Chapter 5 …

The deep lethargy and helpless exhaustion caused by his inability to sleep.

Those things had turned him—already taciturn and blunt by nature—into someone completely indifferent to the world itself.

To the point where even attending the birthday banquet of one of his only two friends, Leah Everett, felt bothersome.

There was no special reason he wanted to return home.

It had not been long since he came back from ending the war against the demonic beasts, and his body felt unbearably heavy.

Moreover, throughout the entire war, he had barely slept properly.

A mere thirty minutes.

If someone survived for over six months on nothing but brief naps where they barely closed their eyes, surely anyone would understand.

That was what he thought.

Because he could never achieve deep sleep, living in a constant haze of dizziness and mental fog had become his everyday life.

To the Blake I miss dearly.
Blake, have you been well? How is it over there? I heard you’ll be returning soon, but don’t you think you should rest a little now? At this rate, you’ll collapse.
…(omitted)…
Ah, I’m planning to hold a birthday banquet, and I really hope you’ll come so we can see each other again after so long. I know you must be tired, but if you have time after returning, would you attend?
I miss the way we used to be.
—Your eternal partner, Leah Everett.

If not for the earnest letter sent by his close friend Leah, he probably wouldn’t even have left the estate.

To be honest, even then, he had only planned to show his face briefly before returning.

That is, if not for his aide insisting that at the very least, preparing a gift would preserve the dignity of the ducal house.

And just then, on the way out of the estate, he happened to run into an old peddler woman who strongly recommended a teddy bear.

It had seemed like quite a decent choice.

“Young man! Don’t you need this teddy bear?”

“…I don’t.”

“What a prickly young man. You definitely need it! This teddy bear could change your world.”

“You’ve got no conscience, old lady. Just look at the condition of this bear.”

“Ahem, ahaha. W-well, that’s true! But this teddy bear isn’t ordinary. Sometimes you have to look beyond appearances and see what’s inside. What matters is the heart.”

“…The heart?”

And so he impulsively bought the teddy bear.

Of course, he had hesitated a little.

Even he knew it was far from a normal gift.

But beneath the blazing spring sunlight at midday, calculating that buying this would save him from wasting more time on gifts—and overcome by exhaustion—he handed over the money without further thought.

‘I’ll take this.’

And while trying to deliver the teddy bear he had bought, Rain dragged him onto the terrace.

His plan had simply been to hand over the teddy bear without issue and quickly escape this chaotic banquet hall.

But then—

“Hello, my savior!”

The teddy bear bouncing around while waving brightly at him was…

What exactly was that thing?

He could not believe the situation before his eyes.

Was it some object created by the mad magicians of the Kasdonia Empire?

Or perhaps one of those moving dolls currently trending in toy shops?

Had that junk dealer old woman sold him a magical item?

Or maybe…

‘A demonic beast?’

The sword he reflexively drew gleamed coldly beneath the moonlight.

“What are you?”

“Vivian. My name is Vivian Holloway!”

The teddy bear introducing herself as Vivian looked incredibly excited.

Was it just his imagination, or were the areas around her cheeks slightly flushed red?

But no matter how cute her appearance was, he could not let his guard down.

“Are you some wicked object created by magicians? Or a demonic beast?”

At Blake’s mention of demonic beasts, focus finally returned to Rain’s green eyes, which had been frozen like ice the whole time.

Rain instantly drew his sword as well, radiating enough killing intent to slice the teddy bear apart immediately.

“I’ll cut off its head at once, Commander.”

“I’m not a demonic beast! I already don’t have any magic power left, so that’s too cruel.”

The teddy bear protesting unfairly that she absolutely was not a demonic beast suddenly held out her round paw and asked them to wait.

Then she busily squirmed around, scribbling something on the floor, grabbing her forehead with her paw, and moving frantically.

“Will you believe me if I show this? No… but with the amount of magic I’ve recharged now, that’s impossible. Haaah, what should I show you?”

She looked deeply troubled while wiggling her tiny bean-like feet.

“…What is it doing?”

“No idea.”

Blake, genuinely baffled, stared at the teddy bear in confusion.

“…It doesn’t seem like a demonic beast, does it?”

“Right. Demonic beasts don’t possess intelligence. That thing clearly has intelligence.”

“Then what exactly is that teddy bear?”

