Volume 3 - CH 4

Chapter 4 – The Grape-stomping Girl

Two neighboring villages celebrate a joint harvest festival, and this is the tenth year since they began.

I heard that they used to quarrel, resent each other, and fight over pointless things before, but now there is no trace of that.

To the children who were born there in the last ten years, it was as if the two neighboring villages were actually one large village.

“Hey, Grandpa, is our village really on good terms with the other village?”

However, one young boy was somewhat skeptical about the situation of the two villages—or one big village—that seemed to get along so well.

It was no surprise he felt that way. After all, the harvest festival that was being celebrated today felt like an event designed to tear the two villages apart.

There were old people who carried over wooden crates full of grapes, set them down in the middle of the road, and massaged their waists.

“Are you curious about why we carry out this festival?”

“Yeah.”

“Hohoho… It’s to maintain the relationship between the two villages.”

“Eeeh? But…”

The boy looked at the contents of the crates. The grapes that had just been picked that morning were shining like jewels in the light of the sun.

There were a large number of similar crates—so many that it wasn’t possible to count them all—sitting on the narrow and short road that separated the two villages.

There were crates being brought there by both villages.

This was the main event of the harvest festival.

After preparing the crates packed full of grapes, the villagers would throw them at each other and become covered in grape juice—it was the kind of event that just seemed like a waste of perfectly good grapes.

At face value, it appeared to be a festival where people prayed Let us have a plentiful harvest so that we can afford to be covered in grape juice, but the people who participated in the festival were quite savage.

For example, last year there were cases where men from the other village, rejected by girls from this village, took revenge by covering them in grape juice from head to toe. Even married couples from the same village unleashed their bottled-up dissatisfaction by shouting insults and complaints at each other while rubbing grapes into each others’ faces.

The people, who usually lived comfortably with each other, for some reason changed completely on this one day and behaved like they were possessed by demons.

There was even a feeling that the two villages would split apart by the next day.

Surprisingly, however, apart from the road covered in grape pulp, everything went back to normal the day after the festival.

Perhaps the festival acted as a pressure valve that let people blow off steam at regular intervals.

Even the boy understood that very well.

However, that was why he was still skeptical.

If the villages really were on good terms, they would not need to hold such a festival.

“Your thinking is correct. Our village is most certainly not on good terms with the other village. Not only do I think they’re annoying, I also consider all the people of that village to be my enemies.”

“Then why are we holding such a festival?”

“We’re holding it precisely for that reason. We clear away the grudges by throwing grapes at each other. The two villages are certainly not on good terms. However, we just found a day on which we could be honest with our feelings. On that day, ten years ago.”

“Hmm…”

“Oh, I’ve never told you about what happened ten years ago, right? Do you want to know?”

“Yeah! Tell me! Tell me!”

The old man looked into the faraway sky. He could see birds flying through the sky without a sound, and that view was unchanging, no different from what he had seen ten years ago.

“On that day, ten years ago—a traveler came to our village.”

“Hoho?”

Ah, this was definitely going to turn into a long-winded tale. The boy realized that in an instant.

He also wished that his grandfather had waited until they went back home, if he wanted to tell such a long-winded tale.

“That traveler was a witch with ash-grey hair that gently hung over her shoulders. She was like an angel but also like the devil.”

“Hmm.”

“In that way, a witch, who are rarely seen around these parts, came to visit our village. That day became an unforgettable day for our village—”

And so the old man spoke of what happened on that day, ten years ago.

○

The witch, who appeared to be an angel but also looked like the devil should you take a closer look, was on a journey.

Who was she?

Yes, it was me.

“………”

It was a peaceful country road. The clear blue sky seemed to stretch out infinitely, and the birds appeared to be flying joyfully without making a sound.

The path that ran in between the greenery on either side was brown in color, and led towards two villages that were visible a little way ahead.

