by Hiro Ainana
Okay, what do I do now?
I hadn’t expected such a hostile reception with no questions asked.
Well, it was my own fault for trespassing on grounds that were so off-limits that they’d put up a barrier to protect it. I wasn’t sure if they’d forgive me, but the least I could do was graciously apologize.
“I sincerely regret the clumsy misstep that led me to trespass on your territory. I’m sorry.”
Taking care not to break the living armors attacking me with hatchets, I tossed them into the darkness of the forest.
As I did so, more of the Toss Stone stalagmite spears attacked me, but I shattered them easily with my hand. They weren’t particularly dangerous.
“Awaaa, my magic isn’t workiiing. Mistreeess!”
Panicked, the little girl began casting a long spell.
Judging by the first phrase, it was probably Earth Magic. Probably because I’d been reading spell books so frequently, I’d gained an understanding of most spells lately.
The fact that I still couldn’t use magic freely unless I mastered the chanting, despite all my hard work, was downright unfair.
All right, enough complaining. I have to get this girl to calm down already.
“Now, could you please stop attacking me for a moment? It’s dangerous. If you really have to punish me, I’ll let you hit me once, all right?”
I stooped down to her eye level to speak to her, but she wouldn’t listen to me at all.
Since the spell she was casting was called Mud Wave, I was probably about to get covered in muck.
I would have accepted it as punishment for trespassing, but the person who appeared above the girl stopped her for me.
With a loud thud, a single shadow dropped from overhead.
A giant bird called an “elder sparrow” landed on the girl as if to crush her.
“Geh!” The witch’s apprentice shrieked from underneath the bird’s soft belly, but as far as I could tell from the AR display, she was unharmed for now.
On top of the elder sparrow sat an old woman in a robe with the same design as the little girl’s. She reminded me of the sort of kindly old lady you’d see sitting on a porch in the countryside, but she was still the witch of this forest.
The woman slid down one of the sparrow’s wings and landed on the ground, then walked over to me—and dropped to her hands and knees before me.
…Huh? Can someone explain this situation to me, please?
“I am most honored to meet you. I am but a humble witch who watches over the mana source of this Forest of Illusions. I offer my deepest apologies for my foolish apprentice and her terribly rude behavior toward an emissary of Bolenan. I beg of you, please look kindly upon these old bones and forgive our grave transgression.”
…So this is a source, too? Wait, more importantly, what was that about an “emissary of Bolenan”? I wonder if it has to do with Mia’s clan— Ahh, maybe it’s the bell I got from Red Helmet. The “Silent Bell of Bolenan” was a status symbol made by the elves, I think. Well, maybe it’ll help me resolve this misunderstanding.
“Madam Witch, please stand up. I’m the one who entered your territory without a word of greeting. If anyone should apologize, it’s me.”
The witch still didn’t move from her prostrate position, so I put my hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up.
Although, since there were no phones there, I wasn’t sure how one would contact somebody before visiting them anyway.
“What generous words, Emissary—”
“I think there’s been a misunderstanding. I am protecting an elf of the Bolenan clan, but I’m by no means an official emissary.”
“Still, to attack a personage who holds the Silent Bell is akin to waging war on the village of Bolenan itself!”
Sort of like shooting a diplomat, I guess?
“At any rate, would you please stand up? It pains me to see a woman groveling on the ground. Please, for my sake if nothing else.”
I finally got the old witch off the ground, and I repeated my apology as we reached an understanding at last.
As for my reason for entering the Forest of Illusions, I told her that I’d wanted to greet the keeper of the mana source. My “Fabrication” skill might have been a factor, but she believed me without any problems.
If anything, I wasn’t sure if she believed that I wasn’t an emissary…
I climbed aboard the elder sparrow with the witch, and we flew to her tower.
The bird’s soft back was so comfortable that I almost wished I could ride longer. It landed on the roof with the quiet finesse of an expert, too.
I glanced at my log once we got off the elder sparrow, but I hadn’t obtained a “Riding” skill.
Eventually, I’d love to train a bunch of flying mounts and go on a journey through the sky with everyone.
“Lord Satou, over here, if you please.”
I followed the old witch and the light on the tip of her staff down the stairs from the tower’s roof. The spiral staircase descended along the wall without a railing. It had a distinctly handmade feeling, so much so that I worried the steps would collapse beneath my feet.
The top floor seemed to be a warehouse. Plants hanging to dry lined the shelves, while the room itself contained well-organized boxes, baskets, and various unfamiliar tools. Either the witch or her disciple was very tidy.
We passed the floor where the witch and her apprentice slept, and she invited me into a room that was like a cross between a parlor and a laboratory.
A little ball of fur greeted us with a strange cry that sounded like, “Pou-kwee!” It resembled a large cotton ball, but according to the AR it was the witch’s familiar, a type of cryptid called a “puffbird.”
In the corner of the room was a witch’s most iconic item: a cauldron, set over a fire, with strange green liquid bubbling inside.
The AR display labeled it a Witch’s Cauldron. A very straightforward name.
