I don't want to conquer witches anymore.

"He solved the puzzle of the 'Statues' game, completed the game, and even saved Little Amber's life. Now, the adventurers and witches in the city are crowdfunding a bounty of 1000 gold coins for a beating."

"Hmph, isn't that playboy's just asking for trouble?" Although she was blunt, Carol smiled easily when she heard the news. "Just don't let him get beaten to death, Eve."

“With Little Amber protecting him, no one will die.” Eve waved her hand, then asked curiously, “Carol, why did you let the public opinion expose this? And what is the truth? Although we only knew each other for a short time, I didn’t feel that he was the kind of scumbag who would cheat on five women at the same time?”

"The accusation of juggling five relationships is obviously unfounded, but Duke's personality, in his own words, is like a 'central air conditioner,' so from that perspective, it's not entirely unfair to him." Carol looked at her best friend, a slight smile playing on her lips. "Besides, if this hadn't happened, that lazybones wouldn't have bothered to get stronger, let alone complete the game through his own efforts."

Eve looked surprised.

“Eve, we were able to beat ‘The Little Prince’ not because of my favoritism or protection, but because of him.”

Carol said frankly.

"In the future, he may become the savior of the floating city, and even the whole world. For that, he must become stronger!"

……

While the Time Witch and the Potions Witch were discussing heroes over wine, the savior of the future world was working feverishly in his little nest.

"No, Duke, I absolutely can't do this! It's too... It hurts so much, why does it feel so good..."

"Waaaaah, my body is already filled up, I can't live without you anymore..."

"You got me pregnant, Duke, you have to take responsibility."

"Don't talk nonsense." Duke slammed his hand on the table, glared at Amber who had eaten and drunk her fill, and shouted, "So what if my tongue hurts from the spiciness? So what if I'm full? What on earth are you thinking, you perverted elf!"

"hey-hey."

The lewd elf, whose mind was full of dirty jokes, stuck out his tongue.

Duke's rented apartment was a studio apartment. The room wasn't big because it had previously been used as a storage room, and it was cluttered with all sorts of odds and ends. Even though he had no choice but to move in, he had no intention of tidying it up, which fully reflected the lifestyle of a single man living alone.

However, in such a messy room, there was only one room that was very tidy, and that was the kitchen.

As a professional athlete in his previous life, he needed to control his diet. Disliking hiring a professional nutritionist, he had no choice but to learn to cook himself. Over time, he developed excellent culinary skills, and even after arriving in another world, he still maintained his good habit of cooking.

To thank Amber for her help, Duke, who had just received the prize money for completing the "Statues" game, generously invited Amber to his home to try his cooking.

At first, Amber refused because she didn't think an adventurer could have any good cooking skills—but she was very confident in her housework and cooking skills, as evidenced by the various maid outfits she wore every day... Amber was once a maid knight order directly under the Elf Royal Family, and she received strict education from a young age, so her standards for cooking were very high.

Unexpectedly, Duke's cooking skills were quite good, and the dishes he served were all ones that Amber had never seen before.

Spicy chicken, Mapo tofu, stir-fried beef, and hand-shredded cabbage.

The spicy and fragrant home-style dishes allowed the elf, who wasn't used to spicy food, to enjoy the food with a bittersweet pleasure. After a meal, Amber's mind was filled with thoughts of "I need to find a way to mooch a few more meals."

Chapter Twelve: Cecil Makes a Grand Entrance!

After eating and drinking to their hearts' content and cleaning up the dishes, Duke slumped onto the sofa, yawned, and squinted his eyes, intending to spend a pleasant afternoon taking a nap.

But Amber was clearly not so lazy.

Her amber eyes remained fixed on Duke, filled with curiosity.

Duke's understanding of the favorability system within the system is not very clear. The entire process from hatred to intimacy (hatred-dislike-estrangement-ordinary-friendliness-enthusiasm-intimacy) is not necessarily love; it could also be friendship, familial affection, or other emotions. For complex higher animals like humans, these emotions can transform into one another.

Amber's feelings for Duke are far from "love," but rather respect and curiosity.

Respect is directed towards the savior who saved his life, while curiosity is inherent in Duke himself.

Amber witnessed Duke's entire performance in the game of "Statues" and understood that his success was entirely due to his presence, not because of the witch's help as the outside world believed (because this time, she was the witch in the rumors!). This is why she was so curious about Duke.

Amber's firsthand experience made her wonder: how many of the rumors about Duke were true, and how many were false? And what kind of person was Duke really? How many secrets was he hiding?

Curiosity is often the first step toward love, but neither Duke nor Amber realized this at the moment.

Amber hesitated for a moment before deciding to launch her offensive. She tentatively asked, "Duke, there's a new game starting today. Do you want to try it? The rewards are great!"

"Oh?" Duke, who was almost asleep from boredom, immediately perked up upon hearing this: "Where?"

Hooked.

Amber suppressed her secret joy and quickly said, "I can take you there, but we need to disguise ourselves before we go."

"Why?" Duke asked, somewhat puzzled. "Why not just teleport there? Once we get to the location of the Witch Game, those adventurers won't dare to do anything to me, right?"

"The witch who 'hosted' this witch game is Sister Cecil."

"...That's all."

Cecil, the Radiant Witch, is one of Duke's five ex-girlfriends. Her personality can be summed up with words like straightforward, honest, and righteous. She was also the one who reacted the most after his scandal broke. After Duke's affair with five women was exposed, she rallied a whole team (twelve people) to hunt him down throughout the city, vowing to beat him every time she saw him.

