Antagonist Protection Service

"―Enki."

Glancing to her, who called me, I watched her move about this section of the lab with grace and finesse, collecting different kinds of herbs and depositing them into cauldrons, then transporting that resulting concoction into one of the weird, gourd-shaped machines with a beaker, letting it fume a purple gas from the exhaust as the tube connecting it with some others began to throb.

"Yes...?"

"How fared the tutoring?"

Asking that without facing me, she continued, having different ingredients float through the air to her as she plucked them as she needed, chopping some of them up with magic and mashing them with what looked like the pressure of the air itself before dropping them into their respective places.

"Oh. It was... okay, I think? She had no complaints, at least..."

I refrained from mentioning anything about not knowing what I was supposed to teach, not because it wasn't something important for her to know, but because I wasn't sure what she would do to me if my disguise lost its worth.

In the best case, she would simply fire me, banishing me from her domain. Even still, that would be enough to completely brick my chances at taking out the Protagonist.

In the worst case, she might just eviscerate me where I stood, the same as she had done to those other two witches.

Needless to say, that sort of outcome was what I needed to avoid even more so than simply being unable to clear the Contract.

After all, at the end of the day, if I accepted a Contract just to find it truly unbeatable, I would have no choice but to return to the Library without clearing it.

I wasn't planning on it of course, but now that we have accumulated a substantial amount of World Stability, it should be more than possible...

"I see. That is good."

Whether or not she was aware of my inner turmoil, her reply was exceptionally terse.

For a while thereafter, she spoke of nothing, simply continuing with her work while I was left to watch.

Floating in the air beside her head, a mortar and pestle moved on its own to grind down some herbs that had chucked themselves in there, and while the witch herself proceeded to extract some mysterious liquid from the strange machinery into a fresh beaker.

Letting go of the filled beaker, it drifted into the air and tilted, pouring its contents by itself into a clay pot, also floating, whilst the crushed contents of the mortar and pestle likewise emptied itself inside.

The same process repeated itself all simultaneously with a number of beakers and mortars and pestles, and when a total of seven clay pots, each with various different processed ingredients and liquids contained within, a much larger pot levitated over, and four of the clay pots emptied into it.

It proceeded to swirl around in the air for a few seconds, perhaps giving a good mix to whatever was inside, before again pouring it all into one side of the machine.

Closing the hatch and letting it boil, more toxic-looking fumes exited the exhaust and the tubes throbbed, pumping the contained liquid into the connected depository, which once finished, was transported right back into the first machine.

After that, one of the three remaining pots was emptied alongside, and the machine worked again, boiling the contents, letting out fumes and pumping a liquid into a connected depository.

At that point, I realised it was a machine used for distillation, and with great wonder, I observed the result again go straight back to the first section, whereupon a second pot was emptied alongside.

Those contents were distilled, and circling the outcome back yet again, the third and final pot was emptied into the machine, distilling it further.

The final result left just a small amount of a glittery, silver liquid that filled up a thin, crystal vial.

The vial drifted into the Witch Queen's hands, upon which she lightly swished it around, turning to face me once all was done.

"Thou art intriguing. A man, and yet thou cast magic."

Suddenly saying that, I indeed recalled that I had used magic in front of her by summoning and recalling the Black Wisp.

I never thought that would be a problem in a place like this, where magic seemed to be more than just commonplace, but thinking about it a little deeper, I realised.

'Witches have a thing where only women can use magic, don't they... Aah...'

Once again, I felt I may have messed up. If I used magic as a man, there was a chance she might suspect I was actually a witch in disguise, or even just a man sent by that Black Rose group with some malicious intent.

So, to prevent that, I hurriedly opened my mouth to defend myself.

"I can't use magic like you think I can. I'm not from this world, so I have no connections to any other witches, and I'm not here as your enemy. I swear on everything."

Watching her consistently expressionless face for any sign at all of her not believing my words, there obviously was none, but that wasn't reassuring at all.

However, as if to spite my deep concern, she simply nodded.

"Indeed. I am aware, thy origins lie elsewhere, beyond the pale of our dim sky."

"...You knew?"

"How could I not? Men exist not in Salem."

Hearing that, I calmed down considerably.

She knew I was not from her world, but instead of being suspicious, she rather took it as reason to trust me...?

"Uh. Why'd you have me tutor your daughter, then? You never told me what I was supposed to be teaching her..."

"Thou art the one to claim to tutor first, correct? I merely played along."

'Ah... She was testing me...'

In the end, it seemed I didn't really need that disguise after all. From the very beginning, it didn't work to deceive her of my identity, and in fact, it only made me look more like an idiot than if I didn't have one.

Sighing lightly, I just took it as a lesson that the disguise wasn't something that was unassailable in its potency.

"Right... So, what's that?"

Gesturing towards the vial of what looked like mercury imbued with magic between her fingers, she nodded and held it out towards me.

"Gratitude for thy proactivity and protection; a concoction of spiritual attunement."

'Spiritual attunement...?'

Gazing at the vial, my eyes widened.

If that does what I thought it did, then maybe I could gain more from this Contract than I first thought.