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Chapter 27

Ilai, who had brought up the idea of selling the witch’s goods, began proposing various suggestions while searching for items that might have market potential. The village already had many rare plants, and it seemed he was struggling to decide what the first product should be.

「For instance, take these fairy candies. Just bottling them up and selling them as-is would make a decent product. It’s simple and visually appealing. But since they’re technically fruits, not candy, the shelf life might be an issue.」

「Ah… if that’s the case, I make jam. If we turn them into jam, it’ll keep longer…」

「Now that’s a good idea! We can start by distributing the jam, and once word spreads and people begin visiting the village, we could promote the bottled fruits as a local specialty!」

It seems Ilai is already picturing a future where Bit Village becomes a tourist spot. Though this is a remote corner of the country—a backwater nestled beside a perilous demon forest—he envisions people coming here just to sightsee. Honestly, I don’t think there are that many eccentric folks willing to visit such a dangerous place.

Ellie had told me that even among peddlers, only Ilai ever comes here. It doesn’t seem like a lucrative location either, so I’d assumed he visited out of goodwill. Maybe his desire to help the village thrive also stems from kindness or goodwill.

「Noel-boy, would you be willing to help with development?」

「…I’m doing this for Witch-sama, not for you. Don’t get the wrong idea. I still haven’t forgiven you.」

「Ahh… I fully understand. I intend to work myself to the bone to atone for my sins against Witch-sama.」

Though Noel resists Ilai, he does seem willing to help with the business. Even while pouting, he gives advice and keeps the discussion moving forward.

Ilai, meanwhile, grins and rubs his hands together, letting the child’s hostility slide right off him. That’s a merchant for you. I don’t quite believe the part where he says it’s for my sake, but it’s clear he genuinely wants the business to succeed. That means he has good reason to work hard to clear up the rumors about me—those don’t help his sales.

「What about medicine, then? Medicine made by witches or wizards is the stuff of legends. The court magicians sometimes make it, but only nobles can afford that. I heard you saved the village with your medicine—would you be willing to sell it?」

(Ah, the full recovery potion… It’s easy to make, but would that even sell? It looks like ghostfire grass, after all.)

Ghostfire grass grows on graves, so using it for a product might seem ominous. Still, I produced a fruit containing the full recovery potion and handed it to Ilai. He accepted it with a smile, but as he examined it, his expression gradually drained away, freezing into a blank stare.

「…Um. …What is this?」

「That’s a potion made by Witch-sama.」

「Right, I figured that… But more specifically… this looks like a full recovery potion… Did you seriously hand out dozens of these?」

I nodded. I thought it was the most effective thing I could give, so I had done just that. Ilai now looked at me like he was staring at something unthinkable.

「Are you… a monster or something?」

「Don’t be rude to Witch-sama!」

「No, no—I didn’t mean it in a bad way… You just blew past my expectations. If we circulate this on the market, it’ll collapse everything. Better to not sell this. Maybe only offer it quietly to those who really need it.」

He asked if I was a monster, and I nearly screamed, but apparently, he didn’t mean it in a negative way. He meant it in the sense of being beyond human—in a good way, like 「superhuman.」 …Still, maybe I shouldn’t casually hand out full recovery potions like that.

「But if you can make this, then you can probably whip up more ordinary medicines too, right?」

(Yeah, that’s true. I just couldn’t diagnose symptoms properly, so I figured it was better to make something that cured everything…)

「Then that might be the better product to sell… Now, as for the rest—」

And so the negotiations with Ilai continued. It seems he envisions turning this village where the witch lives into a full-blown tourist attraction someday, but is it really going to go that smoothly? …Still, if this place does start seeing a lot of visitors, I have one concern.

(You don’t suppose… someone from the real demon race might show up?)

——————————–

Nicolaus lay sprawled on the sofa in his assigned laboratory, lazily reading over a report that had just been delivered. Since it concerned his assistant, he figured he might as well give it a glance. It was inconvenient not to have someone to boss around, after all—and with some irritation, he skimmed through the text, thinking, Just hurry up and expose that fake witch already and get back here.

「…Huh?」

But then, the contents of the report made him doubt his own eyes.

It claimed the witch who had appeared in Bit Village was most likely genuine. She used advanced magic to freely control plants, growing them effortlessly. She had even succeeded in subjugating monsters—so long as they were plant-based—and was said to command a walking mandragora.

「…Are they all hallucinating or something?」

Furrowing his brow, Nicolaus sat up and reread the report from the top. It wasn’t a misprint, nor had he misunderstood it. The text remained the same no matter how many times he read it.

(Another demon besides me? …After all this time?)

Five hundred years ago, the demons had gone extinct—leaving only Nicolaus behind. Since then, he had been raised among humans, given the name 「Nicolaus「 in place of his true soul-name as a demon, and had grown up always wondering: Are there others like me still out there?

—Only to be met, again and again, with the reality that no others remained.

(There’s no way. I searched, didn’t I? …Definitely a fake. I’ll expose them for what they really are.)

It was completely infuriating. As if venting that frustration, he crushed the report in his hand.

Even Nicolaus had held onto hope for the first hundred years. He believed that somewhere in the vast world, fellow demons must still exist. Even in the second hundred years, that hope hadn’t been extinguished. He chased down every rumor of demons he could find. But every last one who claimed the name was a fraud, a con artist—and each time, his hope and expectations had been shattered.

By the time three hundred years had passed, he had finally given up. That’s when he began researching monsters.

…One theory suggests that demons originated from monsters. That certain monsters evolved, gained intelligence equal to humans, and mated with them. From those unions, beings with exceptional power were born—the demons. That’s one origin story.

(If they no longer exist, then I’ll just make more. I’ve got all the time in the world anyway. …Still, it’s seriously pissing me off. If someone’s claiming to be a demon, I won’t rest until they regret it.)

That was the real reason Nicolaus became so devoted to monster research. If demons were truly gone, he would create new ones himself. But manipulating monster evolution was difficult, and he had yet to achieve any real results. He continued to avert his eyes from the possibility that the theory itself might be wrong—but even so, he hadn’t given up.

That was why he had also researched mandragora. And now, someone else had apparently caused a special evolution in one—before he could. That, too, infuriated him.

The mandragora he’d painstakingly raised using dragon’s blood had gone missing—and now…

(Wait a second… This walking mandragora—what if it’s mine?)

The sham calling herself a witch might very well have stolen Nicolaus’s research specimen. That thought made his blood boil. If that fraud hadn’t taken the mandragora, his research might have advanced even further.

(…Yeah. I’m going to have to deal with this myself.)

With that, Nicolaus rose to his feet. As the royal court magician, living within the castle, he would first need to obtain permission from the king.

(I’ll definitely strip off that fake’s disguise)