Chapter 932 – Place of the Heart

000

The witches were astonished.

Nini Anne came back in front of them, and of course she stopped them.

The light of will in those eyes was the very light of the Fairy King that they had stolen once before.

＂Why? Why do you have eyes like that?”

When the Witch of the East asked her question, Nini Anne answered her with her fist clenched.

＂Chopper… Gave it back to me. Because you only blocked the ‘stealing’ power of the ‘Execution Squad’.”

For them, the most important function of the execution platform is to ‘take away’.

There was no reason to return something that had already been taken and made into one’s own, so the function of the returner was not even in mind.

Thanks to this, Chopper was able to return the Fairy King’s ‘heart’ to her.

It’s all about the heart.

Not the Fairy King’s knowledge, power, or authority, but her noble spirit.

Because the witches considered it the most insignificant part, she didn’t think it would matter if Chopper cut it out, so she left almost the entire part.

Turning around, she was returned to her original owner by Chopper’s hand.

And that feeling was talking to Niniane.

Strong power, precious knowledge, and all authority.

It is the mind that determines the direction in which to use it.

If the mind does not exist, then even if you have anything else, you cannot use them correctly.

Although Ninianne had everything taken from her by her scaffold, she still had limbs to move and a head to judge the situation.

The reason she has obeyed the Fairy King until now is because she did not have a proper ‘heart’ that could be called a ‘standard’ for using them.

But, it’s different now.

Thanks to Chopper taking over her mind, she realized her mistake.

With her heart returned from her chopper, she realized what she had to do.

It is to protect suffering fairies and people from evil witches.

Even if the memories, the name, and the power of those days do not exist.

Her own heart was crying out like that.

“What are you doing, Ninianne…! Why are you helping that bitch! Your master is us!”

The Witch of the North crawled across her ground, squeezing out her voice like that, but Ninianne’s face fell horizontally.

“No. My master is His Majesty the Fairy King. There is only one. Not Careclaw, who is rampaging in that walnut, and not you witch who have tenaciously survived before my eyes. The king of this land is still our Dorothea.”

As Nini Anne said this, she grabbed her mop that appeared from nowhere to prevent the Witch of the North from coming any closer.

＂It is also the maid’s role to clean up dirt in the castle and its surroundings. We will build you.”

And, as if trying to clean the stains on the floor or the dust on the window sill, he tried to sweep away the slime in front of him with a mop.

Of course, witches who have become slime will wriggle their bodies in resistance.

“How dare you…? Building us…? On the subject of being like a toothless tiger…!”

The Witch of the West speaks like that while trembling with her pride.

She knew that if she touched the mop, she would be absorbed into it, so she twisted her body somehow to avoid the attack.

＂! Gareager ! Gareager＂

Likewise, when the Witch of the South tried to walk away while shouting like that, a loud sound echoed from the direction of the giant scarecrow that was fighting in the distance.

When she turned around, she saw that a huge blade of flame had struck the giant scarecrow struggling on the lake, splitting its body in half.

An explosion accompanied by a heat wave occurs, and a strong shock reverberates as if the surface of the castle is scorched and the water surface of the lake evaporates.

Looking at that scene, the witches who escaped from Dorothea’s body would despair.

Now that they have escaped, what they have defeated is ‘Care Claw’, which contained the remnants.

If Careclaw was defeated, they would come looking for them afterward – or perhaps they would have already noticed.

＂Please choose. Are you going to get cleaned up by me? Or, will you let them come here and burn your soul?”

At Niniane’s words, the witches all had something to say.

Either way, I don’t like it. It’s an ending that can only be described as humiliation of humiliations on both sides.

But, of course, dying was also something I hated.

The reason I have struggled so far is that I had the initial desire to live.

From the beginning, there was no honor for them to uphold.

If so… Then you have no choice-

001

“… Indeed. So you put all four witches in this bucket.”

“Yes. And they poured water from the lake on it to prevent it from escaping.”

Cleon and his party, who cleared out the Careclaws that had become huge and were running rampant, gathered towards the place where the four witches and Dorothea, who had lost their power and were separated thanks to Cleon’s strategy, were located.

