The Gray Witch
She really did leave me behind and go out. From the conversation we’d exchanged, it seemed like something serious had happened, so I could only watch her back as she hurried down the stairs. After all, following her this far had been my own decision, so I couldn’t blame her as she dashed off, repeatedly calling out, “Berry, I’m sorry! I’ll be right back!” Urgent matters could come up for anyone. I wasn’t some moody teenager who would sulk just because priorities had been temporarily shifted. I was an adult, after all. Besides, she hadn’t left me completely alone. Though the person who remained was a stranger, she appeared to be one of Nia’s acquaintances.
“Hello.”
The first to break the awkward silence was the woman with short gray hair, sitting at a slight angle.
“Hello.”
I answered reflexively, and while doing so I quietly set the paper bag I’d brought into the corner. The woman, who had been watching me with a steady gaze, rose from her seat. Her movements were as leisurely as her expression suggested.
“You’re Nia’s guest?”
“...I suppose that’s close enough.”
“‘Close enough’? What an ambiguous answer.”
“──.”
Ambiguous or not, it couldn’t be helped. Our relationship wasn’t really one that deserved to be called a guest-host connection. To Nia, it probably felt more like she’d picked up one pitiful stray cat.
When I simply stared at her in silence, the woman let out a soft “huhuhu” laugh, as if something amused her, brushed the dust from her clothes, and asked again.
“Your name?”
“It’s Berry.”
“How cute. I’m Meida Ren. I’m the owner here.”
“The owner…?”
“That’s right. I run the shop on the first floor. At least on paper.”
Was that code for being a figurehead? I couldn’t guess why she would tell a stranger something like that on their first meeting, but she didn’t seem bothered by it at all. I’d seen plenty of people who lived without much ambition before, so I decided to let it pass.
“You’re a doll, aren’t you?”
“No, I’m not.”
“Oh my, that can’t be right. You’re practically radiating doll scent.”
What on earth was “doll scent” supposed to mean? My mood sank slightly, but I didn’t protest beyond the denial. The woman tilted her head with clear interest as she studied me.
“A doll that denies being a doll. Nia really has brought home another peculiar one.”
Before I could answer, she pulled something from her waist. I flinched, thinking I was under attack, but it was pointless. She had already turned her gaze toward the disastrous state of the room and continued speaking.
“Still, this is hardly a suitable environment for greeting a guest.”
We’ll have to start with repairs. Muttering to herself like that, she waved the slender wand in her hand through the air. The motion resembled a conductor directing an orchestra, yet something about it felt entirely different. The most extreme difference was the blue magic circle that bloomed in the empty space, guided by a gesture that seemed to contain no power at all.
One layer appeared first. Then another. In the end, five overlapping circles with varied patterns materialized, bathing the entire house in radiant light.
“It reconstructs broken objects based on the caster’s memory. A rather difficult piece of magic.”
Meida glanced at me as I stared with wide eyes at the sudden display of supernatural ability. A spark of mischief flickered in her gaze. At that moment, fragments scattered in every direction rose into the air. The table became a table again, the sofa a sofa, the walls became walls once more, all returning to where they belonged. It was a mystical sight, as if time itself were being rewound.
“Ah.”
With a deflating sound, the blue radiance vanished abruptly. The fragments that had been halfway back to their proper places dropped straight to the floor. The result was an interior that looked exactly the same as it had before the spell was cast.
“......”
It was so absurd I couldn’t even laugh. I stared at Meida Ren, wondering if she was performing some kind of one-woman comedy routine. She tilted her head with not the slightest hint of embarrassment and said,
“Looks like I was short on mana after all. Hey, doll girl over there. Mind if I borrow you for a moment?”
“......Pardon?”
I had no chance to say anything more. She strode forward with quick, decisive steps—completely unlike her earlier languid movements—and abruptly shoved me against the nearest wall. There was no way her strength alone could have moved me, yet I found myself stepping back, overwhelmed by her sheer momentum.
“──Um, excuse me?”
By the time the flustered words left my mouth, my back was already pressed against the wall. So this was what people called a wall slam. Right in front of me stood a woman with one elbow braced against the wall above my head, leaning in so close that she could look down directly into my face. Up close, her deathly pale skin and unfocused black eyes looked even more intimidating. My body froze solid. I was trembling while clutching the metal pipe to my chest when she whispered, wearing what could only be described as a sadistic smile.
