87-87. Witch's residence

Early in the morning, we left the royal capital and walked towards Toka.

Since we walked on a reasonably well maintained road, we didn't run into any demons along the way.

I wanted to get there as soon as possible because I wanted to lift Meku's curse as soon as possible, so I didn't even bother to imitate looking for a demon to defeat.

It didn't take us too long to get to Toka, and we were there before the sun went down.

When I arrived, my first impression was that it was an idyllic village.

It is a beastly village, but there is not a single ketsey like Raina, and it seems to be inhabited almost entirely by a wolf beastly lycanthrope.

I decided to find out more information about the forest from the villagers.

'Do you have a moment?'

He calls out to a lycanthrope man walking through the village.

'What is it?'　Are you human?　It's very unusual for a human to come to this village.

Humans still didn't seem to come much, but they didn't seem to be that hostile.

''Is the Forest of Lucfana near this village?''

Yeah. The forest to the north of here. But I don't think you should go there, 'cause it's a very dangerous place.

Is it dangerous?

'Yeah, no one in this village is going to enter. The level of the demons is just too high. Unless you're also very confident in your skills, you shouldn't go in there.

I can tell you that I'm very confident in my arm.

There's no harm in going in, even if it's dangerous.

'I came here because I heard that there is a life witch in the forest of Lucfana, do you have any idea what you're talking about?

"...the witch of life?　Come to think of it, it's a rumor, but I don't think I've heard of a witch's house in the forest or something. But I don't know much about it. Because I've never been in it, in the forest of Lucfana.

Okay.

I asked the others, but they had pretty much the same reaction.

It would take time to talk to all of them, so I decided to ask them if they knew anyone who could help me next.

Then.

'Maybe the village chief would know something about it. He's an old man now, but he used to be strong and went to Lucfana Forest a few times. I think the village chief told me about the witches, too.

We were able to ask for information about the village chief.

After hearing where he lived, we made our way to the village chief's house.

"There you are.

The village chief seemed to live in a large house.

There was a woman cleaning the area near the house, so I spoke to her.

'I've heard that the village chief lives here...'

'Humans...?　That's unusual. What do you want with the village chief?

'I just wanted to talk to you about the witches that live in the forest of Lucfana...'

'The witch?　Well, I think I heard something like that once. Oh, I'm Saman's daughter Cansey, the village chief's daughter. I'll be back in a minute.

Cansey goes into the house.

She comes back a few moments later.

'They'll talk to you. He was hoping that someone would listen to him about the witch. The people in the village weren't very interested.

That's what he said.

He's going to talk to me.

We're going to go inside.

"You are the one who wants to hear about the witch.

The moment I entered, a shout came flying in.

An old lycanthrope man with several wrinkles on his face came towards us.

'You'll have to listen to me as soon as possible.

He didn't introduce himself or anything, but suddenly started talking.

Apparently, he was quite eager to talk.

It was several decades ago that I met the witch. I used to be very strong. The vicious demons in the forest of Lucfana could have been defeated by me. Not anymore. I was hunting in the forest that day, and when I had finished my catch, I found a house. How could there be a house in the forest?　I thought so. Of course. There were few people in the forest except me. I checked it out, and found traces of human habitation. It wasn't a house that had been inhabited in the past, but one that was still occupied. I was surprised to see a beautiful woman when I entered the house. She wasn't a beastman, but a witch.

"Witches?

They are a powerful race with high magical powers. It is a powerful race with horns. He called himself the Witch of Life. He was a very friendly person and we became friends right away. The next time I went to the forest, I went to the place where the house was, and I found that it was there, but the witch had disappeared.

Are you there?

Well, I haven't seen you since then. I wish I could see him again, but...

Apparently, he doesn't live there now.

But you do have a house, don't you?　Maybe there's a clue as to where you are now.

A clue... although I didn't really look inside, I didn't want to be rude. What do you guys want to see the witch for?

I told him about Mek's situation.

"I thought it was some kind of rare beastman, but it was cursed to take on that form. But I don't think that the witch would do such a thing.......must be some kind of mistake?

'I did read in the book that they can be made into plush toys. Well, there's no denying the possibility that it's a mistake, but I can't tell if it's true or not until I see it and hear what it says. In any case, unless I find out what happened and hear what he had to say, I won't be able to tell if it's true or not.

That's true, but...

So, what part of the forest would that life witch be located in?

You're going into the woods?　Do you remember your arm?

Yeah, I think I'm okay.

You have a lot of confidence. Well, I'm not going to stop you. It would be quicker if I could show you the way, but I'm too old to do that. There is a huge tree in the middle of the forest. It's so tall that it's easy to see from the outside. If you go there and then westward from the tree, you will find a house.

We were given the location.

I thanked him and we headed off to Lucfana Forest.