Thank You

The mermaid witch's surgery began without any preparation and proceeded by trial and error. Even so, I gave it everything I had. A person's life was at stake. I didn't want to touch her, but I didn't want to stand by and watch her die, either.

All at once, someone's life was in my hands. The pressure was intense, but my skilled hands moved with precision no matter how shaken I was.

The surgery began with alcohol disinfectant and a carving knife, but was soon interrupted because the massive blood loss made it impossible to see the operating field, and I had to prepare some clean cloth.

After wiping away the blood and reaching the point where I could see the severed vessels and try to stitch them, I realized we had no suture needles. I had to interrupt the operation again to hurriedly turn the sewing box upside down.

Everything was terribly inefficient. There was no planning or order to any of it.

"O-Okay. I've connected all the major blood vessels. But the bleeding won't stop... The artery should be here, right? Something's wrong... Ah!? Wait, I get it! This has both an open and a closed circulatory system! I can't connect this vessel here! Oh no, oh no!"

At times, I dealt with the incomprehensible body structure using only vague scraps of knowledge.

"What!? Her blood pressure's dropping! Is this what they call shock!? This is bad! Her heart's going to stop! We can't transfuse her! It's over!"

"Dairi, I collected the blood that came out in a plastic bag. I'm worried about hygiene, and I don't know if this is okay, but..."

"Are you a genius!? Let's do an autologous blood transfusion! She'll die if we don't do something anyway!"

At other times, the Spider Witch's god-tier support got me out of a jam.

"Whoa! What the hell is this huge, deformed gremlin!? It's fused to the organs... No, wasn't she supposed to have fused with an electric eel? Is this from that? Should I cut it out... No, maybe I'd better not touch it carelessly. But it's pressing against her heart, so I'll just put it back in place..."

I rearranged the malformed organs so she could recover and regain her health.

"You have got to be kidding me! There's a hole in her skull! No, the bones of her skull are shaped wrong to begin with. The stress is concentrated at one point, making that spot fundamentally weak. What are these bony protrusions!? They're digging into her brain, tearing the wound wider! This has to be a disease! I can cut them out... right? I'll shave down the bone I remove here and fit it into the hole in her skull... Eek! This is so gross!"

I somehow managed to treat the severe head injury that I didn't want to touch but couldn't leave alone.

A real doctor would have gone ballistic at this haphazard amateur surgery.

Still, my speed at suturing must have rivaled a professional's. Thanks to that, the blood loss was kept to a minimum. Even the horribly torn wounds were stitched together with enough precision that no scars would remain.

I finished the entire surgery in thirty minutes, then collapsed into a chair beside the makeshift operating table I'd thrown together in the living room. I was completely spent, burned out to the last spark.

"I can't do this anymore. I can't do any more. If this doesn't work, then it's over."

"You did great, Dairi..."

The Spider Witch extended a leg through the window and placed a towel against my forehead to comfort me.

Spider Witch-san deserved thanks too. She'd made suture thread with the perfect fineness and strength, and helped with the transfusion. The surgery couldn't have worked if either one of us had been missing.

The mermaid witch's face was deathly pale, but at least her chest was still rising and falling weakly. She had suffered violent convulsions at one point, and her heart had nearly stopped, but we'd made it through the immediate crisis. Probably. Most likely.

I had absolutely no idea what would happen from here on.

I might have cut something that shouldn't have been cut.

I might also have connected things that shouldn't have been connected.

Complications, secondary infection, suture failure, or a worsening of internal injuries I'd missed.

Anything could happen. I was especially worried about bacterial infection, since we'd performed the surgery with inadequate disinfection and sterilization.

Still, witches have sturdy bodies.

The Northern Witch had once had her abdomen blown open by Hiyori and wandered the boundary between life and death, yet she recovered and was now apparently out fighting monsters as cheerfully as ever.

I'd done everything I could. All that remained was to bet on the witch's vitality.

