Kays Translations

Chapter 32: The Flame Witch’s Staff

After about an hour of indulging in her peculiar fire-setting activities, the Flame Witch returned with a refreshed and peaceful expression.

Apparently, the Blue Witch left with some mugwort dumplings she found wrapped in the kitchen as a souvenir, entirely unaware of what she’d inadvertently participated in. Poor thing. There’s no way I could ever tell her the truth.

Not wanting to know the details of what exactly the Flame Witch had done, I decided to avoid the topic altogether.

Life sure is fascinating, huh?

“Phew… Craftsman, how’s the sealing device coming along?”

“Oh, uh, yeah. I’ll need to make a few prototypes and test them, so let’s say it’ll be done in three days.”

“Three days? Hmm, would it be okay if I stayed at your place until it’s ready? I think I’m fine for now, but depending on how I feel, I might need you to use the seal even if it’s not completely finished.”

“Got it. Let me know if things start looking bad.”

The Flame Witch nodded politely before crawling into the workshop’s furnace and munching on leftover charcoal fragments. Guess that’s part of her biology? I wouldn’t know.

While her habits might be odd, I could tell she wasn’t the kind of person to start fires indiscriminately, so I let her be and got back to work.

Magic stone crafting often relies on repetitive structures, like the multilayered composition of Kyanos or the dodecahedral fractals of Aleister. Following this principle, I experimentally shaped magic stones into identical forms and tested different connection structures.

When I tried to wake the Flame Witch to help charge the magic for the activation test, I found her asleep in the furnace.

Her human-like body had dissolved into fiery embers, resembling a quietly smoldering fire. I could hear her soft breathing, so she wasn’t dead, but I called out just to be safe.

“Flame Witch, hey, Flame Witch. You’re alive, right?”

“…Mmm… Hnn? Ah! S-Sorry, I fell asleep. Did you need something?”

As she woke up, her fiery outline regained its humanoid form. Relieved that she seemed fine, I decided to mention what I’d seen.

“Well, your body’s outline sort of fell apart. Are you okay?”

“Oh, that. Lately, when I sleep, that tends to happen. It wasn’t like this before, but it seems like the more unconscious I get, the more my body dissolves.”

“That’s… not good, is it?”

“It’s definitely not. That’s why I’m so on edge all the time.”

While she looked healthy enough while awake, it was clear from what she was saying that her lifespan was running out.

I’d better finish that sealing device for her as soon as possible.

Over the next three days, with the Flame Witch’s help in activation trials, I continued to improve and prototype the sealing device.

In the end, the most effective design was a pair of interlocking rings made of three identical magic stones. The optimal efficiency and effectiveness came from using parts shaped like either convex-concave joints or arrowheads, both of which performed equally well. I went with the arrowhead design because it looked cooler.

This sealing device slowed time to about 1/40,000 of its normal speed. A single day inside the seal would equate to 110 years outside.

While the device required magic to activate and maintain the seal, calculations showed that adding the equivalent of a witch’s magic power every three years would keep it running without issue.

When the Flame Witch entered the prototype seal, we discovered that she could still think—albeit incredibly slowly—and see the outside world.

She told me she didn’t want to spend what might be centuries in darkness and requested a view of the outside. Makes sense.

Being locked in darkness for decades, even with time slowed, would be enough to drive anyone insane. At the very least, she should be able to enjoy the scenery while sealed.

Thus, I integrated the sealing system into a lantern encased in durable crystal plates to prevent deterioration over time.

The setup was simple: place the Flame Witch in the lantern, activate the seal, and attach the lantern to a staff for someone to carry around. This way, even during her indefinite sealing period, she wouldn’t get bored.

I incorporated the Flame Witch’s design preferences into the lantern and staff, creating something she was satisfied with.

Technically, the lantern alone was sufficient, but adding the staff was a personal touch of mine.

After all, I’m a staff-maker—a craftsman of magic staff. I dabble in making amulets too, but nothing excites me more than crafting staffs. This is my calling.

With the project nearly complete, all that was left were minor decorative touches.

Turning to the Flame Witch, who was eagerly awaiting its completion, I asked:

“What should we name the staff? Got any ideas?”

“I don’t really mind. How do you usually name your staffs?”

“Well, my Octa meteorite staff is named after the magic stone it’s made from. The Blue Witch’s Kyanos comes from the Greek word for ‘blue.’ Professor Ohinata’s Aleister is named after a 20th-century magician, and Hell’s Witch’s Hariti comes from the name of a Buddhist goddess.”

There wasn’t any particular rule to the naming.

I wanted something fitting and cool for this special staff, but if the Flame Witch had a preference, I’d go with that.

“I see. Then… could you name it after my family name? My family will probably be the ones carrying it around once I’m sealed.”

“Sure. What’s your surname?”

“Himori.”

“Flame Keeper Himori, huh? That fits perfectly.”

“Does it…? I guess.”

I engraved the staff with “火守乃杖” (Flame Keeper’s Staff) in a brushstroke-style Japanese font. So cool!

Names with lots of characters, like Scorching Binding Flame Staff or Crimson Lotus Sealing Staff, are pretty awesome too, but as a seasoned craftsman, I find elegance in simplicity. It’s like how Amaterasu is cooler than The Ultimate Omnipotent Sun God. Feel free to disagree.

