Chapter 31
The post-apocalyptic life has entered its fifth year, and my life in Okutama has finally begun to settle into a solid foundation.
The area around my house in Okutama is protected by a spell of Lost Fog, so I almost never have to worry about being attacked by outsiders.
I used what I learned last year to improve the rice paddies, and this year I'm expecting an even bigger harvest.
There's a fish pen in the backyard, so fresh fish is available whenever I want.
I spread the compost matured in the composter over the vegetable garden, and with the help of harvest magic, I can gather plenty of seasonal vegetables.
The seasoning problem, with prices rising every year, was elegantly solved this spring by the homemade miso and soy sauce that finally turned out well.
The shiitake mushrooms I'd been cultivating have sprouted properly from their logs, though there aren't many of them yet. This morning's breakfast was leftover rice from last night drowned in miso soup made with my homemade miso—cat-rice style. Plus, freshly picked, plump shiitake mushrooms grilled with soy sauce, and even salt-grilled char. What a glorious lineup.
I once trembled at the thought of my dwindling body weight and food stores, but times certainly change.
Who would have thought I'd be able to start each day with such an ideal country-style luxury breakfast?
They say food production in the city is in dire straits because of the pandemic, but as far as I'm concerned, life is pretty easy. I even have enough leeway to prepare seasonal mugwort dumplings to reward the Blue Witch for bringing back orders for magic wands from the Tohoku Hunting Association.
After stuffing myself with a happy breakfast, I put on my rubber boots and left the house to retrieve the trap I'd set in the river last night. Just then, the Blue Witch came through the Lost Fog.
The same mask, the same blue magic wand, the same amulet.
But the only thing that was different was the little fire-element-looking fairy perched on her shoulder.
"Good morning. Nice to meet you. I'm the Kindling Witch."
She was a palm-sized girl with blazing red hair and clothes made of flame.
She gave me a polite little bow and greeted me in a calm voice.
She was incredibly fairy-tale-like. She was adorable, like a fairy that had popped out of a picture book.
But wait. Haven't I seen something like this before?
Last time, it was a stoat.
And just when I thought it was cute, the second time I met it, it had turned into a human.
I'm not falling for that again! You fraud!
"Hah. You'll probably grow huge the moment I look away and return to normal human size. Isn't that right? Don't think you can fool me!"
"W-What are you talking about?"
"Calm down, you socially inept shut-in. Listen to me before you start yapping."
While I warily threatened her, the Blue Witch explained why she'd brought along the suspicious-looking fire fairy.
As the fire fairy had introduced herself, she was apparently one of the members of the Tokyo Witches' Assembly: the Kindling Witch.
She ruled Shinagawa Ward. She had still been only sixteen when the Gremlin disaster struck, but she used her specialty, fire magic, to burn monsters left and right. Combined with her quiet, sensible personality, this had made her a steady and reliable member who was highly valued even among the Witches' Assembly.
As you can see, her specialty was fire. Not only could she control magical fire, she also had the special ability to manipulate ordinary fire nearby to some extent. She could suppress fires, expand the area of fire magic she'd cast, increase or decrease its power without consuming magic, or burn only specific objects—in matters concerning fire, she was remarkably versatile.
The widely known fire spell "Flame, arise!" was originally hers, too. Much appreciated. I used it again this morning while making breakfast.
The Kindling Witch had rapidly weakened over the past year and was on the verge of burning out.
Her body was made of fire. That was simply the kind of creature she was. She had originally been the size of an ordinary human, but over the course of a year she had gradually shrunk, and her temperature had dropped. Right after the Gremlin disaster, when she'd only just become a witch, she couldn't even approach a wooden building carelessly. Now, not even a tissue held near her would catch fire.
According to her, it was simply her lifespan running out.
It wasn't an illness. She could apparently feel herself weakening and naturally growing old.
Wizards and witches were fundamentally changed from their human selves through mutation.
The Witch of Hell had grown horns and awakened to cannibalistic urges.
The Flower Witch's lower body had become that of a flower monster.
