Editing Failing Witch:Volume2 Episode3 (section)

===Part 6===

“This way? Or this way? No, I need to cross this river!”

Viocia ignored how wet her shoes and the bottom of her skirt got as she crossed a stream not even 30cm deep. Deep in the forest, following footprints was a fundamental skill of tracking. And crossing rivers to cut off your footprints and scent was the standard countermeasure.

When she was little, Viocia had truly played hide-and-seek with wild rabbits and foxes in her grandma’s forest (which everyone kept saying was on the level of a final dungeon), so this didn’t even register as trickery for her.

“Hm, hm♪ The wet footprints continue straight…oh, there they are.”

She glimpsed a golden glitter between the trees.

It was that long hair.

Melehe kept saying it was impossible, but there was definitely someone there.

(Let’s see…is that a girl?)

“Hm, I’d know for sure if I could see the long ears again…but I can’t see them.”

From the glimpses she had gotten, it looked like the girl had straight blonde hair long enough to reach her ankles. And she had a braid worn up to decorate her head.

Was the rustling sound due to her parting the foliage with a ceramic-smooth white and silver staff? It had a cross-like shape.

Either way, Viocia got the feeling the girl would flee if she suddenly spoke to her.

Viocia decided to keep her distance and follow her a while longer.

The girl up ahead seemed to be headed somewhere in particular, but she also wasn’t taking a direct route there. She would wander this way and that. She would stop to smell a hibiscus along the way, reach out a finger to let a bright blue butterfly land on it and observe it, or kick a thick tree trunk with the sole of her shoe and gather up the toxically red fruits that fell.

(She’s taking a lot of detours.)

Viocia knew what it was like.

She was jealous that this girl could go where she liked without getting scolded like Viocia did on the way to and from prep school.

Whoever this girl was, she munched on one of the red fruits as she walked.

She was alive.

So, at the very least, she wasn’t an immaterial illusion or a ghost.

“Ugh, I can’t see her ears through all the branches and thickets. I so want to be sure of that.”

Just as Viocia spoke to herself, the elf came to a stop.

Viocia was afraid she was going to turn around, but she didn’t.

She stayed put and looked down to her hand.

She unfolded a piece of parchment there.

“Is that…?”

That was the parchment note Viocia had placed next to the plate of meat last night.

(Did she actually read it?)

The wind changed direction.

Upwind and downwind swapped. Now Viocia’s scent could blow towards the other girl.

The flowing blonde hair came to a complete stop. The carefree detours stopped there.

The failing witch frowned at the subtle change.

(Hm? Did she notice I’m following her?)

When Viocia took another step forward, the girl up ahead gathered strength in her legs and…

“She tripped!?”

She had apparently caught her foot on a tree root.

Viocia shouted out loud on reflex and the girl up ahead scrambled to her feet and vanished into the thickets. It was cute. However, Viocia wasn’t all that worried. Just like when playing hide-and-seek with the wild rabbits and foxes in her grandma’s forest, anyone who was panicked and trying to make up for a mistake wouldn’t attempt any complex diversions or detours.

After walking a bit more…

“Oh?”

She saw a strange color beyond the reds, blues, and yellows of the tropical foliage.

White.

A small house was built from cold stone. And a short building was attached to the 2-story house like dropped ice cream melting on the ground.

(Is that the elf’s house?)

“No, it isn’t.”

The scale was different, but it looked familiar to Viocia. It reminded her of her grandma’s house.

That was a living space combined with a lab for high-level alchemy.

It was the kind of hideout preferred by witches who had withdrawn from the world.

“There are two chimneys. That means they don’t want the smoke to mix. They must have two stoves for different purposes.”

If Dorothea were here, she may have noticed that the orange light flickering in the night sky came from the sparks produced when the smoke did mix.

Viocia silently approached and peeked inside the window to the lab attached to the side of the 2-story house. To eliminate as much outside influence as possible, the glass had two layers to insulate against heat even in the sweltering Dazzling Forest. The hand pump, stove, and other equipment inside made it look a lot like a kitchen, but instead of a kitchen counter, there was a wooden table with glass lab equipment lined up on it: flasks, beakers, test tubes, lamps, condensers, scales, etc. It was unlikely someone was using those to cook food.

It was all kept immaculately clean, but thoughtlessly ingesting anything in there would be very bad for your health.

The air was filled with the scent of the bleach used to make white leather.

The room visible through the window had a shelf of vials full of dangerous dried herbs that could cause hallucinations or even death. The pot on the stove wasn’t meant for cooking. It was finely tuned for a different purpose.

