Chapter 1: Re: I'm really a witch - I became Pandora? (Patreon)

"Uh..." Facing the sky full of hovering icicles, the platinum-haired girl froze on the spot. "Um, please wait a moment."

"She... she said to wait a moment..." Pointing at the platinum-haired girl who had reappeared in the snow, the silver-haired girl tugged nervously at the woman's sleeve.

"Pandora! What exactly are you trying to do?!" After calming the silver-haired girl, the woman shouted, brows furrowed tight.

She wasn't even sure this creature could be killed at all. Since Pandora seemed to want to say something, she'd listen for now—and use the time to look for an opening.

"I... Pandora?" The platinum-haired girl looked puzzled and pointed at herself. "You're kidding... uh..."

She hadn't noticed before, but now that she'd stopped moving, she realized she'd changed.

Not only was her voice a woman's now, but she seemed to be wearing nothing but a thin "white cloth"? And somehow, she didn't feel cold at all.

All she remembered was falling down a staircase a moment ago, and then...

"Excuse me, are you Miss Fortuna?" The platinum-haired girl asked, a little excited, looking at the two figures—one tall, one small—not far away. "And then, she must be Emilia..."

They were real people! What did that mean? It meant her wish had come true! She'd been transported to another world! And on top of that, she'd become... Pandora!

"You—!" Fortuna didn't let her guard down at the platinum-haired girl's sudden laughter—if anything, she quickened the gathering of the icicles.

"Calm down! Miss Fortuna!" Seeing this, Pandora waved her hands quickly.

She'd only just arrived in this other world—she had no intention of dying over and over like Natsuki Subaru.

"Lady Fortuna!" At that moment, a man with messy green hair burst out of the forest.

"Uh..." Pandora blinked as she watched the man's gaze go straight to Fortuna nearby.

This... if she didn't stop it, Fortuna was about to be run through by the "Unseen Hand," wasn't she...

What was she supposed to do?! It was all the original body's fault, for making Petelgeuse mistake Fortuna for her...

That's right! She was Pandora now!

"Didn't Archbishop Petelgeuse only just absorb a Witch Factor?" With that, at the very last moment, Pandora suddenly spoke.

In an instant, Petelgeuse—who had been in a frenzied state—suddenly went still.

The blood streaming down his cheeks partly vanished as well.

In the distance, a row of thick trees that had been violently snapped in half "grew" back onto their stumps.

[Thud]

A soft thump sounded as Petelgeuse dropped to the ground. Ignoring his own muddled thoughts, he stared in confusion at the person he'd been about to kill.

"You..." At the sight of the silver-haired woman's puzzled, concerned gaze, Petelgeuse's body trembled. "I..."

The one he'd almost killed turned out to be his beloved Lady Fortuna!

"Lady Fortuna..." In the end, he collapsed to the ground and wept.

"Geuse... what's this...?" Watching the green-haired man—who had been in terrible shape—regain a bit of sanity and strength, Fortuna turned to Pandora with a puzzled look. "What did you do?"

She couldn't quite understand why Pandora had suddenly said that, or why Geuse now seemed overwhelmed with guilt toward her.

"It's nothing. I just didn't want you to die." Pandora replied, quietly letting out a breath of relief.

Since she'd become Pandora, there was no need to kill Fortuna, take the so-called "key," open the sealing gate, and release the Witch of Envy.

This other world was such a wonderful place—why would anyone want to destroy it?

"You—what did you say?!" Though Pandora was only stating a fact, Fortuna, unaware of the truth, took it as mockery. "Whether I die or not—go ahead and try me, if you dare!"

This left Pandora puzzled for a moment, before something seemed to occur to her.

"Right, you can't see those hands—that's why you're glaring at me like that." As she spoke, she walked over toward Geuse.

"Archbishop Petelgeuse, I'm sorry to interrupt." Since she'd made up her mind, she was going to play the part all the way through.

"Ha... you... what did you say?" Seeing Pandora suddenly apologize to him, Petelgeuse instinctively slipped back into formal speech.

"I promised you I wouldn't set foot in this forest again, and yet here I am. I'm sorry." Pandora went on to explain.

"You..." Even Fortuna, standing not far away, showed a look of surprise.

She suddenly sensed real emotion in Pandora's words—something she'd never felt from her before.

"Why... why would you do that?" Petelgeuse asked, bewildered, after wiping away his tears.

"You only ever told me not to enter this forest." Pandora smiled at that. "Everyone's curious, and witches are no exception..."

Of course, that had a basis in fact—after all, the famous "Dona Tea" wholesaler was exactly that kind of witch.

"But—" Petelgeuse tried to say something, only for Pandora to cut him off with a gesture.

"And since I noticed you kept coming out here so often, I figured there had to be something important to you in this place." Pandora said, glancing briefly at Fortuna and Emilia. "I know that, to you, nothing matters except that box of yours—so you couldn't be here for a thing. You had to be here to see someone. Someone important."

At those words, Petelgeuse's eyes went wide.

"You... you knew?" He stared at Pandora, hardly able to believe it.

"Of course. I like to think I'm a leader who cares about her subordinates. And besides, back on that path, it was you who said the word 'love' with your own mouth." Pandora nodded.

"I..." In an instant, Petelgeuse's face flushed red, and he didn't dare look at Fortuna's expression.

"What nonsense are you spouting?!" Just then, Fortuna suddenly shouted. "You killed my brothers! You killed Archi! And now you're trying to talk your way out of it?!"

Even though she'd admitted to having feelings for Petelgeuse before this, she didn't think one apology could fix everything.

"And besides, if that's how it was, why didn't you say so before!"

That, too, was the crucial point.

"Ah..." Hearing this, Pandora sighed. "First of all, Archi isn't dead. And second..."

"Which young lady kept sealing my mouth shut with ice magic, hmm?"

"I've said more than once that I wanted to talk this over with you, haven't I?"

"And who was it that, without a word, just slammed someone to the ground and left them bleeding all over the place?"

The string of retorts left Fortuna speechless.

"Then why did you kill my brothers?!"