I flew on my broom, following the winding road. The gentle breeze that was common here touched me with pleasantly cool fingers every time I accelerated.

Feeling just the right amount of comfort, I took a deep breath and looked ahead.

There were two small, neighboring villages.

These villages that were small and looked inviting were known elsewhere as the two wine-making villages.

“Welcome, Witch-sama! You are really lucky, choosing today of all days to visit us! Please come on in. The chief of our village is delighted to have you as a guest.”

I received a great welcome when I reached one of the villages.

People came out of their houses to get a look at my face, and smiled happily.

I followed my guide and was taken to the village chief, and received a great welcome here too, from an old man who laughed with a “Hohoho.”

“I must say, you’re quite good looking.”

He’s saying I’m cute, right?

“Ah, yes, I know. Thank you.”

I had no idea why he complimented me all of a sudden, so I just forced a smile for now.

Even if you don’t know what’s going on, you can get through most situations by smiling vaguely. This is the secret to success, and it’s what smart people do.

Anyways, getting back to the point.

“This village is famous for its wine, isn’t it?”

“Indeed. Wine is the speciality of this village… by the way, you look quite young. Do you like wine?”

“Mhm.”

Actually, I’ve never drunk wine before. In fact, I only came here because I heard that the wine is very delicious.

It’s my first time drinking something which contains alcohol, after all. I’d prefer to drink something delicious.

“The wine made in our village is exquisite, without a doubt. It’s incomparably more delicious than the wine produced by that other village! One might even say that our wine was made by the gods themselves!”

“Oh?”

By the way, according to what I was told, “The wines from both villages aren’t really all that different. Rather, they’re pretty much the same thing.” However, there might be something that only the locals can understand.

“Still, the folks over at yonder village are quite stubborn. They don’t want to lose to our village, so they recently started doing that. They’re so shameless!”

“Hehee.”

“And this is wine I was talking about!”

The village chief banged a bottle of wine down on the table with a loud sound.

It had a label that read 『Even better than the wine made five years ago, which was called the best harvest in all of history』. I’m not really sure whether it’s saying the wine is delicious or not.

The name of the wine was 『The Wine From Yonder Village』. What kind of name is that?

“By the way, our village is called Hither Village.”

Oh, so they’re the names of the villages. I see.

However, rather than that useless bit of trivia, I was more interested in what was in the center of the label.

It was a picture of a smiling girl, whose golden hair had a bit of a wave to it.

『I stomp-stomped on the grapes with all my love.』

It had that written in a speech bubble. In addition, it also said 『Origin: Yonder Village’s grape stomping girl, Rosemary-chan』.

“………What the heck is this?”

When I said that, the village chief banged the table with his fist. So noisy.

“This is what I was talking about! Yonder Village was unable to win against us, so they resorted to this desperate strategy! Look! Look at Rosemary-chan on the label! The other village has set up Rosemary-chan as the origin!”

“Shouldn’t it be ‘manufacturer’ instead of ‘origin?’”

“Writing it as ‘origin’ works better to arouse the buyers.”

“……….” Arouse, huh?

“In any case, Yonder Village is steadily increasing their sales of wine by selling such an item that incites fetishism!”

“Hehee.”

This sells? Something like this actually sells?

“Hither village is in a serious predicament because of this. It’s a very big problem!”

“They’re just changing the label, though, right? Is it actually delicious?”

“……Y-You’ve never drunk it, so you wouldn’t understand.”

Oh look, you’re getting flustered. You drank it, didn’t you?

Wait, that bottle is empty. Did you drink it all?

Looking at my judgemental stare, the village chief averted his gaze.

“Wine made from a cute girl’s stomp-stomping is delicious as expected…”

“By the way, what does this ‘stomp-stomp’ mean?”

“In our villages, the girls use that term to refer to pulping the grapes with their feet.”

“Haa.”

Why use such a strange term for something like that?

“Then why don’t you compete by having a cute girl stomp-stomp for you as well?”

