Side Story 35: A Certain Adventurer's Story
My na is Neil. Im an adventurer.
I left my village at the age of 13 and registered with the adventurers guild in Harula towards the east of the village. At that ti, my sister Collie and her best friend Tess ca together with .
Sohow, they were worried about leaving alone. I told them not to treat like a child, but they completely ignored . Sure, when I first started out, I was tricked and ended up losing all my money, but at that ti there wasnt any lasting damage, so it wasnt a big deal.
Well, it was also true that I wasnt good at talking, or good with negotiating, and that Collie had saved multiple tis when it ca to those situations. However, there were also many tis when argunts would arise because of her. And during those tis, Tess wasnt all that helpful either.I knew I shouldve gone at it alone, I thought of these nurous tis.
During my two years as an adventurer, I took on many jobs and traveled to the eastern capital city several tis. I also t Beck during those tis and we ended up forming a party together. Beck was two years older than and was already a C-rank adventurer when I first t him.
At that ti when we first t, I was still just an E-rank so I wasnt really a great match for him, but strangely enough we sohow managed to click and we ended up forming a party. And now he was one of my closest friends.
And so I continued working hard, and just recently I was promoted to D rank. The D rank was different from before. I was no longer soone who would be a burden to Beck.
I had gone back to the village once in commoration of the rank-up. I wanted to report the news to my father and mother, and to show them how much Ive grown. I invited Beck to co with , but he said he would stay and wait for back in town, since he didnt want to intrude upon my visit back ho. I was a bit disappointed but it couldnt be helped.
During the past two years, Tess also beca my lover. So my return back ho was also to officially announce this.
But when I ca back, the village was in a terrible state. There was a disease spreading around. And many people seed to have died from it. Furthermore, my mother had also fallen ill. She had been bedridden for days. My older brother who was planning to take over as the head of the household was also sick, and my father was in a very exhausted state. Due to the situation being like that, it wasnt the place to introduce Tess. Rather, Tess has also been contracted by the illness and this is no longer the ti for that.
The dicine in the village was out of stock, so to begin with, it was impossible to buy anymore. I only had a few recovery potions on hand, but I couldnt afford not to use them. I gave Tess one to drink, and I gave what I had left to my mother and older brother. But it wasnt very effective.
Although it was my first ti back to the village in a while, due to everyone being sick, I didnt really know what I ca back for. Due to our care, my big brother was starting to recover, but Tess condition wasnt improving at all and my mothers conditions appeared to be worsening.
Then one day, my little sister disappeared. So of the villagers told us that they saw her going into the forest, but everyone was too exhausted to go looking for her, and we werent able to go too deep into the forest.
During the past half a year so so, monsters stopped appearing in the deeper parts of the forest. Soone said that she might have thought it would be safe to go looking for dicinal herbs by herself due to that. But even so, she was still only a six-year old child. She wouldnt be able to survive by herself out there.
Or so I thought, but she ca back the next day. Moreover, she had so dicine for so reason. Sothing I have never seen before, and other things that looked like potions. Furthermore, she apparently t a witch living deep in the forest. Wait, a witchI couldnt let my mother drink such a suspicious thing.
But my dad was completely worn out, and my mothers condition kept getting worse, nothing else would save her at this point. I was against it, but there was nothing else I could do. But when I had her take the dicine, her fever fell on the next day and she got better on the day after. What in the world.
The potion was amazing. Although she was cured, my mother had been bedridden for days so she shouldnt have much strength. But upon drinking the potion, she had recovered enough to start doing housework.
Was this perhaps an interdiate grade potion!? Normally, how many gold coins would it cost to buy sothing like this? And the witch was able to just give sothing like this away? How!?
No, never mind, that dicine was able to cure the disease. In that case, it could also cure Tess. I asked my little sister Coco where she t the witch and we headed to that location the next day.
But when we arrived at the witchs house, it looked like she wasnt ho. Coco who was the guide and my older sister, Collie, had also ca together with . Collie had forced her way into coming along, saying that she had to co since we were getting dicine for her best friend. But I think that she was more interested in the witch. Collie was just that sort of person.
Since she might be ho in a bit, I decided to wait in front of her house. But I also decided to take a look around her house while waiting since I was free. There was a house with a courtyard and a stone wall surrounding them. Moreover, it was a two-story building. There were also traces of garden within the courtyard. What was being grown there?
