I Became a Forest Witch Who Raises Dragons

Where Are Your Parents?

“Mmm…”
I opened my eyes to the sound of birds coming from the window.

Seeing the warm sunlight gently settling, it seems morning has come.
‘Should I sleep a little more…’

There’s not much to do even if I get up anyway.
…The vegetable garden I recently started growing doesn’t need much tending now, and I finished clearing the surrounding magical beasts yesterday.

In fact, I could grow it to a size that would put Jack’s beanstalk to shame with just one spell, but wouldn’t that lack romance?
“Witch, go away!!!!”
“Get out of our village!!!! You witch who brings misfortune!!!”

I lightly ignore the jeers from the villagers as always. They came early this morning too.
This is my house. What do you mean, telling me to leave as you please.

It’s thanks to me clearing the surrounding magical beasts that you can live comfortably.
…I don’t have much to say since they’ve been like this after I accidentally burned down the village last time.
I didn’t know the output would be that strong. But I still put out the fire, didn’t I?

‘Though it caused problems with flooding.’
Come to think of it, it does seem like it was my fault.
“All things. Be silent.”

As I chant a simple spell, all the surrounding sounds disappear.
Complete silence. It feels like I’m left alone in outer space.

‘Let’s just sleep.’
As expected… this griffin feather pillow is… the best…

A burning pain surges through my abdomen.
At the same time, blood gushes out like a fountain.

The question “Why?” stormed through my mind.
“Wh…why..”

The one who stabbed me was my most trusted friend.
The one I’ve been with since elementary school until now. The friend I would say I’d die together with when the time came.
For me, who only had a younger sister as family, he was a friend more precious than anything.

And now that guy has stabbed me with a kitchen knife.
“Why, you ask? If I kill you, the position of CEO will fall into my lap.”

My consciousness slowly sinks.
Even the burning pain, and even the anger towards the friend who stabbed me, all fade away.

“I’ll just report you as missing for now. Don’t worry. Sleep well, my friend. Don’t worry about the company.”
And then, I met my death.
.
.
.
“Maybe I slept too much…”
I had an unpleasant dream. The memory of my previous life, before I became this body.

It seems sleeping more is out of the question, so should I get up now?
Step, step.
I slowly walked towards the bathroom.

As I opened the bathroom door, a huge mirror reflected me.
Black hair reaching down to my waist, long eyelashes and dark blue eyes slightly drooping as if tired.
A delicate jawline, a straight nose, and pale white skin.

All these features combined to create the typical appearance of a cool beautiful girl.
‘I still can’t get used to it…’
Even though it’s been almost a year since I started living in this body, I still feel a sense of discomfort every time I look in the mirror.
…I guess it can’t be helped since I lived as a man for over 25 years in my previous life.

Even after finishing a simple face wash, the uneasy feeling didn’t go away.
Because of the dream I just had.
Thump thump.

“Hic…huh…”
My heart keeps beating irregularly. My breathing becomes rapid.

Even though I’m clearly breathing, my brain keeps craving for air.
Sudden anxiety and fear.

“I’m… I’m okay…”
I stayed crouched in that spot for a long time, just waiting for my chest to calm down.

“Phew..”
As I took a deep breath, I felt the fresh air of the forest. Fortunately, it seems the people outside have left.
The people I saw through the window had all disappeared at some point.

‘It’s been a while…’
I thought I had gotten better, but it seems that wasn’t the case. To think I’m still like this.

“Ouch…”
I felt a stinging pain on the nape of my neck.
When I touched it just in case, sticky blood came off.

I must have scratched it with my nails just now…
“[Heal]”

As I finished a simple incantation, a warm light enveloped my neck.
The wound disappeared without a trace.

Magic is indeed convenient.

I covered myself with the blanket again and recalled when I first possessed this body.
.
.
.

After being killed by my most trusted friend, when I came to my senses, what I saw was a girl who called herself a goddess.
“Please..! Please protect the continent of Linia from the Demon King!”
“…Huh?”

I ended up accepting her request in a daze, and was reincarnated into the body of a girl who had been living as an experiment subject in a magic tower.

As a result of the magical knowledge forcibly injected by the psychos of the magic tower combined with the innate talent this girl originally possessed, I reached the level of a great magician in just 3 months, and then I burned down the entire magic tower that had made me an experiment subject and fled.

After that, I ended up joining the hero’s party through various circumstances, and then we defeated the Demon King.
Due to the memories of my previous life and the memories of living as an experiment subject in the magic tower, I occasionally had panic attacks, but the capable party members accepted even that.

However, the experience of being betrayed by the person I trusted the most always followed me like shackles binding me, making me afraid to form deep relationships with the party members who accepted me.

The fear of not knowing when I might be betrayed and the self-loathing towards myself who felt that way always tormented me, and I eventually chose to shut myself away in a mountain valley.
‘I thought I was completely healed now…’

Haha. A hollow laugh escaped involuntarily at the rush of self-loathing.
After defeating the Demon King, the goddess said she would grant me one wish, but…
“I don’t need it.”