If this was a witch’s hideout, who had that elf been?

Did she live with the witch, or was she the witch?

“Huh? There’s something there.”

Viocia spotted something unusual leaning against the wall in the back of the lab.

It was a large stone monument taller than she was.

(I saw those at the Goddess’s Spring too. But one of them was missing. Then did whoever lives here steal it and that’s why the spring isn’t working?)

If so, this was a big deal.

Maybe she should turn around right away and call for Myousou Yagoro or Schanze Dwelling.

But her legs wouldn’t move.

Because she heard a voice.

“?”

(Is that whoever lives here?)

She didn’t know their name or what they looked like. If she was going to tell people about this place, the more she knew, the better. Viocia moved along the wall, following the voice from the lab to the house. She crouched and pressed against the wall directly below a window.

And she peeked inside.

She saw what looked like a living room located directly off of the entranceway. She saw a sofa and a low table. She also noticed a well-polished crystal ball and various kinds of cards. Those were fortune-telling tools.

There was also a plate with some bread crumbs on it.

And…

“Freynir, you’re back?”

“I am, Lady Elinalva.”

“And no one saw you while you were out?”

“'''I do not know what you mean by that.'''”

“Sigh, did you actually think you could fool me like that?” Seeing the expressionless girl trembling, the old woman called Elinalva breathed an exasperated sigh. “You’re a terrible liar. Maybe that’s what happens when you’ve never had a chance to talk with many people. …That aside, should I simply view this as a problem, or should I see it as an unasked-for opportunity?”

Based on the conversation, the two knew each other.

They probably lived together.

Their relationship was unclear, but the girl may have been even younger than Viocia. She wore what looked like loose, white priest’s robes, but she also wore thick leather boots that nearly reached her thighs. The combination was odd, but it was probably necessary for walking through the forest.

Also, the girl’s ears were sharply pointed.

She was an elf.

This wasn’t a fossil in Temple School City’s museum and it wasn’t a picture based on what one was thought to have looked like. She had snow white skin and golden hair that glittered in the light. She was very much alive and standing right there.

Viocia gave a snort of excitement while crouched below the window.

(There she is! A real elf! Now Melehe can’t call me a liar! Oh, but I didn’t bring a camera, so I can’t bring back a photo as proof!!)

“Hey.”

“Hyah!?”

She jumped.

She thought her heart would stop.

Unable to stand up, Viocia scooted back on her rear with her Formula Broom clutched between her hands. The old woman named Elinalva sighed in exasperation while looking down at her from the window.

“Sigh, are you just not very bright? Hiding below the window doesn’t do much good when that big hat sticks up so far. At least this saves me the trouble of going out to find you.”

“Lady Elinalva.”

“We might be able to use her for the other approach. The odds aren’t good, though,” plainly stated the old woman before the elf girl could stop her.

(Huh?)

Something was happening here.

Viocia finally felt a cold sensation sinking into her gut.

(I know she lives with the elf, but why is this old witch hiding so deep in the woods?)

A Maleficium graduate would find a glorious world awaiting her. And even self-taught witches like Schanze could choose whatever job they wanted. Viocia’s grandma had a house deep in a forest, but that was just the trees in her yard growing into a great forest over a long, long time.

What if that wasn’t what happened here? What if this woman was truly ''hiding'' here?

What if there was some disadvantage for her if she didn’t hide? For example, what if she was doing something unspeakable she had to keep hidden from the world?

The next thing Viocia knew, the old woman had vanished from the window.

Then she heard the front door creaking.

Old Elinalva exited with the elf girl by her side.

Elinalva held a Formula Broom in her hands, practically dragging it along the ground as she walked. But a sharp piece of metal was attached to the end. It was the kind of large pitchfork used to carry hay, but just like the broom, there were legends of witches carrying them as they danced at their gatherings.

“Since you followed her all the way here, I assume you’re interested in elves.”

“I-I am.”

“I am too. It would be such a shame to let them go extinct. So I, Elinalva Longhouse, must find a way for elves to prosper once more.”

This almost sounded like an actual conversation.

They shared the topic of elves and their values surrounding them.

But…

“So I decided to create an extinct elf in this forest where so many of their fossils slumber. But I didn’t have the skill. The only option left was to rely on luck and search out one of that legendary race in a forest the size of a small kingdom. Although to be fair, I did tweak my luck a bit by ‘borrowing’ one of the monuments that control the direction of the waters flowing from the Water Temple. There is more to witchcraft than flying on a broom and directly causing supernatural phenomena.”

She didn’t sound particularly proud.

