More than ten minutes later, Hilxi rode her broom to the shop, but the scene before her made her immediately speed up and then leap down to the ground.
The glass door of the shop was shattered, and a man was slumped against the wall. Hilxi hurried over and helped him up.
“Cough, cough…” Votait-san raised a hand, pointing toward the street as Hilxi approached.
“That puppet… ran that way…”
He encountered the puppet? And even fought it? Judging by the situation, it seemed he lost… Hilxi quickly pieced together what was happening but then found herself troubled.
If I chase after it now, it should still be possible to catch up, but it’s just me alone… Can I handle it?
After nearly three or four seconds of silence, Hilxi tried to lift Votait-san onto her back and said,
“You’re injured; I’ll take you to the Healing Center first!”
But Votait pushed her away weakly and said,
“I’m fine. You go after it… don’t let it escape…”
“…”
Hilxi lowered her gaze and bit her lip tightly, torn inside. After a moment, she relaxed her jaw, her voice noticeably darker.
“Retreating first is better. I’ve already sent my friend to report to the Association. They will definitely send reinforcements, and with my Divination Magic, there’s no need to worry about it escaping.”
Upon hearing this, Votait-san no longer insisted. He glanced at Hilxi and sighed helplessly.
“Is that so…”
Hilxi said nothing and mounted her broom with Votait on her back, heading for the hospital.
Passing by his residence, Votait suddenly said,
“No need to go to the hospital.”
“Why?”
“I’m not injured.”
Hilxi stopped her broom skeptically, landing on the ground, puzzled.
Not injured?
His complexion was so poor, coughing intermittently, his body cold and stiff… how could he not be unwell?
Seeing her confused expression, Votait stepped off the broom and took a few heavy, leaden steps.
“That puppet touched me. It’s very likely I’m cursed…” Votait said with a complex yet calm tone.
Cursed?!
Thinking of Miss Annelie’s condition, Hilxi’s pupils constricted, and her palm clenched instinctively.
So, Votait-san… could also become a puppet?
Her breath suddenly quickened uncontrollably. Lowering her head, she uttered a powerless apology.
“I’m sorry.”
“No, this isn’t your fault,” Votait quickly shook his head.
“I was too careless. Miss, don’t take it to heart. Besides, if it weren’t for you, I might never have known the cause of Annelie’s illness, let alone treated her. So please, you have no need to apologize to me—that would only make me feel guilty.”
“…”
Hilxi didn’t know what to say.
She turned her head toward the direction Monica had left, waiting for her return.
Time passed slowly, and Votait felt his body stiffening more and more; even speaking became labored.
He might become completely immobile in a few hours.
During this time, Hilxi had also tried Healing Magic on him, but it barely helped.
She could only support Votait into the house, intending to let him rest.
“Uncle Votait? What’s wrong with you?”
“What happened?”
Noffy and Aoli hurried over with worried expressions. Seeing their faces made Hilxi’s mood even heavier.
“I’m fine…” Votait forced a couple of laughs.
Then, with Hilxi’s help, he walked into the bedroom.
After settling him down, Hilxi soon returned and immediately saw the two girls surround her, asking what had happened, but she evaded the truth.
If this wasn’t resolved soon, it wouldn’t be possible to keep it a secret for long.
Half an hour later.
Standing on the street, Hilxi saw three figures flying in from the distant sky. One was Monica; the other two were unfamiliar—likely Association personnel.
They soon reached Hilxi’s side.
Sitting on her broom, Monica gave a brief introduction.
“They are members of the Association, responsible for handling this incident.”
One girl wore a pale blue robe, black hair decorated with a red hairpin, and had brown eyes. She nodded.
“Hello, I’m Jiai, an Apprentice Witch.”
The other was a girl with short pale-yellow hair, dressed in a dark blue and black robe, carrying a box, smiling at Hilxi.
“Hello, I’m Naersha, also an Apprentice Witch.”
“Nice to meet you both. I’m Hilxi, an Apprentice Witch.” Hilxi sized them up and then got straight to the point.
“My Divination Magic can locate the puppet. Let’s hurry and go catch it.”
Hearing the words filled with great resentment, Naersha, whose hair color was similar to Hilxi’s, trembled slightly but quickly pressed her palm down and smiled.
“Don’t rush; we came precisely for that. But we need to discuss a plan first.”
“I advise you not to act recklessly, or you’ll die,” Jiai said coolly.
Pinching a strand of hair, Hilxi’s eyes darkened slightly as she asked calmly, “So, what’s the plan?”
“Hmm, what plan…” Naersha glanced at the sky, finger on her chin, pondering.
“First, use your Divination Magic to locate the target… hmm, then we rush there… after that, after that—ah! We just need to catch it!”
“…That’s a great plan.” Hilxi said expressionlessly.
Isn’t that just the same as mine?
“Right, right! I’m definitely good at making plans~~” Naersha’s smile grew bigger, giving off a rather unreliable vibe.
I’m not complimenting you… Hilxi turned her gaze toward the seemingly more reliable Jiai, at least by appearances.
Jiai also looked at her with a hint of helplessness. Then she clenched her fist to her mouth and coughed softly.
