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Chapter 45.6: Nikolaus – Part 2

He wanted to linger at the Witch’s house and relax, but today he was here for work. After finishing the cup of purified blossom tea, there was no excuse to stay any longer, and Nikolaus reluctantly decided to move on to his next task. The defense operation for the frontier required detailed coordination with the stationed knight corps, so he told the Witch he was heading to the knights’ base in Bit Village. Quietly, she followed after him. Apparently, she intended to come along.

「…I knew you’d follow.」

He could see her smiling beneath the veil. He’d already expected she would follow, so it was no surprise. The Witch always saw him off whenever he teleported home. Though she said nothing, perhaps she wanted to spend as much time as possible with her kin, or maybe it was a motherly kind of concern.

「Witch-sama, looks like it’s going to rain, so I’ll bring in the laundry first. I’ll catch up soon.」

Just as he said, dark clouds were spreading across the sky; rain could start any minute. The Witch gestured toward Noel as if to give instructions, but pointing at the sky and then touching her hairpin made it hard to tell what she was trying to say.

「If it rains, I’ll stay and watch the house?」

When Noel said that, the Witch nodded, and only then did Nikolaus realize what they meant. In fact, it was impressive Noel understood her so quickly. …Or maybe they’d simply spent enough time together to build that kind of mutual trust.

(A beastman child raised by a Witch…)

Nikolaus himself had been raised by a human. But the lifespan of humans and demons were completely different. To him, his foster father’s life had ended in the blink of an eye. Demons matured only slightly slower than humans, so day-to-day life hadn’t been difficult, but the sense of loss had stayed with him ever since.

Under the dim sky, the Witch walked several steps behind him. Perhaps she still felt guilty toward him, that might be why she never walked at his side.

(If I start a conversation, will she come closer…?)

If he showed that he bore no grudge, maybe she would try to close that delicate distance. Thinking so, he spoke up.

「That kid’s sharp. …I figured you only took that kid in because you couldn’t abandon someone pitiful. But he’s actually competent… or maybe that’s your influence.」

Of course, since the Witch never spoke, this turned into Nikolaus talking to himself. Still, he knew she was listening.

(It’d be a lie to say I’m not jealous. That beastman kid’s clearly growing up in a good environment.)

The trust in the boy’s eyes, the proud way he looked at the Witch, there was no mistaking it. That child lived a contented life with nothing to complain about.

「…Who raises you, what kind of adult you grow up with, it makes all the difference. That boy was lucky to be found by you.」

Nikolaus’s foster parent had been a good man too. He’d raised the last surviving demon so he could live by human norms, while also teaching him the ancient tongue to inherit the knowledge of his kin.

『Hey, why do you call me Nikolaus? I already have another name, don’t I?』

『That’s a name to help you live among humans. Humans use names to connect with each other. …So when someone calls your name, you’ll always have a bond that keeps you tied to this world. Think of it as another self.』

『In the old texts it says demons use their specialty as another name. I’m studying water magic right now, so maybe in the future I could be called 「Water Mage」 or something?』

『No. …That title would only hurt you. Take the human name instead, think of it as a nickname. It’s one of the few things I can give you.』

He remembered that conversation now. Back then, he hadn’t understood what those words meant, but later he did. Nikolaus could use all kinds of magic at a high level and had even earned the epithet 「Mage Versed in All Things」 But there were no other witches or magicians left in the world. There was no need to distinguish himself by what kind of magic he used, when people said 「magician」 or 「demon」 they could only mean Nikolaus. That title would only emphasize his loneliness, his foster father must have thought.

(Well, turns out this Witch survived after all… but for five hundred years, I really was the only demon left. If you’d raised me instead, I probably would’ve turned out very different.)

Even so, she hadn’t appeared for five centuries. People said the Witch who had mastered plant magic lost her voice as the price for that power, but it wasn’t something she had ever said herself. During the dragon war, while the rest of their kin perished, could she really have survived unscathed? Maybe she’d lost her voice because her body had been terribly wounded.

(She’s always covered up, and sometimes her movements seem stiff… Maybe she still carries some kind of injury.)

Maybe it had taken her a long time to recover enough to move again, to become someone who could appear in front of others at all. That would make sense.

The Witch never spoke of her past, leaving him to imagine everything. Still, he was sure she must have had her reasons,reasons she couldn’t come to see the only other one of their kind. She was far too kind, too gentle. Even if she’d stayed away to mourn their fallen kin, to avoid any contact at all was strange. Someone like her wouldn’t have ignored him without cause.

When he glanced back, she was looking down, her expression serious. Maybe his words had sounded like he was blaming her for not coming to him.

「…I know. I’m not blaming you. Staying angry forever is stupid anyway. I’m not mad anymore.」

When he said that, the Witch smiled visibly beneath her veil. She seemed genuinely happy to know he didn’t resent her. Feeling oddly unsettled by that smile, Nikolaus turned away and began walking faster. She was probably still smiling behind him, but there was no need to check.

They walked in silence until they reached the knights’ lodging, and just then, a familiar face stepped out of the building.

「Sorry to keep you waiting, Murasaki-chan! …Huh? Magician-dono?」[TL Note: literally Purple-chan]

「…What the hell is going on here?」

By the entrance stood a long planter, and in it lay a voluptuous mandragora draped lazily in a purple cloth. When Ritter, the knight who had once served as Nikolaus’s assistant, came out, the mandragora rose languidly and leaned toward his legs. Ritter picked it up with a sappy smile, noticing Nikolaus only then, tilting his head. Nikolaus was the one who wanted to tilt his head.

「Ah, let me introduce you, this is my girlfriend, Murasaki-chan.」

「No, she’s not even human. …A loveweed? A charm monster…?」

Did mandragoras have the power to enchant humans like that? Or was this one special? If so, it was dangerous, and he hadn’t received any report of it. Clearly, he’d have to question them.