Chapter 8 – 8. Mosquito

Evangeline, who was grunting in front of the broken water bottle and using magic, realized that no matter how much magic she used, she could not fix the broken water bottle.

Magic was close to omnipotent, but not omnipotent. When it came to fixing a broken oak barrel, a carpenter was better suited than a witch.

‘I have to go to the village after a long time…….’

The fact starts to cast a shadow on her face. The villagers respect her as much as possible as a witch, but that respect comes out of fear.

I try not to show disgust in front of her, but it wasn’t absolute. Very fine distortion. Having been hated for hundreds of years, she could feel that the other person hated her.

‘I don’t want to go.’

If it was normal, even if I thought so, I would have been forced to move to the village. Just because you’re a witch doesn’t mean you can’t create anything on your own.

But I didn’t have to do that anymore. Isn’t John by her side? Become her disciple, assistant, and obedient slave.

She approached Yohan, who was basking in the sun on the first floor.

“John.”
“Yep! Master.”
“Tomorrow, go to town.”
“…… A village?”
“Yes.”

Evangeline opened her mouth, holding out the board John had broken.

“Go ahead and fix this.”

* * *

How long had it been since he had left the village? Not even a month had passed. Thanks to that, I still vividly remember working like a slave in that village.

My hands tremble when I think of the villagers who wielded violence while catching strange faults.

It was not a trembling from fear. Rather, it was the exact opposite – a trembling mixed with anger and anticipation.

‘You bastards, just wait.’

They couldn’t even imagine that the man they sold instead of a sacrifice would come back as a witch’s apprentice. You will be shocked because something unexpected happened.

The surprised look of the villagers is already clear in the eyes. I walked towards the village with light steps.

Soon after, we arrived at the village. I went into the village holding on to my pounding heart.

“Stop— uh, uh? Charles?”
“Charles? Charles?”

Two men who stood guard at the entrance of the village approached. Now I know their role very well. Poor bastards who don’t know how to do anything right.

They were all about standing guard to prevent monsters from entering the village close to the forest, and in the meantime, they didn’t even stand guard properly.

“It is John. Fuck you.”
“…… Bitch? You bastard, where are you talking half-.”
“You don’t know where I went?”

There is nothing to be afraid of. Don’t you know that he has a weapon in his hand- These guys are the ones who leave their weapons at their homes, saying they will stand guard at least a little comfortably.

Indeed, seeing me coming out strong, they must have thought that there was something behind them, and they kept their mouths shut and thought deeply.

“I heard you suddenly ran away one day…….”
“Escape? Hey- Then I must be a warrior who escaped into a forest full of monsters and survived for a few weeks? Do you think it makes sense?”
“No, then where the hell have you been…….”
“Your handsome village chief sold me to Master. To the master who lives in the hut.”

The two guys stiffen when they hear the word cabin. In this forest full of monsters, there was only one cabin.

Witch’s Hut. It was a witch’s house that was terrifying just by its existence. And now I call her Master. If it’s not a hat rack on these guys’ shoulders, you’ll know what that means.

Indeed, as if they had guessed what kind of relationship I had with the witch, they began to tremble and break out in a cold sweat. That’s also true, because I’ve been beaten the most by those idiots.

I looked at the two trembling people and smiled lightly.

“Bring that old man.”

The two of them rushed into the village at the same time, no one else to do first.

* * *

After a while, the village chief, who was brought in while tending the vegetable garden, approached and talked to them in a very polite manner, as if he had heard about the situation from the two people.

“Heh, heh heh- John-kun. Becoming a witch-sama’s apprentice, how on earth…….”
“Okay, give me my things.”
“Muh, thing…… ?”
“Clothes and a smartphone—you know, that square mirror thing.”

Hearing my words, the village chief hardened his expression as if he was troubled and scratched his cheek.

“That…… Those things are no longer there.”
“What!? No, I know what it is…!”
“Eh, I sold it to the merchants who came to town. Ugh, two silver coins…….”
“When?”
“A long time ago…….”

Hearing those words, I grabbed my forehead and sighed heavily. I don’t know much about the value of money in this world, but I do know that clothes and smartphones with modern technology are not worth a few silver coins.

It is ridiculously low price. The price was ridiculous unless the village chief was scammed by a merchant or scammed by me.

I put my hand on the latter side.

“This fuck!”

Quaang-! The magic-sealed fist struck the wooden fence surrounding the village. Clumsy – The tightly woven fence collapses, and the trees on either side of it also tilt.

The villagers and the village chief were surprised at the tremendous sight that could not be produced by human power.

I was surprised too.

‘Oh no, why the fuck is this broken…… ?’

It’s embarrassing to see that the hook collapses even though I just hit it. What if you tell me to fix this?

Before the village chief or villagers brought up such a story, I cleared my throat a few times before speaking to the village chief.

“Hmmmm, then, give me those two silver coins, and give me a bucket of water too.”
“Yes, yes!? No- suddenly…….”
“Then what? Shall we pay attention to whether or not monsters appear in the future?”
“Gosh-! All right! I will bring it soon!”

After a while, the village chief appeared with the village youth. In their hands was a wooden barrel much larger than the one originally in the cabin.

When I glanced at the barrel, something rattled inside. After sniffing it, I knew it was alcohol.

“This is the only water tank left. Forgive me….”
“Well. Great.”
“And this is the silver coin you spoke of…….”
“Very good.”

After receiving a bag of silver coins and a bucket of water, I nodded in satisfaction and left the village.

