The Most Powerful Witch in History

“Arianna, what did you just…”

The blonde archer muttered as if entranced, staring blankly at where the demon spellcaster had turned to ash and disappeared. Seemingly quite shocked, the other two beside her were also frozen stiff.

“Defeated in one blow…?”

“Impossible, I’ve never seen anything like this.”

“…Arianna, are you perhaps the queen of witches?”

“…”

Leaving behind the muttering adventurers, I moved towards where the spellcaster had burned away to pick up the dropped items. What had fallen in his place was a small pouch. I carefully picked up the pouch and could confirm that it contained about 200 silver coins.

“Ugh.”

I frowned deeply.

For a monster that was supposedly a mid-boss of the Demon King’s castle, to have only a pouch of silver coins as a drop item – just how poorly had this monster lived?

I felt both incredulity and pity simultaneously.

“…Take it.”

I then carelessly tossed the pouch of silver coins towards the adventurer party. With gold coins overflowing to the point of drowning, what use did I have for mere silver coins?

However, the three-person adventurer party showed deeply moved expressions at my action, covering their mouths.

“Ah, Arianna!”

“Why give us this much money…!”

“We didn’t do anything…”

“…”

They looked at me almost on the verge of tears. From my perspective, I was just getting rid of unnecessary items, but from their view, had they unexpectedly received a large donation?

“Use it to repair your weapons.”

I spoke to them indifferently, with a subtle hint of showing off. Then I immediately moved towards the exit to escape this damp and musty mine.

“…Arianna! Let’s go together!”

“…”

The three-person adventurer party hastily followed behind me. I deliberately slowed my pace slightly to match their tempo.

“…”

When we came out of the mine, warm sunlight was seeping into our feet as dawn was breaking. At the same time, feeling the refreshing scent of forest and wind, a faint smile automatically formed.

“Well, let’s hurry!”

“Everyone will be surprised to see we’ve returned alive!”

“Returning alive is one thing, but I need to get some sleep as soon as we get back…”

“…”

The adventurers seemed quite excited with the joy of having escaped a crisis of death and the sense of achievement from succeeding in the quest. We set out again towards the Village of Beginnings to report our quest success.

“…”

Perhaps because the sun had risen, we were able to return to the village much more easily compared to when we came to the mine.

“The toll is 1 silver coin.”

“…”

After paying the toll at the checkpoint, we entered the village interior and headed straight for the guild office. Although they looked quite tired, the three-person party’s smiles grew bigger as we got closer to the office.

“…I’m back!”

“We’re here!”

“We’ve returned safely…”

“…”

They shouted loudly as they burst through the office door. As a result, everyone’s attention in the office focused on us.

As if they hadn’t thought they would return alive, numerous adventurers gathered around us like a swarm of bees.

-Hey Mir! You’re alive!

-Arwen! We thought you were dead when you didn’t return yesterday!

“…”

It seemed they were quite a renowned and well-regarded party, as many people welcomed their safe return.

“Mr. Mir! And even Arianna…”

The guild receptionist lady also approached us, startled. She spoke to us with a dumbfounded face.

“You’ve returned safely! I was so worried.”

The receptionist lady looked at us with teary eyes. Towards her, the male swordsman of the party nodded with a grin as if it was only natural.

“Of course. We almost died, but Arianna here saved us.”

“…”

The swordsman pointed at me with his hand and spoke loudly as if for everyone to hear. And as if responding to his words, the blonde female archer also continued the story with a serious expression.

“Not only that, she defeated a terrifying monster that seemed to be at least level 400 in one blow!”

“…”

She was exaggerating wildly as if she had witnessed an incredible feat. Feeling a strange burden, I forced an awkward smile.

-What? A level 400 monster?

-I told you I recognized that friend from the start.

-I should seriously consider recruiting her to our party.

-…Maybe it wasn’t a coincidence that she defeated Alexander.

The office interior buzzed at the archer’s words about defeating the demon spellcaster in one hit. The receptionist lady also seemed shocked by her words, as she asked me with wide eyes:

“Arianna, does that mean you even succeeded in the quest…?”

She showed an expression of disbelief, as if she had thought we had simply rescued the three-person party until now. To her question, I just nodded gruffly.

“…Yeah, I solved it.”

I completely burned all the goblins in the mine and eradicated them, and even dealt with the demon spellcaster who was buffing them, so it should be fine to consider the quest a success.

“…!”

And as if in response to this, another blue hologram screen appeared in front of me.

Content: Exterminate goblins in the northern mine

Reward: 1900 EXP + 660 silver coins

“…”

A hologram screen informing me of successfully completing my first quest. Confirming that the precious experience points had also been received, I finally showed a satisfied smile.

“Good.”

Once the quest completion was confirmed, I turned around and left the office immediately. As I headed towards the exit of the office without any lingering, the swordsman and receptionist lady hastily called out to stop me.

“Arianna! Where are you going? Now that the quest is successful, let me treat you to a drink!”

The swordsman roughly inviting me to a celebratory gathering. I made a gesture towards him indicating it was fine.

“Sorry, I have somewhere I need to go.”