As usual, I gave some random and vague advice. I just wanted to end the conversation that appeared to be going nowhere. Truly, this is the smart people’s secret to success. Yes indeed.

“Well said!”

However.

The village chief banged both his hands down on the table and leaned forwards.

“You’re exactly right! If we get a good looking girl to stomp-stomp for us, we can win!”

“Y-Yes……”

“And so, without further ado! Please help us out.”

“……Mu mu?”

“A good looking girl like you should do just fine, right?”

“……Mu mu mu?”

“Actually, just do it. This is something only you can do.”

“……Mu mu mu mu?”

Oh, what’s this?

Did my secret techniques for success attract trouble instead?

○

“Everyone! Listen up! This Witch-dono here has agreed to be our grape-stomping girl!”

The village chief dashed out of his house and shouted that to the people who were gathered in the village.

As soon as they heard that, the villagers raised both hands into the air and let out three cheers.

………

No. No no no no no.

“Excuse me, I didn’t say anything of the sort.”

“Everyone! Witch-san is just raring to go!”

No, I’m not. I have absolutely interest in doing that, you know?

“Umm… This is really hard to say, but—”

“Alright people, bring me a big tub and all the grapes you can find! I’m going to make her stomp them until her legs fall off!”

Oh, so you’ve finally revealed your true nature.

Yeah, I should probably just leave.

I spun around on the spot, picked up my bag, and started walking.

The villagers are running around preparing a tub and other things. They’re overflowing with the intent to make me stomp grapes.

I don’t care.

I’m just going to ignore them. Thankfully, the villagers seem to be intent on their tasks, so I should be able to sneak away safely. If it comes to it, I can just fly away on my broom to escape.

…Or so I thought while I was walking away.

“Oh my! If it isn’t the outdated people from Hither Village. Whatever are you doing? Hmm?”

I did not expect anyone to appear and block my way.

A golden haired girl, who looked vaguely familiar, stood there with an arrogant expression and one hand near her mouth while looking down at the villagers. She had a number of men with particularly good physiques pulling carts behind her, so she gave the impression of a female boss, or a queen of some sort.

“Y-You are… Rosemary-chan!”

“How do you do, Village Chief-san? What are all of you doing?”

“That’s none of your business! In fact, I’d like to know what all of you are doing here! This is Hither Village!”

It felt like a dangerous situation was developing, but seeing the village chief still clutching the wine bottle with the Rosemary-chan label, I could only think that he was putting up a brave front.

Rosemary-chan turned up her nose at him and spoke.

“We are returning from making a sale of wine. Several carts’ worth of wine, in fact. Haven’t I told you many times before to keep the road clear because we will be using it at this time? What is all this racket about?”

“Why you… Taking me for a fool…!”

“Oh my, what’s that wine bottle you’re holding in your hand?”

The village chief hid the wine bottle immediately.

Looking closely, you could see that it was signed by Rosemary-chan herself. So he must be a fan.

“Also, who’s this midget of a girl? She seems to be cosplaying as a witch.”

How rude.

“Despite how I look, I am a real witch.”

After giving me a glance, Rosemary-chan turned to look at the village chief once again.

“Oh, I see.”

She seemed to have figured something out after seeing the villagers making preparations for grape-stomping—her expression turned unpleasant.

“I see. You can’t win against me, so you planned to use this seedy-looking girl to stomp-stomp the grapes, is that it? Fufufu.”

“Seedy-looking?”

“Her face is average, and her body is like that of a child.”

“Average? Like that of a child?”

“Actually, let me correct myself. You don’t just look like one, you are a child. You can’t win against me even if you get a child like this to stomp-stomp the grapes, you know?”

“………”

Okay, now I’m mad.

Why do I have to be ridiculed to such an extent by someone I’ve just met?

“Oh well, try your best. I have more grapes to stomp-stomp, so I will take my leave—please move aside, seedy-looking Witch-san.”

