting to see how it will react to someone bearing a Spiritual Core equivalent to a Holy Grail… and perhaps might be helpful in dealing Master's condition.

She was already behind the stupid witch cosplayer and one prick is all she needed. Circe doesn't care if the woman would live throughout her ordeal as long as she can get some sufficient date. Surely, her Master won't care about sacrificing an individual, right?

The dagger was already above the witch cosplayer's head and yet Circe was hesitating. Why is she hesitating? This is for her Master's sake of course, moral's be damn.

After seconds of dilemma, Circe sighed as she decided it might not be worth after all, stupid! She immediately dismissed the dagger. She concluded that making her Master mad at her would serve as a disservice to her own overall mental health, whether she would deny it or not.

...and the damn witch cosplayer was still searching for her within the alley.

Circe immediately let the witch cosplayer notice her location and dismissed the invisibility spell.

"Hmph, why are you so persistent..." Circe grumbled underneath her breath, just enough to be heard by the witch Spirit. At that moment, the witch cosplayer turned around and was befuddled by her appearance.

"Oh-uhm, hello there...! Again." the witch said with enthusiasm and waved her hand. Even in the moment of confusion, the witch cosplayer managed to maintain her oozing sexiness, to Circe's annoyance.

"First tell me your name and then why bother snooping around me?" Circe ordered.

The witch cosplayer then cleared her throat. "I'm the most beautiful onee-san here on earth named Natsume!" The witch cosplayer, now named Natsume, said with an accompanied elegant maneuver of arms.

Circe already expected some confetti floating around Natsume already.

"...and also I wanted to meet my fellow Spirit!" Natsume declared and offered hands. Circe then just looked at her stretched out hand, waiting for hers.

She was still wondering why she hadn't encountered another Spirit in the first place? Circe begrudgingly accepted her hand and shook it gently as possible.

"So this is your first time encountering a Spirit?" Circe deduced and Natsume just nodded happily. "...and what did you expect?"

Then Natsume leaned a little bit, for she was a bit taller than Circe and squinted as she eyed at the elements found on Circe's clothing. It couldn't be helped that Natsume's pair of bountiful bosoms were freely hanging in front of Circe, much to the latter's exasperation.

"Uhm, you look fair..." Natsume responded in doubt. "Also, is that your Astral Dress? Why does it look plain?" she said as she pointed.

Circe was urged to look at the way she dressed and indeed it was an ok outfit. Why would Natsume be focused on how Circe looked? Why would she nitpick the way she dresses?

Circe's eyebrows knitted in annoyance. "Why are you focused on the way I look?" She questioned her.

Natsume then tapped her chin with her index finger repeatedly as her eyes wandered around. "So, you don't use your powers to make yourself look beautiful?"

By that conclusion, it seemed that Natsume thought that Circe was plain-looking enough by her own standards, no matter how she beautified her words. Circe was mature enough for that kind of thinking.

All Spirits she encountered so far are naive, very naive and it's making her look like a fool. Circe wanted to facepalm right here, right now.

"Of course, I know there are several applications for it!" Natsume attempted to sound knowledgeable after that slip of words as she sweatdropped. She really wanted to not to offend Circe by any other means.

"Enough, please stop!" Circe commanded as she raised her hands and immediately Natsume silenced. "I think I get the gist of it. Now, do tell me why me…?"

"Ooh, it just so happens I've met you so you could say it was a pure coincidence." Natsume answered straight.

"I see..." Circe sees no lie in her answer. Then Natsume is really naive; if she somehow met someone similar to Kurumi then she would be screwed. She is lucky that she encountered the Queen Witch first.

"So what will you do now?" Circe questioned her again.

"..." Natsume then tried to say something but then left her mouth gaping as she seemed to have difficulty saying something. Then, Natsume grumbles quietly at her own inconvenience at speaking the truth.

Circe only raised her left eyebrow in suspicion at Natsume hesitating noise.

"On the other hand, leave it as it is." Circe finally decided, seeing Natsume having difficulty answering her. Natsume was visibly relieved.

