Otaku Witch

"Senior Dina, it really was a bother today, goodbye."

"Not at all, being able to help you, Miss, makes me very happy."

At the entrance of the school library, after bidding farewell to Senior Dina, who still didn't realize she had actually lost consciousness for a moment, Dorothy turned around, ready to leave.

As soon as she stepped out of the library, she habitually effaced her presence and stood on the library's flying dock, gazing at the entirety of Witch Academy.

She hadn't felt it while chatting in high spirits in the basement, but now that she was outside, she realized the sun was already sloping westward, nearing evening. The orange hues of the setting sun engulfed the variously sized Floating Islands, and the dreamlike city in the sky appeared intermittently through the cottony sunset clouds, everything looking as beautiful as a dreamscape.

"It really is a beautiful view."

Dorothy remarked, gazing at the unique scenery that could only be found at this magical height in Witch World.

"What's so good about this? I'm sick of it."

From her shadow, a clear and firm voice rose, and then the shadow stood up, condensing into Senior Fanny's refined and dignified elegant form.

Dorothy turned to glance at her new familiar.

A cool breeze blew by, causing the flowing hair of the raven-haired beauty next to her to flutter wildly, and her oversized Magic Robe billowed with the wind. This made the beauty slightly fret as she tucked the unruly strands behind her ear, revealing her delicate and cute, rosy ears, and her flawless profile shimmered in the evening's yellowish sunlight.

"Hmm, suddenly I think the sunset really isn't that great to look at."

The homebody witch nodded in agreement and said so.

"???"

Senior Fanny turned her head with a puzzled expression, only to see her "Master" whose long bangs were also lifted by the wind, making the evening sky instantly more brilliant with that fleeting glimpse.

"I suddenly find the scenery quite interesting. It really was the right decision to come out with you this time."

The raven-haired beauty curiously observed her reclusive "Master" while saying so.

Dorothy: "..."

Ugh, that just spoiled the fun. Time to slip away and go home to cook.

With a bit of disgust, she clicked her tongue and then pulled out her broom and took off. But after only a short flight, she felt a weight on her head. Puzzled, she reached up and then pulled a strange doll down from above her.

It was a crudely made, frighteningly bizarre doll, its body seemingly woven from willow branches and straw, especially the weird face that vaguely resembled a Clown painted pumpkin head with those two hollow, long rectangular goat-like eyes that looked downright eerie no matter how you looked at them.

Dorothy: "..."

Oh, come on...

The homebody witch casually tossed the ugly thing down from a high altitude, but just as the doll fell a short distance, it reappeared on top of her head with a slap.

"You know, Senior, can't you make something a little more normal, something from the Mortal World?"

Dorothy said somewhat helplessly.

"I just feel that you, as my Master, seem to have nefarious intentions towards me. Now I am just a weak, pitiful, and helpless familiar. If you, Master, truly act on your animal desires, I would have no way to resist, which would be quite a predicament."

The eerie voice of Senior Fanny came from the freakish Scarecrow atop her head.

"Besides, Dorothy, your underdeveloped aesthetic really needs some work. This is one of my favorite incarnations. Don't you think this willow Clown is cute?"

"Yes, yes, yes, but I still think that even for a witch, your taste is too avant-garde. Also, isn't your personality changing a bit too much?"

Dorothy recalled the demure and composed beauty she had met in the basement, and then compared it to this thing on her head. She suddenly felt like she had been duped.

"That was just my customer service mode. Of course, I have to put on an act for people I'm not familiar with. Now that we are insiders, there is no need for pretense. Free from the influence of Demonic Nature and Divinity, this is the most genuine me. I'm also only 25 years old this year. Who isn't a young girl at heart?

How could the real me be that mature?"

The Scarecrow senior stretched out her soft straw arms and gently tapped the head of her mount below, speaking with a hint of dissatisfaction.

"But having such an ugly thing on top of my head will make me look really stupid."

Dorothy rolled her eyes, feeling like she had turned into a zoo with all the creatures on her.

A cat on the left shoulder, a dragon on the right, and now a straw doll hanging overhead — what kind of outlandish combination was this?

"It doesn't matter, no one else can see me anyway."

The straw doll stood up on the mount's head, hands on hips, proclaiming this in all her righteous glory.

Dorothy: "....."

There's a flaw, I'll fall again.

Taking advantage of the so-called big sister, who had shifted from a seller's show to a buyer's show, and wasn't paying attention, she grabbed her and tossed her again.

Others might not be able to see, that's true, but she could see just fine, thank you very much, and she didn't want the magic mirror to get the wrong idea and downgrade her beauty score.

"Alright, alright, I'll change my form; you're the master after all, what you say goes."

After being thrown down several more times, the Scarecrow senior sighed and somewhat reluctantly transformed herself.

"Um..."

Having been about to reflexively grab the doll and throw her down again, Dorothy paused and sensed a shift in the weight atop her head, then reached out with some curiosity to summon an Ice Mirror to check.

The mirror reflected the familiar, unremarkable figure of the country girl, but this time, atop the girl's head sat a classic witch hat with a wide, sweeping brim.

The hat was primarily black, with a garland made of willow branches and rice ears wrapped around the tip. Below the brim, it was adorned with endless starry skies. As Dorothy looked up, she could vaguely see the dreamlike twinkling of stars within the expanse of the broad brim.

Wow, this hat's actually quite cool; so, senior, you do have a normal person's sense of aesthetics.

That's what Dorothy thought to herself.

If it were a hat this lovely, she wouldn't mind wearing it every day.

Now, she even felt a bit regretful that such an awesome hat could only be seen by herself; it was a shame not to show it off.

However, no sooner had she praised it for a few seconds than she noticed several small tentacles drooping from the brim of the hat, which then swiftly and soundlessly snatched away her black-rimmed glasses and lowered her scarf.

"Hehehe, Dorothy, now that you have me, you don't need these encumbrances. Let senior take a good look at what the master looks like..."

Above the wide brim, the stars formed an eye resembling that of senior Fanny, and the triangular tip of the hat split open to form a mouth, from which came the senior's smug laughter. Discover stories at empire

And then...

"Um..."

The rectangular sheep pupils in the Eyes of the Stars turned into hearts, a bit frighteningly, and the mouth of the hat opened and couldn't shut again.

In that moment, the promising deity got a premature understanding of what the true visage of divinity looked like.

The hat's tentacles dutifully replaced the black-rimmed glasses and raised the scarf to function as a mask; the wide brim drooped, forming, along with the long fringe, an invisible defensive line.

"Dorothy, promise me that you'll only show your pretty face to me from now on, okay?"

"Get lost...."

.....Little witch cursing.....