Hate Me, Witch!-Chapter 5: When Did You Get the Illusion That I Wasn’t Using Kyoka Suigetsu?

Xia Ya walked up to Anlina Tazera, who was still frozen in an ahegao expression, and, with a look of disdain, tossed her unconscious Nightmare Butterfly to the side.

Then, he crouched down and reached out, his hand moving from her neck, past her impressive evil, down to her abdomen.

Finally, he found what he was looking for—hidden within the inner lining of her waist.

It was a small stone statue, intricately carved into a twisted beast’s head.

An invisible yet palpable aura of decay and death seeped from it in intermittent waves.

Xia Ya was all too familiar with this kind of presence—this was unmistakably corrupted by the aura of an Evil God.

He held up the stone statue, examined it briefly, then placed it into a pre-prepared mithril box. The moment the box was sealed, the decay stopped leaking out.

"Next time, use some common sense. Even if you want to be creative, pick the right target."

"Though, considering your crimes, your best outcome is probably spending the rest of your life rotting in the Order Bureau's Black Iron Prison."

"So I suppose there won’t be a ‘next time’ for you."

"Hah. Just another selfish bounty hunter pretending to be some high-and-mighty saint."

"You had the power to control the situation, yet for the sake of some bounty money, you still let me kill that young man at the start."

Anlina seemed to have recovered slightly from her mental collapse, though she remained slumped on the ground. A mocking smirk curled at her lips.

Perhaps because she had now seen the inescapable end awaiting her, the false kindness on her beautiful face disappeared, replaced by pure hatred and resentment.

But Xia Ya, the target of that venomous glare, remained utterly indifferent.

"I don’t mind you calling me selfish."

"But you seem to have misunderstood something."

Xia Ya calmly snapped the mithril box shut, carefully tucking it away before sighing as he looked at the seething Anlina.

"Causing civilian casualties during a mission would get my bounty pay docked by the Order Bureau."

"Besides, as someone who values his own life, I prefer to play it safe."

"Charging into battle without summoning a beast? That’s the reckless style of the Knight Academy meatheads."

"And I’m not one of those brainless muscle-heads."

He straightened up, looking down at the noble girl who had succumbed to the lure of power and the Evil God’s corruption, stepping irreversibly onto a path of no return.

"So—"

"When exactly did you get the illusion that I wasn’t using Kyoka Suigetsu?"

Xia Ya’s sudden, detached words made Anlina’s entire body stiffen.

The next moment, she saw the silver moon hanging high outside the window suddenly shine with an indescribable brilliance.

Crystal clear. Pure.

In an instant, it felt as if some mysterious force had seized her full attention, consuming her entire mind.

And then, on that silver moon’s surface—

Three blood-red tomoe began to spin.

They spun faster.

And grew larger.

When Anlina suddenly awoke, she found herself still collapsed on the ground.

But at some point, her inner garments had been completely drenched in cold sweat—just like waking from a terrifying nightmare.

And Xia Ya still stood before her, gazing at her with those calm, unwavering eyes.

The only difference…

Was that now, on Xia Ya’s shoulder, there sat a snow-white figure.

A petite ferret with silky silver fur, smooth as the finest silk—reminiscent of the Three Sages’ Snow Mountains of the Far North.

The little ferret was curled up on Xia Ya’s left shoulder, its left eye, gleaming like a blood-red diamond, still fading from the same three blood-red tomoe that had just consumed her mind.

"That’s… his summoned beast?"

No way.

It looked just like some ordinary ornamental pet.

Absolutely nothing about it suggested it had any real combat power.

I lost… to such an unimpressive Beastmaster?

As Anlina tore her gaze away from the ferret, she finally took a look around the room.

And in that instant—

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Her entire body froze in place.

Behind Xia Ya—

The people who should have collapsed, poisoned by her drugged wine, were still sitting upright in their seats, watching her and Xia Ya with wary confusion.

Even the man she had personally stabbed to death just moments ago—

He was standing there. Completely unharmed.

Staring at her with an expression of pure horror and betrayal.

His world had just shattered before his eyes.

The "angel" he once admired had transformed into a cold-blooded killer—

And then, she had started furiously attacking the empty air like a lunatic.

The blow to his heart was almost too much to bear.

"Good work, Yin."

Xia Ya reached up and stroked the little ferret on his shoulder.

The ferret, named Yin, lazily closed its eyes under Xia Ya’s touch, its fluffy tail curling around his neck like a scarf.

After playing with Yin for a moment, Xia Ya turned back toward the still-shaken crowd in the banquet hall.

"I’ll be taking her to the Order Bureau branch in the city center."

"As for the rest of you—don’t worry."

"Once the Order Bureau’s hounds finish their investigation, you’ll probably be set free."

"Given that all of you possess Apprentice Beastmaster-level Soul Aptitude, the authorities will likely find a proper place for you."

"Whether it’s joining the Military Department’s reserve force for an Imperial stipend, or enrolling in a local Transcendent Academy in Resa City, you should have decent options."

"Now then—time to wrap this up."

Xia Ya yawned, casually grabbed the coat he had left on the chair, shook out the wrinkles, and draped it over himself.

And just as Xia Ya finished speaking—

Anlina, still reeling from shock, felt an overwhelming drowsiness wash over her.

Even with her Mid-Tier Beastmaster level mental strength, she couldn’t resist the creeping exhaustion at all.

"Ah, almost forgot—my main summoned beast specializes in illusions too."

Just before her consciousness faded into darkness, she saw Xia Ya lift his fingers, gesturing casually.

"And its illusion skill, Tsukuyomi, is probably just a little more…"

"Refined than your ugly-ass butterfly’s."

"Just by a tiny bit."

"Like… an infinite tiny bit."