“………”

Hoho. I certainly can’t just back down after being looked down upon so much.

“My name is Elaina. Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

I took a step forward and glared at Rosemary-chan’s smirking face.

“Did you not hear me? I asked you to get out of my sight.”

She just said that, without changing her expression at all.

Her expression was triumphant. She seemed to think that she had already won, or that it wouldn’t be much of a fight at all.

……How annoying.

I suppose I’ll just have to beat her. Completely and utterly.

I got caught up in the situation, and ended up helping the people of Hither Village by working as their grape-stomping girl.

I agreed to help them, but…

“…What’s with the cosplay outfit?”

According to the village chief, the girls who stomp grapes must wear a particular type of outfit.

A wine-red flared skirt, and a similarly wine-red tunic with long sleeves. There are frills on the sleeves, and the whole ensemble looks a lot like a red colored maid uniform.

Why do I have to wear something like this?

According to the village chief, it is more arousing this way. I don’t understand his logic.

“Well, anyways, please start stomp-stomping, Witch-dono.”

“………”

It was obvious that my long hair would get in the way while stomping the grapes, so I tied it up into a single ponytail at the back of my head and extended my bare feet into the tub.

“By the way, how should I go about stomping the grapes?”

“It’ll be fine as long as you stomp on them thoroughly while putting your love into it.”

“………”

What should I do if I have no love to put in at all?

“For now, I will stomp on them while remembering my hatred for Rosemary-chan.”

“It’s not ‘stomp!’ It’s ‘stomp-stomp!’”

His words sounded like nonsense, so I ignored him.

“…Ei.”

I pinched the fabric of the skirt with both hands, pulled it up to knee-level, and lowered my feet into the tub.

The pale green grapes that filled the tub transmitted a cool feeling to the soles of my feet. When I put my weight on them, they were immediately crushed and a clear liquid gushed out of them. A concentrated sweet smell rose up from below me. I raised my wet feet like I was going to run, but there was no place to run to, and I once again stepped down on the disgustingly soft grapes. As I kept stepping on them, the crushed skins of the grapes got in between my toes.

Crush the grapes, release the juice, and crush them yet again. The feeling of stepping on the rounded and soft grapes gradually turned into a strange feeling, as if I was walking on wet sand.

It felt a little disgusting, but it was also weirdly addictive. A strange feeling.

To put it concisely, it was very exciting.

“Die… Die… Die… Die…!”

And so, I was slightly motivated.

Seeing me that way, the villagers around me started to take a lot of pictures and let out shouts of joy. I think the curses I was currently muttering were also directed in part at those villagers who were taking pictures of me without permission.

After a while, my legs were completely drenched in grape juice. The villagers continued to crowd around me, and stress levels continued to rise.

During the latter half, I stomped on the grapes after completely shutting away all my emotions.

“………”

I wonder how difficult it must be for Rosemary-chan, who is forced to do this every day?

Most likely, she is being forced to bear all the expectations of the people from Yonder Village and stomp on the grapes everyday.

……

Well, her struggles and her attitude towards me are different matters.

○

“……So tired.”

I was resting in the village chief’s house after stomping the grapes for a while. According to the village chief, he wanted me to stomp on grapes one more time.

He apparently wanted to take this chance to manufacture the wine in bulk.

“You’ve done a fine job, Witch-dono. Here, take a look. We will be using this kind of bottle to hold the wine that you have helped make.”

The village chief put down a bottle in front of me.

『The best wine from Hither Village』

『Made with my feelings of hatred and irritation』

『Origin: The Witch of Ashes, Elaina-san』

Along with that text, the label on the bottle had a picture of me stomping on the grapes with a smile steeped in darkness.

“……Will this really sell?”

I don’t think anyone will buy this.

