The Swamp Witch
The next day, I loaded ten boar skins onto Yan and left the village.
After two days, we reached the Yakubi Estate and met the security chief, Joseph.
Joseph smiled and handed over a pouch.
“You worked hard, Sir Ion. Thanks to you, the village’s farming worries have eased for years. The state of the boar skins is excellent, and Lord will be very pleased.”
“Thank you.”
I tucked the pouch into my pocket and continued.
“Any inquiries regarding the witch?”
“The witch, you say?”
“Yes. On the way, I heard rumors about her.”
“Haha, the witch stories always circulate as rumors. It seems about once a month someone reports in. But from what I know, there hasn’t been any proper story so far.”
There were plenty of rumors, but to the security chief, they didn’t sound like real ones.
“As expected.”
“Indeed, a real witch is hard to come by compared to a wizard. We have a large lake and a lot of swamp in Yakubi, so those stories spread easily.”
“I see.”
“Rest well after your hard work.”
“Yes, of course.”
We exchanged greetings and left the lord’s estate.
No matter how I thought about it, the witch talk had just been idle gossip.
I knew it couldn’t be true, but the curiosity about the very existence of a witch burned stronger within me.
So I felt a little disappointed.
I rented a room again at Morita’s inn where I had stayed during my previous job.
I led Yan to the stable, gave him fresh vegetables and fruits as snacks, and then went into the restaurant with Lotte.
The moment we stepped inside, owner Morita greeted us with a knowing smile.
“Welcome. Back again, I see.”
I nodded and pointed at Lotte.
“That’s right. Give me a meal and plenty of bones with meat for this fellow.”
“Yes, understood.”
Morita smiled at Lotte wagging her tail, went into the kitchen, and soon brought out stew, bread, and beer without needing to prepare anything special.
I first took care of Lotte’s meal, tore off a piece of bread, and dipped it in the stew.
While doing so, Morita wiped a nearby table with a cloth and asked,
“Where did the knight go?”
“I went to the lower village and caught boars for a month.”
“Oh! The knight caught boars?”
“That’s right.”
“Wait just a moment!”
Morita disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a slice of tempting apple pie.
“My wife is from that village. Our relatives are still living there. They used to suffer every year because of the boars, but you relieved their worry. There’s nothing else to repay, but today’s pie is delicious. Please try some.”
“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”
I took a bite of the pie.
There aren’t many sweet things in this world besides fruit.
Among them, apples are one of the sweetest, and when sliced fine and made into a pie, the sweetness becomes even stronger.
For the first time in a while, I enjoyed a sweet dessert with a good feeling and washed my mouth with beer when a knight approached.
“Excuse me.”
The knight looked to be in his forties, neatly dressed though a bit worn, in well-maintained armor.
“What is the matter?”
“I am Marcello Bastos of Salama Territory in the Basc Kingdom.”
“I am Ion Rise from Badfeld.”
The Basc Kingdom sat right beside Badfeld Kingdom.
I had been moving along the eastern outskirts of Badfeld, so I hadn’t seen many people from other kingdoms in a while. The five kingdoms in the central region actually visited one another frequently.
“While eating, I overheard the innkeeper and Sir Ion talking. It seems you completed the inquiry the security chief gave you?”
I frowned.
“That’s correct, but why do you ask?”
“My squire and I went to the security chief for an inquiry as well, but someone said you received it first.”
“Are you here to pick a fight over it?”
At my cautious question, Marcello smiled and got to the point.
“Not at all. I just came to ask if you have any other work to do.”
“What kind of work?”
“Wait here a moment.”
Marcello pointed at a young man standing awkwardly in the back. The sturdy man in his twenties wore a gambeson instead of armor.
“Here is my squire.”
“I am Jose, squire of Sir Marcello.”
Jose bowed his head slightly and began speaking at once.
“We arrived later than you, Sir Ion, and collected stories about the surrounding area. That’s when we heard the rumors about the witch.”
So they had heard the same rumors as me.
“Of course, we don’t know if she’s a real witch. It’s probably just idle gossip. They call her the Swamp Witch.”
“Swamp Witch?”
“Yes. From what I learned, the witch is originally an herbalist. She lives in a swamp, an environment perfect for various poisonous and medicinal herbs.”
People treat wounds and illnesses with folk remedies, and herbs are the most common method.
The Cloud Bridge village where I stayed previously was one such place that grew these herbs.
Apart from that, there are many small villages at the foot of mountains where people grow or gather herbs.
But herbs are medicine when used properly, poison when used wrongly.
Herbalists are a kind of professional who selects herbs suitable for people’s illnesses or wounds and combines them with the proper methods to sell them.
The problem is their skills differ greatly, which often causes accidents.
