After my true skills became public knowledge (against my will), I sent away for books on monsters and began studying.
I hadn't developed the urge to slay monsters. Quite the opposite, in fact.
I did it because if I knew enough about monsters, I could give advice to anyone who came asking me to slay one, which meant I could get by without going anywhere.
I wouldn't mind offering them some help. I just didn't want anyone working me like a dog.
After all, I'm level 99. Even I know that that's vanishingly rare in this world.
If all the troublemakers banded together and showed up at my house, it would be an utter disaster.
It had been only ten days since I'd flung that party off my hill, so my life hadn't changed much. No one had asked me to kill a dragon or anything yet.
The sole difference was that the medicines I sold on consignment through the general store were going faster, so I'd begun gathering more herbs.
People probably believed that remedies made by a level-99 witch would be extra effective. Frankly, there's not much difference.
"This isn't a wired society; maybe information takes a while to travel. It sure would be great if the news died down without spreading."
Saying that aloud might have been a bad idea, because somebody started banging loudly on my door.
Who was it this time?
It was unlikely that such rough blows were coming from a villager.
If I pretended I wasn't home, they were liable to break the door down, so I hastily opened it.
If they wanted me to help them slay a dragon, I'd teach them a good method for vanquishing the beast and send the visitor on their way. I hoped there were no emergencies or villages in danger of being destroyed.
"Yes, who is it?"
Something enormous stood in front of me.
It was tall. Not only that, it wasn't human.
Big wings. A big body. Can probably breathe fire. Has a pair of horns.
A dragon had dropped by.
In fact, it had been using its tail to knock. Hence the violent thuds.
"Um…may I ask what brings you here?"
According to the books I'd read, dragons were higher monsters, so they understood human speech.
That it had even knocked on the door at all implied such intelligence.
My book learning was coming in handy right off the bat, but I really wished this hadn't been the scenario in which it was paying off…
"Here in the province of Nanterre, dragons are said to be the strongest monsters, and I, Laika, am renowned as the strongest of all dragons."
So dragons don't just understand human speech—they can use it?
Its voice was so loud that it reverberated in my head. It felt like being at a concert.
"And what might a dragon such as yourself need with me?"
"Recently, I've been hearing rumors that the strongest witch in existence lives here."
"Don't tell me you've come to test your strength…?"
"You're sharp. That saves time."
Just how far has that rumor traveled?
I'd at least like to keep it limited to the human race.
This could not have been worse… No one had asked me to go defeat a dragon. The dragon had come to me!
"I don't want to be known as the 'strongest' anything. I just accumulated experience points little by little over three centuries until it became a huge number, that's all. I'll concede the title of strongest to you."
"As if I could settle for that! Fight me. Let's make this clear, once and for all!"
What a thundering nuisance.
As I keep saying, I don't run a dojo, so don't come by to bust it.
"What would you do if I said I don't want to?"
"First I'd trample your house flat. Then I'd lay waste to your garden."
Looks like I've got no choice but to fight…
If I lost my house, I'd never be able to relax and take life easy.
"All right. Let's do it. However, I'm not claiming to be the strongest, so if I turn out to be much weaker than you, go easy on me, if you would."
"Very well. As long as I'm able to confirm I am indeed superior, that will be enough for me."
We found an area with lots of wide-open space, away from the house. After all, I couldn't have my home getting wrecked in the course of the battle.
"Now then, I'll show you the true power of Laika!"
"Yes, yes, by all means, be my guest."
The dragon flapped its wings and soared into the air.
"I'll burn you to ash!"
It spit flames from its mouth!
No way was I going to take the brunt of that. No serious burns for me, thank you.
"Freeze everything!"
I slammed an Ice and Snow spell into the flames.
My maneuver seemed to have worked. The spells collided, canceling and erasing the flames.
"Tch! Not bad! So you really are a high-level witch, then!"
Guess I can't pretend to lose on purpose, either.
In the end, using my true power and defeating it quickly might be the most efficient method.
Well, what's the best tactic here? After all, my opponent is airborne.
"I now briefly bid the ground farewell!"
I chanted, casting a Levitation spell.
