Chapter 75

「I can dodge on my own, so I’ll be fine, Witch-sama. …Besides, it didn’t even come close enough to hit me.」

(S-Sorry. I was startled…)

In my surprise, I had pulled Noel toward me and ended up startling him instead. His head bumped lightly against my chest, but fortunately he was wearing the hat I had given him, so the flower should have acted as a cushion and kept him from getting hurt. …My body does not possess a human’s softness after all.

(But I don’t intend to make myself softer… It would lower my defense…)

As a plant, I am already weak when viewed in terms of defensive ability. I imagine it would be relatively easy to cut or burn me. Well, as long as even a fragment of me remained, I could probably regenerate, so I would not die, but I still had no intention of evolving in a way that deliberately lowered my defense. That would not be evolution, but degeneration. It would be wrong for a monster to pay the price of precious points that can only be obtained by defeating monsters and leveling up, just to degenerate.

「Mister Adventurer, are you all right?」

「Ugh… Y-Yeah… I’m fine…」

(He doesn’t look fine. He can’t even lift his face.)

The man crouched on the ground glanced up at Ellie, who spoke to him with concern, and Miriya, who stood in front of her protectively, but he immediately lowered his face again and remained curled up without moving. It looked as though he had managed to break his fall, but if he was in too much pain to move, that was serious.

As a benevolent witch, I could not simply do nothing, so I clasped both hands together, created a fruit of ghost-fire grass in them, and poured the wound medicine I had produced into it. When I placed the finished medicinal fruit in front of the adventurer, he noticed it and looked back and forth between me and the medicine in confusion.

「It’s wound medicine. Witch-sama wants you to use it.」

The adventurer looked up at me as though trying to assess me, and I almost let out a short shriek at the sight of his rugged face. Perhaps he really was in a great deal of pain, because his eyes were slightly watery. He picked up the wound medicine, quietly murmured, 「Thank you, Witch-sama」 drank it down, and lowered his head again. …His injuries should have healed, so why could he still not raise his face?

(…Um… Then maybe it’s emotional damage…?)

I remembered that anyone could trip and fall in front of others, but when it happened, it somehow felt embarrassing. Thinking that perhaps he could not stand while people were watching him, I quietly looked away.

「Hmm… I see. Leonhart’s the one doing it.」

(Huh? Leonhart-san threw this person…? Why?)

「That man is ridiculously strong. Strength is the most important thing to adventurers, so everyone will properly listen to what he says.」

Following Miriya’s gaze toward the square, I looked over there again as well. The square was still surrounded by spectators and filled with lively chatter. The wall of people blocked my view, so I could not see clearly, but apparently Miriya could tell what was happening.

「Oh, Mother is there too. Miriya-chan, let’s go!」

「Yeah. …See you later.」

Having finished their task of coming to fetch me, the two of them quickly ran off and slipped into the ring of villagers. Noel also walked closer to the square, his tail swaying restlessly.

(It looks dangerous, so I don’t want to get any closer, but being left alone with this adventurer is scary too…)

After hesitating for a moment, I left that spot and followed behind Noel. When I approached, the villagers noticed me and made room, finally allowing me to see the square.

There, Leonhart appeared to be sparring with the adventurers. There were no weapons; it was a barehanded fight. …I decided I should at least observe the knights’ abilities, and joined the spectators while trembling.

(He makes fighting look so easy… Or rather, maybe it really is easy for him. His movements aren’t like those of any human I know…)

I had not known how capable the knights were, but Leonhart, at least, was someone who could truly fight. As though dealing with children, he easily redirected the adventurers’ strength. His opponent, who kept trying to grapple him, was breathing heavily, while Leonhart remained perfectly composed.

The young women of the village watching him let out high-pitched cheers, while the men gave impressed exclamations of 「Oh!」 and even applauded without thinking, enjoying the spectacle.

(Hmm… Leonhart-san is a captain, so he must be stronger than others, but if there are many people around his level, I might be in some danger too… I-I really should make sure to stay on good terms with him.)

The strategy was to grow close to him and appeal to his emotions, making it psychologically difficult for him to become my enemy. While I was occupied with thoughts of self-preservation, Leonhart seemed to finish beating down every adventurer except Miriya, and brought the session to a close with a casual bow.

Then he looked in our direction, and, noticing me, ran over with a bright expression.

「Witch-dono, Noel-dono, good morning. …I heard yesterday was difficult. Noel-dono, you must have gone through something painful as well.」

「No, I’m all right. …Um, what is happening here?」

「We decided to hold joint training between the knight order and the adventurers, and to make it open for everyone to watch. …Once a hierarchy has been established, adventurers will follow the order. You two no longer need to worry.」

(Oh, so that’s what he meant by reassuring me…)

Apparently, he intended to make the adventurers 「understand」 through force and compel them to fall in line. By doing so, he would restrain their discriminatory behavior toward beastkin and ensure that I would no longer have to intervene.

I was grateful, certainly. But Leonhart, wearing a refreshing smile after throwing people around, was a little frightening, so I gently kept a hand on Noel’s shoulder to make sure he did not move away from in front of me. …For some reason, his tail wagged happily between us.