“All right, it’s done. How’s this?”

“Huh? The characters are different… Oh well, it’s fine. This works.”

She seemed about to say something but gave her approval, so that’s that.

And thus, the lantern-style double-sealing magic tool, Flame keeper’s Staff, was complete.

Having completed all the functional tests, I was confident there were no issues with the device.

Without hesitation, the Flame Witch, having already said her farewells to those she held dear, infused the lantern with her magic and leaped inside, coming to an abrupt halt as if sewn into the fabric of the space itself.

“Hey, are you okay in there?”

I waved my hand in front of the lantern, but there was no response—a sign that time was indeed flowing much slower inside. Satisfied, I closed the lantern’s lid. Thus began a sealing process that might last over a century—an event that passed rather anticlimactically.

Well, she did get to fulfill her (self-described) risqué fantasy with her idolized “older sister,” so it seems she had no regrets left. While it may have seemed like an uneventful sealing to me, she likely went through a whirlwind of emotions and inner conflict.

I contacted the Blue Witch via familiar-messenger and informed her of the successful sealing. I handed over the Firekeeper’s Staff and entrusted it to her care, asking her to take it to Shinagawa Ward, where her family awaited. My part in this was done.

The odds of anti-aging technology emerging within my lifetime were slim to none. In other words, I would never see her again. Farewell, Flame Witch.

As thanks for crafting the Flame keeper’s Staff, the Flame Witch transferred all rights to her private factory in Shinagawa Ward to me. The factory was one of several crucial facilities that melted down urban metal resources and shaped them into forms essential to modern society.

Centered around two smelting furnaces, the factory employed about 40 people, including workers, fuel suppliers, transport staff, and office personnel.

Under the name “0933,” I gained full ownership of the factory. With a single command or written request, the entire factory would move to serve me without question. They wouldn’t demand explanations, nor would they bother me with their own questions. On their own, they operated the factory autonomously, but the moment I needed something, they would prioritize my orders above all else.

A very convenient arrangement—not surprising, as I had negotiated it that way with the Flame Witch.

Given that I already have my own personal forge at home and focus on high-end custom work, I don’t foresee needing the factory’s production capacity anytime soon. However, a factory that operates unilaterally at my discretion is never a bad thing to have. Among the assets the Flame Witch could offer, the factory was undoubtedly the most practical, so I accepted it gratefully.

Two weeks after the Flame Witch’s departure, I received the official rights to the factory. The documents were delivered alongside a letter from her younger sister, who had apparently taken over her sister’s role as the “Flame Witch.”

At first, I wondered how a human could replace a witch’s role, but the letter cleared up my doubts.

The letter began with heartfelt thanks for saving her sister, then shifted into an unexpected treasure trove of user feedback on the Flame Keeper Staff’s unintended effects.

First, it turns out the Flame keeper’s Staff functions not only as a sealing device but also as a regular magic staff.

Its magic amplification rate is about threefold, and the anti-feedback mechanism I integrated effectively reduces the damage caused by high-level magic use. These were features I had anticipated and tested.

What I hadn’t foreseen, however, was its fire magic buff.

When the Flame Witch’s younger sister wielded the staff, she gained control over fire magic: expanding its range, boosting firepower without additional mana cost, and selectively burning specific targets. Essentially, she could use the abilities her older sister had possessed.

This enhancement seemed tied to blood relations. The Flame Witch’s parents and sister could benefit from the fire magic buffs, but unrelated witches and friends of the Flame Witch did not experience any such effects.

The younger sister, possessing an impressive mana reserve—double that of Professor Ōhinata and four times mine—was far below even the weakest witch’s mana capacity (only about 1/20th of theirs). Still, for a human, her mana levels were extraordinary.

Leveraging the unexpected advantages of the Flame keeper’s Staff, her own considerable mana reserves, and the connections her sister had built among the witches, the younger sister assumed the mantle of “Flame Witch” and became the guardian of Shinagawa Ward.

The letter concluded with more words of deep gratitude. Reading it, I couldn’t help but feel inclined to respond with a few words of thanks of my own (but I didn’t).

The data was fascinating. While I’d worried endlessly about potential malfunctions, I hadn’t anticipated the staff would yield such benefits. The implications were intriguing—what could explain the fire magic buffs? I was intensely curious.

The problem, of course, was reproducibility. There are no other witches with bodies made of fire, and my supply of magic stone fragments is running low, making it nearly impossible to create another staff like this. Furthermore, the bloodline-dependent nature of the effect makes it even harder to study.

Still, the data is valuable. If the phenomenon’s underlying principles could be uncovered, it might open new horizons in magic staff design. But the research challenges are steep. Unless another flame entity appears or the new Flame Witch continues to use the staff and accumulates years of data, delving deeper into this fire magic buff will be unfeasible.

That said, I’m thrilled as a craftsman that the portable sealing device also proved itself as an exceptional staff.

I sincerely hope the new Flame Witch will continue to use the Firekeeper’s Staff to make a name for herself.

The more witches who thrive using my staffs, the more renowned my craftsmanship becomes. Life doesn’t get better than this!

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