Kays Translations

Chapter 34: Fire Lizards

The rice seedlings I had been growing in the shed had grown tall, signaling the end of early spring.

Checking the thermometer daily to predict the temperature rise, I concluded that today was the best timing for this year’s rice planting.

If there were weather forecasts, I could use them to plan agricultural activities. However, the witch from Hachioji, who had been leading the effort to revive weather forecasts, passed away during the pandemic, leaving the project in limbo.

It’s still undecided whether other witches will take over the plan or if it will be handed over entirely to civilian efforts. Some suggested the magic university should take responsibility, but Professor Ohinata advocated for reviving education and research institutions outside the university instead.

The current situation, with only one proper academic institution, is abnormal. The broader the foundation for learning and research, the better. At the very least, primary education must resume; otherwise, it won’t be long before we’re overwhelmed with adults who can’t even read, write, or do basic arithmetic.

It’s been over four years since the Gremlin Disaster, yet compulsory education remains suspended. For now, it’s left to individual families, or at best, volunteer teachers conducting outdoor classes.

Had it not been for the Mushroom Pandemic, schools were expected to reopen this summer, but the plan collapsed. The deep scars left by the pandemic have dragged down the progress of our once-smooth recovery.

That said, none of this is something I can control. I can only do what I’m capable of—crafting staffs and living a daily life of hunting and farming.

On this pleasant spring day, perfect for work, I planted rice with the Blue Witch, who had taken an interest in the process. At first, she hesitantly stepped into the muddy field, lifting the hem of her black robe with caution. However, she quickly got the hang of it and was planting seedlings more efficiently than I was.

As expected, witches have a different level of strength. While her planting technique was a bit messy, I chalked it up to a lack of finesse and let it slide.

By mid-morning, we finished planting. Sitting together on a straw mat laid out on the ridge, we munched on rice balls.

While eating a salted rice ball, the Blue Witch placed her hand under the kettle and muttered a spell.

“Munch, munch… Flame, Jin-Ga.”

A flame flared up, and the kettle quickly began spewing white steam with a high-pitched whistle. She poured the hot water into cups with tea bags, and I couldn’t help but feel a little sentimental.

The Flame Witch, who had popularized this convenient fire magic, is now sealed away. She was a good person… or was she?

No, she was a good person. A high-level, shameless pervert, but a good one.

Remembering the eccentric habits of the Flame Witch, I suddenly recalled that I hadn’t cleaned up the abandoned house she had burned down before being sealed.

The charred remains, now a pile of ash and coal, could become a fire hazard if left unattended. Broken glass could act as a lens, accidentally igniting the coals with sunlight. It’s a plausible scenario.

I decided to dedicate this afternoon to cleaning up the burned site. Tossing the bamboo leaf I had used as a container for my rice ball into the paddy field, I stood up.

“Thanks for the meal. What’s the plan for this afternoon?”
“Hmm. What about you, Dairi?”
“I’ll clean up the burned site. You know, the house you and Flame Witch… well… you know.”
“Is it really something to hesitate so much over? Alright, I don’t have any plans today. I’ll help for a bit before heading home.”
“Appreciate it. Let’s go. Leave the kettle here; we’ll pick it up on the way back.”

Together, we headed leisurely toward the site of the fire.

Okutama has been left largely untouched by human hands for four years. Surprisingly, nature hasn’t encroached as much as I expected—it depends on the location.

Houses near the mountains had vines climbing up their walls, were partially buried in landslides, or had turned into habitats for wild animals, reeking of waste. However, areas like the town office, where houses are relatively concentrated and surrounded by concrete roads, showed minimal decay.

Even so, weeds sprouted through cracks in the concrete, and many windows were broken. Birds—or perhaps bird-like monsters—had built nests skillfully in the silenced traffic lights, leaving the roads below splattered with white droppings.

Four years since the Gremlin Disaster—so short, yet so long.

Human-made structures slowly succumb to nature’s pressure, fading away and gradually returning to the earth.

The site of the fire we arrived at was thoroughly burned down. Charred beams jutted out from a mountain of ash and coal, while blackened appliances like refrigerators, microwaves, and washing machines lay scattered.

