I was born in a moldy corner.

I still remember the sound of flowing water nearby, a place where i could never quite tell whether was day or night. I didn't even understood these concepts until much later in my life.

All that world contained was the one who i now assume to have been my mother and siblings.

She breastfed us for a period of time, almost never leaving our side. After that, she began going out more frequently, leaving me and the others alone. She would come back eventually, bringing all manners of horrid food for us to eat.

Yet i devoured them all as if they were the most precious delicacy in the world. Was it hunger? Or it was simply because i knew no better?

One day, when she wasn't there, someone else came into our home. One who was not mother, yet looked like her.

That was my first encounter with senseless violence.

Why did she attack us? Why did she sought to kill me and my siblings? At the time, i had naught concerns for such questions. I merely wanted to live.

So i escaped while she murdered the others.

I never spared any thought for them. Never cared about their fate, even to this day. All that i felt at the time was relief, elation that i would be able to live a little while longer.

Judging my former home to be unsafe, i set out into the larger world.

And what awaited me there was agony.

XXX

"Unfortunately, results have been mostly negative so far."

The strange woman before Dailah and Scariot declared, eyes hidden behind a thick glass frame covered in steam from a mug.

The last few days have been quite hectic to say the least. Besides the normal workload of inspections and occasional guidance, the two also had to investigate the abnormality of the rodents. On top of that, Dailah herself was also in the middle of taking gun use and safety courses, decreasing her own time even more.

Now they were in a research institution located in the outskirts, south of town, separated from the association's main complex at the top of Iron Hill. They've been the ones responsible for analysing the samples of this case so far.

"A few showed traces of mana within their bodies but.... they were weak cases of contamination most of the time, at worst no different from the usual ones. Wouldn't really explain their strange swarm behaviour either."

Incidents slowly got worse, with the rats showing more and more agressive behaviour, often even blatantly acting during the day in the presence of humans. They targeted both magical equipment, especially ones that used mana stones to operate, as well as food.

There was even a case where a pack attacked a woman who tried to chase them away from her kitchen. It made Dailah's skin crawl just to think about it. Thankfully the woman survived with only minor injuries, and was able to avoid major complications as she immediatly sought medical assistance.

"Any ideas on what might be causing this then Ms. Athgas?" - Scariot asked, letting some of her impatience slip through her mouth.

The disheveled woman placed a finger in her chin, holding the hot mug in her hands, as if deep in thought. Eventually she shrugged her shoulders.

"I haven't a clue... maybe you're just looking at this from the wrong angle."

"Wrong angle?" - this time, it was Dailah's turn to question.

"Indeed. As witches, its normal to get stuck thinking about mana contamination this or magic that.... have you considered the possibility something completely unrelated is the cause?" - she concluded, waving her finger in the air.

"And what would that something be? Did the rats collectively decide to organize, challenge human's position in the food-chain?" - Scariot spat out, not even pretending to hide her irritation anymore.

The woman named Athgas leaned back on her chair, ignoring the sarcasm thrown her way, and proceeded to elaborate.

"What if... their conduct is being caused by some sort of disease? One that alters the way they behave, such as toxoplasmosis which causes the rodent to lose its fear of cats.

"There are other similar known parasites and infections that may lead to this manner of behaviour." - the researcher concluded.

Crossing her arms, Scariot inquired.

"And? Am I correct to assume you also tested the samples we gave for those?"

"Naturally."

"So?"

"All came back negative."

"Well then!?"

Noticing she was screaming, Scariot let out a sigh and covered her face with her palm. Athgas drank from her mug as she waited for the witch to calm down.

Dailah noticed the woman occasionally sneaking a few glances her way, likely also due to the rumors the girl had been told about before. Eventually, she turned back to Scariot and finished her thought.

"Those tests were for known pathogens. All i'm telling you two is to keep an open mind."

Mulling over her words, Scariot relented.

"Understood..." - She removed her palm from her face - "I'll come back soon for more news.

"Lets go Dailah."

The two left Athgas office, which unlike Mariane's was completely separated from the research area. Dailah wondered if there was any particular reason for her former teacher to place her office right besides her lab.

Maybe the privilege of an accomplished witch? Could also be just in the nature of this institution in particular.

The reason this site was separated from the headquarters was the location. Right below it, far far underground, there was a particular area amongst the dungeons where a large lake of liquid mana formed. Needless to say there were many uses for such a place.

