Chapter 22

**Chapter Twenty-Two** of the fourth volume of the *Witch Hat Atelier* manga series.

## Summary

Outside of the cave, Coco and Tetia are flying around with their Sylph Shoes. Due to Coco's precision with her own shoes she's considerably faster, which surprises both Tetia and Qifrey. He then realizes that the time that Agott nearly crashed into him with her shoes was because of how straight the lines of the glyphs were. He mentioned that if she still uses them, that shows that Agott is interested in Coco's magic, which astounds Coco.
Just then, Qifrey spots a hat wobbling through the air and grabs it, immediately identifying it as Alaira's and expressing his concern. He tells the girls that since hats are so precious to witches, sending it to them is an indicator that something unfavourable took place. Qifrey wonders if they encountered a Brimmed Cap witch, and Coco questions him if their friends inside will be okay. He tells them that he'll call in Olruggio to take Coco and Tetia back to his atelier, while he contacts the Auditorium and goes inside the cave to investigate. Suddenly, the road behind them contorts and crashes, sending the trio falling downwards.

Qifrey holds the two girls as he takes in his surroundings, and realizes that they may have been attacked by a golem, which comes from ancient and forbidden magic. A large rock strikes him, and he seems to be losing consciousness.

   Meanwhile in the cave, Agott, Euini, and Richeh are running from the Brimmed Cap witch pursuing them. Euini uses his modified cloak to shield the two girls and their Myrphons to hide. He is attacked by the Myrphons since he doesn't have the original Mirror Cloak on, and that seems to alert the Birmmed Cap witch of their presence. They vanish, which surprises the kids, but then creates a spell that nearly pulls Euini towards them. Richeh uses a Wall Breaker Seal to free him, and the trio continue to run away. Agott has a brief moment of worry, and wonders to herself how they could ever fight the Brimhat if even Alaira couldn't defend herself. Then, she gets the idea to freeze the rest of the entire path similar to how Alaira crossed the gap from before, so they could escape faster. They use the tiles from the path, freeze the path, and Agott pushes them with the aid of her Sylph Shoes. Euini and Richeh keep the ice frozen with Euini's pre-made spells.

Agott wonders why they've been interrupted now of all times, and thinks about how the Brimmed Cap witch attacking them is most likely because of Coco being around. As she thinks about it more, she suddenly stops pushing them along the path and turns around to face the Brimmed Cap Witch. She yells at them, stating that the person that they're searching for isn't with them. She lies to them, stating that Coco's memory was wiped and she was sent home, so there isn't any point in pursuing the kids. The Brimmed Cap witch ignores her and pounces on top of Agott, pinning her onto the ground and calling her bluff.

Euini and Richeh attempt to run in to save her, but they're blocked off by the Brimmed Cap witch using ice magic as a barrier. Agott notes that she can smell ink as the Brimcap continues to ridicule her while she struggles to break free. The Brimmed Cap witch goes on about how Forbidden Magic is their salvation, while highlighting each of the apprentice's weak points. Their cloak begins to squeeze Agott's neck, as they reveal that they plan to use her to get Coco to use Forbidden Magic.

## Characters by Appearance

* Coco
* Tetia
* Qifrey
* Brushbuddy
* Agott
* Euini
* Richeh
* Sasaran

## References

1. ↑ *Witch Hat Atelier* Manga: **Chapter 22**, Page 9