A forest path cut through a stretch of nearly uniform trees. It was unpaved and uneven, little more than a gap where no trees grew. Above it flew a single girl on her broom. The swaying branches whispered as she passed by, and the trees tossed their leaves into
the air as if they were celebrating a toast.
The lovely young lady was a witch and a traveler.
Her ashen hair shimmered in the sunlight, and her lapis lazuli eyes seemed to be gazing beyond her path to somewhere far into the distance. She wore a black robe, a pointy hat, and a brooch shaped like a star, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that her witchy appearance only added to her appeal.
This young lady, who no one could possibly describe as anything other than lovely…who could she be?
That's right. She's me.
"..."
I had already gotten some information about the country that was supposed to lie ahead. Among the merchants who made their living in this area, that country was called all sorts of strange names: "the big yet small country," "the country of only handsome men and beautiful ladies," "the walled country," "the old-fashioned country," "the forbidding country," "the curious country," and so on. I had come to wish that they would at least be a little more consistent.
Anyway, the only thing I was certain of was that a strange place lay before me. I wondered just what kind of strangeness it had in store for me, and what made it so mysterious. I had tried asking the merchants, but it was no use. In the end, if I wanted to know what the place was really like, there was nothing to do but go there and check it out myself. I was kind of looking forward to it.
A bit more time passed, and my destination appeared on the horizon. I could make out a relatively low rampart, and the wooden gate was standing open.
I parked my broom in front of the gate and dismounted.
A guard appeared out of nowhere and began with an overenthusiastic greeting. "Hey there— Oh, a witch? How unusual."
He looked at the brooch on my chest, and his eyes grew wide. "What brings you to these parts?"
"I am a traveler."
"Oh-ho, that's even more unusual."
"Is that so?"
The guard nodded two or three times. "Indeed. By the way, Madam Witch, do you know anything about this country?"
"Well, I know a fair bit."
"Oh really? In that case, I'm sure it'll be all right."
"…?" Wait, what will be all right? I was confused.
"Well then, Miss Witch, please answer a few simple questions before you come in. First of all…"
The standard questions dispelled whatever slight doubts I was feeling. The questions he asked me were ordinary things like my name, my age, how long I planned to stay, and the reason for my visit. I gave succinct answers.
"All right, that's all we need. You're free to enter."
"Thanks."
At the guard's urging, I stepped into a new land.
Well then, what kind of place is this?
Just going on a stroll wouldn't be enough to show whether this country was as odd as I'd heard. Stepping through the gate, everything appeared exceptionally ordinary, although it would have been more appropriate to call the place a walled village rather than a country of any description.
Most everything was built of wood, and every house appeared to have been made from rough timber. Most likely, people had simply cleared the path I had just traveled down and used the trees to build houses. The problem was that all of them were falling apart. They were so shabby that they looked like they'd had an encounter with the Big Bad Wolf.
By the way, the people living in the houses…were pigs!
…No, they were human, of course.
A thin woman emerged from one of the houses, holding a basket.
After looking at me for only a moment, she turned and left.
What a perfectly disinterested reaction. Looks like visitors aren't that rare after all.
It wasn't just the woman holding the basket. Everyone I encountered seemed utterly indifferent. Or maybe I should say utterly ordinary.
There was the woman hanging her laundry to dry on a pole between two trees in a garden. There were the men sitting around a bonfire in the distance, having a friendly chat and tossing branches into the flames. There was the young man who was intensely focused on chopping firewood with an ax.
I saw the residents of the country from a distance, but as soon as they met my gaze, they would turn their eyes away, as if they were thinking, Oh, a traveler. Ho-hum.
Just as I had been told, they all seemed to be handsome men and beautiful women, and they were probably a bit old-fashioned.
However, at present, I had no feelings about the land aside from finding it totally ordinary and rather boring. Not exactly living up to the reviews, is it?
"My, my, how rare."