From studying the effect of concentrated mana on living beings, to developing ways to store and refine said mana, this building served many purporses. Not to mention being one of the main sources for exporting the dangerous liquid to other research institutions around town, or even outside Stone city.

From what Dailah had heard there was a hole inside there, where one could go deep deep down. The idea mildly unsettled the girl.

As such an important location, the area surrounding it was also quite developed. Uncommon for the outskirts which were usually just hastly assembled residences, or villages swallowed by the city's expansion.

Leaving the premises, the sun was setting behind the houses, the glowstones from the lampposts already emmiting a subtle hue as the lighting dimmed.

A few scant people passed by the streets. The girl's mind wandered as she spotted a woman peacefully watering flowers by a varanda, then to a cat turning over a few trashbags, hopefully hunting for some damned mice. Today had been another busy day for the two, and she couldn't wait to have a personal meeting with her bed.

Scariot was the first to speak.

"Tomorrow.... is the day you're supposed to retrieve your weapon right? Lets take a break then."

A flimsy excuse for taking a day off work, but it wasn't hard to read between the lines.

Even so.

"...now out of all times?" - Dailah wasn't against the idea, she would be lying if she said she wasn't tired. However... - "Is it really fine to leave things as they are and rest? Who knows how this problem will evolve until then."

"I understand your feelings. But that Athgas is correct, we may need to look at this from another perspective.

"Overworking ourselves will just blindside us. And with the escalation of the cases, more members from the association are already getting involved either way.

"So its fine for us to lay low for a while." - Scariot concluded.

Their department was based on productivity. Although there was a supervisor making sure no one was cutting corners or slacking off, in general Dailah and Scariot were free to tackle their tasks whenever and whichever way they saw fit as long as they showed results and produced appropriate reports - of course Scariot had been the one completely in charge of organizing that as the girl was still learning the ropes.

Dailah grumbled under her breath, mulling over the spoken words. She had no arguments but still felt she should complain a bit, if only to blow off steam.

"What is wrong with that woman anyway? Her appearance was as if she had just gotten off bed, then went to treat us rudely and condescendingly."

Wrinkled clothes, disheveled hair that covered both her glasses and eyes directly, laid back attitude and speech... as if she wanted the world to see her as some sort of narcissistic crazy alchemist.

"People here are just as overworked as we are. From the few times i met Athgas before, she always looked and acted decently. Don't hold it too much against her."

"...peculiar choice of words considering your attitude earlier."

"That's how people act on stressful times my dear little girl! Better get used to it! Because when at their wits end, no one will be weaving polite words of consideration, caring not to wound your delicate feelings."

Dailah opened her mouth to try and argue back, but thought better and closed it, choosing instead to let out a sigh. The girl could tell she wasn't at her best and this was mostly her fatigue speaking.

"Apologizes for that, i really am tired.... tomorrow is off then. Want me to take you home?"

Seeing as the girl let go of the subject, so did Scariot as she also had no interest in prolonging a hollow battle of words, answering her question.

"No need... I want to walk around alone for a while, should help me organize my thoughts."

"I see..." - Dailah muttered, getting up on Mr. Crowley while shifting her new bag strapped across her torso.

"Until a couple of days then. If i think of anything, i'll speak with Mariane."

"Why Mariane...." - Scariot grumbled with a sour expression.

"She's frequently around her lab, and i know her mind to be sharp." - not to mention she works in the same sector as both Scariot and Dailah, and is the girl's mentor.

"Its not.... no, you're correct. If you're onto something, she'll help you out."

Bidding each other farewell, each of them went on their way.

XXX

The trip back home was a haze to Dailah.

Amidst the subtle cold winds of the night, her mind wandered round and round, recalling multiple events from the past few days, pondering over different subjects. Most of them involving magic and rodents.

She has vague memories of the crowley greedily watching some roadside eatery as it let out an appetizing smell. The girl can't even remember what manner of snack she bought from there as she proceeded on the way to the apartment.

Once she got back, the girl went straight to her room and changed into confortable clothes, even forgetting to greet landlady Mima as usual.

The apartment had one bathroom with a shower on each of the three floors, and one kitchen for all residents. One of the bathrooms was off-limits with some form of leak waiting to be fixed, and right now the other two bathrooms were busy, each occupier taking their sweet time.

Instead of waiting, Dailah just decided to forfeit the idea of a bath altogether. She frequently took showers back in her hometown but that habit wasn't well fitted for her life in a collective enviroment such as this.

There was a fourth bathroom for the landlady's exclusive use, but she didn't want to bother the old woman. Or rather, she just didn't care enough at the moment. Skipping one day should be fine anyway right?

