Majo no Tabitabi - Volume 6 - Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

Elaina as a Child Witch

The story so far.

My name is Elaina. I’m The Ashen Witch. When I was barely in my teens, I earned the title of witch: the most prestigious rank among magic users. Then I set off on a journey to charm the whole world.

But hardship is an unavoidable part of travel. One thing or another happened, and before I knew it, my body had shrunk, and my mind had regressed back to about age ten!

“Waah…there’s no way I can continue my journey like this…”

Apparently, my magical abilities had also regressed; my immature body couldn’t keep up with the levels of magic I was used to commanding. I could still cast spells, but not particularly well. My title of witch wasn’t going to do me much good now.

On the other hand, I had gotten about 30 percent cuter, so I also felt like everything would somehow work out okay.

Since I could still use some magic, I just adjusted the clothes I was wearing down to child-size. I suppose I must have been a very talented ten-year-old after all. Good for me.

“……”

…Well, I wouldn’t call any of this “good.”

Still coming to terms with this absolutely astounding development, I surveyed my surroundings.

I was in a hotel room. My personal belongings were piled up in a corner. Out the window I could see a city standing still under a blanket of snow. Fortunately, even though my body had regressed, my memories of what had happened up to yesterday were clear in my mind.

So then, just what on earth happened?

Let me set the scene.

I arrived in that particular city on a wintery day. The eaves of the dark red brick buildings were painted over in pristine white. The snow had fallen recently, but now there were no clouds in the brilliant sky. However, despite the clear weather, precious little of the sun’s warmth seemed to reach the neatly lined avenue where I was walking.

I was wearing my black robe and triangular hat, a scarf wrapped around my neck, and thick tights, but the relentless cold found its way in through every gap and brushed my body with its chill.

“…So cold.”

Even with my hands stuck deep into my pockets, there I was, staring at the ground, trying to fend off the chill. If I didn’t bite down to keep my teeth together, they would’ve started chattering. I’ll add that I was shivering like a newborn deer.

The people of this city seemed to be used to this kind of cold. Men and women much more lightly dressed than I were running roadside stalls or enjoying their shopping as they walked calmly down the street, undaunted by the frosty weather.

“Excuse me. You there, young lady. There’s something you wish you could change about yourself, isn’t there?”

Apparently, some people felt so comfortable they figured they ought to ply their trade right there in the street. The voice that had called out to me all of a sudden came from a girl who was seated on a wooden crate on the corner.

She was wearing a round, flat hat that looked soft and fluffy, and hanging out from the bottom of that hat were smooth, beautiful golden waves of hair. Her outfit was gorgeous. She was dressed in a black robe designed like an elegant gothic dress. On top of her lovely clothing, her voice was elegant and refined, so it was abundantly clear that she was the daughter of some respectable family.

But…

“I oughtta be calling you the young lady…”

She looked like she was probably only about ten years old.

“Hmph! I’ll ask you not to look down on me! One day, I’m going to become a great witch… I’ll have you know I am an extremely promising novice! And I will not let this miserable little town hold me back! Now, you will show me some respect!” she insisted breathlessly.

…And here I was hoping that today I could check into a hotel and get an early night’s rest. Why am I a magnet for such weirdos?

“Okay, okay, what did you mean when you asked if there was something I wish I could change? I don’t feel particularly unhappy with anything in my life.” I tried to move the conversation forward. “Also, I’m telling you right now, I’m not accepting religious solicitations.”

“Worry not! I am no evangelist! Actually, I have recently developed an incredible new medicine. Which is…this! Ta-da!” The girl made a mysterious sound effect with her mouth as she pulled something up and out of the box she had been sitting on. It was a vial with a transparent liquid inside. “Let’s see… Try this medicine. If you drink it, your body will go, like, bam! And it’ll be all whoa! Amazing, right?!”

Her descriptions were awfully vague. They didn’t tell me a single thing.

“Anyway, if you drink this, it’ll have an amaaazing effect!”

“An amaaazing effect, you say?”

I have no idea what that’s supposed to mean.

“I especially recommend it for people like you.”

“…Look here, what do you mean by ‘people like me’?”

When I asked, the girl put on a huge grin, and after placing her hands on her own breast, she spoke full of confidence, “Your boobs will get big!”

The girl’s own chest was like a sheer cliff.

“That’s a lie, isn’t it?”

“It is not a lie! I’m serious about this. If you drink this, they really will get bigger!” She waved her arms around frantically. “Belieeeve meee!”

The liquid in the vial began to bubble. At this point, any desire to drink the vial’s contents had already completely vanished.

“No way. I’m definitely not drinking that. It’s definitely some sketchy drug, isn’t it?”

“You’re wrong! It’s an outstanding discovery that took me half a year to develop!”

“An outstandingly suspicious drug, you say? Okay, well, good-bye.” After further cementing my decision not to drink the strange liquid under any circumstances, I turned on my heel and walked away.

“Wait, you jerrrk!” The girl chased after me, shouting some words I didn’t quite understand. “You absolutely will not regret drinking it! You must drink it! Drink—aah!”

That’s when I heard an awful smashing sound, along with the girl’s shriek.

…I pretty much understood what had happened behind me before I even turned around.

“…Sniffle. My creation…it’s…”

The snowy ground was steadily getting soaked with the contents of the shattered vial. A small puddle was forming on the road.

The girl’s outstanding discovery had met its untimely end in an instant. She was sitting dejectedly on the ground, crying.

“Um…are you all right?” I touched the girl on one shoulder.

She let out a sob, “Hic…I worked so hard to make it…”

“Ah…sorry about that.”

“I went to such great pains…” She had very elegantly covered her eyes with both hands, but I could guess that beneath those hands, tears were probably being shed.

“…Um, what about backups?” I asked, and the girl slowly shook her head.

