Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina, Vol. 2

by Jougi Shiraishi

  “That doesn’t explain why you’re absent today, though.”

  “Oh, it’s because I was planning to find someone who needs a little saving.”

  “……”

  Don’t you think you should be helping people at your place of employment?

  The third person on our schedule was an older boy who worked at a grocery store. He had been occasionally absent for several months, but this time, at last, he had failed to show up for a full week.

  This was what he had to say for himself.

  “I didn’t want to do my job, so I stayed home.”

  “……”

  “……”

  Why not just quit?

  And that seemed to be the extent of it.

  That was how jobs cropped up for the inspectors of the Truancy Inspection Bureau.

  I spent a little more time observing Mr. Loegred’s work, which did seem quite difficult, but I eventually gave it up when he suggested setting up surveillance on a teacher who had recently gone rogue.

  That’s enough of that, I had thought. Who knows how long I might have gotten tied up if I hadn’t put a stop to it? And honestly, I had simply lost interest in being dragged around on my vacation.

  It happened several days after that.

  Somehow, I had ended up with too much free time and was amusing myself in an outdoor seating area of a coffee shop that faced the main avenue. I was reading one of the three books I had purchased in a bookstore in a certain country. Blowing on and sipping a steaming café au lait.

  However, my peaceful solitude soon came to an end.

  “Hey. So this is where you’ve been hiding.” Mr. Loegred took it upon himself to sit across from me.

  “Hello.”

  Even after I had stopped observing his work, he had repeatedly come to invite me back. He was kind of persistent.

  “You won’t be joining me today?”

  “Right. I don’t feel the need.”

  “Uuuh,” he groaned, wrinkling his brow in discontent. “…All right, Elaina, are you available right now?” he asked.

  “I am, but…”

  “I see; so you’re free.”

  “Yes.”

  “You’re free, huh?”

  “That’s what I’m saying.”

  I don’t have anything going on, so I’m reading a book. And since I’m busy reading, I have no intention of getting wrapped up in some other matter.

  If he had come to ask me on a date, I was intending to turn him down flatly, but…

  “Well, in that case, would you like to go have some fun with m—?”

  …His words were interrupted partway through. They were drowned out by a thunderous roar. When I looked up from my book in surprise, he was nowhere to be seen.

  Everything—including the table—had disappeared from my sight.

  Or perhaps I should say, they had blown away.

  I looked around, only to find the bloodied figure of Mr. Loegred atop the tables and chairs that had piled up like rubble.

  And overturned on top of it all, my café au lait.

  Oh, my café au lait. I can’t believe you would die on me again.

  “Youuuu! You’ve got some nerve skipping out on work to fool around with women! You’re a member of the Truancy Inspection Bureau, for crying out loud! And didn’t you say you were taking the day off because of a fever?! Hey!” jeered someone at Mr. Loegred from behind me, as I mourned the loss of another innocent thing.

  “Y-you’re wrong! I was planning to go to the hospital just now! I wasn’t playing hooky!”

  Oh? I think I’ve heard this conversation before.

  “Don’t lie to me, you brat! There’s not a man in this world who would enjoy lunch at a café with his girlfriend and then go on a little date to the hospital!”

  “Uh, I’m not his girlfriend.”

  There’s been a misunderstanding.

  “…After enjoying lunch with a friend who’s not his girlfriend—”

  “I’m not his friend, either.”

  “……”

  “We’re just acquaintances.”

  “Show me a man who would have lunch with an acquaintance at a café before going to a hospital.”

  Then the big man grabbed the nape of Mr. Loegred’s neck. “What I’m saying is that you’re coming with me. Got it?”

  He dragged Mr. Loegred away slowly.

  “C-crap…! Let me go! Let gooo!”

  He heaved him from the terrace, out toward the main avenue.

  “……”

  Hey. I didn’t hear any apology for the second passing of my café au lait.

  I stuck a bookmark between two pages, closed my book, and stood up.

  Then I picked up a stone lying nearby and threw it. “Hyah!” The palm-size stone soared through the air, heading straight for the back of the enormous man’s head.

  It landed a magnificent direct hit.

  “Ow!” The large man stumbled dramatically, then turned around with a demonic expression. “Hey, which one of you bastards hit me with a rock just now?!”

  Who else?

  “It was me,” I responded.

  The large man stomped toward me, still dragging Mr. Loegred. “Oh? You’ve got some nerve trying to pick a fight with me—Hmm?”

  But he lost his momentum halfway through and came to a stop. The man stood rooted to the spot and stared at me.

  The wind blew between us, and someone shrieked “Not again!” at the disastrous scene around the café; only then did the man seem to regain his senses.

  It took a slightly different course than the time with Mr. Loegred.

  Well, maybe it wasn’t all that different.

  “What the—? Well, aren’t you a cutie…?”

  The Truancy Investigation Bureau had been established by the state in order to curb absenteeism in the youth, but the organization was forced to temporarily halt operations around the time I left the country.