Now you could say I was technically even with the dragon.
I use Levitation often because it makes getting home from Flatta easier.
So, how should I fight from here on out?
I don't really want to get too close. That means I'll be using magic, but I doubt a whirlwind could blow away an opponent of this size as easily as a human. Even if I did manage to knock my visitor out of the sky, if it fell on the village, it would cause massive damage.
A Lightning Attack, then? To be honest, though, I didn't think I could control my power. Unlike slimes, dragons were highly intelligent, and if I killed one, I suspected I'd feel guilty. I'd do my best not to take its life.
That left Flame or Ice and Snow.
Dragons actually breathed fire, so flames might not do anything to them.
So it would have to be Ice and Snow.
"Mimic me and fly, will you? The insolence!"
The dragon raised a hand to slap me out of the air, but I evaded easily.
That empty swing left the dragon vulnerable.
I slipped right in close to it.
"I'll burn you out of the sky!" The dragon opened its mouth, preparing to spit fire again.
Just what I'd been waiting for.
I sent an Ice and Snow spell right at its mouth.
"Freeze everything!"
The dragon's jaw was immobilized in a burst of frost.
In one stroke, its mouth had been turned into an ice cave.
"Agwuh! Ugh! Bluguuuuuuuuh!"
The dragon panicked, then dropped down to the ground and started running around.
I'd done it. This way, I'd plunged my opponent into confusion without having to take its life.
"Well? Got brain freeze?"
The dragon was so flustered it was pitiful. You could tell just by watching it run helter-skelter.
Wait. Running around?
I had a bad feeling about this…
"Don't you wreck my house! Whatever you do, don't wreck it!"
"Ugwuuuuuuuh! Coooooooooooold!"
But the dragon ran toward the house—and it bumped into a corner.
Crunch.
The room on that corner caved in.
My anger flared.
"Look, I told you not to wreck it!"
I got in close to the dragon—
"This is the pain of my demolished room!"
—and I punched it!
"Bwaaaah…!"
That one hit knocked the dragon out, and it toppled right over onto the plain.
It didn't seem to be dead, but the damage was great enough that it wouldn't be able to move for a little while.
Since I had punched it, to no one's surprise, my hand hurt. I should just consider myself lucky it wasn't broken.
"Wh-what power… To think I'd fall so ingloriously…"
The dragon seemed unable to believe the circumstances in which it found itself.
"For starters, that's a win for me, but more importantly…"
I looked at my damaged house. I was absolutely going to make sure I was fairly compensated.
"Listen, Laika the dragon."
I went up to the beast and poked it.
"You'd better fix my house. If you don't, I'll never forgive you."
My face was smiling, but I don't think my eyes were.
Apparently, they managed to convince the dragon that I was more than willing to fight.
"A-all right… I'll do something about it, s-so…spare me… Don't take my life…"
"I wouldn't do that. If I did, I couldn't make you fix this for me, could I? It isn't insured, you know."
It didn't look as if the bedroom had been damaged, but there could have been a draft… Maybe I'd better stay at the village inn for a while.
"Um…I have a fair amount of money saved up at the mountain where I make my home. Would it be all right if I returned to get it? I'd like to use it to cover the repairs…"
Come to think of it, I'd heard that dragons tended to collect gold.
"That's fine, but know that if you run, I'll come put you down."
"I swear to keep my promise!"
The dragon flew off, somewhat unsteadily.
That day, I went to the village to find lodgings.
"Oh! Great Witch! You must have defeated the dragon!"
"We saw the wyrm very clearly, even from the village!"
"To think you'd defeat that creature! I'd expect no less, great Witch!"
So they all knew. Figures.
Dragons were huge, and even from a distance, they were hard not to notice.
"I'm sorry. I did beat the dragon, but part of my house caved in, so I've come to stay at the village inn for a short while. I'm sorry to have disturbed you."
"No, no! The dragon's to blame!"
"Actually, you protected this village from that dragon!"
"I'll show you to the best room at the inn!"
"You fool! No inn in the village is suitable lodgings for the great Witch!"
