Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina, Vol. 2

by Jougi Shiraishi

  What on earth had happened?

  When she got up, she realized that her tail had split into two. And the mouth that until then had only been able to issue meows had suddenly gained the ability to speak words—human words.

  She had two of the things her fellow cats all had only one of. And she could talk. It was incredible. Even as she tilted her head in confusion at this curious turn, she boasted to her fellow cats right away.

  Ever since that day, the environment surrounding her had been considerably changed.

  The people who came to visit stopped leaving.

  For example, there were merchants who had planned to stay just a few days to rest, the travelers who lost their way and finally ended up here, the immigrants who had been chased from their homes.

  Slowly but surely, the number of people grew, and none seemed inclined to leave the country. And they showered her and the other cats with more love than any of the previous visitors had.

  Indeed, this turn of events seemed to be due to her second tail.

  Both she and her fellow cats realized that. In fact, just by lightly stroking her, most people became inclined to pour out an excess of love onto the cats.

  And there was no way they wouldn’t use this to their advantage. There was no need to hold back. If the country was to flourish again, there would be nothing to regret, they thought.

  After her life as an ordinary cat ended, the human population steadily increased. Most of the people who visited the country by chance ended up settling down there.

  In exceedingly uncommon cases, there were people who did not fall for the Divine Cat’s new powers. From her observations, it seemed that she had no effect on people who naturally disliked cats.

  A long time passed, and the people who were captivated by her gradually restored the country. They built a new gate and, before she knew it, had begun to worship her—the cat with two tails—as the Divine Cat.

  Basking in the love of so many people, she continued to live in the country.

  Twenty years had passed since her rebirth.

  “The human population has grown too large. If it continues at this pace, the country is going to burst. Everything will fall to ruin again. And that’s why I must leave,” she said.

  That was the main reason she had to exit the country.

  “Do you understand the situation now?” the Divine Cat asked, tilting her head.

  “……” I remained there in front of her, tears pooling in my eyes.

  “Oh, are you crying for my sake? What a sweet girl.”

  I shook my head. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to cry, but the tears just won’t stop.”

  “Hmph. I was joking anyway. I knew that. Because, you see, that is the mark of someone who is not suited to cats. You’ve been out of sorts ever since you arrived in this country, right? For example, your body is itchy, your eyes burn, your nose is running, your throat hurts, and you’re generally not feeling well. And—”

  “Achoo!”

  “…And you’re sneezing. Like that.”

  “That’s right.” I nodded and sniffled. Because I had never come into direct contact with cats, or rather, because I had never touched a cat in the first place, I myself hadn’t known that I had such a nature.

  I guess I’ll be avoiding cats from now on, huh?

  “Well, how about it? Would you like to cooperate with me?”

  She pressed me a second time. Her blue eyes peering into mine. I got the sense that she was making an appeal with her eyes—I told you the circumstances, so cooperate already.

  “……” I looked up, trying to escape her piercing gaze, and caught a glimpse of my shackles. “You are a cat, right? How do you plan to get these off me?”

  At these words, she opened her eyes wide for a moment.

  “Hmm-hmm. I have an idea for those. Wait right here,” she said in excitement, immediately turning and slipping between the iron bars of the jail to leave.

  I didn’t have anything to do while I waited, so I stretched out my legs and killed time by tapping my heels on the floor. I had been in the same position this whole time, so it was just the right amount of stretch.

  “Can’t you wait quietly?”

  After a short while, she returned. She was holding a key ring in her mouth.

  When she had suggested that she had an idea, I’d suspected she must have some extraordinary secret plan in motion, but it seemed she had simply stolen the keys. It was a bit anticlimactic, to be honest.

  She passed through the bars exactly the way she had gone out, then walked over to me, jumped, and began to claw her way up my body.

  She had her claws out, as usual, so it was moderately painful.

  “We’ll carry out the plan tomorrow afternoon. I want you take me out of the country while kicking up a big fuss.”

  Having arrived at my shoulders, she leaped onto my pointy hat, jangling the bunch of keys. I could feel her weight pressing down on me from above.

  “Shouldn’t we go now? I think if we leave at this moment, it’d be easier to make a clean getaway.”

  “We can’t. We must spread the word that I have left the country. If we don’t, there will be people who would continue to believe in me, not knowing I had gone. We need to make sure they all know I’m gone for good and, on top of that, that I am bequeathing the country to those who stay. That’s why I need you to make a scene.”

  “…But I’ll be a criminal if I do that.”

  “You’re already a criminal. What a silly thing to say.”

  “Don’t you know? Not all crimes are the same.”

  “If you make a run for it, then it’ll be fine.”

  “That’s a criminal’s way of thinking…”

  As the iron keys knocked each other on top of my head to make an unpleasant jangling noise, she let out a bored snort.

  “Then I suppose I am a criminal, having tricked a great many humans. Do the same rules apply to cats, I wonder?”

  “…” I smiled at her self-deprecating response. “I know a dumb person who once said that committing a crime isn’t your problem as long as you run away.”