…Why didn’t you make any extra?

“…There aren’t any backups, but… I do have some other medicines…” Completely disheartened, the girl stood and walked with staggering steps over to the crate. She opened the lid. “…Ah, but all of them are failures. They’re just garbage…even if you did drink any of these, they wouldn’t have any effect… I wonder if I should stop this roadside business already…”

“……”

It was as if the confident girl I’d seen moments ago had shattered along with her special medicine. Now she looked utterly wretched, crying as she pulled vial after useless vial out of her crate.

Honestly, I couldn’t bear to watch. If anyone asked, I don’t think I could say it was my fault, but it was an unavoidable fact that encountering me was the start to her losing her precious discovery, or whatever it was.

“What’s the most normal medication you have in one of those vials?”

Ultimately, I decided to take one of her potions.

“…This one,” she said, as she held out a single small vial toward me.

“What does it do?”

“…It makes you feel as if you’ve grown taller.”

“……”

“…Will you take it? It costs one silver piece.”

“…All right, just a little.”

Feeling like I pretty much had to drink the potion, I took the vial from her. Then I opened the lid and took just the slightest amount into my mouth.

“…How is it?”

“…Somehow I feel as if I have grown a little taller…”

“……”

“……”

It was difficult to describe my feelings as I ultimately handed her one gold piece for the medicine (I gave her extra as an apology) and left the girl behind.

After that encounter, I walked around the city for a little while, then headed toward the main government office.

“Oh, are you the Ashen Witch? I’ve been waiting for you.” A government official received me cordially. “Come now, this way please—”

In the reception room I was shown to, there were two sofas facing each other, and the heat radiating from the crackling fireplace in the corner of the room wrapped my chilled body in pleasant warmth. After removing my coat, I had a seat on a sofa.

The official spoke as he sat down across from me, “I believe you have already heard the story from the branch office of the United Magic Association, but…we’re requesting your assistance dealing with a certain mage who lives in this city.”

As a witch and a traveler, I do often accept commissions. This time, as I had been getting ready to depart for my next destination, I’d gotten a request from the United Magic Association that read: A mage in the next city over is behaving poorly and acting rather violently. We want you to do something about it.

I don’t even belong to the United Magic Association, but unfortunately, there were no member mages in the vicinity. And on top of that, the situation was urgent, so it happened that the organization called upon me personally.

I had just basically run out of money, so the substantial reward was enough to get me to accept the job.

That was the reason why I’d come to this city.

“Oh, we truly are in a bind here, you know. That mage is a nuisance! She’s totally out of control! We just don’t know what to do about her…”

Then the official gave me a simple summary of the situation.

The novice Priscilla was young, only about ten years old, and yet she possessed exceptional talent. As a mage, she was the equivalent of a so-called genius.

However, she had never once channeled that talent in an appropriate direction.

The potions she made always possessed some peculiar qualities, for example.

In one instance, there was a strange potion that caused the drinker to suddenly sprout cat ears. Another time, one curious potion for some reason made the victim lose affection for everyone other than ten-year-old girls. There was also a terrible potion that changed the victim into a pig. Both eloquent and skilled at the art of deception, she was said to trick innocent citizens into drinking her weird concoctions by the roadside and swindle them out of their money.

However, since the victims were often the subjects of strange and unnatural transformations, it was sometimes difficult for them to report their mishaps to the authorities, and even when they did try to report them, it was hard to know what to do with their complaints. Until a recent explosion in cases, they had mostly flown under the radar.

I see, so she tricks her victims and silences them on top of that, while continuing to rip people off. Quite the schemer…

……

But wait, did he say a ten-year-old mage?

A girl selling medicine by the roadside?

“So, what does this Priscilla girl look like?”

In response, the official said, “Let’s see—I believe…” and gazed into space like he was trying to remember, before answering me. “She’s a blond girl, who wears a robe that looks like a gothic dress, and a fluffy hat. Oh, and her way of speaking is oddly mature.”

“…………Oh, is that so?”

I’ve seen someone with that appearance somewhere before, haven’t I…?

I could even say I feel like I saw someone of that description less than an hour ago…

“Is something the matter? Miss Ashen Witch, you don’t look well…”

“…No, it’s nothing.”

The government official wore a puzzled expression, but went on, “Anyway, Priscilla is continuing to make her questionable potions and it’s causing trouble for the citizens. If we don’t deal with her quickly, the cost of the damage is only going to balloon.”

“……”

I kept silent. After bowing his head politely to me, the official requested, “I would like to entrust you with quickly orchestrating the capture of Priscilla. We cannot allow the continued suffering of innocent people.”

I suppose there’s a chance I consumed one of those strange potions.

The girl I met certainly seems to have been strikingly similar to the description of Priscilla’s appearance, and she was acting the part…

Although, she did seem like quite a clumsy child…

There’s a possibility that it’s a coincidence; a passing resemblance between two strangers.

“Ah, right, right,” the official continued. “By the way, Priscilla purposely puts on an act as a clumsy, pitiful, dumb child in order to put adults off their guard, and she then cleverly engineers situations to trick them into drinking her potions. Please, be careful.”

“……”

“Also, when she tells people that one of her potions is a failure, it usually has some strange side effects, so you need to be cautious about that, too.”

“……”

Ah.

Seriously?

“Miss Ashen Witch, won’t you please accept this commission?”

The government official bowed to me once more.

……

It wasn’t a question of accepting or not accepting.

“Of course. Leave it to me. I’ll resolve it for you at once.”

It was clear that if I didn’t take the job, it would mean all sorts of awful things for me.

“Oh! What promising words to hear!”

From the perspective of the admiring official, I suppose I probably looked like an amazing witch, brimming with a desire to see justice served.