The conversation went back and forth a few times, and in the end, I wound up staying in the guest room at the village hall. That was where royal officials stayed when they came here on business.
Maybe it wasn't a bad idea to take people up on their kindness once in awhile.
Donating some expensive medicines later would probably balance the books.
Since I was staying the night, I took a leisurely walk through the village for the first time in a long while. The place seemed livelier than it had when I'd first arrived three hundred years ago. More people, too.
There were probably several reasons for that, but from what I heard, I was one of them. The villagers often told me so.
It was because I'd made such valuable medicines for the village.
In every village, people died of illnesses or injuries before reaching the end of their natural lives. Because of the potions I provided, the risk of death was substantially lower here than in the surrounding villages.
In particular, the significant decrease in deaths from childhood sickness was contributing to the rising population. I also made something like nutrition supplements for children, in addition to remedies for when they were ill.
As far as I was concerned, gathering herbs and making medicines was akin to a hobby, part of my laid-back routine. If I was managing to save lives through that hobby, I was terribly honored.
Since I didn't need to go back home that day, I decided to take it easy at the tavern and enjoy a drink at my leisure.
Even at night, the tavern was hopping.
"Hey, it's the great Witch!"
"A toast to the great Witch!"
Many of the customers were already three sheets to the wind, and the place was a free-for-all.
I was shown to a table.
For some reason, they brought me an expensive-looking drink I hadn't asked for.
"Um, I haven't placed an order yet…"
"When I was a child, your medicine saved me, great Witch." The owner's daughter smiled as she spoke. "This is a thank-you. Please take your time and enjoy your drink."
It had been like this all day. Nobody was letting me pay for anything.
I guess a day like that isn't so bad every once in a while.
I sipped my liquor slowly, savoring it.
My tenure as an office worker had been busy. To be frank, I was little more than a slave to the company.
I'd almost never had the sense that my work was helping anyone.
Honestly, I'd have to say my efforts were solely for the sake of the company. So it follows that, no matter how busy I was, my entire time there had been meaningless.
Interacting with people doesn't go against my "laid-back life" creed in and of itself. Maybe I should visit the village a little more often.
The expensive liquor tasted quite different from what I usually drank. It was so mellow. I bet that's what made it expensive.
"Aaaaah, that's delicious. Compared with long ago, this is heaven."
Didn't mean to say that out loud.
"With you protecting our lives, great Witch, we're living in heaven, too!"
"When I was young, I spent a long time traveling, and there's no better village than Flatta!"
They were praising me to my face, so I took it with several grains of salt, but still, it made me happy.
"I'm glad I ended up living near this village as well," I said, and I meant it.
I'm proud of this place. I'd like to keep watching it grow.
That day, I got pleasantly drunk, then went back to my lodgings and slept.
I was a little late getting to bed, but it was still earlier than when I got to knock off during my stint as a corporate slave. Besides, back then, I'd had to wake up around six in the morning… Even though it was three centuries ago, I remembered it vividly.
The breakfast they gave me was rather extravagant for the village as well. They were treating me like an official honored guest.
"I'm glad I'm a witch…"
I ate breakfast. The milk in particular was incredibly good, maybe because it was fresh from the cow.
The food here was seasoned more simply than in Japan, and it always seemed to end up tasting flat. When it came to milk, though, the village of Flatta won, hands down. Packaged milk couldn't begin to compare. A hearty thanks to the cows and everyone who made the food!
I know—maybe I'll teach them a bit about cooking one of these days. I still remember how from my years in Japan, so I should be able to improvise some recipes to teach them.
As I absently mulled over this, the person in charge of the cooking strode quickly up to me.
"Great Witch of the Highlands, there's someone here to see you."
"Have them wait in a free meeting room, then. I'll be done with my meal in three minutes."
Wondering which villager it would be this time, I stepped into the meeting room.
The young girl waiting for me had a pair of horns protruding from her head.
She looked about the right age for middle school—thirteen or so. Her clothes had a bit of Lolita flair to them, and the outfit suited her so well that it was obviously her everyday getup, not cosplay.
Who was she?
I'd never seen a horned villager before.
