Book excerpt: When someone unravels the wand wall, the cornerstone of the capital’s defenses, apprentice wandmaker Ix is all but forced to investigate the perpetrator and determine their identity. Fortunately, he won’t be going it alone—both his friend Yuui and her classmate Nova tag along to lend their assistance. The few clues the trio can find lead them to a forest on the outskirts of a rural village, where a man eating, immortal witch is said to dwell. As the case and the investigators’ attachment to it grow more complex, though, and the harvest festival where the witch takes her victims draws nearer, what shocking revelations will come to light...?