“Bye. Do not perish.”
“Yes, would you like to?”

Received a polite greeting from the village chief until the end, I happily headed for the cabin.

* * *

One of the village youths became enraged when he saw John suddenly appearing and wandering through the village.

“I-I… ! Chief. Shall we go and kill him now?”
“No, don’t do anything stupid.”
“However…….”
“And- not much of a loss.”
“Yes? What is that……”
“There is just such a thing.”

While saying that, the village chief ordered the village youth to repair the broken fence. And then I went back to my house.

‘It’s stupid – there’s no way he could have sold such strange things and only received silver coins.’

He sold everything that Yohan had-from underwear to socks to his smartphone his-and earned more than gold coins.

Of course, I didn’t tell the villagers, and the amount went completely into the stomach of the village chief.

‘And- Unlike witches who are hard to talk to, if you match them gently, you can communicate. It’s easier to deal with that way…….’

The village chief thought so and went back to the vegetable garden.

* * *

‘I’m sure you’re thinking the same thing?’

I flicked the silver coin in my pocket and tried to guess what the village chief was thinking. I’ve only seen him for a month, but it wasn’t too difficult to read the thoughts of an old greedy old man.

‘Well, I’m not saying it’s wrong…….’

It was unavoidable. The witch’s hut was basically cut off from society, and the only society it was connected to was the village.

Evangeline could not arbitrarily save the ties with the village, which must have existed for a very long time. As much as possible, I had to make the witch think it was an advantage to be nearby.

‘Since there are witches, there must be priests too, right?’

Religion exists in this world. Even though I worked like a slave, I was given time off once a week. Religiously enforced breaks or something.

And the existence of religion means that the church exists, and the church has been the natural enemy of witches since ancient times.

What if the townsfolk, who have become aware of the existence of the witch, run to the church and announce the existence of Master? It was clear that immediately hundreds or thousands of paladins would come running and burn Master.

‘Master, the disciple lives only by watching the master like this.’

While walking aimlessly with that thought in mind, I arrived at the cabin. Arriving at the cabin, I immediately grabbed an oak barrel full of liquor and went inside.

“Master! The Buddha’s disciple has returned!”

Then, as if she knew I was coming, Evangeline, lightly dressed, slowly walked down from the second floor. Even though the clothes were light, the hood was not removed.

Feeling a bit bitter that I still couldn’t see her face, I lightly held up the keg I had brought from the village.

“Do you know what I brought? It’s alcohol, alcohol!”
“Uh… Alcohol?”
“…… Don’t you like alcohol?”
“No, I like it. Alcohol.”

I said I liked it with my mouth, but I didn’t miss the way she fluttered. Do you hate alcohol? It could be. A witch who has lived hundreds of years must have had plenty of opportunities to drink.

And, when people get drunk, they have accidents. A witch who has lived for hundreds of years must have had many accidents. I must have made up my mind not to drink alcohol at that time.

“You seem to hate it. I will leave it and come back.”
“Even if you like it?”
“…… But why are you reacting like that?”
“Is that the liquor you brought from the village? The alcohol there is of poor quality…….”
“Ah…”

It was then that I realized why she reacted so reluctantly. If the alcohol my friend brought for beer had been a sparkling wine like Filite, I would have reacted similarly.

But to me, who was away from civilization for more than a month, it didn’t matter whether it was sparkling wine or watered-down alcohol. It’s alcohol, alcohol. Drink, get drunk, and die.

“Master, can the disciple raise a cup?”
“…… Yeah, it’s been a while Shall we have a drink?”

Evangeline said that and came to the table.
I immediately took out a glass and started pouring.
Raising the glass from which sake was poured, a light toast was made.

“Come on, for Master.”
“Up, for?”

Braided-.
Sweet liquor flows down your throat.
It’s a drink I’ve been drinking for a very long time. Drinking for the first time in two months…….
Indeed, it was not a good drink to say that it was of poor quality. The bitter smell of alcohol came up with it.

“Ouch-! One more drink!”

I will suffer from a hangover.
The thought came to my mind, but I didn’t stop drinking.

* * *

“…… John, John?”

Tuk-tuk, someone keeps touching my body.
It forcibly awakens the submerged brain and raises the body.

“Ugh…… Who…….”
“It’s morning. Wake up.”
“…… Master?”
“Okay, good morning.”

When I opened my eyes, the Master was standing in front of me with her whole body tightly wrapped. Not understanding her situation her, I stared blankly at her for a while, then jumped up to her feet her.

After quickly washing her face her, she preceded her and headed to the kitchen. Surprisingly, she had already finished breakfast.

“I prepared breakfast.”
“Sorry, sorry…….”
“It’s okay. It could be if you drink.”

It wasn’t that I couldn’t drink. Because on Earth, we used to drink original soju with a high alcohol content-.

Drinking it in two months must have been a problem. I couldn’t hide my embarrassment and lowered my head.

“I wonder if I made any mistakes last night…….”
“—Nothing happened. Yeah, nothing.”

Evangeline said that and began to grip the robe she had been holding on to even harder. A bright red stain caught my eye over the skin that had not been able to fix it.

“Master, have you been bitten by mosquitoes?”
“Yes?”
“A red mark on the nape of the neck…….”
“Ah, uh, yes! I have mosquitoes…….”
“Aha.”
“Rice! Let’s eat something!”

As if to escape the situation, she began to turn around.
It wasn’t a problem to be particularly concerned about, so I followed her and began to open the spoon.