The Witch and the Wild Beast
I called out to her again. “Witch?”
The Witch still hadn’t recovered from the monstrous roar she’d heard moments ago. Her eyes were completely unfocused, pupils blown wide. I grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her gently.
“Witch?”
“…What did you just say?”
“What’s wrong? Did the noise scare you that badly?”
“Ah… yeah. I guess so.”
She looked genuinely shaken. After that, her steps grew weak and unsteady.
“Ah!”
Her leg gave out and she twisted her ankle.
“You okay?”
“I’m fine. It’s nothing.”
The Witch seemed overly sensitive to loud noises. Ever since that terrible roar, she’d been listless. Even by the time we reached the riverbank, she remained completely deflated. I decided not to speak to her. Something told me that poking at her right now would only lead to trouble.
Once we arrived, she sat on a rock, hugging her knees to her chest and staring off into the distance. She looked deeply troubled. I kept sneaking glances at her while I fished, trying to figure out what I should say. Should I try to comfort her? Ugh, forget it. Better to just focus on fishing.
Splash—
The rod bent hard. This one felt big.
“Hnnngh…!”
What I pulled up was a slippery freshwater eel—one that fought like hell to get away.
“Witch! Look at this! It’s an eel! An eel!”
I held up the wriggling catch and showed it to her. The Witch stared at the freshwater eel with a lukewarm expression. She reached out and gave its head a little poke.
“What even is this…?”
“This? It’s supposed to be great for stamina.”
“Stamina?”
“Ugh… how do I even explain this… It’s really, really good for you…”
I awkwardly lowered my head, glancing down at my crotch. The Witch followed my gaze and looked at the same spot.
“Tch. Completely useless.”
She let out a small snort.
“Hey! You laughed! Haha!”
“I didn’t laugh. You’re the one spouting nonsense.”
She seemed a little less gloomy now.
“Is this any good to eat?”
“Of course! It’s amazing. I’ll grill it up nice for you.”
“Then catch more. Two of these won’t even touch my stomach.”
“I’ll try.”
Even after saying that, she went back to hugging her knees, lost in thought. Did that roar from earlier have something to do with it?
Why is she acting like this?
I wanted to guess the reason, but my simple brain couldn’t come up with anything. Oh well. Might as well catch more eels.
Before long, the sun began to set. By then, I’d only managed to catch two carp and two measly eels. The Witch’s mood sank even lower.
“Witch… I’m sorry.”
“It’s my fault for getting my hopes up.”
“Sorry. Next time I’ll catch enough to make your belly burst.”
“Forget it. As expected… tsk tsk…”
She clicked her tongue while staring at my crotch again. It felt weird. Why the hell was she looking there and clicking her tongue?
“Oh! Maybe something got caught in the snare!”
I said it with a bright smile. The Witch remained unimpressed.
“We’ll see.”
This time, I’d catch a massive roe deer and really impress her. That’s right! This is the kind of man I am! I’d bring back a roe deer and flatten her little butt with all the meat!
We started heading back the way we came. The Witch followed behind me.
“How much farther?”
“We’re almost there. Just up ahead.”
I pointed at a tree in the distance. I’d stuck a flower in it earlier to mark the spot.
“Huh?! Looks like we caught something.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. I saw it move.”
It was still too far to see clearly, but whatever it was, it looked pretty big. The movement was dramatic. I picked up my pace, excitement rising.
Whoooosh—
“Kaaang. Kaaang.”
A strange cry made me look up. A huge bird-like creature was circling overhead, letting out eerie calls as it wheeled through the sky.
What the hell? Some kind of eagle?
“Stop.”
The Witch urgently yanked my arm and pulled me behind a tree.
“W-what? What’s going on?”
“Be quiet.”
She clamped her hand over my mouth. Sniff. Her hand smelled kind of nice. And it was really soft.
“Kaaang. Kaaang.”
The giant bird kept circling the area for a long time. Only after it finally flew away did the Witch remove her hand. Then she grabbed my wrist and started dragging me downhill.
“Where are we going?”
“Hurry up and get down the mountain.”
“What about the animal caught in the snare?”
“Forget it. Just go down.”
“You have to at least tell me why.”
She didn’t answer. She just stubbornly dragged me down the mountain path. She was gripping my wrist so hard it started to hurt. The Witch ran without once looking back, practically sprinting. I glanced behind us to see if something was chasing us. There was nothing there.
“W-Witch, stop for a second. There’s no one behind us.”
“…”
She didn’t seem to hear me. Only when we were near the house did she finally stop. When she let go of my wrist, I saw a bruise already forming.
“Why were you running like that?”
“You don’t need to know.”
“Were you in a hurry to use the bathroom?”
The Witch glared at me like she wanted to kill me. Just kidding. My bad…
I was lighting a campfire. The Witch showed no sign of coming out of the house. I was left alone to clean the eels and grill the fish. The only one who welcomed me was the dog. He came over and licked my hand.