At that moment, as if she had finally made a decision, the teddy bear’s round eyes curved into crescents.

“Okay, I’ve decided! I’ll introduce myself properly. I’m Vivian Holloway, the Great Witch of the West from the world of witches.”

The moment she finished speaking, the teddy bear raised her short, chubby arm dramatically into the air.

“Fireworks!”

Pop! Pop-pop!

With a bursting sound, a tiny and pitiful firework exploded above the teddy bear’s little paw in a flash of colorful light.

Of course, the flame was so tiny it was embarrassing to even call it fireworks.

“…….”

“Wow.”

“Hehe.”

Perhaps pleased by Rain’s small exclamation of admiration, the teddy bear crossed her arms and nodded smugly.

“Now you can believe me, right? I’m a witch! I’ve just lost most of my power right now, so I’m stuck inside this teddy bear.”

“That firework earlier used up almost all my remaining strength too. Believe me,” she added, drooping the corners of her eyes gloomily.

By now, Rain was staring at the teddy bear with fascinated eyes.

But Blake was not.

He still did not lower the sword pointed toward the teddy bear, his gaze full of suspicion.

“A witch? Ridiculous. Witches disappeared hundreds of years ago. Are you some insane magician?”

“A magician? Those people who borrow mana to use magic? They’re completely different from me! I draw out magic power myself!”

The teddy bear shook her head, then paused in thought before once again raising her paw.

“Wait a second. Just wait.”

“Why should I wait?”

“Blessings come to those who wait.”

At the shameless answer, Blake blinked slowly in disbelief.

He desperately wanted to go home immediately from sheer exhaustion.

And yet somehow, at that brazen gesture, he found himself waiting for the teddy bear anyway.

The teddy bear rolled her eyes around while biting her lip, seemingly thinking hard about what to do next, before suddenly slamming her fist into her palm.

“Ah! Right. I can make you sleep. Can magicians do something like that?”

“…What did you say you could do?”

The shadows beneath Blake’s eyes darkened further.

“Uuuh, that phrase is practically forbidden.”

Muttering quietly beside him, Rain stomped his feet nervously as if disaster had struck.

‘Make me sleep.’

It was certainly something magicians could not do.

They used incomprehensible formulas and calculations to create magical artifacts or cast fire, water, and defensive magic—

But they could not make him sleep.

No magic and no medicine had ever been able to put him to sleep.

And yet this thing claimed what?

Blake curled the corner of his lips upward as if he had heard something absurd and slowly lowered his sword.

“How exactly are you going to make me sleep? By patting me while holding me? Or singing me a lullaby?”

“Hmm, is that what you want? But the reason you can’t sleep isn’t because you don’t have someone to hold you.”

The mocking gaze that clearly expected her to fail instantly sharpened like a blade about to cut throats.

“You know about my curse?”

The teddy bear flinched and quickly looked elsewhere before answering calmly.

“Witches know everything. Besides, I’m Vivian, the Great Witch of the West. I can help you.”

“…….”

“But you have to help me too. I need you. If we stay together, we’ll be unstoppable.”

A scammer.

Or perhaps a trap sent by someone targeting him.

That was Blake’s overall conclusion after observing Vivian.

She suddenly set off fireworks to draw attention, used her harmless and adorable appearance to lower their guard—

And then offered something impossible to refuse.

A suspicious teddy bear that had suddenly produced fireworks from nowhere and claimed she could lift his curse while introducing herself as a witch.

“C-Commander, no matter how I look at it, that doll is extremely suspicious. Wouldn’t it be best to dispose of it immediately?”

Yes.

No matter how anyone looked at it, the situation was bizarre and suspicious.

But strangely, the old junk dealer woman’s words would not leave Blake’s mind.

‘This teddy bear could change your world. Sometimes you have to look beyond appearances and see what’s inside. What matters is the heart.’

“If someone else comes onto the terrace, this could become an even bigger problem, so I’ll just cut it down right no—”

Whispering softly into Blake’s ear, Rain was unable to finish his sentence.

“Fine.”

“An excellent decision, Commander. Then I’ll immediately dispose of that strange teddy bea—”

“No. I said fine. I’ll take it with me.”

“…Pardon?”

“Eh?”

“Why are you the one acting surprised? I said I’d do what you wanted.”

The round pea-like eyes blinked slowly.