Even the Blue Witch looked human, but she had an abnormal resistance to cold, superhuman strength, and a throat structured differently from a human's.
These mutations apparently included changes to one's lifespan. The Witch of Kita Ward was known for never aging at all, remaining in the form of a pubescent child. The Witch of Sumida, who died in the Mushroom Pandemic, had originally been on the verge of dying of old age, yet after her mutation she had become spry and vigorous.
But if mutations could lengthen a lifespan, they could shorten one, too.
The Kindling Witch had become a short-lived creature through mutation.
Fairies are ephemeral.
Four years had passed since her mutation, and the fire fairy known as the Kindling Witch had aged rapidly and was approaching the end of her life.
"I've suddenly become afraid of dying..."
The Kindling Witch, perched on the Blue Witch's shoulder, confessed in a pitiful tone, as though admitting it were shameful.
"I've burned so many enemies to death. I knew I would die someday. I should have known. But now that I realize the time has come, I'm scared. So scared. I understand that there's nothing I can do because it's simply my lifespan. I know that, but I'm afraid. I don't care what form it takes. If I can keep living, I want to cling to Okyaku-san's magic item."
"Who?"
"Okyaku is a wizard with the Tohoku Hunting Association. This magic item is the Monster Trap, right? It has a function that stops the time of anything caught in it. Don't break it, all right? It's just being lent to us from the Witches' Assembly's custody."
With that, the Blue Witch handed me the bear trap.
At a glance, I understood the Monster Trap's general mechanism.
I see. It connects two types of magic stones to create a circuit. Huh. Such a simple idea, yet it never occurred to me. I'd tried connecting and combining fragments of a single type of magic stone, but two types? I see.
The construction was so crude that you couldn't have made it this way even if you'd tried to do it deliberately. The magic stones are crying out at this.
I could see several magic stones whose fragments matched in shape, so it looked like someone had smashed the stones carelessly and then slapped down fragments of the two colors one after another before connecting the ends.
Couldn't you have done something about it? Well, I understand that magic stones are difficult to polish or cut, and that it probably wasn't possible even if they'd tried. Still, I can feel the maker's intention: as long as it starts properly, nothing else matters.
"Does this stop the time of anything that enters this ring of magic stones? Hmm... If it reacts to air or dust, it would malfunction. Maybe it only affects living things—or no, living creatures with magic? The power source is... nothing but magic, of course. Does it need a spell to activate? Do you just charge it with magic?"
"You understand everything without me explaining it..."
"No, I don't understand everything. So?"
"Once you charge it with magic, it enters standby mode. If prey passes over it while it's waiting to activate, it captures the prey. Charging it requires magic control, so ask me or the Kindling Witch when you need it."
"Wait, I'll do it now. I want to see it go off once."
I eagerly accepted the Monster Trap and tried to hand it to the Blue Witch, but she let out a sigh.
"I understand that you're happy to have a new toy, but we're still in the middle of the conversation."
"Conversation? ...What were we talking about again?"
"I said the Kindling Witch is dying because her lifespan is ending. Here, Kindling. Ask him yourself."
Prompted by the Blue Witch, the Kindling Witch jumped down to the ground and gave me a polite bow.
"I want you to make a magic item that can seal me away. Not something whose effect wears off in ten-odd days at most, but something that will last for decades. Then I can entrust my hopes to the future. My lifespan can't be helped right now, but perhaps in a few decades someone will have found a solution. Would you please do it for me?"
"Sure, that's no problem at all. I've already thought of several ways to upgrade it, and I don't know if I can make it last for decades, but I can probably make it last for ten-odd years."
"R-Really!? Just like that? Th-Thank you! Thank you, truly, thank you...!"
"You don't have to bow to me. Making a sealing magic item for a witch sounds interesting. Anyway, Blue Witch, come over here for a second."
I left the Kindling Witch bowing repeatedly despite my telling her not to, called the Blue Witch over, and interrogated her in a low voice a short distance away from the Kindling Witch.
"Hey. Weren't you supposed to keep my existence a secret? Why did you bring her here?"