“The people from Hither Village have decided to take a different approach from Yonder Village. If they want to use Rosemary-chan’s beauty as a selling point, we’ve decided to get rid of that factor altogether and use a different strategy to make our sales.”

“……”

“It will probably be a big hit among the people with those kinds of tastes.”

“Do the people who buy wine all have such an interest in sexual things?”

“Well, considering how well Rosemary-chan’s wine is selling, you might have a point.”

“………”

What is so great about getting drunk on wine made from something a girl has stomped on? I don’t understand it at all.

I felt a headache coming on. That’s enough of this topic.

“By the way, how much wine can be made with that amount from earlier?”

“Let’s see… About half a cask, would be my best guess.”

“Eeh. That’s all?”

I thought I stomped on quite a lot of grapes.

“And that’s why I want you to stomp on enough for the remaining half as well.”

Hearing the truth just makes me lose my motivation even more.

However, if I run away now,

『Oh, my! As I thought, she ran away! Of course she did, the work of a grape-stomping girl isn’t so easy that even a newcomer can keep it up for long!』

I get the feeling that she’d make fun of me again by saying something like that.

Umumu.

………

“…Hmm?”

At this point, I suddenly realized something.

“Umm, that bottle you’re holding so dearly—how well does it sell?”

“It sells quite well. It’s so popular that all the wine being sold by Yonder Village belongs to Rosemary-chan.”

“All of it, you say……?”

Does that mean she’s stomping on grapes every day from morning till dusk?

……

Hang on.

If that’s the case, then something doesn’t add up.

Actually, a lot of things don’t add up.

“………”

After thinking about it for a while, I started to talk.

“Village Chief-san. How much longer until we get back to work?”

After that, I left the village chief’s house and ran towards Yonder Village. I kept the grape-stomping outfit on, but wore my shoes.

There were many things that I felt were strange about this situation.

It was such an obvious ploy, I seriously wondered why nobody from Hither Village had realized it.

I followed the cart tracks on the path until I reached Yonder Village, and then ran inside.

One of the points that I’m curious about are these wheels.

It looked like Rosemary-chan was leading a number of men and personally selling the wine to the customers, but would a girl who is tasked with stomping grapes really work to sell the wine as well?

If all the wine being sold by Yonder Village is supposed to come from Rosemary-chan’s efforts, that makes it even more suspicious.

How many grapes would she need to stomp on in order to significantly improve the income of an entire village? How much time would she need to spend on that?

If she was really spending that much time and effort to stomp grapes, would she have enough spare time to help with selling the wine?

Actually, isn’t it just plain impossible for one person to be responsible for manufacturing all the wine?

“………”

In other words, putting it simply.

“Fufufu… Alright you trash, keep working for my sake! You want to sell the wine with my label, don’t you? Well, answer me!”

Following the cart tracks, I reached a building that looked like a factory.

There was a tough-looking man guarding the entrance, so I put him to sleep with magic and slightly opened the door.

The voice that was leaking outside the building apparently belonged to Rosemary-chan. She had her arms crossed, and was swilling some wine about in a wine glass while relaxing on a chair.

It was pretty much just as I had imagined.

“……As I thought.”

She was not a grape-stomping girl. She was not stomping on any grapes.

In that case, who was working to manufacture the wine?

『Left! Right! Left! Right! Left! Right!』

The answer was simple. It was evident with just a glance.

The tough-looking men who pulled her carts were, in local parlance, stomp-stomping the grapes. Wine made from the efforts of sweaty men crushing the grapes—this was the true nature of Rosemary-chan’s mass-produced wine.

In other words, she was lying about the manufacturing method.

This is already enough reason for a lawsuit.

○

“No, that’s wrong! It was only today! I just happened to not feel like doing it today! On other days, I work from morning till dusk stomp-stomping the grapes!”

After tying up all the people there with rope on the spot, I dragged them over to the road that ran in between Yonder Village and Hither Village.