If someone dies from taking the wrong medicine, they won’t be held responsible.
Still, the possibility exists that they can cure the illness, so people risk it and take the herbs.
“If she’s an herbalist, she might be mistaken for a witch. But that alone shouldn’t make her called a witch, right?”
“There are many who ate herbs made by the witch and died, but there are also many who side with her, they say. Some think that makes her a seducer of people. Naturally, the lord should investigate or arrest her and punish the crime…”
It could have been a misunderstanding, or someone planted false rumors to twist the truth, or the story simply swelled with exaggeration.
No matter the cause, once the word “witch” spreads, caution is unavoidable.
“You’re uneasy because of the rumors.”
“Yes, that’s right. The inquiry is to arrest the herbalist called the witch.”
“Not to kill her and bring her back?”
“Yes, investigation comes first.”
“Hmm…”
No big reluctance, since it wasn’t to just drag her head back after killing her but to investigate.
Jose finished speaking and stepped back. Marcello asked.
“What do you think?”
“Hmm. Let’s go. I want to see the face of that herbalist.”
The curiosity had grown from listening to rumors again and again. I wanted to confirm it myself.
* * *
I prepared and decided to leave together two days later.
Herbs can be medicine or poison, depending on how they’re used.
To go to such a place, I needed to prepare carefully.
The next day, I went to the herb market stall.
I bought calming herbs to steady the mind and reduce chaos, silver-leaf herbs to protect the stomach and neutralize poisons, and Isae leaves that calm burned or bitten skin and drive away insects when burned. I had experience with the latter in Cloud Bridge village.
I also bought a small amount of detoxification medicine with expensive stone-root herbs used for hemostasis, fever, and poison neutralization.
I bought powder hemostasis remedies and remedies for stomach cramps too.
I wasn’t an expert on herbs or poisons, but I bought them using my pre-regression experience.
As long as they weren’t a poison I couldn’t handle, these herbs should prove life-saving.
But while at the herb stall, I heard the story of the witch.
“You’re going to catch Rina?”
“Do you know her?”
Since the knight bought many herbs, the old woman selling them, Greta, asked the reason in a subtle way, and when I said it was about the witch, she feigned ignorance.
“We supplied herbs to her store once. When the woman said the herbs kill people, we were terrified and threw everything away.”
“Have you visited the lord often?”
“Not often. Usually, a friend who works with me brings herbs. There are many herb gatherers who live alone in the mountains or swamps and avoid people as much as possible.”
Greta stroked Lotte while answering.
Lotte was already huge enough to be mistaken for a wolf, but because of her red fur, people didn’t realize it was a wolf and were surprisingly unafraid. Of course, those who liked her immediately turned their bellies over after seeing her fierce side.
“Then you’ve never seen her?”
“I’ve been there a few times. I know her face. A young woman with blonde hair, ordinary-looking.”
“A young woman? It’s a bit unusual for a young woman to gather herbs.”
“Yes. So I asked once. She said she’s been gathering and making herbs since she was a child. Thinking about it now, it feels like she’s the witch.”
A young woman selling herbs while living alone in a swamp had seemed suspicious.
“So, to your eyes, does that woman seem to be the witch?”
“How would we know? The lord’s secretary and his brother, the herbal wholesaler Ulrich, said it, so we think that’s it.”
It was the first time I’d heard this.
“The secretary and the wholesaler? Can we trust their words?”
“Oh, of course. They’re from a long-established family that’s lived in this Yakubi Estate for a long time. They have a good reputation, so we trust them.”
“Hmm. They seem like good people.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
I nodded, picked up the items, and left the herb stall.
I had heard about the secretary and the wholesaler, and something felt off in my chest.
The inquiry Marcello received seemed to have been given by the secretary, not the security chief.
The secretary wasn’t prohibited from giving inquiries, but for matters involving security, it was normal for the security chief to handle them.
Yet the secretary had given the inquiry, and his brother was an herbal wholesaler. It stank of something shady.
For now, I would go to the swamp and meet the woman called the witch.
* * *
The next day.
Marcello, Jose, and I left the Yakubi Estate.
Squire Jose led the way with a map, while Ion and Marcello followed on horseback, and Lotte came alongside Ion.
Two blue dots representing the two of us appeared on the map.
It took two days to reach the large lake east of Yakubi.
Starting on the second day, we dismounted and began walking the swampy outskirts. The swamp was filled with knee-high reeds, soft ground, and plenty of moisture.
After crossing a reed field for a day, the ground became a bit firmer and the area with more trees appeared, creating a dark, humid forest where leaves blocked the sunlight.
Jose, who had been leading, turned back uneasily.
“This inner part looks a bit dangerous.”
As Jose said, the dim forest looked ominous.
Marcello nodded and gave instructions.
