The Three Elders of the Forest (2)

Seeing Lizzie coquettishly whining in front of the Three Elders of the Forest was quite a shock to me as well.

Especially since the elders’ expressions as they received Lizzie’s charms didn’t seem entirely displeased.

“Elder Chuchu~, can’t I please take the witch exam this time~?”

“Hmm… Well… I don’t know…”

“Recently, not a single outsider who took the witch exam has passed to the end… Even for someone like Lizzie, I wonder if it’s alright…”

Though I didn’t fully understand the context, it seemed Lizzie was quite interested in this witch exam.

Despite appearances, Lizzie was actually the vice-president of the Academy’s Pharmacy Department. In fact, her grades were second only to Lara, making her effectively the top student among non-witch humans.

So in a way, it was only natural for her to be interested in becoming a witch.

‘I wondered how she managed to enroll as the vice-president of the Pharmacy Department…’

She must have built connections with the witches beforehand to secure her spot in the Pharmacy Department.

Even a fraction of the pharmaceutical knowledge possessed by witches would grant talent surpassing that of an average apothecary-even without becoming a witch.

This was the moment I accidentally discovered the secret of how Lizzie had enrolled in the Academy’s Pharmacy Department.

“I’ll never give up~! Right, Elder Tteut~? And didn’t I gift you that imported rocking chair last time~?”

“Y-You wouldn’t take it back if I say no, would you…? T-That’s not fair…”

“Oh, nothing like that. Actually, among the things I brought this time, there’s a cushion perfectly fitted for that rocking chair-stuffed with duck down, so it’s incredibly soft~. It was really hard to obtain, but I suppose I could give it to you as a gift, Elder Tteut~.”

“D-Duck down…? Super soft…?”

“What about me…? Do I not get a gift…?”

“Of course you do, Elder Chuchu~! Didn’t you say you were curious about ice cream last time? I brought some in a magic tool that keeps it cold~.”

“I-Ice cream…!”

…That aside, she was truly impressive in many ways. How on earth had she grown so close to the Three Elders of the Forest that she could butter them up like this?

She even knew exactly what each elder liked. Elder Chuchu loved sweets. Elder Tteut preferred comfortable furniture. And as for the ‘young’ Elder Coco, well…

“……”

“‘Young’ Elder Coco. I brought lots of pretty clothes that would suit you this time too. Should I bring them to you later?”

“……”

-Nod.

“Karaham, you heard that, right? Quickly bring the duck-down cushion, the freezing magic tool, and the clothes box from the carriage… Huh?”

“Hello, Miss Lizzie.”

“……”

When Lizzie turned her gaze toward the entrance where Karaham stood, our eyes naturally met. For a moment, Lizzie’s expression froze in confusion before suddenly lighting up as if she had run into an old friend.

“Lillith~!”

“I didn’t expect to meet you here of all places.”

“Long time no see~! I never thought we’d run into each other during summer break~!”

“Yes. I’m sorry I couldn’t see you at the last student council meeting, but it’s nice to meet you like this outside.”

“Right! You and I must be connected by an unbreakable thread of fate~!”

“……”

“……”

“……”

“…Well, maybe so.”

Lizzie, embracing me like a girl meeting her best friend, expressed her joy at our reunion with her whole body.

Meanwhile, the three elders stared at me with strangely prickly gazes, as if I had stolen their “only friend.”

It’s not like I was the one who hugged her first, so why…?

“Uuu… Uuuuh…”

And for some reason, Lara, who had been standing beside me, was also giving me a similar look.

And why are you like this too, seriously.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

The elders’ strange hostility toward me temporarily subsided thanks to the gifts Lizzie had prepared, and the atmosphere became amicable again.

“C-Cold…! Cold and sweet…!”

“So soft… Hehehe…”

“……”

Chuchu, Tteut, and even the ‘young’ Coco-each wore blissful smiles as they enjoyed their gifts.

It was an unintentional but firsthand demonstration of Lizzie’s business acumen.

‘Seeing them like this, they really do look like little girls.’

Witches living in the Witch’s Forest stop aging at a certain point and then begin to grow younger from another point onward.

From birth to twenty-five is the “growth” period. From twenty-five to eighty is the “maintenance” period. And from eighty until death is the “rejuvenation” period.

The reason witches maintain their youth after twenty-five is due to the “Elixir of Immortality,” a potion only witches can make. A potion of youth that only witches, who have consumed various elixirs since childhood, can digest.

Since witches and ordinary humans have fundamentally different constitutions, for outsiders, the elixir would be closer to poison than a miracle.

And the reason witches stop aging and grow younger around eighty is because they trade their bodies for “lifespan.”

Witches can trade lifespan using a “Scales” only they can use.

In exchange for gaining lifespan, witches can offer two things: “height” and “bust size.” Roughly, 1 cm of height equals 1 year, and 1 cm of bust circumference equals 1 year.

