Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina, Vol. 2

by Jougi Shiraishi

  He looked pretty beat up.

  “…That man is the scary person who will destroy my happiness,” Princess Chocolat said, gripping the hem of my robe.

  He looks like he’s already been destroyed himself.

  “But who on earth would…?”

  There’s no way he could have caught sight of Princess Chocolat and come flying over from Waterwheel City. Or rather, if he had come flying, someone must have sent him flying.

  Maybe he was kicked by his horse?

  I looked in the direction he had come from—toward Waterwheel City.

  “…Erm.”

  And I took a step back.

  “Rosamia…!”

  Princess Chocolat murmured next to me.

  Walking slowly toward us from the direction of Waterwheel City was the knight from Windmill City, Rosamia. She seemed to be in a very, very bad mood, radiating bloodlust. She had an aura about her like she would snap your neck even if you accidentally bumped into her. She was carrying an enormous log, and that only made her even scarier. She looked like she was ready to smash some heads.

  “Rosamia! Rosamia, you came! Oh, thank goodness—”

  “Huh? Ah, wait, Princess Chocolat!”

  Suddenly, I had absolutely no idea what was happening.

  The princess ran straight toward Rosamia, shrugging off my attempt to restrain her.

  Just like a maiden reuniting with her sweetheart.

  ……

  ……Hmm?

  I had a hunch—but no, no, it couldn’t be.

  “Princess!”

  The scene kept playing out, completely leaving me behind. Rosamia spread out both arms to receive Princess Chocolat, who was running toward her.

  And the log she had been holding?

  She threw it away. Decisively.

  “Princess!”

  “Rosamia!”

  The two embraced passionately.

  “Urgh…”

  I thought I heard the groaning of a man who had been beaten half to death coming from behind me, but I was scared, so I didn’t turn around.

  “Oh, Princess…! Thank goodness, thank goodness…”

  “Rosamia…! I was so scared…”

  ……

  This was too much to process.

  I just wanted to stop thinking altogether.

  Just to be sure, I asked to hear about the situation from Princess Chocolat and Rosamia. If I were to summarize their meandering story, it would go something like this.

  First, a bit of background.

  The princess of Windmill City, Chocolat, and the knight by her side, Rosamia, were in love with each other. It was a mutual romantic love between two women, but love is love.

  Love takes all forms, after all, so let’s move on with the story.

  Anyway, the two lovebirds were so passionately devoted to each other that no one could possibly come between them.

  However, there was some resistance to the idea of the princess marrying a simple knight, and when the king of Windmill City, Princess Chocolat’s father, found out it would be a marriage between two women, he was extremely unhappy because his daughter could not bear any children from this union.

  And so the king decided to force her to marry someone else. Her partner was to be the prince of the neighboring Waterwheel City, Robert.

  When the two lovebirds found out about the marriage between Robert and Princess Chocolat, planned in secret by the king, they were fiercely opposed.

  “But, Father, I have no interest in men.”

  “Your Majesty, I have decided to make my life with the princess.”

  They presented their case before the king.

  “Rosamia…”

  “Princess…”

  They were bashful when they told me all this.

  However, the king had completely ignored them. Instead, he set a specific date and time for the wedding.

  “In several days, Prince Robert will come for you. Go and get married in Waterwheel City,” the king had apparently told her.

  I suspected that the plan for her marriage to Prince Robert had already been in the works for some time. Just as I had suspected, it was a political marriage.

  That aside, the two were flustered by the upcoming wedding.

  And then they had reached a conclusion.

  “That’s it! If we get married before the wedding with Prince Robert, then the problem will be solved!”

  “That’s my princess!”

  And so Princess Chocolat and Rosamia had planned a secret wedding ceremony in a small church. Preparations for their secret ceremony moved forward, and Princess Chocolat was in tears over being able to finally marry the one she loved.

  However, he had appeared. The scary person who was going to destroy her happiness—Prince Robert—burst through the church door and kidnapped Princess Chocolat. Then he put her in a sleigh (with a basket of croissants), hitched the sled to his own horse, and galloped off toward Waterwheel City.

  Princess Chocolat dealt with it all rather matter-of-factly.

  She very simply untied the rope connecting the sleigh to the horse and escaped.

  And then, calmly eating croissants in the middle of the forest, she waited for her beloved to come rescue her.

  Happily ever after.

  ……

  Well, not quite…

  “Rosamia!”

  “Princess!”

  “Rosamia…”

  “Princess…”

  “Rosamia…?”

  “Princess…?”

  “Rosamia!”

  “Princess!”

  I’m sure you can imagine how cringey it would be to have to listen to this kind of exchange for minute after agonizing minute.

  They’re just calling out each other’s names. Then why do I feel so much secondhand embarrassment? The scene was so awkward, I just wanted to cover my eyes and ears and hunker down on the spot.

  “Kiss me…”

  “I can’t, Princess. People are watching.”

