[WN] Villainous Witch : Side Story 5

Side Story 5

They Are On a Journey

Translator : PolterGlast

This is a short story commemorating the book and comic adaptation, so the timeline is after leaving Velvect, during the 【Side Story】.

 

---

 

"Hey, hasn't Lotus been eating stew less lately?" Ichi said.

 

"...Huh?"

 

I tilted my head, stirring the contents of the pot over the bonfire with a ladle. Bounce-bounce. That's right, as if agreeing, Nii and San bounced next to Ichi.

It had been a month since I left the town of Velvect with Lotus, Ichi, and the others. We were already used to camping. Well, I had been so accustomed to it that I had earned the title of wild child, so there was no problem whatsoever.

My hand stirring the ladle didn't stop, but "Whoa..." a strange voice escaped my lips. "Whoa, whoa, whoa...!"

 

――El, your face is pale!

――Are you okay!?

――At times like this, DAAAAANCE!!!!

 

"No dancing!"

 

Lotus wasn't here right now, as he had gone to gather food. While retorting to the ever-present San, I pulled the ladle out of the pot with a "Hawahawawa..."

 

"The stew rate is low..."

 

In response to my bewildered mutterings, the slimes suddenly fell silent, as if saying, "What are you talking about?" Wait, don't go silent. "Listen!" "We are listening, though...?" Their gazes were painful. Setting aside whether slimes even had eyes. "Are you really listening!?" I shouted.

 

"Stew! Lotus likes it so much, but I haven't made stew!"

 

Or rather, I didn't have the ingredients.

The fact that I hadn't realized this until just now made me clutch my head, ladle and all, and go, "Wah!" Am I a failure? I didn't know what I was failing at, but was I a failure!?

 

"I can't... bring joy to Lotus..."

 

Was this what it meant to have no joy? No, maybe not. Was it?

Next to me, where I was trembling as if pounding the ground with my fist, the slimes were murmuring, "Well, this is awkward, isn't it? What a pickle." Please speak clearly.

 

"...No, I understand, okay? Right now, I don't want to attract the attention of other demons, so I want to avoid populated areas as much as possible. If that's the case, stew ingredients... like flour, and Milk. They're hard to get. So it ends up being wild boar stew. I'm sure Lotus will get a wild boar today. It'll be a delicious, delicious stew."

 

Impossible things are impossible. I knew that, but why did I feel such a piercing pain in my chest? Lotus loved stew so much, I thought, clenching my fist tightly, and a single tear fell. "What, it's just a stew, right!?" I thought, surprised by the single tear that landed on my hand, and then I realized, "No, that's not it."

 

This was just the surface.

Lotus had become a demon because of me. We had to leave the town of Velvect and go on a journey. At the same time, he had to give up many things. His job, his friends, the delicious food at Harapeko-tei.

No matter how many times I was told it wasn't my fault, even if I knew Lotus genuinely thought so, I would continue to regret it. I couldn't think of it as just stew. I had made him give up even that simple stew.

 

"Uuu~, uuu, uuuuu~..."

 

I crouched down and suddenly found myself crying.

I felt so pathetic and sad, but I hated myself for crying like this, so I pressed my palms to my face and curled up into a small ball. I desperately swallowed my sobs, and strange sounds escaped my throat. I squeezed my eyes shut as tightly as I could so that no more tears would spill.

When I couldn't even hear the sound of my own breathing, someone gently placed a hand on my shoulder.

 

With my eyes still closed, I heard my heartbeat. We were in a forest far from any village. There was only one person who would put their hand on my shoulder like that. Yes, only one.

But I thought he was still far away, looking for food.

 

(Could it be, Lotus—)

 

I turned around with all my might, so hard that tears flew from the corners of my eyes. With a feeling of "What should I do?"

 

"…………"

 

However, the hand extended to my shoulder was very squishy. "Wow, that's a long arm." Of course, it wasn't Lotus. It was Ichi's hand, which had stretched incredibly thin.

I knew it, though. I had a feeling. Rather, if it was Lotus, I would be very troubled.

 

――So El wants Lotus to eat stew, right?

