Chapter 25: To the Flower Witch

Lately, I’ve been working on merging geometric beauty with artistic aesthetics.

It doesn’t do much to improve my staff’s performance, but hey, I want to focus on its appearance, too. While I do like a rugged staff, there’s no harm in going for some flair, right?

Through Professor Ōhinata, I’ve been sourcing books on mathematics and art, spending my days curled up in my warm charcoal-heated kotatsu, reading endlessly. I jot down ideas whenever inspiration strikes. It’s winter, so no fieldwork for now. Thanks to the kotatsu and the wood stove, the room stays cozy even without electricity.

For dinner, I feast on freshly steamed new rice. Breakfast is the leftover rice from the day before, boiled in fresh water with shavings of dried fish, mushrooms, dried radish, and a pinch of salt, turning it into a hearty porridge.

It’s all so good. New rice has a completely different texture, aroma, and flavor compared to aged rice.

By spring, the miso and soy sauce I made myself will finally finish fermenting. Once ready, I’ll be able to cook freely without worrying about running out of these essential seasonings. I’m looking forward to it.

Living a self-sufficient life in my mountain workshop, I woke up one morning and noticed something strange—a mushroom growing on my head.

It’s been nearly four years since the Gremlin disaster, and I’ve gotten used to all sorts of weird occurrences, but this? This was terrifying.

Could this be from eating too many mushrooms?!

Shaking with fear, I examined the mushroom. It wasn’t a type I’d seen before. Unlike the edible ones I forage in the mountains, this one had a sinister look. Its cap was a mottled mix of purple and red, and the stem had grooves that resembled a human face.

Creepy.

Fearing it was harmful, I immediately plucked it off and gave my head a thorough shampooing to wash away any lingering roots.

After removing it and showering, I felt strangely lighter. Was it some kind of parasitic mushroom?

Not sure if it was a rare Earth species or a special kind of monster, I decided to preserve it as a specimen. I pickled it in alcohol and placed it in a jar.

Looking at the mushroom floating in the jar, I found it unsettling but also oddly amusing. Kind of like a lost baby tooth. Probably. I don’t know.

Two days later, I took the mushroom specimen and a board game over to the Blue Witch’s house. I had asked her familiar, the eyeball, if I could visit, but I didn’t get a reply. She’s probably still mad about that one time I blocked her messages—guess this is payback.

Seriously, though, how childish can she be?

Still, she was really into this board game the last time we played, so I figured she’d bite if I brought it over. Plus, I wanted to ask her about the mushroom. Witches seem like they’d know a lot about strange fungi. Or is that just a stereotype?

When I arrived at her house, I was shocked to find her lying down just inside the entrance.

“Huh? What the hell are you doing?”

Is she really lying on the floor at the front door? That’s something you’d expect from an overworked office worker at the end of their rope, not her.

Carefully stepping around her to avoid accidentally kicking her, I noticed she was clutching a letter in her hand.

“What’s up with you? And what’s this letter?”

Seriously, what’s going on? Also… is that a mushroom growing on her head, too? Is this some kind of trend now?

Curious, I picked up the letter out of sheer interest.

The sender was “The Seer Mage.”

Huh. Some sort of witches’ conference correspondence?

I wanted to read it, but staring too long at someone else’s letter felt wrong. I was about to put it back in her hand when I noticed the recipient’s name.

It wasn’t her letter.

The letter was addressed to “Whoever is standing at the Blue Witch’s front door at 9:33 AM on February 8, 2028.”

I stared at the name, then at the clock on the wall. The hands pointed to 9:33.

“What the…?”

This is creepy.

I’d heard the Seer Mage could see the future, but to this level of detail? That’s terrifying. It’s like having all your personal data exposed.

But then again, they didn’t include my name. So it’s not like they know everything about me, right?

Feeling uneasy, I glanced around the room. Could the Seer Mage be watching me even now? Not that I could do anything about it if they were, but it’s unsettling.

After a moment of staring at the letter’s address, I turned my attention to the Blue Witch lying at my feet.

“Hey, uh, this letter’s for me, isn’t it? Mind if I read it?”

However, there was no response.

The silence was so unnerving that I leaned closer to check her breathing, only to find her softly exhaling.

Ah, she’s alive. Thank goodness.

Still, she sleeps like the dead. I’ve never actually seen her asleep before, so I didn’t know.

It felt wrong to leave her lying on the cold dirt floor of the entryway, so I dragged her over to the fluffy doormat in the hallway and laid her there.

I took off my winter coat and draped it over her before opening the letter to read.