But in reality, I’m just a bumbling, pitiful fool of a witch who is in a panic because she carelessly drank some suspicious potion.

Oh-hoh-hoh…

…That’s nothing to laugh about, is it?

Eventually, after I was done with the official, I hurried back to the place where I had encountered (the girl who I suspected was) Priscilla. But she had already disappeared, as if she saw right through my movements, and all that was left was a scuff where the crate had been.

No one was there, and after that I wandered anxiously around town, trying to follow traces of the girl. But if it was possible to find her with such little effort, the people of this city wouldn’t be having so much trouble with her, now would they? I didn’t find her at all. Nope.

I searched until sunset, growing more and more desperate, but I wasn’t able to find any clues as to where she had escaped to.

All my searching was in vain.

However, at the end of the day, even after walking around the city, not one effect of the drug I had swallowed had materialized.

Maybe the one she made me drink really was just a normal dud?

I’m not having any strange side effects… In fact, maybe the girl I met actually was just a different person who happened to resemble Priscilla all along?

As a matter of fact, I remained half-convinced of my doubts about the identity of the girl I had encountered that afternoon right up until I fell asleep in my hotel room.

Then, when I awoke the next morning, I had turned into a child.

“She really was the real deal, wasn’t she?!”

Aw, shoot!

With this and other age-appropriate childlike sentiments, I surrendered my (ten-year-old) self to frustration and dove back into bed.

“This means that the side effect of the drug that makes you feel as if you’ve grown taller is to shrink you down? What in the world?!”

Doesn’t the side effect completely surpass the effect of the main drug? I strongly recommend revising the name and calling it a shrinking potion. Though I would never have swallowed something with that name, not on pain of death.

But there was no overstating how pitiful it was that I had been tricked so easily.

Also, even in this hopeless situation, I had one more very serious problem.

I had no money.

“…I’ll be able to stay at this hotel for only three more days?”

When I compared the amount of money left in my wallet and the rates of the hotel and did the calculations in my tiny head, factoring in food costs and other expenses, my remaining funds would last three days. After that, I would be tossed out under a cold sky, still stuck in a child’s body. I would be ruined.

…It feels like I’m always facing money shortages like this, but as a traveler, between food costs, and money for paying tolls, and clothes for different climates, and everyday consumable goods, no matter how much money I have, it’s never enough. No matter what kind of clever scam I run to make a huge profit, the money disappears as quickly as melting snow. That’s just the way of things. I’ve come to feel that life is a never-ending struggle.

“…Haah…”

After letting out one big sigh, I stared up at the ceiling from my bed. For now I would postpone my search for Priscilla. I would have to start with a way to earn money…

Under a cold winter’s sky, clad in a cheap red dress, wearing a hood of the same color, was a lone little girl.

“Matches… Doesn’t anyone need any matches…?”

She was a little match-selling girl.

She held out the matches she pulled from her basket for people walking down the street to see, and asked in a frail voice, “Don’t you need a match…?”

But the people’s hearts were as cold as the winter weather, and they observed the little girl’s efforts with frigid eyes. There was no sign at all that the number of matches in her basket would decrease.

“Matches… Doesn’t anyone need—aah!”

The girl was continuing to offer up her matches when she bumped shoulders with a man passing in the opposite direction and fell down on the snow. Tears welled up in the girl’s eyes as she carefully picked up the matches that had spilled on the ground, one by one.

“Heh. That’s yer own fault for selling foolishness like matches in a place like this,” spat the man who had bumped into the girl. “Well, I guess I’ll take one.”

Then the man snatched a match from the basket in the girl’s hands. What an arrogant person he was.

“Uh, um…those are for sale…”

“Huh? Yer gonna try to take my money after runnin’ inta me? Gimme one for free!”

“B-but…”

But the girl’s resistance was futile, and the man snatched a whole box of matches and took off.

What a pitiful little girl she was.

By the way, that pitiful little girl, who on earth could she be?

That’s right, it’s me.

“Matches… Doesn’t anyone need any matches…?”

Putting on an act as a pitiful little girl, I was trying exactly the same technique for making money that a certain ten-year-old mage somewhere had used. It was a totally scummy business.

“Ah…um…matches…” I kept on holding out matches to the passersby. And I kept on getting ignored.

I had yet to sell any of the matches. I had an embarrassing amount of my match inventory remaining, which I had stocked at a nearby general store.

If I could sell out of these, I could amass a splendid fortune, but…

“Hmm… Matches, huh? …I don’t have much interest in matches, but are you short on money?”

In a rare development, a man approached me, looking curious. A moment like this could be my chance, so I tried to act as sweet as could be.

“That’s right…I…don’t have any place to live… If I don’t sell all my matches, I’ll be homeless…,” I answered, acting awkward and bashful.

I remembered to toss out a wistful glance from time to time. Wholesome young men who long to protect weak little girls (like me, for example) make such easy marks.

From there, things played out like they always do.

“Huh…is that so…? Tough break… If you want, how about I buy one of those matches?”

“R-really?! Thank you so much! That makes me so happy!”

“Anyway, how much?”

“One gold piece each.”

“All right, all ri— Huh?! One gold piece…? That’s for a box of matches, right?”

“One gold piece each.”

“…Isn’t that a little steep?”

“I don’t believe so.”

“What, is there something wrong with you?”

“I don’t believe so.”

“……”

The young man wore an openly disgusted face. He was being overcharged a ridiculous price for a match, and it totally dampened his enthusiasm for making the purchase. As I watched, he even started to put the wallet he had been about to pull out back into his pocket.

However.

“H-hey! Miss!”

It happened just at the right moment. The arrogant guy who had stolen matches from me came back.

He looked quite flustered and was holding a match up for me to see. “Th-these! How much for one? Please lemme buy ’em!”

“One gold piece each.”