For reference, the Careclaw was cut off by a slash of flame fired from Kuon’s Holy Sword, but since the whole body was not burned, I heard that it can be recovered later by injecting magical power, so I am putting it on the ground and drying the wet part. It was.

The group was surprised to see the light in Ninianne’s eyes, but the next thing that surprised them was that she had sealed the witches in the right place in her own way.

Even if it was an appropriate location, the witches, who had scary visuals writhing in the form of slime, were thrown into a bucket and then filled with water from a lake containing the power of purification to continuously drain their power.

＂Bubbling…＂

Perhaps because it is submerged underwater, the witch’s voice, unable to speak properly, echoes inside the bucket.

＂What are you saying?＂

“I’m saying there’s nothing I can do because I don’t want to die.”

I don’t know how Nini Anne understood, but she was interpreting the witches’ language for her group.

“You threatened to kill them if we came?”

When Nini Anne nodded her head to Lila’s words, Lila burst out laughing, then raised her finger and pointed to the witches in the bucket, and burst into a graceless laugh, “Gya haha!”

“Aren’t you stupid!? There’s no way we’re going to kill you right away! There’s still a lot to be taken from you! Something like the Fairy King’s original memories or knowledge!”

As Lila’s laughter resonated like that, Cleon also burst into laughter and spoke with his arms crossed.

“… That’s right. And even if it is sealed, I want to applaud the soft thinking that thinks that alone can be forgiven.”

＂Bubble Bubble!!＂

At Cleon and Lila’s almost mocking words, bubbles rise from the bucket.

＂Lila and Cleon are more vicious…?＂

＂Shh…＂

When Sasha spoke as if she had finally realized it, Kuon covered her mouth as if to stop her.

＂… If only the witches, who could be said to be the culprits of this situation, became like this. Now all that’s left is to return Fairy Incense to its original state.”

And, if Amelia, who was next to Kuon, spoke, Cleon would also nod her head.

But for him, first-

＂If you don’t do something about her.＂

Cleon’s gaze was directed at another scarecrow monster sitting a short distance away from the bucket containing the witches.

A melted face and twisted limbs.

Although it is not as good as the scarecrow that was fighting earlier, it has a sufficiently bizarre appearance.

“… I will check it first. You must be the real Dorothea, right?”

At Cleon’s words, she nodded her head.

It was hard for her to believe it, but even after becoming like that, she still recognized herself as Dorothea.

It was indeed 200 years since her personality was awakened.

“My last memory is… During a mission to punish the witches who were harassing people… Right after I defeated the witch with the help of Dande, Care Claw, and Chopper.”

At her words, Cleon nodded as if he understood, then turned sharply and looked at the machine quietly placed next to them.

Execution stand.

If the witches’ plan was the culprit behind the tragedy of Fairy Village, then this is the medium that created it in reality.

And – the thing that has now become the body of ‘Chopper’, unlike before where it had been moving according to Chopper’s will, just quietly stood there, blinking its eyes at the top of the pyramid, looking at the group.

She was confused at first, but after receiving an explanation from Nini Anne, she was able to understand the reason.

＂Chopper…＂

[Check the call to this unit. Please tell me your business.]

In that mechanical voice, there was no sense of Chopper’s determination to stop Dorothea – no, her witch – and return everything to the fairy king.

I guess he is like that too.

The feelings she had were originally those of the fairy king.

She returned it to her original owner, Ninianne.

What is in front of you now is the original Chopper-

He is the emotionless Tin Woodman.

It was certainly true that she had contributed her part to the chain of events.

However, if it weren’t for her, the situation wouldn’t have been resolved.

She showed everyone her determination by sacrificing her body and even her spirit.

No matter what I said to her now, the only thing that would weigh heavily on her companions was the fact that she herself didn’t understand.

“… Just like you said, we subdued the witches. It’s time to separate them from Dorothea and extract the Fairy King’s power.”

As Cleon’s story ends, the execution platform is silent for a moment, then turns its eyes to Cleon.

And perhaps she has finished understanding what Cleon said, she answers him.