The people from Hither Village seemed to have realized something after seeing her and her helpers trussed up, so they gathered around while still holding the grapes they had prepared for grape-stomping. The people from Yonder Village also seemed to have arrived at some sort of conclusion from that sight, and they too assembled around the area while bringing their own grapes, albeit while fidgeting slightly.

Apparently, the people from Yonder Village knew that Rosemary-chan’s wine was just the product of the efforts of sweaty men.

“Crap… they finally found out about it?”

“Kuuh… It was such a good business too…”

“Hey, what do we do about this?”

Their voices were clearly audible to me.

I gave small cough to clear my throat, gently swayed the wine glass that I had plundered from Rosemary-chan, and sighed at the sweet smell that rose from it.

“You know, Rosemary-san, you can hardly expect us to believe that you alone were responsible for all the wine made in Yonder Village. The amount of wine made clearly doesn’t add up, and you most certainly wouldn’t have had the time to help with sales as well.”

“……Umm, that is… I mean…”

Rosemary-chan became flustered.

“Actually, Rosemary-san, how can you bear to drink the wine that you forced men to make for you? Don’t you feel any guilt or discomfort?”

“Ah, that’s not a problem. That wine was made from grapes that I stomp-stomped a long time ago.”

“That wine? A long time ago?”

“……Oops.”

“………”

Is she really that dumb?

I took a sip of the wine that I held in my hand.

“What is the meaning of this!? Is this what I think? Rosemary-chan’s wine was actually made from grapes stomp-stomped by those sweaty men over there!?”

The village chief from Hither Village was almost frothing at the mouth from rage. The other villagers also started to make a ruckus a few moments later. The agitation slowly began to spread through the crowd comprised of people from Hither Village.

“……Tch. Why does it matter if I lied about the manufacturing method? These men are so annoying.”

Rosemary-chan muttered those words.

“Hey, I heard that! How dare you make fools of us, you little girl!”

“…Hmph. I know that you’re actually my fan.”

“That’s a different matter! In the first place, I only bought wine from Yonder Village because I thought that you had stomp-stomped the grapes for it!”

“How disgusting.”

I had to agree with her.

However, the village chief from Hither Village didn’t seem to agree, and his face went red as though he was drunk.

“It’s not disgusting! Don’t mess with me, you brat!”

Saying that, he grabbed some grapes from a person who was standing close by, and threw them at her.

Most of the grapes that were sent flying scored a direct hit on Rosemary-chan. The ones that missed her hit the tough-looking men, and myself as well, releasing their juice.

“……Haa?”

Why do I have to share in the damage as well?

Seeing Rosemary-chan drenched in grape juice, the people from Yonder Village got angry as well.

“You bastard! What do you think you’re doing to our Rosemary-chan!?”

“Go to hell, damn geezer!”

“Die!!”

The people of Yonder Village imitated the village chief, and started throwing grapes at the people from Hither Village.

After that, the situation devolved into something that was hard to even look at. The people of Hither Village and Yonder Village began throwing grapes at each other, with Rosemary-chan, the tough-looking men, and myself caught in between.

I’m sure they had intended to throw the grapes at people from the other village.

However, being caught in between, we were hit by a lot of the grapes that missed their mark and were soon drenched in grape juice.

“………”

Why do I have to get mixed up in this as well?

I took another sip of the wine. It was delicious.

“……What are you going to do about this?”

“………”

We were gradually covered in grape juice from head to toe.

My irritation mounted each time I was hit, and eventually, I stopped caring altogether. The blood rushed to my head, and before I realized it, I had my staff out.

I feel a little hot, maybe I’m drunk as well.

“Fufu. Ufufu. Seriously… You’re all making fun of me, aren’t you?”

Saying that, I waved my staff.

I used my magic to catch the grapes that came flying towards me, and used all my power to send them flying back at high speed in the direction that they had come from. While taking sips of the wine, I ensured that people from both villages were entirely covered in grape juice.