Still, she’d left the fire burning when she went out to meet me? Now I really felt like I’d wronged them.
“I’m in the midst of brewing potions at the moment, so please forgive me if the place smells of herbs.”
“Not at all. I have an interest in alchemy myself, so I don’t mind.”
I guess she’d noticed me staring at the cauldron and taken it the wrong way.
“Still, Madam Witch, don’t you use a Transmutation Tablet?”
“That cauldron is a kind of Transmutation Tablet itself, you see. It’s a Magic Item that imbues the potion with the abundant mana from the source to dramatically increase its efficacy.”
It turned out that the tower itself was a mana-focusing facility. Since cities have City Cores, maybe towers have cores, too? I couldn’t bring myself to ask such an impolite question, so instead we formally introduced ourselves.
I checked the detailed information in the AR display next to her. Despite being humanfolk, the woman was older than even the elf girl Mia, at an age of 217 years old.
Do witches just live longer, or is it because she controls the source?
The woman was level 37, which seemed relatively low for her old age. She used Water Magic and Practical Magic. She also had a very witchlike assortment of skills, including “Meditation,” “Transmutation,” “Formulation,” and “Magic-Tool Crafting.”
Her title was Witch of the Forest of Illusions, which would’ve been all well and good if it weren’t also her name.
Curious, I asked the witch about her actual name while we chatted, and she told me she had cast it off when she inherited the source.
So part of the ritual for inheriting a mana source required you to throw away your individual name. I hadn’t known there even was a ritual involved in inheriting sources.
When I gained control of the Valley of Dragons source, I’d done no such ritual, so maybe massacring the dragons with Meteor Shower had been the equivalent?
I also wondered whether I hadn’t been able to take over the source o
f the Cradle of Trazayuya because one person couldn’t control multiple sources, or if Mia had gained it instead because of her Cradle Master title.
For some reason, nothing like Source Controller appeared in my titles or notes, so I had no way of confirming this.
I probably just hadn’t noticed that I’d gained control over the Valley of Dragons source because I hadn’t checked my log after using Meteor Shower.
After we’d discussed mana sources, I asked the old witch to show me her finished potions. When I analyzed them, every one came up as High Quality.
“These are beautifully made. Do potions become more effective depending on the amount of magic or mana put into them?” I asked as I handed the potions back to her.
“In theory, yes. However, after a certain point, any excess mana will simply seep back out, so there isn’t much reason, normally. If you use it immediately, it’ll be more effective, but in terms of MP efficiency, recovery magic is more practical.”
I see—that’s why that wasn’t mentioned in my alchemy textbooks.
After that, the witch and I discussed alchemy for a while. It was mostly just the old woman lecturing me, but it still ended up being an insightful conversation.
I heard clattering from downstairs.
Just as my radar had indicated, the witch’s apprentice was back. Her steel guardians must have been slower than the panther, as they were still trailing through the woods.
The apprentice rushed up the stairs and burst into the room with great force.
This girl needs to chill out.
“Inenimaana, before you barge into a room—”
“Oh, I’m sorry, Mistress! Umm… I-I’m very sorry about earlier!”
Imitating her teacher, the girl dropped to the floor.
The puffbird flapped across the room and hopped onto the apprentice’s head, puffing out its round body. Apparently, this was its home position.
“It’s my own fault for carelessly trespassing on your territory. If I accept your apology, will you please stand?”
It seemed a haughty way to put it, but acting in a way she expected was the only way to get through to her.
What a mouthful of a name, though. Doesn’t she have a nickname, like Ine or something?
“How is the potion coming?”
The old witch spoke up, and Ine hurried over to stir the contents of the large cauldron. Since she was the same height as the cauldron, the stirring rod looked like an oar in her hands.
“It’s coming along well, Mistress. This means we’ll be able to fulfill our end of the pact again this time.”
“Yes, indeed. Can I count on you to watch the fire tonight?”
“Yup! Just leave it to me!”
This seemed like a sign she would doze off and fail somehow, but it was rude to make fun of other people, so I ignored it and kept my mouth shut.
The word pact jumped out at me, prompting me to ask about it.
I was just curious. I had no intention to push the subject if they didn’t want to talk about it, but the old witch had no problem giving me a simple answer.
“It’s a pact we have with Count Kuhanou. In exchange for their keeping outlaws and hunters out of our forest, we deliver them three hundred special potions twice a year.”
Three hundred? Collecting all those ingredients seems like a hassle, but I guess with a cauldron this big they could make them all in one go.
Though the old witch had put it nicely, it sounded like a tax to ensure the autonomy of this forest.
Hordes of kobolds had apparently been attacking silver mines in the county in the past few years, so there was extra pressure to hold up their end of the bargain.
Certainly, with that much fast-acting medicine, it was hard to imagine the army incurring casualties even against a large monster pack.
Maybe the shortage of cores in the town of Noukee and that official buying up vials for potions were connected to the witch’s potion making?
Well, based on the state of affairs in the county, I had no intention of interfering.
