I Picked Up a Witch from a Novel

Episode 3-a. The Flower that Carries the Smell of Decaying Corpses.

A small village and a mysterious flower.

As you head towards the east, you will find a small village and a mysterious flower nearby.

It emits the smell of decaying corpses, yet, in contrast, bears large, sweet fruits.

It is a pride of the village.

For the residents living in the small village, it sometimes serves as a daily sustenance, and for the tourists who occasionally visit, it can be sold at a high price, helping with their livelihoods.

Although the smell it gives off might cause one to frown, strangely, it does not wither and blooms beautiful petals all year round.

As the seasons change and many things alter, it remains unchanged, standing tall as a massive flower.

No one knows how long that flower has been here, but the only fact is that it has stood lonely even before the village was established.

And.

The moment when those petals close for a brief moment occurs once a month.

It is during the times when it is filled with bright red, round fruits that resemble clumped droplets of blood.

Indeed.

Is there something you desire in this place?

The small village that you encountered while heading east.

And the large, mysterious flower.

You and your companions, who have stopped to stretch your bodies to relieve the fatigue accumulated from Tevris.

At least I hope you won’t just lounge about there.

If you have chosen to walk the painful thorny path, do not settle down and continue moving forward.

I sincerely wish for that.

********

Inside the halted carriage by the roadside.

“Ah.”

“Ah.”

““Aah…””

“Ah…”

Only the short sighs of the four sprawled out in a cross pose can be heard.

“…I’m dying.”

“I’m really dying…”

““I think I might die…””

“I’d rather die; it might be more comfortable…”

The weary eyes, trembling arms and legs were problematic, but the biggest issue was.

That despite my determination to keep the carriage moving, the horses collapsed right in the middle of the road, which was the greatest problem.

So I fed the horses some hay and water, and temporarily declared a break while I pulled the carriage to the roadside.

“Damn it, I didn’t even think about the horses. They’ve been there for 8 days as well.”

“I’ve told you countless times, that’s a motherly derogatory remark.”

“…What’s the difference between mother and dam?”

“Well… it’s practically the same as calling someone a brat or a piece of shit. Go on, finish your insult, you little shit.”

No.

Sir, mumbling to yourself is entirely different from cursing in someone’s face.

I thought that as I changed my words and quietly muttered.

“…Mommy.”

“Yeah, brat.”

“…”

It was certainly absurd, but the stubbornness and thoughts of a centuries-old man are quite solid.

Anyway.

“I feel like this isn’t going to work; let’s get a few days of rest in the nearest town or village after the horses feel better.”

I thought maybe I overexerted myself in Tevris because my entire body felt like it was going to break, and I absolutely didn’t want to rest any longer in the hard carriage.

Old Horn also seemed to agree with me as he nodded while sprawled out.

“I agree. I’ve hardly ever felt this exhausted in my life; maybe it’s age, but I really feel like I’m going to die.”

“You are pretty old after hundreds of years.”

“That’s a dwarf derogatory remark.”

Of course, Horn’s words are never exclusively calm and positive like always.

“Damn, what is that supposed to mean? Doesn’t that sound like you just hate me?”

“Exactly hit the nail on the head. You’ve become quite perceptive for a human.”

“Seriously, this is ridiculous.”

As expected, he displays that paradoxical nature of being a fucking racist while being sensitive to hate directed at himself.

By the way, I wondered why the only one responding to my suggestion to take a break was old Horn.

And soon enough, I found out why.

“…He’s asleep again.”

“They’re still children. They must be very tired.”

“What about Avery?”

“He’s a crazy one. I don’t know much about him either.”

The twins and Avery appeared to have fainted and fallen asleep again.

After a long time, the crackling sound of a campfire began to roar.

As a bandit, I had no time to care about such things, and after waking up, I noticed that the surroundings had darkened, which hastily rekindled the flames.

“…”

The kids, old Horn, and even Avery were all so tired they didn’t even think about waking up.

