Super God: If I punch you, you will die

If there's a witch's forest on the island, and a witch lives in that forest, then of course the witch would come to the house.

These ghost stories were passed down naturally among the servants.

"It's like the doors and windows are locked, but when you check them again, they're open; the lights that were turned off are still on, and the lights that were on turn off by themselves; things that were put away are gone, and things that weren't there appear. Every time this happens, the veteran servants will whisper that it's a witch who has come into the house invisibly and is playing a prank on everyone."

“Listen. Beaterich is really here.”

"Indeed. I always ended up not being able to find my schoolbag when it was time to go to school,"

Maria puffed out her chest and sobbed incessantly, as if emphasizing that these ghost stories were evidence of the existence of witches.

There were some things that, if said aloud, would likely upset Maria, so Miyako Ushiromiya kept quiet.

Actually, ghost stories like this exist everywhere. In some places, they say it was done by dwarves, in others by fairies, and on this island, by witches—the differences are minimal. Wandering through such a well-maintained and spacious house at night naturally evokes a sense of dread.

This island is deserted, and I've heard that the wind blows into houses through the cracks in doors and windows, patrolling during thunderstorms, which must be quite unsettling.

"In addition, some maids said they saw will-o'-the-wisps and glowing butterflies dancing. Jia Yin said that she had seen similar phenomena when she patrolled the house at night before. Also, recently, we often hear strange footsteps in the house late at night, which is also a topic of conversation among the maids. We all say that it must be Miss Beatrice in the portrait making herself invisible and walking around the house. A long, long time ago, one night when I was patrolling the house, I also heard very similar footsteps."

"This is truly terrifying..."

"But there's nothing to be afraid of. Miss Beatrice is the other owner of this house besides the master, so there's no need to be afraid. As long as we treat her with respect, I believe she would never do us any harm."

"But it would be terrible if respect were lost."

"Yes. I heard that before I started working here, a maid fell down the stairs and suffered a serious back injury. It's said that he spoke ill of Miss Beatrice. So the maids are all saying that he must have offended Miss Beatrice,"

"Lin Yan and Zhu Zhixiang will definitely anger her..."

“It was my fault. I’ll be in deep trouble if I offend her. Maria, apologize to her, and of course I will apologize to the witch as well. Miss Beatrice, I’m sorry, please just pretend I’m a stranger and let me off the hook.”

“I also want to apologize. Miss Beatrice, I’m sorry. Will the witch forgive us then?”

"I don't know. The witch is very capricious; she will forgive when she's willing to forgive, and she won't forgive at all when she's not willing to forgive."

"This is a real headache, Maria. Do you have any magic or amulet that can prevent Lin Yan and Zhu Zhixiang from angering Miss Beaterich?"

Maria is arrogant and knows the witch best, so her brother tried to restore her self-esteem by asking her how to avoid bad luck and seek good fortune. I have to admire how good he is at coaxing children.

Maria crossed her arms and pondered seriously whether there was any magic that could prevent Zhu Zhixiang from angering the witch, and began flipping through her small notebook.

I initially thought it was just her doodle diary, but I didn't expect there to be quite a few pages written like a magic book.

Maria carefully compared several pages of handwritten magic circle diagrams, indicating that her grandfather wasn't the only one interested in dark magic. After a while, she seemed to have found what she was looking for, snapped the small notebook shut, tossed it into her handbag, and began rummaging through the contents of the bag.

It looked like her handbag was stuffed with all sorts of things. After a while, she pulled out various pieces of scrap metal (most of which were probably very important magical items to Maria), but none of them were what she wanted. She took them out and put them back.

She looked just like Doraemon constantly grabbing the wrong gadgets, which was quite amusing.

After a while, she seemed to have finally found what she wanted, revealing a sunny expression that was hard to imagine from her furrowed brows just a second ago. She handed the object to Lin Yan and Zhu Zhixiang.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a very cheap-looking amulet.

It's a bracelet made of lightweight plastic beads, with a badge engraved with a scorpion. Aren't those zodiac animal trinkets you often see on the market? They're often among the prizes in claw machines at amusement parks. This thing looks like that kind of thing.

