I Became a Forest Witch Who Raises Dragons

A Sticky Conversation (Physically)

After leaving the house, Saya, the village chief, and I asked the surrounding villagers about Cain’s whereabouts.
While we were looking for someone who had seen Cain, we met a villager who said he had seen Cain heading somewhere with children.

“You saw Cain?!”
“Yes….”
Hearing this, the excited village chief grabbed the villager’s shoulders and asked.
“If you’re talking about Cain… I think I saw him going somewhere with children?”

“The… the children?! When did you see this?!!”
The villager, seemingly flustered by the chief’s excitement, stammered as he spoke.
“Why… why are you like this? About 30 minutes ago?? Not long ago. Cain seemed to be in a hurry… Did something happen? Wait a minute… The person next to you, could it be…”

Kyaaaah—!
…Soon, the villager, seemingly recognizing who I was, immediately screamed and ran away.
‘That’s too much.’

Anyway, as expected, it seems this Cain guy left the village as soon as I arrived.
The problem is that he took the children with him….

“Village chief. How far is the nearest city from this village?”
“The nearest city… It’s about two hours on foot, or thirty minutes by carriage…”
The villager who just ran away clearly said that Cain took the children with him.
Since this area is surrounded by mountains, if he’s escaping with children, he can only be heading to the nearest city.
If I remember correctly, Lonzville was the closest city…

“Is there a carriage in the village?”
“…There’s just one in the village. We bought it previously to use for gathering people who want to go to the city.”
“Let’s go quickly. If the carriage is gone, it means Cain is heading to the city.”

We hurriedly followed the village chief’s guidance to the village’s public stable, but as expected, the carriage was gone.
The village chief, upon spotting a villager managing the stable nearby, immediately ran to him and asked.
“Hey Jensen! Who took the carriage?”

“Chi… Chief? What’s the matter?”
“Quickly!”
The man called Jensen, seemingly flustered by the chief’s intensity, spoke with a trembling voice.
“A little while ago… Cain said he was taking the children for a city tour..”

“No….”
Thud. The village chief sat down on the spot as if his legs had lost strength.
…And then he hit his head on the ground so hard it made a thud sound, facing towards me.

He pleaded to me with a desperate voice.
“I know it’s a shameless request! Please… help us find the children!!!”
…Actually, there’s no need for me to help.

I’m in the position of being falsely accused, and I’m not related to these people at all.
Moreover, there’s no guarantee that this isn’t another trap.
What if the place where I go to find the children is crawling with adventurers they hired?
It could even be an assassination request instigated by other magic tower people who disliked me…

‘…That can’t be.’
I brushed off the suspicion that was creeping up inside me.
Excessive suspicion.
This chronic disease of mine, born from the experience of betrayal in my previous life, would sometimes pop up like this regardless of time and place.

Even if my suspicion was true, I’m confident that Saya and I could escape without a scratch.
The village chief, still pleading with his head on the ground, also looked pitiful.
…To be able to plead so desperately for children who aren’t even his own.
I can see why he has such thick trust from the villagers.

‘What should I do.’
My deliberation wasn’t long.
I wasn’t cold-hearted enough to flatly refuse in front of someone pleading like this.
…And I also wanted to see the face of the bastard who framed me.

“Alright. First, get up. Are you planning to stay like that?”
“Th-that means..”
I’ll make sure to pay back the one who framed me with such an absurd accusation. Just wait.
“That guy. I’ll bring him back.”

.
.
.
Clatter clatter.
The carriage rattles loudly as it runs on the bumpy, unpaved road.
“Fuck… fuck.. Why did she have to come down today of all days….”

Originally, tonight was supposed to be the delivery date, but because that witch bitch crawled down, things went wrong.
If they find out things went wrong, those guys won’t leave me alone….
“Uncle Cain.. I feel nauseous…. Can’t we rest for a bit?”
“Me too…”

These fucking brats keep whining.
But until we pass the checkpoint, I have to keep acting as the kind Uncle Cain. If the brats cause problems during the city checkpoint, things will get complicated.

“I’m sorry, kids. If we don’t go quickly, the delicious ice cream shop in the city will close. Can you bear with it a little longer?”
“Okay…”
This damn countryside is so far from the city that it takes quite a while to travel even by carriage.
‘That’s why I came here, but…’

That also means that the lord governing the territory doesn’t have much influence here.
That’s why I targeted this village, and for two years, I gritted my teeth and gained the trust of the villagers.
…The appearance of the witch was good news for me.
It became easier to make deliveries because I could blame everything on her.

‘I was just going to do two rounds and bail.. but I got greedy…. fuck…’
My lie was more effective than expected, and my greed brought trouble.

Since I was the one who spread malicious rumors about the witch, I knew that the witch wasn’t as ferocious as other villagers thought.
‘Fuck.. It would be better if she just killed them all.’
Unless the witch came down to massacre the villagers out of impatience, it was only a matter of time before my lie was discovered.

Neigh─! The horses suddenly stop.
“What’s wrong with these bastards now…”
I couldn’t continue my next words.
Because I realized why the horses had stopped.

