I Became a Forest Witch Who Raises Dragons

The Magical Beast’s Attack

“Ad… Adventurer, sir. It’s over there. The witch lives in that house over there!”
“…It looks like an ordinary house? Anyway, I’ll work as much as I’ve been paid for.”

The frightened villager and the man called an adventurer.
He was a relatively high-ranking adventurer, belonging to the gold rank among the five main ranks of adventurers.
The reason he came here was because he received a request from the villagers.
The content of the request was─to eliminate the witch who brings misfortune.

‘A witch who brings misfortune. This is why you can’t trust these country bumpkins.’
Perhaps these country folk who had seen magic for the first time had given it the grandiose name of a witch.
Thinking that it was probably just an average level magician living in seclusion in the mountains that scared them─he confidently accepted the villagers’ request.
That was because the request form was filled with nonsensical contents like causing floods or great fires.

“I… I’ll wait here…!”
“Alright.”
Thinking that unless it was a great magician, using such magic was impossible, he confidently stepped towards the witch’s house.

“Shaa…”
Ariel had left. Could it be that she abandoned me?
‘No.. she said she would definitely come back..’

Forcibly shaking off the creeping anxiety, I went to lie down on the bed where Ariel had been lying.
‘Ariel’s scent..’
It was a scent that made me feel at ease. Ariel, the kind person who gives me many delicious things and lets me sleep.
Moreover, she gave me a name. The name Saya.
“…Saya. My name is Saya.”

I tried saying the name Ariel gave me out loud for no reason. A smile formed involuntarily.
‘I wish she would come back soon…’
As I was endlessly waiting for Ariel.
Thud thud.
The sound of someone’s footsteps was heard.

Could it be Ariel? No.
The footsteps I was hearing now were too rough to be Ariel’s.
Moreover, there was a clanking metal sound.
‘Could it be a thief…?’
Ariel had said that among people, there are despicable ones who plunder from others.
Could it be the thief Ariel talked about?

‘What should I do….’
Creak.
While I was hesitating, I heard the sound of the front door opening.
“What’s this? I heard it was a witch’s house, so I thought there would be something like a big cauldron. But it’s just an ordinary house?”

What I heard was the voice of an unfamiliar man.
‘Ariel told me to quietly run away if I met someone other than her…’
There’s a back door in this house that leads to the vegetable garden outside.
I carefully walked towards the back door.
But.

“Little one. I heard a witch lives in this house, have you seen her?”
My attempt was easily discovered.
The man spoke to me after noticing me heading towards the back door.
With his large build and a huge sword as tall as himself strapped to his back, it was clear at a glance that he was an opponent I couldn’t win against.
“Shaa…”

“Can’t you speak? …Wait a minute. Little one. Those horns, could it be…”
A disgusting light of greed began to fill the man’s eyes.
His gaze was directed at my horns.
“Saya. If someone discovers that you’re a dragon, it could be troublesome, so you shouldn’t be seen by people as much as possible. At least when I’m not around.”
“I understand..”
“Even if you’re seen by people, at least hide your horns. Got it?”

Ariel’s words from before came to mind.
‘Ariel said not to show my horns….’
Dadadada─!
Feeling goosebumps from the disgusting gaze, I immediately ran at full speed towards the back door.
“Stop right there! Little one!”

At the same time, I heard the man’s shout.
‘Ariel… help me…!’
Feeling the presence of the man chasing after me, I fled deep into the forest.
.
.
.
“Haa…ha…”

The man who had been chasing me had disappeared at some point, and thanks to that, I was finally able to stop and catch my breath.
It seems I managed to shake him off somehow.
But…
‘Where am I…’

When I came to my senses, I found myself surrounded by a dark forest.
Even though it was clearly daytime, the surroundings were dark enough to believe it was evening due to the tall trees blocking the light.
‘Ariel told me not to go deep into the forest…’
As I ran without thinking, I ended up in the deep forest that Ariel had told me not to enter.
It feels like the man might still be chasing me if I try to go back…

“Ariel… I’m scared…”
Rustle.
Suddenly, I heard something moving between the trees.
‘Could it be… he found me?’
Did the man chasing me find me? No. Whatever was approaching me was too big for that.
I slowly backed away, but the sound approaching me grew louder and closer.

“Grrrr…”
Soon, it emerged from between the trees with thunderous footsteps.
That thing, looking even more ferocious merged with the deep shadows.
Its skin was as black as darkness, covered in rough scales, and its size was at least three times my height.
Its eyes were like two golden marbles reflecting light, and they were fiercely glinting as they looked at me.

“Sha…shaa…..”
A form that looked like a combination of a wolf and a lizard I had seen in books. It was undoubtedly the magical beast that Ariel had emphasized I should be careful of.
The magical beast licked its lips as if it had found a delicious prey.
…A rotten meat smell wafted from its widely opened mouth.
Looking closely, there was a sword stuck in the magical beast’s back that seemed to belong to the man who had been chasing me earlier.
That means, that man was already….