“Great! I’ll take ten!”

The generous old guy took out ten gold pieces on the spot and gave them to me. In return, I placed a box of ten matches in his hand.

“Thank you again for your business.”

After bowing to me, he ran off, muttering to himself, “Heh-heh-heh…these’re some amazing matches…! Revolutionary…”

I had been walking around selling matches, but I never said a single word about them being ordinary matches.

After all, there’s no way I could sell plain matches for one gold piece each, right?

“…Those matches… Do they have some kind of special trick to them or something?”

The young man looked down at me, wallet in hand.

So I grinned widely, and answered him with a question of my own.

“How about purchasing one and finding out with your own eyes?”

The novice Priscilla was working diligently at her questionable trade in the city, just as she had the day before.

“You there, is there anything you want to change about yourself?”

That is how she called out to passersby, before selling them medicines with amazing effects—by which I mean questionable drugs crowned with promising names.

“This medicine here is amazing! Undeniably, it can cure obesity! How about it? Do you want to buy it now?”

Priscilla held up a vial to show to a chubby man who had stopped in front of her.

She flashed potions before the people’s eyes to provoke their complexes and aspirations, and most people reached out to take them. She could get women with small chests to drink a potion by saying it would make their chests bigger. She could get short people to drink a potion by saying it would make them taller. She even whispered to destitute people about a potion that would make them rich.

With such temptations, she was able to stop people in their tracks. Among those customers who stopped, about half bought a potion on the spot, drank it, and went on their way.

The remaining half either hesitated or were suspicious enough to turn to leave, but…when they did, just like the day before, Priscilla would pretend to be a pitiful little girl and fool them into drinking a potion anyway.

She always tricked people and scammed them out of their money. It was a shady business.

“No, I’m good. I’ve got these, you see. Heh-heh-heh…”

However, the fat man before her now didn’t even look at the little vial. He just struck a match, held it up, and grinned.

The small flame flickered and wavered uncertainly. It just looked like an ordinary match. However, the man must have been able to see something different.

“Heh-heh…this must be heaven…” He turned and began to walk away, leaving Priscilla to ponder his incomprehensible words.

“…? That guy was a little strange…”

Priscilla shrugged it off and called out to a different customer.

However…

“Ah, I don’t need any medicine. I’ve got these, after all… Ha-ha-ha-ha…” A woman walked by, staring into the flame of a match.

“Oh…I feel young again… This is the best…” An old man with a bent back ignored Priscilla and went on his way.

“Heh-heh-heh…so wonderful…” She could already tell there was no point in speaking to a man who walked past drooling.

What on earth had happened?

Priscilla’s business had suddenly ceased to pay off.

“Tch…looks like someone’s getting in my way, huh…? They’re playing a reckless game…!”

Priscilla was trembling with rage. It was immediately clear to her that some fool had trampled on her turf. Someone was messing with her business. In other words, whoever was selling those matches was looking for a fight.

“I’ll crush them!”

Priscilla stormed down the road, following the people holding matches.

She needed money—a lot of money—to accomplish her goals. She could not allow any interference.

Priscilla saw a crowd that had formed around a corner on the main avenue. The people were swarming, shouting, “Matches! Give us matches!”

Standing before the mob was the figure of a lone girl, smiling sweetly as she tried to keep the crowd under control. “Yes, yes. Please line up in order!”

If there was any doubt about the source of these suspicious matches, it was quickly resolved.

“Gah… Who is that little girl?!”

Priscilla, her eyes narrowed hatefully, was looking at a young girl of about ten years old. But as for who she might be, Priscilla couldn’t even hazard a guess.

She had ash-colored hair that came down to her shoulders. She had eyes the color of lapis lazuli. The dress she was wearing was the traditional garb passed down among the people of the region. But Priscilla had never seen such a girl in this city before.

“……” As she glared at her, Priscilla suddenly had a realization. “…The witch from yesterday…?”

The day before, Priscilla had tricked a witch into drinking an age regression potion by calling it a medicine designed to make her feel taller. So it didn’t startle her to see the witch from yesterday in this form now. Actually, it seemed to suit her.

However…

“The witch from yesterday was the one who was dispatched by the United Magic Association…so what merit could there possibly be in doing something like this…?”

Priscilla had heard that the city government had summoned someone from an organization called the United Magic Association to deal with her. And that someone, the person who had been sent after Priscilla, was a witch: a person who had attained the highest magical title, to which all other mages aspired. A person above all others.

She never could have imagined that someone like a witch would deceive people and rip them off. Could a person of such status really conduct such a scummy business?

No, that’s unthinkable—Priscilla shook her head. There’s no way that scummy witches exist, is there?

So, what merit could there possibly be in doing something like that? What could she possibly be hoping to accomplish by lowering herself like this?

“……! Don’t tell me…!” Just then, Priscilla realized the true motive of the witch. “She’s trying to indirectly interfere with my work. She intends to drive me out of business! What a nasty trick that is!”

That is how Priscilla interpreted the young witch selling matches. Her observation completely and utterly shelved any consideration of her own nasty tricks.

She could only see this as a provocation, as if the other girl was taunting her, saying, “I didn’t suffer any side effects from your potion, see?”

“You’ll get your wish…! If you’re looking for a fight, then I’m going to take you up on it…!” Priscilla angrily ground her teeth. She probably looked awfully suspicious, standing there fuming on the street corner, but fortunately, the crowd of adults swarming around the young girl was far shadier, so Priscilla didn’t attract any attention.

The matches that I had created showed people whatever wild visions they liked.

In truth, they were just ordinary matches onto which I had applied a tiny spell. But they sold better than I ever expected.

Just like regular matches, once they were lit, it was just a matter of moments before they burned out.

“Give me some, too! I’ll buy ten!”

“Me too!”