  What on earth happened to it? According to what I heard, for some reason, the inspectors (mostly men) started skipping out on work one after the other, and it got out of control.

  It was a disaster, like if a conman got conned. It caused quite an uproar among the people there. The news didn’t have much else to report, so the entire Truancy Investigation Bureau was subject to harsh criticism.

  And what of all those male inspectors who were severely punished for neglecting their posts, you ask? Apparently, they all gave the same strange testimony regarding the incident, stating, “A cute girl tricked us. We regret nothing.”

  Oh, is beauty a crime now?

  Anyway, they’d better come up with a smarter way of solving the truancy issue. While the Bureau has halted operations, I only hope that calm conversations can be had among adults.

  If not, they might be tempted by some big bad witch.

  CHAPTER 12

  A Paradise for the Resurrected

  I drifted across the plain, enjoying the soft morning sunlight.

  Following the rolling hills, I passed over fields of wildflowers.

  The breeze was almost warm, enveloping me as it blew past. It was so relaxing I was worried I’d drift off to sleep and fall right out of the sky.

  I could see my destination just up ahead; I had always wanted to visit ever since learning of its existence. And now there it was, right in front of me.

  It was a tiny country surrounded by a tall wall. From where I was, I couldn’t get a good look beyond the border.

  But I had a feeling in my gut that I’d have a lot of fun there.

  At any rate, the border must have employed a different set of skills than in other countries. And by skills, I meant that large letters had been written on the wall.

  “…Wow.”

  Here’s what was displayed:

  THIS COUNTRY HAS BEEN OCCUPIED BY THE DEAD. NO ENTRY.

  Wow, very atmospheric.

  I went as far as the gate, but it remained closed.

  No response to the arrival
of a visitor? How weird. Then I can’t get in.

  Even when I rapped on the gate—which was so large I had to crane my neck to see the whole thing—my knocks didn’t echo. It just made a feeble clunking sound.

  ……

  Ah, I see. What a group of committed actors. The scene is that the country has been overrun by the dead, huh. That’s why the big gate won’t open. Did I hit the nail on the head or what?

  There must be another entrance around here somewhere, right? I wandered about restlessly near the gate.

  “Hmm…?”

  And I quickly found it.

  Next to the gate, there was a relatively small door. In truth, the size of the door was perfectly average, just like you’d see on a house.

  “……”

  But just as I was about to open it, I noticed a sign stuck to it.

  This place has been overrun by the dead. Do not enter.

  The words had been messily scrawled, and below that was written However, there are probably survivors other than us. If there is anyone brave and strong enough, please enter and save the people inside.

  Incidentally, there was a sign reading OPEN hanging from the doorknob.

  “Oh-ho!”

  Oh, what an elaborate set. Just as I expected. Okay, I’ll bite.

  I opened the door without hesitation.

  Because I’m brave and strong.

  Inside was the strange country known as the Paradise for the Dead.

  It was an incredibly weird place, designed to delight visitors by making a spectacle of spirits called ghouls. (Well, they were actually theatrical props.) It seemed to be a popular destination around these parts. Every time I asked the locals, “Do you have any places you’d recommend I visit?” I could almost guarantee one out of three people would mention this country.

  It seemed too interesting a place to pass up, and I had purposefully avoided researching it to avoid any spoilers and found it overflowing with an interesting vibe.

  Not only had they set up attractions to hook sightseers before they even passed through the gate, but on the other side, an even more amusing scene awaited.

  Most of the buildings were halfway destroyed, with ivy creeping up the sides. The remains of fallen buildings were piled up along the large avenue extending from the gate, and the heads of weeds were poking out from the cracks.

  It must have been in this state for quite a while.

  “…Oh-ho—”

  With just one step beyond the gate, I’d already reached an area that was in ruins. Man, what a cool atmosphere! It felt like a ghoul would pop out at any moment. My hat was off to whoever put all their energy into turning a whole country into a tourist resort.

  I soared calmly around the country on my broom. I figured they had made the whole place look like this on purpose. I flew over the sunken road, pockmarked with pools of stagnant water, surveying the area in astonishment—to the extent that I wasn’t looking where I was going.

  That’s when it all went down.

  “Aaahhh…!” Something jumped out from the side of the road, groaning.

  “Ack!”

  I was unable to stop my trajectory or even dodge it, and I heard an unpleasant splat as my broom came to a sudden halt.

  I’d practically crashed right into the thing.

  I was thrown from my broom, flew through the air, and landed right in a puddle, leaving me soaked from the knees down. Well, this sucks.

  Needless to say, I was pretty upset.

  “Hey! It’s dangerous to jump out like that—”

  However, when I turned around, I saw something even worse, and the handle of my broom was lodged deep within it.

  “…Oh.”

  Before me, I could see my broom: One end was in a puddle of water, and on the other end of it, there was a humanlike figure.

  My broom had pierced straight through the man’s temple. The man, gripping swords in both hands and naked from the waist up (with bulging muscles), looked several kinds of dangerous. He was lying facedown in the pool of water.

  He was dead. Punctured through the head by a broom.