“It won’t hurt. It’ll only take a moment. Lend me some of your strength.”
“What the…”
There was no time to ask what she meant. The woman, her face inches from mine, suddenly pressed her lips against my own.
A sweet scent flooded my nose. Fruit candy? The fragrance painted that image in my mind, and for the briefest instant I staggered, intoxicated by the aroma.
“Yes, the performance is definitely reliable.”
Even while my mind reeled, I heard her voice. When I came back to myself, Meida Ren’s face had already pulled away. She licked her lips and gazed at me with seductive eyes. If I hadn’t instinctively clenched my teeth in defense, she looked fully prepared to push her tongue inside as well.
This woman was insane. Was this lesbian behavior? A yuri enthusiast? In a situation like this, I supposed I should be grateful my mind was still that of a man. While I struggled to decide how to even process what had just happened, my vision suddenly dropped downward. Only then did I realize my legs had given out and I had collapsed onto the floor.
“Sorry. But it’s always harder to create than to destroy. Repairing things takes several times more effort, after all.”
My body had no strength left. The frame that had felt energetic enough to fly after drinking water now felt completely drained, as if its battery had died. Leaning against the wall while sitting on the floor, I barely managed to turn my head and watch Meida Ren’s back as she walked toward the center of the devastated room.
And then.
A strange sonic wave resonated through my entire body, accompanied by a rising blue radiance that swallowed the room.
“Wow.”
Meida Ren’s voice followed, unable to hide her astonishment. I was shocked as well. The scene unfolding before me was on an entirely different level from what had happened moments earlier. Every fragment of furniture, even the tiniest pieces, floated into the air and raced back to their original positions with ferocious speed. If the previous attempt had been like watching a video in 1x reverse, the current spectacle was easily 10x speed.
As a result, the house was completely restored in roughly five seconds. It looked as though time had literally been turned backward.
“Not bad at all. So magic really is affected by the quality of the mana used. How interesting, battery girl.”
She set the slender wand on the now-pristine table and spoke in that tone. With her hands thrust into the pockets of her thin white coat, she was beginning to give off the distinct impression of a mad scientist.
“──It’s Berry.”
“Battery as a nickname doesn’t sound half bad.”
“I’ll have to decline.”
“Is that so? Too bad. I thought it was a rather good one.” She muttered to herself, then approached me again.
“Are you upset? Because of the kiss earlier?”
“......”
“Oh my, how adorable. It’s basically like saying hello. It was nothing more than a means of absorbing mana, after all.”
It might be a casual greeting to you, lady, but it’s seriously bad for my sensibilities. Even after what had happened at the entrance, I had never imagined I would be pounced on by another woman. The one silver lining at this point was that my mind was male. It had come out of nowhere, but being forcibly kissed by a beauty didn’t feel like a total loss if I framed it that way. Maybe I really shouldn’t have followed Nia. Perhaps the correct choice would have been to drink the water, say a proper goodbye, and find my own path.
But regret always arrived too late.
“I’m always in Nia’s debt. It’s been a while since she asked me for a favor, so I’d like to earn some praise from her while I’m at it.”
The frightening woman took another step closer as she spoke.
“Don’t worry, dear. I’ve never raised a child, but I know the theory perfectly. So leave everything to me. Shall we wash up first? Big sister will help you.”
She was looking at my dress, which had dried somewhat but was still damp.
“......Just leave me alone. I can manage by myself.”
Under normal circumstances I would have answered that there was no need to wash at all. But after already being taken advantage of once, my mind was in such a daze that I gave that foolish reply.
“With your legs this weak, how do you expect to manage alone? Come now. Don’t worry.”
“───?!”
Meida Ren scooped me up from the floor with both arms. The way she hooked her hands under my armpits made me look exactly like a cat being lifted by its owner.
“...Put me down.”
“Sorry, but I need to remove your clothes first.”
“......Please spare me.”
“Goodness! Why would you say it like that? I’m not going to eat you.”
“Nia…. Where are you?”
“Don’t worry. She’ll be back soon. That child really does keep her promises.”
“───”
I probably didn’t cry. There was no way a grown adult would whimper in fear just because a woman was pushing her around. Yes, that’s probably right. When the zipper on the back of my dress opened and I was finally forced to raise my arms as the garment was stripped away, the scream that tore out definitely hadn’t come from me. “Kyaaak”? How embarrassing for a man.