The sudden appearance of the Glanz Empire’s soldiers brought a sharp realization.
Yasmin had mentioned sensing human presences in the forest earlier—she must have been talking about these Imperial Soldiers!
Among their ranks, one figure in particular caught my eye.
The golden armor of the Lady Knight leading them was emblazoned with the crest of the Imperial Family.
Only those of the Emperor’s own blood were permitted to wear that mark.
However, according to what Imperial Princess Freundliche had told me, all the other princesses were supposed to have been assassinated.
If that was the case, then who on earth was this woman?
"Was it you who brought down that Laobubear?" the Lady Knight asked, addressing us.
It seemed Bear-papa's younger brother had originally been fleeing from a hunt led by these very soldiers.
The Little Witch and Armin had merely delivered the finishing blow to the wounded beast after it escaped into our path.
"To defeat a Laobubear, even a wounded one, proves you are no ordinary commoners."
The Lady Knight closed the distance, her gaze like an interrogation.
It was then I noticed her eyes—a rare pair of heterochromatic "odd eyes," one purple and one blue.
Simultaneously, dozens of her subordinates began to surround us.
Something felt off about these Imperial Soldiers.
I had assumed they were mere remnants of the defeated army, but the atmosphere they projected was different.
Every single one of them appeared to be a master-level combatant.
And their commander was a member of the Imperial Family.
Since the commander-in-chief of the previous invasion had been Princess Freundliche, this might have been a newly dispatched force.
But the two nations were currently under a ceasefire.
That meant these people were likely a Special Unit that had covertly infiltrated the Kingdom of Gardenia.
To have a member of the Imperial Family leading such a group directly was no trivial matter.
What could they possibly be searching for in this forest...?
Oblivious to my growing concern, Armin spoke up with a boastful grin.
"Heh! We’re the ones who hunted this bear! Pretty great, right?"
He puffed out his chest with pride, clearly failing to realize he was speaking to Imperial royalty.
As his unofficial big sister, I was on pins and needles, terrified he would say something irredeemably rude.
"I just learned it’s rude not to introduce yourself first," Armin continued. "I’m Armin. What’s your name, gold-clad big sis?"
"Oh, how rude of me. My name is Malai Glanzweisheit."
──Glanzweisheit. The name itself was absolute proof of her Imperial status.
But why was this woman using the Emperor's surname?
Wait, that wasn't the only thing.
The name "Malai" rang a bell.
I recalled a young noblewoman by that name who had attended a party hosted by Princess Freundliche back in the day.
Come to think of it, I had even exchanged greetings with her once.
Her eyes hadn't been odd-colored back then, which was why I hadn't recognized her immediately.
"Your Highness the Crown Princess, please do not give your name to such suspicious individuals," one of the Imperial Soldiers whispered, leaning toward her.
"My mistake. I’ve already gone and said it, haven't I?"
It wasn't just the Lady Knight who was "careless"—her attendant was just as bad.
Thanks to him, I now knew her true identity: she was the Crown Princess.
The reason she bore the Imperial crest and the Glanzweisheit name was that she had married the Empire's Crown Prince.
She hadn't been married yet when I saw her at that party, so the wedding must have taken place sometime in the last five years.
"Well, my name is of little consequence," Malai said. "More importantly, have any of you seen a blond-haired man in this area?"
Not them too! Was everyone in the world looking for this blond man?
He was certainly popular, whoever he was.
Our collective gaze shifted toward Armin.
If they were looking for a blond boy instead of a man, he was standing right there.
"It is not a child we seek," she added.
Well, I figured as much.
For the record, while there was no "Blond-haired Gentle Man" here, we did have a large blond man.
If they wanted the Chara-o, they were welcome to take him off our hands at any time.
"If you see him, report to us immediately."
Having said her piece, the Crown Princess began to turn on her heel, her interest seemingly exhausted.
But then, she stopped.
Her gaze landed on the Little Witch, and she spoke as if a memory had just resurfaced.
"I remember now. That White-haired Child... I’ve seen her on a Wanted Poster."
The Little Witch flinched violently.
She clearly hadn't expected to become the center of attention.
With a face pale from terror, she stared up at the Crown Princess.
"There is no mistake. This child is the White-haired Witch who fled the Empire."
I remembered then—the Little Witch had been the target of a Witch Hunt in the Glanz Empire before escaping to the Kingdom of Gardenia.
She had sought refuge in this very village.
Three years had passed since then, yet she had been discovered by Imperial Soldiers in a place like this of all things!
"You are wanted to be captured alive. Yield quietly and come with us."
The situation had escalated in the blink of an eye!