“Hii…hiik….!!!”
I need to run away. Quickly.
‘Move… please… I said move!!!’
But my feet wouldn’t move as I wanted.
My heart was pounding as if it would burst.
Just as I couldn’t distinguish whether I was really here or if I had fallen into some nightmare, Ariel’s voice echoed in my head.

“Shaa. It probably won’t happen, but if you ever encounter a magical beast… use the strongest light magic you can.”
“Light… magic?”
“Yes. Light magic. Magical beasts are basically weak against light magic. The light magic you showed me before should be sufficient.”
Thump thump.
The magical beast approaching me closer and closer.
Ariel’s words circled in my head, giving me courage.

“Even if it doesn’t work, don’t worry. I’ll run to where that light is.”
Finally, I painfully moved my body crushed by fear and stretched my hand towards the magical beast.
“Kuooooooooooh!!!!!!!!”
An intense light burst from my fingertips. That light instantly illuminated the dark forest, including the magical beast.
The magical beast howled with its eyes closed.
‘Now’s my chance…!’

I quickly ran in the opposite direction, turning my back on the suffering magical beast.
“Kuwooooh!!!”
‘It recovered already?!’
Not long after, the magical beast that had regained its senses started chasing me with a roar.
The magical beast was coming towards me, cutting through the forest despite the considerable distance I had put between us.
It was rushing towards me, shattering the trees it collided with.

‘No… I’m going to get caught at this rate…!’
Despite running desperately, the distance between me and the magical beast was gradually closing.
To make matters worse, a huge cliff blocking my path made it impossible to escape any further.
“Guwooooh!!!!”

The enraged magical beast came closer and closer to me.
As I began to smell the rotten corpse odor from its mouth, I closed my eyes, sensing the approaching end.
‘Help me… Ariel.’

‘…Huh?’
It doesn’t hurt…?
“How dare you… point your filthy mouth at whom…?”
A familiar scent.
When I gently opened my closed eyes, what I saw was─the back of Ariel, whom I had longed to see so much.

‘I forgot to buy meat skewers.. What if Saya gets angry… Hm?’
After shopping at the grocery store and returning home, what I saw was an open front door.
“Huh? Did Saya go out somewhere?”
She’s not the type to leave without closing the door.
…In the first place, Saya doesn’t prefer going outside unless it’s with me.

“Saya. I’m back!”
There was no answer.
I called out just in case, but it seems Saya really isn’t in the house.
‘Could it be…’
Finally, I sensed that something was not right.
The messy interior of the house. And the floor dirty with soil. The open front door and back door.

‘Someone entered the house. It’s not the villagers…’
Seeing the wooden floor slightly dented with shoe prints, it seemed someone had entered the house wearing boots reinforced with iron.
Considering that ordinary villagers wouldn’t wear such boots, the one who invaded the house was…

‘…An adventurer or a knight. Probably an adventurer.’
Because there’s no way a knight would come to such a remote mountain village.
As I deduced that far, my head was filled with anxiety.
‘If the adventurer who entered our house saw Saya…. Saya is in danger!’
If they noticed that Saya is a dragon, it’s over.

I hurriedly started running towards the back door, following the remaining footprints.
The footprints led deep into the forest. A place where magical beasts I hadn’t dealt with yet remained.
‘Please… be safe….’

As I entered the forest following the footprints, it became harder to track the traces due to the increasingly dense grass and trees.
Moreover, there was a faint smell of blood in the air.
‘It can’t be…..’
With a worried heart, I headed towards the source of the smell and found the horribly dead body of a man.
…The smell of blood was still fresh, as if he hadn’t been dead for long.

‘It seems this guy was the one who chased Saya…’
The size of the footprints engraved up to here matched the size of the boots remaining on the body parts.

It seems he met his demise while chasing Saya.
The traces on the body as if eaten by a beast, and the scratch marks on large trees and scattered broken branches.
…It was undoubtedly the work of a magical beast.
Just as I was feeling relieved that there were no traces of Saya─an intense light brightly illuminated the dark forest.

‘This is…. Saya?!’
No doubt about it. This is Saya’s light magic─the magic I had told her to use when encountering a magical beast.
After determining the approximate coordinates of where the magic was cast, I immediately teleported there.

The forest had turned into a complete wasteland.
At the place where I teleported, Saya’s magical remnants were still present.
“[Magic Trace]”
I immediately started tracking the traces of magic─and finally, I was able to locate Saya’s position.
Saya was constantly moving, probably being chased by a magical beast.

‘Please….’
“Transfer. Location… in front of Saya.”
Praying that I wasn’t too late, I cast the transfer magic once again towards Saya.
What I saw as soon as I teleported was Saya, and a magical beast opening its disgusting maw towards her.
“How dare you…. point your filthy mouth at whom…?”
I shouted towards the disgusting magical beast with my back to Saya.