The Former Witch Reincarnated As A Village Girl Chapter 1

Translator: Kenar, Editor: NixiePixie, Proofread: Orang

Chapter 1 - The Wish of The Witch

Shatifal the Witch fell to the ground while vomiting blood. Beneath flowing long silver hair and a black pointy hat is the beautiful face of the witch. She looked up at the enemy before her without showing a single weakness in her face.

"I ask of you, o Brave! Why do you hunt us, witches?"

"That's because witches are a wicked existence. You, who wield heretic powers, do not belong to the nation, are nothing but a threat to the populace."

The man who was referred as Brave uninterestedly answered Shatifal's question. And then he thrust his sword at her throat. Shatifal didn't struggle against it and relaxed her face hearing the almost philosophical answer.

"So what is it that makes you deem us witches as a wicked existence? Did a witch attack a city? Did a witch join hands with a demon? What did we do wrong?"

However the Brave couldn't answer the following questions. His wavering eyes and the slight shake of his sword showed that he was at a loss for words, seeing that, Shatifal continued with her words.

"So we the witches are deemed as a wicked existence just because we wield an unknown power. If that's the case, how about you, Brave? Your power is a kind of unknown power, correct?"

"Silence! Unlike you, I'm trusted by the populace! For I am, their hope!"

"That is nothing more than a fleeting trust. Once you finish hunting all the witches… do you know what will be their target of fear after the witches?"

Shatifal said so while smiling. Thereupon the Brave's eyes waver greatly. The Brave swayed his body and lowered his sword. It's as if the path he had been walking suddenly crumble. Shatifal narrowed her eyes. She calmly and coldly looked at the Brave's figure.

"Brave, have you seen this world with your own eyes and walked the path with your own feet? Were witches truly a wicked existence? Were those who you had killed so far, really had been a rebel existence? Can you truly place your trust in your companions who aren't here right now?"

The Brave's companions who aren't here didn't storm Shatifal's house, and offered to the Brave to be lookouts at the outside of the house. The Brave himself accepted the offer and rode alone to Shatifal's house. The Brave thought that it was a kind of tactic at first. He thought that his companions would be lookout so that they can prevent the enemy from the outside from entering. However, what would happen if that wasn't the case?

"I… I…"

"…it's the end for me. Brave, please grant my wish. Please erect a tomb for my fallen sisters…"

Shatifal said her final wish whilst holding down her pierced stomach and stared at the "greatly-shaken-over-the-possibilities" Brave. Dropping her head, she calmly breathed her last.

Thus, the last of the seven witches, Shatifal, the Witch of Wisdom was buried. After hunting all the witches, the Brave who carried out his duty was praised as the hero. And then the Brave received the promised reward and he was supposed to be living leisurely in the royal capital. However the Brave abruptly disappeared one day without telling anyone.

Why did the hero of the people suddenly disappear in the royal capital? Such rumor became a hot topic and the Brave quickly become famous as the disappeared hero. The only one who knew the truth behind those rumors was none other than the Brave himself. Thus it brought down the curtain on the story of the Brave's fierce battles.

Five years have pa.s.sed since then. The witch hunt and the disappearance of the Brave little by little began to fade from people's memories and the world started moving in peacetime.

There was a village located far from the royal capital and deep in a mountain. The village, which travelers rarely visit, was isolated from the outside world. That place, which has a peculiar custom, didn't seem to get wind of the witch nor about the demons and the villagers lived there peacefully.

In that village, there lived a strange girl. She was a pretty girl with silver hair tied behind her back and sharp eyes. People usually ask whether she is angry or not because she had a stern look. The name of the girl is Shatia.

"Shatia, it's getting late. Please come home."

"I understand, my esteemed mother."

The sky started to be dyed red so Shatia's mother called out to her and she replied in a tone uncharacteristic of a child. No matter how hard you look at her, her appearance is of a normal girl. The skirt she wore suited her look and a cute ribbon was resting on top of her head. However her countenance was unbelievably dignified that you couldn't think of her as a child. Her eyes were so clear as if she can see through everything.

"Oh my dear Shatia. I'm always telling you to speak more like a girl of your age, do I not?"

"I apologize, my esteemed mother. I, however, am more used to this tone."

Shatia's mother always warned her about her tone but Shatia, for reasons unknown, failed to fix it at all. Oftentimes a change in tone is influenced by the surroundings, however no one in her surrounding environment speaks with such an odd speech. That was why Shatia's mother had a question regarding where she picked up that kind of speech.