  “I don’t care about that.”

  “But…”

  “Do you not like me anymore?”

  “No, don’t say that…”

  “Then, please…”

  “Princess…”

  “Rosamia…”

  ……

  It was getting too hard to watch.

  So I spun around and faced the other way. But I did that to escape the awkward atmosphere between them—and definitely not so I could look at him.

  “…Oh, hello again.”

  He was standing up when I turned around. He had taken a direct hit from the log Rosamia had tossed aside but was grinning directly behind me. His clothing was torn, and blood was trickling down his forehead, but I knew who he was, without a shadow of a doubt.

  “You’re the prince, right?” I had to ask, just to be sure. “You’re alive?”

  “Indeed, I am the prince of Waterwheel City. And it should go without saying that I am very much alive.”

  “I thought you’d be a lot more beaten up after taking a direct hit from that log, but you’re doing better than I expected.”

  “An attack like that is nothing.”

  “Who are you…?”

  “I am the prince of Waterwheel City.”

  No, that’s not what I meant… Oh, whatever.

  If I poked fun at every mistake, there would be no end to it.

  “By the way, how do you feel watching that scene?”

  I pointed out the girls—locked in a passionate embrace—to Prince Robert, who had been at the center of a grand and unfortunate misunderstanding.

  “Ah…it makes my heart race…”

  “Are you sure that’s not because of the blood gushing out of your head?”

  “I feel like I might be awakening to something new…”

  “Ah-ha, looks like your head injury is more serious than I thought.”

  “Okay, enough joking around.”

  “Was that a joke?”

  �
��…I’m at least half-serious.”

  “Not as serious as that head injury.”

  “Can this even be treated, I wonder?”

  “I think we’re a little too late for that.”

  “……”

  “What’s up?”

  “Ah well—I can’t help but come to terms with a few things, seeing all this.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Prince Robert was smiling, as always.

  “Earlier, as that knight was beating me with a log, I learned a few things. Among them, I learned that I had been deceived by the king of Windmill City, and that true love was not meant to be between myself and the princess, but between a knight and the princess.”

  “Huh.”

  “I couldn’t believe it, but looking at the two of them, I get it now. It seems I was a simple buffoon.”

  “……”

  Well, I figured as much.

  I couldn’t say that, so I remained silent.

  “Love between two women… How nice.”

  As the prince stood next to me, waxing poetic, I did not say anything.

  I stood there for a while, a spectator to the incomprehensible exchange between Rosamia and Princess Chocolat, until finally, Prince Robert started a serious conversation.

  “I’ve decided to give up on marrying her.”

  “Is that so? Well, then…”

  “I mean, I suppose I have no choice but to give it up, really.”

  “……”

  She doesn’t seem to have eyes for anyone other than Rosamia.

  “Besides, now there’s something I need to return to my country and do.”

  “Oh?”

  “I’m thinking about legalizing same-sex marriage.”

  “Oh, is that so?”

  “That’s not a very enthusiastic response.”

  “I held back a little.”

  “…Well, even now I imagine that a few people will object. However, I think that there are other people who have found love across genders. If we, as a country, can recognize that, I’m certain the world will become more peaceful than before.”

  I see.

  “…And what do you really think?”

  “Love between two women… How nice.”

  “……”

  When I fell silent, the sounds of the two girls fussing over each other filled the air. It was as if they had been whisked away to their own private paradise.

  Even if I were to stop traveling in the future and settle down in a country somewhere, I don’t think I would choose to live at either end of this road.

  “Oh, that reminds me,” I said, calling out to halt Prince Robert, who had begun walking away.

  He turned around, smiling brightly (but still drenched in blood). “What is it?”

  “……” I faced him and stuck out my hand.

  “Huh? What is it?” It seemed my intention was not clear, for he tilted his head in confusion.

  “Ten gold pieces, please,” I said with a smile. “As promised, I found the princess.”

  Sometime later, in a different country, I heard a rumor about Windmill City and Waterwheel City. Both countries now fully recognized same-sex relationships, and each had made their own degree of progress.

  At the very least, it seemed that diplomatic relations between the two cities were now flourishing.

  And thanks to the princess of Windmill City marrying another woman, other same-sex couples who had been keeping their love a secret began to go public.

  In Waterwheel City, the prince made a big announcement in order to encourage such marriages. “Subsidies will be paid out to anyone who enters into a union between two women!” As a result, couples lined up to get false marriages, and it caused quite a bit of trouble, apparently.

  In this way, the countries that had previously had nothing to offer but waterwheels and windmills acquired some new quirks.

  I heard that many more people have been visiting.

  However, the population seems to be decreasing.

  I wonder why that could be?

  CHAPTER 4

  An Eyewitness Report

  Um…

  When was it that I met that man? Where was it?

  It’s all a blur.

  I’m not so sure.