 

"You're continuing the conversation so casually..."

 

There was no one to retort. Leader Ichi stretched its arm, and on either side of it, Nii and San trembled. Along with the slimes' trembling, a lot of emotions seemed to blow away.

 

"...Yeah. Because, it's his favorite. I can't turn Lotus back into a normal human anymore. But at least, I want to be able to do that much...!"

 

As I stood up, clenching my fist tightly, Ichi retracted its long arm with a shurun (it was like pulling the power cord of a vacuum cleaner, and it actually startled me a little). Then, the slimes puffed out their chests, full of vigor. Swallowed by their enthusiasm, I rubbed my eyes roughly with my fist. "Can we do it!?" The voice I asked with wasn't anxious, but resolute.

The slimes' non-existent eyes glittered.

 

――If it is us, then of course!

 

Thus, we set out on a journey to find stew. Ichi and the others possessed high-level search skills, and they could sense the presence of stew's ingredients with a beep beep. The time was until Lotus returned from gathering food. We overcame many hardships, crossed fields, and ran through mountains (an exaggeration), following the scent, and what we arrived at was a cow. Yes, milk.

 

We used maximum body language with the cow and succeeded in obtaining milk by exchanging dried grass for it at an equal value. The letters "MILK" that we all made with our bodies were quite impressive. San was stretching more than usual.

 

***

 

"...Something seems strange."

"That's not true, Lotus, uhihihi, fufufu, hihihihi..."

 

Lotus, who had safely returned carrying a wild boar, tilted his head at the unusual atmosphere. I had intended to pretend to be stirring the pot without a care, but I couldn't suppress my overflowing witch-like laughter. Kukuku, hihihi, uhihihihi, I snickered (Ichi and the others trembled), secretly pouring the milk into the pot as if chanting some kind of curse, and the three slimes and I smirked. Prepare for surprise and fear, dodododon.

 

Lotus divided the finished stew into bowls, used a spoon, and took a bite. Our hearts were pounding. "Oh," Lotus made a small voice and blinked softly, in a way that only we would notice. I felt the air tremble with tension.

 

"This is incredibly delicious."

"Y-y-y-yes! We did it!"

 

As I celebrated our victory with the Ichis, high-fiving and saying "Yay! We got 'delicious' from Lotus!", I felt a questioning gaze from him, wondering what we were doing, but he seemed to decide it was just the usual and didn't mind. Lotus immediately continued eating as usual, muttering, "Yeah, it's good."

 

Every time he did, we all secretly snickered, but just as I was about to scoop some stew into my bowl, thinking, "Alright, let's eat too."

 

"Yeah, it's good. This milk stew."

 

I froze.

 

"...Milk stew?"

"Yeah, right? The gamey smell of the wild boar is perfectly eliminated by the milk, it's delicious."

 

"Where did you get it?" Lotus asked, but that wasn't the point. Not stew, but milk stew. ...Milk stew?

 

『Yeah. Actually, I was thinking it wasn't stew.』

『There's no thickness because there's no flour or butter, and the broth is only from the wild boar.』

『Yay!』

 

The slimes were calm. Even San was a little quieter than usual. "N-no way...!" "No, this is good," Lotus said, cheeks puffed out as he munched and chewed. A little cute. No, not that.

 

"Uuuu, revenge! I'll definitely get my revenge—!!!"

"This is good."

 

"Oooooh!" I raised both hands and roared with all my might.

And so, my journey with stew continued...

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[WN] Villainous Witch : Side Story 4

Side Story 4

The Day the Slimes Multiplied

Translator : PolterGlast

I looked down at my body, thinking how much it had grown. It still hurt a little to sit, but after a week, I was able to manage somehow. My reflection in the mirror was the "Eldorado" I had seen in the past. Or, at least, I wanted to say that, but I might still be a little too young. Eldorado-san, weren't you exaggerating a bit? While thinking that, I placed my hand on another spot that bothered me. And then I shouted,

 

"My boobs... are small...!!!"

 

There was a time when I thought they would get bigger. It's not strange.

