The Reborn Witch had a nice 'Tea Time' with the Dragon Queen today
Chapter 104: The Android Who Learned to Live (From the Witch Who Once Killed Her Kind)

Chapter 104: The Android Who Learned to Live (From the Witch Who Once Killed Her Kind)

The trigger was pulled slightly, if not for the frosts that coated it.

"Outsider." 991’s pupil swiped towards the Witch’s raised staff, indifferent to her death impeded. "Are you perhaps sympathetic to me? To my struggle? Then it is advised not to interfere."

"I refuse." The Witch glared. "Don’t do anything stupid. Even if you do, we’ll strip that choice away from you."

"But for what reasons? A chance for a reset?" 991’s head hung low. "You should know. In this World, too many variables. Too many unknowns. My sisters entrapped themselves here to avoid the World in the first place."

"I know." The Witch frowned. "I have...rested too many of you, so of course I would know."

In this Kingdom of Alakarians, Androids were treated as walking bomb shells.

Not <Drowned>? People stayed at a distance as if they would go berserk for every step they took. <Drowned>? They were put down and bountied like any adventurer’s monster logs.

That’s why 556 never confessed her identity till Demond exposed her. And yet...

"There was another Android that once asked the same question as yours."

991’s brows twitched. Good, she was listening.

"Yet all that was in her programmed <Core> was to shun her weaknesses, scoff at others who pitied or isolated her, and she took up the mantle as one of the strongest adventurers of all time. Even...stronger than me at that point."

The former old mage lifted her gaze as the sunset’s first light crept over the horizon - the same dawn she, Leona, Zero, and the others had once watched side by side, back when they made a ’Promise’ in the war-torn world.

"How..." 991 muttered. "How did she end up?"

"In a glorious end, laughing." The Witch hushed out. "She, too, rested many like you. Or precisely, two hundred and forty of you."

The Witch leaned down and tapped 991’s shoulder. "She never...never stopped counting. She never let go, until the very end."

"...how pitiful."

"She would scoff at your scorn, 991." The Witch’s eyes trembled. "She died without even a remain, yet her spirit carried on, for she trusted us. And we finally ended the war as heroes."

Albeit forgotten ones. The Witch chortled to herself.

"Then I’m afraid I could not accomplish great feats like her."

"I never told you to be like her. She would proclaim herself as the ’worst example’ an Android could be." The Witch then flicked her forehead. "But nonetheless. Don’t die so meaninglessly. Stretch out a little and find your path like her."

"..."

The Sunset glazed over the Android’s indifference, the fiery shade consumed the hesitation, and brought something alight in the Android’s quivering eyes.

"Inefficient." The Android’s shoulders straightened. "To explore this vast World to find one single purpose to keep living...an enigmatic proposition."

"Then will you give up?" The Witch chuckled as she backed.

"I...I don’t know." The Android stood, her shadow towering over herself. "The only method is to...keep moving forward, until I was tired of myself."

Ah, those words...of course. You and Zero are sisters, huh?

The Witch set the thought adrift to the gusts as she turned. "Then come with us for now. Or stay here if you like, coz the Royals will come here to retrieve you to start anew in a safe territory if you like."

"How undutiful. What if I rested at my next destination?"

Wow. And just as snarky, too.

The Dragon chuckled from behind as the Witch froze, before the husband hugged the flustered wife.

"You’re not weak, 991," Adrei smirked. "Would you be so wasteful as to cast aside your life willingly?"

"Of course not." The Elven Android glanced aside at the temple. "To do so would be humiliating to my sisters’ sacrifices."

"Then?" The Dragon Queen hummed.

"I will come with you." The Android tucked the gun back into her waistband. "I refuse to be in a haven. It will be as boring as when I was pupeteered into guarding this temple."

"Very good." The Dragon Queen’s chin nuzzled on the whining Witch’s hat. "Never forget this resolve. I would never disrespect you for your grief, but I would respect you for all that you are, and all that you will be after today."

"Mm." 991 nodded. "I thank you...for your kindness, Outsiders."

--------------

A few more convo. A few more chatters from the Witch about Zero’s antic to the Android. Before 991 bowed and entered the temple, wishing for one last look at her sisters.