“Wh…what?!”
…Since I didn’t particularly want anything, I rejected the goddess’s offer.
“Just give me a house or something. In a mountain valley.”

“If that’s what you want…. I hope your mind changes someday. May happiness find you too.”
‘Maybe I should have asked her to erase my previous life’s memories.’
I suddenly regretted rejecting the goddess’s offer. If she was a goddess, couldn’t she have cleanly erased only my previous life’s memories?
In fact, even I, as a great magician, could erase memories.

It’s just that I didn’t dare to try because it’s a dangerous operation that could turn me into a vegetable if something goes wrong.
Moreover, the automatically activated mental pollution barrier that prevents memory manipulation was another reason why I couldn’t erase my memories.
‘Let’s go for a walk….’

Realizing that there’s nothing good about moping in bed, I decided to go for a walk and left the house.
“Haaah… The forest air is really different.”
One of the things I’ve come to like since coming to this other world is this natural environment.

This place, which could be said to be almost untouched by human hands, retained the inherent beauty of the forest.
As I was enjoying the beauty of nature, I felt as if my unstable mind was being healed…
“Grooooooooar!!!!”

…but a monster that suddenly appeared completely ruined my mood.
Usually, I regularly clean up the magical beasts and monsters in this mountain, but occasionally there are some left in places I can’t reach.
The monster that just appeared in front of me is one of those cases.

It has an appearance similar to a wild boar from my previous life, but its size is roughly twice as large.
It’s one of the monsters I don’t like because despite its appearance, the meat doesn’t taste very good.
“Sorry.”

After simply drawing up magical power, I created a blade of wind and sent it towards the monster─the blade of wind, condensed to the extreme, easily cut the monster in two.
“Ugh…”
Blood splattered. It stinks…
My walk, which was supposed to be refreshing, was ruined. Why is nothing going right today..?
‘I’ll just go back…’

I turned back and headed home. I arrived at my precious haven not long after, but… something was odd.
“Did I… forget to close the door…?”
The house door was slightly open.

At this point, I could think that I just forgot to close it, but… I sensed a presence inside the house.
‘Could it be the villagers?’
…No. That’s impossible. The villagers who fear me wouldn’t dare to do something this bold.

They might set it on fire, but not this.
I carefully opened the door and went inside.
What I saw upon entering was a slightly messy interior.
Someone had definitely come in.

‘…To think someone would bring such excitement to my boring life.’
I wonder who could have done such a cute thing.
Honestly, I wasn’t scared. I’ve already defeated the Demon King, after all.
Rather, my heart was pounding a little with excitement.
‘Magical power response… found it.’

The culprit seems to still be in the house. There was a magical power response from the kitchen area.
At least it’s not a wild animal or a monster.
…It’s a bit peculiar to consider it a human magical power response, but that’s a bit concerning.
I’ll know when I check it out myself.

I stride towards the kitchen.
At the same time, I start to hear rustling sounds again. Are they trying to hide?
When I finally reached the kitchen, what I saw was a messy dining table.

“Um… Who are you?”

And in the corner of the kitchen, I noticed a girl haphazardly inhaling food ingredients.

Silver hair reaching her shoulders, and ruby-like red eyes.
At first glance, she looks like a cute little girl, but there was one peculiar thing about the girl in front of me.
That is,
‘Horns?’

On the head of the girl in front of me, there were two small but prominent horns.
‘Is she a demon? No. I don’t sense any demonic energy.’
Even in this world where various races exist, races with horns are few and far between. Especially horns of that shape.
Since I don’t sense any demonic energy, she’s not a demon, so is she a dragon?

‘Why would a dragon come all the way here?’
Dragons are an extremely reclusive race, so most of them inhabit treacherous mountain ranges or deep forests.
Although this is a mountain valley, it’s not deep enough for dragons to inhabit…
“How did a dragon end up here?”

Thinking I should hear the whole story of how the dragon came here, I spoke to the girl.

The girl, who seemed to have heard my voice, made eye contact with me.
The girl threw away the fruit she was eating and tried to escape through the window, but…
“Why… Why won’t it open!”

…her attempt was futile because I had magically locked the window.
“Because I locked it. Anyway, you. You’re a dragon, right? Why are you here?”
Why is the esteemed dragon doing a mukbang with our house’s food?

“Shat!”
But instead of answering my question, the girl threatened me by brandishing her sharp claws.
‘Oh my. Even threatening me.’

If it weren’t for that appearance, she could have been mistaken for a robber. …Shat, huh? It might be a bit cute.
But cute is cute, and the girl in front of me has entered someone else’s house without permission and is even threatening them.
I need to correct her behavior a bit.

“Wha…What’s this!!”
I adjusted the gravity around the girl slightly. Just that was enough to make the girl kneel.
Now we can have a bit of a conversation.

“Little one. Where are your parents?”
“Parents… Don’t have any!”
Oh dear.
This was my first encounter with Saya.