Actually, the horns meant she wasn't a normal human, didn't they?
"I fear I caused you a lot of trouble yesterday."
When our eyes met, the girl bowed politely.
"Um…yesterday? I don't believe we've met…"
There was no way I'd forget someone with horns.
"Oh, I've transformed, so it's possible you don't recognize me."
Transformed? I didn't rescue a crane or a Jizou statue.
"I'm Laika, the dragon from yesterday."
"Say what?! Wait, you're a girl?!"
Come to think of it, Laika is a rather feminine name…
"Many members of the dragon race have abundant mana, and we are able to adopt human shapes. If we enter a human village without doing so, we endup causing a panic," said Laika the dragon girl.
True, if a dragon showed up at a village, it would probably throw the place into a terrible uproar. Even if the villagers mobilized everyone in town, a battle would be hopeless against such an enormous creature.
"You aren't a 'girl' age-wise, though, are you?"
She couldn't actually be thirteen, not when presenting herself in such a dignified manner.
"I believe it's been about three hundred years since I was born."
"So we're around the same age, then."
It seemed odd to talk about being "around the same age" when you were three hundred, but it was what it was, so I just had to roll with it.
"Also…please accept this."
Laika set a large cloth sack on the table.
It seemed too heavy for a young girl to lift, but her true nature as a dragon meant it probably wasn't an issue.
"What's this?"
I peeked inside, and the answer immediately presented itself.
Gold coins.
"This is the money for the repairs, then."
"Yes, that's right. I brought all the money I've saved."
You're thriftier than I expected, dragon.
"Thank you. With this much, repairs shouldn't be a problem."
If all we were doing was restoring my house, this seemed likely to cover it, so I was relieved.
However, Laika was fidgeting as if she still had something to say.
Don't tell me there's a girl with an intractable illness who needs this money to live? Does she have a reason like that?
I'm not an ogre. If there are extenuating circumstances, I'll take them into account.
"Um, actually, I had a request…"
"What is it? It won't cost you anything; say as much as you like."
"Could you possibly take me as…y-your apprentice?"
I stared blankly at her.
"Apprentice? I'd be your teacher, you mean?"
"Yes. Fighting you made me painfully aware I am still inexperienced, great Witch. I wish to discard my vain pride in being the strongest in the province of Nanterre and start my studies over from the beginning."
"That's a lovely resolution, but…a-an apprentice?"
I've lived three hundred years, and I've never once entertained that idea.
"Um, listen, I think it would be a bad idea for me to hide it, so I'm going to tell you. I didn't acquire my power through any sort of special training. I just routinely killed slimes around the neighborhood for a very long time, the experience points piled up, and here I am."
So I really had nothing to teach her.
"No, that buildup of my efforts is exactly what I would like to study! I was overconfident in my power as a dragon, grew arrogant, and I neglected to hone my skills. The result was ignominious defeat!"
This dragon-girl is more earnest than I thought.
"But in that case, what should I teach you?"
If I wasn't going to pass on any new skills to her, there was no point in taking her on as an apprentice, was there?
"I would appreciate the opportunity to live with you, earn my keep, and study your lifestyle."
A roommate, hmm? To be honest, I really wasn't keen on that idea. Unlike lazing around by yourself, living with another person generates stress.
Besides, I'd lived alone for three hundred years, so it seemed a bit late to start sharing my space…
Hang on.
"You said 'earn your keep'?"
"Yes."
"Meaning you'll cook and clean and things? I mean, I wouldn't make you do absolutely everything, but…"
"Of course I will. Asking you to handle the cooking and cleaning on top of making me your apprentice would be far too much."
My resolve had begun weakening a bit.
In that case, it might be okay…
It was also true that, having lived alone for three centuries, I'd fallen into a bit of a rut.
At this point, you could practically call it tradition. No one in Japan had ever lived alone for such an extended period of time. I had my own established views on single occupancy.
But it might be all right to close the book on that tradition…
"All right. I'll let you become my apprentice."
"Thank you very much!"
Laika bowed her head courteously, pointing her two adorable horns at me.
After three hundred years of witchhood, I'd acquired an apprentice.