“What the fuck is this wall….”
A huge earthen wall that clearly wasn’t there just a moment ago was filling my view.
“Finally found you. Your name was… Cain, right?”
And then I hear someone’s voice.
‘No way…..’

That voice was seductive enough to steal one’s gaze just by hearing it─and at the same time, it was chilling.
A woman staring at me from the top of the huge earthen wall.
“Can I see you for a moment?”

Saya and the village chief were staring intently at me, seemingly fascinated by the sight of me casting magic.

‘Fortunately, it seems he hasn’t reached the city yet.’
I used [Clairvoyance], a magic that allows me to look down on the ground from the air, to scan the road connecting this village and the nearest city─Lonzville.
Since it wasn’t a dense forest, there was nothing obstructing the view, so the search was quite easy… and eventually, I was able to spot a carriage at a point not far from the city.

Since there were no other moving carriages visible in the area, it must be the one Cain is driving.
“Village chief. I’ll bring him back, so wait here for a moment.”
“Have you found that Cain fellow?!”
“…Probably. Considering the time he left this village, it must be him.”

The village chief showed visible signs of relief upon hearing my words.
I entrusted Saya to him.
Although I was a bit uneasy about leaving Saya with someone I just met today, it should be fine because Saya has multiple layers of protection magic, location tracking magic, and notification magic deployed.

Since the magic is structured to activate immediately if a certain level of threat is applied to Saya, I can rush to her immediately if she’s threatened.
“Village chief. Please take care of Saya for a moment. It won’t take long.”
“Ye…yes! Please… I’ll do my best.”

Leaving behind the village chief who was bowing deeply to me, I prepared for teleportation.
“Ariel.. come back quickly?”
Saya seeing me off.
“Alright. Be good and wait, okay? [Transfer] Location.. in front of Cain.”

I smiled and answered Saya, then cast the transfer magic to the location where Cain was.
As I cast the transfer magic, my vision wavered soon─and before I knew it, I was standing alone on a bumpy road.
‘…There he is.’
I can see a carriage coming from the direction in front of where I am.

I immediately formed a huge earthen wall to block the path of the carriage.
Kugugugu─!
A massive barrier created after a short incantation.

The horses, belatedly noticing the earthen wall, start to stop urgently.
“Finally found you. Your name was… Cain, right?”
I used a message magic to speak loud enough for Cain below the earthen wall to hear.
…Cain’s complexion visibly turned pale.

“Can I see you for a moment?”

As soon as my words ended, Cain immediately started running in the opposite direction from me, abandoning the carriage.
Of course, I wasn’t going to let that slide, so I instantly completed an incantation and adjusted the gravity around Cain to press him down.
“Aaaaargh!!!!”
His scream could be heard from afar.

The sight of him stuck to the ground reminds one of an insect.
‘Is that an insult to insects?’
At least insects don’t kidnap children. Sorry, insects.
Inwardly apologizing to the insects for being compared to trash, I slowly moved towards him, who was being crushed by gravity.

“Fuck!!! Let me go!!!!!”
Cain yelling at the top of his lungs. It’s noisy. I should shut his mouth.
“Mmph!! Mmph!!!”
Cain struggling, unable to speak properly due to the silence magic I cast.
I approached him and said.

“You’re the one who spread rumors that I kidnapped children, right?”
I had just checked inside the carriage, and there were several children who didn’t look well.
They probably got carsick due to the rough road.
I immediately transferred the children next to the village chief, and what remained was a sticky conversation between me and Cain.

“Mmph!! Mmph!!”
“Oh? Why aren’t you answering?”
That makes me angry, you know.
Crack. I stepped hard on Cain’s struggling hand.
“Aaaaargh!!!!!!”

You can’t speak but you can scream, huh? I didn’t know that.
“Answer quickly. If you don’t answer by the count of three, you know what happens, right?”
“Mmph!!!!!!!! Mmph!!!!!”
Cain struggling desperately with a terrified expression.
“One.”
Crack─!

“Aaaagh!!!!!!”

I stomped on Cain’s other hand.
‘Come to think of it, the villagers sending an adventurer to my house was also because of the rumors this guy spread.’
That means, this guy was the cause of the incident where Saya was in danger.
I crouched down and grabbed Cain’s fingers.

“Two.”
Snap. My hand, strengthened by strength enhancement magic, easily broke Cain’s fingers as if snapping thin twigs.
“Aaaaargh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Cain writhing in pain, even foaming at the mouth. Looking at his pants, he even wet himself. This guy.
“Silence release.”
I released the silence magic cast on him.

“I did it!!! Fuck!!!!!! Sniff…..fuck….”
Simultaneously, a stream of curses burst from Cain’s mouth.
He clearly admitted his wrongdoing─but I didn’t stop counting.
“Three.”
“I… I already told you!!!!!!!!”
Cain yelling at the top of his lungs, as if wronged.

What do you want me to do? You’re just getting what you deserve.
This is revenge for Saya. Accept it gracefully.

……I had a sticky conversation with Cain until my anger subsided.