“B-But still…”

At my refusal without hesitation, the swordsman looked at me with a regretful expression. Following him, this time the receptionist lady shouted towards me.

“Arianna! But you should at least take your reward!”

She was telling me to take the quest success reward, that is, 660 silver coins. But since my original goal was experience points, and I was sick of silver coins, I firmly refused this time as well.

“…I don’t need it.”

“Ah…”

“…I’ll come back tomorrow for another quest.”

Leaving a brief greeting, I left the noisy office.

“…”

A celebratory gathering certainly wasn’t a bad offer, but as I told him, unfortunately I had somewhere I needed to go right away.

‘…The library.’

The ‘Library of Beginnings’ located on the outskirts of the Village of Beginnings.

Originally it was just a simple place where newbies could learn various tips and obtain crafting recipes for equipment and weapons, but now that it had become real, it seemed I could get more diverse information through the books.

“…”

The so-called ‘Witch Hunt’ that both the three adventurers and the thieves had mentioned. Given that my job was a witch, this completely unknown new setting was quite concerning.

At the library, I should be able to find more diverse information in addition to that ‘Witch Hunt’.

Not knowing when I could fill the 1 million experience points, it seemed better to learn any information disadvantageous to me as quickly as possible.

“…”

I advanced towards the library whistling with a light heart.

“Hmm…”

A building constructed in quite a secluded place to emphasize the mysteriousness of a ‘Library containing all wisdom’. As a result, there was hardly anyone to be found on the way there, and the road wasn’t even properly paved.

“…”

…As I was walking with my eyes closed, I suddenly felt the flow of air around me change drastically. Instinctively turning my body sideways at that inexplicable sense of discomfort, I could see something heavy brush past right in front of my eyes.

-Thud, thump.

“…”

A large stone had just grazed past me and rolled on the ground with a dull sound.

“…”

Following that was the presence of people, quite a lot of people. I called out towards the air with a deeply furrowed brow:

“…Don’t just throw stones, come out, you cowards.”

“…”

At my call, about 30 people emerged slowly from between the surrounding alleys – people fully armed with axes, longswords, etc., who certainly didn’t look friendly.

“…You’ve got better senses than you look, huh?”

And the bald man standing at the very front, who looked like the leader of this ‘group’, spoke to me with a vile smile.

“I guess you’re quite the adventurer after all?”

“…”

A man with an enormous build. He seemed to have a body even bigger than Alexander, the guild’s combat instructor, if not at least as big.

“Boss! That’s her, the one who did this to my hand!”

“…”

Next, I saw a somewhat familiar-looking man. The man with his right hand tightly wrapped in bandages was glaring at me with burning eyes.

“Please, boss, make her hand, no, her ankle just like this too!”

“Hmph, don’t worry.”

“…”

I wondered where I had seen him before, but it was the neighborhood thug called ‘Tyrant Victor’ whose wrist had been crushed when he tried to harass me at the inn yesterday. Perhaps to get revenge for yesterday, it seemed he had brought all of his thug group.

“Hah…”

Recognizing him, I let out a deep sigh.

Actually, I had felt like someone was tailing me since leaving the guild office earlier, but I had ignored it thinking it was a mistake due to the many passersby. To think it was actually that guy.

I felt like my irritation was about to explode, rising to the top of my head.

-You dare mess with our family, you must be prepared, right?

-You’ll taste hell tonight.

“…”

About 30 thugs gradually tightening their encirclement from front, back, left and right. And the bald man whom Victor called ‘Boss’, who seemed to be their leader, approached me slowly with the most confident expression, swinging his wooden club in the air.

“The boss is a former imperial knight and an incredible ‘great man’ approaching level 500 that the likes of you are no match for. It’d be better not to even think of resisting.”

“…?”

Victor chirped from the side like a bird. He was spouting nonsense about how his boss was a former knight and approaching level 500.

“What…”

At those ridiculous words, I immediately looked at the hologram information floating above the thug boss’s head.

Name: Eddie

199

“Uh…”

The boss’s level was quite different from the information Victor had just recited. I showed no small amount of bewilderment at his level that had decreased not by a few units, but by hundreds.

Before that, even thinking about it a little, it didn’t make sense for a former knight approaching level 500 to be doing neighborhood thug work, but how could that guy speak so confidently…?

Of course, the level of 199 was still top-tier, Lü Bu-class in this ‘Village of Beginnings’, so it was possible his subordinates, who averaged levels 30-40, were completely fooled into believing their overwhelmingly strong boss really approached level 500.

Moreover, this thug boss named ‘Eddie’ probably hadn’t seen anyone stronger than himself, so he might be continuing to tell such brazen lies like now.

“Boss, look how that wench is flustered!”

“Hmph, of course she would be.”

“…”

Victor and Eddie seemed caught up in their own delusions. Then Eddie pointed his heavy wooden club at me and shouted loudly:

“…As Victor said, my level is a whopping 500! I’ll show you what overwhelming power even the Demon King once feared is like.”

“R-Right…”

To the words of the thug boss approaching me with an evil smile, I nodded slowly with a forced smile.

“Now, prepare yourself!”

“…”

Soon after, he began charging at me, swinging his club wildly like a rabid dog.