After resting for a while following the operation, I carried the mermaid witch to the bathroom. She seemed to feel better while underwater, so I thought submerging her might help her recover faster.

However, the instant I put the mermaid witch into the water-filled bathtub, her rapidly chilled body warmed up and her heart rate rose. She groaned in pain.

I hurriedly pulled her out of the water. Her temperature and pulse returned to normal, and as far as I could tell by touch, there had been no ruptured blood vessels.

Oh, crap. I almost killed her while trying to help.

For a severely injured mermaid witch, the activation caused by her underwater buff seemed to have the opposite effect. The power-up only put more strain on her body.

Since moving her carelessly might open her wounds, I laid the mermaid witch on the living-room sofa in place of a bed, covered her with a damp blanket, and had her rest.

"Miiii-miii-mimimiii... Mi!? Mimimii!"

Sekitan had been taking an indoor stroll while humming when he spotted the mermaid witch and panicked. He threatened her with a burst of flame, so I had to separate them and explain that he wasn't allowed to attack her. And so, the mermaid witch's hospital stay began.

The mermaid witch remained unconscious in a coma for two full days.

On the third day, however, she opened her eyes and began reacting when I spoke to her or moved things in front of her.

On the fourth day, she coughed violently, but after spitting up a large wad of bloody phlegm, the coughing subsided and she was able to drink water.

On the fifth day, she was able to eat—fish.

When I served her fish while avoiding eye contact, the mermaid witch silently accepted the meal and nibbled at it. I sensed she was about to say something, but I ran away before any words came out, so I never found out what she had intended to say.

Ideally, the Spider Witch would have nursed her. That would have been the safest and easiest option. Unfortunately, the mermaid witch seemed afraid of spiders, while being feared by her caused the Spider Witch's reason to waver whenever she approached. Looking apologetic, she said she couldn't nurse her.

No, it's fine. Really.

This isn't a hospital to begin with. I wasn't receiving a medical fee or a surgical fee. For that matter, no one would have had any right to complain if I'd thrown her out immediately.

A wandmaker performing surgery on a witch and taking care of her hospital stay makes no sense whatsoever. I wanted her to recover quickly and disappear from my sight.

The mermaid witch grew healthier by the day.

Her complexion improved, her appetite increased, and she began humming a strange melody in the middle of the night.

There were no particular signs of her condition worsening or any aftereffects, and I removed her stitches on the morning of the sixth day.

She would make a full recovery before long.

Meanwhile, my own health was deteriorating by the day.

Every morning, I looked paler in the mirror, my appetite vanished, and I began waking up in the middle of the night with symptoms of insomnia. Solid food sat heavily in my stomach, until I could eat nothing but rice porridge with pickled plums.

Merely having a stranger in my house was causing an absurd amount of stress.

On the night of the sixth day of her hospital stay, I took a bath and was horrified when a huge clump of my hair fell out.

The last time I'd felt this much stress was when I was forced to spend three days and two nights living communally on a school trip. The nightmare had returned.

I decided to send the mermaid witch back to the sea first thing tomorrow morning.

She was still recovering, but if this continued, I was going to get sick. If I wasn't already sick.

As I cooled off on the veranda after my bath, a beautiful singing voice drifted out from the living room.

If you just listened to her, you'd think she was an incredible singer.

I couldn't tell whether it was an unknown language or some kind of cry, and I had no idea what the song meant. But listening to it brought to mind a deep, magnificent sea that was both sad and beautiful, shining stars, and an enigmatic moon.

What a waste. If an album of this song had been released, I'd have bought two copies—one for listening and one for safekeeping. Why did it have to be live singing of all things?

As I sat on the veranda listening absently to the song, roots rose from the ground and beckoned me over. Fuyou apparently had another errand for me.

Unfortunately, the Spider Witch wasn't nearby, so I reluctantly headed toward the wooded hill behind the house. What was it this time? Don't tell me another witch had washed up along the riverbank.