  I met him by coincidence, in an extremely unremarkable place. Well, since we didn’t actually speak to each other, I guess it would be better to say we crossed paths.

  The place, if I remember correctly, was a road that connected one country to the next. I don’t remember any details of the place. Just that we were on a road. That’s all.

  Oh, but I must have passed him on the road that leads out of the gate, since that is how I entered this country in the first place.

  Now that I think about it, I’m certain I traveled here along that road.

  The time was… That’s right, it was around twilight. No, maybe it was early morning… Yeah, probably, it was early morning.

  I arrived here in the afternoon. And since that man crossed paths with me on my way here, it must have been morning.

  How’s that? My deductive reasoning isn’t half-bad, huh? Oh, you don’t care? Ah, is that so…?

  …?

  Yes. I’m sure of it. I’m sure I crossed paths with that man on the road. What’s so confusing about that? You’re the one who asked me, after all.

  And here I was planning to do some sightseeing, enjoy a leisurely visit…

  As for the man you’re describing…I’m certain he was headed for the country over there—a normal country, nothing out of the ordinary.

  I mean, sometimes normal is nice. I enjoy taking it easy every once in a while. And that place was about as normal as it gets.

  But this country is different, isn’t it?

  Huh? What’s with that face? Mm-hmm. You’ve got to be kidding.

  You don’t expect me to believe that such an outrageously dressed fellow could come from a perfectly ordinary country, do you? This place must be holding some crazy secret, right? It’s awfully exciting.

  Huh?

  …Oh, now that you mention it, you’re all dressed rather normally. Why is that?

  That man was abnormal? Oh, is that so…?

  And then.

  The soldier in front of me, wearing a particularly unpleasant expression, continued:

  “I’m going to confirm one more time… You’re certain you encountered a man with these features? On the road outside the city?”

  The soldier was holding a picture. It depicted, in great detail, the bizarre clothing of the man I had passed on the road. It was such an outlandish getup that I had trouble holding back laughter.

  What is that? Seriously?

  Just what kind of person would walk around wearing that ridiculous costume? If it were me, I would die of shame. If I wore something like that in public, the disgrace would haunt me forever.

  However, in the drawing, one crucial detail—the man’s face—was an empty black void. It became no more transparent as I stared at it, and in the end, I couldn’t recall the man’s facial features.

  Looking back and forth between the piece of paper and me, the soldier asked, “…Can you remember his face?”

  “No, not at all,” I answered. “By the way, what on earth did this man do?”

  “Theft. He swiped all the gold he could get his hands on from the vault of the country’s wealthiest citizens.”

  “A person dressed like…this managed to do that?”

  “Yes.”

  “A man cannot be judged by his appearance, I guess…”

  “His appearance is a costume.”

  True.

  Then, with a sigh, the soldier folded the piece of paper in quarters and put it away in his pocket. It seemed that the questioning was over. “Thank you, miss,” he said, giving me a salute.

  I imitated his pose and said, “No problem. I just did what anyone would do—By the way, did I help as a reference?”

  The soldier went back to his paine
d expression. “Well…I wonder. Knowing which way the criminal went could definitely be called progress, but…” His words were evasive.

  “What’s wrong?”

  He stopped saluting. “We’ve been collecting eyewitness reports, and unfortunately, not one person has been able to recall the criminal’s face.”

  “……”

  Ah, I see.

  “That means, in other words—”

  “Yes. The only thing anyone can remember is the man’s bizarre outfit.”

  CHAPTER 5

  Pioneers of Style

  As the girl on the broom soared through the desolate autumn air, the plants with the fluffy white tops, which were spread out over the land, swung their heads in disapproval.

  “…Oops.”

  That was close.

  To damage the cotton fields, the girl on the broom slightly dropped her speed.

  Her most striking feature was her ashen hair. This girl was a witch and a traveler. She wore a black robe and a pointy hat, as well as a star-shaped brooch on her breast that served as proof of her witchhood. As always, she was flying her broom without a care in the world.

  Now then, this witch, who readily enjoyed all the luxuries only true freedom could offer, who on earth could she be?

  That’s right. She’s me.

  “……”

  I was aiming for the small country I could see beyond the cotton fields. I filled my lungs with the fleeting summer air like the cotton buds swaying beneath me, and the wind was soft, mild.

  Good heavens, what a peculiar country!

  That was my elegant reaction after I had done my rounds. Once I noticed a particular detail, it was all I could focus on.

  “……”

  In both directions, there were princes and princesses as far as the eye could see.

  Every single person I saw appeared to be extremely wealthy.

  As they milled about town, the princesses all wore beautiful dresses, and the princes were all clad in extravagant livery.

  What’s going on here?

  “Um, excuse me?”

  I flagged down a nearby prince and tried to get some answers.

  “I’m just a traveler passing through, but could you spare a moment?”

  “Huh? Oh, me?” The very timid young man looked bewildered, but he stopped.