At this thought, the Witch's face flushed even deeper. With a look of extreme reluctance, she accepted Hayashi Shuichi's help to stand up, then extended her hand. "Give it to me."
"Give you what?" Shuichi didn't follow.
"I am a witch, not a clairvoyant!" Akane Koizumi snapped, planting her hands on her hips irritably. "To divine the location of a stranger, I need something that belongs to them or is connected to them."
"...I don't have anything on me. I'll go ask," Shuichi said, walking quickly toward the stairs.
Akane was just about to ask if he needed her to use magic to lower the floating staircase, but to her surprise, Shuichi simply leaped over the edge, jumping directly from the second floor to the first.
"Tch, barbarian," the Witch muttered, her palm subconsciously drifting to her backside. It still throbbed with a dull ache.
Taking advantage of Shuichi's absence, Akane hurried back to her study to change into her Teitan High school uniform. For a witch like her, being around Shuichi was far too dangerous; she didn't dare wear any more clothes constructed from magic.
"Master, would you like me to monitor the intruder for you?" the Magic Mirror asked cautiously, its reflection wearing a sycophantic expression.
Akane pulled off Shuichi's shirt, tossed it aside with a look of disdain, and nodded while pulling on her school blazer. The surface of the mirror immediately glowed, and the scene of the villa's courtyard was displayed with perfect clarity.
"Senpai, you..." Orizasa Midori stared in shock at Shuichi as he approached. Wasn't he supposed to go inside to find someone for divination? Why had he come out shirtless? Her eyes involuntarily swept over his lean, muscular torso, and her cheeks turned slightly pink.
"...Ran into a bit of trouble," Shuichi said, wiping sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. "By the way, the divination needs something connected to that blonde girl. Do you have anything with you?"
"Connected to Mayuki..." Midori thought for a moment, then detached a crescent-moon-shaped plush charm from her keychain. "This was a birthday gift Mayuki gave me this year. I wonder if it will work?"
"I'll take it and try," Shuichi said, taking the charm and turning back toward the house.
"Senpai, maybe I should come in too?" Midori pushed against the iron gate.
"...Better not. Just wait out here," Shuichi shook his head. As a shut-in, Akane clearly had a very strong sense of territoriality. Without her permission, bringing Midori inside was just asking for another tantrum.
Is the fortune-teller in there really that scary? Midori wondered as she watched Shuichi's retreating back. Did Senpai get into a fight with the fortune-teller and get his shirt ripped to shreds just to force them to help?
In the second-floor study, seeing that Shuichi hadn't brought the girl with the high ponytail into the yard, Akane—now fully dressed—nodded in satisfaction. "At least you know your place." The corners of her mouth curved up slightly; her mood seemed to have improved.
"Master," the mirror asked carefully, "shall I save the footage of your battle just now?"
"What do you think?" Akane countered with a dark look. Seeing Shuichi heading back toward the ground floor, she grabbed her crystal ball from the desk and headed downstairs.
After the Witch left, the mirror whispered to itself, "Since Master said I should decide, I'll save it. It would be a waste to delete such a commemorative video."
On the first floor, Shuichi stared at the floating staircase with a pained expression. He was just about to find something to use as a stepping stool when the stairs slowly descended, returning to their original position. Akane, dressed in her Teitan uniform and cradling the crystal ball, walked down with measured steps.
"A gift from the missing girl. Will this work?" Shuichi handed over the crescent moon charm.
"I'll try," Akane nodded. Placing the crystal ball on the living room coffee table, she took the charm, felt it for a moment, and then hovered her hands over the ball, moving them back and forth.
"Are you... shuffling mahjong tiles?" Shuichi couldn't help but chuckle.
"Shut up!" Akane glared at him. Being the one asking for a favor, Shuichi immediately made a gesture of zipping his lips.
A moment later, the crystal ball emitted a faint white light. Shuichi couldn't see anything, but in Akane's eyes, images were manifesting. The Witch's pupils dilated slightly as she focused on the ball, her lips moving silently as if chanting a spell.
"The person who most recently touched this charm is at my front gate..." Akane's voice sounded like a dream, carrying a strange echo.
"That's not her. The one missing is a blonde girl..." Shuichi corrected her quickly.
"I know!" Akane rolled her eyes impatiently and returned her focus to the ball. "The one who touched it before her was a girl with dyed blonde hair, about fifteen or sixteen years old. Her hands and feet are tied, and she's locked in a dark room. There are several women with whips and clubs guarding her."
"Can you see the location—" Shuichi started, but the Witch gave him an annoyed glare, and he quickly made an apologetic gesture.
Akane looked closer, her eyes almost pressed against the glass. "The room is very dark, I can't see much. But looking out the window, there's a large chimney."
"...That's it?" Shuichi waited a few seconds, and when the girl didn't say anything else, he spoke with disappointment. "You spent all that time divining just to see a big chimney?"
"Divination isn't omnipotent," Akane snapped. "Being able to see her environment clearly is already very impressive, okay?"
"A big chimney... Is she near a factory?" Shuichi rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. "But I'm not familiar with Haido at all."
"Hmph, you can always ask me for help," Akane raised her head proudly, her confidence returning. "With this charm, I can directly track the direction of that blonde girl. As long as we follow the path, we'll definitely find her."
"Why didn't you say that earlier?" Shuichi looked at her speechlessly, several dark lines appearing on his forehead.
"You didn't ask," Akane retorted righteously. "You're the one who insisted on divination; you didn't tell me to use other magic."
"...Fine, it's all my fault!" Shuichi didn't bother arguing. "Let's go. We have a girl to save."
The Witch sat motionless on the sofa as if she hadn't heard him.
"Please, my kind and adorable Koizumi-san!" Shuichi held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Let's not waste any more time!"
"...Hmph, I won't hold it against you this time." Akane waved her hand, and a broom flew out from the adjacent room, hovering steadily in front of her.
(End of Chapter)
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