“If she knows it’s a lie, would she even introduce it as ‘gossip’? Wouldn’t she not introduce it in the first place if she knew it was false?”
“…Aren’t you thinking too much about it? It was just a casual conversation, and it doesn’t mean anything.”
“Is that so…? Maybe…”
Tuli easily dismissed Rain’s words.
“You’re thinking too much about everything. Not everything in daily life has to be logical or make sense, you know.”
“S-Sorry…”
Rain scratched his head weakly and quickly retracted his opinion. He was a very weak-willed person.
They passed through the church gate and went around to the large garden behind it. Inside the church grounds, there was a peaceful and spacious garden, with flower beds maintained collectively by the believers. They arrived just before sunset, and just as the horizon was burning red and darkening at the top of the sky. The vibrant green lawn that had shone brightly during the day was now on the verge of being painted black by the darkness of the approaching night.
And in that church garden stood a large tree. It was a tree planted at the same time as the construction of the church, and it had been watching over the church for about five hundred years. Tuli and Rain approached the tree.
“…Does a message really come to mind?”
“It’s mostly a lie, mostly. But if our reason for reincarnation is due to a witch’s leftover magic, if we, the ones affected by the spell, approach, maybe a message will respond, right?”
“Is that possible?”
“It probably isn’t, but it wouldn’t hurt if it did.”
And the two arrived at the foot of the large tree. Tuli took a flashlight out of her bag and shone it on the tree. It was already quite dark, and if there were letters appearing on the tree’s skin, they wouldn’t be visible without the flashlight.
“Did something happen, Tuli?”
“No… I haven’t found anything yet…”
Tuli said as she approached the tree. Moving the flashlight, she illuminated various parts of the tree, and naturally, her feet came close to the tree.
“Hmm… I can’t find anything odd… huh…?”
And it happened when Tuli got close enough to touch the tree. Tuli’s foot stepped on something, and there was a sound of something coming off. Suddenly, something rose from the ground.
“Ahhh…!?”
“Huh…?”
Tuli and Rain didn’t understand what had happened for a moment.
It was a classical trap. A rope trap hidden in the ground wrapped around Tuli’s foot, pulling her foot taut. The rope was rapidly pulled upwards, suspending Tuli in mid-air. The rope seemed to be caught on a branch at the top of the tree, and Tuli was hanging in the air with her feet up.
“Ahhh…! What is this!?”
“Huh!? Huh…!? W-What’s this!?”
“Ahhh…!? What’s thiiiisssss!?”
The friend who was right in front of me suddenly became suspended in the air, and Rain was dumbfounded.
Unable to understand what had happened, the two became utterly confused. Tuli was suddenly pulled with great force, causing the world to flip, swinging like a pendulum. Her body inverted, and her head filled with fear and panic.
“Aaaahhhh…!? Help meeee…!?”
“Tuli! This is probably a hunting trap…! Stay calm…!”
“Why…!? Why hunting…!? Help meeeee…!?”
As Rain said, it was indeed a hunting trap. A trap for catching prey in the wild, set in the ground to capture passing animals and suspend them in the air. The surroundings were dark, and Tuli, unaware of the trap hidden in the ground, got caught in it.
At that moment, a girl appeared from the top of the tree.
“Finally, you came!”
“Huh!?”
“What!? What now…!?”
It was the season changing from autumn to winter, and although most of the leaves had fallen from the trees, the trunk of the large tree was thick enough, and even the branches high up provided enough cover to hide a single girl. And with the darkness descending around them, Tuli and Rain couldn’t notice the figure lurking above their heads.
The girl was someone familiar to both of them.
“Kasumi!?”
“Huh!? What’s going on…!”
“…………”
Looking down from the top of the tree, Kasumi, their classmate, stood. With practiced movements, she stood on the tree, observing the two with sharp eyes. Rain looked up in surprise and met Kasumi’s gaze, but Tuli, hanging upside down, couldn’t see Kasumi.
///
///
Kasumi was using hunting techniques from her past life. She would go into the mountains to help with hunting, catching rabbits and deer for everyone in the village, using those skills here and now. The trap had captured Tuli’s body perfectly.
