Chapter 4: Girl, Eats
“SO you should just totally live here forever too, Nichika. I’m pretty sure Master won’t do anything horrible to you if you do.”
“You really think so?”
“I do, I do! That’s for the best. Let’s do that.”
Nichika stayed seated on the sofa in an absentminded daze after her conversation with the witch. She was inattentively petting the cheerful Wolfie at her feet, but it wasn’t like she had given up on going home already.
She had a family who was waiting for her to come home. Just thinking about spending the rest of her life serving such a dangerous and eccentric man made her shudder.
On the flip side, what could she even do? At best, she could make a run for it, but she’d probably end up captured. Even the friendly wolf who had taken to her would likely turn against her if his master ordered it. And was there any guarantee that she’d manage to escape this forest if she did successfully run away? Could she find a way back home just by leaving? How could she survive in a foreign world alone?
“Miiko…”
Tears began to roll down her cheeks when she remembered her younger sister’s innocent smile. What was in store for her? Nichika felt like she had been left alone in a darkness so opaque that she couldn’t even see her fingertips.
✦ ✦ ✦
THE clock hanging on the wall indicated that the date had changed. Stillness enshrouded the room, with little noise other than the occasional squeaks Wolfie made in his slumber.
Nichika was still awake. She couldn’t sleep. Thinking about what the future held for her erased any desire she had to lie down and sleep.
A sudden noise from outside made her lift her head. The window facing the garden was dimly glowing—her eyes rounded at what she saw.
“Wh-What is that?”
It looked as if the sun was shining on a single spot, despite that it was nighttime. An absurdly sweet aroma wafted on the wind toward her.
“……”
Without thinking, Nichika sprung into the garden, skipping over to the light. Once her eyes adjusted to the brightness, she saw a young apple tree standing no taller than her waist. A single tiny fruit hung from the tree branch, glowing as if it were made of gold.
“Aaah…aaah…”
All her worries and anxiety dissipated the second she inhaled the fruit’s sweet scent. It smelled so delicious; she felt like she was in heaven. Somewhere in the corner of her mind, she remembered that she hadn’t eaten anything since lunch.
“It looks yummy.”
A vacant smile washed over her face as she reached out. It was inviting her. The golden apple dropped right into her hand, as if it had been waiting. Once she sunk her teeth into it, she couldn’t stop.
GULP!
For a while after she had taken the final bite, Nichika stood there, still and entranced. But—
“…?”
She jolted back to her senses. What in the world did I just do…?
Tilting her head in confusion, she peered down at the apple tree that should’ve been in front of her. The sapling had transformed into a rose bush, with large crimson flowers swaying from it instead of apples. The divine light had vanished, and gloomy black stems were trembling creepily in its place. Nichika reached for the rose bush to try to figure it out, but the roses withered away right before her very eyes. Faster than its scattering petals could hit the ground, a fierce sensation slammed into her without warning.
“…?!”
Pain—more intense than she’d ever experienced before—erupted in her abdomen. It felt as if she were being punched from the inside out.
Voicelessly screaming, she collapsed. The brutal pain slowly shifted into a searing burn, creeping through her body from her toes to her fingertips. Nichika could only gasp and writhe; something disgusting was crawling around inside her.
“…EEK!” Nichika sharply sucked in her breath when she saw her arm. The skin was bulging as if something inside was trying to break through. Scenes from science documentaries where a tape worm burst out of their host flashed through her mind.
Then, at last, whatever was inside burst through her wrist and shot out—it was a rose vine. Right at that very moment, the same rose vine she had witnessed withering away was sprouting out of her arm.
“N-NOOO!”
The slithering vine snaked around her arm. From it, a giant flower blossomed. Dyed in her blood from where it erupted from her arm, the flower looked vividly crimson even in the dark of night.
Her consciousness gave way to the shock and excruciating pain. Am I going to turn into some plant? Am I’m going to be the seedbed for this beautiful rose?
Had a long time passed? No, it had likely only been a few seconds. Her name was being called in the distance. The sound narrowly brought her consciousness back.
“MASTER! It’s Nichikaaaaaaaaaaa!”
“Oi, what the hell are you doing?!”
Another panicked voice joined the commotion. Cracking her eyes open, Nichika saw a wolf and a man.
“Wolfie…and…?” she mumbled nonsensically.
“What the— You ate this?!”
Nichika thought she saw a horrified look on the man’s face when his gaze swept from the withered flower over to her—but she couldn’t be sure, for even he was hidden behind the thickening haze.
“Is Nichika gonna die?! Is she?! Is she?!”
“Wolfie, go fetch some water. Hurry!”
“But, Master, I can’t carry a bucket with my paaaaws!” he howled hopelessly.
“You can hold it in your mouth, stupid dog!” The man redirected his attention from the wolf scrambling away to the collapsed girl. Reaching out, he wrapped his hand under her back and propped her up.