“Hey! Don’t buy ’em all up!”

“Won’t you sell me some, too?!”

“Ahh! I want to see more visions! Please!”

My match stand was drawing crowds of people day after day. It was great. It was easy money. I even started to feel a bit like I didn’t care too much what happened with Priscilla.

“Yes, yes. Everyone will be served in turn. Please line up, okay?”

I spent every day raking in the easy money.

Who could have imagined that I would be able to purchase matches for so little and sell them for so much?

I really found a good business, huh…?

I congratulated myself on my recent financial success.

Which reminds me, until several days ago, I was all worked up over showing that I could quickly solve the matter of Priscilla, wasn’t I?

In my pursuit of easy profit, I’d forgotten all about my original business in this city. On the third day of my match-selling enterprise I received a reminder.

“You bastard! Do you understand where you are?! You’re in Miss Priscilla’s territory!”

A single brawny man suddenly pushed his way through the crowd. His eyes were bloodshot, and he wore thin clothing even in the middle of winter, as if he was baring his skin for the sole purpose of showing off his excess muscle. The man looked like a real meathead.

“What?” I acted like a pitiful little girl who didn’t know anything. “Miss Priscilla’s territory…is it? I’m sorry…I don’t know anything about that…I was just thinking about making everyone happy…”

Usually, when I spoke in this tearful voice, things would more or less work themselves out. After all, I did look like a ten-year-old girl.

Hiding my face in an effort to disguise my cheeky disposition, I put on an exaggerated show of sniffling and sobbing.

However…

“It’s no use crying! This is Miss Priscilla’s turf! Hurry up and get outta here!”

The muscle-bound man just shouted and yelled.

As I glanced up at him from the gaps between my fingers, the man kept repeating himself, mumbling, “Miss Priscilla, Miss Priscilla, Miss Priscilla is amazing…”

Well, well, what’s this?

“…Did you possibly drink some of Priscilla’s medicine?”

“If you mean the medicine that a girl was selling by the roadside, then yeah, I drank it. Apparently, it increases muscle mass. Long live Miss Priscilla!”

“……”

He had probably been tricked into drinking a potion that turned him into Priscilla’s puppet. It was obvious that she had sent him to shut me down. She was coming after me.

I see, I see.

“If you don’t get a move on, I’ve got some ideas of my own, see? Understand? With these muscles of mine, I’ll—”

“Okay.”

Since this irritating guy was somehow still flexing in front of my face, I struck a match and held it up for the muscleman to see.

“I’ll pound…you…” The muscleman stared into the flame. “…Oh, I can see— What is this match…?! I can see…such a wonderful world…!”

Even though he had downed one of Priscilla’s potions, my magic seemed to be no less effective.

The muscle-bound man before me was delighted by the apparition.

“A world full of muscles… I can see it…”

……

That sounds like a vision of hell to me…

Anyway, after winning over Priscilla’s goon, I got back to my match business.

This sure is easy…

“What is the meaning of this…?!” Priscilla gasped as she watched the muscle-bound man get ensnared in an instant. The potion had put him under her control. He should have used his massive muscles to pulverize that match, she thought. She’d been convinced that his meathead brain would be too tiny to be affected by the match’s magic.

“Tch…” Priscilla was furiously biting her nails. “Well, that’s just fine… I have other minions at my command!”

Priscilla wheeled around, desperation plain on her face.

“Listen up, all of you! I want you to deal with that girl!”

Then she shouted in a loud voice, despite the fact that she had concealed herself in the shadows. At the moment, she wasn’t concerned with small details like revealing her position to the witch.

“As you wish…Miss Priscilla.” A slender man with glasses was waiting on Priscilla.

“Heh-heh-heh… So we can take down that girl, right?” This came from a young man with a creepy smile.

“Oh-hoh-hoh… Perhaps I’ll go all-out, for once…” A woman fixed her captivating gaze on the witch.

That’s right.

These were Priscilla’s Big Four.

They were the best of the best, who Priscilla had gathered over the past several days. Each of them alone was (by self-assessment) far stronger than any mage. In short, the group was rather short on brains.

They were called the Big Four, but there were only three of them now. The muscle-bound man had been the fourth.

He’d also been the strongest.

“……”

“……”

“……”

The morale of the remaining three had taken a precipitous dive. It was so bad that Priscilla could hear them grumbling about wanting to go home.

“Hey now! Hurry up and go! Mooove iiit!”

Priscilla was pointing at the witch and throwing a tantrum.

“Wait, but Miss Priscilla…”

“Heh-heh-heh…afraid I can’t.”

“I’m scared…”

Even if they were under Priscilla’s control, it wasn’t like she had completely erased their sense of self-preservation.

“Grrr…” What good were all the special pains Priscilla had taken to enslave them if this was the result? “…All right, I understand. In that case, drink these potions.”

Priscilla rustled around in her crate and pulled out three vials of medicine, which she handed to each minion.

It was a drug that would increase the drinker’s physical abilities.

“Oh…this is…!”

“A-amazing…!”

“Ahh…I can feel the power…!”

In short, they were doping.

“Oh-hoh-hoh…as long as I have this, everything will turn out fine! Now, go!”

And then, with their confidence restored, the Big Four (just three of them) marched forward with reckless bravery to take down a ten-year-old girl.

Some sort of strange group of three came over, so I showed each one of them the flame of a match.

“Huh? Seriously? She…likes me…? Wait, actually, I also…” The slim man with glasses appeared to see a vision of a girl confessing her love to him.

Well, well, how wholesome.

“Heh-heh… So weak… Humans are all so pathetic… Every single one…” This young man seemed to be engrossed in some sort of adolescent power fantasy.

That’s… Well, okay…

“Stop it! You mustn’t all fight over me…!” The beautiful woman appeared to be having a vision of many men competing for her attention.

