The Witch's Fury
My head felt hazy. Like I was drunk… Did the barbecue have alcohol in it? Everything was spinning… I was tired… sleepy…
“Tell me. What happened?”
The witch’s face kept blurring in and out of focus. Her image scattered like fog. The witch’s…
“There’s this guy named Lucas… He’s my half-brother…”
“Half-brother?”
“Y-yeah… half-brother… I have a half-brother…”
“Did your half-brother spank your ass?”
“Uh… it wasn’t him who hit me… it was his subordinates.”
“Why did they hit you? You pathetic pushover.”
“Pushover… pushover… Yeah… I’m a total pushover… Lucas keeps taking everything that’s mine. He’s been doing it since we were kids… and he still does it now…”
“So you went and stood up to him?”
“Yeah… I went to complain, and he ordered them to beat my ass… It hurt so much.”
“Wow. I’ve never seen anyone worse than me.”
The witch slammed her fist down on the table in a fit of rage. Thud—
The sharp sound jolted me awake. The table had split clean in half.
“Whoa, whoa. What the hell? Why are you suddenly like this?”
“Huh? There was a fly.”
“So you smashed the table over a fly?”
“If there’s a fly, shouldn’t you smash the table?! Or not?!”
The witch thrust her fist forward. Shards of crushed wood clung to her knuckles.
So that’s what would happen to me if I messed up? I decided to agree with her no matter what.
“You’re right… If a fly lands on it, you have to smash it.”
“Exactly. So if you don’t want to end up like that table, you’d better treat me well.”
“Y-yeah… But what if the fly is stuck on the wall of the house?”
“Smash it.”
If even a single fly got into the house, I had no idea what kind of disaster would follow. It was terrifying. I pictured the house collapsing under the power of her fly-fist technique.
“Please don’t. I worked really hard to build this place.”
“Pfft. How cute.”
The witch muttered something incomprehensible, then kicked her chair back and stood up.
“Clean up and come inside. I’ll head in first.”
“Okay. Get some rest.”
“Hurry up and come in. I’m cold.”
Again with that tone that almost sounded like she was worried about me. Disgusting. All she ever thought about was using me somehow. What a hypocrite.
Once the witch left, I was left staring at the wreckage. How was I supposed to deal with a broken dining table…?
It was made from thirty-year-old oyster mushroom wood. I’d spent an entire week crafting it. A table full of memories. I’m sorry… You got stuck with the wrong owner…
I decided to repurpose it as firewood and dragged it aside. Even cleaning up felt like too much work. I washed up quickly and went inside the house.
It was pitch black. The witch had already put out the lights.
I was about to lie down on the floor when she spoke.
“Come up here.”
“Me?”
“Yeah. Get on the bed.”
Her voice was low and quiet. I hesitated, feeling dazed.
“What are you doing? Why aren’t you coming up?”
What was she planning? For some reason, a praying mantis suddenly popped into my head. The male praying mantis. It was well known that after mating, the female would devour the male.
Mating… Was this that moment…? The perfect time for egg-laying. It all lined up too perfectly.
The witch must have come here pretending to be injured so she could mate with me and then eat me. Reproduction!
The villagers had warned me to be suspicious whenever the witch acted nice. Today really had been strange. She actually listened to me talk about myself more than usual. Normally, with her personality, she wouldn’t have left me even a single pig’s trotter. She’d eaten two whole sets.
Had she saved some for after mating so she could eat me afterward? What a wicked woman.
My mind had been foggy ever since earlier. That evil bitch. I had to run. I couldn’t die like this…
I carefully began backing away.
Thud. Thump.
Damn it… I tripped over my own feet while trying to retreat and fell flat on my ass. What an idiot. Even when I needed to run for my life, I still acted like a moron.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
The witch sat up. When she saw me sprawled on the floor, her face twisted into a pout.
“Ah…? I think I left something outside…”
“Leave it and just come up here.”
“N-no, it’s really important—”
“Just come up here.”
“…Fine.”
You pig. You just ate wild boar, didn’t you? I don’t taste good, I swear.
Tears began to well up in my eyes. Sniff… sniff… I didn’t want to die like this…
I climbed onto the bed. Tears rolled down my cheeks.
“Hey. What are you doing? Are you crying?”
“I-I’m not crying…”
“What’s with the pathetic act? Is it because of that Lucas guy or whatever? I’ll scold him for you. Stop it.”
“Hic… That son of a bitch Lucas…”
“Come here.”
Fuck… This was all because of her. Please save me. I don’t want to die yet.
Overwhelmed with sorrow, I threw myself into the witch’s arms and cried. I was on the verge of death. I couldn’t see anything anymore. I simply buried my face in the witch’s chest and sobbed.
Soft… so soft.
“Hic… I don’t want to die…”
“There, there. You pathetic loser. Let’s go to the village tomorrow.”
“Hic… You’re going to kill me. How can I go to the village?”
“Why would I kill you?”
“You’re not going to kill me?”
“What are you even saying?”
I stopped crying. Wait… Did that mean she only wanted to mate?
“Is that true? But… I’ve never done that before.”
My heart fluttered. Mating with a witch? I’d be a successful man. I pulled off my t-shirt. The moment I reached for my pants—
“What the hell have you been doing by yourself all this time?”