As the girl sat down on the bed, her stomach let out a complaint, demanding its much needed calories consumed throughout the day.

The girl reached for her bag and pulled out a paper wrapping that contained one of the pair of snacks she had bought earlier, the other one having long been lost to the black hole inside a certain bird's mouth.

As she unwrapped it, Dailah tried to recall what was exactly she had purchased. Her brain just automatically paid for them as she threw one to Mr. Crowley, hastily removing it from the package beforehand.

And finally, in her hands hands was... something she could not quite exactly identify.

It had the form of a giant water droplet, round on the bottom and pointed in the other end. It roughly resembled a chicken drumstick as she vaguely recalled the vendor saying it was made out of poultry meat. It looked like some sort of mass that had been breaded and fried.

Dailah took a bite out of it. It tasted like mashed potatoes.

She couldn't find any traces of the promised poultry in it until she reached the middle part, finding a few miserly lints of shredded chicken meat.

It wasn't bad though. The girl even craved another, regretting so frivolously giving one away to that crass-mouthed creature.

Unfortunately, it had left her hands all greasy. She could handle a day without bathing, but oily hands got on her nerves.

Relutanctly, she went out of the room on towards the kitchen of the building. The dish soap there was better in removing grease.

At the bottom of the stairs on the ground floor, turning towards the kitchen, she noticed someone was already there.

A very short and thin girl, even shorter than Dailah herself, with long black hair that reached down to her waist. From her side-profile one could notice the big owlish eyes on the girl's face, concentrated in a task.

She knew who this was. Mimi, the landlady's granddaughter. Dailah exchanged a few curt greetings with her in the past few days.

Mimi was younger than her. She went to some school in the city that trained young witches along with normal education. Nothing fancy, one meant for those that didn't come from wealthy households as well as normal folk.

Yes, she was also a low-rank witch like Dailah, also born out of common woman. Which is why the spectacle before her eyes now looked so unbelievable.

An assortment of utensils and recipients danced along the table in the center of kitchen. A jar half-filled with milk floated in the air as it poured its contents into a glass, following it was a spoon, skillfully scooping the contents of a pot and scattering it over the filled cup.

As the pot floated back to its designated spot, the spoon and glass moved closer to each other in order to stir the liquid. That was when the girl conducting it all made eye contact with Dailah.

*KLANG* *CRASH* *THUMP*

"...."

"...."

Mimi stared at her with a blank expression. The milk spilled over the table slowly trailed towards the floor, as the shards of clay on the ground stopped rocking back and forth.

Dailah was the first one to break the silence.

"....good evening."

The other girl only nodded in response.

Considering herself partially responsible for this small accident, Dailah reached out for a broom and a metal dustpan in the corner to help clean things.

As Mimi cleaned the milk with some damp cloth, Dailah swept the floor, removing any remnants of cocoa powder and shards she could find. A few questions circled her mind, leading her to try opening her mouth once again.

"That was some pretty good control.... I can only handle one object at most."

As any kid who becomes aware of their inner magical abilities, Dailah played around with her powers plethora of times. Creating weak flames, making small objects float, some pratical ones she read about such as strengthening her vision to see slightly better in the dark. Of course, all within the limits of her rank.

As such she did try to 'control' utensils before. She remembers trying to write with her fountain pen using only her magic, but all that came out from this experiment were indecipherable doodles.

Seeing another low-rank witch having such a good control - and of multiple simultaneous objects at that - she couldn't help but feel a cerntain admiration, along a small tinge of envy.

"How did you manage to control so many objects at once?"

"...."

Mimi didn't answer immediatly but Dailah waited patiently, she could tell the girl was just considering what to answer. From her previous curt interactions with the girl, it was possible to tell this maiden simply wasn't one for words or small talk.

The quiet girl finally answered.

".....puppets."

"Puppets....?"

"I.... train a lot..... with puppets."

A simple explanation. She just trained her control - or telekinesis magic as it's officially called - plentifully. A puppet, with its many joints and bones, was perfect for this task.

Maybe she could try it sometime too.

Dailah inquired no further, neither why was she playing around with puppets nor any other manner of question. She wasn't the type to force shy girls out of their shells, so the two just finished cleaning in silence.

After the task was over, Mimi went ahead as Dailah cleaned the grease of her hands, her initial goal.

She never liked the dry feeling detergents left on her hands.

XXX

Dailah went out early in the next morning.

