In a small city surrounded by countryside.
An old man, face full of suspicion, posed a question to the witch who had suddenly knocked on his door.
“Who are you?”
When I introduced myself as the Ashen Witch, Elaina, and added that I was a friend of his granddaughter, the old man’s attitude completely changed, as if those were the magic words, and he eagerly let me into his home.
I do feel like he let his guard down a bit too easily, but sometimes the countryside is just like that, I guess.
Or maybe he just had too much time on his hands, stuck in his spacious mansion.
The old man led me to the dining room and asked me where his granddaughter was now and what she was up to. I spoke honestly and told him what I knew. The old man quietly listened the whole time I was talking, then let out a deep sigh and muttered, “I see.”
Then the old man hung his head and began speaking deliberately, as if he was pondering the meaning of each word as he said it.
“No matter how much time passes, these useless regrets eat away at my body like poison.”
The area around his eyes was notched with deep, dark lines. He looked down at the tabletop, put his elbows up on it, and crossed both arms. As he took this posture, which looked just like he was giving confession in church, the old man slowly began to tell me a story from long ago.
It was a tale of useless regrets.
A sad tale about someone who couldn’t accomplish anything, despite not doing anything wrong and trying their very hardest.
“……”
The only thing I could do after hearing his whole story was change the subject.
“Actually, your granddaughter entrusted something to me.”
“What could that be?”
When things are tough, just talking is enough to make you feel better. The old man’s expression looked like it had more vitality in it than it had earlier.
Feeling somewhat guilty, I set the parcel down on the table and slowly opened it up.
Inside was the item that had been entrusted to me by the man’s granddaughter—by Ashley.
It was a shiny dark blue gemstone that the adventurer Ashley had always treasured and kept safe.
It was a special item, known as a goddess tear.
“…This is—”
The old man opened his eyes wide and looked down at the contents of the parcel.
Inside was the goddess tear—or at least, what remained of it. What had once been a precious stone was now debris, just a loose collection of glittering shards. It had already lost its brilliance. It looked like nothing more than some colored glass.
“I gathered up what I could, but…”
The jewel was in so many pieces that there was no hope of ever restoring it to its original condition, and the remaining pieces likely comprised no more than half of the original. What I had was only a portion of it.
It wasn’t really my fault, and Ashley wasn’t to blame, nor was her grandfather.
I was simply delivering the final product of those useless regrets.
✦ ✦ ✦
A very beautiful full moon hung in the night sky.
It was lovely, but it didn’t seem all that bright.
Clouds drifted slowly across the sky as a cold wind rolled by. Whenever the clouds obscured the moon, the sky fell into shadow, and darkness enveloped the world. When the witch surveyed her surroundings, it was like she was sitting on the bottom of the ocean, and an even colder and deeper darkness spread out around her.
It seemed like the world was completely shrouded in darkness.
The witch tossed a single branch into the flickering flames. The fire, which had been burning continuously since she had started camping, crackled and popped, as if grateful for the new fuel, and the witch’s shadow danced in its light. Beside the fire, two freshwater fish were skewered on sticks. They looked about ready to eat.
“So cold…”
When someone is traveling, they are often met with unforeseen situations.
For example, take the story of a certain traveling witch. Looking over the map carelessly as she always did, she said, “Now, given the distance, on my broom, it shouldn’t take me more than half a day, I figure,” totally underestimating things before she departed, and then she promptly got lost and found herself in an unfamiliar forest as night approached.
In the end, there was nothing she could do, and she was forced to camp out, and now she was holding her hands over the fire.
The season was late winter or very early spring.
The witch let out a very, very deep sigh.
“How miserable to get lost in a place like this. What a fool I am.”
By the way…
This very empty-feeling witch, making snide comments about her own situation, who on earth could she be?
That’s right, it’s me.
Even my words of frustration faded into the dark of night. My own voice and the crackling fire were the only sounds in the moonlit forest. There was something romantic about the quiet night, but frankly, it was also a little unsettling.
When traveling, unforeseen situations can arise, and it often happens that these unforeseen situations beget even more unforeseen situations. Once one bad thing happens, a relentless series of unforeseen events often follows, almost like they were attracted by the first thing that happened.
“At this point, the best thing to do is just to wait quietly for morning, but—”
Well, most of the time when you say a line like that, something’s going to happen, right? It was only after I uttered those words that I noticed something.
Rustle, crackle—I heard a sound coming from behind me.
It was like someone was trying to cautiously approach me from behind. But in the quiet forest, I could clearly hear even the shaking of the leaves on the trees. I focused entirely on what I was hearing.
“Hah…hah…”
Ahh, a pervert!
I couldn’t tell whether it was from passionate desire or something else, but the person approaching me from behind had ragged, erratic breathing. As soon as it became obvious that it was not a wild animal in the bushes, I pulled out my wand in such a way that the other person wouldn’t notice.
Rustle, rummage. “Hah, hah…” The ragged breathing continued as they slowly took one step and then another, closing in on me out of the underbrush.
Against an opponent like this, how about I give them one good blast of magic after they get close enough? There’s no need to take their life. It’ll do just fine to hurt them enough that they never approach this fire again.
I gathered plenty of magical energy in the tip of my wand, and then—
—the moment they stepped out of the underbrush and stood directly behind me—
“Don’t come any closer, pervert!”
—I turned around and simultaneously fired off a ball of magical energy. Pew—the blue light struck home, hitting the person in the pit of the stomach. It sank right in.
“Guaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!”
With a fierce cry, the pervert was defeated.
“Heh-heh-heh, you underestimated me. You thought I was just an ordinary girl. But there’s no way someone would be camping out in a place like this without being able to protect themselves, is there?”
I, the witch, had a triumphant look on my face as I blew on the tip of my wand. Intoxicated by my victory, I peered down into the face of the pervert, who was stretched out, hanging over a bush.
“…………?”
It was a girl.
Her golden hair was tied into two bunches behind her head. She looked like she was about in her late twenties. I could see that she had cute features. She was dressed in leather armor that was pitifully thin. She had collapsed from just a single blow to her stomach, so the armor was probably about as durable as it looked.
There was a large bow strapped to the girl’s back. From what I could see from just a quick look over her, she appeared to be an adventurer.
Her hand was hanging loosely over a bush, and I could see that her fingers were curled tightly around several coins.
At that point, I thought a little harder about the situation.
Supposing that she was a pervert who meant to attack me, why wasn’t she holding her weapon in her hand? If she had threatened me or done anything with that huge bow, if I had been just a helpless young girl, I probably would have obediently thrown both hands in the air.
Why was it that she was holding money in her hand, instead of her weapon?
“Your…fish…”
Finally, after just barely managing to wring out those few words, she abruptly lost consciousness.
Ah, I see, so she was trying to offer me money in exchange for getting some of the fish I was grilling by the fire.
I see, I see.
In which case, I also understand why her breathing was so labored. She was probably traveling and couldn’t withstand her hunger anymore, and her physical strength was at its limit, too. And just at that time, she took a harsh blast to the stomach.
I see, I see.
“…Uh-oh.”
Oh my.
The unforeseeable situations just keep coming, huh?