“Gyahh!!! My panta… my panties are all wet toooo!!!”
Esme truly cried out with an expression of sheer injustice.
“But there was nothing I could do about it.”
“Even if Murmur and Monica kept slapping me, I couldn’t come to my senses.”
“Buuuut! Buuuut! B-U-T!!!”
Esme grabbed the floating Hot Chocolate Spirit with both hands, petting it as she sighed deeply.
“…Since I was the one who did something stupid, I won’t complain anymore. Plus, Murmur even brought the Hot Chocolate Spirit for me.”
“You mustn’t catch a cold!”
While hot chocolate might warm up her body, eventually, her clothes would have to be dried somehow.
When you think about it that way, the ‘Eclair’s Pastry Shop’ right in front of us now seemed like a pretty good option.
“Hm… This really is where that little witch lives?”
Esme asked while sipping on her steaming hot chocolate.
The Hot Chocolate Spirit, shaped like a cozy mug, had a long scarf-like tail that was partially covering Esme’s body.
“It’s an incredibly delicious-looking pastry shop!”
“The roof is made of chocolate! Even the pillars and walls look edible, made from cookies!”
“Murmur realized the road itself had turned into marshmallows!”
Eclair’s Pastry Shop was genuinely impressive.
Crispy pies and croissants were visible, along with beautifully spread white cream decorating various corners.
“Maybe the Ice Cream Spirit and Hot Chocolate Spirit weren’t here for nothing after all.”
“I didn’t know Gallagorun had so many cute and tasty things!”
“Well, this doesn’t seem related to the Gallagorun Kingdom at all…”
Esme continued talking while gazing upward at the pastry shop, swallowing her saliva audibly.
“Murmur thinks everything will be fine.”
“R-really? You put the adults to sleep… though I don’t know how, you created a blizzard and hid here in a witch’s house?”
“But she’s not a bad witch.”
Esme anxiously stroked the Hot Chocolate Spirit.
Truthfully, we didn’t know why Eclair had put the adults to sleep.
Back during the original ‘Survival Event,’ Murmur and I remembered a fairy tale we read at the chalet and came here.
We sought Eclair’s help to get outside.
In other words, she wasn’t an NPC meant to attack us but rather an accidental helper.
“Why does Murmur trust her so much?”
“If she were a truly evil witch, she would’ve done terrible things to the adults.”
“That… ummm… well… makes logical sense, I guess.”
Esme took another sip of her hot chocolate with a sigh.
Murmur, leaving Monica and Esme behind, knocked on the wafer-made door with tiny fists.
“Murmur─”
─Bang!
“Eh?! What?”
Before anyone could say anything, why was the pastry shop shaking violently?
“Uh, uuuuh…?!”
The shop shook even more intensely without giving any time to understand the situation.
“Is this safe?! Maybe it’s the Licorice Spirit?!”
What’s the problem with that?!
Murmur urgently summoned the Earth Spirit and Water Spirit, pushing Monica and Esme backward.
─Clang!
The sparkling candy glass window shattered, and Nicasia was thrown outside.
“Ni, Nicasia?!”
As Esme gasped, the young witch Eclair shot out like a bullet from inside the pastry shop.
“There’s no way I’m giving it up!!!”
Eclair screamed at the top of her lungs, loud enough to make our ears ring.
At the same time, pink gum blobs sprouted from the ground, wrapping around Nicasia’s arms and legs.
“Ugh… Ughhh…!”
Only now realizing the state Nicasia was in.
Her face and hair were covered in red syrup.
Her clothes were dusted with white sugar powder, and large chunks of bread clung awkwardly to her wrists and forearms.
Could it be they’ve been fighting until now?
If we choose the wrong option, it could lead to a fight, and we’d have to make her an ally to access the ‘Attribute Strengthening’ event, right?!
“To people like you who are so cowardly…! There’s absolutely no way I can give it to you!”
As Eclair screamed again, the ice cave trembled violently.
Pancake Spirits appeared behind her, quickly stacking themselves into a tower.
“Ugh…! Murmur… Yikes! Everyone, run away!”
Nicasia tore off the gum spirits binding her and said.
“N-Nicasia! What exactly is going on?!”
“I intended to scold the culprit who put the adults to sleep… Gah! But she suddenly became incredibly strong…”
Even while panting, Nicasia looked at us and shook her head left and right.
“Everyone, leave quickly! It’s dangerous! Go back to the chalet!”
“We’re here because we can’t go back, Nicasia!”
“It seems like giving Nicasia my blessing would be more helpful,”
What kind of flow is this?
If this continues, we’ll fully arm Nicasia to fight against Eclair, right?!
“Murmur wants everyone to stop immediately!!!”
Murmur quickly raised both hands and waved them while jumping between Nicasia and Eclair.
“Get out of the way!!”
As Eclair shouted, the Pancake Spirit behind her wriggled violently.
“Murmur, it’s dangerous!”
The Pancake Spirit swung toward Murmur like a whip, cutting through the air with a heavy sound—this attack was deadly.