"If I left her alone, she'd die. She begged me through tears to introduce her to that craftsman, and Kindling is a good girl. Besides, at that inhuman size, your dislike of people won't be triggered."
"I'm not a people-hater. I just have trouble with people."
After correcting her misunderstanding, I looked at the Blue Witch as she offered her excuse awkwardly.
Hmm. Lately, I really do feel like the Blue Witch's distrust of humanity is slowly getting better. Her guard is coming down.
Sometimes I get the feeling she must originally have been an extrovert, too. Maybe the trauma of being betrayed by and losing so many people close to her is finally healing.
If she goes back to being an extrovert, she'll become difficult for me to deal with, so I want her to stay as she is. But the Blue Witch is my friend. I'd rather see her smiling than all gloomy and withdrawn. I had complicated feelings about it that were difficult to put into words.
"Anyway, I understand about the sealing magic item for the Kindling Witch. Did you get an order from the Tohoku Hunting Association?"
"I told them about it. They said they would take it back for discussion."
"Ah, I see. Well, that's reasonable."
Being part of an organization must be tough. You can't decide anything on your own, no matter what it is.
But looking at it positively, this could develop into a bulk order from several witches and wizards belonging to the Tohoku Hunting Association, rather than just an order from the single wizard who came as their messenger. I hope they'll give it serious consideration.
Go forth into the world, finest magic wands of the Dairi brand!
"If Dairi doesn't mind, shall I take a product sample to Okyaku? The discussion will probably go more smoothly if Okyaku can take an actual sample back."
"!? That's true! As our negotiator, you really do have good ideas!"
I hurried to the workshop and fetched the best general-purpose, two-layered Gremlin magic wand I had made. The Blue Witch told me to call her with her familiar if anything came up, then disappeared beyond the fog to deliver the wand.
That left me and the Kindling Witch, who was holding the Monster Trap.
I looked down at the Kindling Witch by my feet, wondering what to do, and she looked up at me before asking hesitantly.
"Um. Are you and Aochan-san close, Craftsman?"
"We're friends. She seems to like you quite a bit, too. What kind of relationship do you have?"
"Hehe. I've actually been a huge fan of hers ever since her magazine-model days. It seems she even remembered the fan letter I sent her! I was so happy when I found out I had become a witch just like Aochan-san."
"Hmm. Well, come inside for now. I'll show you to the workshop."
I led the Kindling Witch, who had a distant look in her eyes as she reminisced about the past, into my house.
The Kindling Witch followed me into the workshop, taking tiny steps and nearly tripping over the protrusions of my non-wheelchair-accessible house. Unlike Professor Ohinata, she didn't get particularly excited. Apparently, she wasn't very interested in this sort of hands-on work.
However, she did seem captivated by the mini-furnace I used for small jobs involving fire, the kind that didn't require the reverberatory furnace.
"You can look around as much as you like, as long as you don't break anything. Now, where did I put those magic-stone shavings...?"
I let the Kindling Witch look around as she pleased and searched for my stock of magic stones.
I'd made three magic-stone wands so far.
The treasured Octameteorite, made with black magic stones.
The blue magic wand Cyanos, made with blue magic stones.
The ritual staff Hariti, made with amber magic stones.
Naturally, I'd saved all the shavings produced during the processing. I'd kept them in case they could be used for something, and now it looked like that foresight would pay off.
I found the case of magic-stone scraps I'd stored toward the back of a shelf, set it on my drafting table, and immediately began sketching and organizing my ideas.
As a basic prerequisite, I think the pieces need to be made uniform in shape. Rather than connecting fragments with random shapes, I need to make the magic flow smoothly and orderly. That alone should reduce energy loss and greatly extend the sealing time.
The next question was what shape to use, and what the optimal size for each piece would be.
I also needed to test what would happen if I connected three colors of magic stones in a regular pattern instead of two. Would their performance improve? There was a risk of a short circuit, and it was even possible that they might produce an entirely different effect.
I wanted to try assembling them in three dimensions instead of on a flat plane, too. Could I make time flow faster instead of slower, or stop it completely...?