For example, if a witch is 180 cm tall with a bust circumference of 110 cm, the maximum she can sacrifice is 80 cm in height and 60 cm in bust-totaling 140 years, allowing her to live up to 220 years.

Beyond that, the sacrifices would impair basic life functions, so witches set the limit at 100 cm in height and 50 cm in bust circumference. Thus, a witch who lives a full lifespan would have the physique of a three- or four-year-old girl-though the proportions would differ slightly from an actual child.

In other words, being an elder of the Witch’s Forest meant being the oldest witch in the forest-and paradoxically, the one with the youngest appearance.

Chuchu had retained some height but sacrificed most of her bust, giving her the appearance of a ten-year-old girl.

Tteut, who loved soft and fluffy things, had barely sacrificed any bust, resulting in a peculiar figure resembling a child with an overly developed chest.

And the ‘young’ Coco, the eldest of them all, had sacrificed nearly all her height and bust.

‘Since we’re here for the witch exam, but the atmosphere is like this, I guess we can’t bring it up right now.’

It would be better to wait until they were in the best mood rather than interrupting their enjoyment of Lizzie’s gifts.

Since they wouldn’t refuse Lara’s request outright, it was better to ask when they were most relaxed.

Besides, I had plenty of questions for Lizzie too, so there was no need to rush.

“Miss Lizzie, I think I overheard you talking about the witch exam earlier. Did you come here to take it too?”

“Huh, Lillith? Your speech has gotten a bit more casual. Before, you were really stiff. And you’re not even wearing your maid outfit.”

“…There were some circumstances. I think I’ll keep speaking like this throughout summer break.”

“That’s much more comfortable. The old Lillith seemed to keep her distance from almost everyone, including me.”

“…It wasn’t about keeping distance. When I wore the maid outfit, I just wanted to live with the mindset of a maid.”

“But the clothes you wore at the Academy weren’t a maid outfit. They were just the Academy uniform with some frills added…”

“If I thought of them as a maid outfit, then they were a maid outfit, Miss Lizzie.”

“…Well, if Lillith says so, then I guess that’s how it is.”

For some reason, Lizzie looked at me with a strangely pitying gaze, as if I had said something bizarre.

“Ah, right, we were talking about the witch exam, weren’t we?”

“Yes.”

“When you asked if I ‘also’ came for the witch exam, does that mean you’re here to take it too?”

“Not me, but my friend is planning to take it.”

“…The person hiding behind you right now? Huh, now that I look, she seems familiar…”

Well, of course she would. They were the top two students in the Pharmacy Department.

“Ah, Lara! Long time no see!”

“A-Ah, h-h-hi…”

“Come to think of it, Lara is from the Witch’s Forest, right? Then we can take the witch exam together this time!”

“A-Ah, w-w-well, nothing’s decided yet…”

“We didn’t talk much at the Academy, did we? But how did you become friends with Lillith when you’re not even in the same department? Not that I have room to talk since I’m Lillith’s friend too, but you avoided even me, who’s in the same department…”

“W-W-We’re not, um, c-close friends or anything… R-Rosewood and I only, uh, just became friends today…”

“Ah, right, Lara. Are you taking Herbal Botany next semester? I heard there’s a group project in that class. If you don’t mind, would you like to be in my group…?”

“A-Ah, uh, I-I’m not… mentally prepared for that…”

“Wait, Miss Lizzie. You’re scaring Mediciling.”

Lara was trembling so violently against my shoulder that I had to step between them to stop the conversation.

“Sorry. I’ve been talking casually with the witches in the forest lately, so I accidentally spoke to Lara the same way.”

“Haa, haa, haa, haa…”

Lizzie looked genuinely apologetic, while Lara clung tightly to my shoulder, panting heavily.

Wait, she talks casually with the witches in the forest? Since when did she start trading with the Witch’s Forest to make that possible?

Even with my past-life knowledge, achieving something like that seemed impossible. Just how high is her social skill level?

…Well, I guess that’s how she managed to butter up the Three Elders so thoroughly. And it explains how she got into the Academy as the Pharmacy Department’s vice-president with just a fraction of the witches’ knowledge.

In this world where she was supposed to have died, Lizzie was running around everywhere, making up for lost time.

“So, Lillith, you’re just here to help Lara with her exam?”

“…Something like that.”

“Hmm, I see. I thought you might have come to buy something the forest needed.”

“That too. It’d be a shame to visit and not buy anything…”

“Ah, if that’s the case, our August Trading Company can help! Ah, though it’ll have to be after my witch exam. But since I’ve already made connections with most of the witches here, I can get almost anything you need.”

“…Not that I absolutely need it, but could you get dried mandrake?”

“…Hmm.”

“Wh-What…?”

“It’s nothing. I was just thinking how Lillith seems cold on the outside but must have a really passionate relationship with her fiancé.”

“I-I never said it was for that! I was just curious if you could get some…”

“Sure, sure. I’ll get you ten roots, just to be safe~.”

I never said I needed that many.

…Well, not like having extra is a bad thing. Sure.