Chapter 95: Winter
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 95: Winter
The moment I quickly led the two of them out of the Adventurer's Guild, Hekaterina roughly shook off my hand and yelled.
“What the hell? What’s with you all of a sudden!?”
“…There was a witch.”
“What? A witch?”
At my words, Hekaterina glanced back inside the Adventurer's Guild. Then, tilting her head as if something was strange, she looked back at me.
“I don’t see anyone who looks like a witch.”
“Don’t make eye contact. It’ll be a problem if we’re spotted.”
“Ha! Hey. Even if she’s some witch, you think I’d go down that easily? We have two witches on our side—”
“So did they.”
At the fact that there were two witches, Hekaterina clamped her mouth shut and hesitated for a moment. But as if embarrassed by her own hesitation, she immediately scowled and began to glare fiercely at me.
“So? We have to run because there are two of them? Are you kidding me? Do you not know who I am?”
“I do. And I know you’re not one to lose easily. But that’s not the issue.”
“Then what is?”
“If that witch takes an interest in me, and they somehow end up in our cabin… that makes seven. The number of witches I’ll have to deal with.”
“…You’re insane.”
Hekaterina let out a hollow laugh after hearing my serious concern. She muttered things like that would never happen, and that Evangeline wouldn’t try to increase the number any further since there were already too many.
As she spoke, she tried to dismiss my discovery of the witch as a simple mistake.
“In the first place, why would a witch be in a place like this—and how did you spot a witch that even I couldn’t find right away?”
“Ah, that? She was pretty. So she must be a witch.”
“…What?”
“What? Why? It’s surprisingly accurate. If a woman is beautiful, there’s a high probability she’s a witch.”
Besides, the two I saw earlier were twins. The probability of beautiful women with a distinct feature like being twins not being witches was even lower.
However, Hekaterina started to get angry, questioning how I could possibly find a witch with such a ridiculous method.
I felt a little wronged, but getting out of here was more important than clearing up the misunderstanding.
The two witches who had met Yohan’s gaze, Linna and Linne, looked at each other and smiled.
“It’s him, right?”
“…Yeah.”
“A man with two witches in tow… How interesting.”
The two had met countless people in their lives, but it was rare to see a single man with two women accompanying him like lovers.
For him to be with not just ordinary women, but two witches, meant that there was something special about Yohan, something that set him apart from others.
A special ability that kept even witches from leaving his side.
“The composite sketch? Did you make it?”
“…”
“Answer me.”
“Mhm.”
Linna frowned at Linne, who didn’t even bother to reply. This damn witch. If she weren’t her twin sister—and if her magic wasn’t absolutely necessary to remove her own curse, she would have ditched her long ago…
“Well, since he came to the Adventurer’s Guild, he’ll probably be back soon. Let’s talk to him then.”
“…Mhm.”
With that, the two witches set off to complete the quest the Adventurer’s Guild had given them. A job like this was essential for them to blend in and live among ordinary people.
For witches who could secure neither an identity nor anyone to vouch for them, being an adventurer was a truly excellent profession.
Two months had passed since I encountered the witches at the Adventurer’s Guild in that city. It was now time to start preparing for winter.
The frosty morning air was sharp enough to cut the skin, and even the monsters were disappearing one by one as they went into hibernation.
Winter had arrived.
“Teacher, what do witches usually do during the winter?”
“They just hole up in their cabins… doing research, reading books. It’s all the same, really.”
“I thought witches would be a little different.”
“Why would witches be any different?”
Thud. My teacher closed the book she was reading and grinned at me.
“Shall we do something special this year, then?”
“Like what?”
“Let’s see. Since we have so many witches gathered, shall we hold a festival, like a Witches’ Night? Or maybe we could make this winter last forever—ah, burning down a city for those who lack firewood wouldn’t be a bad idea either!”
“…Teacher, how about we just do nothing?”
At my words, my teacher gave a bitter, disappointed smile before turning her gaze back to her book. I passed the time stroking Beatrice, who was asleep on top of me, as if petting a cat.
On Earth, spending time so meaninglessly was considered a sin. The world progressed at an astonishingly fast pace, and just standing still meant you were falling behind.
But this world was different. The world didn’t change that much. Yesterday was the same as tomorrow, and last year was the same as next year.
A world of suffocating stillness.
I was beginning to understand, at least vaguely, why the medieval period on Earth was called the Dark Ages.
“By the way, what about Fenrir?”
“Fenrir? Why do you ask?”
“It’s winter. Won’t he be cold?”