"How about you follow me for a moment?" Circe offered, before she set off to the other direction Natsume was facing. She didn't care whether Natsume would follow her or not, since she felt that she had done her job here.

Natsume might have hidden it well as well but she was hesitating whether she would follow Circe or just be on her own way. In the end, she decided to do what was best for her.


Natsume looked around where she ended up together with Circe, whom she decided to follow. They were in some kind of a restaurant. A maid restaurant to be exact.

"So what are we doing here exactly?" Natsume excitedly asked but Circe gave her a sweet smile.

"So you indeed followed me huh? That's surprising..." Circe murmured to herself. They are already seated on one of the vacant tables near an open window. Circe noticed that Natsume was seated on the chair as prim and proper.

Natsume looked solemn for a moment. "Eh? What's the problem with me being here?"

"Nothing wrong, I promise." Circe reassuringly said. "It's just that… is it ok for you to follow me?"

"What's the problem though?" Natsume chuckled. "You said that I'll follow you, right?"

Circe felt the need to facepalm herself. She somewhat subconsciously thought that Spirits like Natsume are properly paranoid to everything because of how they are hunted by Wizards. For now, she can't conclude that Natsume was completely naive of course.

Circe just scratched her head in consideration before she offered Natsume a menu. Natsume took a double-take before asking Circe.

"W-What are you doing?" Natsume questioned the Queen Witch as she subconsciously took the menu from Circe.

"Anything you want to eat lately? I can afford it if I can." Circe stated as a matter-of-fact and before Natsume could argue anymore, Circe already busied herself with another menu. She tried to reason that Spirits like them do not need any earthly sustenance but to no avail. Natsume only stared at her with uncertainty before she looked at her own menu.

Having no choice, Natsume sighed and began squinting at every list she could find delicious.


Saber Alter looked at Caster and Natsume in suspicious fashion. Her perpetual sharp eyes continually gazed toward the two unique customers in the restaurant.

Circe meanwhile gave Saber a mocking grin at her fellow Heroic Spirit. This keeps ongoing for at least a minute and it almost reach to the point that Natsume reconsidered escaping from them.

Saber Alter was the one who received their orders and also the one who was about to deliver their set of meals to their designated table. It was no coincidence that she was the one who handled their orders because of her insistence from the other maid waiters. Even though she practically lived with Shidou's house now, she still have a time to work as a part-timer waitress here in her favorite restaurant.

"Oh, I wonder why Circe-san was here?" Saber folded her arms underneath her supple chest and remained frighteningly steadfast and intimidating.

Circe remained unfazed from Saber's territorial disputes. "We're just in for a quick meal, Saber-chan." Then Caster chuckled. "...or are you really insistent on keeping your territory free from us?" She threatened with a sarcastic tone.

Natsume could feel the tension between the two Servants and wished that she won't be involved now or never.

When Saber Alter set her gaze upon Natsume's lascivious figure, the Spirit froze as Saber Alter looked up to her head down to her legs and returned her sight to Circe herself while reserving the judgement for herself. Circe once again smirked when Saber looked at her for the second time.

Then Saber placed their ordered meal on the table gently. "You are treading on a precarious situation, Caster." she said as she tilted her head and looked worried, for someone who is sternly stoic. "Did you inform Master already?"

"Hmmph, for a cold-hearted Knight, you are sure worried about me, huh?" Circe commented then looked irritated next. "Can you not call me casually with my class? I have a designated name you know." She hissed, her voice magically low enough to be only heard by Saber.

Saber Alter just looked at her in pity then shrugged. "Your choice then." she said before leaving the two of them alone.

Even though their meals were already laid on their table, Natsume couldn't help but leave a lingering stare as Saber went to the kitchen after delivering their meal.

She admitted that she didn't listen to their conversation earlier due to focusing on the food that she wanted to eat. It was too late when she realized that Circe was giving hints that Saber was somewhat a Spirit similar to them.

Circe was already digging herself into the meal she ordered. "Natsume-san?" Caster noticed that Natsume wasn't looking at her nor to her own meal, but instead toward the door where Saber entered.

