I Became a Forest Witch Who Raises Dragons

The Night Is No Longer Cold

—–

On a night when the evening sunset had completely set.
Marian and I were standing in front of the warp gate in Lonzville.
Since Marian couldn’t use transfer magic, I had to use transfer magic to bring her to the warp gate.

“Marian. Shouldn’t you at least eat dinner before you go…..”
“It’s alright. ……If I’m away from my duties for too long, I’ll get scolded by my lieutenants.”

Swish. Marian slowly approached and gently hugged me.
The height difference between us was roughly a head’s difference.
As a result, I, being relatively smaller, ended up completely buried in Marian’s embrace.

“Marian.. I can’t breathe…”
“Think of it as punishment for not contacting us for half a year. Ariel. If you disappear again, I really won’t let you off easy, so be prepared.”
“…Don’t worry. That will definitely never happen.”

Hearing my firm answer, Marian looked at me with a gentle smile.
A dazzling smile that made me wonder if she was trying to seduce me.
I sincerely thought it was a shame that Marian usually wore a helmet.

‘My heart is fluttering a bit…’
After being momentarily captivated by that smile, I came back to my senses and bid farewell to Marian.
“Marian. See you again.”
“…Yes. Let’s meet again. Ariel.”

Step step.
Marian slowly walked towards the warp gate.
Eventually, she entered the warp gate and warped to her destination.
‘She’s gone…’

My heart ached a little at parting with a friend I hadn’t seen in a long time, but I soon composed myself.
We can meet again after all.
I gazed at the warp gate Marian had left for a moment, then headed towards where the children were waiting for me.

.
.
.
“It’s… delicious…”
“Hmph. Ariel’s cooking is always delicious!”
‘Saya, why are you the one boasting…?’
That’s cute too.

Although it became a late dinner, I made a stew with deer meat for Saya and the elf girl who had waited so nicely.
I had a fixed idea in my head that elves were vegetarians, but fortunately, the elf girl was eating deliciously.
She’s already eating the stew hurriedly, showing the bottom of the bowl.

‘That’s good…. Hm?’
The elf girl suddenly burst into tears while eating the stew.
Transparent tears began to flow one by one down her cheeks.
“Why… why are you crying… Puel? Is the stew so delicious that you’re crying?”
Saya asked the elf girl in confusion upon seeing this.

Puel..? Could it be Puel because she’s an elf..?
“I… really… don’t have to… be sold… I realized…”
“There’s no way Puel would be sold! Puel is not an object!”

Saya is right. People can’t be sold because they’re not objects. The same goes for elves who aren’t human.
…But for the girl in front of me, this wasn’t obvious. Because she had been in such an environment.
Although she must have spent every day in despair, she hadn’t shown much joy even after I rescued her from that place until now.

‘…She probably couldn’t believe it.’
And now her emotions must have finally welled up.
“Th-thank you… Miss Ariel…”
“…It’s nothing. Do you want more stew? There’s a lot left.”
“Sniff…. Yes…”

The elf girl ate three more bowls of stew after that. She ate well.
After finishing our meal, we all sat in the living room.
The elf girl was blushing, probably embarrassed about having cried.

‘Since we’re living together now, I should give her a name…’
But Puel doesn’t seem quite right.
“By the way. Saya, is this child’s name Puel?”
“Yes. It’s Puel!”
“Could it be… Puel because she’s an elf?”

Saya proudly nodded at my question.
“That’s right!”
It was as I expected.
“…Puel. Do you like the name Puel? Or there are other names like Elizabeth or Horulpup.”

I decided to give Puel a chance to choose her name.
…Puel’s expression seemed to harden a bit upon hearing my suggestion.
“P-Puel seems good!! I like it!!”
She told me in a somewhat excited voice.

‘I thought Elizabeth would suit her perfectly.’
It seems she liked the name Puel more than expected. That’s a bit disappointing.
“Alright then. I’ll call you Puel from now on. Nice to meet you, Puel.”
“Nice to meet you!”

Puel looked blank for a moment after hearing our greetings.
“Nice… to meet you..!”
Eventually, Puel greeted us with a dazzling smile.
On this day, our family grew by one member.

——

“I’m sorry □□. Take good care of the house.”
“…Yes.”

Actually, I knew. That Mother would not return home again.
Because I saw her packing the few belongings in our house last night without sleeping.
I couldn’t take my eyes off Mother’s back, which might be the last time I’d see it, until it disappeared.

I am a half-elf.
In Father’s words, a dirty hybrid.
A being that is neither elf nor human.
I was an existence unwelcome by anyone.

