We continue from the Little Witch's point of view.
I was Rufe, a witch.
Together with Kiri the fairy, I had set out on a journey to rescue the kidnapped Alraune.
Kiri had placed a tracking spell on her, so I continued to fly through the sky, following the general direction the fairy provided.
I was certain I could get Alraune back.
That was the thought I’d started with, anyway. As it turned out, I wasn't nearly as good at planning as I’d thought.
In my haste, I had overlooked five critical things.
First: in the rush to flee the forest, I had dropped my money and was now completely penniless.
Second: having no food meant I quickly ran out of strength once hunger set in.
Third: Alraune’s location was incredibly far away; no matter how much I flew, I never seemed to arrive.
Fourth: perhaps because it was summer, a storm rolled in, and the relentless heavy rain soaked me to the bone, making it nearly impossible to move forward.
Fifth: thanks to all of the above, I developed a high fever and my health collapsed.
It had been several days since I left the forest.
Battling both illness and starvation, I mustered every ounce of my willpower to stay airborne. In that moment, I realized that without Alraune, I was just a helpless child. I didn’t even know how to forage for food on my own. When monsters attacked, it took everything I had just to escape.
As I reached my limit, Kiri called out from my back, her voice laced with worry.
"You haven't eaten a thing in days, Rufe. Continuing to fly like this is reckless. You’re burning up with a fever, too—we need to rest."
"I can't... Alraune must be so lonely right now. I have to get to her... soon..."
At that point, my consciousness cut out.
The last thing I understood was that I was falling from the sky toward a forest, still in my bird form.
When I next opened my eyes, I found myself being cared for by a bare-chested dog-ear human. He was nursing my avian form and muttering to himself as he peered down at me.
"Good, you’re awake. You fell right on top of me, so I was worried."
Apparently, I’d been saved because I happened to land on this man. My body ached, but he had already applied wound medicine to my injuries. Unlike normal humans, he only had dog ears, which made me think he might not be such a bad person.
"I might have these ears, but don't worry. I won't eat a small bird like some scary wolf would."
My Bird Transformation Magic hadn't worn off yet, so he still didn't realize I was a witch. Kiri was nowhere to be seen, but knowing that fairy, she was probably hiding somewhere nearby.
"Still, you smell like a person. I suppose you were someone's pet bird who got lost and collapsed."
The smell of a person? I’d thought that as long as I was a bird, my identity as a witch was perfectly hidden, but I never imagined my scent would give me away as something more than a wild animal.
"My sense of smell is much better than a normal human's. That’s how I can tell. Anyway, even a bird needs a drink. I'll go fetch some water from the river over there."
The dog-ear human stood up and walked toward the nearby stream.
I felt a sudden pang of danger. I had to flee this place before he realized I was actually a witch. As I looked around, I realized why he had been bare-chested; he must have been bathing when he found me. His belongings were sitting right there on the ground.
If I didn't do something, I was going to starve to death. To continue this journey, I had to be able to stop in towns and buy food. I resolved then and there that I would do whatever it took to find Alraune.
I hopped over to the human's luggage and pulled a small pouch of coins out with my beak. Then, I took to the sky.
From behind me, I heard the dog-ear human’s voice shouting, "Thief!"
His loud shouting actually helped me reunite with Kiri as soon as I entered the deeper forest.
"Rufe! You stole money from a human? Why would you do that?"
"I’ll do anything for Alraune's sake. Besides, I hate humans anyway."
"Well, I suppose it's lucky we have money now. You look like you’re about to collapse again, Rufe. Let's rest in the next town."
Kiri talked me out of my stubbornness and directed me toward a nearby human settlement. I ended up taking a room at an inn, where I remained bedridden with a high fever for several days.
I was glad I had the money to pay the innkeeper to buy medicine for me. If I hadn't snatched those coins from the dog-ear human, I might have died of that fever in the middle of the woods. My condition had been that dire.
Stealing from him felt like fate—as if God were telling me to survive. It allowed me to buy food and avoid both sickness and starvation. I felt bad for the dog-ear human, but it was for my life and for Alraune.
Please forgive me, I thought. Once I find Alraune, I’ll pay it all back.
As I rested, my fever finally began to break. However, during my recovery, Kiri started acting strange. Every time she came back from outside, she brought flowers with her. At first, I thought she was decorating the room, but then she would open her mouth wide and bite into them.
The tiny fairy slurped up the nectar like a butterfly.
"It’s not this... it’s not this, but I can’t stop myself from drinking it."
She was acting exactly like a bug. But since it was Kiri, I figured it couldn't be helped.
As for me, every flower Kiri brought home only reminded me of Alraune. My fingers would tremble at the sight. I couldn't even remember the last time I’d tasted Alraune's nectar.
Out of desperation, I asked the innkeeper to buy me some honey.
I took a lick.
"It’s sweet, but... it’s just not right."
It was wholly unsatisfying compared to Alraune’s. My chest felt tight, as if a hole had been carved into my heart. Without her, my life felt hollow and gray. I needed to get better and get moving as soon as possible.
More than ten days had passed since we left the forest. By now, Alraune was probably crying from loneliness, trembling with her bud tightly closed.
Just as I was lost in thought, Kiri suddenly cried out.
"What is this!?"
"Kiri? What’s wrong?"
"The tracking magic I put on Alraune-sama... the reaction just split!"
"What... does that mean?"
"The only possibility is that her body has been divided in two!"
My heart sank. Had something happened to her? Was her body being torn apart?
"No... no, I don't want that!"
If the reaction had split, it meant she must have been cut right in half. It was too much to bear. It was too cruel.
My precious Alraune. Please, please be safe.
And so, this chapter was told from the Little Witch's point of view. While she is drawing closer to Alraune, there is still quite a distance to cover. The Little Witch's search activity will continue for a while longer. Next time: Alraune, having her nectar collected, talks about the Yearned-for Forest.