[V6EX1] The Thorn Witch Never Smiles

To the west of the royal capital, there was a location known as the “Thorn Forest.”

This place was managed by the descendants of the Thorn Witch, the Roseberg family, and deep within the forest lay the mansion belonging to House Roseberg.

Everyone who lived nearby repeatedly warned their children, “Do not enter that forest.” However, like any normal children, they only became more curious about something if told to stay away.

Moreover, the Thorn Forest was filled with beautiful flowers, as well as trees bearing sweet fruit. Such would stimulate the adventurous spirit of any child.

It was common for the children to secretly enter the forest to go on pretend adventures, or even simply pick fruit and flowers.

However, even these children had an unspoken understanding. They were not to venture beyond the largest oak tree in the forest.

Beyond the oak tree lay a stretch of thorny brambles, and passing that would lead to a mansion that housed a terrifying clan of witches.

None of them dared to venture past that oak tree. Once they saw the thorny brambles, they were to turn back immediately.

Anyone caught by the Thorn Witch’s man-eating roses would get the blood drained from their bodies, turning them into an ingredient for the witch’s potions.

＊　＊　＊

One sunny day, a few boys visited the Thorn Forest. Each of them had a wooden sword hanging from their belts.

For these lively boys, the vines hanging from the trees were giant serpents blocking their path, the flowing stream was a sea of magma, and the darkened trees were evil black dragons.

“This serpent has venomous fangs! Don’t get too close!”

“Leave it to me! Hyah!”

“We’ve defeated the legendary evil dragon!”

Immersing themselves as the Hero Ralph and his party, they swung their wooden swords and leaped over the river. They advanced further and further into the forest, defeating the serpents and dragons blocking their path.

But as they ventured past several obstacles, they noticed something strange.

Thorny brambles had started to mix in with the surrounding trees. They had crossed the largest oak tree in the forest——the boundary into dangerous territory.

Once they realized this, the boys panicked and tried to return the way they came. But right before they could depart, they witnessed a small figure standing behind the brambles.

He was a boy slightly younger than them, probably not even ten years old.

“Hey there!”

The newcomer greeted them with a smile from behind the brambles.

Normally, they would have assumed he was another child from the town. He was simply going on a pretend adventure, just like them.

However, the boy behind the brambles had an exceptionally beautiful appearance.

Such flawless facial features seemed like a blessing from the gods themselves. His beautiful curly hair was reminiscent of rose petals, and he had bright green eyes framed by long eyelashes.

He wore a plain white shirt with suspenders and shorts. The quality of his simple but elegant clothes made it clear that he was a child from an affluent family.

Noticing this, the group of boys took a few cautious steps in retreat.

The descendants of the Thorn Witch lived within the Thorn Forest, and they could be recognized by their rose-colored hair.

The story of the First Thorn Witch was as famous as the tale of the Hero Ralph.

She was the savior of the country, who invoked black flames to incinerate numerous dragons, and turned enemy armies into a bloodbath with her Man-Eating Rose Fortress. Yet at the same time, she was also the wicked witch whose beauty seduced even the king.

The boy, who had a beauty reminiscent of the First Thorn Witch, continued speaking with a smile.

“Hey, let me join too. Let’s play together!”

It was an innocent smile.

However, boys felt more fear than warmth.

Exceptional beauty sometimes instills intense feelings of awe in people. The beauty this unknown boy possessed did exactly that.

The boys turned pale and took a few more steps back. All except for one. The largest boy in the group stood his ground and offered a reply.

“Sure. I’ll play with you.”

Once he heard those words, the boy with rose-colored hair brightened up. His green eyes sparkled, and his white cheeks flushed red with excitement.

“Yay! Really?”

“Yeah, but on one condition. We’re heroes, so we don’t play with cowards.”

The large boy raised the wooden sword at his waist and pointed its tip at a tree: the largest oak tree in the forest.

“Climb to the top of that tree, then come back down. If you can do that, we’ll accept you and play together.”

“What, that’s it? Piece of cake!”

The boy with rose-colored hair rolled up his sleeves and effortlessly climbed the tree. He clearly had experience in climbing trees, allowing him to reach the top in no time at all.

At that moment, the large boy rushed to the oak tree… and kicked it with all his might.

The small body of the boy with rose-colored hair slipped off immediately.

“Uwaaaah!”

He rolled on the ground a few times and then lay still.

The boy who kicked the tree raised his wooden sword and declared victory.

“See that! I’ve defeated the wicked witch!”

As the other boys cheered, a rustling sound came from the trees, even though there was no wind.

This was the sound of the brambles surrounding them. Their sharp thorns wriggled closer and closer, as if they had a will of their own.

As the boys stood frozen at this terrifying sight, a girl emerged from behind the brambles.

She possessed rose-colored hair and green eyes, the freckled face of a girl in her early teens. The girl frowned and disdainfully clicked her tongue.

“What are you doing here?”

In sync with the girl’s frown, the brambles extended further.

Immediately, the boys discarded their wooden swords and fled the scene, screaming.

“Waah! Another witch! The witch called for backup!”

“They’ll suck all our blood! Run, run!”

As the boys ran away in a panic, the freckled girl, Melissa Roseberg, approached her fallen brother.

After prodding his body with the tips of her shoes, her brother moved his face slightly to look up at Melissa.