After I had been absorbed in sketching and designing for a while, something poked me repeatedly around the elbow.
When I looked over, the Kindling Witch had climbed onto the drafting table and was holding out the designs for the reverberatory furnace and charcoal kiln, spread as far as her tiny arms could manage.
"Sorry to interrupt your work. Um, are these designs yours, Craftsman?"
"Yeah, I drew both of them. They're for the ones I built behind the house. Why?"
"Did you really build them according to these designs...?"
"Huh? Is there something wrong with them?"
I had done my research, thought everything through, and drawn the plans as carefully as I could, but apparently she'd found something troubling.
From the perspective of a fire expert like the Kindling Witch, could there be some fatal flaw?
I asked anxiously, and the Kindling Witch shook her head.
"They're not dangerous. But there's room for improvement. If you're interested in this sort of thing, I can show you how to improve them."
"Seriously? Yes, please! Give me a lecture."
When I stopped designing and asked her to, the Kindling Witch borrowed my pencil and modified the plans while explaining them to me.
According to her, my reverberatory furnace and charcoal kiln were wasting valuable chemical compounds.
When wood or coal is burned, it produces vapor. If you collect it, cool it, and condense it, it becomes pyroligneous acid. Pyroligneous acid is a mixture of many useful chemicals.
By modifying the reverberatory furnace and charcoal kiln, I could collect this valuable mixture efficiently instead of pointlessly releasing it into the atmosphere.
First, the smoke is collected through a pipe, sent through a thin spiral-shaped tube, and cooled with cold water to turn it into pyroligneous acid. The components that don't become liquid even after cooling are a flammable gas called wood gas, which can be used as fuel as is.
If left alone, pyroligneous acid separates into a watery upper layer and a thick lower layer.
The watery upper layer is called wood vinegar. Fractional distillation produces acetic acid, acetone, and methanol.
Diluted acetic acid becomes vinegar, and it can also be used as a raw material for dyes and disinfectants.
Acetone can be used as a cleaning agent, and it's also needed to manufacture cordite.
Methanol, of course, is fuel.
Fractional distillation of the thick tar produces turpentine, creosote, and pitch.
Turpentine is an important solvent, while creosote can be used as a preservative and disinfectant.
Pitch has excellent waterproofing properties, and it will be indispensable for building and repairing the wooden ships we'll need in the years to come.
The Kindling Witch not only drew up plans for modifying the furnaces, she also wrote explanatory diagrams for a fractional distillation apparatus.
She drew every diagram without consulting a single reference. She had it all in her head.
That's incredible.
"I didn't know fire fairies were so knowledgeable about this kind of scientific fire work."
"Oh, no. I studied and memorized all of this. Shinagawa Ward is developing industries that use fire, after all."
"So diligent~"
The Kindling Witch smiled bashfully.
The people of Shinagawa Ward must feel incredibly secure with a leader like her. I wish I had a boss who actually understood my work... No, wait. I don't need a boss. I'm my own boss.
"And what do you do with the ash from the furnaces?"
"I spread it over the fields."
"That's fine, but you can also use it to make potash. Dissolve the ash in water, remove the impurities, and evaporate the water. White crystals will remain. That's potash. It can be used as a raw material for soap and glass, and as a combustion aid. In cooking, you can use it as kansui when making noodles."
The Kindling Witch quickly wrote out the structural formula and uses of potassium carbonate, or potash.
She looked more like a magical creature than anyone else I'd met, yet she was the most knowledgeable about chemistry.
But of course. Even if electricity had vanished from the world, there was still chemistry that didn't require electricity. Magic was a wonderful new technology that would open the way to the future, but I mustn't forget to make use of the chemistry that was still available.
I sincerely thanked the Kindling Witch for the valuable insight and reference material she'd given me.
"That was incredibly helpful. You really should listen to an expert's opinion."
"I'm glad I could be of help."
The Kindling Witch said that and smiled modestly.
She was the same miniature size as Professor Ohinata, but unlike the professor, her personality seemed more on the introverted side. I felt a sense of kinship.
