Chapter: 281
I walked through the street.
As I walked absentmindedly without any thoughts or destination, I noticed people sporadically wandering around.
The scenery of the street, though not as vibrant as before, still radiated a certain liveliness.
When witches were invading one after another, I wondered what would happen next, but seeing this scene made me realize that we had indeed overcome the crisis to some extent.
Just that alone made me feel somewhat sentimental, and as I looked around while walking, I realized I had somehow made it to the city center, where the number of passersby had noticeably increased.
It was around that time.
I began to feel a strange tingling sensation on my skin.
‘…Is it just my imagination? It feels like everyone is looking at me.’
The reason I felt this way was none other than the fact that I sensed people’s gazes frequently turning toward me.
While it might sound like something a self-conscious person would say, what could I do?
Whenever I glanced at the people around me, their eyes met mine repeatedly, suggesting it wasn’t just in my head.
I pondered why people were looking at me, when suddenly I remembered the presence of Ari sitting on my shoulder, and I chuckled softly, muttering to myself.
“I just realized you were here.”
– Bee?
Ari tilted her head as if asking what I meant by that.
I scratched Ari’s chin with my finger, laughing.
It’s natural for them to stare.
Anyone walking down the street with a bird perched on their shoulder wouldn’t ignore it.
Especially if that bird was ablaze.
Anyway, while I was walking, trying to accept the attention directed at me as casually as possible,
“Ah!!!”
A sudden, clear child’s voice rang out from somewhere.
When I turned to face the source of the voice, I saw a boy standing there, holding the hand of a woman who looked like his mother, pointing at me in surprise.
The boy, upon meeting my gaze, let go of the woman’s hand and rushed over to me.
“Hey!! Sister! You’re a witch, right?”
“Uh? Yeah, but…?”
“Wait! Wait right here!”
Out of nowhere, the boy who asked if I was a witch told me to wait, then dashed back to where the woman was.
He grabbed the woman’s hand, practically dragging her along as he shouted.
“Mom! Hurry, hurry!”
“Okay, okay. I understand, but stop…”
The woman, seemingly overwhelmed, was pulled along by the boy and disappeared into a nearby shop.
I stood there, dumbfounded, staring at the entrance of the shop where they had vanished. Moments later, the woman and the boy emerged from the shop.
As the boy stepped out with the woman, he looked around, spotted me standing still, and rushed over with a bright smile, thrusting something toward me.
“Sister, take this!”
What the boy offered me was a small bouquet of flowers.
“…Is this for me?”
“Yeah! It’s a gift!”
“Well… thank you, but why?”
Taken aback by the sudden gift, I asked, and the boy responded with a cheerful smile.
“You’re the good witch who defeated the bad witch, right?”
“Uh… yeah, that’s true…”
“My dad is a hero, and the good witch sister saved him from the bad witch! So you have to say thank you to the good witch sister! That’s why, a gift!”
At the boy’s explanation, I finally understood the reason for the gift.
It seemed that the boy’s father was among those I had helped in the last battle.
As I accepted the bouquet, I felt a strange sensation and the woman, who had followed the boy, spoke to me in a somewhat apologetic tone.
“I’m sorry for grabbing him. I didn’t mean to bother you, but he insisted on giving a gift… Jimmy, didn’t I tell you not to do that?”
“But Mom, you said to say thank you if someone did something nice!”
“…I did say that, but did you properly thank her?”
“Oh, I forgot! Sister, thank you!”
At the woman’s words, the boy bowed deeply, clutching his hands at his waist, and earnestly thanked me.
Caught off guard by this gesture, I felt a bit awkward while the woman also nodded slightly and spoke to me.
“Thank you very much for saving him.”
“…I didn’t do it for the gratitude. I just did what I had to do.”
“Still, gratitude is gratitude, right? Perhaps the others are holding back because they’re worried it might feel burdensome, but I think they feel the same way. You protected all of us.”
Hearing someone express such sentiments made me feel a bit uneasy.
As I awkwardly smiled without saying much, the woman gave a slight bow and took the boy’s hand, moving aside.
“Well then, I’ll take my leave. Come on, Jimmy.”
“Hehe, Mom! Now that I properly thanked her, can I have chocolate for a snack today?”
“…You insisted on giving a gift for that? No way! No snacks for you today!”
“Eh?! Why not?!!”
After the boy and his mother left, I looked around for a moment and realized that what the woman had said was indeed true.
The reason people were staring at me wasn’t just because of Ari.
If I had to liken it, it felt like people had spotted an idol they loved on the street but were holding back the urge to ask for an autograph.
The atmosphere was so friendly that it wouldn’t have been strange to receive countless requests for handshakes, which made my face flush and felt somewhat shy.
So, to avoid people’s gazes, I quickly fled into a shop nearby.
As I entered the shop, I was immediately met with the sweet scent of flowers.
After catching a whiff of the aroma, I finally realized that the shop I was hastily escaping into was the flower shop where the boy and the woman had purchased the bouquet for me.
Well, as long as I didn’t stand out, I should be fine.
