The granny fed me a potion with a white liquid; surprisingly, this one tasted good, like milk mixed with honey and sugar—extremely sweet—but I was still suspicious. "Will there be no extra effect from this one?"
The granny grinned, showing her yellow teeth. "Yes!" She extended her hand toward me and asked for one gold coin.
I took one gold coin from my pouch and left the shop. Then I returned to the inn to sleep because it was already night. So much happened; tomorrow I wanted to see the shocked faces on both Emir and Rex. That night, I slept deeply and comfortably.
As the sun rose, I arrived at the guild building in the same leather armor I usually wore. As I walked in, I saw Rex lounging in front of the quest board again.
"Any good quests?" I greeted him with a smile.
"Hmm... No," he replied matter-of-factly.
"Anyway, Rex, yesterday I visited you. Why did you ask the guard to drag me away?" I grinned widely at him.
"Huh? I didn't see you yesterday, though?"
He looked confused, but I pressed on. "Well, can't blame you. After all, I was V~ery handsome yesterday!"
"Handsome?..."
Rex's face turned surprised, and he exclaimed, "Wait! That handsome sir from yesterday is you? Dumb?"
I couldn't stop grinning at the word 'handsome.' "So did you feel jealous?" I asked curiously.
"Well, not really... But how did you change your face?"
I then talked about the shop and how Emir laughed at me. Soon, Emir and Miya arrived too. I teased Emir about yesterday, and she said sorry for hurting my feelings, so I forgave her at the cost of a magic tool.
Then Emir found us a quest to take on. It was a quest to find a noble's lost puppy. I looked at Emir and said, "Are you serious?" Rex also disagreed with such a boring quest. So the four of us skimmed through the stack of papers on the quest board.
Until Miya screamed, "Ah! This quest! Take this quest! Please!" She handed me a paper, and I squinted my eyes to look at its content.
"Hunt for a suspicious witch in the nearby forest?"
Miya fidgeted as if hoping we would take on the quest. I grew puzzled and asked, "Is there a reason to take this quest?"
"T-that witch... might be my mom."
All of a sudden, she dropped a bombshell on us. "Your mom?" Emir said worriedly.
"Your mom is a witch?" Rex coolly asked.
I don't know much about Miya; when I first met her, she was starving on the street, so I gave her a meat jerky out of pity. Where she came from or how she got here is a mystery to me.
So I smiled, "Alright, let's take this quest."
"Well, no problem here," Rex calmly said.
"..." Emir stayed quiet.
"Emir? What about you?" I nudged her with my eyes.
Emir looked at Miya's hopeful gaze and felt it wasn't nice to reject her, thinking that it was probably not her mom, but hey, it might be her mom; who knows?
"Okay, I agree." Emir resigned herself.
"Really! Thanks, everyone!" Miya hugged Emir, and I could see excitement in her eyes.
I smiled and declared, "If everyone is ready!"
"Today we will hunt a witch!"
"W-what!?" Miya jolted.
"I- I mean search for a witch!" I hurriedly corrected myself.
The forest for the quest isn't far, and our party arrived there on foot. I could see Miya hopeful about meeting her perhaps lost mom, though I didn't ask.
I tried engaging in small talk, "So, Miya, what was your mom like?"
Miya paused and appeared to brood over the past. After a minute, she spoke about what she knew. "I don't remember much; all I remember is she left me when I was younger, and she wore witch clothing. So she must have been a witch!" Miya smiled brightly, almost joyfully.
That's it? You're not even sure she's a witch? I found myself lost in the happy expression Miya was showing. I wanted to say it's probably not your mom, but I felt a stare from behind me. There, Emir was glaring at me, so I awkwardly smiled and didn't voice my thoughts.
Haha... Emir is so scary...
Our party walked through the thick bushes and past dozens of trees as I spoke, "Are we just going to randomly walk through the forest?"
"No strategy or anything?"
Our party grew quiet. I saw Rex avoiding eye contact and Miya engrossed in her fantasy.
But not all hope was lost. Emir spoke something wonderful: "Well, I can use magic to search the forest, but slowly; my mana isn't enough to cover the whole forest."
That's Emir for you; she can always be relied on. Emir then chanted a spell using her staff. "So is the witch around?" Rex asked calmly.
