"Stop right there, missy. Hey, I said stop!"
I had flown my broom several hours from the flower field and arrived at another country when a guard in black clothing came out to greet me in a less-than-welcoming tone of voice.
He has no reason to yell at me like that, and why's he calling me "missy"?! Even the most good-natured person in the world would have a hard time being treated this way. Naturally, I got a bit angry.
However, I didn't let it show. I'm an adult, after all.
"You a traveler?"
"Yes. Can't you can tell by looking at me?"
"What's with that bouquet?"
"Oh, it's nothing really."
"..."
"What?"
"Lemme see it." He pushed toward me and snatched the bouquet from my hands.
"Wha—? Hey!" Enough was enough, and I wasn't about to let him treat me this way. I got down from my broom, grabbed ahold of the flowers, and tried to take them back. But the guard brushed my hands aside and stared so hard at the flowers you'd think he was trying to burn a hole through them. My protests had no effect.
To make matters worse, the man just grimaced and muttered, "Wait a minute… Are these from—?" but I had no idea what he was on about.
…This guard is such a jerk.
"Where did you get these?" he asked.
"What does it matter? Give them back."
"Don't tell me you picked them up in a flower field?"
"What business is it of yours?" You're really underestimating me, you know. How should I go about punishing you? Perhaps I should reduce you to ashes. I pulled out my wand.
"Hey, what're you doing?"
I was getting ready to fire off a gust of wind when I heard a new voice behind me—and this one had even more authority behind it.
What the heck? Is this country just full of macho guys with big attitudes? I turned around, fuming.
"That belongs to the traveler. Give it back."
Standing there was a middle-aged man dressed in the same black clothing as the young guard. He was glaring not at me, but at his young colleague.
I turned back to the younger guard to find him gripping the flower bouquet and clearly upset at being caught. "But, sir, this…this is…"
"I'll know when I look at it. I'll handle the rest, so stand down."
"No, this is—"
"Stand. Down. Didn't you hear me? Go take a break."
"…Tch." The young guard clicked his tongue, and after shooting me another nasty look, he turned to leave.
"Ah, my bouquet, if you would."
"..."
The young guard turned back, radiating protest with his entire body.
"…Here." He shoved the flowers back at me.
"Thank you kindly."
He didn't answer, but he did finally leave. Every single thing he did was irritating. I was glad to be rid of him.
If we ever met again, he wouldn't be so lucky next time.
After confirming that the younger guard was no longer in sight, the older guard who had been addressed as "sir" turned to me with an apologetic expression. "My apologies, Madam Witch. His younger sister recently went missing, and he's been acting this way ever since. Please forgive him."
"It didn't bother me that much." A lie, obviously.
"Anyway, as for those flowers… I'm sorry, but would you please let me dispose of them? Bringing them into this country is strictly forbidden."
"Forbidden? Like, these flowers specifically?"
I didn't understand what he meant or what he was trying to accomplish. Unconsciously, I hugged the flowers tightly.
"Those flowers are cursed," he said matter-of-factly, without trying to pull them out of my hands. "They're harmless to a witch like you, but apparently they contain a spell that drives nonmages mad. I don't know all the details, but that's the information we have now."
"…Cursed?"
He nodded. "People who fall for those flowers are led to where they grow, then become their food. They're never seen again. That's why the flowers are forbidden."
"..."
"Is something wrong?"
"…No."
If we assume there really is a curse on these flowers—and I suspect that might be the case—why didn't the girl who gave me this bouquet try to stand up even once? And why was she sitting in the flower field? I'd been puzzling over these points the entire time.
What if it wasn't that she didn't stand up, but that she couldn't stand up? What if the lower half of her body was no longer hers?
...
"Um, about that young guard's little sister…"
"Oh. Several days ago, she went into the forest where the flowers grow, and she hasn't been seen since."
He lowered his gaze. He was looking at the bouquet. "Say, miss…did someone give those to you? Perhaps—"
"No." I interrupted him. "I gathered these myself. The clothing wrapped around the flowers is one of my spare shirts." So I don't know anything about the guard's sister.
I cut off his questioning with a shameless lie.