“He’ll be fine. I cast a spell on his territory before I left. Of course, even without that, a spirit animal like Fenrir is a creature that doesn’t feel the cold—”
As she was speaking, my teacher looked at me, genuinely surprised. Her expression seemed to ask if I already knew. When I gave her a look of complete confusion, she tilted her head and asked again.
“Did you know?”
“Huh? What do you mean…?”
“You didn’t. Alright, then that’s fine.”
Closing her eyes, she let out a low groan, then began to sigh heavily as she reached for her robe. Seeing her about to go out, I started to get up to follow, but she waved her hands dismissively.
“I’ll go alone. You stay here.”
“But…”
“I said it’s fine. If you feel that bad, could you prepare some warm tea for me?”
Watching my teacher leave immediately after saying that, I was filled with questions. I wondered what could possibly be so urgent.
But that question soon evaporated, due to an unfounded faith that whatever had happened, it would be resolved quickly now that my teacher was on the case.
‘There’s no way my teacher would be in danger going alone…’
I set Beatrice down from my lap and started boiling water for my teacher’s return.
A biting, frost-laced wind blew, and Evangeline hugged herself lightly to warm up.
“It’s cold… I want to get inside and have some tea. You too, right?”
The Witch of Love spoke as she looked up. An unidentifiable creature with bizarrely twisted limbs looked down at Evangeline, its head tilting with a creaking sound.
Its appearance was much like that of a long-armed ape.
Evangeline looked past the ape before her and toward her familiar, collapsed in the distance.
“Fenrir.”
[M-Master… I’m sorry.]
“For you to be taken down like this… Is it that strong?”
[No, I was taken by—]
—Kizccccc!!
Just then, the ape-like monster that had defeated Fenrir let out a scream not of this world and charged at her.
It was a shriek that made her want to cover her ears, so Evangeline clamped her hands over them and squeezed her eyes shut.
As the massive body moved, a cutting wind struck her eyes.
“Agh, my eyes sting.”
—Cik, Zukueee……?
The cackling ape-like monster realized something was wrong and looked down at Evangeline. It had swung its arm with all its might, yet this small human was somehow unharmed.
Only then did the monster realize its arm was twisted in a bizarre direction—that it was broken so severely it was noticeable, even on a limb that was already strangely contorted. The monster shrieked.
—G, Kuuuuuueeeee!!
“Be quiet.”
Evangeline swung the edge of her hand at the screaming monster, and the creature died on the spot.
Brushing the blood and dust from her body, Evangeline walked over to Fenrir, who was lying on the ground, bleeding.
“So, what were you saying?”
[…It was a surprise attack. That thing wasn’t alone. There’s an enemy hiding somewhere—]
“Aha—are you talking about them?”
She whipped her head in a certain direction. Then, looking at the two women beyond, she grinned.
Floating into the air, Evangeline flew straight toward them.
Linna and Linne. The twin witches had waited for Yohan for two months. They had been able to find out where he worked as an adventurer, when he had started, and what his name was.
But where he lived and when he would come to the Adventurer’s Guild—those two things they couldn’t figure out.
Then, by chance, they spotted Yohan in another city and realized he had a witch with him who could freely traverse space. They immediately began to tail him.
“How about it? Where is he now?”
“…Nearby.”
“Nearby, you say.”
They had bought the corpse of the monster Yohan had sold and collected the traces left on it. With those traces, they created a magic tool to pinpoint Yohan’s location.
Following the magic tool into the midwinter forest, they felt a moment of sober reflection. They didn’t know why they were going to such lengths.
They just wanted to. It was the wisdom of having lived a long life: do what you want, when you want to.
Following Yohan, the two witches discovered a monster in the forest.
“Whoa, what is that? Why is it so big?”
“…Dangerous.”
“I know. Linne, make a monster.”
“Okay…”
Soon, Linne created a monster modeled after a long-armed ape and sent it charging toward Fenrir.
While the two monsters were locked in an even fight, Linna took aim at Fenrir with the rifle she had brought.
A magic bullet, imbued with a witch’s power, pierced Fenrir’s vital spot, and the ape-like monster finished him off in the opening that created.
“Seriously, why does that guy live in a place like this?”
“Yeah…”
Linna looked at the fallen Fenrir with an expression of disbelief. Why would anyone wander through a forest where such a large monster roamed freely?
Having dealt with the dangerous monster, the two immediately pinpointed Yohan’s location and started heading there.
Or rather, they were about to.
“…What the hell is that.”
“…Uh.”
A witch who appeared late on the scene dealt with the monster they had created in an instant and was now flying straight toward them.
At the terrifying sight, Linna fired her rifle wildly and shouted.
“Run, Linne!”
“Okay…!”
A chase began in the dead of winter.