Feeling terrible, I trudged to the place on the hill where Fuyou grew. Fuyou caught me around the waist with a vine and pulled me toward her without giving me any say in the matter.

"Huh!? What are you doing!?"

"Mister, open your mouth?"

Not knowing what she intended to do, I clamped my mouth shut. Fuyou looked a little angry, so she tilted my head back, pried my mouth open, and dripped two drops of golden liquid secreted from the tips of her bundled petals.

A thin vine was pushed into my throat and forced me to swallow. The terror from several years ago came flashing back.

THIS. AGAIN?!

What the hell is this stuff!? The Flower Witch made me drink it too, but what is this liquid? What am I being forced to drink? This is terrifying!

Apparently, the golden liquid Fuyou made me drink was the same as the Flower Witch's. It was sweet and richly fragrant, and it felt wonderful, as though the power of nature were filling my body.

Strength surged through my tired body, and even my heavy stomach and intestines felt lighter.

It didn't seem like a bad thing when I drank it. But the Flower Witch had said something about people possibly dying over this liquid, and it was simply too mysterious for comfort.

Once Fuyou released me from her vines, I protested. You mother and daughter are both awful.

"What am I being forced to drink? You could at least explain it to me, couldn't you?"

"You looked like you weren't feeling well, Mister. It's because of that woman, right? That woman is squatting in your house, so she's making you suffer, right?"

Fuyou puffed out her cheeks in anger. Looking thoroughly irritated, she swung her vines and punched a nearby giant tree.

The trunk of the tree that took the brunt of her temper was gouged deeply. It creaked as it slowly toppled over, making the ground tremble.

F-Fuyou-san? You've gotten awfully strong, haven't you...? You're on a completely different level from when you first came to Okutama.

"Well, yes, but... It's true that the mermaid witch is responsible for one hundred percent of the stress, but it's not like I invited her in because I wanted her here, okay? I only saved her because she was about to die, and I intend to throw her out tomorrow."

"Oh, really. Ooooooh, really? I wasn't allowed into your house. But that mermaid gets to stay overnight? You'd let her stay even if it made you suffer that much?"

"Huh? What's this? Jealousy? What a pain!"

Realizing why Fuyou was in a bad mood put me in a bad mood too. I felt like my health, which had improved after she made me drink that stuff, was getting worse again.

I'd shut myself away in the countryside to avoid troublesome, painful human relationships. This was way too exhausting. Seriously, stop it. If you want to make a mess of your relationships, do it somewhere that has nothing to do with me.

As I grew more and more fed up, Fuyou's eyes gleamed eerily and she whispered to me.

"Hey. If we kill that woman and drain her, she'll make incredibly good nutrition. I'll become even stronger and prettier. Spider said, 'Never kill witches,' but I don't see the point in keeping alive a woman who's bullying you, Mister.

If you say it's okay, I'll make that witch who's causing you trouble disappear?"

Fuyou lured me with a honeyed whisper she evidently considered seductive.

Hmph! Kid. What do you mean, 'I'll make her disappear'?

I'd gone to all that trouble to heal my patient. Why would I make her disappear? That made even less sense.

It was enough for the mermaid witch to leave my sight quickly and live a healthy life somewhere I didn't know about.

"You're making yourself the number-one woman causing me trouble by saying stupid things like that."

"Wh-What? I'm sorry...! Please don't hate me!"

When I pushed her away with my words, Fuyou immediately lost her nerve and clung to me with tearful eyes.

"Then never say you'll kill a guest again."

"Yes..."

"Besides, if you wanted to kill and drain the mermaid witch, why did you report her to me in the first place?"

"Well, at first I thought she could become nutrition if the monsters killed her while she was like that. But Mother said to make good use of witches and wizards, so I thought I'd make good use of her. But I didn't know how, so I was going to ask you whether she had any use. Then, even though I'd gone and saved her, she kept bullying you, so I thought, 'That's it!' and..."

"Ah, I get the general idea."

She really does have a monster's sensibilities.