Wow, despite her appearance, she’s really quite innocent…

Well, these three were probably also working for Priscilla, but I quickly brought them under my control.

In total, it took less than five seconds.

“Ugh…it seems anyone can be affected by those matches, so long as they’re human…”

By sacrificing all her minions, Priscilla had learned a costly lesson.

However, sending in her Big Four, starting with the muscleman, was not the whole extent of her strategy. Several full days had now passed since she had first discovered the de-aged witch interfering with her business.

She was not the type of girl to let that time go to waste.

“Oh-hoh-hoh…I would have preferred to avoid getting my hands dirty if I could, but…there’s no way around it now…”

She pulled out a new vial of medicine and let out a bold laugh.

That witch from the United Magic Association is just getting in the way of business. She’s no one I need to be afraid of. I thought I could enchant a few minions to get rid of her quickly, but she won’t back down. Now I’ve got no choice but to use a more…forceful method!

“It’s over for you…witch!”

Priscilla opened the vial dramatically.

And released the beast.

Less than an hour after I’d bewitched the four strange people with my matches, Priscilla sent over yet another assassin.

“…Ah-choo!”

As soon as I laid eyes on the creature, I sneezed.

Priscilla seemed to have realized that my matches were effective on most humans and had given up on sending people to take me out. This new creature that appeared before me didn’t seem like it would be even a little bit interested in matches.

“Mraaaaaaaaaaaaoooooow!”

It was a cat.

But it was such an enormous cat that I had to crane my neck to look at it.

Sniffling through my itchy nose, I stood stock-still, in a daze.

“What is that beast?!”

“It’s awful!”

“Run away! Everybody, run!”

“That thing will eat you alive!”

As expected, all the match-drunk people surrounding me came back to their senses with the appearance of the monster, and the crowd that had formed in the road scattered in an instant.

Oh no, my easy marks…

“Oh-hoh-hoh-hoh-hoh! Serves you right, witch! This is how you meet your end!”

Priscilla was there, gloating loudly from the shadows of a distant alleyway.

“…Ah-choo!”

For just a brief moment, I thought about going right over to her and putting her through a painful experience, but there was the huge cat right in front of me, blocking the way.

“It’s too late for tears! You would do well to repent your interference with my business!”

I am, of course, horribly allergic to cats, and the presence of this enormous specimen was making my eyes burn and my nose terribly itchy. That was the reason I was tearing up.

It certainly wasn’t out of fear.

More importantly, could it really be true that the matches had no effect on animals? Honestly, taking on such a fearsome opponent would have been difficult, even if I hadn’t been stuck in a ten-year-old’s body with the magic proficiency to match. I decided it was best to avoid a battle, so—

“Okay!”

I struck a match and held the flame up for the cat to see.

“Mrooow…”

It worked.

It actually worked.

“Huh, no way… It’s working…?”

A shocked voice echoed from somewhere off in the distance.

When I tossed the match far away from me, the huge cat let out another “Mrooow” and chased the small flame away.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the contest was already settled.

“Grrrrrr…”

As I advanced step-by-step toward her, Priscilla inched away, looking frightened and annoyed. The girl’s behavior was a bit strange, as even in her retreat, she still maintained a confident attitude.

Keeping her in suspense, I advanced toward her ever so slowly. “So, what will you do now? Will you surrender? Will you fight? Of course, I don’t mind either option, you know? Either way, the result will be the same.”

Priscilla steadily retreated away from me, down the narrow alleyway. She was gradually, gradually, being backed against a wall. She didn’t have any options left.

“So. What will you do?”

I cocked my head questioningly once again.

“Tch…” Finally driven all the way back into the wall, Priscilla still didn’t seem inclined to surrender. “Th-this must be a joke…! I’m going to become a great witch in the future! I can’t meet my end in a place like this!”

Then she pulled a wand from her breast pocket.

“Oh? Sorry, what did you say?” The moment Priscilla tried to bring her wand to bear, I sent it flying out of her hands.

As a ten-year-old, I wasn’t able to cast complicated spells, but sending an opponent’s wand flying was another matter. It was my signature move.

“……”

“……”

Priscilla’s wand fell to the ground with a clatter.

But she wasn’t one to give up just like that. “H-humph! Spellcasting isn’t even my strong suit, anyway!”

With her voice wavering quite a bit, she pulled a small vial from the same breast pocket. She seemed to be telling me that her area of expertise lay in potions instead.

“Get a taste of this!”

She threw the vial before I was able to flick it away with my wand.

“Ah-ah, do you really think that’s going to work?”

It’s a simple matter to snipe something out of the air.

I hit the vial with a midair burst of magic, and it crashed down in the middle of the road and shattered.

“……”

I stood at attention, waiting several seconds for her to make a move. She really looked like she was about to cry, staring at the broken vial. Then she threw another small vial at me, accompanied by yet another desperate shout.

“H-have a taste of this one, too!

I knocked it down with ease.

“……”

“…Take that! And that!”

She continued throwing vial after vial at me, but even despite my ten-year-old appearance, I still possessed considerable magical skill. I wasn’t about to take a direct hit from an attack like that.

The wreckage of who knows how many little vials was accumulating on the ground.

Every time she threw one, her expression turned grimmer.

“Um…I…don’t have any…weapons left, but…”

Priscilla was trembling like a baby deer in a corner of the alley.

“Ah, so you don’t.”

She was finally defeated.

I began to close the distance between us again.

“…Umm…? My weapons are all…” Trembling fearfully, Priscilla looked even smaller than when I had first met her.

“Your weapons? What about them?” Grinning as widely as possible, I continued to close on her. “By the way, I have to ask, for my own curiosity really… What were you hoping to accomplish by making suspicious magical potions and selling them for a high price in a backwater town like this?”

