[Episode 126] - The Poisoned Apple (1)
Looking out the window, leaves dyed in orange and yellow had fallen to cover half of it. The sky was so blue—so clear and azure that it stung my eyes to look upon. It was the height of autumn.
Gazing at the leaves beginning to pile softly on the window sill, I bit into a sweet pumpkin cookie. As the sweet flavor of pumpkin spread through my mouth, I felt as though autumn had taken another step closer to me.
I broke the cookie in half, put one piece in my mouth, and chewed absently as I stared out the window. A chilly breeze blew through the gap in the frame, and I thought that it was about time to start preparing for winter.
Last year, perhaps because it was my first winter here, my preparations had been far too lacking. Even with help from the villagers, it hadn't been enough. So this time, I needed to prepare more thoroughly.
I needed to buy plenty of firewood and stock up on food.
And soon...
'There's the festival after the coronation. Prices will probably go up during the festivities, so should I buy in advance? No, am I already too late? I can't believe I didn't think of this even after getting burned last year...'
Word had even reached this countryside village that Titania's coronation would be held soon. The news that a week-long festival would begin after the coronation had everyone in the village terribly excited.
A friendly auntie was thrilled about going to the neighboring city to strike it big, and the children were beside themselves at the word "festival," busy waiting for the peddlers to arrive. Once the festival began, peddlers would pass through here, too.
They were probably looking forward to the strange foods and curious wares the peddlers would bring. Perhaps that was why the children had stopped coming by the shop as often to save up their pocket money. It was a shame, but inevitable.
Anyway, thinking that Titania's coronation was already upon us gave me a strange feeling. Realizing that Titania had turned twenty and was becoming queen made me think that time truly flew.
'Titania is twenty... so does that mean I'm already in my thirties? Huh? How old am I again? Thirty-two? Thirty-three? Somehow, the older I get, the more indifferent I become to my own age...'
Thinking about my age reminded me of something that had happened a few months ago.
There had been a child with a young couple who had newly moved to the village. A tiny thing who couldn't even speak properly. Everyone had gone to see the baby because it was cute, so I'd taken a gift and gone to see it, too.
A cute baby with a lisp who called its parents "Momma" and "Dadda." Its toddling steps were so adorable that I'd wanted to pinch its mochi-like cheeks endlessly.
I'd given the little baby a snack that Katarina had made—a snack that even a baby could easily eat—and the child looked at me, bowed its head, and said:
"Thank you, ma'am."
"What? Ma'am?"
The child's mother corrected it, saying the child should call me "miss," but the baby kept calling me "ma'am" until the moment I left. I'd even felt like snatching the gift back.
It wasn't just that, either. Lately, more and more children who didn't know me had been calling me "ma'am." Children don't know any better—they judge by what they see! They're just ignorant kids!
Obviously, I only looked like a ma'am to them because I seemed around the same age as their mothers. Otherwise, how could someone with this face be called a ma'am? Right? That shouldn't even be possible, right?
And one of the biggest reasons I was being called ma'am...
"Wh-why are you glaring at me like that...?"
"...It's nothing."
It was probably Katarina's presence. Thanks to Katarina's appearance, which made her look younger than fifteen, I was treated like a "kid's mom" even here. Were archwitches the same? Did all witches have such youthful appearances?
Sighing deeply as I looked in the mirror, I raised both arms and stretched at my seat. Thinking it was about time to get moving, I looked at Katarina and checked the storage room to see what we were running low on.
"Katarina. I'm going to the market for a bit. Want to come?"
"I-I'll watch the house..."
"Yeah, I figured you'd say that. It looks like we're only low on flour and eggs... You don't need anything else, right? No changing your mind later, okay?"
"Uh... so... uh, I don't think so."
Katarina shook her head vigorously after a moment of deep thought. We weren't actually that low on flour or eggs in the storage room, but I'd been thinking of taking a stroll to the market because I was bored.
"You can watch the shop by yourself while I'm gone, right? If you hide in the corner behind the counter like last time when a customer comes, I'll scold you."
"I-I don't do that anymore...!"
I wonder if that's true...