"My goodness. I wonder who you take after…"

Shatia's mother got into the house while complaining like that. Shatia followed after her but she suddenly laid her eyes on a puddle along the roadside. It must have been acc.u.mulated since last night. She abruptly looked into it. Naturally, what reflected there was her own figure. The face of a pretty girl. But she had a pleasant smile at her face when she stared at it.

"Well done if I say so myself. To think that I would reincarnate into a daughter of a human… good gracious, it's an endless area if one tries to pursue it, even in the path of magic," Shatia said while moving her face left and right. Nay, she was the person who became Shatia, the reincarnation of the witch named Shatifal.

She activated reincarnation magic, which was still halfway researched, as soon as she died and then was reborn as a daughter of a female human. Reincarnation magic was a forbidden technique as it was still completely uncontrollable, however Shatifal managed to successfully do it. She was able to reincarnate into a completely new intelligent life form while retaining all her memories, magic power, and magecrafts.

"The Brave is somehow missing, huh. It'd be wonderful if he believed in my words though."

However, even if she managed to reincarnate, it wasn't as if she remembered anything when she was at a tender age. Shatia just recently remembered her memories as Shatifal. Therefore she had a gap in her memories and not to mention that she wasn't used to her current body yet. Even then she still couldn't sort through her memories about events that had happened in the span of a few years ago. The disappearance of the Brave. What is the true meaning behind that? Shatia had amused herself with those thoughts while putting her hand on her chin.

"Well that can wait. First thing first, should I explore what this body is capable of?"

She thought that she had managed to reincarnate into a young and pure body at such great pains. In other words, she has clear magic power and this period is extremely good for growth. As a former Witch of Wisdom, she was familiar with almost all kinds of magic but she had the chance to gain a new experience as Shatia. There was no way that this couldn't be an unenjoyable moment for her. The one who was called the Witch of Wisdom has descended again to the world with a new body. What does a girl with an insatiable inquisitive mind possibly want? Shatia quietly went back home while smiling.

The next day, Shatia decided to practice magic while her mother is away from home. It wasn't a matter that there was a fault in her reincarnation but she currently couldn't possibly bring out her power in the past life while in a child's body. After confirming how much she was capable of, she decided to try and practice magic.

"All right. I can use most of the magic from my past life."

After trying lifting things up, igniting fire, and roughly chanting magic, Shatia concluded that the magic was working properly. And it seemed to her that she could flawlessly use all the magic she could remember. Shatia smiled in satisfaction after knowing that.

After finishing her current quest, she started to work on her next quest. She wanted to learn magic that she didn't know in her past life. The magic that most people use to be exact. To achieve that, Shatia must ask for teaching in that regard. She wasn't familiar with human knowledge because she was regarded as a heretic existence. The magic used by people daily was different than the witches' magic in fundamental level. Therefore she required knowledge from others.

"My esteemed mother. I want to learn magic."

"…eh?"

Shatia immediately asked this after her mother came home. Unlike a kid, her words could be taken as a demand.

Shatia's mother showed a troubled smile. It was natural that children want to learn magic. However Shatia was still too young. Most children started to learn magic after reaching six years of age at the very least. That was why she was troubled as to how to answer her daughter.

Shatia was so clever that it was hard to answer her half-heartedly. She quickly learned words and began reading books at the same time as she was able to walk. It was to the extent that she was regarded as an excellent girl in the village. She wanted to grant her wish because she was proud of Shatia. After a careful examination, she decided to hire a tutor for her.

"Then let's hire a tutor. That person was a court magician in the past. Surely they can teach about what Shatia want to learn."

"I'm thankful for that."

There was a magician living in this village. He used to be a magician in the royal capital with a decent position, however he decided to live in the frontier village for some reason. Of course, he was readily accepted because the villagers were generous.

Shatia's mom decided to hire him. She thought that hiring a magician from the royal capital could excite her daughter, Shatia. Shatia herself judged that a person from the royal capital should have a wealthy knowledge and showed a happy expression to her mother. Though it wasn't a childlike happy expression but more of a happy expression because she succeeded in her plan.