Of course, given Duke's cunning, Cecil and her friends couldn't catch him many times. After two days of trying, they only managed to get him to eat one meal—and even that was only because Duke was so annoyed with her that he deliberately offered himself up as a sacrifice.

“That silly girl…” Duke muttered under his breath, a somewhat subtle expression on his face. “Indeed, if he were to just appear in front of her like that, Cecil would probably attack without hesitation.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Amber didn’t refute Duke’s “silly girl” comment, but instead nodded in agreement, clearly showing their long-standing, superficial friendship. “Just in case, let’s dress up.”

“Okay, I remember having a face mask at home.”

Duke's original profession was that of a wanderer (thief). Although he never did his old job again after transmigrating, he still inherited a lot of tools for committing crimes from the original owner, including a mask. He turned around and began to rummage through the messy luggage. It took him a long time to find a crumpled mask. However, he also had an unexpected gain.

"Here you go."

"what is this?"

Amber inexplicably took the item from Duke's hand, and upon looking down, she discovered it was a pair of black cat ear headbands, which looked quite cute.

Miss Witch: "?"

……

Please select one of the following tasks.

[Task 1: Complete any witch game with Witch Amber.]

[Task Two: Reveal your identity to Cecil.]

Duke rolled his eyes, showing no intention of trying the second option, and accepted the first task.

[Task Acceptance: The Beginning of Curiosity.]

[Mission Objective: Clear any witch game with Witch Amber]

[Quest Reward: Demonic Woody Plough]

Upon seeing the mission reward, Duke couldn't help but exclaim, "Wow!"

Amber glared at Duke, somewhat annoyed by his overreaction, but Duke, glancing at her, was clearly even more taken aback.

To deceive Cecil, Amber wore a mask that covered the upper half of her face and, instead of her signature maid outfit, changed into a light, airy dress, appearing innocent and adorable. However, what truly drew the attention of the surrounding adventurers was the accessory she wore on her head—a pair of black cat ears.

"What nonsense are you spouting, meow?"

"Pfft... What's that verbal tic you have?"

"I'm just being true to the lore, what do you know?" Amber snapped. "According to the lore, I'm a half-elf with cat blood, so it's perfectly normal for me to talk like this, meow."

"You're just trying to act cute, aren't you?"

"Shut up, straight men!"

However, Amber's adorable outfit attracted most of the attention, allowing Duke, who was standing next to her, to conceal his identity.

By this time, with Amber's help, they had arrived at the venue of the new witch game.

It's clear that news of the new game hasn't spread far, as there aren't many adventurers present. The witch Cecil hasn't shown up yet, so everyone is just chatting idly outside the game room. Duke and Amber are standing in a more secluded spot, not joining the other adventurers' conversation. After all, one is a wanted scumbag and the other a witch; their identities are sensitive, and they dare not act rashly.

But from this vantage point, they could overhear the adventurers' conversations:

"Have you found Duke's whereabouts?"

"No, what about you guys?"

"He dodged the ambush at the prize redemption shop! That guy even has the witch's help now!"

"What a pity, all the brothers were itching to beat him to death, sigh."

Duke: "..."

Are they really going to participate in the witch's game with this group of people? Or... should they just forget about it?

Just as Du Ke, a national first-class retreat drumming artist, began to play the drum, a ray of light burst forth from the sky and then crashed to the ground like a meteor.

"Ta-da! Cecil makes his entrance!"

With a declaration-like introduction, the Radiant Witch arrived before the adventurers.

Chapter Thirteen: Candy Castle

Ordinary witches need to ride brooms when they go out, but powerful high-ranking witches don't do such unrefined things. For example, the Witch of Light Cecil never rides a broom when she goes out—she always travels by light!

Of course, not all witches who don't ride brooms are powerful, high-ranking witches. For example, there's a certain black cat witch who can't do anything except teleport.

"Achoo! That's weird, why do I feel like someone's cursing at me?"

Duke pretended not to hear Amber's mutterings beside him and silently applauded Cecil's beautiful entrance.

"I'm sorry to have kept you all waiting."

She was a tall, strikingly beautiful woman with dazzling blonde hair as bright as sunlight spreading across the earth, and her azure eyes brimming with absolute confidence. She was clad in a suit of knight's plate armor, yet it couldn't conceal her perfectly proportioned figure, honed through rigorous training; every inch was flawless—except for her disappointingly small bust.

Moreover, Duke, who had dated the Radiant Witch in her casual clothes, knew that it was definitely not because of the hard breastplate.

This dashing woman, who resembles a paladin more than a witch, is none other than the Radiant Witch Cecil.

"Indeed, they are all trustworthy warriors!"

Cecil glanced around at the adventurers present, nodded in satisfaction, and then with a wave of her hand, the portal from the game room to another dimension behind her opened. She then used her wand as a sword, performed a perfectly executed knightly salute to the adventurers, and announced with overwhelming momentum:

"I am Cecil the Witch, and I will begin this witch's game—your goal is to reach the world behind this gate, defeat the evil ones who disrupt the world's order, eliminate the ambitious ones who covet victory, and rescue the innocent and kind-hearted! Adventurers, rack your brains and exert all your strength! Go and complete this witch's game!"

May the Holy Light bless you all!

……

"Before becoming a witch, Cecil seemed to be a high-ranking paladin."

“I know, she told me about it when we were dating.”

I made the witch silent for three minutes with just three sentences.

Until they entered the game, Amber was still debating whether this guy was a genuinely clueless straight man who had accidentally ended the conversation, or was deliberately trying to provoke her.