Reborn as a witch in another world [slice of life, isekai] (ch. 72)
Blurb:
What does it take to turn your life around? Death, of course!
I died in this lame ass world of ours and woke up in a completely new one. I had a new name, a new face and a new body. This was my second chance to live a better life than the previous one.
But goddamn it, why did I have to be a witch? Now I don't just have to be on the run from the Inquisition that wants to burn me and my friends. But I also have to earn a living?
Follow Elsa Grimly as she:
- Makes new friends and tries to save them and herself from getting burned
- Finds redemption from the deeds of her previous life
- Tries to get along with a cat who (like most cats) believes she runs the world
- Deals with other slice of life shenanigans.
--
Chapter 72. Interrogating an abomination
The siren gently landed on the half destroyed road and the violet eyed witch got off its back. The other witches hovered on their brooms just a few feet over the ground. Some of them flew around the dead monster, examining the mess it had left behind. Others stood in place, quietly discussing among themselves. I could hear their thoughts as I scanned each of them with my gaze.
“What even was that beast?”
“I'm glad this thing appeared in the most deserted street of the city or we were done for.”
“I hope the Internal Police doesn't dump the entire blame of this wreck on us.”
“I'm hungry.”
Lily leaned towards me. “Uh, shall we sneak away now?” she whispered.
“I was actually hoping we could talk,” one of the Soulless Sirens said. I was surprised to see that she had heard that from ten feet away. It was the witch with violet eyes. She seemed to be the leader of this little squad. “Since you helped slow that monster down.”
Lily chuckled nervously. “We wouldn't charge much for this. But we would at least demand five thousand steambolts for a job like this one.”
The violet eyed witch raised an eyebrow.
I elbowed Lily in the ribs. “She is kidding. My friend and I had a rough night, as you can see.” I gestured at the destroyed road. “We'd prefer if we could just leave and let you all do your job.”
I started to step back only to feel a breathing on my neck. The siren familiar was standing behind me, eyes piercing into my soul. When did it get there?!
I looked back at the violet eyed witch. She didn't seem too worried about our offer to leave. She was too busy eyeing us up and down, making sure to take in every single detail.
I heard her thoughts.
“I can see an outline of knives under their coats. The bespectacled one is holding a card in her hand. Then there is that weird flying lizard standing next to her. These are definitely witches. Unregulated ones, for sure. Those who had signed the agreement would've shown their badges by now to clear the air.”
“May I know your names please?” she said, folding her arms across her chest.
Lily started to clear her throat as if to answer her. I put a firm hand on her arm. I kept my expression neutral. Lily and I were both wearing the enchanted masks, so we didn't have to worry much about getting recognized by anyone. If we played our cards right we wouldn't need to get caught in any “due procedure of law” these regulated witches had to comply with.
“What if we refrain from disclosing our names?” I said.
Barely a muscle on the witch's face moved. “I wouldn't advise that.”
“But that's the thing.” I raised a finger. “We aren't just asking you to keep us out of this for free. We will pay you.”
That's when the violet eyes glinted with intrigue. “Are you trying to bribe us?” the witch said.
“Oh, I wouldn't dare,” I said with a gracious bow. “I'm offering you my assistance in exchange for your silence.”
“Whether or not I take your offer depends on what you are offering,” the witch said. “So? What is it?”
“Information,” I said and pointed at the dismembered pieces of the monster. “Where did that thing come from? Where was it headed? All those questions will be answered if you agree to not disclose the fact that you ran into us.”
The witch's face went unreadable again. But her thoughts were racing.
“We were supposed to stop that thing the moment Grace detected its presence. It was physically impossible but the Internal Police aren't going to be so understanding once they see this wreck. Should I take these women up on their offer? I should be relaying this situation to the Internal Police right away. I'm already wasting time mulling this over. Ugh!”
“You are running out of time, aren't you?” I said. “Since you work with the Internal Police, it means you need to get the word to them about this situation as quickly as you can. It wouldn't reflect too well on you and your team if the word gets to them before you can officially inform them yourself. Right?” I folded my arms and regarded her with a calm smile.