When she was called by Circe, Natsume turned around and gave a surprised chuckle."Ah, it's nothing..." and began to pick up a pair of chopsticks.

Eventually, Natsume conceded to her own curiosity and tried to ask Circe, who somehow expected it. "I'm sorry but is that waitress a Spirit too?"

Circe just tilted her head, noodles still in her mouth, and raised her eyebrows in confirmation. "If that is what you made you think, then probably yes." and then continued digging into her food. Of course, her own kykeon is still superior to these amazing foods.

Natsume just frowned at Circe's mere-ambiguous answer but at least it satisfied her curiosity for now and then begun eating her own portion.

Maybe it has been a long time since she was gone from this earth but after chewing a few more times, she found it very delicious to the point it made her mouth watered every second she was reminded of its taste.


It was getting late this afternoon and the orange rays painted the whole city. After eating their meal, both Natsume and Circe decided to visit the park and it was such a coincidence that they did not see any people other than themselves.

"So, uhm, thanks for the free meal by the way… I don't know why you would do it but I thank you nevertheless." Natsume said, her voluntarily sultry voice lost in her genuine thanks. She even blushed upon remembering those recent moments.

Circe swayed her head. "No worries… I think you deserve to have a little taste of what was here on earth." she said. "I suppose that you will return to the Void shortly?" Circe might be nitpicking but she hypothesized that those Spirits should be going somewhere in a different dimension that she nicknamed as the Void.

Natsume then just shrugged. "..." It was obvious that she was hesitating for some reason and somehow Circe expected, despite how quiet she is.

Circe then just chuckled. "I see..." she said as if she understood and it promptly made Natsume panic a little.

"N-Noo, I-I..." The cosplay Witch stuttered while blushing but was stopped by Circe by her index finger.

"Based on your reactions… do you not prefer the 'Void'?"

Natsume just sighed. "I just don't know..."

A moment of silence befall to the two of them. The only sound they could hear was the scrounching of the leaves.

"I think I can do something about it." Circe suggested as she tapped her own chin. Naturally, Natsume was curious and confronted Caster.

"W-What do you mean, Circe-san?"

Circe only smirked and raised her hand in front of her face. When Natsume noticed it, Circe immediately snapped her fingers.

*SNAP*

…and a bright light engulfed the two of them. Natsume instinctively covered her face with her hand.

"I suppose we need to bring out our true form first." Circe suggested and when Natsume's eyes readjusted, she realized that she changed herself into something more ethereal. Her wings were now outstretched, with markings that glowed with different colors. Her vapor-like wear replaced her casual outfit. Natsume could only identify them as something called 'Astral Dress'.

"So that's what you really looked-" Natsume commented and then realized that her voice changed.

She gasped. Why didn't she realize that she was looking up at Circe right now and that she was actually short? Natsume looked down and her two bountiful breasts were now missing.

Natsume screamed in horror.


Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill...

That's all a certain woman could think. After getting rid of all those who tried to usurp the position, all she could think was to kill that woman.

Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill…

Kill her for messing with her precious Wescott.

She needs to die.

Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill…

She hasn't left the room for three days. Sustenance? The hope that Wescott would recover one day is enough for her. She left herself embraced by the container that held Wescott.

Kill. Kill. Kill. Kill…

She must not forget, she will kill that woman who charmed Wescott...and then… and then…

She can't think anymore but Wescott.

!

Suddenly, she has a visitor, who managed to infiltrate the heavy-locked room. Of course, she already had a pistol and readily aimed it at the visitor's head. She was quick, she would give the visitor no chance to react…

The visitor looked mysterious and few discernment from her own eyes proves that her visitor is in fact, a Spirit.

Well, that gives her a good excuse to kill her for good.

Her finger was already on the trigger..

The visitor said something and she was forced to listen…

After hearing those words, she lowered her pistol. The propositions the visitor offered were interesting.

She believed it would give her powers to kill that woman. She smirked. an opportunity has been given to her.

Eventually, the visitor offered her a crystal pulsing with power. She could only stare in hunger.

Then she chuckled.