This is why Attribute Strengthening events aside, battles are difficult and challenging; that’s why we try to befriend Eclair!
─Squelch!
“Wha…?”
“Wha?! You followed me all the way here?!”
The terrifying attack was stickily blocked by the Ice Cream Spirit, turning it into nothing.
“Ice Cream… Could these kids be Murmur’s friends?”
Behind the Ice Cream Spirit stood Esme, tipsy from drinking enchanted chocolate liquor, alongside the Apple Pie Spirit, Slurpee Spirit, Croissant Spirit, and more.
They quickly flew over and rushed toward Eclair.
“Wh-what… what are you guys doing? These people are cowardly and despicable!”
Eclair shouted, but the spirits seemed to be saying something entirely different.
“Wh-what?”
The now-diminutive Eclair looked bewildered and glanced at Murmur.
Although we couldn’t understand the language of the spirits, we could roughly guess what they were discussing.
Let’s try saying the dialogue for this choice:
“Murmur is Eclair’s guest.”
“Stop telling weird stories! And how do you even know my name?!”
“Murmur read it in a fairy tale at Nicasia’s chalet. Your name was mentioned there.”
Eclair took a step back.
“Do you even know what that means? Descendant of Nectar?”
“Murmur hasn’t eaten a single bite of these friends on the way here.”
The spirits nodded enthusiastically in agreement with Murmur’s words.
“Ughhhh…!”
“Murmur has the qualifications to be Eclair’s guest!”
Nicasia, who had been listening for a while, covered her mouth with her hand.
“Eclair… Could you possibly mean the Sugar Pot Witch, Murmur?”
“Su-Sugar Pot Witch? What does that even mean?”
“It’s an ancient fairy tale. A witch who creates tons of sweet and delicious desserts lures children from the village…”
“That’s an outrageously fabricated story!”
Eclair shouted while blushing but stopped being hostile toward us.
Instead, she sniffed and slipped into the pastry shop first, then opened the wafer door and peeked out.
“Guests and friends are allowed to enter. The Sugar Pot Witch welcomes everyone.”
Though the conversation didn’t follow the usual script, it seems the keywords worked properly!
*
“The Sugar Pot Witch, Eclair, isn’t a bad person who lures children with desserts.”
“But I remember clearly since Riola used to read it to me when I was little.”
“Yeah, that’s the fairy tale version. However, Nicasia possesses the power to uncover the truth.”
Eclair officially invited us in as guests.
Thanks to that, we could gather around the crackling fireplace and relax while having a leisurely chat.
“The truth… Could it be…?”
Nicasia glanced around at the spirits filling the pastry shop.
“These children were all created by me, the Sugar Witch.”
That was Eclair, who reappeared holding a change of clothes for Esme.
“Create… spirits?”
“Of course, since I’m a witch. It’s only natural that I can do it.”
“She talks about it like it’s such a big deal… yet she wet the bed at Nicasia’s chalet…”
“If you’re a guest, act like one and don’t be rude!!!”
Eclair’s face turned red as she yelled.
“Murmur just wanted to say that Eclair isn’t a bad person.”
“You talk as if you know me so well… coming from someone so cowardly.”
“Murmur isn’t cowardly. Murmur came here to help Eclair. To save friends.”
Eclair wore a subtle expression.
About 100% sure, but this lady’s condition has changed.
From stiff and rigid to soft and squishy.
And she lulled the adults at the chalet to sleep.
This woman living in the pastry shop who clings to the sugar pot attacked us.
There must be a reason.
There can’t be changes without a reason.
“Help me? … Impossible.”
“Why don’t you tell us your side of the story? Despite appearances, I am the princess of the empire, and Murmur is famous at the academy for helping friends.”
“I’m supposed to become the Saintess?”
Nicasia and Monica’s words made Eclair exhale a long sigh.
“None of that matters. This isn’t a problem that can be solved by status or power.”
She intends to keep hiding it till the end, huh?
There’s nothing we can do.
“Murmur is curious. Where has the sugar pot gone?”
“Kyaaak…!”
The Sugar Pot Witch, Eclair.
This witch living in the pastry shop has the ability to create countless dessert spirits.
Even during our first meeting, we saw her stirring the sugar pot, making it clear how important it was to her.
Yet, it’s missing. Nowhere to be seen.
“Surely you haven’t lost it?”
“How could I lose such a pot!? It’s broken! Ruined! So messed up that only a magician could figure out what’s wrong with it!”
Eclair shouted in a voice full of resignation, but Esme pointed at Murmur with her finger.
“Perfect timing. Murmur is smart, so he’ll definitely be able to fix it.”
“This pot isn’t something a tiny little demon kid like you could understand!”
“But Murmur is a clever child who studies Transformation Magic and Discharge Magic at the academy.”
Hearing Nicasea’s explanation, Eclair’s eyes suddenly lit up.
But… shouldn’t there be an event like this?
There was no event where the sugar pot breaks!