"You must have had good grades when you were human, right? I haven't seen molecular structural formulas in ages."
"Oh, no, not me. You're far more amazing, Craftsman. I've never seen anyone draw such precise plans freehand. It's kind of creepy... I mean, impressive."
"Want me to give you something for not finishing that sentence? Something besides the improved Monster Trap."
The Kindling Witch's improved designs looked like they would make my rural life much more comfortable. I felt like giving her a little something in return.
If all went well, she'd be sealed away in a few days and become a prisoner for a long time in the slowed flow of time, so she should make some good memories while she still could.
When I asked her, the Kindling Witch thought for a moment, came up with something, and then spoke bashfully.
"Well, on the way here, I saw an abandoned house that had been left standing..."
"Yeah?"
"Um, would it be all right if I set fire to that abandoned house?"
"Why...?"
The completely unexpected words made me jump.
Why, really?
I couldn't make sense of it.
She'd seemed so quiet, sensible, and intelligent until a moment ago. Why had she suddenly turned into an arsonist?
That's terrifying. She acts like a nice person, but she's a witch after all.
"Ah! No, it's not that I have an arson habit. It's not like that!"
"Then what is it?"
"It's just... um...!"
The Kindling Witch faltered and lowered her head. Since she was red all over to begin with, it was hard to tell, but her face seemed to be turning red.
What? What was going on?
I silently waited for her to say the rest. Eventually, the Kindling Witch continued in a faint voice.
"I'm just a little..."
"What?"
"...hot and bothered."
"Huh?"
What?
Could an explanation actually make something even less understandable?
After hearing the purest "Huh?" I'd produced in the past decade, the Kindling Witch turned bright red and blurted out the details in a frantic rush.
"I'm that kind of creature. You know that a witch's sexual proclivities can change when she mutates, right? The creature I became through my mutation apparently reproduces by a mated pair setting something on fire. So whenever I get aroused, I desperately want to set things on fire, and I can't help myself."
"I think if I set something on fire together with a male of my species, a child might be born from the flames. It's not my fault! That's my biology! I can't resist my instincts!"
"U-Um, wow."
"Aah! I knew you'd be put off...! But I'm telling you, I only said this because I might die soon, and I trusted you to keep your mouth shut, Craftsman! Until now, I've never told anyone. I've been relieving my urges by setting enemies on fire all this time!"
"Uh, yeah."
She spoke with such ferocity that I nodded despite being a little put off.
You may have confessed with the attitude of "I might die soon, so I may as well say it," but spare a thought for me, the one who just had an unknown fetish confided in him.
I'd heard something outrageous, but there was one thing I could say with certainty.
"Look, I'm not very knowledgeable about this sort of thing, but I think you'd better never tell anyone else about that fetish."
"Guh...!"
The Kindling Witch fell silent, unable to utter another word.
"Well, I understand the situation. I can't quite sympathize, but if that's how it is, go ahead and burn whatever you like. The abandoned houses in Okutama have already been stripped of all their supplies, and it's not as if the residents are going to come back now."
The Kindling Witch nodded and left the workshop at a quick little trot, still blushing slightly.
Apparently, she was going to set the fire right away.
Thinking what a difficult fetish it was, I was about to return to my designs when I heard the voices of two witches talking near the entrance.
"Hmm? Are you leaving?"
"Oh! Welcome back, Aochan-san. I... I'm just going out for a little while. The Craftsman said I could burn an abandoned house that isn't being used. I'll be right back."
"I see."
"......... Um, Aochan-san!"
"What is it?"
"Would you burn the abandoned house with me!?"
I doubted my ears when the Kindling Witch's lustful voice rang out particularly loudly.
Kindling-san!?
What are you saying!? But that's—what?
Setting fires with someone else is reproductive behavior for you, isn't it!?
"Burn an abandoned house together...? I don't mind, but..."
The Blue Witch, completely unaware of any of that, was bewildered by the sudden request but ended up agreeing.
Oh, wow...! This has gotten completely out of hand!
The Blue Witch has no idea, but this is outrageous sexual harassment that takes advantage of the other person's ignorance!