The grapes that I was reflecting were basically moving like bullets at this point.

“Haha! Ahahahahahaha! Hahahahahaha!”

By the way, who was this girl who was relentlessly attacking the villagers while laughing like a demon?

That’s right, it’s me.

In any case.

I’ve been told that something like that happened to me in that village, but I don’t remember it at all.

However, it’s true that there was such an incident.

When I woke up with a pounding headache, I saw that I was underneath a sky that was far too dazzling, with the people of both villages strewn about and covered in grape juice, and Rosemary-chan in tears saying “I’m sorry, I won’t do it again.”

After talking to the fearful girl, I learned what had happened to me. In fact, my memories from when I had taken her out of the factory were absent, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up under the blue sky. However, looking at the scene around me, I could tell that people had indeed been throwing grapes at each other.

“……Uuu. My head hurts. I feel like it’s going to break.”

I stood up while holding my head and walked unsteadily towards the village chief’s house.

There’s no way that I can stomp grapes while experiencing so much pain. Actually, all the villagers are collapsed and covered in grape juice, so there’s no reason for me to stomp on any grapes in the first place. Rather, there are no grapes left to stomp on. They’ve all been crushed, and are strewn over the ground.

Most of the people here are unconscious, except for a few like Rosemary-chan. I should use this opportunity to escape.

………

Maybe I caused the situation to take such a turn because I was tired of stomping grapes, but I can’t really remember because of my headache.

Well, I should just be glad that things turned out for the better without me having to do anything annoying.

“…My head hurts.”

I changed my clothes at the village chief’s house and flew away on my broom while still smelling of grapes.

My first experience with drinking alcohol just left me with a horrible headache and uncertain memories.

●

“—After that incident, both villages started the practice of throwing grapes at around this time.”

“Eh. Sorry Grandpa, I don’t really understand how that story led to this.”

The old man gave a simple explanation to the boy who struggled to understand.

“The throwing of grapes was more fun than we had thought, so we decided to do it every year right after the harvest to release our stress. I’m not really sure why, but after we started doing that our harvests became more plentiful, and the efficiency of our work increased as well.”

“I see.”

After nodding several times the boy tilted his head.

“Ah, by the way. The Rosemary-chan who you talked about in your story, is she…”

“That’s right. It’s the same Rosemary-chan who works as a grape-stomping girl in Yonder Village. After that incident, she apparently started working properly. That’s a good thing.”

“So she still stomps grapes?”

“Indeed.”

“She’s past thirty now, isn’t she?”

“Yes, she has ripened very well.”

“……”

The boy was unable to hold back his tears after considering the bitter things Rosemary-chan had gone through.

“In any case, the annual event carried out by our villages is now finally at its tenth year.”

After nodding, the boy asked,

“By the way, Grandpa. What’s that wine bottle you’re holding?”

It was a different bottle from the one his Grandpa had mentioned in his story.

It had a label with the words 『The best wine from Hither Village』, 『Made with my feelings of hatred and irritation』, 『Origin: The Witch of Ashes, Elaina-san』 printed on it, along with a picture of a girl stomping on grapes with a smile steeped in darkness.

“Oh this? This is it—the wine made by the witch-san I just told you about.”

“You didn’t drink it?”

“No, it would be a waste to do that.”

A cute exterior, with an unspeakably evil smile. And since it has a picture of her actually stomping the grapes, there are people who will buy it in spite of the ridiculously high price.

In the end, the Witch of Ashes’ wine that was marketed as a super high quality product was sold out in no time at all.

Seeing as it was a rare opportunity, the village chief secretly bought one for himself. It is said that the village chief is still carrying it around carefully without drinking it. He was even saying something about making it a heirloom.

By the way.

About that wine that sold out in no time.

As it was a legendary product of which only a few bottles were ever sold, it is said that they are still being traded amongst hardcore fans for a high price.