Chapter 8: The Mosquito
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 8: The Mosquito
Struggling with the broken water barrel, Evangeline tried using magic, but soon realized that no amount of it could fix it.
After all, magic was versatile, but not omnipotent. When it came to fixing a broken oak barrel, a carpenter was more suited for the job than a witch.
‘I suppose I’ll have to go to the village… It’s been a while.’
At the thought, a shadow fell over her face. The villagers respected her, a witch, as much as they could, but it was a respect born of fear.
They tried not to show their disgust in front of her, but they weren't perfect. A subtle grimace. Having been despised for hundreds of years, that was all it took for her to feel their aversion firsthand.
‘I don't want to go.’
Normally, even if she felt that way, she would have had no choice but to head to the village. Just because she was a witch didn't mean she could whip up anything and everything on her own.
But now, she didn't have to. Wasn't Yohan by her side? Her disciple, her assistant, her obedient slave.
She approached Yohan, who was blankly basking in the sun on the first floor.
“Yohan.”
“Yes, Teacher!”
“Go to the village for me tomorrow.”
“...The village?”
“Yes.”
Evangeline held out the broken plank from the barrel and spoke.
“Take this and get it fixed.”
How long had it been since I left that village? Not even a month. Thanks to that, the memories of working like a slave there were still vivid.
The villagers who'd beaten me over the slightest pretext... just thinking about them now made my hands tremble.
The trembling wasn't from fear. It was the exact opposite—a tremor mixed with rage and anticipation.
‘You fucking bastards, just you wait.’
They would never have imagined that the man they'd sold off as a sacrifice would return as a witch's disciple. When the unimaginable happens, they're bound to be shocked.
I could already picture the shocked faces of the villagers. With a spring in my step, I walked toward the village.
Before long, I arrived. I clutched my pounding chest and entered the village.
“Halt— Huh? Charles?”
“Charles? Is that you, Charles?”
Two young men standing guard at the village entrance approached. I knew their type all too well. A couple of good-for-nothing loafers who couldn't do anything right.
Their only job was to stand guard and keep monsters from the nearby forest out of the village, and they couldn't even do that properly.
“It's Yohan. Asshole.”
“...Asshole? You little shit, who do you think you're talking to so casually—”
“You have no idea where I've been, do you?”
There was nothing to be afraid of. It might have been different if they were at least holding weapons, but these guys were the type to leave even their weapons at home just to make their guard duty a little easier.
Sure enough, seeing my confidence, they must have figured I had some kind of backing. They shut their mouths and fell into deep thought.
“I heard you just ran away one day...”
“Ran away? Wow. So I'm some great hero who ran away into a forest full of monsters and survived for weeks? Does that make any sense to you?”
“No, then where have you been all this time...”
“Your oh-so-great village chief sold me to my Teacher. The one who lives in the cabin.”
Hearing the word ‘cabin,’ the two of them stiffened. There was only one cabin in this monster-infested forest.
The witch's cabin. The home of a witch whose very existence was terrifying. And I had just called her Teacher. If those things on their shoulders weren't just hat racks, they'd realize what that meant.
Indeed, seeming to guess what my relationship with the witch was, they began to tremble and break out in a cold sweat. And for good reason—I'd taken more beatings from those loafers than from anyone else.
I looked at the two trembling men and gave a slight smile.
“Go get that old geezer.”
Without a moment's hesitation, the two of them scrambled into the village at the same time.
A short while later, the village chief, who had apparently been dragged away from his vegetable garden, approached me. Having heard the situation from the two men, his attitude was extremely polite.
“Ha, hahaha—Yohan. To think you've become the witch's disciple, how on earth...”
“Enough of that. Hand over my stuff.”
“Y-your things...?”
“My clothes and my smartphone—you know, that rectangular mirror-like thing.”
Hearing this, the village chief's expression hardened as if troubled, and he scratched his cheek.
“Well... those things are already gone.”
“What!? No, do you have any idea what those things were...!?”
“I-I sold them to some merchants who came to the village. F-for two silver coins...”
“When?”
“A long time ago...”
Hearing that, I grabbed my forehead and sighed heavily. I didn't know much about the currency value in this world, but I knew that clothes made with modern technology and a smartphone weren't items that would sell for just a couple of silver coins.
It was an absurdly low price. An impossible price, unless the village chief had been scammed by the merchants, or he was trying to scam me.
I bet on the latter.
“You son of a bitch!”
CRACK—! I slammed my magic-infused fist into the wooden fence surrounding the village. CRUNCH— The tightly woven fence collapsed, and even the trees on either side of it tilted.
The villagers and the chief were shocked by the incredible sight, a feat impossible for a normal human.
I was shocked too.
‘Ah, no, fuck, why did it break...?’
I just tapped it, but it completely collapsed. I was bewildered. What if they tell me to fix it?
Before the chief or the villagers could bring it up, I cleared my throat a few times and spoke to the chief.
“Ahem, well, for now, hand over those two silver coins. And give me a water barrel, too.”
“Y-yes!? But—so suddenly...”
“So what? Should I just stop caring whether monsters show up from now on?”
“Aigoo—! Understood! I'll bring it right away!”
A short while later, the village chief reappeared with some of the village's young men. In their hands was a wooden barrel much larger than the one that had been at the cabin.
I glanced at the barrel and saw something sloshing inside. A quick sniff told me it was alcohol.
“This is the only spare barrel we have. Please forgive us...”
“Mm. Good.”
“And here are the silver coins you mentioned...”
“Very good.”