The old witch and I resumed our discussion of alchemy that had been interrupted by her apprentice’s return.
The witch explained that she made her own transmutation gear, including the cauldron, and taught me some useful knowledge about magic tools in addition to the alchemy lecture.
Since she’d so generously taught me all those designs and recipes, I’d have to collect more materials and try some new concoction.
Though she asked for no compensation for the information, the old witch did have one request.
When I informed her that I was journeying toward the old capital, she asked me to deliver a letter to one of her acquaintances along the way.
The person in question lived in a forest some distance from the main road, but I didn’t mind, so I agreed anyway.
To my surprise, she told me that the recipient of the letter was a forest giant.
If this were a game, this definitely would’ve been a “Deliver the letter to the giants’ village” quest.
Since I’d be helping out both the old witch and her friend the giant, and I’d get to see a giant village on top of that, this seemed like a win-win situation to me.
And with not only giants but unicorns living in the forest, too, I was looking forward to the trip.
Now, I didn’t want to overstay my welcome, so I decided to head home. Liza and the others were probably worried about me, anyway.
Closing the heavy wooden door behind me, I left the tower.
The old witch had offered to carry me back on the elder sparrow, but it was cruel to make an elderly person fly out at night in early winter, so I politely declined.
Coming to see me off, the old witch cast a spell that created a path of faint glowing lights on the ground.
The magic, more advanced than it looked, took about 10 percent of the witch’s MP.
However, her MP recovered at an amazing rate—at about half the speed of my insanely quick recovery. Mia’s and Arisa’s recovery rates were incredibly slow compared to mine, but this was much faster than that.
This was probably another benefit of the mana source.
Of course, since our base MP amounts were different, comparing recovery rates by percentage wasn’t necessarily very accurate, but it worked well enough as a rough estimate.
Banishing these irrelevant thoughts from my mind, I bade my farewells to the old witch and left the tower behind.
This path of light would take me back out of the territory.
When I’d first come to this forest, I’d thought it failed to live up to its name, but I was wrong.
Lilies of the valley flickering like fireflies, butterflies glowing a faint green, grasshoppers as transparent as glass… The forest was full of fantastic creatures.
Not all of them were beautiful, either. When butterflies fluttered across my path with all-too-realistic human faces on their wings, I didn’t know whether to laugh or shudder.
In a small meadow among the trees, fairies called “fauns” danced about happily while beating on drums.
I bet if I took the younger girls here, they’d join right in.
I saw fewer and fewer of these spectacles as I drew closer to the Disorienting Charm Barrier.
I was a little sad to leave, but I’d seen more than enough to satisfy me.
On the way back home, I brought down a wild boar that I found lurking along the path. A souvenir for Liza and the others.
When I returned to the inn, Arisa, near hysterical with worry, gave me a tongue-lashing.
The gist of her tirade was that it was too dangerous in the forest at night for me to wander off on my own. When did I tell her that I’d gone outside the city?
She dodged the question when I asked what she was doing in this room instead of her own, but given her rather short nightgown, she was probably trying to sneak into my bed again.
I probably could’ve gone on the offensive by pointing this out, but since Arisa’s tearf
ul lecture was kind of adorable, I simply embraced her and apologized without making excuses.
I’ll have to show her sometime that I can get around in the dark without any problems so she won’t worry like this anymore.
The next morning, I woke up to the sound of a creaking bed.
I could hear someone else’s breathing. Was Arisa trying to harass me first thing in the morning again? That girl never learned.
Dimly irritated, I opened my eyes.
“……Master…please…I entreat.”
An unexpectedly sexy voice woke me up in a heartbeat.
Nana was directly on top of me, her hair loose. She was expressionless as usual, but her face was flushed suggestively.
She peered down at me from all fours, so I had a generous view of her cleavage through the wide neckline of her shirt. I was sorely tempted to bounce them from below with the palm of my hand.
I hadn’t caught everything she’d said, probably because I’d turned off my “Keen Hearing” skill the night before so I wouldn’t have to listen to the snoring of the old man next door.
“Master, hurry.”
“…Sure.”
Bewitched by the feverish heat in Nana’s voice, I nodded involuntarily.
Nana sat up straight, and just like that, she ripped her shirt up and off. Pulled along with the shirt, her round breasts jumped triumphantly into the freedom of the morning air.
After one beautiful moment, her long blond hair quickly covered the view as it briskly chased down after them.
In a trance, my hand moved instinctively toward Nana’s chest.
“Good morniiing! Your beloved Arisa is here tooOOOOOOO?! What is this?!”
Arisa’s shrieking brought me to my senses. Looking around, I saw that Liza and Lulu weren’t in the room. They had probably woken up and gone to prepare for our departure already.
Now, what to do with this hand that’s just floating in the air here?
…Should I just squeeze them anyway?
Still half-asleep, I reached toward Nana.
“Arisa uses Impenetrable Barrier!”
Arisa made a wild leap toward me, so I automatically caught her in my arms.