Thinking that, as I briefly looked around the inside of the shop, the elderly shopkeeper, who was busy organizing flowers, glanced at the bouquet in my hands and said,
“…No refunds.”
“Excuse me? Oh, no, I’m not here for a refund.”
“Then why did you rush in with a bouquet that was just sold here?”
I felt a bit awkward not wanting to admit that I came in to escape people’s eyes, so I smiled sheepishly as the shopkeeper muttered with indifference.
“If you’re not going to leave right away, come in. Don’t just loiter at the entrance.”
At those words, I timidly stepped into the shop.
While I was admiring all the flowers inside, the shopkeeper, seemingly ignoring me and focused on the flowers, suddenly asked, almost as if speaking to himself.
“What do you think when you see flowers?”
“Um, they’re pretty, I guess?”
After responding to the unexpected question, the shopkeeper continued to tend to the flowers while muttering.
“Whether a witch or a human, thinking flowers are pretty is the same.”
“……”
He knows who I am.
Now that I think about it, it would be strange if he didn’t recognize me.
In the city, I would be considered a public figure, and nobody else would be walking around with a flaming bird on their shoulder.
As I pondered over this, the shopkeeper looked out the window toward the street and asked me.
“You must feel bewildered. It must be strange seeing the people who were scared of you not too long ago acting like that.”
“…Yeah, a little.”
As I replied with a faint smile, the shopkeeper said,
“Consider it. The reason people are being unusually nice isn’t just gratitude. They’re likely feeling sorry, which is why they’re acting that way.”
“…Feeling sorry?”
“…Yes, exactly. It’s because they never thought a witch would also think flowers are pretty, and they feel sorry for that. That’s why they treat you differently.”
At his words, I forced a bitter smile.
I was sure that among the people outside, there were those who disliked me simply for being a witch.
Yet clearly, people’s perceptions of witches had changed.
“…”
Suddenly, a place I wanted to go came to mind.
Someone I wanted to give flowers to.
“Please give me these. How much are they?”
I selected a few flowers from the display and held them out to the shopkeeper, inquiring.
“…You can take it for free. Just go.”
“No? But…”
The shopkeeper insisted that I could just take the flowers.
Since I couldn’t accept them for free, I tried to hand him money, but he bowed his head firmly and rejected it.
While I couldn’t understand why he was so insistent on refusing payment, my eyes caught sight of where the shopkeeper was looking.
He was gazing at a photograph on the counter, still bowing his head.
In the photo, there was a man who looked like he might be the shopkeeper’s son, wearing the flower shop’s uniform and smiling brightly.
Only the shopkeeper would know why he was looking at the store and not at the man in the picture, and I could only quietly keep my mouth shut.
Then, the shopkeeper muttered in a small voice, as though apologizing to me.
“…I’m sorry too. I’m sorry.”
With that hushed utterance, I silently took the flowers he had handed me and stepped out of the shop.
I hoped that these few flowers would alleviate at least a fraction of the guilt he felt.
*
After leaving the flower shop with the bouquet in hand, I headed toward the front lines.
To be more specific, it was the site of the battle against the Witch of Gluttony.
As I went through the teleportation gate to that place, I saw the raging lesser demonic beasts guarding the outskirts of the city, just as Sylvia had mentioned.
– Beeek!
– !
Ari, perched on my shoulder, shouted to them, asking if they were doing well, and the raging lesser demonic beasts seemed to respond with loud roars.
It was as if an officer had unexpectedly shown up for an inspection at a guard post, and I couldn’t help but burst into laughter as I muttered to Ari.
“Thanks for the reassurance.”
– Byaak!
After petting Ari’s head a few times, who responded saying she would take care of it, I passed by the lesser demonic beasts and moved outside.
After walking for a bit, I arrived at my intended destination and took out the several chrysanthemums I had received from the flower shop, laying them on the ground.
One for Natalia.
One for Leon.
And one for Teacher Eve.
I placed the chrysanthemums on the site where they had sacrificed their lives to seal the Witch of Gluttony and quietly spoke.
“…Today, people were all thanking me. Honestly, it felt strange. Because I haven’t done anything significant compared to you all.”
Perhaps the reason I felt weird receiving thanks was because of this.
There were others who had made much greater sacrifices to protect the people, so I thought that the ones who truly deserved gratitude were not me but them.
“Considering the circumstances, I’m also alive thanks to all of you. Nevertheless, it seems like the city has gotten considerably safer thanks to the lives you spared. Today, I saw many people with smiles on their faces again. I’ll work hard to make sure that can continue.”
Thus, I laid down also the bouquet I had received as a promise to them.
I would show that this life, sustained by their sacrifices, would not be in vain.
Having made that promise, I quietly turned my back.
Just as I was about to take a step back toward the city,
“Uht…!”
A foreboding sensation flowed down my spine, making me turn back to where I had just stood.
I muttered inwardly.
This can’t be. It’s impossible.
But no matter how I murmured that, the witch’s senses only confirmed that my instincts were not wrong.
What started to emerge before my eyes was a faint yet familiar aura of gluttony.
There was only one meaning behind it.
“Could it be that the seal…”
Plop.
A petal of the chrysanthemum fell to the ground.
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