  “……They must be a very strange individual.”

  “Yeah, they’re pretty strange.”

  Clank! From atop my head came the sound of opening locks.

  I passed the time one way or another.

  I spent the night in jail and waited until the afternoon before forcefully busting out and emerging outside. I was meant to kick up a big fuss, to make a really memorable scene, but I didn’t want anyone to get hurt. I purposely flew low and slow so it would be easy for soldiers and civilians to chase me down.

  There were tears spilling from my eyes, swept away by the wind. This long chase must have triggered my body’s sensitivity further.

  “Crap…! I can’t catch up with her at all!”

  “Hey! Close the gate! Under no circumstances should she be let out!”

  “Rescue the Divine Cat, no matter what!”

  As we zoomed through the city that was roiling with chaos, we heard the shouts of the people as they leaped at us, but of course, none could catch me.

  My chest was burning, my eyes were swollen, and at some point, the itchiness had turned into pain. However, even in my debilitated state, I was still a witch.

  There was no way they were going to catch me.

  “Good, good. Keep going, but a little more carefully if you can.” From where she sat in my arms, the Divine Cat could not help but add a little unwarranted criticism to her words of praise.

  “They’ll catch us if I fly safely, you know!”

  “What are you saying? We’ll be at the gate soon, right? Just try to hold out until then.”

  “It’s just hard, you know. I mean—” I broke off midsentence.

  “Elaina! I misjudged you! Though I felt a lot of contempt for you yesterday!”

  Lucie had come after us. She zoomed down from above.

  Straddling her broom and gripping her wand, sh
e blocked my way forward. As if to protect the closed gate.

  “……”

  So you finally showed up, huh? I just knew you’d come to get in my way. There’s no reason you wouldn’t come for the country’s most important resident.

  She turned her wand on me. “Being insolent to the Divine Cat and breaking out of jail? What were you thinking?! I will never forgive you! This calls for capital punishment! You’re guilty as charged!”

  Then she waved her wand.

  As if responding to her words and movements, the ground directly below Lucie shone bright white. The light around her feet formed a circle, making an unpleasant rumbling noise as if it was boiling, and then, from directly behind her, seven pillars of water flew toward me.

  “…!”

  I swerved on my broom to avoid them, when I realized that they were not just waterspouts. Like seven living creatures, the water pillars writhed and twisted—and began to chase after me.

  Just like snakes.

  The more I dodged, the more they moved to surround me. If I flew my broom upward, the barrage came from all directions. If I snaked along the ground, they would coil themselves around and chase after me.

  I darted around, like a small bug, and looked at Lucie. Operating her wand from atop her broom, she was glaring at me intensely.

  The attacks will stop if I take her wand away, right? I mean, without it, a witch is just an ordinary person. Nothing to fear. Well, I guess that goes for me, too.

  “Um, Lucie? I’m holding the Divine Cat, you know. Are you sure you should be attacking me?”

  “Shut up! Die!”

  “……”

  I glanced down at the Divine Cat. “She doesn’t seem to be one for conversation,” she said in a carefree tone.

  I ignored her and continued dodging Lucie’s attacks, when she spoke to me again.

  “Are you really just going to keep defending?”

  “Both of my hands are occupied, you know! But don’t worry. I have an idea.” I took my broom higher. High enough that we could look down on Lucie, but not so high up that we would die if we fell.

  “Oh? From the way you’re talking, I suppose you have quite the secret plan.”

  “Yes. Very much so.”

  While flying around and around, dodging the water serpents that continued to pursue us, I made my preparations.

  Well, I mostly mean that I grabbed the Divine Cat with one hand.

  “Please don’t claw at me.”

  It’ll hurt.

  “…Huh?” Her eyes opened wide, and she stretched all four legs all the way out.

  By the time the Divine Cat realized what I was planning, the plan was already under way.

  “Aaaaaaaaaaah!” She left my arms and slowly fell, screaming the whole way.

  What I had done was very simple.

  I’m not sure if I could really call this a secret plan since all I did was throw her overboard.

  And if you thought it was anticlimactic, think again. The effect on the people of the country was astounding.

  “What? A-ah! The Divine Cat!”

  In that instant, Lucie eased up her attacks in a panic below me.

  That is exactly what I had hoped would happen. I immediately sent my broom into a nosedive. I pulled out my wand with my free hand and, brandishing it in Lucie’s direction, fired off several spells in an instant before putting away the wand.

  I had shot blasts of powerful wind magic. They flew directly for Lucie, spinning and looping like tornados and churning up the earth below.

  “Divine Ca—Huh?”

  Her hand, outstretched to grab hold of the falling Divine Cat, missed the falling feline, just as the full force of my counterattack slammed into her.

  Tossed about in the wild vortex of wind, spinning ’round and ’round, Lucie was blown away. Bang! The solid iron gate brought her to a stop.

  “Aaaaaaaaaaaahhh!”

  I flew below the Divine Cat, who was flailing her legs in the air while screaming. The straw head of my broom brushed the ground as I grasped the falling deity tightly in one arm.