“Um… Huh? That’s…well…” The spirited girl from before was nowhere to be seen. She now gave the impression of cornered prey. “Um…I…I wanted to become a witch… So I just…”

“I can’t understand what you’re saying, could you speak a little more clearly?”

“Eep!”

Priscilla’s shoulders jolted in surprise. Quaking violently where she had sunk to the ground, she said, “Um… This is a rural town, so I wanted to make money to set out for the city and study magic.”

“Uh-huh. A splendid goal.”

“S-so you’ll forgive me, r-right…?”

“No, this and that are two different conversations.”

I’ll thank you not to get carried away. But while I have the opportunity…

“We also need to have a different conversation about my body shrinking down. The potion that you tricked me into drinking, exactly how long before the effect wears off?”

“…About one week.”

“And there’s no way to fix it a little faster?”

“You would revert immediately if you used the antidote, but…”

“And where is the antidote?”

“At my house…”

“Uh-huh.”

Which means that I can return to normal right away.

Great news. Because of course, there’s no way I could keep traveling like this. I was just thinking I’d like to change back already.

…I’ve already caused quite disturbance in this city, and it’s not easy running a business when you look like a ten-year-old, either.

“All right then, would you please change me back?”

I smiled at the girl.

“Huh?” Priscilla seemed to misunderstand something about my smile, because her face suddenly brightened after she looked at me for a moment. “Well, well…! Then maybe, after you’re back to normal, you could overlook what I did?”

She peered up at me, talking nonsense.

What are you talking about?

“You know there’s no way that’s happening.” Still smiling, I continued, “But I’m not an evil witch, either, so I can give you the privilege of choice. Would you rather experience a painful vision, or a scary one, before you return me to normal? Which would you prefer?”

And then…

The screams of a ten-year-old mage echoed through all corners of the city that day.

“And that’s pretty much the summary of what happened.”

After taking the antidote and returning to my normal form, I handed Priscilla over to the authorities and gave them a simple report summarizing the details of the incident.

“Is that so…?” The government official nodded after he’d finished reading the report. “So, she did those things just because she wanted to make money…?”

I nodded sharply.

“Well, to put it another way, she couldn’t come up with any other way to make the money. If you’re interested, I think she’s planning to leave town once she has the funds.”

“Hmm…” The official nodded in understanding. “Ah, come to think of it,” he said, “for several days, from the day you came here up until yesterday, a little girl was selling matches around town… You wouldn’t know anything about that?”

“I would not.”

“Is that so…? Apparently, those matches had some sort of strange spell cast on them… The citizens were all getting match-drunk because of it, but…you wouldn’t know anything about that?”

“I would not.”

“Also, yesterday, there was a report of a huge cat appearing in town…”

“I know nothing.”

“No, I suppose you wouldn’t… We’re conducting our own search for the beast, but we haven’t come up with anything, you see…”

Naturally, Priscilla had also had an antidote that had transformed the monster back into its original house cat form. So at this point, I didn’t think they would find it no matter how long they searched.

Groaning quietly, the government official lowered his eyes to the report I had put together.

“Miss Witch… Are you really planning to submit this report to the Association?”

“Is that bad?”

“No, it’s not bad, but…”

He muddled the end of his sentence and let out another low groan.

The report I was planning to submit to the United Magic Association came to a conclusion with this statement:

The mage Priscilla caused an incident of this nature, because she has not received a proper magical education. There can be no doubt that if she studies magic under a proper teacher, in the future she is likely to become a promising witch. Accordingly, I judge that no punishment or penalty is necessary at this time.

In other words, there was no need to throw her in a cell or sentence her to any sort of punishment. Or perhaps I should say, when it came to doling out punishment, I had already done so personally. The only thing left for the adults to do was to give her a good scolding.

For the time being, Priscilla only really knew enough magic to brew her questionable potions. But she was still just ten years old. There was still time.

She had a lot to learn, not just about magic, but about the world as well.

“She simply doesn’t understand yet what it is to be a witch, or to use magic spells. At any rate, I expect she plans to leave soon.”

She seemed to have acquired plenty of money, and probably wanted to depart right away. And besides…

“Wouldn’t sentencing a ten-year-old girl to a harsh punishment tarnish your city’s honorable reputation?” I asked. “You can punish the girl, a rare mage to find out here in a country town like this, or you can gain her lasting gratitude by overlooking this little incident, so that in the future, when she finally becomes a full-fledged witch, she returns to serve the people here. Which do you think is better?”

After that, Priscilla was reprimanded severely by the city government official.

The official carried on at great length, preaching the evils of running scams, expounding the virtues of an honest wage, telling her myriad tales about the suffering she had caused for many people by continuing to sell her suspicious potions, and showing her the mountain of complaints and injury reports that had come in.

From an outsider’s perspective, it was an ordinary scolding.

Priscilla was just an ordinary child being scolded for something bad she had done.

Finally, after the official had been lecturing her for the better part of an hour, he wrapped it up, saying, “…Well, that’s enough talk. You should be careful from now on.”

There was no punishment, and no penalty. It was all over with just a simple lecture.

“Um…?”

Priscilla looked like she had been expecting something more. “So there’s no…fine or anything…?”

But the official just shook his head. “You don’t need to worry about the money,” he said casually. “I’ve taken the liberty of arranging for reparations to be paid to your victims.”

“…Huh?”

“By which I mean, the money we were planning to pay to the witch we commissioned is being reappropriated for that purpose, because…” The government official shrugged as if he was fed up with the whole affair. “I was asked to redirect the entirety of the reward money to reparations.”

In other words, the witch must have done the work out of the kindness of her heart.

The official seemed to be telling Priscilla that she was forgiven, since this was her first offense.

