Chapter 228: Chapter 197 I Like Sword Maiden Chapter 228: Chapter 197 I Like Sword Maiden “I’m disappointed too!”
The girl sat cross-legged on the bed, her face full of dissatisfaction, “You’re not as sinister or brutally evil as I had imagined.”
“Is that the image my character portrait gives off?” Ash looked shocked, scratching his head, “Um… nice to meet you, I’m Final Observer Ash.”
“I am the Black and White Witch.” She swayed on the bed, “Just call me Witch.”
“Good evening, Witch, have you eaten?”
“Stop, there’s no need for unnecessary formalities.” She held up three fingers, “I’ve come to establish three principles with you first.”
“First, unless I speak of it first, you are not to ask about my life.”
“Second, unless I ask, you are not to reveal details about your life.”
“Third,” the Witch raised her third finger, “whatever treatment the Sword Maiden gets, I want the same.”
Ash thought for a moment and asked, “Is it because of the Secret?”
The Witch said noncommittally, “You can think of it that way.”
The Black and White Witch’s Silver Blessing: Secret enabled her to gain enhancements by concealing her information, so her insistence on privacy was natural. But why did she also not allow Ash to reveal his own information?
However, Ash couldn’t reveal much anyway—Hanna had just ordered them not to disclose any secrets to those outside their agency, and even if Ash wanted to complain about his new boss during idle chat in the Void Realm, the contract would silence him.
As for the treatment of the Sword Maiden, Ash carefully considered: endless training, a Vanguard Shield in the Void Realm Exploration, being a test subject for various event cards…
“No problem!” Ash clapped his hands, “I will try my best to fulfill your wishes!”
“Now that we’ve established the principles of communication, I’m off if there’s nothing else—”
“Wait, do you know the Sword Maiden?” Ash called after her, “I haven’t seen her in several days, she is… um… she’s busy on her end, isn’t she? Can’t she spare a little time to visit me?”
The Witch looked at him with interest, “Are you talking about the slightly scheming but cute, saying one thing but meaning another, kind-hearted, and often admiring herself in the mirror, Sword Maiden?”
“I’m sorry, I don’t know that Sword Maiden,” the Witch spread her hands, “I just know that, besides you, there’s a teammate called the Sword Maiden.”
“Then how do you know so much about her?”
“From the character portrait.”
Ash had many question marks popping up over his head. Could a character portrait really reveal that much information?
Darn, if it weren’t for the lack of a high-definition Light Screen, he’d definitely use a magnifying glass to carefully study every detail of the Witch and Sword Maiden worth burning the midnight oil over.
“I’m curious why you think the Sword Maiden should come see you.”
The Witch rested her chin on her hand, smiling, “If it wasn’t to establish the rules before official exploration, I wouldn’t have bothered to see you. After all, the only thing we share is Void Realm Exploration, beyond that we are strangers that never meet, not interfering with each other is the most logical relationship.”
“What is your relationship with the Sword Maiden, why should she care about you?”
Without hesitation, Ash responded, “Because we aren’t strangers, but companions bound by Bonds. I know she definitely cares about me, just as I care about her in my heart.”
The Black and White Witch silently observed Ash, falling silent for a moment.
For some reason, Ash felt a slight change in her attitude, though she appeared very natural and lively from the start, she had always sat on the bed, maintaining a considerable distance from Ash, polite but distant.
Now, although she still sat on the bed, her body leaned forward slightly, seemingly curious about Ash, and her demeanor had softened.
“Our ability to appear before you is not decided by us, but by the Bonds between us,” the Witch suddenly explained. “The deeper the Bonds, the harder it is for us to appear before you. If the Sword Maiden truly cares about you, then you might find it very difficult to see her longing for you.”
“So the reason Sword Maiden hasn’t visited you isn’t her fault. She’s also waiting for you to appear before her, maybe in the Void Realm, or perhaps in…”
The Witch paused, “In short, if you hope to see the Sword Maiden often, it’s better to hope that you and the Sword Maiden can stay together in the Void Realm forever.”
“What a strange setting,” Ash frowned, “Shouldn’t deeper Bonds make it easier to meet?”
“Distance makes the heart grow fonder, and remember we are not physical beings here, but rather representations of longing,” the Witch shrugged, “Longing means not cherishing when you have it, and yearning hopelessly when you wish for it.”
“But to be so hung up over the Sword Maiden just after a few days…”
The Witch’s eyes sparkled, full of curiosity.
” o(*≧▽≦)ツ Could it be that you like her?”
Hearing such a decisive and straightforward declaration of love, the Witch’s eyes went wide. She gently patted her face and asked, “Could you say that again?”
“I like the Sword Maiden,” Ash stated matter-of-factly, “She is so powerful, so cute, so beautiful, of course I like her.”
The Witch couldn’t wait to spread this news far and wide, yet she suddenly noticed that while Ash spoke, he brazenly looked at her black and white stockings.
She hesitated for a moment, straightened her legs, and pulled up her skirt above her knees, “Then, do you like me?”
“If you wore a mini-skirt like your character portrait, if your intensity in the Void Realm Exploration was high enough, and if you had a not so low growth rate normally, then I might like you too,” Ash scrutinized the beauty of her black and white stockings very seriously.
“… That’s a rather cheap form of affection.”
Ash was puzzled, “How expensive do you want the affection to be? Beneficiary of an insurance policy written in your name?”
That’s right, the Witch thought. After all, in Ash’s eyes, they weren’t completely real beings, just like no one falls in love with a piece of paper. Naturally, Ash’s feelings for them remained at ‘cheap affection’.
“I think it would be hard for you to rival the Sword Maiden’s place in my heart unless your strength is really high.”
“Oh?” the Witch raised her eyebrows, “Why? Do you think the Sword Maiden is prettier than me?”
“It’s not just about the character portrait,” Ash said, “Mainly because the Sword Maiden was the first trustworthy companion I met in this world, the first comrade-in-arms I fought alongside. We explored the Sea of Knowledge together, entered the Vortex together, read the Mage’s Handbook together, participated in Fate Q&A… My life in this world started with the Sword Maiden.”
“She is like the sun rising over the cemetery for me.”
“Just this shared experience of adversity makes me feel that nothing can shake her position in my heart.”
He added, “Unless your strength is really high.”