I fetched two shovels from a nearby shed and tossed one to the Blue Witch.

“Gather the ash and coal into one spot, then cover them lightly with soil. Move the larger pieces aside.”
“Aren’t you going to use the ash as fertilizer?”
“No, it probably contains bits of plastic, glass shards, and other chemicals that shouldn’t go into the fields.”
“Good point. Dairi, don’t hurt yourself or anything.”
“Aye-aye, ma’am.”

The two of us divided the work and began cleaning up the burned site. While I scooped ash with my shovel, the Blue Witch stomped on remnants of appliances, crushing and compacting them before stacking them neatly. Her strength was absurd. A walking human excavator, maybe?

We were working for a while, smudging our faces with ash, when I heard the Blue Witch’s surprised voice. I stopped shoveling and looked up.

“What’s wrong?”
“A monster. Stay back, Dairi. I’ll take care of it.”
“A monster? Wait—hold on, wait! Don’t kill it yet!”

Realizing something, I threw my shovel aside and rushed to stop her.

I had considered this possibility.

Witches are magic creatures, women with the power of monsters. While they are transformed humans, their nature is closer to that of monsters.

The Pandemic Mushroom and the Flower Witch reproduce asexually. So, it wasn’t entirely unthinkable that offspring could result from a magic interaction—or rather, combustion—with the Flame Witch.

While I thought the chances were nearly zero, given the species difference between witches (fire and ice, after all), I couldn’t rule it out entirely.

If there were monsters here, they might be unacknowledged offspring of the Blue Witch herself! She couldn’t just kill them!

“Hey, stay back. It’s dangerous.”
“No, I’m curious. Where is it? What is it?”

The Blue Witch sighed and motioned for me to stay behind her as she pointed at the open door of a toppled refrigerator.

Inside were three monsters.

They were tiny lizards, about the size of a human index finger, huddled together in a nest they had built in the refrigerator. They chirped at us with high-pitched squeaks, as if trying to intimidate us.

Their bodies were a vivid, flame-like red, with tiny flames flickering at the tips of their tails.

Fire lizards—salamanders.

Hmm… Could the offspring of a fire fairy look like this? Or maybe they were unrelated to the Flame Witch entirely—just regular lizards that had transformed into monsters and happened to make a nest here. I decided to investigate further.

Picking up a scorched metal rod, I prodded one of the fire salamanders, flipping it over. Attached to its chest was a small blue gremlin, its hue strikingly similar to the signature color of the Blue Witch.

Ah, no doubt about it—this is absolutely the love child of these two. I’m not sure about the specifics of how it happened, but maybe it turned into a lizard because it’s a hybrid of two species?

Overall, the color scheme takes after its mother, but… wait, does the gremlin also take after her? (Or… does it?)

The fire salamander I had flipped over flailed in protest, and the other two immediately responded by spitting flames at the metal rod. In that instant, the Blue Witch grabbed me by the collar and forcibly dragged me backward.

“You idiot! I told you so! Are you burned? Ice, Do――――!”

“Whoa, wait, wait, WAIT—stop!”

Once again, I had to leap behind the Blue Witch and clamp a hand over her mouth to stop her from casting a spell that would kill the fire salamanders. She mumbled something incoherent before letting out a sigh, lightly tapping my hand to signal she’d given up.

When I let go, she heaved a deep breath and asked.

“Do you really like this creature that much? It’s a monster, you know. You should kill it while you still have the chance.”

“Well… uh, I wouldn’t say I like it, exactly… but maybe it’s better if we didn’t kill it?”

“Why?”

“Well, you see—”

I was at a loss for words.

The truth is, these salamanders are the children you unknowingly conceived with the Flame Witch’s scheming. I mean, how on earth could I just come out and say that?

Damn you, Flame Witch! Don’t leave bombs like this behind when you get yourself sealed away!

You idiot! Seriously, an absolute idiot! A pervert!

But then again, I guess you probably didn’t think anything would actually come of indulging your twisted desires to fool around with your dream “older sister” before your sealing, huh? And now I’m the one left cleaning up your mess!