“……”

But if you think about it, the witch must have made plenty of money thanks to her dirty match-selling scheme, so giving up the reward doesn’t seem like that big a deal.

“Oh, also, I have a present for you from the witch.” The government official handed Priscilla a large package. “I was actually instructed to give this to you after she had left the city, but… Well, it’s exciting, so I’ll go ahead and hand it over now.”

Priscilla hesitantly accepted the package, fearfully wondering what sort of present that awful witch would leave. Cautiously, worried it might explode or something, she slowly opened the package.

“…?”

But it was another anticlimax.

All that was inside was an ordinary book.

“Apparently, she’s a witch who travels far and wide, and she’s been to just about every place of note in this region. In this book she’s collected all sorts of useful information for when you go to study magic in the outside world. She said to put it to good use.”

Priscilla flipped through the book, paying the official’s words no attention.

Inside were maps of the neighboring regions. Guidelines for traveling alone. Details and explanations about the countries the witch had already visited, and detailed notes on how they received mages, as well as whether they had schools where one could study magic.

It seemed like a parting gift custom-made for Priscilla.

Written at the end of the book was just one line.

I wish from the bottom of my heart that one day you will become a splendid witch.

That is how she had brought the book to a close.

As the curtain fell on that hectic incident, I took my leave of the city.

I had originally come to this city to do a job, so there was no need for me to stay too long. Well, I say I came to do a job, but I didn’t actually do anything all that substantial.

In the end, I mostly walked around selling enchanted matches. Some other things happened. I was turned into a ten-year-old by a weird potion, and battled a weird little girl while in my ten-year-old state. But all that stuff was behind me. Honestly, it didn’t seem particularly noteworthy now.

“Miss Elaina!”

That’s why I was rather surprised to hear someone calling out to me like that. I didn’t recall anyone idolizing me as “Miss Elaina” or whatever.

“Miss Elaina! Please, wait!”

Next thing I knew, there was a hand clinging tightly to my arm.

“…What is it?”

When I turned around, there was Priscilla, eyes sparkling.

“Miss Elaina! No, my dear big sister!” For some reason, Priscilla was addressing me differently now. “Thank you so much for the book!”

“…Book? Um…no, it was nothing. Just a token.”

How strange… I was sure I said, “Understand? Give this book to her after I leave, all right? Make sure of it! Make sure you give it to her after I’ve left the city, okay?” I even repeated the request to be sure, but…

That government official must have had something clogging up his ears…

“This book that you left me, big sister, will become a treasured heirloom!” Priscilla looked innocent, smiling broadly. “Until now, there was no one around who could understand my dreams… This is the first time I’ve ever received something so wonderful!”

“Uh, sure. I’m glad that you like it…”

“Also, also, I’ve always aspired to become just like you, big sister! A strong, kind, cool, sleazy, scummy, rotten witch!”

“Are you…making fun of me…?”

“When I grow up, I’m going to become a witch exactly like you, big sister!”

“Wouldn’t you rather become a respectable adult? Anyway, my name’s not ‘big sister,’ you know…”

“Well, don’t you worry about the details, big sister!” Priscilla didn’t seem likely to amend her plan. Still wearing a grin, she tilted her head and asked, “More importantly, big sister, you’re going to leave town now, aren’t you?”

“…Well, I don’t really have any business here anymore, so…”

“In that case, take this!”

Priscilla placed a small vial in my hand.

Inside, a transparent liquid was sloshing around.

I looked at Priscilla. “Umm, what is this…?”

“That’s the amazing potion that I made you drink, big sister!”

“Uh, I don’t need anything amazing.”

“Please, drink it and think of me, okay…?

Priscilla’s cheeks were suddenly red.

“I can’t think of a situation in which I would use this, though…”

“Oh-hoh-hoh…” Priscilla looked up at me with amorous eyes that belied her young age. “Someday, when I’m grown, I’m going to come see you, big sister… And then, you can drink that potion and we’ll be the same age, okay…? Then we can spend lots of time together!”

“I…don’t need this…”

“By the way, I made some improvements to the previous version of the potion. I adjusted it so that you regress one year for every sip you take!

That means that if you take ten sips, you’ll be ten years younger! You can flirt with boys of all ages! When we meet again, we can even go back to how old we were when we first met! It’ll be so nostalgic!”

“I feel like you’re gonna get arrested as soon as you leave home…”

“Please, take it as a gift!”

“I politely decline.”

“Don’t hold back! Please, go ahead!”

“I’m not holding back, I’m taken aback!”

“Goodness. You’re so cute when you’re embarrassed! But it’s all right! Even if you waste it, when we meet again, I’ll brew up the same potion and trick you into drinking it, whether you want to or not!”

It was like she was trying to convince me that resistance was futile.

I sighed, and then put the potion into my bag. “All right, I’ll take it…” It seemed like she wasn’t going to let me go if I didn’t.

Priscilla stared at me earnestly, eyes sparkling, and I put a hand on her head. I rubbed her fluffy hat, and she hummed quietly with a big smile on her face.

“Well, um… I’m sure you’ll face many trials from now on, but…do your best, okay?”

And then I waved good-bye and took my leave.

I walked on, with Priscilla at my back for the longest time, waving at me continuously and shouting, “Big sisterrrrrr!”

The city, where the eaves of the dark red brick buildings were lined up neatly, was, as always, painted over in dazzling white. The snow had already begun to melt, and under the brilliantly shining cloudless sky, it had started to look like sherbet.

It was as cold as ever.

I was idly musing about visiting someplace warm next.

“Good-bye, big sisterrrrrr!”

……

It had been a simple matter, resolving a straightforward request from the United Magic Association, but there seemed to have been some unforeseen consequences.

I returned to my journey, hoping that, unlike Priscilla’s questionable potions, my time there would be free of side effects.