Chapter 9 - The Reincarnated Eldest Witch Sister Embraces Self-Sacrifice

Chapter 9: Mountain Date A week had passed since Hecate and I went out, and this time, it was Demeter and I who were going out. However, this time, our destination was not the city but a mountain forest near the Polis commercial city. Demeter, needing knowledge of useful plants due to her magic related to plants, had to regularly gather plant knowledge. That's why she went into the mountain forest to collect plant knowledge. I was just tagging along as an add-on. Because of the purpose of the trip, we didn't bother with fashion. Wearing pants for ease of movement, Demeter and I left the house. After leaving the city and walking through the grasslands, a nameless mountain forest appeared before us. As expected, there were no maintained mountain paths and it was a natural mountain forest untouched by human hands. "Still feels a bit scary here." "Do you think so? It's fun with all the different plants and insects. You can even find things to eat." "Well, maybe it's different once you're used to it." For someone who lived in a modern society full of artificial things, this dimly lit forest without any artificial elements was a bit eerie. In addition to normal plants, there were strange plants that I hadn't seen in my previous life, making it difficult to get a sense of direction due to all the obstacles. If I were to lose sight of Demeter, I was certain I would get lost in an instant. She does have a sense of direction, but what kept Demeter from getting lost in the middle of a mountain forest without any landmarks was a plant called Torch Plant that she had planted along the path she took. Torch Plants were originally rare, and they didn't grow in this mountain forest, so there was no need to worry about mistaking them for naturally occurring ones. "Ah, this might be a plant I've never seen before." "It does have a peculiar appearance. I wonder what kind of plant it is." As we walked through the mountain forest, Demeter found a strange plant. It was about knee-high, with a yellow sphere growing from the tip of its stem. The sphere was about the size of a baseball, with a hole in the center. As Demeter tried to observe the plant more closely, to our surprise, the yellow sphere suddenly moved vigorously and tried to bite her hand. It turned out the hole in the center of the sphere was its mouth. Demeter quickly pulled her hand back, narrowly avoiding being bitten. "Phew, that was close. Maybe it's a carnivorous plant?" "Seems like it. It seems to react to anything that moves." When I waved a stick I had picked up in front of the plant, the yellow sphere latched onto it this time. It was probably a carnivorous plant that attacked any nearby insects for prey. After finishing our plant observation and continuing our walk, Demeter found something again. It was a peculiar-looking mushroom with a cluster of white petals. "Could this be... the Hanabiratake? It's edible, so let's pick some." "I've thought about it before when we came here together, but you seem to remember the features and names of mushrooms quite well." "Yeah, since I go to the mountains frequently, I remember them on the side." While talking, Demeter skillfully harvested the Hanabiratake and tossed it into a basket on her back. She seemed quite accustomed to the mountains. "Even so, you're really knowledgeable about cooking and spices. Where did you study?" "...I just learned by watching people cook. Nothing special." As I mentioned before, most of my cooking knowledge is from my previous life, so what I said now was mostly a lie. This was the kind of thing Demeter would say occasionally to make me nervous. I shouldn't be revealing my past too much, but Demeter might have noticed something. I just had to keep it hidden. ...After that, our exploration in the mountain forest continued for a while. We observed rare plants, gathered edible mushrooms and fruits, and before we knew it, time had passed quickly. As it was getting close to the time to head back, Demeter walking in front put her hand out to stop me. "Wait a moment, big sister. Something seems strange." Stopping as Demeter said, I did feel something odd. While we were able to hear the sounds of birds and insects before, it was eerily quiet now. Straining my eyes, I could see dark shapes moving among the trees in the distance. "We're surrounded. Looks like wolf-type monsters." "Should I help?" "No, I'm used to dealing with these guys, so leave it to me." As she said that, a pack of the dark shapes appeared, surrounding us as expected. Just as Demeter predicted, their true forms were wolf-type monsters. They were about 150 centimeters long, with red eyes and gray fur. At first glance, there were about ten of them in the pack. As the wolves lunged at us from front and back, Demeter triggered her magic, causing enormous vine plants to grow rapidly. The vines entwined around the wolves, strangling their necks. "Plants are easier to grow and fight with in nature. This should do it." Saying that, when Demeter put force into her words, an unpleasant cracking sound came from the wolves' necks. It seemed she had broken their necks. The ten wolves were quickly annihilated as a result. "I usually bury monster bodies in the ground, but do you want to use them for anything?" "I've never done it, but would you like to try to see if I can magically skin them?" Pouring magic into the wolf's body, I prepared to activate the magic. After using a variety of transformation and drying magic on the fur, I was finally able to skin one of the wolves. "It was a tough task to try, but it's not worth it. Let's bury the rest." We buried the remaining bodies in the ground with magic, and relying on the Torch Plant, we left the mountain forest and headed home. However, on the way, Demeter talked to me. "Hey, big sister. What are you going to do with that fur?" "I plan to turn it into a scarf for when it gets cold. Interested?" "Yeah. Also, I'd like a reward for today since I worked hard." Saying that, Demeter nudged her head toward me. Despite saying "you're such a child," I ended up patting her head, to which she happily rubbed her head against my hand.