Looking at my growing body, I thought, "Wow, I've gotten taller, my field of vision has widened, and things have gotten a little bigger here and there. This is promising! I'm ready and waiting, so come on!" And then, for several years, it was a repeat of "Huh, that's weird." They had become more voluminous than before, but somehow, they were still "so small...!!" than I had imagined.

 

As I was screaming, Lotus, who was sitting next to the bed, retorted, "No, that's normal, isn't it?" He seemed completely indifferent.

 

"Normal... well, yeah, it's normal! But it's too normal! Eldorado in the game was all curves, she was amazing!?"

"Dunno..."

 

His tone implied, "How should I know?" "Lotus, you like them bigger too, right? Right? It's gotta be better that way, right!?" "Either way is fine..." Or rather, my body was so worn out that he told me to just sleep instead of getting so worked up. I reluctantly wrapped myself in the blanket. Next to the bed was an even smaller bed, and despite my commotion, a little boy was sound asleep. He was a big child.

 

Clack, the door opened, and the three, Ichi and the others, came trotting in. 『Good morning!』『Here's some water!』『Is our little master doing well~~~???』

 

And so, Eldorado, or rather El, and Lotus became the father and mother of one child.

 

***

 

The slightly small house we had built a little while ago was a bit away from the town. It wasn't too far, so I liked it, but when we were deciding on the location, Lotus frowned and said in a dissatisfied voice, "What if something happens?" That was around the time we found out I was pregnant with our son.

 

But well, I weighed the risk of something happening that Lotus was talking about against the risk of something else happening, and I chose this place. My opinion was taken seriously.

 

Just as I had imagined, or so I should say, our son's eyes were the same red color as ours, and when he was born, all I could think was, "You did a great job at being born," and I was overjoyed that he had come to us. Now, my anxiety only grew, but thinking about it wouldn't help, I thought as I watched the Ichi and the others, who were suppressing their presence and sneaking into our son's crib to observe him. They were slowly stretching their faces out, taking turns saying, "I see him, I see him!" and giggling.

 

"Should I start preparing dinner soon?"

 

When Lotus stood up, about ten years had probably passed since we first met. Looking up at his face, which had changed quite a bit, from the bed, I felt a pang in my chest. "L-Lotus..." "Hmm?" "I-I like you...!!!" I thrashed around on the bed. "Yeah, yeah," he dismissed me. Watching Lotus's figure disappear beyond the door, I sniffled, "He's gone..." Ichi and the others were staring intently at me.

 

――Why does El confess to Lotus every time?

――Even though she's already Lotus's wife?

――Our little master is sleeping soundly, yay!

 

Honestly, I'd been thinking this for a while, but only San always seems to be off in his own world during conversations, doesn't he? He's mostly just saying "Hey hey" and dancing. Well, whatever.

 

"It's just... I don't really know why anymore, but when I look at Lotus, I think he's so likable and cool that I just want to say it..."

 

As I sniffled, "I like him every day, even as his wife...", the three of them said in unison, "This is quite a predicament." I could understand their feelings.

 

Several more days passed. Our son, who had seemed so quiet, gradually awakened to the will to live, and at night, he would insist with all his might that he was hungry. "Lotus, maybe we should sleep in separate rooms?" I thought that, at least, since Lotus had work during the day, sleep deprivation was his greatest enemy. The reply to those words was him ruffling my hair vigorously with his large palm, and that was the end of it.

 

I wondered if it was okay, but I was happy to have Lotus next to me. But little by little, I was reaching my limit. It was then. Knock-knock, the Ichis opened the door, saying, "Excuse us~." They trotted in, very considerate and helpful. However, something serious had happened. One, two, three... four. There was one more. No matter how many times I counted, there was one more.

 

"...No way, there's one more!!!?"

 

My brain was going crazy from the confusion. But Lotus next to me said, "There... is one more," with no change in his expression. No, that was wrong. The pause in his words was a little too long, so even the usually unflappable Lotus was very subtly flustered.

 

"Nice to meet you," the newcomer slime bowed its head. It was a little quieter than the other three, but this was no time to be thinking, "Oh my, how lovely," or anything like that.

