Chapter 6: The Incompetent Regressor

This time… big brother shouldn’t fall and become a witch, right?

Josuna sat upright in the meeting hall, wearing a flawless, emotionless smile.
In her mind, only one name echoed over and over—Dispel, the older brother she had locked in the basement at this very moment.

Whatever this meeting was about, she hadn’t heard a single word.
Even if you replay something wonderful again, it becomes dull.
Let alone sitting on a stone-hard chair for hours, listening to a group of dried-orange-peel old men ramble endlessly.

In her past life, she had been very interested in these things.
But now, everything was different.

She had been reborn.
At first, Josuna didn’t quite believe it.
Not until she saw with her own eyes Dispel and Alice walking hand-in-hand down the street did she realize—she had returned to that time before Dispel fell and became a witch… that period when she didn’t pay enough attention to him.

Just as she always said, Josuna was a perfectly normal person.
The things she had done in front of Dispel before were merely to scare him a little—just enough to make him back off.

In her previous life, Alice died to save Dispel.
But that wasn’t what truly broke him.
Shortly after, in retaliation from the thugs, the police chief died in a sea of fire.

Josuna didn’t know the details.
As the Church’s Saintess Candidate, all she received was a brief message:
For the first time in eight hundred years, a new witch appeared in Black City.
She didn’t even know that witch… was Dispel.

But now, Dispel was locked away by her.
No one knew where he was.
No one could know.

In the public eye, he was already dead.

No outside interference.
No vengeful thugs.
No tragic deaths happening before his eyes.

If that was the case, then he shouldn’t fall, shouldn’t become a witch, shouldn’t descend into total darkness.
Humanity, elves—those races should all be safe…

Suddenly, Josuna froze.

The defensive magic she set up in the basement…
had disappeared???

Screech—

The chair scraped loudly against the floor as she shot to her feet.

The abrupt motion immediately drew the attention of everyone at the round table.
Every gaze snapped toward her.

“First Candidate, do you have a question about my statement?”
The speaker was a thin old man, expression unreadable behind deep wrinkles, his tone laced with confusion.

“Prime Chief, I have no doubts about your statement.
But I have an urgent matter that requires me to leave this meeting immediately.”

Her voice was as beautiful as a plucked harp string, but anyone who knew her well could hear the panic beneath it.

“Absurd! First Candidate, this is a crucial meeting concerning your future within the Church! What matter could possibly be more important than your future?!”

“Apologies.”

Josuna ignored him and walked straight out the door.

“How arrogant! She doesn’t take us seriously at all.”
The obese elder sitting to the Chief’s right slammed the table angrily.

“Oh, stop it. What else can we do—she’s the most outstanding candidate in generations, unmatched by anyone. We should be grateful to have someone of her talent. And you’re offended she doesn’t look up to you? Hah. You really are getting old.”

…

“How could this be… no, impossible… Brother, why would you try to escape from the palm of my hand? Don’t I love you? Have I ever wronged you? What did I do wrong…”

“Why why why why why why why why why why why why why—!!”

Josuna tore apart the basement like someone possessed, her once-perfect expression twisting grotesquely.

The holy light in her hands flickered between blinding brightness and dim shadow.

“Why! Why would my protective spell fail?! That spell should have shredded anyone except me and Brother! How could something like this happen!”

The basement contained not a single trace of light-element magic.
It was as if her holy spell… had never existed.

No, no, no, no, no!!!

Impossible impossible impossible impossible!

A holy spell could never just vanish on its own.

Josuna already knew the answer.
But she didn’t dare believe it.

This Dispel… had once again become a witch.

Because only a witch with extremely high affinity for light could completely erase every light element that had been embedded into the room.

“Why…”

Aren’t witches born from despair?

Then why!

Did she disappoint him somehow?

Did she make him sad?

Did she do something wrong?

No… impossible.
Everything she did was to protect him.
So why… why would Brother think of leaving her?

“So… you really do hate me that much…”
Josuna collapsed onto the grass outside the villa like a withered flower, dazed and hollow.

It had already been eight days.
During this time, no one but her had interacted with Dispel.

The source of his despair…
If not her, then who?

Surely it wasn’t Dispel himself.

“…”

“…”

“…”

“Ha… haha…”

“Heh… hahahahaha…!!”

Her face suddenly bloomed into a faint smile—fragile and trembling like a flower in the wind.

“Ara~ Since Brother hates Josuna so much…”

“Then Josuna can only make Brother fall in love with her… in her own way.”

“Where could you possibly run off to?”

“After all… where you’re going next… what you plan to do…
Josuna knows it better than anyone~”

“Qingcheng Onee-san~”