I could tell the house was quite sothing just from glancing at it from outside. Coco said that the inside was very beautiful, and that the bed in the room she slept in was heavenly. Perhaps, the witch was soone super amazing? I hope she will share the dicine with us. I was a bit worried. Coco did say that she was a very kind witch. But even so, I was still worried. After waiting for a while, Coco suddenly raised her voice.
Ah, its big sis witch!
Unlike what I had imagined, the witch was very small. And big sis? So shes young? I thought for sure she would be an old hag.
Hey, its that little thing? Yep, thats right! Big sis witch!
Apparently, it was without a doubt this small thing.
Are you a witch. Im not a witch. I already told her that. Is that right? But she said she got dicine from a witch. I gave her the dicine, but Im not a witch. Is that so. Yes.
It seems that she wasnt a witch, but she was the person who gave Coco the dicine. And judging from her voice, she was fairly young. She was definitely younger than .
No, wait a minute? Maybe, shes just on the short side? She had huge breasts. Rather, her breasts were very prominent. And bigger than both Collie and Tess. No, no, this isnt what I was here for. The dicine. But to suddenly just ask for it. Would it be better to make conversation first?
You live in a place like this? Well, yes. You live alone? Yes.
What is with this place..no to begin with, what is a house like this doing in a place like this? Um, youve been asking quite a lot of questions, do I have to answer them all? Oh, no, that is..you dont have to.
.The conversation seems to have gone in a bad direction. Basically, I wasnt good with this sort of thing. Up until now, Collie had been the one to lead talks, now we have Beck leading talks since he was good with negotiations. Ahh, I ssed up. It was like this every ti.
Neil! Whats with your attitude! Did you forget about why we ca here? Oh, my bad. But its just that shes living alone in a place like this. Everyone has their own reasons! Hurry up and apologize! Oh, uhthat, sorry. Its alright.
As expected, this was how it ended up. I just wasnt as good at talking like Collie. But for the most part, Collie would also be the one to start argunts. Rather, I could only rember occasions of having to clean up after her. Never mind, this isnt the ti for this. I have to bring up the dicine.
Uh, well, Im Neil and Im her, Cocos older brother. Coco? Huh? Im talking about Coco. Didnt you help her? She was attacked by goblins. Ah, yes. So that child, her na is Coco. You didnt know? She told you let her stay overnight. I forgot to ask for her na. O-Oh, okay.
She had helped Coco when she was attacked by goblins, and she even gave out dicine for free, but she forgot to ask for Cocos na.
Uh, anyways..we ca today because, well, we wanted to say thanks. The dicine you gave us cured my mother of her illness. It was very effective. Everyone had already given up. Thats why, uh, for saving her. Thanks. Is that sothats great then.
.She sounded like she was actually relieved. Maybe, this witch really was a good witch. In that case, she might be willing to hand out the dicine.
So, uh, that.dicine! That dicine, that is, do you have anymore of it? There are several others in the village who are seriously sick so.could you, uh, save them too, please! Um, please! Hes saying other people, but his lover is also sick. Ah, I am his older sister, Collie! Nice to et you! My younger brothers lover, that child is also sickthats why, please! Can you share so of that dicine with us?
Collie also added to what I was saying.
That is, unfortunately, I dont have anymore of that dicine left. It takes a lot of work to make that dicineso, your lover, right? Even if I were to prepare one, I wouldnt be able to make it imdiately. Also, even if I did prepare dicine for that person, I would be troubled if she were to tell other people about it later on.
I understood what she was saying, but I couldnt give up that easily.
Dont say that! Please!
The witch shook her head.
Theres the issue with ti, but I also dont have enough materials. Its impossible to give it to you imdiately today, or tomorrow either. What do you need for the materials!? If you have it, can you make it!?
If she didnt have the ingredients, I will collect them. I really need this dicine! But the witch kept shaking her head despite my pleas.
Whats with you! Im already asking you like this already! Grrr! U-Uh.
In a fit of rage, I tried grabbing the witchs shoulder, but I was intimidated by a big wolf that was behind her. Speaking of which, Coco did ntion that there was a wolf. How did I not sense it? Was it so sort of skill? Sothing this size, was it perhaps a Greater Wolf? It would be bad if it got angrybut what should I do?
