Champignon Witch (シャンピニオンの魔女)

Well.

Hello, Luna.

Master.

So you have finally encountered the one destined to become The End to All Things,

the cursed youngling.

The cursed youngling!

Step closer, Luna. Leave all of your overflowing poison with me.

Even for you, the poison from The End of All Things is too heavy to bear.

The boy was very beautiful.

I could sense it in the mushroom I drew from him.

It was as if his soul was crystal clear.

And that may be exactly what makes him turn in to The End of All Things.

And Luna,

as he is, so are you.

What was that?

THE BLACK WITCH COUNCIL

Luna used to be a cursed youngling herself?

So just like this brat, Luna was destined to turn into The End of All Things.

But if Luna used to be one, that means...

Black magicians are forced to combat contamination, hatred, and plague

as they work to eradicate the various poisons of this world.

So unlike humans or even normal magicians,

they have a strong tolerance to poison.

Many of them keep poisonous creatures as familiars

to assist in their purification efforts.

As such, people tend to lump us magicians together as "poison magicians,"

but the truth is that we merely have a stronger tolerance to poison than most.

Luna, however, with her poison breath and skin, along with her ability to absorb

poisons into her body, has a power that even poisonous creatures don't.

There is only one magician whose body can break down and purify poisons like that

in this entire world, and that is Luna.

And she was once the cursed youngling herself.

Seeing as she was once destined to become The End of All Things,

her ability is likely a remnant of that past.

Wow.

Oh.

A remnant of her destiny to become The End of All Things?

Does that mean even though Luna was the cursed youngling,

she avoided turning into The End somehow?

But how?

Anyway, that explains why she's protecting this kid.

As far as we know, she is the only one

who's been able to escape that fate.

So now they're the only two people in the world to have shared that curse.

While Luna was the cursed youngling,

she was also in possession of great magical talent.

Without instruction from anyone,

she was able to absorb all kinds of magic from the land and air into her body.

As she learned magic and her body developed the ability to clear poisons,

she also passed every test we gave her

and overcame her fate as a cursed youngling.

There had never been anyone like her. She was a uniquely impressive girl.

Luna overcame her fate?

We've wasted too much time explaining things to the crow.

Basically, her obvious talents convinced us to let her live and take a gamble on

her potential as a poison magician.

However...

that boy is different.

It will be too late once he turns into The End.

If we don't kill the seed before it sprouts and the curse awakens,

many lives will be lost as the spread of poison in the world accelerates.

Step away from that creature!

Flame.

Hey. We're indoors.

What is that thing?!

Luna!

Luna!

Wh-Wha...

Water?

Wow. That's some nasty-looking grilled mushroom.

He's always overcooking things.

Damn it!

One moment, Claude.

A hole?

What the hell were you thinking?!

One wrong step and you would've been burnt to a crisp!

Are you trying to get yourself killed for that brat?!

For once in your life, would you listen to people?!

You got off easy this time, but I swear...

Bird. Why is he yelling at her as if we weren't here?

Who knows? Maybe he just really hates pranks.

Pfft.

Oh, golly.

Huh.

What is it you find so humorous?

It's a murder mushroom! Luna, when did you make that thing sprout? Wow!

Whoa, it's growing so big! So much rage but not much-room!

Whoa! The murder mushroom burst through the roof like fireworks!

Man, a projection can cause that much ruin?

Freaky.

Flame, control yourself in here.

At any rate, in lieu of making rash decisions, let's all talk this through.

We'd rather not have you sprouting another murder mushroom.

We should also allow her to speak her piece.

I can feel a kernel of magic inside him.

What does that tell us?

Only about as much as your average white witch. Not enough to make a difference.

Still, there's a chance it may be enough to help him escape The End of All Things.

Now we're just going around in circles.

You can't cling to a fantasy just because you lack the backbone

to take one meager life.

I will raise this child by myself.

I know that I can make him into a magician.

I will pour everything I have into him,

and make him a strong enough magician to escape his fate as a cursed youngling.

I will...

I will!

I'm even starting to wonder

if I was allowed to defy my fate, if I'm still alive today, to fulfill this role.

I'm beginning to see our meeting as a guidepost of destiny

showing me my future path as a black witch.

So you would raise the cursed youngling as a person

to prevent him from becoming The End.

Are you certain you can show him the way?

With your only method being to absorb that poison into your body?

When you aren't even a fully-fledged black witch yet? How, then?

Plus you've never taken an apprentice before,

and you're such a loner.

You cling to fantasy.

And yet, I feel we can agree that it is not particularly judicious to assume

that ending his life is the only option we have to stop The End of All Things

and protect the future.

Bird Magician...

You say she clings to fantasy,

but her life journey thus far has been entirely unconventional.

Perhaps even fantastical.

Indeed, killing him off and calling it all settled

would feel like somewhat of an easy way out.

Mm-hmm.

Beast Magician...

One could even say we're using "the future" as an excuse

to skirt risk and cut corners.

Mm-hmm.

We won't settle anything like this. Let's put it to a formal vote as a council.

The matter before us is,

do we entrust Luna with the task of this boy's magic training or not?

Even if the majority vote is affirmative, if there is any indication of the boy

failing at his studies, he will be put to death.

If the majority vote is negative, he will be put to death immediately.

And the Champignon Witch will be sanctioned for disobedience.

We will come back to that.

Is that fair, Luna? Everyone?