“Nice to meet you. I’m the Seer Mage, a member of the Tokyo Witches’ Gathering. I foresaw the future where you are here reading this letter, and so I wrote it. Time is of the essence, so let me get straight to the point. You must go to the Flower Witch immediately and acquire the cure for this terrible plague. While I would prefer you to read the rest of this letter on your way there, I realize you probably won’t agree to such a sudden request without an explanation. Let me start by summarizing the situation. You may already know some of this, but I want to ensure there are no misunderstandings. Currently, a strange disease that causes mushrooms to grow from people’s heads is spreading rapidly, centered around Tokyo. This mushroom parasitically absorbs the host’s stamina and magic energy to grow. The symptoms progress in three stages:

1. Incubation Period
   The host feels perfectly healthy and is unaware of the infection. However, they are highly contagious and can spread the disease to others.
2. Pre-Symptomatic Stage
   The mushroom begins to draw stamina and magic energy from the host, leading to fatigue.
3. Symptomatic Stage
   Mushrooms visibly grow from the host’s head as the parasitic process accelerates.

In this final stage, the symptoms diverge into two types depending on the conditions: Mild Type and Severe Type.

• Mild Type
  Symptoms are limited to a slight fever, and the disease can be completely cured by removing the mushroom from the head.

Judging from the fact that you don’t have a mushroom growing from your head, you either haven’t been infected or have already recovered after removing the mushroom. You can relax on that front.

• Severe Type
  If the infected person has ever lost consciousness due to magic energy depletion, the disease inevitably progresses from the Mild Type to the Severe Type.

In the Severe Type, the mushroom aggressively absorbs both stamina and magic energy. Magic becomes unusable, and removing the mushroom worsens the condition, as it regenerates immediately. The rapid depletion of energy causes symptoms such as confusion, loss of sensory perception, and eventually coma. At this stage, even intravenous drips are ineffective, and the host ultimately dies after being completely drained. Those afflicted with the Severe Type die within 2–5 days. Tragically, the mortality rate is 100%.”

I looked up from the letter, my gaze falling on the Blue Witch, who was still motionless on the doormat.

Nervously, I reached out and removed the mask she always wore.

Underneath was the face of a beautiful young girl—pale as a ghost.

“What the hell?! Her complexion’s awful! This is the Severe Type! The one with a 100% mortality rate!”

I shouldn’t be standing around reading this damn letter!

The cure is with the Flower Witch, right?!

“Hold on! I’ll get you to the Flower Witch right now!”

I gently shook the Blue Witch’s cheek as I spoke to her, then rushed to the backyard storage shed to grab my handcart.

Carefully lifting the Blue Witch into my arms, I laid her down on the blanket-lined cart. Relying on the strength I’d built from fieldwork, I secured the cart to my bicycle with a sturdy rope.

I pulled out a map of Tokyo and reviewed the route to the Flower Witch’s base in the Taito and Arakawa wards.

This was the best I could do. I had to move fast. If I didn’t get her to the Flower Witch in time to administer the cure, she wouldn’t make it.

I stuffed the map into my pocket, mounted the bike, and started pedaling with all my might.

As the heavy wheels began to turn, I continued reading the letter from the Seer Mage.

If this letter ends with something like, “Surprise! You’ve been pranked,” I swear I’m going to hunt you down and punch you.

“The only way to treat the severe stage of the Mushroom Disease is with the antidote held by the Flower Witch. Unfortunately, she will not hand over the antidote to anyone other than you. You alone can obtain it. You must negotiate with the Flower Witch and secure the antidote by any means necessary. As for the negotiations, they will neither be painful nor difficult for you. The Flower Witch is aware of most events likely to occur in the future, so the negotiations should proceed smoothly. It may feel like she’s predicting the future when you speak with her, but that’s not entirely the case. I would prefer you keep this to yourself, but I once made a deal with the Flower Witch. As a result of that deal, I sacrificed half of my magic power to enable her to foresee the future. That’s why she knows what lies ahead. While I couldn’t fully comprehend the visions of the future that I saw, the Flower Witch apparently understood their meaning. She believes you are essential to her, just as she is to you, especially if you are seeking the antidote to save the Blue Witch. Unfortunately, this is all the information I can provide to you. I imagine you still have questions and would like to know more. I, too, have many things I wish to tell and ask you. However, providing you with additional details would apparently be counterproductive. You need to face the Flower Witch just as you are. It seems that this approach will lead to the best possible future—for everyone. Once you obtain the antidote, first administer it to the Blue Witch. Then deliver the remainder to the Bunkyo Ward Office. If I am still alive at that point, I will take care of the rest. If I have already passed away, my subordinates and the surviving members of the Witches’ Gathering will handle the situation. I wish you the best of luck.

—The Seer Mage”

The letter was entirely serious, far removed from any kind of prank.

As I made my way toward the Flower Witch’s base in Taito Ward, I witnessed firsthand the grim reality of the pandemic, which was no laughing matter.

My earlier worry about being stopped and questioned by someone turned out to be, “unfortunately,” baseless.

Nearly everyone I encountered on the main roads had collapsed.

Those who were merely lying on the ground were the lucky ones—about half of them had mushrooms growing from their heads. Some of the larger mushrooms, grotesquely oversized compared to their hosts’ heads, emitted faint screeching noises, like nails on a chalkboard, from the wrinkles on their ugly human-like faces.

It was hellish that these noises were louder than the cries for help of living people.

Being approached by someone is one of my least favorite things.