“Uh, they’re cute and seem harmless, right? Maybe we could let them go.”

“…Cute? Sure, they’re cute, but they spit fire! That’s the furthest thing from harmless.”

“No, no. They’re not that bad… If we’re talking danger levels, they’re probably like a low Class Beta or a high Class Gamma, right?”

Pulling out a threat classification chart published by the Tokyo Magic University’s Department of Monster Studies, I checked the fire salamanders’ classification while they continued chirping and trying to intimidate us.

Threat Classifications:

• Class Alpha 1: Monsters requiring an entire witch gathering and emergency declarations to defeat. (Kaiju-level threats.)
• Class Alpha 2: Extremely difficult for even a witch to handle. Requires a strong or specialized witch. (Highly intelligent monsters wielding multiple types of magic.)
• Class Alpha 3: Requires a witch to defeat but poses no issue for them. (Intelligent creatures or those larger than a house.)
• Class Beta 1: Can be defeated by magic-wielding squads using monster traps or specialized wands. (Hybrids of three or more species; humanoid creatures.)
• Class Beta 2: Defeatable by magic squads. (Creatures forming colonies led by unique individuals or using long-range offensive magic.)
• Class Beta 3: Can be defeated by elite mages trained in combat. (Hybrids of two species, ghosts, slimes, etc.)
• Class Gamma 1: Can be defeated by trained, armed combatants or mages. (Clearly deformed mutations.)
• Class Gamma 2: May attack humans if provoked. General population advised to flee unless armed. (Carnivorous animal mutations like cats or spiders.)
• Class Gamma 3: Rarely attacks humans but may target the weak or young. (Omnivorous animal mutations like crows or rats.)
• Class Gamma 4: Flee from humans on sight. Harmless. (Herbivorous animal mutations like rabbits or deer.)

Exceptions apply! If in doubt or feeling uneasy, retreat immediately and alert the local defense force!

“…See? They’re Gamma 4! They’re scared of us and harmless!”

“They’re in a group of three, and they spat fire. They’re clearly Beta 2.”

“No, no! Look at this rod—they spat fire, sure, but it’s not even that bad! It barely… uh… okay, yeah, it’s a little melted.”

What initially seemed like minor scorching on the metal rod revealed itself to be a deformation from the salamanders’ flames.

What the hell? That firepower’s crazy for something so small! I’m out here trying to save your lives, and you’re just handing evidence to your executioner?

“………….”

“Uh, could you not silently aim your Kyanos at them? Let’s think about it differently. High firepower is a good thing! Right? With proper training, they could help solve fuel problems.”

“Impossible. The Department of Monster Studies has already tried domesticating monsters and failed every time.”

“But there’s that community in Hokkaido—the Magic Beast Ranch or something? If they’ve got a method, maybe it’s doable.”

“Fire-based monsters are walking fire hazards. Their actual danger level always exceeds catalog specs.”

“Well, yeah, that’s true… But, come on.”

After about an hour of back-and-forth arguing with the Blue Witch, I somehow managed to secure a temporary reprieve for the fire lizards.

The fire lizards had gathered metal inside the refrigerator and melted it to build a nest. Among the melted metals was a cast-iron wok, revealing their ability to generate high enough heat to melt iron. Since there were black soot particles around their mouths, their diet was likely charcoal.

Charcoal alone doesn’t generate enough heat to melt iron, meaning the fire lizards must be some kind of biological converter that transforms the energy from charcoal into intense heat. From this perspective, these creatures could be considered rare and important. Properly trained, they could save the trouble of burning charcoal or sourcing coal.

After hearing my reasoning, the Blue Witch reluctantly left, on the condition that I stay away from their nest. However, she insisted on coming by every day to check on them, with the stipulation that they would be disposed of immediately if they showed signs of aggression or if their diet shifted to meat.

Phew, that was close. For now, they’re safe. I’m honestly proud of myself for managing to prevent the killing of these “kids” without revealing the real reason for my efforts.

