Until The Witch Dies

Chapter 17

Section 4: Dreams, Hopes, and Death

Translated by AmaLynne

We arrived at an area where medicinal plants and herbs are grown.

A section of the area is enchanted to repel insects.

Only the crops in this area are protected from outside enemies.

The insect repellent properties of lemongrass are amplified.

Lavender, bay leaves, arugula, etc.

Many herbs grow in this area.

Going to the back of the house, there are also ingredients for Chinese herbs.

When Inori-san saw this scene, she exclaimed,「Wow!」

「You’ve got some pretty good stuff growing here.」

「We’re adding a little more every year. Some are requested by master and some are necessary for my own magic. After all, they grow very fast.」

I collect the mint growing in the back.

Mint is self-pollinating and will reproduce to death if left alone.

It has such explosive growth that gardening enthusiasts call it a mint bomb or mint terror.

Be careful when collecting it.

Once it is planted with other plants, it will be swallowed up in one fell swoop.

Although I have weakened its fertility with magic now, it is still a “dead end” if its leaves are dropped in the area of other plants.

As I carefully collected the leaves, I was somehow reminded of the past.

The management of the Witch Forest was the first job my master handed down to me when I was very young.

「Listen, Meg Raspberry. From this day forward, it is your job to tend this forest.」

「Don’t wanna.」

As a young girl, I refused the job.

「No. It’s your job in this house! Do it!」

「No, no, no! I’m busy! Why don’t you do it, Master!」

「You’re busy mostly playing! Draw, watch TV, do a little work!」

「That’s what children are like. They are beings of God’s kingdom with dreams and unlimited possibilities.」

「Don’t call yourself a god!」

I have known since I can remember that I am not the master’s child.

I have been told that since I was a child.

Perhaps, in her own way, she was trying to keep me from dwelling on the past, I think.

Being a witch is my identity now.

If I had not been a witch, I might have been more lost.

That my parents are dead.

That I have one year left to live.

I’m sure the reason I didn’t is that I’ve been as busy as a muddy stream since then.

I was half forced to take care of the forest, and I always started tinkering with the soil after studying.

At that time, the Witches’ Forest was not yet magic-ready, and the soil was thin.

There were trees, but it was far from a forest.

It was my mission to make the plants grow here.

The first and most formidable enemy of the plants was the Oriental plant called『huckleberry』, or『mint』.

They are explosive reproducers, and once planted, they are unstoppable.

Unable to stop the mint’s march, I cried out to my master.

「Mhastherr! Thhee mhinthhh! It will devour the forest!!」

「If mint grows too much, it’s just a weed. I told you to be careful.」

The forest, which had grown with much hardship, soon attracted many small animals, which the master turned into his messengers.

Because he continued to manage the forest so that people from the city could approach, many animals and plants still coexist with people in the Witch Forest.

She also cares for the soil, corrects the flow of magic power, and uses magic.

I learned it all from the master.

「Whew, nice hot water.」

When I returned home after the collection, I was washing Inori-san’s feet in a medicinal bath with mint oil.

Every time I applied acupressure, Inori-san-san let out an old man’s「ahhh」sound.

「Hi-hi-hi, sister, your legs are so smooth.」

「Stop.」

Inori-san exhaled deeply and looked up to the heavens.

「I wonder how long it’s been since I’ve taken my time like this. Come to think of it, I’ve been so busy the last few days I haven’t had a bath.」

「I’ll boil a bath for you later. Yes, absolutely.」

「Shut up. You’ll go bald if you’re too detailed.」

「Detailed…?」

When I look at her suspiciously, Inori-san smiles at me.

「You’ve got some nerve to laugh in someone’s face.」

「You’re good. I like you. When you’re on your own in the future, will you be my assistant?」

「Assistant?」

「I’m your partner in drug development. An extension of what you are doing now. I’m short on staff, and I could use an extra hand.」

「You can’t ask me to do that on such short notice.」

「There’s no witch who is taught by two Sage. You might appear on TV as a promising witch.」

「On TV…?」

I imagine.

A woman who has been recognized for her visual appeal on TV and has become instantly popular, then appears in a variety of TV dramas, falls in love with an idol star, gets married, and lives with her two children on the top floor of a high-rise apartment building.

「Not bad…」

「Well, it’s not like it’s right now. Think about it. If you want, I’ll talk to old Faust.」

Inori-san spoke with great enthusiasm, but I had mixed feelings inside.

Not at all, but I don’t think I can say it.

I could not believe that I might die in just one year.

So this is what death means.

I would lose even the many possibilities of the future that I had planned to face.

「How old are you?」

「Seventeen.」

「You are young. You know so much, what a waste. I had already traveled a lot by the time I was ten.」

「You sound like a hag talking about your youth.」

「Hag…」