Her tone was dry.

They could speak, but something between them wasn’t clicking.

A somehow flat voice came endlessly from the old woman’s wrinkly mouth.

“But that was the most I could do. My results tapered off after only finding one exceedingly rare elf, but a single individual cannot reproduce and thus it still ends after just one generation. But having her marry a human would only reduce the purity of her blood. That could only produce half-elves, which is no different from the race of elves going extinct by my own hand. It needs to be elves – pure elves. There numbers need to be increased until they can endure the drastic changes occurring around them.”

“Um.”

“The Aspect of Admiration: ATU 0327a, Hansel and Gretel. No matter how many bread crumbs they tore off and dropped to leave a trail, the bread itself never ran out. The Aspect of Antiquity: Tanngnjostr and Tanngrisnir. The goats who pull Norse thunder god Thor’s chariot are always resurrected no matter how many times they are killed and eaten. The Aspect of Amorality: the wicked witch boils babies in a cauldron to create a special ointment.”

The old woman talked on and on more to herself than Viocia. She may have even forgotten Viocia was there.

Viocia was overwhelmed by it all.

But she still managed to open her mouth to ask about a solid question that she couldn’t find an answer for.

“B-but how do you m-make more elves?”

“By cutting her up.”

“…?”

“''By slicing her apart over and over again, separating the right half from the left or the top half from the bottom. As long as I change Freynir’s situation so new flesh and bone will emerge from the cut, the end result is one more elf. And the process can be repeated indefinitely. That this method can only create female elves is a problem, but it will at least prevent a single mistake meaning the immediate extinction of the species''.”

Viocia hadn’t misheard.

But this meant she didn’t understand the root of the old woman’s thoughts at all.

What had she just said?

And why hadn’t Freynir reacted at all to hearing it?

“Th-that’s crazy!”

“Witchcraft is a fantastical solution to real problems, isn’t it?”

“But painful doesn’t even begin to describe it! If you did that, Freynir wouldn’t just cry and scream!”

“''Why should her feelings stand in the way of the prosperity of her species''?”

“…”

She said it in the tone of voice used to tell a child they needed to wash their hands before mealtime.

“Freynir is currently the last one. An unfortunate accident could occur at any moment, making elves truly extinct. Increasing their numbers is the only way to avoid that tragedy. I have no intention of treating her like a precious flower and simply waiting for her to age and die.”

What the old woman was saying may have been correct.

But was it anything more than correct?

“Freynir!” shouted Viocia, but the elf girl only tilted her head.

She may not have understood what the old woman was saying.

She may not have known that becoming the foundation of prosperity meant to be sliced apart while still alive.

(Does she think it’s some kind of metaphor? But one look in that old woman’s eyes should tell you it isn’t!)

She wasn’t just a name or a symbol.

She was a girl who had read Viocia’s letter and held onto it instead of throwing it out.

She had a mind the same as Viocia.

Viocia was certain of it.

She couldn’t just leave the girl here.

No matter what.

“You will be used to try a different approach.”

“What do you mean?”

“It is said elves are the beautiful version of the beings that naturally crawled out of a dead giant’s remains. The giants are the enemies of the gods, which makes them the opposite of what is right. …Since you have barged into our little world here, that would be the perfect role for you, don’t you think?”

“…”

“Creating more elves by slicing up Freynir can only ever create female elves. And since that method will become unusable once I die, there must be male elves for them to maintain a prosperous village on their own, right? You – or more accurately, your remains left to decompose out in the open – will be used as an experiment to that end.”

Viocia wanted to look away, but her neck muscles tensed unnaturally.

This was all the more painful for her because she was close enough to her grandma that she had decided to get into Maleficium to create a potion to cure her grandma.

So it was all the more painful to see this old woman who had become such a hideously distorted person by failing to control her desire and choosing to reject what was right.

“W-wait, Lady Elinalva. This person has done nothing wrong!”

“Right and wrong are irrelevant when it comes to elf preservation,” spat the old woman, frowning just a bit. “And based on the lack of a tremor in your voice, those was your honest feelings. Even so, I will do anything to bring prosperity back to the elves. Even if you cry and reject it.”

“…”

“Formula Broom – Reykjaholt. Answer me, Snorri.”

The old woman approached while dragging along the Formula Broom that was half broom and half pitchfork.

While preparing magic that could smash a human body to pieces.

“I will run as many tests as necessary. I will repeat the process as often as it takes. I will increase the scale as far as I must. Freynir Nineworlds is just one living fossil and that is not enough. I will bear any sin or wicked karma if it will save the elves from extinction.”