“Kasumi!? Did you do this…!? Why…!?”
“Why, that’s my line!”
“What!? What’s going on…!? Please, get me down…!”
Although Rain questioned why, Kasumi also felt distrust toward the two. Standing proudly on the tree, she pointed her finger at Rain and Tuli.
“You brought up the topic of [reincarnation] and went to investigate the rumors of [reincarnation] on the same day…! Even though I clearly said it was a lie, you eagerly went to check it out! Isn’t that suspicious!?”
“What…!?”
“Rain! Tuli! What do you both know about reincarnation!?”
“Nooooo! Please help me quickly!”
The rumor about an old witch’s message appearing on the tree in the church garden was a blatant lie that Kasumi had made up. Sensing something off about Tuli bringing up the topic of reincarnation from the discussion of Lost Magic, Kasumi had lied on the spot.
If that lie had taken hold, and Tuli and Rain had come to investigate the tree in the church garden at dusk, they would have clearly known something about Kasumi’s own reincarnation magic. And they had indeed fallen for the lie.
“Could it be, Kasumi…you too…?”
“You too…? Just what do you know about reincarnation?”
“Help meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Get me down!”
“Tuli! Be quiet!”
As Kasumi and Rain exchanged stern glances, Tuli continued to swing in the air. Being suspended upside down was terrifying, and even in the midst of an important conversation, she couldn’t help but scream. She was on the verge of tears.
“Don’t play dumb, both of you! I’ve completely caught Tuli! You better spill everything you know!”
“What!? A knife…!?”
“Ughhh…!?”
Kasumi lightly jumped to another branch. Tuli was hanging nearby, and she brought the knife close to her throat.
Living in this modern country, experiences like killing or being killed were almost non-existent, and Rain and Tuli, being modern people, were deeply disturbed by the sight of the knife.
“W-wait, Kasumi! L-let’s calm down…! Let’s talk it out calmly…!”
“Why a knife…!? Why a knife…!?”
“Tuli! Be quiet!”
“Spill everything you know…!”
In the churchyard, the cries of the reincarnators’ agitation and confusion echoed. The sun was almost set, and crows cawed lazily. While many were hurrying home in the peaceful time, these three were the only ones shouting and causing a commotion.
And their excitement didn’t subside for a while, making it hard to regain control.
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT gadgetizedpanda.net
The next day.
“Could it be… reincarnators of ancient witches…”
“Even in this situation, it’s surprising…”
On a midday holiday, reincarnators were discussing at Zeke’s house.
Zeke, Rain, and Tuli, the three reincarnators, along with Zeke’s wife Anya, who was not a reincarnator, and the usual group were gathered.
But today, there was one more person, Kasumi, who had come to the scene.
Last night, Tuli and Rain managed to calm down and talk with Kasumi. Despite growing mutual distrust, they shared their stories, and everyone came to understand that they were all reincarnators.
And so, to discuss with the other reincarnator, Zeke, the next day, the three gathered at Zeke’s house. Zeke’s children, Yuki and Haru, were sent out to play.
Zeke, 38 years old, was Yuki’s father and the oldest among the reincarnators.
In the calm midday, as the cold wind rustled and the leaves fell, the early winter sun cast bright light through the window, illuminating the room. Anya served hot tea to everyone, its aroma tickling their noses.
“The witch of Progardia’s witch trials… I studied that a lot in class. I never thought I’d be talking to someone mentioned in a history textbook,”
“I’m surprised too. I never imagined that Yuki’s father was a reincarnator… No, Rain and Tuli. To think there were so many of our kind nearby…”
As they sipped their tea, Zeke and Kasumi talked slowly. When Tuli and Rain talked to Kasumi, it was tumultuous and chaotic, but perhaps because the circumstances were explained beforehand, Zeke and Kasumi’s conversation went smoothly.
“So… Can I get your autograph?”
“Don’t say stupid things,”
“Ha-ha-ha.”
Zeke said jokingly, but he felt a little disappointed.
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