The Little Witch was about to be dragged away!
"...Are you going to steal my happiness again?"
The Little Witch’s hair began to drift upward as if floating in water.
Her power surged, radiating outward as her hair stood on end.
"I just wanted to live in peace with my Papa and Mama. Who was it that suddenly attacked us just because I’m a Witch?!"
"Witches are enemies of the Empire. It is the duty of the Imperial Soldiers to punish criminals."
"We aren't criminals! If we could have just lived peacefully in the Empire, my Papa and Mama wouldn't have been killed! It’s all your fault!"
Her outburst finished, the Little Witch fell into a silent, trembling glare.
The tension between the two sides was suffocating.
This felt like it was one spark away from a total explosion.
In the middle of this standoff, Merk spoke up as if she had just made a connection.
"I remember now. That woman... she’s the S-Class Adventurer of the Empire known as 'Malai of the Dancing Sword'."
So the Crown Princess was actually a famous figure with a title in the adventurer world.
According to Merk, Malai was a noble-born S-Class Adventurer who had caught the eye of the Golden Tiger Prince—the man hailed as the Empire's strongest—and eventually married him.
I knew the Golden Tiger Prince well from my past life.
If she was the woman he chose, her strength had to be monstrous.
Reaching S-Class on her own was proof enough of that.
"Furthermore, from what I can see, her true identity is..." Merk began, but the Little Witch cut her off.
"Let me say it."
The Little Witch pointed a trembling finger at the Imperial Lady Knight.
"You’ve said whatever you wanted, but you’re the same as me. It’s no use hiding it. I can tell."
"And what could a mere Witch Child possibly tell?"
"I know... if you’re going to call Witches criminals, then you’re a criminal too."
The Little Witch’s finger didn't waver.
"You’re leading human soldiers, but I can tell. Your true identity is a Witch!"
──Wait, was that true?
The Crown Princess was actually a Witch?
Looking at Merk’s reaction, it seemed the Little Witch’s intuition was spot on.
I couldn't believe it... this woman was the Crown Princess of the Empire.
If it were revealed she was a Witch, it would be a political catastrophe.
I wasn't the only one shaken by the news.
"Your Highness... a Witch? What does she mean?" the Imperial Soldiers began to murmur among themselves.
"How insolent!" "Her Highness could never be a Witch!" "Retract that statement!"
The soldiers shouted in indignation.
It seemed none of them had known their commander’s secret.
But the seed of doubt had been planted, and that was enough.
Crown Princess Malai, her expression remaining entirely void of emotion, smoothly drew her sword.
"My mistake. To think I would be seen through as a Witch."
──Pop!
Ten heads belonging to the Imperial Soldiers soared into the air simultaneously.
"Wait, Your Highness?" "What is...?"
The remaining soldiers cried out in sheer bewilderment.
"Now that you know, I cannot allow even my precious subordinates to return alive. Please die."
Ten swords now drifted lazily in the air around Crown Princess Malai.
──The swords were floating?
By whatever mechanism she used, the swords began to dance through the air with a life of their own, slaughtering the remaining Imperial Soldiers in a whirlwind of steel.
The unit of thirty men was wiped out in a matter of seconds.
Every single one of them had been decapitated.
What a gruesome thing for a Crown Princess to do...
"I’ve ended up erasing my subordinates again. How careless of me. My husband is going to scold me for this."
She spoke as if she lacked any human emotion.
The chilling efficiency with which she committed mass murder without a shred of hesitation told me this was far from her first time.
"The fact that I, the Crown Princess, am a Witch is a state secret. Therefore, I’m afraid I’ll have to have all of you disappear as well."
The swords of the fallen soldiers rose into the air.
In total, thirty levitating blades were launched toward us.
The suddenness of the attack was startling, but I had survived my fair share of life-or-death struggles. I kept my cool.
I instantly grew a massive tree in front of me to serve as a shield.
I would protect the Little Witch and the others!
But even as I tried to act the part of the responsible "older sister," I couldn't keep a perfect eye on the children in the heat of battle.
To my horror, Armin lunged forward to counterattack.
"Wind Three-Birds into Wind Blade Explosion!"
The Wind Magic combo he had used to finish the Laobubear struck the Crown Princess directly.
"Got her!" Armin cheered, pumping his fist.
But his victory cry was instantly cut short by a scream.
"Gwah!"
By the time I heard him, he had already been run through by a flying blade.
One of the Crown Princess’s levitating swords had caught him the moment he stepped out from behind the safety of my tree.
"Merk! Get this Nectar to Armin!"
I immediately secreted a drop of Nectar and urged Merk to get it to him.
