Chapter 43: A Hunting Date?
A hunt was the need of the hour. Weiss and I were out of the Grim Palace and
walking ahead. There was a large forest stretching in front of us. This place,
deeper than even the Forbidden Fairy Forest, was closer to the Great Ice Wall
than the human settlements.
Of course, this, too, was a part of the Ice Wall that no humans could come close
to. For you see, there was a giant sea right in the center, breaking the
continent where the land between the two sides was divided. On the easternmost
end of the continent, beyond this large sea, would be the land of the Elves.
On this side, the western half of the continent, was the Forbidden Fairy Forest
forming a large line, and then the rest of the Ice Wall was handled by the
Empire.
Though I said divided into two parts, by all means, the land for the demons was
a small fraction—a smaller fraction yet when compared to their population.
"Isn’t this place dangerous?" I asked, whistling as we walked. It was my first
time coming this far out.
"I don’t know," said Weiss. "I’ve never come here."
Of course, I hadn’t let her step out of the house in her usual loose clothing.
She was wearing a white blouse with tight khaki pants. I had also tied her hair
up in a braid.
I was good at it, but her style still seemed a little bland. Perhaps a girl
being with us would help her out a lot more. Even dressed simply, her beauty was
unmatched.
Weiss and I strolled casually through the dark green trees. Even after a fair
walk, though, we hadn’t run into anything.
"Say, Butler, can you not do some tracking? Why are there no monsters yet?"
How was I supposed to help with that?
"Monsters come and go, Miss Witch. It’s the company that we must be..." Haah,
what was I saying?
It was a short walk after that when I finally smelled something. It was a musky
scent, a scent I knew well.
"Miss Witch," I hissed, asking her to stop.
Weiss was great at following directions. She immediately froze in her tracks and
killed her presence as much as she could while I hopped over to her.
"That right there," I said, pointing ahead. There was a saffron tinge on the
bark of a tree ahead. "That’s an Ent."
"Oh?" she whispered back, raising her brow. "It has a magic stone?"
"Not worth our use, but they are dangerous and formidable monsters."
"Hmmm..."
Weiss walked ahead, and I followed. Though I was a professional and could sneak
up on it without a problem, the Ent noticed Weiss easily. The bark of the tree
snapped open slowly, revealing its eyes. Raggedy roots made up its mouth while a
large leaf extended like a tongue.
"HoHoHo!" The Ent laughed. "How rare. Two supple human beings—meat walking
straight to me! You shall feed my roots! Nothing in this forest is out of my
control!"
My dearest companion frowned at those words. She turned to me and pointed at the
Ent with her finger, as if asking me to clean it up.
I shrugged.
"Hey, Tree Guy," I said out loud. "Where are the strong monsters around here?"
"HoHoHoHoHooooo!" The Ent laughed at me. Was that a laugh? It gave both Weiss
and me the ick. "Look at you! I have not seen humans like this in dozens of
years. Strong monsters? Hah!"
Throughout its speech, the Ent was clearly trying to do something. It was
extremely subtle—so subtle that most would miss it—but my life literally
depended on being in touch with my surroundings, so I felt it directly
underneath my feet.
The movement of many roots.
"Listen," I said again. "My boss right here is not a very patient person; she
will get really mad if you don’t... Yes, what?"
Weiss tapped my shoulder. I leaned in and she whispered something.
"Ahem..." I coughed. "Sorry, I meant to say that my boss right here is a patient
person, but she will have to use force if you don’t answer us right now."
"Hoh... Uh, did you just correct yourself?" the Ent asked.
I nodded.
"HoHoHo!! What amusing humans! Alright then, now die~!"
The ground opened up, and roots flew from all sides straight toward us. That
wasn’t all; from around us as well, the trees shook and their leaves and
branches all shot straight for our necks.
I jumped back and grasped Weiss by her waist before hopping again. With one
leap, I was on top of a branch, and with another, on top of another. Run away?
There was no need to run away.
With every jump, I drew closer. The roots and branches wrapped around the
ground. As I landed on a rock, they crushed it open, and I leaped closer to the
Ent again. Now almost right in front of it, I stopped.
I put Weiss down. The Ent sent dozens of branches at us again.
This time, I turned toward the Ent and raised my hand.
[Fireball]
All the branches and roots almost instantly changed course. I could see the
Ent’s eyes widen. The small little fireball floated ahead, but the mana in it
was unmistakable.
—BOOM!
Even at close range, the spell was powerful. I was using the original version
with whatever little mana I had left, and it was still a grand blast.
The Ent had stepped back; its roots and branches from nearby trees all turned to
ash and crumbled to the ground.
"W-wha! Haha! So you have some power! But, fools, you must never light a fire in
a forest!!"
I turned to Weiss. It was really just to show her what I could do. Another
attack was coming our way.
"I am out of mana," I said.
For some reason, she glanced at my lips as I said that, then sighed and waved
her hands.
It happened right then.
With a simple flick of her wrist, the roots and branches all burned. The fire
extended and swallowed everything, going rapidly toward the Ent.
The Ent tried to move farther back and shake it off. It tried to use a gust of
wind. The flames did go out, but that was not the point.
Weiss had already cast another spell.
It was [Tree Magic], an invention of a previous Witch Queen.
The ground around the Ent had vines sprouting out. All of them wrapped around
the Ent’s body and, before it could do anything, flipped it upside down.
"W-what! What is this!? L-leave me! How is a human controlling nature?"
Weiss stepped ahead, her palm filled with a fireball again.
She looked at the Ent... then pulled me over and whispered in my ear.
"Ahem! Now, talk, Ent bastard."
The Ent and I both felt a drop of sweat running down our backs. In that moment,
the monster and I definitely had the same thought.
’Why aren’t you speaking yourself? Are you shy???’