Putting on my coat, I told Katarina to look after things and slipped out of the shop. Stepping outside, the wind brushing my face was quite chilly, and I unknowingly hunched my shoulders.
*
"She's gone...?"
Once certain that Vivian's footsteps had faded, Katarina poked her head out the door and looked around. Confirming no one was near the shop, she flipped the sign on the door from [Open] to [Closed].
Once Vivian went into the village, she'd chat with the villagers and not return for at least two hours, so Katarina could just close the door in the meantime. If she flipped the sign back before Vivian returned, it would be the perfect crime. Just as Katarina was stepping back inside—
"Is this the confectionery shop run by the 'Witch'?"
"Eek...!"
"But... are you already closed for business?"
Katarina jumped in place at the sudden sound of a woman's voice from behind. Turning her head stiffly, Katarina saw a "woman" approaching right behind her.
She wore a hood that covered her face completely, but her voice and build made it clear she was a "woman." She wasn't one of the regular village customers. At the sight of this first-time guest, Katarina's shoulders trembled.
For Katarina, who found conversation with people difficult, dealing with a "new customer" was nearly torture. She wanted to foam at the mouth and collapse on the spot, but reality wouldn't allow it.
The customer approached the frozen Katarina and waved a hand in front of her eyes to check if she was alive and breathing.
"Hello?"
"Ah, uh, welcome...! W-we're still open..."
"Ah, I see. I thought you were closed since you were changing the sign."
She wanted to lie and say they were closed, but...
What if this customer met Vivian? It was a small village, so the chances of running into her were high. And if this customer asked Vivian, "Huh? Weren't you closed?"...
Gulp.
It wouldn't end with just a smack on the bottom like last time. Katarina's body shook. Rather than lying about being closed, the right answer was to serve the customer and send her on her way quickly.
"P-please come in...!"
Katarina greeted the customer with the most awkward smile in the world. Having run simulations of the transaction repeatedly in her head, she stiffly walked over to the counter and stood as rigid as a wooden post.
The customer who had entered the shop looked around the interior, then perused the snacks on the display with practiced ease before quickly approaching the counter and placing her selection in front of Katarina.
"Uh, uhm... the price is..."
"By the way, where did the 'Witch' go? I don't see her..."
"H-huh? The W-Witch?"
Did she mean Vivian? Katarina hesitated for a moment, wondering what to say, then decided it wasn't something she needed to hide and answered honestly.
"Sh-she went to the market for a bit. She should be back in about two hours..."
"...I see. We missed each other."
Katarina tilted her head at the bitter tone. Did she know Vivian? Not a single one of Vivian's "acquaintances" had come looking for her since they'd arrived here. Though Fran did drop by from time to time.
"C-could you be an a-acquaintance of V-Vivian's...? If you have a message, I-I could relay it...?"
"...No. It's fine. And there are a few things I'd like to ask you, if that's alright?"
"Y-yes? M-me?"
Katarina was startled, but the customer smiled, the corners of her lips turning up. Given Katarina's personality, she couldn't refuse a request even if she wanted to, so she reluctantly nodded.
"This is the countryside... so there aren't many thieves, are there?"
"Ah, no...? The children have stolen a cookie or two, but we've never had a thief break in."
"Really?"
The sudden question flustered Katarina.
She couldn't grasp the intention behind the customer's inquiry. Could she be someone planning to open a new shop in the village? As Katarina tilted her head, the customer smiled brightly and moved on to the next question.
"Then, hypothetically... if something precious of yours were stolen by a thief, what would you do? Is there any way to handle it in a countryside village with no guards?"
"H-huh...? W-well..."
Katarina felt like steam might rise from her head. She couldn't fathom why the customer was asking this. A thief? Something precious stolen? How to handle it?
It was certainly a problem if you were robbed in a place without guards. Unlike a city with stationed soldiers, there was nowhere to report a crime here, and the village ran solely on trust between its people.
Though she could just hide things with magic in the first place...
"I-if it's truly precious... I-I should take good care of it...? S-since there are no guards here... A-and if it really does get stolen by a thief, I-I think I'd have to find it by any means necessary...? I-if it's truly precious, that is..."