As an Alraune rooted in a pot, I couldn't move to help him myself.
But if Merk could get him to swallow my Nectar right now, he would surely survive.
How dare she do that to Armin. How could she be so cruel to a child?
While Merk tended to him, I fixed my gaze on Crown Princess Malai.
"I. Will. Be. Your. Opponent."
The Crown Princess, who had emerged from Armin’s Wind Magic completely unscathed, turned her attention toward me.
She was an S-Class Adventurer; her strength was in a different league from the soldiers she had just butchered.
In that case, I supposed I should get a little serious myself.
I forced my roots to grow with explosive speed, shattering the bottom of my bucket.
I drove them deep into the earth.
Now, I could fight without restraint.
"Could you be that Alraune...? No, the size is different, and the location doesn't match. You must be a different specimen."
So she knew about me.
If she was a Witch, she might even be connected to the Witch Queen.
The Witch Queen and I had a pact of non-interference.
But if she wanted to mistake me for someone else, I would play along and use the opportunity to gather information.
After all, I had plenty of questions for this Malai woman.
I decided to start with the most obvious one.
"How. Do. Those. Swords. Float?"
"It is the Levitation Magic of a Witch. Though, I am the only one capable of levitating objects that have left my hands."
The Little Witch could levitate things she touched, but they would fall as soon as she let go.
Malai, however, could maintain her grip on them from a distance.
I felt a spark of gratitude toward this "careless" person for revealing her hand so honestly as I snaked nearly a hundred vines toward her from underground.
I had been spreading them beneath the surface the entire time we were talking.
As expected of an S-Class Adventurer, she reacted instantly to the surprise attack.
I tried to bind her, but my vines were shredded by the swarm of levitating blades.
"Mere plants are powerless before my sword techniques."
Her ability was certainly formidable.
Manipulating dozens of swords freely allowed her to face an army alone.
Against any normal human or monster, she would be invincible.
But I was neither human nor a common monster.
"Next, I shall carve you into ribbons."
Malai launched thirty swords at me.
However, not a single one reached my body.
"My swords... they’re stuck to the vines?!"
The vines she had cut earlier weren't just any vines—they were Sundew.
The sticky mucilage from their glandular hairs had ensnared the blades the moment they made contact.
With that, I had neutralized her ability to manipulate her weapons.
"My mistake. My swords have been stolen. But if I have no swords, I shall simply manipulate something else."
Malai reached out and touched the corpses of the Imperial Soldiers.
The headless bodies lurched to their feet.
It looked exactly like a scene from a zombie movie.
"Go, my loyal soldiers."
The headless, levitating corpses came hurtling toward me.
To my horror, she was using the very men she had killed as projectiles.
──Hieeeeee!
This is way too creepy!!
I instantly grew a cluster of Venus Flytraps to catch every single flying soldier.
Phew... crisis averted.
But that was terrifying.
──Now I was genuinely angry.
These men had been her subordinates—her allies. To treat them so despicably was unforgivable.
She might look human, but she was a monster on the inside.
"You. Seem. Fond. Of. Long-range. Attacks."
──Sp-p-p-p-p-pot!
I counterattacked with a Seed Machine Gun from a Teppou-uri I had grown in an instant.
Even for Malai, a plant that could return fire with such speed was clearly unexpected.
The seeds pierced her golden armor, and from them, the "Yellow Vampire"—the Dodder—sprouted, its roots boring into her limbs.
That was the end of the match.
I would have her bound by the Dodder and end this.
"My mistake. I didn't expect an Alraune to be this powerful."
"Will. You. Surrender. Now?"
I had a lot I wanted to hear from her.
I was going to make her spit out every bit of information she had.
"As you can see, I can no longer move my own hands or feet," Malai said with eerie composure. "However, it seems my right eye can still move its own."
──Wait, what?
What was she talking about?
Even though she was completely restrained, she didn't seem bothered at all.
A cold shiver ran through me.
"To think I would have to use the trump card I borrowed in a place like this... my husband will surely be cross with me. I really am so careless."
──Squish.
To my utter disbelief, a purplish-red hand reached out from the Crown Princess's red right eye.
It didn't stop there.
Following the hand, a chest, a head, a torso, and then legs slithered out from her socket.
"So, please die. As long as you disappear, I won't have to be scolded by my husband."
It was a member of the Demon Race.
From within the Crown Princess's eye, a sinister, terrifying demon had manifested.
"I can be as careless as I like. This demon will make sure all the evidence is wiped away nice and clean."
Next time: The Demon of Crown Princess Malai Glanzweisheit.