“Melo~ Did you guard the house well?”
Melo was a stray dog I’d taken in. He’d been with me since I first settled here. He was smart enough to manage the sheep flock even when I wasn’t around.
“You can have both carp.”
I tossed a nicely grilled carp to Melo, who was acting cute beside me. The little guy knew exactly when the fish was perfectly cooked.
Creak—
The Witch finally opened the door and stepped out, apparently tired of waiting. The moment Melo saw her, he started barking wildly.
When the Witch glared at him, Melo immediately shut up and bolted in the opposite direction.
“That damn mutt…”
The Witch was clearly in a very bad mood.
“Why’d you come out?”
“I’m hungry. Is it ready yet?”
“Yeah. It’s done.”
I handed her a perfectly grilled eel skewer. She took the whole thing—wooden stick and all—and shoved it into her mouth. She must’ve been starving. Crunch. Crunch. She chewed the wooden skewer like it was part of the fish. Even though it was a pretty big eel for a freshwater one, it disappeared in no time. She still looked hungry, eyeing the last remaining skewer. That one was supposed to be mine…
Our eyes met. What was that look? She really must be starving. Her tongue kept darting out to lick her lips.
“W-want some?”
“No, it’s fine. I mean… if you’re full, I guess I have no choice but to eat it myself.”
“…”
“If you’re full, then I suppose I’ll have to eat it.”
“I didn’t say anything…”
“Leaving food is a sin. Hand it over.”
“Uh… yeah, go ahead…”
She snatched the last eel skewer and devoured it in one bite. I just stared at her as she ate.
“I’m still hungry…”
“Still?”
“Hmm… meat.”
This time her gaze drifted toward Melo in the distance. She licked her lips again. I quickly stepped in front of her.
“Melo is off-limits. He’s family!”
“What’s family?”
“Family? Um… people you stay with forever?”
“Stay with forever?”
“Yeah. That’s what family is.”
“What if you can’t stay together forever?”
“Well… that can happen. There’s no such thing as true forever.”
“But you said forever.”
Suddenly the Witch clenched both fists. The way the muscles in her jaw stood out, it looked like she was grinding her teeth. Startled, I hurried to calm her down.
“C-calm down. Sometimes you can’t stay together forever. For example… if one of you dies first. Or if there’s a reason you have to leave… But even then, family means staying together forever in your heart.”
“Together forever in your heart? What’s a heart?”
“The heart is… here. It’s inside here.”
I placed my hand over my chest. The Witch watched me, then copied the gesture, putting her hand on her own chest.
“It’s in here?”
“That’s right! Melo is in here. No matter where I go.”
“Then what about me?”
“Uh… you…”
I couldn’t finish the sentence.
“Me! Me! Me!”
She shouted like a child throwing a tantrum.
“Y-yeah, of course you’re in there too…”
“Then that’s fine.”
Only then did the Witch calm down.
“Am I in your chest too?”
I asked her.
“No way.”
What? You rotten witch. She was definitely mocking me. Sigh. Talking with her alone makes me feel ten years older.
“R-right. Then… is there someone else?”
When I asked, the Witch kept her hand on her chest and looked up, thinking. Then she murmured quietly.
“There is…”
“Who?”
“You don’t need to know.”
“…Okay.”
“There are two… precious… two precious things.”
“You’re rich. Having that many precious things.”
“Rich?”
“Yeah. We call someone who has a lot of things a rich person.”
“Rich… rich. Am I rich?”
“Yep. If you have two precious things, you’re rich.”
The Witch seemed to like the word. She kept muttering “rich” to herself.
“I’m rich.”
When she said that, she smiled with her eyes for the first time. She really looked like nothing more than a child. It felt like I was teaching a little kid how to speak.
Gurgle—
Right in the middle of that warm moment, her stomach growled. Even after eating two whole eels, she still wasn’t full. The Witch ate way more than I expected. Two eels were enough to fill an adult’s stomach.
“Hungry?”
“Yeah… meat…”
There was nothing left to eat right now. And I couldn’t slaughter one of the sheep for her. Each one was too valuable. I raised them for their wool, shearing them once a year to sell at the market. Or I could sell the meat or the lambs. That was how I kept this life going. The sheep were everything to me.
“Witch, can you wait inside for a bit?”
“Why?”
“I’ll go get some meat. Just lie down for a little while and I’ll make you something delicious.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Just wait a bit.”
After hearing my answer, she went back into the house. A good idea had come to me. That animal caught in the snare earlier—I’d go bring it back. It wouldn’t take long to get up the mountain. About twenty minutes? The mountain was basically my backyard, so I wasn’t scared. The only thing that worried me was the thought of the Witch eating one of my sheep while I was gone.
I grabbed a carrying frame and some rope, then headed into the mountains to retrieve the wild beast.