Today was a special day. Nevermind Scariot had given her the day off work, today she would start porting her very own firearm.

With this, she would be a full-fledge witch.

It certainly doesn't fit the mystique common people developed around witches. A beautiful woman carrying around a staff as tall as herself and casting fireballs everywhere. There certainly were a few like that, but for lower ranked witches who could only use scant amounts of mana, more traditional weapons were indispensable.

Of course, these weren't common weapons. They were especially designed to be used along weak magic that enhanced and diversified its abilities, magic any witch could use with ease.

They were so pratical that even higher ranked witches would also carry one with them. Like Scariot, whom Dailah was surprised to learn was in fact mid-ranked.

She wondered why a relatively powerful witch like herself was working with pest control, a job usually done by low-rank witch or even normal people. She should ask her about it sometime.

Reaching the main association complex, leaving the crowley at the entrance alongside many other crowleys and horses, her feet automatically led her towards the shooting range she had grow used to going.

The lessons from the past few days were simple enough. Train postures, show she could point and shoot properly or how to apply mana to the weapons in order to use its special features.

Probably the aspect they fixated on the most was gun safety. Things like never pointing the barrel at people without good reason, when to load and unload the weapon, the proper way to hold and carry it, security mechanisms and so on. Truthfully, this was something she never gave any thought about back in her home or

................ . . . .....

. ..

Dailah was quite amused to see some of the powers the gun could employ. There were special bullets these weapons were able use that had particular effects, the most obvious ones being fire and explosives. But there were also things like vacuum implosions, non-lethal shots, ultra-piercing rounds among many others.

You could also infuse normal bullets with similar effects. Under the grip, you'd insert a metal conductor with a particular set of engravings, it would then give the bullet within the chamber specific properties as long as you applied some of your mana on the metal. They could be utilized many times and took a great number of uses until they wore out.

Naturally, that has much weaker effect than an especially designed bullet, not to mention it could only be employed by witches. Still very convenient however. It was common practice to carry multiple of these conductors with you.

One may wonder what is the use of such tools in the first place, besides appearing tawdry. To answer that its necessary to understand the nature of magical monsters and contaminated living beings.

Unlike witches, who tend to be generalists when using magic, creatures are usually specialists. There is certain paterns that can be draw between species of contaminated animals or monsters, but ultimately they're characterised by a few abilities that are incredibly strong, often surpassing that of high-ranked witches who attempt doing same.

And in measure, their weaknesses follow.

There was a famous case in the early days of Stone City, when it was still just a larger than average Town and they still carried any and all resources from the dungeons through their natural entrances. A cart filled with liquid mana spilled over when it was brought outside.

The highly volatile mana conaminated the surrounding forest, mutating even the vegetation, eventually affecting a flock of birds. There were still no proper counter-measures for such accidents at the time, besides locking the area down and eliminating problems as they came.

The contaminated flock gained the ability to fly at incredibly high speeds, with ridiculous nimbleness and agility on top. To make matters worse their beaks could then penetrate metal, their overall body toughness increasing as well.

The killer birds, as they were called, would randomly attack people, often picking and stalking targets all the way to their houses, even rushing inside the building through cracks in the roof tiles or breaking through the windows.

Dailah heard this story when she was a kid, for days she jumped in fright whenever something flew by in the sky. She would stare at the doves picking crumbles on the ground whilst hiding behind her house's window frame, watching their every devious move.

To defeat the birds, normal bullets and spells wouldn't work as the creatures were too fast and could easily dodge those. Throwing fireballs in the sky was also dangerous as the birds usually stayed within the town, not to mention they were more resilient than normal birds so they would likely resist the fire.

What did they do then? Simple, they just had to disrupt the source of their abilities.

Thus a group of witches gathered, shooting strong vacuum spells and bullets towards the flock. The disturbance on the air currents knocked the birds right off the sky, while another group of witches waited below to finish them off.

They could've also used normal explosions to create the same effect. However, those not only presented risks to the town like the fireballs but were also harder to cast, as well more expensive to produce in the form of magical bullets and explosives strong enough for the creatures. Not to mention it would scatter the unlucky birds hit by them, making it harder to predict where they'd fall.

There were some similarities between this historical case with the current rat problem, where both animals were acting in swarms. Unfortunately that's where the similarities ended, as the rats aren't specifically targeting people nor showed traces of having been contaminated.

Reaching the building, exchanging some words with the person in charge, she finally went on to receive her new gun.