His face was dirtied with soil and nosebleeds, and yet, he still wore a silly grin.

“Sis, that hurts.”

“Are you an idiot?”

“…”

Melissa crossed her arms and looked down at her foolish brother.

She had no intention of helping him up because that would sully her clothes with dirt and blood.

Nevertheless, her great-grandmother would get noisy if she didn’t bring her brother home. Melissa thought for a moment and compromised.

“If you can’t walk, I’ll call a servant for you. If you can, then walk home yourself.”

“…Hey, Sis.”

“What?”

“I properly greeted them with a smile, you know.”

Melissa pursed her lips and frowned.

Her brother, despite his appearance and magical talent, was a true genius that rivaled the First Thorn Witch.

Therefore, their great-grandmother, the Third Thorn Witch, wanted to make her younger brother the head of the family. She always sternly reminded him, “The Thorn Witch is meant to be feared.” Hence, her brother rarely smiled at home.

However, Melissa knew.

She knew that her brother secretly brought a mirror into his room and practiced smiling.

The scene of him standing in front of the mirror, pinching his cheeks, and smiling awkwardly while saying, “Hey there!” was, to put it mildly, eerie.

And now, with a face stained with nosebleeds, dirt, and tears, her brother still wore a clumsy smile.

“I greeted them with a smile, but they didn’t like me.”

“…”

“What did I do wrong…?”

“How would I know? Figure it out yourself.”

Melissa felt neither pity nor sympathy for her brother. She just thought he was foolish.

Despite his overwhelming beauty and talent, he knew nothing of his own abilities. That was why he couldn’t understand why people avoided him.

“I know, maybe they’ll become my friends if I give them some vegetables and flowers.”

As expected, her foolish brother didn’t understand a single thing.

Melissa shrugged and sighed.

“If you have the energy to talk that much, then you should be fine. Go back home on your own, before Grandmother loses her temper.”

＊　＊　＊

Atop a tree on a mountain in the Highown Territory, the Thorn Witch Raul Roseberg was at a loss.

“Dang, this is bad.”

In his hands were the three large fruit he had harvested.

Once he saw the delicious-looking fruit, Raul had climbed the tree to give them to Monica and Cyril, but now he couldn’t get down.

This had happened a few times before.

Raul had always been good at climbing trees, so he would casually climb one, thinking everything was fine. But once he reached a certain height, his fear of heights would kick in, and he’d be unable to descend.

As Raul wondered how to get himself out of this situation, he heard Cyril’s voice from below.

“Lord Roseberg, you came for a geological survey, so why do you need to climb a tree? Explain yourself.”

Underneath the tree, Cyril stood with his arms crossed, glaring at Raul. Beside him, Monica was fidgeting with her fingers aimlessly.

Raul waved a hand at them while still holding the fruit.

“Well, there were some delicious-looking fruit, so I wanted to let you guys have a taste.”

“…Weren’t you afraid of heights?”

In response to Cyril’s words, Raul gave a thumbs-up and winked.

“Yep, sure am!”

“Why did you climb it then!?”

“Well, I thought I’d be fine.”

Indeed, just looking up while climbing wasn’t that difficult.

Raul would climb with confidence, thinking “this is easy” at first. But once he got carried away, he would be unable to get back down.

The heartily laughing Raul received a deep sigh from Cyril.

“Anyway, please come down. There’s something I need to confirm about the results of the geological survey.”

“Okay, but I can’t get down, so help me out!”

“You had better never climb anything again!”

Despite scolding Raul with a scowl, Cyril quickly started an incantation. He intended to create an ice slope so that Raul could slide down from the tree.

However, a strong gust blew before Cyril’s incantation was finished, and Raul tilted precariously, swayed by the wind.

“Geh.”

He tried to balance himself by putting his weight forward, when an unpleasant crack sounded at his feet. The branch carrying him had snapped due to the uneven distribution of weight.

“Thorn Witch-sama——!”

A gust blew upward to catch the falling Raul——Monica had conjured the wind without an incantation. Raul’s body bounced a few times on the cushion of the wind before rolling to the ground.

Without getting up, Raul laid on his back, looking up at the blue sky.

His falling body, the heavy impact and pain, the words of those boys echoing in his ears…

——See that! I’ve defeated the wicked witch!

As his old memories threatened to resurface, Monica and Cyril interrupted, rushing over to him.

“T-Thorn Witch-sama…!! A-Are you, um, alright?”

“Any injuries!?”

Monica and Cyril looked down on him, backed by the expansive blue sky. Both of them were worried about him.

Raul couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Heh, hehehe… hehehehe…”

Seeing Raul suddenly burst into laughter, Cyril exchanged a solemn glance with Monica.

“…It seems he hit his head. We need to take him to a doctor right away.”

“R-Right!”

Cyril and Monica were genuinely concerned about Raul.

Seeing this overwhelmed Raul with joy. He jumped back up and offered the fruit in his hands.

“I’m fine. Let’s eat some fruit together!”

“Lord Roseberg, your injuries take priority over…”

“Once we eat something outside together, we’ll be friends, right? Also, call me Raul!”

Offering the fruits again with a hearty laugh, Raul received a strained smile from Monica, while Cyril shouted, “Listen to me!” in frustration.

They planted the pea plants soon after this event. Big mistake. (See Gaiden 1)

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