Later, I should send a sealed letter to Flame Witch, saying something like: “When the day comes that the Seal of the Flame Witch is broken, you should grovel at the Blue Witch’s feet and beg her forgiveness.” Seriously, this mess is all because of that weirdo.

For now, I’ve dodged a crisis, but the Blue Witch still harbors strong intentions to kill the fire lizards. I need to come up with some kind of safety measure.

After all, there’s a real possibility that the fire lizards might wander into the city and start setting things on fire. That’s no joke, especially since their parent has a known history of arson.

I rummaged through my storage for a container sturdy enough to hold the fire lizards, but then I remembered their heat could melt iron and gave up. There’s no cage strong enough to house those things.

The Blue Witch hadn’t realized, and I hadn’t mentioned it either, but these fire lizards are still in their juvenile stage. They’ll likely grow larger as they mature.

If they’re already this destructive at the size of a human index finger, what will happen when they grow up?

At a loss, I pulled every fantasy encyclopedia and comic from my shelves, hoping to find hints on how to care for them. I’ll write to Professor Ohinata from the Department of Magic Creatures later, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to do my own research first.

The Blue Witch once said she found the mechanism behind mushroom diseases in a mushroom guidebook, so this kind of investigation shouldn’t be underestimated.

After a long night of poring over materials (some of questionable reliability), I didn’t find any tips for raising them, but I did come up with a hypothesis about why humanoid fire fairies gave birth to fire lizards.

Perhaps the Flame Witch’s species is a complete metamorphosis organism.

And by metamorphosis, I don’t mean the perverted kind, but the biological transformation kind, like insects.

Fairies in fantasy often resemble insects. The ethereal fairies flitting around flower fields are akin to butterflies, which transform from caterpillars to pupae and then into adults. This concept appeared in 4 out of the 12 manga featuring fairies that I looked through, and it was even mentioned as a column in a fantasy encyclopedia.

This process, where creatures undergo a drastic change from larva to adult via a pupal stage, is known as complete metamorphosis.

The Flame Witch, who was nearing the end of her life, must have been in her adult stage.

The fire lizards, born as her offspring, are naturally in their larval stage.

The stark difference in appearance between parent and child makes sense if we assume they are complete metamorphosis organisms.

These fire lizards will likely enter a pupa-like phase at some point during their growth and eventually emerge as humanoid fire fairies.

Of course, this is all speculation based on dubious sources. It’s also entirely possible that they ended up looking this way simply because they’re hybrids between the Blue Witch and an unknown species.

Still, imagining that the perverted Flame Witch might also be a complete metamorphosis organism is pretty amusing. The idea that her weird behavior might stem from being an actual biological weirdo is kind of fitting.

Because of my all-nighter, morning came before I knew it. I decided to visit the burned site again, worried about the fire lizards, even though the Blue Witch had told me to stay away.

The three fire lizards were scurrying around the charred remains, rolling in ash and playfully tussling, or stuffing their tiny mouths full of charcoal. They seemed lively and energetic.

When they noticed me watching from a distance, they froze like statues for a moment. But seeing that I wasn’t doing anything, they cautiously began to move again, soon returning to their playful scurrying.

Adorable. I want to keep them so badly.

If I set aside the fact that they’re the children of the Flame Witch and the Blue Witch, these creatures are incredibly useful.

I’d love to have them live in the furnace of my workshop, managing the heat. I’d happily feed them all the charcoal they could eat if they’d help me melt iron. Their ability to generate such intense heat is just too valuable.

And honestly, how cool would it be to have a workshop with fire creatures living in the furnace? It would feel like a legendary forge straight out of a storybook.

But all of that is just a pipe dream.

Monsters don’t form attachments to humans, and keeping them is impossible.

In fact, considering the fire hazard they pose, it might be safer to follow the Blue Witch’s advice and get rid of them.

But they’re the children of the Flame Witch and the Blue Witch, and killing them just seems wrong.

Plus, they’re adorable and useful—and if I ignore the slight risk that they might eventually morph into humanoid forms, they’d make perfect pets.

I want to keep these three fire lizards, but I can’t.

What should I do?

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