Of course, I too had a desire to sleep again, but I had to be on guard against a potential ambush.

“I’m hungry…”

In fact, I had gotten up from hunger so intense it started to hurt, so I sluggishly pulled out one pot and placed it over the fire.

I carefully took out only the boxes that would contain ingredients and dropped them onto the ground, trying not to wake the sleeping people.

However, opening the icebox filled with hopes turned out to be fruitless as there were no fresh vegetables or meat.

Inside lay dried jerky and some perhaps slightly spoiled wilted vegetables.

“Damn it, Mommy.”

To put it another way.

The prices in Tevris, being a city of tourism, were excessively high, so I thought about sourcing from another city or village, hoping to save money.

I never expected everyone would collapse like this, making pitiful sounds.

What a fool.

So I first prepared the wilted vegetables, then I got up, still trembling and sore, and walked into the forest.

I made loud footfalls as I walked, drawing my sword and tapping the nearby trees to make noise.

Although the small animals would probably flee at the sound, I thought perhaps wild ones like boars might be lured into a trap.

So I continued to make noise and wandered through the forest, plucking fresh greens blooming on the ground even in the darkness.

Just one, just one.

Then, after a little time passed, my eyes sparkled with intent.

A wild boar was approaching me, snorting loudly.

However.

“No, I said just one!”

There was one problem; there was a bit more than one.

It felt like I had encroached upon the territory of wild boars, as several were charging toward me.

So, I lifted my sword.

The blade glimmered under the moonlight as it slid out of the sheath with a srayn.

Though my arms and legs were still trembling, and they were still aching from being exhausted, I shouted.

“Still, I’m not getting my ass kicked by you bastards!”

I kicked the first one that approached me with all my might, shouting that.

Like a harmony, a scream rang out sharply.

Yes.

Tonight’s dinner will be a delicious wild boar stew.

Before long, the pot was bubbling.

With the wild boar meat I struggled to clean and various herbs and edible weeds I plucked from the forest thrown in, the stew emitted an incredibly appetizing aroma.

“Ah…, it smells delicious…”

“Yaki…, save me a bowl…”

At that sound and aroma, the kids were the first to wake up, groggily stumbling out of the carriage.

Holding hands tight, they waddled up to me with partially closed eyes, looking back and forth between me and the pot, raising their little grins.

“Just as expected, it’s our big bro…”

“Big brother, you’re the best…”

They waddled up to me and, as always, climbed onto my legs on either side and squeezed me tightly.

“I feel like I’m getting too old for this kind of thing, though.”

““Haaam…, we’re still young, so it’s okay…””

As I carefully held those kids while stirring the ladle, the other two also got up and came outside.

To be precise.

“Hmm, I wonder why this guy isn’t getting up. At this point, he seems dead. What do you think about leaving him here in the forest?”

“Not a bad idea.”

“Then let’s just throw him there and leave.”

Stretching, old Horn grabbed Avery’s hair and dragged him out.

Moreover, it was truly impressive how he absolutely refused to wake up.

He was a human who often stayed up all night due to his research and experimentation, and with dark circles so pronounced from 8 days without sleep, it made sense.

Still, well, he was of help to us quite a bit this time.

So I waved my hand to dry off old Horn, then yanked on Avery’s remaining hair, pulling it toward me.

“Alright, leave him here sitting, old man. And let’s save a bowl of stew for him when he wakes up.”

“I was just kidding. Hmm, but you look the most exhausted; did you really make the stew?”

“Whew…, I couldn’t sleep because I was too hungry.”

“Actually, that’s why I woke up too.”

““We also woke up because we were hungry…””

After saying that, we all looked at each other and chuckled.

And.

“Ugh…, it smells delicious…. It’s almost like a fantastic concoction of the will I created myself…”

Looking at Avery, who was still muttering with his eyes closed, I said.

“Old man, this kid is smiling?”

“Leave him be. He’s probably having a pleasant dream.”

Hmm.

Then you just enjoy the feast in your dream.

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