Holding the now familiar hunting rifle in her hands, she immediatly started checking its condition, an habit ingrained on her for the past few days.

Along with the rifle came some boxes of common ammunition, as well as a few magical conductors that would apply effects to the bullets. Special bullets were reserved for witches working inside dungeons or special operations.

From what she was told, each shot would equal one report requiring explanations as to why the bullet was used and the circumstances in which they were used. The association must've figured making the process as irritating as possible would disencourage employees from wasting resources or being too belligerent.

New witches in pest control were allowed to choose between a revolver and a hunting rifle, however the trainers always strongly recommended the former. New witches from the countryside would try and pick the latter as many were already familiar with them, not to mention the ingrained concept that 'bigger guns are better!'.

At that moment, they would be advised otherwise. It was big and incovenient to carry a rifle around the city, not mention slow to draw in an emergency. Bullets were more expensive, and even though they themselves wouldn't pay for it, the reports for each rifle shot was longer and required more details.

And the biggest motive someone at pest control carried a weapon was for self-defense more than hunting monsters, as those were either weak or non-present for that type of work.

The reason you could even pick one at all was due to legacy customs that endured through the years. Witches were, first and foremost, beast hunters after all. Pest control branched off magical creature slaying which most definitely saw use for a weapon like this, and the regulations allowing a witch to pick and use one as their personal weapon just remained.

As time flew by, the people in charge must've simply kept putting changes on the rules off, figuring it was easier to just convince recruits to take the revolver and leave it at that.

Naturally, Dailah wasn't one of those people.

She insisted on the rifle so much it even sparked some conversations to remove its use from pest control for good.

And why did she insist on it?

Dailah did not know.

She could claim it was due to her previous experience - at her birthplace - but in truth she just felt safer with it - as it protected her from abhorrent beings.

Finishing all the procedures, she strapped the rifle on her back, pointing the barrel upwards, and returned home.

XXX

Dailah was restless.

She was supposed to relax today, only to find out she forgot how.

She headed straight home after leaving the main complex behind. The girl considered staying there to roam the place, comb through the library some and perhaps resume her studies, but her mind was too full of problems and she just didn't feel like exploring.

So right now, all she could muster herself to accomplish was aimlessly roll around in her bed.

Not as if there weren't other things she could try. Maybe stroll around the city, maybe knock on Mimi's door and ask her to show some puppet shenanigans. Though there were some doubts whether the girl would be agreeable to her pleads.

Her eyes spotted a certain object, tucked away in the corner of her room, normally hidden away from view.

A beaten up bear that saw better times. Why didn't she threw that thing away yet?

It stared back at the girl, as if mocking her

What, doesn't little goblin witch even know how to give her mind repose? And you dared consider yourself bright, even above your peers once? Maybe all that magic does is contaminate your brain.

Shut up.

Dailah got up from her bed and picked the stuffed creature, sitting it over the table. Then she picked up her new rifle and pointed its barrel at it.

She stared at the plush over the chamber in the gun, as if daring it to say another word.

Goblin.

She kept the barrel pointed, still not making a move.

Look down on your feet.

She looked down on her feet. There was just the floor.

Witch.

Dailah pulled the trigger.

*CLICK*

"....pow"

Of course, she previously made sure the gun was unloaded. The girl was not so stupid as to fire live round indoors.

...in fact, her instructors advised her to absolutely never play around with her gun, even if she took precautions beforehand. She couldn't believe she broke these principles without even letting a day pass.

Coward.

Dailah sighed and leaned the gun against the wall, staring at the bear once again. This time from up-close.

She concentrated on the mana coursing through her body, ordering the thing before her to move. With some difficulties, she was able to make the toy bounce a few dozens of centimeters, before it fell off the table on its back.

Dailah had actually attempted to move its hands and feet like a wooden doll, but it seems that would be difficult to do without proper joints.

She stared at the stuffed animal in the floor. It stared back, probably concocting another vicious mockery in its cottoned mind to throw her way.

She spat out in her mind, swearing she would be in power of this thing one day, put it under her control rather than let it remain as an annoying phantom.

Make the bear a puppet.

Control the animal like a marionette....

"...."

Dailah bit her thumb, deep in thought. Her mind swirled, as if a few scattered pieces had finally fallen into place.

"Could it be....?"

She ran out of her room and down the stairs, not forgeting to grab her rifle and bag on the way out. The girl expected a grumbling crowley to greet her on the stables but she didn't care. She must go all the way back to the association once again, even if it was a pain.

Seems she wouldn't be resting today after all.