Emir shook her head, and we walked to another area. We had already searched 2/3 of the forest, but there was no sign of the witch.
"Is she not here?..." Miya dejectedly looked down.
Emir tried to console her, "W-we still didn't search the whole forest; let's keep searching." But Emir was tired, so we had to take a short break.
Just as we took a short rest, a scream was heard. "Ahhhhhhh!"
"Sounded like a scream. Let's check it out," Rex took the lead toward the scream.
I wanted to say it was kind of dangerous, but Rex was already running toward the voice, so we could only follow him from behind.
We arrived at a pond with a small wooden hut beside it. The scream came from a wolf beastman with gray fur. He was bleeding and panting. Before him was a woman in her thirties wearing witch clothing. She was holding a potion in her hand and threatening the wolf beastman.
"Go away! I don't welcome thugs!"
I asked Miya, "Is that your mom?"
Miya looked at the witch and disappointedly shook her head. She wasn't as affected as I expected. Perhaps Miya was more mature than she acted.
And I saw Emir let out a sigh of relief. I smiled and said, "That's our witch. Now what do we do?"
"Let's get closer," Rex suggested.
We slowly walked closer until both of them were near us. The wolf beastman was dying but stubbornly barked, "Woman! We only asked you to make drugs!? Why do you refuse such a good offer..."
He then coughed blood; it seemed talking pushed him further. "Go away or die here!" The witch's eyes turned cold.
The wolf beastman cursed under his breath, "Fuck!" He then charged at the woman with his claws, attempting one last struggle. I doubted the witch was going to let him go... Not with those wounds.
The witch coldly threw the potion in her hand at the wolf beastman's head, and when it splashed onto his face, his head rapidly deteriorated at an alarming speed until only a skull was left. And even that soon dissolved into dust and vanished along with his body. It was as if the wolf never existed.
Our hearts grew cold. I have never seen such a chilling death before. The witch looked at where the wolf beastman had been and spoke coldly, "Since you're here watching, why don't you come out!"
Did she notice us? I grew anxious as I lay hidden. Then Rex came out from the bush and stood before the witch. I sighed, and the rest of us came out from the bush.
She scrutinized each of us coldly, but when she gazed at Miya, I saw a brief surprise on her face. "Is it my imagination, or does she know Miya?"
Miya did say her mom wears witch clothing—an acquaintance of hers or something else?
But before I could entertain my thoughts further, she returned to her normal cold expression and coldly uttered, "Who are you people? Are you here to ask me for drugs too?"
Her eyes seemed chilling, especially after the instant death of the wolf beastman, but Rex was most unaffected. Rex calmly said, "We're adventurers."
"Adventurers?"
"What do adventurers want from me?"
"No. We will leave," Rex said something surprising.
She coldly watched us.
Just as we walked away, she spoke in a cold tone, but I felt it was softer this time. "Wait!"
Rex calmly turned around, "Anything else?"
"Hmm..."
"That girl, what is her name?" She pointed her hand at Miya.
Rex grew puzzled but answered nonetheless, "?... Her name is Miya."
"I see. Leave then." The witch turned around and entered the small wooden hut.
But I caught on to something. That witch knows Miya. As Miya and the rest walked away, I gazed at the wooden hut, etching the location in my mind.
Tonight I will come back here and ask about Miya or her parent. It will be dangerous, but I can't involve everyone else. The image of the wolf beastman turning into air in two seconds is still vivid in my mind.
Our party returned back to town with our quest failed. Rex seemed to laugh it off, while Emir said it was a pity about the reward, and Miya happily forgot about the encounter.
We departed ways as usual, and I returned to the inn I stayed in. I packed all my gear... Well, I didn't have anything else; it was the usual gear. I frowned and thought this isn't enough to confront the witch. I remembered the suspicious shop and decided to buy anything that could protect me from the witch's potion.
The granny came out again while laughing, "Kekekekekeh." I asked her for anything that would protect me from potions that dissolve. She showed me a cloak that could not be dissolved. It was pricey; I had to use all my savings for it, and I was already crying about it.
I wondered why I was doing this much for Miya, even. Well, get rid of that thought! Miya is my friend, even though she doesn't show it. I knew she wanted to meet her parent. And I'm sure that witch knows something!
Tonight I will meet that witch as I have finished all my preparations!
Wait for me, witch!
To be continued...