  “…Um.” I fearfully approached the man and touched his shoulder.

  And when I did—

  “Unh…”

  The human-esque creature with the half-rotten face spoke to me. One eye was an empty socket, and drool dribbled from his mouth.

  Oh, it’s just a ghoul.

  “Are you all right?”

  “Ahnnn…”

  He seems fine.

  Better get going.

  I stood on the ghoul’s shoulder and tried to yank my broom out. I couldn’t leave without it, of course.

  “Ahnnn…”

  But I couldn’t pull it free. The only thing my actions accomplished was making ripples in the puddle as the ghoul’s head splashed up and down.

  “Nngh…!” I tugged with more force.

  Then, finally, the broom came free with a splorch.

  Yay, I got it out!

  “…Uahhh—”

  Uh-oh, I spoke too soon.

  The ghoul’s head was still stuck onto the tip of the broom handle.

  Looks like I accidentally pulled off his head. When I glanced down at my feet, the rest of his headless body was still twitching around.

  ……

  Oh, crap.

  My visit had only just begun, and I was already damaging public property. Even if I was to put him back together using magic, it would be meaningless if my broom was still impaling him through the head.

  But I felt a little awkward wrestling it out by myself. I didn’t really want to touch him.

  “……”

  For now, why don’t we find someone and apologize…

  As one would expect, I didn’t feel like walking around holding a broom with a ghoul’s head stuck on it. So for the time being, I wrapped the ghoul in fabric scraps I picked up around the area and flew on the broom.

  But when it was just wrapped in cloth, the head made too much noise, with its Aaahs and its Nnhs, so I ended up stuffing a rock in his mouth. It added a decent heft to the end of the broom.

  “Heyyy, is anyone theeere?”

  Unfortunately for me, this country was fully committed to setting the scene. Even though I flew around calling for people, no one came to assist me.

  “Aanh…”

  “Uuuh…”

  “Ohhh…”

  What’s more, I was even being ignored by the ghouls who just groaned as I flew overhead and made no attempt to follow me.

  “…Hmph.”

  Before long, I encountered the first living humans I’d seen since entering this country.

  “Hey, look! A witch! A witch is here!”

  “Heeey! Please help us!”

  Two people were waving their hands at me from the window of a very, very large house.

  Thank goodness.

  I was happier than I thought I’d be to see another living person.

  I can finally say good-bye to the ghoul on the end of my broom!

  My heart pounded with excitement as I gently picked up speed and proceeded toward the two people.

  “……”

  And then, I looked down at the garden of the big house.

  “They’re really delivering the performance of a lifetime, huh?” I mumbled to myself as I stared at the scene.

  Directly below me, ghouls had grouped together, swarming around the garden. There were about one hundred. They were Uhhhing and Ahhhing in a big, awful chorus.

  “……”

  Now, I was sure no one would mind if I just happened to destroy one.

  I hadn’t understood it very well when I had looked from outside, but the moment I entered the building, a weird sensation overtook me.

  As for the two people who had been leaning out the window, they were pretty odd, themselves.

  “We’re saved! Just as I would expect from a witch. You did a great job spotting us.”

  One member of the pair was a woman with di
sheveled brown hair and glasses. Now, that part seems normal, but for some reason, she had a very large sword strapped to her hip. Wow, she’s so cool.

  “We’re so lucky you came! We’ve been stuck in this building for a week, and we were running out of food! Thank you!”

  The other half of the pair was a man wearing armor and a helmet. He was also extremely cool. But smelly. I had to take a half step back.

  “Are you two working here in this country?”

  The woman nodded. “I think it’d be more accurate to say we were working. This country has already broken down into anarchy. As you can see, it’s been completely overrun by ghouls.” She sighed.

  I was already over their whole act.

  “But if you two are from here, that saves me some time. Actually, I need to apologize to yo—”

  “By the way, Miss Witch! Could we ask you your name?!” Mr. Helmet cut in from the side.

  You smell!

  “Ah, I’m the Ashen Witch, Elaina. It’s nice to meet you, but could you maybe not stand so close?”

  “Ah, is that so? It’s nice to meet you! By the way, I’m Anthony. This is my partner, Anna,” he exclaimed, excessively energetic.

  Letting his little speech waft right past me, I asked in a roundabout way, “By the way, there are a lot of ghouls in this country, right? Just how many are there?” I tried to lighten the mood a little.

  “The mob of them outside are all the real deal. There are no artificial ghouls in operation right now,” said the woman with brown hair and glasses, or rather, Anna.

  “Um, let’s just drop the entire gig for a second. Just how many are there?”

  “…Well, if we’re counting the artificial ones, there are about fifty.”

  “Really? Only fifty? Just from looking at them, I’d say there were more than a hundred outside.”

  “Those are the real deal.”

  “Yes. I know. That’s the whole act, right?”

  “It’s not. They’re genuine ghouls. In the past, we used shabby imitations, but recently some moron started using the real thing, saying ‘Authenticity is important!’ and thanks to him, the ghouls have taken over. The result is…this.”