A few days later. The tutor immediately came to Shatia's house. The person in question was a man. He wore gla.s.ses and has a wise expression. However, his face was unshaven and there was an impression that he was a ruined n.o.ble from somewhere. He seemed like a magician who had special circ.u.mstances. Despite that, his knowledge was certain. He has proven to be helpful for the villagers because he helped them by using magic in solving problems in the village. Light shone in her eyes and she had a curious stare fixated on him.

"From today onwards, I will be Shatia's tutor. I'm pleased to meet you, Shatichan."

"I'm glad to have you too."

Shatia had an arrogant tone as usual even toward the tutor who sincerely gave his greeting. However the tutor thought of it as a reaction coming from a child that was a bit shy. The cla.s.s immediately started. Mainly the tutor demonstrated a magic and then Shatia casted the magic in the same way. And it was repeated again. The tutor's face grew grim then. Shatia's learning capability was too good.

The tutor showed the magic one time and Shatia was able to imitate it almost immediately. Normally being able to use magic at Shatia's age was considered a great thing however she was able to absorb magic from royal palace at incredible speed. When he realized it, his hand was already trembling. The genius pupil that he had always wanted was right before him. So it was normal that he couldn't control his trembling.

"Shatichan. Have you ever learned magic before?"

"Hm? Oh, all right. Well, I've never experienced magic since I was born."

Shatia gave a vague answer because she couldn't exactly say that she has learned an entire life's worth of magic. As she wasn't exactly lying, the tutor concluded that she was, as expected, a genius. The truth was, Shatia was actually a genius and that was why she was qualified to be a witch. Rather than a genius that came out once in ten years, she was a rare genius that came out once in a hundred years.

"Teacher. Everything you have shown me was all of the royal palace's magics?"

"Eh. Ah, that's right."

It was only the end of the first day of the cla.s.s, but the truth was that it was everything that could be taught by a tutor, Shatia asked while waving her hand. As the tutor couldn't understand the intent behind her question, he answered a beat later.

Shatia thought that the human's magic and the witch's magic was, as expected, fundamentally different since it has a different origin. She thought that it wouldn't be strange for there to be many derivations. Her thirst for knowledge made her desire for further pursuit in it, deepen.

"Is there any other magic? Since it is called magic of the royal palace, there must be another kind of magic."

"That's right. Magic of the royal palace is a special magic learned by royal palace magicians. There are ordinary magic used by commoners, ancient magic by sages, and et cetera."

As Shatia expected, there were various derivations of magic. Which means, the magic used by the witch was probably named the witch's magic. And then she was glad that there were magic unknown to her.

When I was a witch, people threw stones at me whenever I tried to communicate with them. It was a time that I wanted to forget. But right now is different. I can reasonably learn magic now that I'm one of humans. What a wonderful thing it is!

"That's wonderful. By all means, I want to learn those magics."

Shatia said that quietly as if she speaks to herself while placing her finger on her mouth. However, her words reached her tutor and it sent a chill down his spine as he overheard them. What a greedy girl, thought the tutor. In just one day, she managed to learn all of the magic of the royal palace. Still unsatisfied, she asked to learn more magic. It was an impossible conduct if it was a normal person with a normal will's strength. But a girl much younger than himself able to say that easily. His feeling went beyond shocked to fear.

"Ma'am. Shatia possess a great talent. She should definitely go to the magic academy in royal capital."

"Eh? To that extent? But Shatia is still five years old…"

After the lesson, the tutor immediately told Shatia's mother about her daughter's talent. However, his explanation was too difficult to understand since Shatia's mother wasn't too knowledgeable regarding magic so she couldn't really tell what was amazing about it. That and the fact that the tutor included hand gestures because he was too excited to explain.

"That girl managed to imitate me using the magic of the royal palace in one day. She has a terrific talent. In the future, I'm sure that she will be a great magician who will leave her name in history."

After saying as much, as expected, even the dense mother finally understood Shatia's talent. Then she became scared at the same time. Would she be able to raise her talented daughter correctly, or was it better to take her to a more suitable person, were the questions that were unintentionally raised in her mind.

In the end, the tutor already taught that could be taught and ended the magic cla.s.s in one day. However the lesson continued at Shatia's request and she studied knowledge other than magic.

"Kukuku. As expected, a pursuit in the path of magic is worth it."

After the tutor came home, Shatia said that while alone in her room. She repeatedly squeeze and open her hands to feel the sensation of today's magic. And with a sense of fulfillment, she laid down on her bed very satisfied.