[Order received. Situation analysis completed. This unit will begin the separation of target: Dorothea and target: four forest witches according to the given command.]

After answering that, the scaffold immediately raised its eyes completely and began to use its power towards Dorothea.

Then-

＂Ugh, kauhgh… Ahhh…!!＂

Dorothea began to scream and twist her body.

It was as if her arms or legs were being torn off while she was still alive.

Cleon sensed something was amiss, and urgently called the execution squad to stop it.

＂Sleep, wait a minute, Chopper! Stop! Stop!”

Only after Cleon’s voice rings out, the light emanating from the execution platform fades away, and Dorothea’s screams also fade away.

“What happened? Dorothea is in pain!”

[If you separate the witch from Dorothea’s body, the subject will die.]

＂What!?＂

Cleon is startled by Chopper’s answer and raises her voice.

＂Explain in detail!＂

And Lila seemed to think that there was no way to deal with Chopper, who had now changed like that, other than to give him instructions one by one, so she asked her for a more detailed explanation.

[As for the witch, she digs into the inside of the object and erases all unnecessary parts for her activities. In other words, if her witch is separated from her, her Dorothea’s life activities will come to a halt.]

＂Well, like that…＂

The person who despaired the most after hearing that story was none other than Dorothea.

In order for her to be separated from the witches who have been attached to her, she must sacrifice her life.

“Now, wait a minute… So, without ridding Dorothea of ​​her witchness, we have to bring out something like the power of the Fairy King?”

[… Negative. Even though separated from Dorothea, the witches survive. Because witches contain the elements of the Fairy King, even if Dorothea dies, the Fairy King’s power is fully preserved. Conversely, it is impossible to extract the power of the Fairy King without Dorothea and her witches being separated.]

＂Why…?＂

It was such an absurd thing that when Amelia asked back, her chopper looked back at her and answered.

[Because the witches pass on the curse of the scaffold coming to them to Dorothea. As long as the shield called Dorothea exists, the elements of the Fairy King cannot be extracted directly from her witches.]

＂… The magic used on the execution table – That is, magic originally belongs to witches. It means that they have prepared to that extent in case they are struck… Because reversing a curse is that type of magic. I could have expected it…”

Lila, who understood Chopper’s explanation, clicked her tongue and bit the nail of her thumb.

And Nini Anne, who was quietly listening to the conversation between her group and Chopper, takes a step forward.

“… Then it’s okay for me not to get the Fairy King’s power and knowledge back. If a person’s life has to be sacrificed for that…”

＂… Yes, your spirit may be noble, but it can’t be like that. This world needs a king anyway… And more than anything, if we want to save Dorothea, we have to find a way to safely separate her witches.”

Cleon answered Nini Anne like that, and she looked a little worried.

It was Chopper’s original plan to separate the queen’s power from Dorothea.

But then – did she really not know that that act would cost Dorothea her life?

“… Chopper. How can she separate her witch from her, or the power of the Fairy King, without taking her life from Dorothea…?”

Cleon questions Chopper in a somewhat cautious manner, as if he were placing his last hope on her.

Then, Chopper was silent for a moment, and then she started talking to Cleon.

[Exists.]

＂If it exists, tell me about it first!＂

As she spoke as if it were so obvious, Cleon unknowingly caught her off guard.

No… I know.

Chopper became a machine that lost her emotions.

As a result, all they do is submit the quickest solution to the received order and execute it without caring about human life or suffering.

She should have asked that from the beginning.

“So… What should I do?”

[All she has to do is let the witches restore Dorothea’s body and get away from her.]

“There’s no way something like that would be possible…”

In Chopper’s conclusion, Kuon says so.

Of course, the witches knew very well that if that happened, they would no longer be able to stick to Dorothea, and would only face a bad ending where everything they had stolen from the Fairy King was taken away.

Even if I had to die, I couldn’t do that much.

“… No. There is a way.”

A time when the group put their heads together and wondered what to do about the witches.

As expected, that was what Lila, the party’s original idea bank, muttered.

＂However… There is a bit of risk.

While muttering that, she looks around at her group.

It was as if he was asking if he was prepared to do that.