“Don’t go too far ahead. There might be poison.”
“Yes? Yes, understood.”
The woman named Rina, called the witch, might use poison like Marcello said, even if she wasn’t a real witch, because she was an herbalist.
Thinking about the poison made Jose flinch, and he began slowly looking around, slowing our speed.
“That’s too slow.”
“B-But poison is scary.”
“Tch. You’re right.”
I listened to their conversation and felt an odd unease.
“By any chance, did you not bring any herbs or antidotes?”
Marcello and Jose looked at me as if I had said something strange.
“Even if we had medicine, we didn’t know how to use it, so we only brought hemostasis remedies.”
“Me too, same here.”
I thought about how the witch was an herbalist and could use poison, and wondered why we hadn’t brought antidotes.
But if we continued like this, it would take too much time, so I stepped forward.
“Then I’ll lead.”
I slung the herb bag on Yan onto my shoulder and told Lotte,
“Stay behind and guard Yan.”
―Woof!
I nodded at Lotte’s reply and advanced.
Marcello and Jose, following behind, exchanged glances, but I couldn’t see them.
I had no ability to detect poison.
But using my pre-regression experience, I focused on my body’s senses and walked forward, carefully observing my surroundings as much as possible.
After walking for half a day, I stopped.
Unlike the path I had come, a flower path full of flowers spread ahead. The flowers were large with yellow petals dotted red.
“Anyone would find this suspicious.”
“That’s right. It looks dangerous.”
I took a cloth from my pocket to cover my mouth and nose.
“We should tie the horses here.”
Marcello and Jose nodded, found cloths, tied them over their mouths like me, and tied the horses to a tree nearby.
I looked at Lotte and gave her a serious order.
“You guard these horses.”
―Woof! Woof!
Lotte barked in reply and stood firm, guarding her surroundings.
At that, Marcello asked,
“That dog looks smart, but is it okay?”
“It’s fine. It was the one that chased boars until recently. If only a boar-sized monster appears here, maybe, but otherwise it should be able to protect well.”
“Oh, is that so?”
The three of us stood in front of the flower path.
“I’ll go first, just like before. Keep your distance. If you feel confused or anything unusual happens to your body, speak immediately.”
“Understood.”
“Yes.”
Hearing their replies, I walked into the flower path.
Marcello and Jose smiled slyly, but I couldn’t see them.
I walked carefully past the yellow flowers, and as I passed the path, the flowers swayed. Pollen flew from the yellow flowers’ stamens.
‘Danger!’
I hurriedly took out the detoxification pills I had made and handed one each to Marcello and Jose.
“Don’t swallow it. Hold it in your mouth. And don’t breathe through your nose; only through your mouth.”
The two immediately took the pills, placed them in their mouths as I said, and tied the cloths over their mouths again.
While walking with the detoxification pills in my mouth, I felt a slight dizziness.
The flower field stretched even longer ahead.
While looking at the flower field, I watched my surroundings more closely.
If there was poison, something that neutralized it would likely be nearby.
While feeling dizzy and scanning around, I spotted a small flower with blue petals on a long stem.
Apart from that blue flower, there were no other standout flowers around.
I immediately plucked the flower and chewed it in my mouth.
The blue flower melted the moment it entered my mouth.
A sweet aftertaste remained.
I stopped for a moment and waited for the reaction.
The dizziness lessened.
I immediately found more blue flowers and handed them to Marcello and Jose.
The two were swaying more than I was.
“Chew the flowers quickly!”
The two chewed the flowers and soon stopped swaying, regaining their senses.
“Hmm… I- I feel like I’ve come back to myself. Are you okay?”
“…Y-Yes, I’m fine.”
I waited a moment longer and continued walking forward.
I kept walking until the day grew dark, passing through a red flower path and a purple flower path, just like the yellow one.
As expected, antidotes came with the poisons.
The detoxification pills I held in my mouth slowly melted and I swallowed them. I took the pills in my mouth a few more times.
Actually, the detoxification pills were expensive.
One pill cost ten silver. Ten silver was the monthly salary of a squire or a junior knight in the knight order.
After completing this inquiry, I planned to take back all of the money from Marcello and Jose.
Finally, we left the flower field.
There was a small pond, and beside it stood a cabin with the fire out.
This was it.
Marcello and Jose exchanged glances and stepped forward.
“Sir Ion. You’ve worked hard, so rest a little. We’ll lead.”
I sensed that their eyes had changed a little, but thinking it was just seriousness, I nodded.
“Understood.”
Marcello and Jose walked ahead first, approached the cabin, and after glancing inside from beside the door, they suddenly kicked the door open.
Bang!
Wait, isn’t entering so suddenly odd?
A woman’s scream came from inside.
“Aaaah!”
What did they do?