 

"Why!? Did it split!? Or did you kidnap it from somewhere!? Take it back to where it belongs, I can't handle any more trouble!!! Also, you three over there, why aren't you looking at me!?"

 

They were all looking the other way.

Then, Ichi, the leader, turned around and said, "Since our little master was born, we thought we'd increase the security a bit." Apparently, the they had some kind of barrier around the house. "Suspicious guys go explode..." San said with a wicked grin. I was thinking, "I didn't hear about this, or how...?" my mouth twitching, when Nii quietly took out a bottle from somewhere. The Water of Foresight. "You still had that!?" The three puffed out their chests. The newcomer slime puffed out its chest belatedly.

 

Anyway, it seemed they had reinforced their forces because they didn't have enough slime hands (or rather, manpower). 『If the family increases again, we'll add more, so don't worry!』 The energetic words of the three + one slime made me wonder if I should really not worry.

 

――Well, for now, let's go teach the newbie the ropes~~!

――First, gathering firewood~~!

――Please take care of me

――I'll whip you into shape, ora ora ora

 

"Oh dear, San, try to be a little gentler, you just wanted to act like a senior, didn't you?" The four of them rolled out of the house, looking cheerfully chaotic. Watching them go, Lotus quietly said, "...Maybe we should make the house a little bigger?" "I wonder about that..." If Lotus and I were in charge of three slimes, does that mean there'd be one slime in charge for each child...?

 

But since everyone was a helpful presence, I decided to just let my mind drift. Despite all the commotion, our son was sleeping soundly. Sometimes I wanted to check if he was still breathing. Lotus was probably the same, as he gently touched our son's cheek with his calloused fingertips that were used to handling a sword, so lightly it was almost a brush. The furrow between his brows was also a little less deep.

 

Watching him, I, who had what Ichi and the others called a troublesome habit, struggled to sit up in bed and gently tugged on his clothes. It was my way of saying, "Please come over here." Lotus understood correctly and quietly sat down next to me, making sure the bed didn't shake. This was because my crotch was still sometimes screaming "ouch."

 

Although I had shouted about my small chest, my height had grown considerably. Since Lotus was strong, he could easily carry me on his back, but I wouldn't do that anymore, and he wouldn't have to bend down for our eyes to meet. With just a little effort, I could easily kiss him. So I did.

 

I felt like boasting, "Hah, I'm Lotus's wife..." to no one in particular, when our lips, which had parted, stuck together again. Even if I tried to escape, my head was firmly fixed in his palms. Leaving out the details, what I did was returned several times over. "Hmm, is that all?" Lotus said coolly, rubbing his lips with his thumb. "Is... is that all...?" I was breathless and could only cry.

 

"Haven't done it yet, so might as well save it up."

"Is it... a savings system!?"

 

I slumped back onto the bed. I felt like I'd be asked how many times we'd done it before, but these past few years, I'd realized that while I was okay with initiating things, I was incredibly weak against his advances. But I really liked Lotus, who seemed aloof but wasn't, and if I could, I wanted to roll around on the bed. I couldn't because it hurt. "I'll... recover! Relatively... quickly! I'll do my best...!" "No, don't push yourself." He ruffled my hair.

 

Covering my face with the blanket out of embarrassment, I peeked out and looked up at him, and when I thought, "Ah, here it comes," Lotus saved it up again. Lotus, who had been leaning over, sat back up. We both looked away somewhat, and a sigh escaped both of us.

 

"...Well, still, don't push yourself."

"Yeah... you're right, but my goal is maybe two more kids!? I want a big family!"

"That's... including the slimes, five people plus three, plus another three... huh? Eleven people? Isn't that too many?"

 

For now, we might have to expand the house someday.

From outside the window, I could hear energetic voices, "Ora ora, it's firewood! Next is securing food, ei, ei, oh!".

 

Thinking that neither Lotus nor Ichi and the others would have imagined things turning out like this when we first met, I realized that life was truly unpredictable.

 

I gently took Lotus's hand, thinking that there would probably be even more unpredictable things in the future. It was a big, calloused hand that I loved. He gently squeezed back, making me a little surprised, and I squeezed his hand again. Then, I became happy for no reason and laughed.

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