Even though her thoughts were that calculating, she had still tried to save the mermaid witch at least once, whatever her reasons. Maybe I should give her credit for that. She was still a child, after all.

I heaped plenty of soft leaf mold around Fuyou's roots, carefully tended her branches and leaves, left the flower girl basking in bliss, and went home.

I'd calmed Fuyou down for the time being, but if I left things alone, she might get angry again and attack the mermaid witch. Even putting my stress limit aside, I had to discharge the patient.

The next morning, the mermaid witch went out into the backyard on her own and was relaxing in the fish pen, half-submerged as if she were taking a half-body bath.

Her skin was glossy and moist, her scales brimmed with vitality, and her long golden hair, illuminated by the morning sun, was as majestic as a bundle of gold.

The fully recovered mermaid witch smiled and waved when she saw me.

"Hello!"

"Huh...? Hel... good mor... hi... hello?"

"Hellooo!"

But it's morning.

Was she in a line of work where people said hello regardless of the time of day?

Come to think of it, I'd never heard anything from this witch except 'hello.' I'd thought she was unusually good at greetings, but could this be the only thing she could say?

This was seriously bad. She must have gone strange after injuring her head.

That's why I kept saying amateur surgery was dangerous. I was terribly sorry to have left her with such a terrible aftereffect. But I'd saved her life, so I hoped she could cut me some slack.

"Um... I'm terribly sorry, but it looks like you've been left with some kind of damage to your language center or something. There's really nothing I can do about it."

"Hello?"

"Uh, sending you off in the middle of your recovery is, well, it feels irresponsible, but I think you should get examined properly at a real hospital. So, um, would it be okay to discharge you? It is okay, right?"

"Hello, hello."

"You mean you're okay with it?"

"Hello."

"Which is it...?"

With only one word in her vocabulary, I couldn't tell whether she was agreeing or disagreeing.

Yet she nodded earnestly, and when I pointed toward the riverbank and started walking while telling her, "Let's get you home," she hopped along after me.

Well, whatever. She had suffered an absolutely terrible aftereffect, but I couldn't treat her any further. It hurt my conscience, but I had no choice except to leave the rest to a real doctor.

By the time we descended to the riverbank, the Tama River's floodwaters had completely receded. The water was still muddy, and driftwood and rocks had washed up along the bank, but the water level was back to normal and the current had slowed.

I'd asked Fuyou to exclude the mermaid witch from the effects of the fog that made people lose their way, so she should be able to follow the river downstream without getting lost this time.

I pointed at the river and said, "Well then, take care." The mermaid witch looked back and forth between the water's surface and my face, thinking for a moment.

Then she abruptly peeled off one of her scales, cut a lock of her long golden hair with the edge of the scale, and began fiddling with it.

I was horrified by this sudden act of self-mutilation.

I was just starting to reconsider, thinking that she might still need to be hospitalized, when I saw what the mermaid witch had made and understood.

The mermaid witch had made a necklace out of her own hair and scales. It was a magnificent necklace, with beautiful deep-blue scales set against an elegant golden cord.

The mermaid witch held the necklace out to me and moved her mouth up and down.

"He... hel... uh..."

"?"

"...Thank you!"

The mermaid witch smiled brightly as she said it, waved to me, and leaped into the water.

The mermaid witch dove into the Tama River with a huge splash, raised her face above the surface, and waved to me one more time. Then she split the river's surface with white waves and swam downstream at incredible speed.

Clutching the mermaid necklace I'd received, I let out a sigh of relief.

What do you know, she could talk. Apparently, the damage to her language center had only been temporary.

I didn't really understand it, but if she could say 'hello' and 'thank you,' she'd probably gradually learn to speak other words too. Probably. Who knows?

Man, what an unexpected intruder.

My stomach had taken quite a beating over the past week.

So this necklace was payment for the amateur emergency surgery and hospital stay...

Well, it was pretty, and a witch's gift was exciting in its own right.

I'll choose to think of it as an accident that wasn't so bad.