Short story 1:
The Legendary Witch
TL: Ulti
Editing: Cannongerbil, Deus Ex Machina, Keel the Swift
On this day,
“Here you go, Kazuma-san. Black tea and some cookies. These cookies happen to be Aqua-sama’s favourite.”
I came to Wiz’ shop to see if there’s anything interesting going on, and was relaxing after being served tea and snacks.
“Sorry for making you deal with Aqua every day… Oh, this black tea is delicious. You must have used some good leaves. I’m used to living the celebrity life, so I know quite a bit about stuff like this.”
“S-Sorry, but I can only afford the cheapest black tea for this shop…”
Oops, looks like I’m still a long way from becoming a celebrity.
“I see, so it’s all about the person brewing the tea. Well done, Wiz. If your shop ever runs out of business, you can always become my maid.”
“Please don’t say such things, Kazuma-san! B-but, if that ever happens, I might take you up on your offer…”
I enjoyed this peaceful moment with Wiz. Then-
“There you are, Kazuma! Big news! We have big news!”
The door to the shop swung open, shattering our peaceful moment to pieces.
Two breathless Crimson Demons barged in, their red eyes shining with excitement.
“Kazuma-san, Wiz-san, sorry for intruding. Um, we were doing research on Mages who have the potential to be our future rivals, and…”
Megumin and Yunyun said simultaneously,
“The Ice Witch is in this very city!”
“She was the leader of a party that wanted to be known as the strongest adventurer group. Even though she isn’t a Crimson Demon, she’s an extremely skilled mage who could use all kinds of magic, including Advanced Magic. She kills monsters and soldiers of the Demon King’s Army without mercy, even if they begged for their lives. That’s how she got her nickname – The Ice Witch.”
Hearing Megumin say that with a serious expression, Wiz covered her face with both hands and her shoulders started shaking.
Your ears are turning red, Ice Witch-san.
“So… What happened to that witch? You don’t even know who she is, do you?”
I say that, but I only just learnt about the amazing Ice Witch very recently.
Aqua should also be aware of it from the time Wiz and Vanir were telling us the story of their past adventures, but listening to them while eating snacks proved to be too difficult for her, and she fell asleep in the middle.
“About that, we know that she put her life on the line to challenge one of the Demon King’s Generals, but after that, all traces of her vanished. Her name and personal information are being kept secret by the Adventurer’s Guild, so all we know about her is that she’s a woman.”
After hearing Yunyun’s story, Wiz collapsed onto the table.
I leaned closer to her and whispered,
“Hey, why don’t they know it’s you? They know that you were a famous adventurer, right?”
“The people in this town only know that I was a member of a high level party. And… While Megumin-san’s story is slightly exaggerated, I can’t say that it’s wrong, so I’m afraid that they might become scared of me…”
While we were whispering, Megumin excitedly interjected.
“What are you two talking about there!? The Ice Witch is in this very town, you know!? That Ice Witch!”
“Why are you two so obsessed with her? What would you even do after meeting her? Ask her for an autograph?”
“The Ice Witch has such a cool name! I couldn’t possibly ignore her! I want to challenge her to see if she’s better than a Crimson Demon!”
Megumin replied.
“I-I don’t really agree with that, but I’m curious as to what kind of person she is…”
Hearing their replies, Wiz, on the verge of tears, looked at me and shook her head.
Looks like she didn’t want others to know about that.
I wanted to ask her why she told that story to Aqua, the famous gossip, if that’s the case, but now’s not the time.
“I’m sure the Ice Witch wanted to live a quiet and peaceful life in this town. Please leave her alone.”
“T-That’s right… And I heard that the Ice Witch is a really scary person!”
Wiz backed me up, but having to say these things about herself must have hurt her more than she expected, because tears practically spilled from her eyes.
“I-is that so? As a Crimson Demon, I wanted to settle this…”
“H-hey Megumin, Wiz-san has good common sense, so maybe we should heed her words. I’m sure that rumour about her was true…”
It almost sounded like Yunyun doesn’t think that I have good common sense, but I’ll let it slide for now.
“What rumour are you talking about? It might have been greatly exaggerated, you know?”
Once again, Wiz nodded in affirmation of my words.
“…Because all the other members of her party have paired up, the Ice Witch was left single, so she cursed this world and launched a suicide attack on the Demon King’s castle…”
“I heard that the Ice Witch was slaughtering monsters to vent her frustrations over being unable to find a boyfriend. Well, in any case…”
Both Crimson Demons turned to the crying Wiz and dealt the finishing blow.
“She must look really ugly if she was passed over within her party and had such a scary nickname. That’s how the rumour goes…”
—Later that day, news that the rumoured Ice Witch is the owner of a certain magic shop in Axel spread throughout the guild.
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