But being called out to in a horrible, incomprehensible voice by parasitic mushrooms with distorted smiles (yes, they looked like they were smiling!) was far worse.

In the city center, the air reeked of burnt debris.

Buildings were on fire.

Groups of people dressed in patchwork plastic suits (an attempt at hazmat gear?) were setting houses ablaze.

Some of these groups clashed with heavily armed individuals, engaging in fistfights and shouting matches. I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but their loud, angry voices made it impossible not to hear both sides.

The plastic-suited groups called themselves “Cleansing Squads,” claiming to be burning infected corpses along with the houses to prevent further spread of the disease. Their actions might have stemmed from good intentions or a sense of duty, but based on the Seer’s letter, their efforts seemed futile. Worse, the risk of the fires spreading made them actively harmful.

The armed groups, apparently security forces, were primarily tasked with fighting monsters. But they had been dragged into dealing with the Cleansing Squads, which enraged them. Monsters continued to appear even during the pandemic, and the Cleansing Squads’ antics had only added to their workload. In some cases, the security forces resorted to magic, effectively smashing the Cleansing Squads, who had become little more than a roaming arsonist group.

Tokyo had become a city of extremes—silent and dead in some areas, chaotic and ablaze in others. There was no semblance of normalcy anywhere.

Dragging a handcart behind my bicycle with my hood pulled low, I must have looked suspicious.

But there were far stranger individuals around, which made me relatively inconspicuous.

The Cleansing Squads stood out with their patchwork plastic suits. Then there were people covered in empty fungicide cans, laughing maniacally; others dragging carts larger than themselves to collect mushroom-covered corpses with dead eyes; some spraying spit while giving fiery speeches in a foreign language; and groups praying to crosses made from scrap wood.

Passing through a crowd of such clearly dangerous individuals was terrifying, but the dying Blue Witch behind me urged me forward. I kept my eyes down, avoiding contact with anyone, pedalling my bicycle toward my goal.

To be honest, I had always thought the Blue Witch was some kind of invincible, ultimate being. I couldn’t even imagine her getting hurt or sick.

But it seems even the Blue Witch can come close to death.

The Blue Witch is my one and only friend.

If I let her die, I know I’ll never find another friend again.

I’ve never thought being alone was painful.

And I probably never will.

But there are times when having someone by your side feels like a gift.

That’s why the Blue Witch is my irreplaceable… Wait, hold on.

What about Professor Ohinata?

Oh, right. That stoat-like girl must be in serious trouble too! A magic linguistics professor who’s constantly conducting experiments can’t possibly have avoided collapsing from magic exhaustion.

Crap. She’s not my friend, but I don’t want her to die either. Once I’ve given the Blue Witch the antidote, I need to head to the Magic University as quickly as possible. For now, I have to save both the Blue Witch and Professor Ohinata.

And while I’m at it, the Seer deserves to be saved too—they did give me advice, after all. Should I add Professor Handa to the list? He’s more like my rival… or maybe just someone who makes me look better by comparison. Either way, he’d better stay alive.

And I definitely don’t want to stumble across the Hell Witch sprouting mushrooms and dead during her travels. As for the Dragon Witch… meh, she’ll be fine.

Looking back, I’ve really met a lot of people.

They’re mostly strangers, but they’re the kind of strangers whose deaths would hit me hard. I don’t want to meet them, but I do hope they’re living happily, far beyond my sight.

For that to happen, I need the Flower Witch’s antidote. Without it, I won’t even be able to save the Blue Witch, let alone Professor Ohinata.

After setting out from Ome and pedalling non-stop for five hours, my legs were screaming in pain by the time I arrived in Taito Ward.

The Flower Witch controls a region spanning Taito Ward and Arakawa Ward. The borders of her territory were easy to identify: abandoned cars, overgrown with vines, were piled up along the boundary.

The only entry point was a gate formed in the gaps between the wrecked cars. There was a gate, but no guards.

I didn’t understand it, but I wasn’t going to complain.

I passed through the gate into the Flower Witch’s territory and hesitated.

I’d made it to her domain, but I had no idea where in this area the witch herself might be.

She must be somewhere. But where?

Is there some kind of signpost around here? Like a tourist map with “Witch’s House” marked on it?

I really don’t want to stop someone and ask, “Excuse me, where’s the Flower Witch’s house?”

As I nervously looked around, searching for a sign, a massive tree root suddenly broke through the ground in front of me.

I wasn’t scared—not really—but I flinched so hard I nearly fell off my bike. The root, as if gesturing, moved in a beckoning motion and repeatedly pointed down the main road.

“Uh, um… are you the Flower Witch?” 

I asked hesitantly.

The tree root didn’t answer. Instead, it disappeared back into the ground.

…This must be it, right? The thing the Seer mentioned in their letter.

The Flower Witch knows more or less what’s going to happen, so everything will go smoothly.

I decided to follow the direction the root had pointed.

Toward the center of her territory.

Where the Flower Witch resides.

I have no idea what’s going to happen next, but as the letter advised, I’ll approach this with no pretense.

That should resolve everything.

It has to.
It will.

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