"Adrei..." The Witch’s cheek nuzzled into the Dragon’s embrace. "I thought for a second you will suggest her to stay."

"I may be touchy, but I’m not emotionless, my wife." Adrei chuckled. "Besides, we can have our time once we reached the city. For now, I’m satisfied with last night."

"Ah! Forget about-ugh." The Witch groaned, pulling her hat down to hide her blushes. "How long will you make fun of me this time...?"

"As much as it would remind you that I am yours, Demond."

The Witch’s finger smoothed over her neck. Is the mark still here? "Well, you already marked me plenty for that."

"Oh, is that a proposal for more?" The Dragon licked her lips.

"...you were going to do so without me asking anyways, so why bother asking?" The Witch huffed, as the Dragon only hugged tighter to comfort her.

"Say...Adrei."

"Hm?"

"How did the Androids fare in these 20 years I was gone?"

The Dragon’s scales flared a little, before settling her cheek on her wife’s shoulder. "I mentioned a territory where Android resided, correct?"

"Mhm. By Queen Elsara, right?"

"Mhm. By your future niece." The Dragon’s lips curled up as the Witch gritted her teeth.

"She has placed the territory to the East, towards the Mage’s tower. The Android’s calculative mind may be hazzled by the <Drowned>, but there remained those unaffected and assisted the mages with their calculations."

"Those isolated stuck-ups are willing to cooperate with them?"

"Those Mages are driven by pure need for efficiency and curiosity after all." The Dragon played with the Witch’s ear. "The tradition of isolation has worn down after the end of Dragonsong War. Your execution of the Tyrant has brought about changes you do not expect, Demond."

"I hope it was all good." The Witch’s head tilted against the Dragon’s touch.

"Most of them. Yes. Except..."

"Alice...right." The Witch sighed.

"But then again, the Human-Demon War ended on her whim." The Dragon blew into her ear.

"S-so?" The Witch hissed as she covered it. "I don’t like to forget what that brat dared to do."

"The compensation ledges wouldn’t forget as well." Adrei laughed. "But Demond. You have accomplished much more than that. Remember who you saved, like me."

"...I never said I would forget."

Silence pursued, the wind howled not for discomfort, but for stowing away the last of the barriers between them, as the Dragon Queen finally confessed.

"Demond. Would you like to be declared a hero of the Country?"

"Ha?" The Witch raised her brow. "What do you mean?"

"With connections to the Royal, and your status as my wife," the Dragon’s tone was heavier, her amber eyes staring into Demond’s. "I wish sincerely you and your comrade receive the glory you deserve. After all, all of you...were robbed of it because of the Sky Dragons."

The Witch’s breath hitched. Her gaze faltered.

Because the Sky Dragons desperately hunted for Demond after she murdered their king, Demond could only hide with Alice deep in the South with buried identities.

And until the known ’Sky Dragon Massacre’ by Adrei, only then Demond set out Alice for her Hero’s journey.

That also means...the people here did not know the identity of the ’Tyrant Slayer’, and her comrades that died in the Evergreen’s last war.

"I...we never fought the Tyrant for fame, you know? It was an accident."

Demond gripped the Adrei’s hand on her waist. "We merely took the quest thinking we would escort a friend’s daughter...and, and..."

"...and all of you...faced the Tyrant, my father as if it would be your last battle."

The Dragon carrassed her cheek, forcing the witch to look up.

Sincerety met hesitation, as the Dragon steadied her voice. "I admired you, all of you. For your spirits. For your courage. And it would not only be this Kingdom’s, but also my loss if I do not witness the finality you deserved."

"Adrei..."

Her Husband was not pressuring her. No, far from it.

The Witch’s cheek buried herself into the palm, frowning. "I need...I need more time. More thoughts...I once promised something with my comrade, and till the Peace Banquet, I would like to leave this matter aside."

From an average old mage, to the hero that ended a war?

The old her would have nodded immediately, now...she prayed for time, and more hesitations.

"I will wait for you, as always."

"...pft." The Witch chuckled. "You won’t get a kiss out of that."

"Oh, I won’t." The Dragon smiled as she leaned in. "I will have plenty more in the future."

The Dragon’s lips pecked on hers again. Another yelp. Another laugh. Another grumble.

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