She took out two in total, mostly intending to give one to Lin Yan and one to Zhu Zhixiang.

The fact that they were carrying two of these things at once only reinforced the cheap, mass-produced feel of them, making it impossible to feel the efficacy that amulets should have.

044 Amulet [Please Subscribe]

"Is this for Lin Yan?"

"As long as you wear this amulet, you won't have to worry about being attacked by Beate Lich. Because scorpions can ward off evil."

"So scorpions have this effect."

Lin Yan didn't believe it.

Lin Yan's talkativeness angered Maria again. Maria took out her small notebook and showed me many pages with different contents. The notebook described endlessly how sacred power scorpions possessed, and how scorpion patterns were drawn on various magic circles for warding off evil since ancient times.

"Some of the younger maids told me that in magical theory, scorpions are depicted as a symbol of protection against evil,"

"Oh, I see..."

“Scorpions can protect people from evil magic or disasters, and emeralds bring peace to the mind, so they have a dual effect.”

"It really is true, a scorpion guarding an emerald. I see, that makes it seem quite accurate."

Because the amulet looked so cheap, Lin Yan wanted to make sarcastic remarks, but when he saw Maria desperately explaining how effective the amulet she had prepared for their benefit was, he thought that even an amulet that looked like an amusement park prize should be very effective.

After all, the value of a talisman lies not in its material, but in the sentiment behind it. Lin Yan didn't believe he had stooped so low as to disregard such sentiment.

"Is that so? Thank you. I've already apologized to Miss Beaterich, but if I still encounter ghosts, I'll be at ease with Maria's amulet. Don't you think so, Zhu Zhixiang?"

"Thank you, Maria."

"Wear it on your wrist when you want peace of mind, and put it in your wallet so your money won't disappear. Hang it on your doorknob so bad things won't come in. It's a very convenient amulet."

"This effect is truly remarkable. Since Ms. Maria recommends it with such confidence, I think this amulet must be very reliable."

As Shana spoke, she clapped her hands lightly, and Maria puffed out her chest and chuckled smugly, seemingly having fully recovered. Since Maria was so happy, there was no harm in letting her be the main character a little longer.

Looking back now, she must have found it quite boring that she couldn't keep up with their enthusiastic discussion about where the gold was hidden.

While eating cookies baked by Grandma Kumazawa, Miyako Ushiromiya asked Maria about various aspects of black magic. Maria seemed very happy and quite talkative, and our questions always elicited surprised expressions or responses from Osamu and Sana. The clouds grew darker, but we younger folks still thoroughly enjoyed our year-long reunion.

"Did I feel a raindrop on my forehead just now?"

"Have it?"

Ushiromiya Joji touched his forehead and looked up at the sky.

Judging from the color of the sky and the damp smell in the air, it wouldn't be surprising if it rained at any moment, and I also felt that the wind seemed to be getting stronger.

“Maria wasn’t dripped on, only Maria wasn’t dripped on.”

"Don't worry, I didn't get splashed either. And it's going to rain heavily tonight, so nobody can escape it."

"That's true, isn't it about time we went back?"

Shana made a gesture of checking her watch; it was probably already evening.

"Are you already going back to work?"

"Yes, it's a pleasure to spend this happy time with you all. Thank you very much."

"Please thank Grandma Xiong Ze for the cookies. Okay, everyone, come and help clean up."

Shana said it was a maid's job and firmly refused to let us help. But unfortunately, I have a habit of thinking it's the meaning of life to pick up a dropped fork before the waitresses do, so we rushed to help pick up the mats and litter.

"The trash flew away."

"I won't let it get away; I'm going to grab it before Maria does."

“Maria wants to pick it up.”

"Maria, you'll get your shoes wet and you'll get scolded when you get back." Even though it's just picking up trash, it's a kind of game for Maria.

Although Lin Yan still felt something strange about Maria, she was still just a child, full of energy and curiosity. At this moment, the wind had become very strong, and it seemed the time to retreat had been just right.

"Thank you all so much for your help."

"It seems there really isn't much time left. You can go back first, it's fine."

Sanon looked very nervous, and Ushiromiya Joji guessed that she didn't have much time left.