Like I said earlier, I cant do anything about it no matter how much you plead with . Please return ho.
The witch entered the house while I was still confused. The door was also locked. When I looked up at the sky, the sun was already beginning to set. Coco was also here, so it would be bad to continue staying here. I would have to return ho for today, but I would be back tomorrow.
After that, I went back to the witchs house every day. But I was unable to et her at all. I knew I was troubling her, but there wasnt anything else I could rely on expect the witchs dicine.
When I ca ho without seeing the witch again that day, Coco brought dicine. Apparently, the witch ca and gave it to her during the day. Along with an outrageous ssage.
Thatsdid she really say that? Yep, she said you were annoying so dont co back again. The dicine was in exchange for that. Oh.
It seems I was being a nuisance.but with this, Tess would be saved. I took the dicine and went to Tess to give her the dicine imdiately. The effect of the dicine was trendous, and like with my mother, she was able to fully recover after two days. Tess was quite surprised.
What is this dicine.I also dabble a bit in compounding, but the amount of skill level necessary to make this kind of dicine is.
She started rambling on about sothing, but this was always the case when it ca to sothing magic-related.
The day after Tess made her full recovery, I headed to the witchs house early in the morning. I wanted to thank her. She said to never co back again, but I really wanted to say thanks.
I arrived at the witchs house and started knocking on her door. But she didnt co out. I continued knocking. And then kept on knocking. After knocking for a while, I heard the sound of a lock and the door opened.
Ah.
There was a goddess before .
After that, imdiately after returning to the village, I started preparing to return to Harula. I couldnt afford to stay here any longer. There were still a lot of people in the village who havent recovered from the disease, but there was nothing I could do even if I remained here, and it would be bad if or Collie also caught the disease. Beck was also still waiting. And it would be winter soon.
That night a feast was held for us. When asked my mother how she had obtained the money for this, she said that she sold the remaining potions that the witch had given Coco to a rchant who was passing through the village. She was overjoyed that she was able to sell it for a considerable price. But I was surprised upon hearing the purchase price. It was obviously bought at a high discount from what it was actually worth.
Considering the effect, there was no doubt that it was above interdiate grade. It should be worth several gold coins in that case. But I couldnt bring myself to say anything when I saw how happy my parents were. Collie also had a complicated expression on her face.
After returning to Harula, we continued to take on subjugation requests. There were always goblins appearing. Because there wasnt much food in the winter, sotis the goblins would co close to the town.
During the winter, I just helped get rid of goblins, but at the beginning of the new year, there was a period of heavy snowfall so I wasnt able to do much. So I was relieved that I had saved my money like Beck told to. Since I wasnt able to leave the inn and had ti to spare, I talked to Beck about the witch. Beck was quite interested and listened to my story.
After winter was over, the snow lted and spring arrived, I was able to reunite with a childhood friend from the village who ca to purchase things. Apparently, it was decided to keep reserves of dicine at the village. I tried inviting the childhood friend of mine to join up with as an adventurer. He had the strength and courage, so I thought it would be encouraging if he were to join , but he refused since he wanted to settle down in the village.
Although, I had gone back to the village last fall, we werent able to talk much at that ti, so we talked about various things. Although we hadnt seen each other in a long ti, there was no shortage of topics, but then we suddenly arrived at the topic about the witch in the forest.
Apparently, it seems that several villagers went to seek dicine from her in the spring. Naturally, they seed to have been driven away by the wolves, but they still went many tis without giving up. Soon after that, even people from nearby villages ca. The cause was due to the potions that my parents sold to the rchant.
It seems the rchant who bought the remaining potions had revealed the effectiveness of the potions. Moreover, one of the potions was given to the lord of a town to the south and it was said that he had tried to send soldiers to capture the witch.
The day after hearing this news, the witch suddenly disappeared. Even her house vanished.
In the place where the witchs house was, there were only traces of a drainage system that seed to have been built, but nothing more. The fact that even her house disappeared ant that she was definitely a witch. My childhood friend began grumbling about, but I remained silent. Because of our family, the witch disappeared from the forest. A dreadful sense of regret erged, but there was nothing that could be done about it.1
A few days later, I decided to accept a long-term escort request. Although, I was getting accustod to the work I was doing, I was growing weary of it, so I wanted to change the mood.
But I never thought that I would reunite with the witch in the forest upon returning back from the escort mission.
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