“Well then, no more nonsense. Let’s execute the plan!”
Hmm hmm hmm??
You’re unreliable too? Oh well, just what I wanted.
Under their watchful eyes, Hilxi took out her Crystal Ball and began divining the puppet’s location.
Her magical power quickly depleted, and the Crystal Ball lit up. The divination yielded results quickly. Within the pitch-black screen, faint light appeared. Through it, the outside scene was barely visible.
Hilxi squinted, seeing several people in the image—one was a very cute girl holding a Crystal Ball…
Me?
Startled slightly, Hilxi immediately sensed something—the viewpoint in the image was most likely the puppet’s!
The target was actually inside Votait’s home!?
Not wanting to alert the puppet, she continued watching the divination screen.
The viewpoint hadn’t changed, meaning the puppet hadn’t realized it had been discovered.
“Found it?” Naersha asked curiously.
“…Yes.” Hilxi first glanced quietly at the house behind them, then at the two girls, then back at the house, then back at them.
In short, she was signaling them with her eyes.
“What’s wrong, Hilcy-san? Are your eyes twitching?”
“…Are you an idiot?”
Unlike Naersha, Jiai immediately understood. Leaning closer, she whispered,
“The puppet is inside the house?”
Hilxi nodded. “There are three people inside…”
“…That’s troublesome.” Jiai frowned, thinking of a countermeasure.
“We pretend we didn’t find it, then go inside to search. Once found, immediately use magic to control it. How about that?”
Sounds plausible.
“Oh, and the puppet has black hair, not white.” Hilxi added a reminder.
It would be too dramatic if they mistook Annelie for the mastermind.
“I already said that.” Monica said coolly.
After finalizing the plan, the group arrived outside Votait’s house. Hilxi pushed open the door, taking in the interior.
Aoli and Noffy, sitting on the sofa, turned at the sound and noticed the two strangers behind Hilxi, wearing puzzled expressions.
“These two are from the Magic Unification Association. They’re here to help investigate,” Hilxi introduced.
Noffy and Aoli nodded in unison, silent, watching them enter.
The puppet’s viewpoint had clearly not been in the hall, so aside from the hall, the most likely place was the bedroom.
Hilxi’s face showed no expression as she strode toward the bedroom.
“Let me see how Votait-san is doing.”
Jiai and Naersha followed behind, scanning the room and quickly noticing the white-haired puppet on the sofa—that must be the victim.
At the bedroom door, Hilxi grasped the wooden doorknob, pressed down lightly, turned, and pushed it open.
Creak—
She immediately saw the black-haired puppet by the sunlit window, its back facing her!
Almost simultaneously, she summoned her Magic Wand and unleashed magic at the puppet!
Stasis Magic.
A purple magical chain formed a lock, accurately hitting the puppet and sinking into its body.
That meant the magic took effect!
“Found the target?”
“Did you catch it?”
Jiai and Naersha quickly arrived. Hilxi exhaled in relief.
“It’s controlled. I used Stasis Magic… huh?”
Suddenly, Hilxi’s pupils contracted sharply—the puppet had disappeared!
It vanished inexplicably right before her eyes!
“Gone…” She froze for two seconds, then scanned the room but still found no sign of the puppet.
“Again with suddenly disappearing… Tch, this is headache-inducing,” Jiai, who also witnessed the puppet’s disappearance, complained.
Coming back to her senses, Hilxi looked at her in confusion.
“What do you mean, ‘again’?”
Naersha turned to explain,
“Forgot to tell you, we already discovered that monsters have been active in this area. Including this time, we’ve seen it disappear four times.”
“Ah, if I’d known, I would have just told you to use attack magic right away. Honestly, I thought we could control it…”
“So that means there have been many victims already?” Hilxi glanced at Votait-san lying on the bed, pursing her lips.
“Oh, there’s also a cursed person here?” Naersha just noticed the man on the bed and quickly summoned her Magic Wand, casting a spell on him.
“Already about ten victims, but only three were turned into puppets. The others we’ve treated.”
Can they be cured? Hilxi’s tense heart relaxed a little.
A soft cyan light appeared on Votait-san’s body, as if bathed in holy light. The small room filled with a gentle and sacred aura.
“Is this Purification Magic?” Hilxi understood upon sensing the strange power.
Then, her eyes burned with intensity as she looked at Naersha—like a greedy man staring at a walking pile of gold coins.
“Uh, yeah, but what’s with that look??”
Naersha shivered at the chilling gaze and took a step back, hesitating whether to cast Purification Magic on her as well.
“That’s admiration.”
“Is it…”
Withdrawing her gaze, Hilxi looked back at Votait-san. His eyes no longer lifeless like a puppet’s, and his body could move again.
“Cough… I’m better?” Votait-san was amazed. Suddenly remembering something, he hurriedly requested,
“Ladies! My daughter is also cursed! Please help her! How much will it cost…”
“Purification Magic has no effect on those already turned into puppets,” Naersha interrupted, shaking her head.
“How could that be…” Votait despaired. Seeing his expression, Hilxi comforted him,
“Don’t worry, Votait-san. With these two ladies helping, I believe we can catch that puppet soon.”
“…Thank you all.”