The girl with dark purple hair lay still, staring blankly at the sky.
The sky, which might seem still at a glance, was actually moving quite rapidly when observed closely.
The sun and moon alternated in their rise and set, and the clouds flowed endlessly with the wind.
To the girl, who had only looked at the motionless ceiling for hundreds of years, the speed of the sky felt incredibly fast.
As she gazed at the sky, she thought about how it could move without rest.
Though she couldn't understand why the sky moved so quickly, she didn't dislike it.
Watching the ceaseless movement made her feel even more vividly that she herself was not moving.
That's why recently, her only hobby had been lying here, staring blankly at the sky.
Then, the sky, which had been filled with rain, was suddenly covered by a black hole that appeared in the air.
From this hole, which was sucking in the rain, a woman's head, wearing a hood, peeked out.
With a shout of "Yosh!" the hooded woman emerged from the hole and stood beside the girl's head.
The girl, sensing that something troublesome was about to happen, slightly frowned.
The hooded woman, with a gesture of being hurt, smiled and said,
"Ahaha, it seems you're not very happy to see me. Making such a face as soon as you see me, even I might be a little hurt?"
"What brings you here...?"
"What could I want? Of course, I'm here to ask you for another favor~."
The girl's face, which had already been slightly wrinkled, became even more so at the mention of the woman's request.
"Didn't you say... that you wouldn't need to come see me for a while?"
The woman replied with a regretful tone,
"Um, well~ things didn't go as planned. So, I had no choice but to come to you for a second favor so soon. I'm also regretful that I have to use up one of my remaining requests like this. I usually want to save these for the last moment, you know."
"......If you want to save them, just don't use them..."
"But, if I don't use them, they'll just disappear. It's better to use them when I think of something~. I went through a lot of trouble to dig you out from deep underground, so you should do something to repay that effort. That was the contract, right? You agreed to it, so don't complain too much~"
The girl recalled the day she made the contract with the woman.
She had been living underground for hundreds of years.
Honestly, she could have escaped whenever she wanted, but it seemed too much trouble and effort, so she just stayed.
One day, the woman suddenly appeared where she was and said,
"Isn't it boring here? Do you want to go out? How about making a contract with me? I'll get you out of here, and in return, you'll do three favors for me. Of course, they won't be too difficult. What do you think?"
Thinking she could get out without exerting any effort, she accepted the contract without much thought. Now, reflecting on it, she sometimes regretted making that decision.
She didn't realize then that doing something herself was troublesome, but being asked to do something by others was even more so.
However, since a contract must be kept, there was no way to back out.
The girl quietly muttered,
"......So, what do you want me to do this time?"
The woman, grinning, pulled out a black pearl from the hole in the air and said,
"Not much different from last time. In fact, this time it's even simpler. Just go inside the veil and release the creature inside this pearl in a place where it won't be noticed. That's all~."
The girl took the black pearl the woman offered.
It was an item created by the woman's power.
A special pearl that could contain a demon.
Last time, it contained the girl's demon, but this time, the woman didn't say anything, so the girl asked casually,
"......What's inside this one?"
"Ah! Good question! To explain that, I need to give you an overview of my plan. Where should I start?"
The girl, looking at the woman who was enthusiastically talking, showed a look of disgust.
The woman, undeterred by her reaction, continued,
"If it gets into a person, it will settle in the brain and cause erratic emotions. It also makes the throat extremely itchy, but that's not particularly important, so let's skip it. Anyway, I spread it in the city, so people who lost their families to the demons will go mad and start riots. I thought that by gradually stirring things up, I could bring down the human city. Unfortunately, since there was no significant damage from the demons you released, the plan failed~."
The woman shook her head regretfully and then smiled.
"But I heard that the assistant's ability can control the organisms that the demons parasitize. Manipulating people to cause chaos is enough to disrupt the city, so the plan doesn't change much. However, to extend her ability beyond that annoying wall, a kind of transmitter is needed. That's what's inside the pearl you're holding."
Finally, the woman stopped talking.
The girl, looking at her with tired eyes, asked after a moment,
"Your goal... is to destroy the human city?"
The woman smiled and replied,
"Well, if I have to state a goal, my ultimate aim is world domination. Destroying the human city is just a step towards that."
The girl asked, as if it didn't matter,
"Then, wouldn't it be faster to just ask me to destroy the city?"
The girl said this.
Though she found it troublesome, she had the ability to do so.
Even the hero of the dwarves, clad in mithril armor said to be crafted by the greatest artisan in history, posed no threat to her.
Even the attempt to destroy the underground city and herself in a suicide attack only buried her underground without leaving a scratch.
So, it was clear that humans had no ability to harm her.
A being from long ago, who had caused many to despair.
The woman, smiling, replied to the Lazy Witch's words,
"I don't plan to. If it's too easy, it loses its value."
The woman's eyes glowed quietly under her hood.
"I want to watch my plan unfold gradually. When and how they will die. To see all of that, I can't take the easy way out. You might not understand why I'm willing to endure such a troublesome process, but that's okay."
The girl muttered,
"......I don't completely fail to understand."
Recalling the emotions she felt back then, when she found interest in her mundane life.
The woman smiled at the girl's words,
"Oh, really? That's great! Anyway, I'm counting on you! You're the only one who can go in and out of there without any hindrance. Don't take too long to release it, or it will be too troublesome."
The girl, who had been planning to take her time because it was troublesome, clicked her tongue and said,
"......Take me to the outskirts of the city."
The woman smiled, and the hole above their heads, which had been blocking the rain, descended and swallowed both of them.
As if to bid farewell to the two who had disappeared, the cry of the giant demon that had been carrying the girl echoed through the rain.