  Her small heart was pounding very fast.

  “…I—I thought I was going to die!”

  “But it all worked out, right?”

  “In hindsight!”

  “That’s true for most everything.”

  After casting a glance toward the gate and confirming that Lucie was unconscious—her eyes were rolled back—I landed my broom.

  The people of the country crowded around us, either wearing dumbfounded expressions or still showing hostility.

  I made my best attempt at a villainous expression. “Well, everyone, the strongest witch in your country lost to me easily. Are there any other challengers?”

  A commotion spread through the crowd, but not a single person stepped forward. Prudent, very prudent.

  “I think I’ll be taking my leave now. Go ahead and open the gate. Otherwise, I do something to this cute cat—Well, you understand, right?”

  I shot a glare at the gatekeeper, whose shoulders hitched in surprise in a way that was perceptible even beneath his exaggerated armor, and he began to open the gate in a panic.

  Slowly, I began to see the world outside.

  “Hey, what is this? I’m going outside, too. There’s no sense in using me as a hostage.” From where she sat in my hand, the Divine Cat raised her objections.

  “Don’t worry. I’ve got a secret plan this time, too.”

  “I no longer trust those.”

  “I won’t throw you or anything this time. Relax.”

  When the gate was completely open, I started walking. On high alert to everything around me, I moved carefully, one step at a time.

  In the end, the people didn’t do anything to me, allowing me to step over Lucie and exit the country.

  When I turned around, I saw them wearing expressions of grief. There were people screaming abuse at me—“Demon!” and “You can’t be serious!” Other people were bawling their eyes out.

  “……”

  After staring at them for a moment—

  “Well then, we’ll be taking our leave.”

  I got on my broom just like that.

  As far as my secret plan, I had simply chosen to lie.

  I hadn’t decided on any particular destination. I just flew off to wherever I felt like, at full speed, holding a black cat under my arm.

  Fast enough that no one could follow.

  Behind me, the agonizing cries of the people lamenting their stolen deity grew faint.

  And so we had managed to escape.

  I can’t really remember how long we flew.

  We made our way through thick woods, over plains blanketed in green, and finally arrived at a gloomy forest.

  There were no humans in sight and no civilization nearby.

  “We should be all right, coming this far out.”

  We had traveled quite a distance.

  When I looked up, I could just barely make out the sky, stained red by the sunset.

  “You saved me.”

  Jumping down from my arms, the Divine Cat stood on the ground.

  I rubbed my tingling, aching arm and wiped my eyes. “What are you planning to do now?”

  “Nothing. I’m just going to live a quiet life. Without human contact.”

  “……”

  “And what will you do, Elaina?”

  “I plan to quietly continue my travels. Without feline contact.”

  “That’s a good idea. Please do so.” She snorted, and I turned around abruptly and perched on my broom.

  “I hope we’ll meet again—Oh, you know, I never asked for your name.”

  “I have no name.”

  “Even though you were a pet?”

  “Remember, I’ve died once, so I have no name,” she said.

  “…In that case, would you let me hear your old one?”

  “……”

  After hesitating for a moment, she quietly opened her mouth and
spoke a single word, giving me her name.

  It was completely unremarkable, a common name, and yet very lovely.

  I grinned at her. “It’s a nice name.”

  “But there will never be anyone who will call me that again.”

  Then she smiled and turned her two tails toward me, looking back at me over her shoulder.

  “I’m off. I’m glad you are the one I met at the end.” She darted off, deep into the forest.

  And I flew away on my broom.

  Wiping my itchy eyes and rubbing my scratchy throat, I flew toward the setting sun.

  Once I was free of the forest, a meadow painted by the light of the setting sun greeted me. The wind blew over the rippling blades of grass.

  Let’s talk about what happened one month and a few days after that.

  I had received a summons from a certain country…and because I had been foolish enough to promise to return, I had come back to the region.

  It wasn’t for any major reason, but since I was in the area, I made my way to the village where I had first learned about the country overrun with cats.

  Well, I could have done without another visit, that’s for sure.

  “Hello there! Meow!”

  “……”

  “Miss Traveler! Welcomeow! This is the village where cats and country folk live in harmony! Take your time and enjoy! Meow!”

  “……”

  There was something strange about her voice. The village itself had changed a bit. Where before there had been not a single cat or other animal, now I could see cats scattered about.

  …Wait.

  More importantly, first of all…

  “What are you doing, Lucie?”

  “……Don’t ask. Please.”

  The person who had come out to greet me in front of the village was none other than the Fair Weather Witch herself. She was clad in a robe, exactly as when I had encountered her in the other country, but this time, in place of her pointy hat, she had on a headband decorated with cat ears. It was amazing how poorly the getup suited her. To be honest, it was pitiful. I couldn’t hold back tears in the face of this tragic reality.

  Lucie stroked her head lightly.

  “Elaina, I wanted to thank you for what you did a month ago. It really opened my eyes. It seems that, for some reason, I was acting strange while I was in that country.”