"...I see. Thank you for your opinion."
"B-but why are you asking me this...?"
"Recently, something very precious was stolen from me by a thief. I eventually found out the thief is near here... So I've been wondering what to do about that thief."
"I-I see...! A bad person near here...! I-I hope you catch them...!"
"...Indeed."
Katarina answered with a tightly clenched fist.
She never imagined there might be a thief around her. Everyone in this village was kind and friendly; she wondered who among them could possibly be a thief.
The hooded customer giggled at Katarina's clenched fist and placed two silver coins and a basket containing three bright red fruits on the counter. The plump, ripe red apples looked delicious.
Katarina stared blankly at the silver coins in her palm. The amount was too much, and she couldn't understand why the customer had placed the fruit basket on the counter, but she started calculating change anyway.
However, the customer waved her hand.
"This is a gift. I bought them at the market because they looked tasty. There are three apples, so please give one to the Witch as well."
"Ah, i-it's fine... and this is too much money..."
"Don't worry about it. It's simply a token of gratitude."
Katarina didn't know what to do because the customer adamantly refused. It would be troublesome to accept so much money, and if she was an acquaintance of Vivian's, shouldn't she at least get the customer's name?
The moment the determined Katarina looked up, the customer was already leaving through the half-open door.
*
Creak—the door opened, and Vivian walked into the shop carrying a basket of eggs in one hand. Katarina scurried over to her and took the heavy-looking basket.
"V-Vivian. Y-you're back?"
"Yeah. Am I a bit late? I played with that kid who moved in last time for a while."
"Y-you really like children, don't you, Vivian...?"
"Yeah. They're cute."
As Vivian, having taken off her coat, headed for the counter, her gaze fell on the fruit basket sitting atop it. The three apples in the basket were ripe and bright red, looking plump and appetizing.
“Hm? Did someone come by?”
“Y-yes. A customer said it was a token of thanks...”
“Really? Those apples look delicious.”
Vivian reached out at once and snatched up one of the apples from the basket. The apples looked well ripened and tasty, and perhaps because she had just come back from playing with the child, she was hungry.
She had received so much from the villagers until now, and thinking this apple, too, must have been left by one of them, Vivian did not suspect anything in particular and took a small bite.
Truly, without the slightest suspicion, the moment she bit into the apple, a sweet fragrance and sugary juice spread through her mouth. As she chewed slowly and swallowed, a smile bloomed naturally on Vivian’s lips, as though it really was delicious.
“Mmm—this is good. Katarina, you should—”
At that moment.
Before she could even finish speaking, Vivian’s knees suddenly gave way beneath her. Huh? What? At the sensation of her vision abruptly sinking, Vivian’s eyes went round. But only for an instant.
“V-Vivian?!”
The world before her spun, and Vivian collapsed to the floor in an instant. Katarina reached out an arm and called to Vivian as she fell, but Vivian hit the floor first.
Vivian lay facedown on the floor and closed her eyes. Her vision was so dizzying she could not possibly open them, and she could not speak properly either. Before she even had time to think what was happening, she felt her consciousness slipping away.
And within that fading consciousness, a familiar voice came to her ears.
“You said it, didn’t you? That if something precious to you were stolen by a thief, you would use any means necessary to get it back.”
Somehow, Vivian forced her eyes open and looked toward the place where that familiar voice had come from. In her whirling vision, a hooded woman was looking down at Katarina and at herself, collapsed on the floor.
“I feel the same. I cannot be satisfied unless I use every means at my disposal to return what was taken from me to my side. I simply came to take back what you stole from me.”
When the woman removed her hood, ebony-black hair that fell to her shoulders swayed softly. Vivian stopped breathing for a moment and squeezed her eyes shut. Because she had no confidence she could meet those eyes.
The woman, kneeling on one knee, stroked Vivian’s face where she lay on the floor. After smiling brightly once, she lifted her head and glared at Katarina as though she would kill her. Truly, with a ferocity that seemed ready to tear her apart at any moment.
“It’s time you returned what you stole from me—my precious one.”