Chapter 68

While Prati was entertaining the new arrivals, I was busy entertaining Prince Arowana, who had come along with me.

"Six Mad Witches Jie?"

What’s with that name that reeks of middle school syndrome and is so embarrassingly cool?

"It’s the title given to the six pharmacological mages who have brought notoriety to our mermaid kingdom. All of them are women, and thus they are called witches."

They are known by the following aliases:

‘The Ice Age Witch’.

‘The Hellfire Witch’.

‘The Plague Witch’.

‘The Crown Witch’.

‘The Dark Witch’.

‘The Abyss Witch’.

So it seems.

It sounds like something a second-year middle school student came up with after racking their brain!

"Half of them are the ones who came today?"

"Yes. Three of the six witches who have been imprisoned for various misdeeds. Once they reach the Witch class, their potion-making skills reach an extreme level, and their actions inevitably become radical. If left unchecked, they could cause significant damage, so they had to be restrained."

How dangerous...!

I continued to listen to the individual backgrounds of these new residents of the settlement.

Their criminal records, you could say...!

First, ‘The Ice Age Witch’ Paffa.

She focused on the flow of mana in the ocean that circulates globally and aimed to develop a magic to manipulate it artificially.

Although her magic was deemed too large-scale to complete, she was imprisoned because her ideas were considered too radical.

"Why is she called ‘The Ice Age Witch’?"

"To put it simply, manipulating the ocean’s mana could plunge the world into an ice age. If she were to carry it out, both the demon and human races would face extinction. She was advocating this extreme theory, which was the direct cause of her imprisonment."

"Wow...!?"

"Also, she apparently prefers to use freezing-type potions, and her skills in this area are top-notch."

Next, ‘The Hellfire Witch’ Lampai.

She was originally a royal guard in the mermaid palace.

She used pharmacological magic in combat, specializing in fire-based attack potions. The explosive potions she created burned fiercely even underwater, spreading at extremely high temperatures and were so difficult to handle that only she could use them.

This led to her being recognized as the strongest royal guard in the palace.

And simultaneously, she became one of the Six Mad Witches.

"According to public opinion, she was considered the only sensible one among the Six Mad Witches. But that reputation was overturned by that incident."

"That incident?"

"I believe you are aware, but it was the commotion over my sister Prati’s marriage."

Ah.

Prati’s reputation had risen so much that marriage proposals came from both the demon and human races, and accepting either would lead to war with the other.

The situation was resolved when Prati married me, who is neither a demon nor a human.

"At the time, public opinion in the mermaid kingdom was split. There was a debate about whether Prati should marry a demon or a human."

Then, a mermaid noble came to speak directly with the mermaid king.

"The issue was, of course, the marriage commotion, but this noble was unusually neutral. He opposed Prati’s marriage altogether, arguing that the risks of failure in both cases were too significant, and if they waited, the other side would back down."

What a surprisingly calm opinion.

"However, this noble got carried away and let slip, ‘Prati, who doesn’t even know proper etiquette and is just a pharmacology otaku, won’t succeed wherever she goes.’”

Unfortunately for the noble, ‘The Hellfire Witch’ Lampai, who was guarding the audience chamber, heard this insult to the royal family.

"Lampai... as a royal guard, her loyalty to the royal family is commendable, but she attacked the noble on the spot and beat him up."

"Wow...!?"

"The noble was one of the most powerful in the mermaid kingdom and a relative of the royal family. That’s why he could speak so boldly. But because it was a violent act in the king’s presence, there was no way to excuse it."

As a result, Lampai was immediately arrested and imprisoned.

Afterward, Prati’s marriage commotion ended as the noble had predicted, with no marriage to either the demons or humans, further undermining her position.

"The worst-case scenario was execution, and the best was dismissal from the royal guard. But because she refused to admit fault, the worst-case scenario became a real possibility."

So, to let things cool down, she was brought here.

"Part of the reason is that we genuinely don’t want anyone to die, but the Six Mad Witches are also valuable talents. Their imprisonment is partly to protect them from the world’s hostility."

The one with the strongest such intention is the third and final one, ‘The Plague Witch’ Gara Rufa.

"Her nickname is the most dangerous...!"

"Gara Rufa originally belonged to the mermaid medical association."

Potions are also ‘medicine’.

Therefore, the mermaid medical association is the highest authority in pharmacological magic.

"Gara Rufa proposed a somewhat unusual theory, something like, ‘Most diseases are caused by microorganisms so small they can’t be seen.’”

Bacteria?

Isn’t that quite ordinary?

Wait.

In this world, the existence of bacteria and microorganisms hasn’t been recognized yet?

Even Prati, who is one of the smartest in this world, was very surprised when I mentioned yeast and koji.

In such a world, talking about something that hasn’t been generally recognized is natural.

"Moreover, she went even further, saying something incomprehensible like, ‘The human body remembers the characteristics of the microorganisms it has once ingested and develops resistance.’”

That’s about the immune system.

"She was so fixated on this idea that when an epidemic broke out, she did something terrible."

"What did she do?"

"She took the blood of those who had recovered from the disease and injected it directly into the bodies of the sick!"

A serum?

"Injecting someone else’s blood can be fatal, and what a cruel thing to do to a patient weakened by illness! ... Gara Rufa was restrained. She was the only one who went completely mad with her actions."

To me, as a person from another world, it seems like a reasonable action.

But injecting antibodies without considering blood types was indeed hasty.

"Anyway, among that group, Gara Rufa is undoubtedly the most dangerous. But her knowledge of magic and potion-making skills are top-notch...! I ask you to be extra cautious."

"Sure, sure."

But, well.

They brought a bunch of troublemakers.

"Can Prati handle such a group of troublemakers alone? I’m starting to get a bit worried...!"

"That’s not a problem. In fact, there might not be anyone else who can lead the Six Mad Witches besides Prati."

"Huh?"

"The leader of the Six Mad Witches Jie, ‘The Crown Witch,’ is my sister."

What!?

"Starting with the complete humanization potion, she has developed numerous new drugs that have left their mark in mermaid history, including some that were banned due to their extreme danger. However, due to her position as a princess, she cannot be imprisoned like the other witches."

Thus, she earned the nickname ‘The Crown Witch’.

My wife is a witch.

This is the real ‘Bewitched’.

No, it’s not.