As I was walking around aimlessly, someone called out to me. I looked in the direction the voice had come from and saw an older woman, clearly a mage, walking toward me. When my eyes met hers,
she grinned. It was a smile brimming over with a certain enigmatic kindness. Judging by her appearance, she was probably about the same age as my parents.
I looked behind me just in case she was speaking to someone else.
After I was sure I wasn't about to embarrass myself, I asked, "Me?"
The woman nodded. "Yes, you. You're a traveler, right? If you came to this country, you must have really strange tastes."
"Is that so?"
"Quite."
"I heard it was a strange place, so it caught my interest."
"Hmm, you're an odd one."
"Is that so?"
"Quite."
This mage had inexplicably struck up a friendly conversation, then accused me of being an odd person with strange tastes. What's going on? I don't understand.
"But it doesn't look very strange at all. I think it's just a plain, ordinary, normal place."
"Incidentally, what did you hear about us before you came here?"
"Um…" I told her the different names that the merchants were calling this country.
"…Hmm. 'The country of only handsome men and beautiful ladies,'
huh… Oh-ho-ho, I'm blushing."
"..." Are you only hearing the parts you want to hear?
"Well then," the mage said, "you came with high expectations and were disappointed, is that right?"
"Yes, well, something like that."
"…I see. In that case, I think you should come look at the interior. I suspect you'll be able to find what you were hoping for."
"The interior…? What do you mean?"
"I mean just what I said. Come with me."
"Um, hang on—"
She grabbed my sleeve tight, and I found myself being dragged along by a mage whose name I didn't even know.
…Why me?
She led me to a gate.
This wasn't the gate that I had gone through to enter the village, but a more extravagant one. The top of the wooden gate was adorned with an iron frame. Somehow, this rampart seemed taller than the wall I had seen when I had first entered.
The gate was open, and a horse-drawn cart was parked to one side.
Fat older men were unloading packages of all sizes while the horse munched on grass for lack of anything better to do.
What in the world is this?
"…Is there another country inside this country?" I asked, and the mage released my sleeve.
"Yes. Although the territory on the other side of this gate is the real country."
"In that case, what's on this side?" I pointed at the ground.
"I'll tell you if you listen to what I say."
"..." I have a bad feeling about this.
"You won't do business with me?"
"Is this a business transaction?"
"Quite."
"Depends on what you have to say," I said, and the mage's eyes
glittered as if to say, "Got it."
"Go buy me a book. I'll give you the money."
"…A book?" I thought she was going to ask for something crazy, but that was a very normal item. "Why don't you buy it yourself? Or is there some reason why you can't buy it?"
"Yes, I have a reason. Can I count on you?"
I was about to ask what the reason was, but I could tell from the look in her eyes that she would only dodge the question and promise to tell me after I brought her the book.
Well, if it's just a simple errand, that should be all right.
I didn't feel good about letting this mage foist her errand onto me, but I was also very curious about what was on the other side of that gate.
"I accept."
I slipped past the sluggish-looking horse and the fat men and went through the secondary gate.
Inside was a whole other world, so different it made me wonder what on earth was the deal with the backwoods hamlet I had passed through before.
The bare, unpaved earth I had been walking on…was no more. Solidlooking rust-colored bricks were lined up to form the road.
No, they don't just look solid, they are solid.
The houses built along the gently winding road were also made of brick instead of wood. They would be sure to stand up to any huffing, puffing wolf.
As I walked on, the aroma of coffee reached my nose, and I spotted a
café. A number of people inside were smiling at me.
Proceeding onward, I saw a bakery, just the type I love. This country didn't seem to have any street stalls or any other roadside businesses. The bakery itself was set up inside an ordinary house.
Come to think of it, I haven't eaten anything since this morning.
But I should take a look around before I put anything in my mouth.
Besides, since I went to the trouble of coming here, I want to eat something this place is famous for.
"Hey, hey, Mom, there's an uggo over there. Look how ugly she is!"
"Shh! Don't look."