After speaking with Margaret, Evangeline stressed the need for secrecy.
“The fact that Yohan has a constitution that makes him immune to curses... you can't tell him either, understand?”
[Why?]
“Because there are a few witches who could figure it out just by knowing that our cute disciple is aware of it.”
Just among the witches she knew, there was the Witch of Records, who chronicles all things in the world; the Witch of Dreams, who wanders through people's subconscious; and the Witch of Fate, who receives revelations of the most advantageous destiny.
Besides them, the world was vast and teeming with witches—it was entirely possible that a witch she didn't know could appear and target Yohan.
“Of course, I'm invincible in front of my beloved disciple, but I can't protect him forever while fending them off.”
In that sense, it was actually a good thing that Margaret had appeared and discovered Yohan's secret. She was the Witch of Space, and when it came to escaping, she was the best.
Furthermore, as long as Margaret didn't want to be seen, not even other witches could see her. With her around, Evangeline was certain Yohan would be safe.
[...Alright. I won't tell him.]
“Okay! Thank you!”
[In exchange, I want to live here too.]
“...Well, that's not too difficult.”
[Thank you.]
Having finished their written conversation, Margaret turned her head and gazed at the room Yohan had entered. The man who could see her. Perhaps the only one in this world. She couldn't let him go. No matter what.
The moment I opened my eyes, I sensed something was wrong and sat up.
‘What the, why was I sleeping...’
I couldn't remember why I was sleeping in bed or what I had been doing before. Looking out the window, I saw the sun was just beginning to set, so it wasn't as if I'd fallen asleep for the night.
“Teacher...?”
I carefully got up and went out to the living room, but strangely, my teacher was nowhere to be seen. As I wandered around the house looking for her, I heard a splashing sound from behind me.
My teacher rarely took baths, so I felt a sense of unease as I turned my head—and saw a ghost standing there, soaking wet from head to toe.
“Ah, ahh- Aaaack-! A g-ghost...!”
“...Who are you calling a ghost?”
The moment she pushed aside her hair, which was plastered to her face like wet seaweed, I realized the person in front of me wasn't a ghost, but the witch who had introduced herself as Margaret.
And the instant I recognized her, everything that happened before I fainted came flooding back.
How she had tried to kidnap me, and how she was a ghost invisible even to my teacher.
“You are a ghost!”
“I told you, I'm not. Why can't you understand? Are your ears clogged or something?”
Want me to unclog them for you? As Margaret stared at me as if to say just that, I frantically shook my head. A threat that would be scary enough coming from a normal person became a life-threatening menace when it came from a witch.
“B-But—even my teacher said she can't see you...”
“Why wouldn't she be able to see me? Evangeline is the one who gave me permission to be here in the first place.”
“What? My teacher did?”
“Yeah. So?”
Watching her tilt her head as if I'd asked the most obvious question in the world, I began to stiffen. Wait, so what does that mean? She wasn't a ghost, but a real witch? And I'd just spouted nonsense about her being a ghost to a witch?
The realization made my hands and feet tremble and a cold sweat break out. I could only pray this witch didn't have a nasty temper.
“Oh, and by the way, I'm living here starting today.”
“...Excuse me?”
“You don't have to treat me like a VIP, but at least treat me like a guest. And don't jerk off with my underwear.”
“...D-Did you... say that to my teacher, too?”
Gulp. I swallowed hard and asked. After a moment of thought, she looked at me with a wide, amused grin.
“What do you think?”
My heart stopped as she answered my question with another question. If she'd told my teacher, I was already screwed. And even if she hadn't, it was the same thing.
As long as she was living in this cabin, she could blab about my shameful deed to my teacher at any moment. She might have said she didn't need special treatment, but those were just words. I now had a reason to serve her like a master.
“Let's get along, shall we? My cute little disciple.”
“...Margaret-nim, in that case, may I ask one thing of you first?”
“What is it?”
“...Please wear clothes inside the house.”
Hearing that, she let out a bashful laugh and said no.
Another witch had moved in.
A nudist witch.
After another person I had to serve moved into the cabin, my workload more than doubled.
You'd think that with one more person to serve, my chores would just double, but that wasn't the case. My teacher never really asked me to do anything, but Margaret, our new guest, was the type to order me around for every little thing.
“Hey, can you bring a blanket to my room? Oh, and a pillow.”
“Cut my food into bite-sized pieces before you bring it to me.”
“I'll only be using these utensils I brought, so take good care of them.”
“Oh! And bring me freshly brewed tea every two hours.”
“...Yes, I understand.”
It's not like she's a helpless baby, but she asked me to do everything for her, from A to Z. It was all the most trivial things, too, as if she didn't even have hands.
It got to the point where she even asked me to spoon-feed her. Thankfully, my teacher couldn't stand watching it anymore and scolded her for me.
‘Seriously, why is she making me do everything... Can't she do anything herself?’
And while serving her, I discovered two things.
For some reason, my teacher can't see her.
It wasn't that she was completely invisible, more like my teacher only seemed to have a rough idea of where she was and what she was doing.
The proof was that even when Margaret, fresh from her bath, walked around behind her, stark naked and dripping water everywhere, my teacher paid her no mind.
“Yohan? Another cup of this, please.”
“Yes, right away.”
“─Ooh, what's that? Tea? My dear disciple, I'll have a cup too~.”
I didn't know where to look. She would confidently stride around the house, using only her wet hair to cover her nipples and private parts.
