Continuing from the perspective of the little witch, White Bird-san.

***

I’m Rufé, a witch.
It’s been several months now since I became an orphan and started living as a lodger in the village chief’s house.


I had grown used to daily life, but people still gave me uneasy looks whenever they saw my white hair.

Living without my mother and father was painful and lonely.
Even so, I had found a new reason to live.

That reason was raising the talking flower, the Alraune.

At this point, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call her my Alraune.
I’ll make sure she grows into a splendid flower.



Winter had arrived.


This year, a severe cold wave swept across the land.
The village chief was making a fuss, saying it was a once-in-a-century snowfall.

There had even been a drought in the summer too, and with the weather growing this unstable, everyone was afraid it might be a sign of some looming natural disaster.


Even in the middle of that heavy snow, I kept flying out to see Alraune.
The snowfall was so fierce that ordinary birds couldn’t fly, but with levitation magic, moving around was easy.
I could fly without flapping my wings, after all.

The snow made it a little cold, but bird feathers were as warm as a blanket.
Thanks to that, I was able to keep visiting the Alraune without any trouble.

But one day, a problem arose.


Out of nowhere, the talking flower spoke to me!

“Hey, birdie.”

As I stared intently at the Alraune, wondering what on earth was happening, she worked her mouth with all her effort and asked me.

“Birdie, won’t you sing…?”

──Sing?

Right. Birds usually sing.
I had completely forgotten about that!

Just because I turned into a bird didn’t mean I thought I had to act exactly like one.

So until now, I’d never once tried to imitate a bird and sing.

What should I do?
If I don’t sing here, won’t she find it strange?

She wouldn’t ask something like this unless she was suspicious of the fact that I never sang like a bird.

I want to build a good relationship with Alraune.
But if she finds out I’m not a forest animal but a human, that dream would fall apart.

To monsters, humans are enemies.
She might become even more wary of me.

Now that it’s come to this, I guess I have no choice but to do it.
I’ll have to imitate a bird.

But what kind of sound do birds usually make?

Now that I think about it, I have no idea.

Now that I think about it, the birds that used to perch on the tree near my house seemed to chirp “chun-chun.”

Then maybe “chun” will do.

No way. That’s embarrassing.
Do I really have to sing?


In my entire life, I’ve never once been told to chirp like a bird.

I can’t do a bird imitation.
But if I don’t, the Alraune will get suspicious.

Can I really sing like a bird?


Looks like I’ll have to do it!

“Cheen.”

Ah, nope, it’s impossible.

So embarrassing.
I couldn’t do it right. Did she get suspicious?

Skill aside, I did sing like a bird, just like she asked.
And yet this Alraune demanded I sing again, saying, “One more time!”

What is this flower?

She’s way too strict with birds.
Does she have some kind of grudge against them?


“…Chiiyeen.”

No good. I’m too embarrassed to do it properly.

Come to think of it, I’ve never seen a human chirping like a bird.
Am I doing something incredibly humiliating right now?

“Couldn’t hear you.”

────Unbelievable.

She definitely heard me chirping just now!

Is she doing this on purpose?

Does this flower enjoy mentally tormenting birds?
Is she some kind of sadistic plant??

Well, I guess I have to see this through to the end.


“………………Chun.”

I emptied my mind and chirped.
That was probably the most bird-like sound I’d ever made.

It felt so real, I almost started to believe I was actually a bird.
Maybe this was a side effect of transforming into a bird too much.

Hmm…
I think it was about time I went back to the village.

I really don’t want to chirp like a bird anymore.
And just like that, I ended up carrying the trauma of mimicking birds with me.

Still, as far as the natural world was concerned, my gloom looked cute in comparison.



Because of the heavy snow, the Alraune was on the verge of withering.
She couldn’t endure the cold.

After all, the Alraune had the upper body of a bare human woman.
Wrapping vines around her chest wasn’t nearly enough to keep her warm.

On top of that, she seemed to be trying to wrap vines all over her body for warmth, but against the heavy snowfall, it didn’t seem to help much.

Nobody liked the cold.
I learned that people and plants were the same in that regard.

The Alraune was struggling desperately just to survive.

The proof was that she asked me.

“Bring me… flower…please.”

This Alraune could absorb the abilities of any plant she ate.
That meant she must have been looking for flowers that were resilient against winter.

If she ate flowers that bloomed during this season, she should be able to withstand the heavy snow.

So I worked hard.
In the freezing cold, I searched through the entire forest for flowers that still looked lively.
Thanks to my hard work, the talking flower was able to eat a flower that could withstand the cold.

I’m amazing!
I just want to pat myself on the back!

But my hard work wasn’t over yet.



No matter how resistant to the cold she became, the Alraune was still just a flower.

Before I knew it, she was buried in snow.

The village chief was making a fuss, claiming that this once-in-a-century snowfall must be caused by demonic influences. But honestly, what terrible luck for a flower to grow during a winter like this.

I had no choice but to clear the snow for her.
Good grief, she’s such a high maintenance flower.

I couldn’t shovel snow in bird form.
But if I let her see my human form, she would get wary, so I decided to do it at a time when no one was around.

While the Alraune was asleep in her bud, I finished the job.

By floating in the air, I could work without ever touching the snow.

Besides, with the power of my levitation magic, I could easily move the snow.
Using magic, I could even make objects I hold float like cotton.

I had secretly borrowed a shovel from the village, so I was fully prepared.
No matter how heavy the snow was, I cleared it away in no time with witchcraft.


Thanks to working while floating, I didn’t leave a single footprint.

Yes, I’m awesome.
I couldn’t help but feel proud of myself for being such a good caretaker.
Still, having to clear snow every time it falls would be a pain.


While flying around searching for snow-resistant flowers, I found one sprouting unnaturally from the snow.

When I touched it, I felt a faint warmth emanating from it.
Perhaps it was a heat producing flower.

If I let her eat this, the Alraune should be able to melt snow herself.
Just as I hoped, after eating it, Alraune seemed to gain the ability to generate heat.

She had really come a long way.
My talking flower was finally starting to grow into something I could be proud of.
Seeing her like this made all the hard work of raising her worthwhile.

After all my hard work this winter, it seemed the Alraune had finally realized my affection and warmed up to me.

From that day on, she stopped trying to eat me.

Good girl.
Maybe I’ll come water her next time.



But after that day, I was no longer able to go and water her.

Around the end of winter, the villagers found me.
Someone saw me transform from a human into a bird.


I once witnessed a woman who was killed after being falsely accused during a witch hunt.

She was captured by soldiers and nailed to a stake.
Then they set her on fire, burning her alive.

I’m going to be killed like that too.


They punched my face and accused me of causing the heavy snow.
No one listened when I said it wasn’t my fault.

Held down by the village adults, my head pressed against the ground, I imagined myself being burned alive.

I’m sorry, Alraune.
It looks like I won’t be able to look after you anymore.

I hate humans.
They’re always so quick to try to kill me.

Hating the world itself, I let my tears fall onto the dirt.


A few days after being locked up in the village barn, my execution date was set.

Tomorrow, I will be burned.


As a witch.

***

Author’s Note:

Thank you for reading.

Next Time: Diary; The Little Witch’s First Plant Cultivation Project (Spring)