“Please tell me you didn’t make those Witches your Familiars,” Cassie demanded, glaring at Wolfe.
“No, I didn’t. However, they are still bound to me for some reason. I couldn’t really focus with the mana draw, but I heard something about a debt?” Wolfe replied.
The Inquisitor answered his query with a calm voice. “Yes, their souls recognized a life debt to you as a Demon, and they refused to accept freedom until you were paid. So they’ve become your Servants. Normally, a Servant will be able to use some Unholy magic, but they are otherwise still a regular Witch.”
“No side effects but the mark?” Cassie asked.
“They will share a need to satisfy his desires. They won’t be able to easily refuse his orders, and maybe not even his suggestions, but that’s irrelevant because they won’t want to even try.
At some point, their minds will accept that the debt is paid, and they’ll be free again, but until then, there isn’t much to be done about it.”
“I swear, he collects Witches like trading cards,” Cassie muttered while Mio reached out an arm to comfort her, filling the whole room with a peaceful feeling before she had even made contact with the other witch.
“That one is actually a Witch skill to soothe the mind. But you can see the effect. He wants to comfort you, so the Servants want to comfort you.”
Ella giggled softly at the Inquisitor’s deduction. “That could be an issue in the future because he will want to do more than comfort us.”
The old Witch shrugged. “Hmm, yes, that could be an issue. Separate rooms and a locked door will take care of it, though. It’s not like they can’t think for themselves. They just want what will make him happy.”
“Look at it this way, once they’ve had a bit of time to study, that’s five more trained Witches for the rotation. They’re all passable students, or they wouldn’t have been let out of the Academy for us to find them the first time.” Wolfe agreed.
“Find them the first time?” One of the Inquisitors asked.
Alice, the shortest of the five dark-haired Witches, smiled up at Wolfe with an adoring expression. “We went on a resource-gathering mission from the academy and ran into bounty hunters. They knocked us out and buried us alive after killing our Guardians, but Wolfe found them and killed them to save us.”
“Ah, yes, I recall reading that report. Hired by the unsavoury types to rebuild their population and strength. It’s a despicable practice, but we haven’t managed to totally stop it.” The lead Inquisitor replied with a grimace.
The Second in command of the Inquisitors joined their conversation. “On the bright side, with just a little training, they will be excellent additions to your force, and like the Witches he has already taken in, their power will grow at an incredible rate until they reach their natural limits.
We should likely talk about what you’ve been doing with the Demon that your entire unit has awakened their abilities through. Having so many Soldiers making deals with a Demon is extremely frowned upon, as it gives them an army who can be forced to comply with their will, should they turn against their Mistress.”
“There is no deal or debt. I did it to make everyone’s life more comfortable, including my own. Now that they can all activate their own enchantments, our Witches aren’t as exhausted after battles, and casualty rates are way down.” Wolfe informed her with a smile.
“I will choose to believe you on this one but keep it somewhat discrete before a less understanding Inquisitor comes to visit.”
ƥαṇdα- ηθνε|·ƈθm
“Remember, if you see any more suspicious prisoners or refugees, call our people immediately. It would be a shame if you got yourself injured while mixed up in a traitor’s plot to kill off their own Coven members.” The Inquisitor informed her, then walked out, leaving only the sound of the culprit’s shoes dragging behind them.
“How about you introduce yourselves properly? I only ever called you all Prisoners, but now that your sentence has been nullified, you’re part of our unit, and you’ll be eligible to enter Sylvan as citizens with your duty complete in six months.” Priya requested.
I know we all look similar, but I am Mio, the oldest by a year and formerly a second-year student at the academy. The one with her hair braided is Nia, then the twins Jenna and Mollie, and the little one with the pixie cut is Alice.
Everyone has problems telling us all apart, except Alice, because of her height, so I won’t be mad if it takes a while. If you call one of us, the closest one usually answers anyhow since we’re always together.” Mio explained.
“Everyone at the academy seemed to have bright-coloured hair or eyes, but none of us do, so we just naturally gathered together after the four of us were assigned to the same class,” Alice added.
“Black hair and eyes are pretty uncommon for a Witch, for sure. There are more in Sylvan than Morgana, though, since it runs in families.” Priya agreed.
“Violet or Sapphire eyes like Cassie and Ella are much more common in Morgana, along with other gem colours. In the city is common to associate the bright eyes with powerful Witches since they so often go together.
It’s rare for someone who isn’t a powerful Witch to have them.” Reiko agreed, then tentatively reached out to give the twins a hug, smiling when she realized the curse was gone.
The twins poked her in the side after a few seconds and pointed at the door, where Cook was standing in the entry with happy tears in her eyes.
“I can’t wait to tell everyone the good news, but you’re all still on the duty roster for the kitchen.” She sobbed.
“Oh, should we be in uniforms or something now?” Alice asked, indicating her black and yellow cleaners outfit.
“Keep it for the day. We will make you armour amulets and get you military uniforms tonight.”