I took the pouch of silver coins and the barrel, nodded in satisfaction at the outcome, and left the village.
“Farewell. Try not to get wiped out.”
“Yes, of course.”
Receiving the chief's polite farewell to the very end, I headed back to the cabin in high spirits.
Watching Yohan appear out of nowhere, stir up trouble, and then leave, one of the young villagers became enraged.
“Th-that...! Village Chief. Should we go kill him right now?”
“No, don't do anything foolish.”
“But...”
“Besides—it's not much of a loss.”
“Huh? What do you mean...”
“Let's just leave it at that.”
With that, the village chief ordered the young men to repair the broken fence. Then he returned to his house, chuckling to himself.
‘Foolish boy. As if I'd sell such strange items for a mere two silver coins.’
He had sold all of Yohan's belongings—from his underwear and socks to his smartphone—and earned more than a gold coin's worth.
Of course, he hadn't told the other villagers, and all the money went straight into his own pocket.
‘And—unlike the witch, who's difficult to even talk to, this one is manageable if you humor him a bit. He's much easier to handle...’
Thinking this, the village chief returned to his vegetable garden.
‘He's probably thinking the same thing, isn't he?’
I flipped a silver coin from my pocket, guessing at the chief's thoughts. I'd only known him for a month, but it wasn't hard to read the mind of a greedy old geezer.
‘Well, he's not wrong...’
It couldn't be helped. The witch's cabin was fundamentally cut off from society, and the only connection she had was with that very village.
I couldn't just sever the connection with the village that Evangeline had likely maintained for ages. If possible, I had to make them think that having a witch nearby was to their advantage.
‘If there are witches, there must be clerics, right?’
Religion existed in this world, too. Even when I was working like a slave, they gave me one day off a week. Something about a religiously mandated day of rest.
And if religion existed, that meant the church existed. And from time immemorial, the church has been the natural enemy of witches.
What if the villagers got fed up with the witch's presence and ran to the church to report my Teacher? Hundreds, even thousands, of holy knights would immediately rush over and burn her at the stake.
‘Teacher, your disciple lives for you and you alone.’
Lost in these thoughts, I walked on and soon arrived at the cabin. I immediately carried the oak barrel full of alcohol inside.
“Teacher! Your unworthy disciple has returned!”
As if she had been expecting me, Evangeline, dressed in light clothing, slowly walked down from the second floor. Though her clothes were lighter, she still hadn't taken off her hood.
Feeling a slight bitterness at still being unable to see her face, I lightly held up the barrel of alcohol I'd brought from the village.
“Do you know what I brought? It's alcohol! Alcohol!”
“Oh... alcohol?”
“...You don't like alcohol?”
“No, I like it. Alcohol.”
She said she liked it, but I didn't miss her hesitant expression. Does she dislike alcohol? It's possible. A witch who's lived for hundreds of years would have had plenty of opportunities to drink.
And people cause trouble when they get drunk. A witch who's lived for hundreds of years has probably caused a lot of trouble. Each time, she must have resolved not to drink again.
“Looks like you don't like it. I'll go throw it out.”
“I said I like it, didn't I?”
“...Then why the reaction?”
“That's the alcohol from the village, right? The quality of their alcohol is a bit poor...”
“Ah...”
Only then did I realize why she'd reacted so hesitantly. If a friend had brought over some Filite, a cheap malt liquor, saying 'let's have a beer,' I probably would have had a similar reaction.
But for me, who'd been cut off from civilization for over a month, it didn't matter if it was malt liquor or watered-down swill. It was alcohol. The kind you drink until you're drunk and dead to the world.
“Teacher, may this disciple offer you a cup?”
“...Alright, it's been a while. I suppose I could have a glass.”
Saying so, Evangeline approached the dining table.
I immediately took out some cups and began to pour.
Lifting the filled cups, we made a light toast.
“Here's to my Teacher.”
“T-to me?”
Clink—.
Sweet alcohol flowed down my throat.
It was the first drink I'd had in a long time. The first in nearly two months...
Sure enough, it wasn't very good, just as she'd said. A bitter alcoholic taste rose up along with an unpleasant smell.
“Gulp—! Another round!”
I'm going to have a hell of a hangover.
The thought crossed my mind, but I didn't stop pouring.
“...Yohan, Yohan?”
Poke, poke. Someone was repeatedly prodding my body.
Forcing my deeply submerged brain to wake, I sat up.
“Ugh... who...”
“It's morning. Wake up.”
“...Teacher?”
“Yes, good morning.”
When I opened my eyes, my Teacher was standing before me, all bundled up. Unable to grasp the situation, I stared at her blankly for a moment before jumping to my feet.
I quickly washed my face and headed to the kitchen before her. To my surprise, she had already finished making breakfast.
“I prepared breakfast.”
“I-I'm sorry...”
“It's fine. That can happen when you drink.”
I wasn't a lightweight. Back on Earth, I used to drink high-proof original soju.
The problem must have been drinking it after a two-month break. Unable to hide my embarrassment, I hung my head.
“By any chance, did I make any mistakes last night...?”
“—Nothing happened. Yep, nothing at all.”
As Evangeline said this, she began to grip the robe she'd been holding even tighter. Through a gap where her robe wasn't fully closed, a bright red mark caught my eye.
“Teacher, did you get bitten by a mosquito?”
“H-huh?”
“There's a red mark on the nape of your neck...”
“Ah, uh, yes! There was a mosquito...”
“I see.”
“Food! Let's just eat!”
She started to change the subject, as if to escape the situation.
It didn't seem like a big deal, so I followed her lead and picked up my spoon.