Thanks to that, unwelcome in both the cities where humans live and the forests where elves live, I was living somewhat difficultly with my mother on the outskirts of the city.
My mother said that before she gave birth to me, she worked selling beauty to men.
I don’t know what kind of work selling beauty is, but Mother’s face looked somehow sad when she told me about it, so I couldn’t ask more.

Then one day, she said she met Father. And then she gave birth to me.

After giving birth to me and when I had grown a bit, we went to where Father was, but…
“…Bringing a dirty hybrid bitch with you.”
…We weren’t welcomed, it seems.

On the way home that day, noticing the anger and resentment mixed in Mother’s eyes as she looked at me, I realized.
Ah. I was a being that shouldn’t have been born─that’s what I realized.

“I’m sorry □□. Take good care of the house.”
“…Yes.”
So even though I knew Mother would never return, I couldn’t stop her. Because that would have been my selfish desire.
…Actually, I wanted to stop her. Because the nights alone were especially colder and lonelier.

One day, as I was somehow clinging to my tenacious life.
“Boss. Look at this! It’s amazing!!”
“What’s all the fuss about…”
Men with disgusting gazes mixed with desire.
Legs that wouldn’t move due to fear, them approaching closer and closer.
The scream that escaped my throat was helplessly swallowed by the air… and after that day, hellish days began.

Inside a cold prison vibrating with a disgusting stench.
Days where the cold stone floor stole my body heat, and screams from around continuously chipped away at my mind.
Endless pain, hunger, pain, hunger, pain, hunger, pain, hunger, pain, hunger, pain, hunger, pain, hunger…

They pushed me endlessly until the answer they wanted came out of my mouth─and they called that ‘education’.
Education to create a docile slave before being sold as merchandise.
“Open your mouth. It’s precious, so you know what happens if you spill it, right?”
“Yes…yes…yesyes..yes….”

During the days when I wished for death rather than life.

They cut off my ears and fed me strange powder.
Gripped by fear, I ate the powder they gave without spilling it, and strangely, after that day, I couldn’t remember my name.
The memories after that are hazy, so I don’t remember well.

“Isn’t it about time we can sell her, Boss?”
“…That pervert has been pestering me about when she’ll be shipped out.”
“Then… can’t we have a taste just once? I thought I was going to die holding back all this time.”
“Shut up. You know how sensitive those bastards are about that. You want to ruin the business?”

Men discussing my treatment outside the bars. Someone started calling them urgently.

“Bosses!!!! An ‘intruder’ has appeared upstairs!!!”
“What?! It’s the day the brats are coming in. Fuck…. Hey. Let’s go.”

I wonder what’s happening?
Some time after the men went up, I heard someone coming down.
A familiar man’s voice and a woman’s soft voice I was hearing for the first time.
And the footsteps gradually came closer towards me.

“…These bastards. They even laid hands on an elf?”
The woman who was slowly examining me easily cut through the iron bars that seemed like they would never be breached, and approached me.
“Who… are you…”

The voice that escaped my dry, twisted lips was a harsh voice that sounded like scraping metal, even to my own ears.
Has the time finally come for me to be sold?
Or could it be…?
Hope that I thought I had already abandoned deep in my heart slowly rose to the surface, but I forcibly suppressed that hope.
‘There’s no way…’

Because when you have hope, it’s that much more painful when that hope is shattered.
But the beautiful woman in front of me said the words I had so longed to hear.
The situation I had imagined hundreds, no, thousands of times in my head.
That moment I had only dared to imagine in this space where endless despair gripped my body.

“…My name is Ariel. I’ve come to save you.”
On that day, a ray of light reached out to me in my life where endless darkness had settled.

“Sniff…. Hic….”
I woke up from sleep due to my pounding heart.
…I don’t remember the content of the dream well, but it seems it was a painful and sad dream.

It’s been a week since I came to this house, but it still feels like a dream that I’m here.
I wondered if this might still be a dream, but… when I pinched my cheek, I felt a sharp pain, so it wasn’t a dream.
My cheek stings a bit, but even that pain made me happy. Because it meant that me being in this house wasn’t a dream.

“Zzzz…. Zzz..”

A cute breathing sound reaches my ears.
Feeling a warm warmth, I looked around and saw a cute girl hugging me.
The child who gave me the name Puel. Saya.
Next to her, Ariel, who saved me, was also sleeping quietly.

I squeezed between the two of them, feeling their warmth, and fell asleep again.
The night is no longer cold.