But if I stared at her naked form, she would sense my gaze, approach me while still naked, and sexually harass me with a sly grin.
“Heeey, what's this? Are you excited? Need a pair of panties?”
“...No, I don't need them.”
“Hm? Yohan, what don't you need?”
“Oh, I wasn't talking to you, Teacher.”
And the second thing: my teacher can't hear her voice either.
Of course, she must have had a way to communicate, but it didn't seem to be an easy one. Even conveying a simple message was apparently difficult, as she always asked me to relay her words for her.
Thanks to that, I was free from the worry that she'd tell my teacher about the whole jerking off thing... but being her messenger was a real pain.
“My dear disciple. Let's have meat for dinner tonight. Meat.”
“...Teacher, Margaret says she wants to eat meat for dinner.”
“Tell her to grill it herself.”
“You heard her.”
“Ehh? But grilling is such a pain. My dear disciple, you grill it for me.”
“It's a pain for me, too.”
Hearing that I wouldn't grill the meat for her, Margaret puffed out her cheeks in displeasure and started to whine.
After whining for a while, Margaret clapped her hands as if she'd had a great idea.
“Oh, right. If grilling is too much trouble, should we eat out?”
“...Eat out?”
“Yep. I know a place that grills meat really well. Oh, but I can't go alone, so someone has to come with me...”
“Where would there be a place to eat around here...?”
“My specialty is teleportation, so we can get there in a flash.”
My eyes lit up at the words "eat out." Eating out? I hadn't done that even once since falling into this world.
I looked at my teacher with pleading eyes. Deducing what Margaret must have said from my reaction, she let out a deep sigh.
“Go on.”
“What? Aren't you coming with us, Teacher?”
“I don't like eating out.”
“Oh...”
Normally, I should have said that I didn't really like eating out either and that I'd rather eat with her. My head knew that's what I should do, but...
This was my first time eating out since coming to this world. It was also my first time going anywhere besides the village and the cabin.
Living a pastoral life in a forest cabin with my beautiful teacher wasn't bad, but I was a man of civilization. A 21st-century person who couldn't survive a single day without its comforts.
“...I'll be back soon.”
“...Alright.”
Leaving my teacher, who looked quite disappointed, behind, I left the cabin with Margaret.
Margaret was a nudist who spent most of her time naked, but just as she hadn't been naked when I first saw her, she wasn't always naked.
She changed her clothes in an instant, then grabbed my hand and began to concentrate.
“Um, Margaret-nim...?”
“Quiet.”
“Ah, yes.”
I had no idea what she was trying to do, so I was just slacking off, yawning widely, when I suddenly realized the scenery around us had changed.
It wasn't the forest cabin or the rustic village of old wooden planks, but a magnificent city that had appeared before us.
“Whoa...”
They called it another world, but it didn't look much different from the Europe I'd only seen in photos and videos. So, rather than feeling like I was in a fantasy world, I felt more like a tourist in Europe as I walked down the street.
“This way.”
“Ah, yes.”
After arriving in the city, Margaret led me, the country bumpkin gawking at everything, through the city's alleyways. She moved with a familiarity that suggested she'd been here many times before.
I followed her and soon found a lone door. Margaret stood before it and gestured for me to go inside.
At her signal, I cautiously opened the door. Inside, a middle-aged man who was wiping dishes glanced over and glared at me.
“...Welcome.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Alone?”
“Two of us.”
“...Two? Well, alright. I get it.”
I sat down at a table as the owner instructed, and he just stood there, staring at me blankly. His expression seemed to say, "Hurry up and order."
‘He didn't even give me a menu...’
I complained inwardly before asking the owner for a menu. He just frowned at me as if I'd said something ridiculous.
“We only have one thing on the menu here. And you pay upfront.”
“Oh, upfront... How much is it?”
“Two gold coins for two people.”
“...Two gold coins?”
I didn't have that kind of money. Startled, I looked at Margaret. Without a word, she reached into thin air, pulled out two gold coins, and held them out to me.
When I handed him the coins she'd given me, the owner tilted his head for a moment before disappearing into the kitchen without another word.
The sound and smell of grilling meat wafted out from inside. Not long after, the owner returned, placed two plates of steak on the table, and left.
I watched him go, then turned my head toward Margaret, who was poking me with the knife set in front of her.
When I looked at her, she spoke as if to ask what I was waiting for.
“What are you doing? Cut it for me.”
“...Excuse me?”
“I said, cut it for me.”
Seriously, I have to work here, too?
The thought crossed my mind, but you don't bite the hand that feeds you.
Of course. She's buying me meat, after all. The least I can do is cut it for her.
“How large would you like the pieces?”
“...Small.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
I immediately cut the meat into easy-to-eat pieces and put one in her mouth. After watching her eat, I started cutting my own steak and eating it piece by piece.
It was, indeed, an amazing taste worthy of one gold coin per plate. And the whole time, the owner was staring intently at our table. By this point, I had a pretty good idea why he was glaring.
“Margaret-nim.”
“Yeees?”
“Your curse... it makes you invisible to other people, right?”
“...Uh, yeah?”
Hearing my words, Margaret stared at me with a dumbfounded look.
What? I'm not that slow on the uptake.
But there was one thing that even I couldn't figure out.
“So why... am I the only one who can see you?”
The reason her curse doesn't work on me.
That reason alone, I couldn't understand.