A small line on the witch's forehead twitched. She was very good at controlling her expressions--that was obvious from what I'd observed so far. But even she was starting to strain under the gravity of the situation. This was my chance.
“Even if you get late to get the word to the Internal Police, by the time they get here, you'd at least have a solid report to make about what exactly happened here,” I said, my tone was getting more smug than I wanted it to be. But it was almost too hard to resist myself from sounding cocky. “You get the information about that creature. We get to walk away as if we were never here. Is that a deal?”
Her eyebrows now furrowed and her eyes were brimming with suspicion. “I don't think it would hurt to let her try her hand at what she is offering. She and her friend did manage to slow down the monster so they are worth their smugness, I guess. And her heartbeat is too normal for someone who is bluffing. If she tried anything funny I could just sound the alarm and all the other witches would nab her before she could get away. I guess taking her offer won’t hurt.”
I tried not to perk up. She could hear my heartbeat? (It was indeed beating at a normal speed now that the excitement was over and I was starting to gain control over the situation). But it was still baffling to find out she could gauge my behavior by just listening to my heart beat.
“Fine,” she said. “I'll accept your help. But you better make this quick.”
“Perfect!” I clasped my hands together. “I'll do what I promised. “But I need some help from you and your friends first.”
She cocked her head. “Help?”
I nodded. “Inside that monster are the pieces of a man's corpse. I want you to recover them all first. It's essential before I begin.”
They got down to work right away. Lily helped speed things up by summoning Pearl and making the direwolf sniff out the smell of human blood. It took less than fifteen minutes to find all the pieces.
We arranged them all together on the road like a grisly jigsaw puzzle and then I stepped forth. I performed the liberation ritual on the corpse.
I really didn't want to, if I'm being honest. Ever since I'd found out about what happened to all the abysses that I liberated I didn't want to utilize this gift. It wasn't as much about the morals and ethics as it was about the monster that I was feeding each time I drew power from this curse.
Each time I set free what was left of someone, an evil god sighed in content as she grew stronger in her prison. And someday that prison would be too weak to contain her. That was the last thing I wanted.
But what I wanted just as less was to get entangled with the Internal Police again, especially now that I wasn't sure if I could trust Hopper anymore. Using the liberation ritual this time was just a compromise. Beggars can't be choosers.
Black mist swirled in the air. And the shape of a man materialized from the shadow and smoke. His eyes were calm and his face was serene. His arms were relaxed on his sides and his head was bowed in obedience. He was bald and was dressed in a robe the colors of which were muted in his current form.
Before he could address me as “master” in front of the other witches, I interrupted him, “Spare us the pleasantries for now. Let’s cut to the chase. What happened to you?”
“I failed,” the abyss said.
“Do us a favor and ditch the mystical talk.” I crossed my arms. “Tell us how you turned into this…thing. And where were you before this?”
“The Well of Hope,” he said. “I failed in my quest. I couldn't survive the barrage. And I had to face my punishment. Since the quest wasn't accomplished, they amplified my powers until my body couldn't contain it. And I turned into an abomination.”
Oh shit. He was talking about the dungeon, there was no doubt. Josie had said that there were people waiting for me at each of the shrines of ascendance. I didn't know some of these people had actually entered the dungeon. Were they told by the angels to do this or were they just naturally stupid?
“Ask him who sent him to such a place,” the leader of the sirens said to me.
I nodded and repeated her question to the abyss.
The abyss remained silent. I wasn't surprised, though. I was pretty sure the angels had dragged this man into this job with their shady contract. And their non-disclosure terms were quite binding. He wouldn't just reveal the name of angels so easily.
The leader of the sirens grumbled under her breath and said, “Ask him who he works for.”
I shrugged. That was probably going to be answered with silence too. But I played along and repeated her question to the abyss.
To everyone's surprise, the man actually spoke this time. “Order of the Unseen,” he said.
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Posted Sep 19, 2025, 1:24 PM UTC