The witch stared at me with an incredulous expression.
“Huh? Getting ready for that, obviously.”
“That?”
“Yeah… You’re a virgin too, right? So we’d both be each other’s first?”
“First?”
“Y-you know… that thing. It’s embarrassing to say out loud.”
“Then what exactly is this embarrassing thing?”
“Now that I’m actually saying it, it feels so awkward… Hehe… Mating. You know what I mean.”
I gave the witch’s shoulder a light nudge and smiled shyly.
“Ha… You’re insane. I was wondering what the hell you were doing.”
“…? This isn’t it?”
“Get lost.”
Thud.
The witch kicked me square in the solar plexus. I flew all the way to the opposite wall.
“Kek… Cough…!”
It felt like my organs had burst. I couldn’t breathe. Were my ribs broken?
“As expected, the witch records weren’t wrong. Humans really are wolves.”
“Cough… I thought when you told me to get on the bed, that’s what you meant…”
“You thought that’s what I meant?”
“I’m sorry. It was a misunderstanding.”
“Ugh. Pathetic. I’ll let it slide just this once.”
“Got it. I’ll sleep on the floor.”
I crawled pathetically back to my spot. I pulled the blanket all the way over my head to hide my face. I wanted to die of embarrassment. She was definitely going to see me as a total pervert now. What the hell was wrong with my brain? Thinking about praying mantises and all that nonsense.
The atmosphere grew heavy. Silence filled the room.
“Allen. Are you asleep?”
The witch broke the awkward silence and spoke to me.
“Huh?”
“You’re not sleeping.”
“Yeah… not yet.”
“I see.”
Why did she call me? The witch said nothing more. I ignored her and closed my eyes.
“Allen.”
“What? You can talk.”
“Come up here and sleep.”
She patted the bed cover a few times. Why did she keep telling me to come up?
“Hurry.”
She kept urging me, so I got up and walked over to the bed. As I approached, the witch shifted aside to make space for me. She even handed me a pillow.
“Can I really use this?”
“Yeah. Just for tonight.”
“Thanks…”
It was originally mine, so saying thanks felt weird. I lay down and stared at the ceiling.
Blink.
We both stared at the ceiling without saying a word.
“By the way, how did you know about Lucas?”
“I can know everything.”
“How?”
“I have the ability to see through people’s hearts.”
“Wait… Really?”
“Yes. So don’t even think about trying to deceive me.”
The ability to see through hearts… I’d never heard of that before. But I didn’t doubt her. Since she was a witch, I figured it was possible. It made sense.
“As expected of a witch. You really are a transcendent being.”
“Transcendent?”
“You completely ignore the limits of what humans can imagine.”
“Maybe. But witches are fragile too.”
“Liar.”
“Witches are pitiful creatures. We’re neither one thing nor the other. No matter where we go, we’re never welcomed. You hate me too, don’t you?”
The witch seemed unusually sentimental today. Was she on her period? Whatever. I’d just go along with it.
“I-I don’t hate you. It’s just that you’re a different kind of being, so it feels unfamiliar.”
“That’s right. That sense of unfamiliarity is what makes it hard. The way people look at witches—full of curiosity but also fear.”
The witch suddenly grabbed my cheek and made me look at her.
“You have those same eyes too.”
My eyes trembled. I couldn’t meet her gaze and looked away.
“T-that’s because I’m embarrassed. You’re too beautiful.”
“Is that the only reason?”
“Y-yeah… Men are usually like that. When they’re close to a pretty woman, they get shy.”
“Lies. The witch records say that all human men are violent and abuse witches.”
“What are you talking about? The villagers all told me to be careful around you.”
“Hmph. That’s just slander.”
The witch turned her back to me, clearly sulking.
“Do I really look that way to you?”
She paused for a moment, then spoke.
“…”
This was the moment I was supposed to say no. Hurry up and say it. Say no. But honestly, the witch did seem scary and violent to me. Saying no right now would be lying to her.
“You don’t have to answer. Actually, don’t. The moment you answer, I’ll rip out your heart and feed it to wild beasts.”
Hey. You really are violent. How am I supposed to keep up with your mood swings? Just play both the drum and the flute by yourself, witch.
‘Today sure feels long…’
I fell into my own thoughts. With nothing to say and my eyes closed, exhaustion finally hit me. I felt drowsy. Today had been an incredibly exhausting day. My butt still hurt too. Sigh… My eyes… my eyes were closing.
Morning. I woke up to the sound of birds chirping. Warm sunlight. Today felt peaceful. Like heaven.
My arm felt numb. I lifted my head and looked down. The witch was using my arm as a pillow. She was curled up in my embrace, sleeping soundly. She must have been really tired.
The witch tossed a little and smacked her lips. She must be having a nice dream. Her face looked peaceful.
“Mmm…”
She shifted again and buried her face deeper into my chest. Afraid she might wake up, I lay back down. It was awkward… but nice. I felt like I could fall asleep again.
“Puuu…”
Allen had fallen back asleep before long. His arm was wrapped around the witch. Her body was also leaning into him. The witch had woken up briefly in the middle of the night, but she didn’t push Allen’s arm away. She simply checked his face once before falling asleep again.