"After all, Genji is very strict about timeliness. If you don't get back to work on time, he'll probably be quite fierce."

See you later, good luck with your work.

"Okay, then I'll take my leave."

Shana first gave everyone a deep salute, then strode off towards the rose garden.

"Let's go back to the guesthouse and relax by watching some TV."

"watch TV."

"Then it's settled. Let's all watch TV together when we get back."

Maria seemed to still want more fun, but when she said she wanted to watch TV, she didn't object. Everyone then climbed the gentle stairs back to the rose garden.

Rose Garden.

Back in the rose garden of the mansion, the wind had grown very strong, causing the countless roses to sway like waves. Perhaps this was the last time they would see these beautiful roses, as tonight's typhoon would likely leave the place devastated.

"The roses might be ruined by tonight's wind."

"But I think these roses are quite lucky, aren't they? Because they were able to welcome you all before the typhoon hit."

"Flowers will eventually wither. But perhaps it is precisely because of this that we can cherish the moment when they are in full bloom even more."

“That’s right, Maria, you should take a good look too. This is the time when the roses are at their most beautiful this year.”

"Watch to your heart's content."

Maria suddenly tapped her palm lightly as she spoke, remembering something.

"Maria's rose will be blown away by the typhoon."

"You mean that listless rose that you had Brother Zhi mark for you?"

Maria seemed to remember where the rose was, and she ran over to it, with us following behind.

"Woo?"

"Where was that flower before? I remember it was around here."

Everyone, including Lin Yan, looked around, but finding one among so many roses was no easy task. Even knowing it was in the area, it wasn't so simple. The strong winds from the outer edge of the typhoon made the roses blooming throughout the garden sway incessantly, almost as if they were deliberately trying to prevent them from finding Maria's rose.

"Could it be that this isn't the place at all? Should we split up and search?"

"That's right, let's use a human wave tactic! Maria, why did you pull me in?"

Just as everyone was about to split up to search, Maria grabbed Lin Yan, but she held onto his coat with an unhappy expression, clearly meaning she wanted him not to leave.

"What's wrong? What's wrong?"

“Maria’s rose is here, right here.”

"But we can't find it. Maybe it's on the other side of this flowerbed. It would be faster if we split up and search."

045 The Vanishing Rose [Please Subscribe]

"This is it. Maria's rose is right here."

Maria stamped her feet repeatedly, pointing nearby and saying it was right there, but the others were completely baffled; they couldn't find it at all.

But if they tried to look elsewhere, Maria would get angry, leaving the others helpless. For the next while, they could only wait it out with Maria, pretending to search among the rose bushes.

"No no."

Maria grew increasingly unhappy, as if to say, "It should be here, so why can't I find it?"

"This is a real headache. Maria has completely lost her temper."

"Maria sometimes gets stuck on things that are completely unimportant. If she can resolve them in the end, that's fine, otherwise..."

"If something doesn't exist, you can't find it. It's so frustrating..."

Just as the others were feeling helpless, Maria suddenly shouted:

"Mother."

The others also turned their gazes toward the direction she was waving vigorously, and saw the figure of Ushiromiya Ryoza. It was unclear whether she wanted to take one last look at the roses before the typhoon hit, or if she had something to do at the guesthouse. She walked from the direction of the main building, and then noticed her daughter calling her and came over.

"What's wrong with you? Are you looking for something?"

"Mom also helped find Maria's rose."

"Maria's Rose?"

“We found a droopy rose nearby before, and we marked it.”

"It's just a piece of candy wrapper tied to it, but Maria, if I remember correctly, that rose should be growing in a very conspicuous place right when you come in. Unless it grew legs and ran away, I don't think it should be here. I think Maria is mistaken, right?"

"This is it, waaaaah."

“I told you not to whimper like that. I have to tell you several times before you understand. Mom will help look for it too. Be quiet.”

A hint of dissatisfaction flashed in Ushiromiya Roza's eyes. She had never liked Maria making those strange "woo-woo-woo" sounds; it always annoyed her.

"The rose you mentioned isn't here. I think you've made a mistake; it probably grows somewhere else, right? After all, there are so many roses here."