The Reincarnated Eldest Witch Sister Embraces Self-Sacrifice - Chapter 14: The Fiendstone
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- The Reincarnated Eldest Witch Sister Embraces Self-Sacrifice
- Chapter 14: The Fiendstone
After losing our grain trade route with the Defelos Company, I began searching for new channels the next day.
Unfortunately, this venture wasn’t going smoothly.
The loss of trust in witches was one reason, but there were two other major factors.
The first was the scarcity of independent stores not affiliated with a company.
Learning from yesterday’s lessons, I decided to entrust grain sales to individual retailers, but there weren’t many of them.
This limited the number of potential negotiations.
The second reason was a difference in values between me and the merchants.
To put it bluntly, merchants prioritize profit-making.
Therefore, my plea to not inflate grain prices was often rejected.
I was essentially offering the grain at almost no cost, wishing they would sell it at normal prices.
Nevertheless, after a tough week, I managed to secure contracts with seven stores.
Realistically, expanding further seemed unlikely.
The amount of grain left in my warehouse wasn’t substantial either.
I didn’t want to, but it seemed I had no choice but to ask for help from my sisters.
Witch discrimination was escalating; simply walking in the city attracted insults like “Shameless criminal!” or “Evil witches, leave the kingdom!”
At this rate, witches won’t be able to live openly.
It might be too late, but I must act before regretting inaction.
With these thoughts, I decided to bring up the matter at breakfast the day after concluding negotiations with the merchants.
“I have something important to discuss today. It’s not a pleasant topic, but you know how discrimination against witches has been intensifying lately? I’ve been engaging in charity work to counter this.”
“The grain sales you did recently? To eliminate hunger?”
“Exactly. Related to that, I need your help with a few things. I’m sorry to take your time, but can I count on your support?”
“Of course. I have no reason to refuse your request.”
“Me too!”
“Naturally, I’ll help as well.”
Hearing this from my sisters, I felt joy mixed with self-loathing.
I knew they would respond this way.
It felt like exploiting their kindness, making me slightly resent myself.
“Thank you. We’re facing a food shortage, so the tasks are mainly about gathering food. Demeter, please use your magic to multiply wheat and potatoes. Istos and Hekate, I need your help in hunting for meat.”
“Shouldn’t we buy food with money?”
“No. If we start buying up food now, we’ll be accused of hoarding it for ourselves.”
Responding to Hekate’s question, I explained the situation.
It’s easy to imagine accusations of witches stealing food, even if we intended to redistribute it to the public.
“Also, is anyone unavailable in three days?”
After checking with each other, my sisters shook their heads.
Seems like everyone was free.
“Then, keep that day open. We’ll organize a soup kitchen at the orphanage.”
“A soup kitchen?”
“It’s an activity where we provide free meals to those in need. We’ll need many hands to prepare the food. I’m sorry to involve you.”
“Don’t say that, Nee-san. You’re doing this because you think it’s good for us, like always, aren’t you?”
“Yes. I believe the best way to resolve witch discrimination is not through conflict, but through mutual aid between witches and the public. By addressing people’s grievances like this, I hope our peaceful lives will return someday.”
Responding to Istos’s words, I answered with apparent confidence, but in truth, I had lost my confidence.
In my past life, people fought over mere differences in skin color and culture. Can we really stop discrimination against witches, who differ not just in abilities but in lifespan too? Was there a better choice I could have made for my sisters? Was what I did truly right…?
++++++
Three days after talking with my sisters, I was preparing for the soup kitchen at the orphanage as planned. This orphanage was where we lived in our childhood, and I had donated a significant amount of money to it, building a strong relationship. Thus, I had no trouble getting permission to hold the soup kitchen there.
With my sisters’ help, I moved large pots, a substantial amount of food ingredients, and dishes for serving from our house to the orphanage. After transporting everything, I set up a fire in the orphanage’s yard and placed a large pot over it to cook potato pot-au-feu.
I added the potatoes enlarged by Demeter and the meat hunted by Istos and Hekate into the pot, along with water, vegetables, and spices like pepper. All that was left was to wait for the ingredients to cook. As the aroma began to spread, people were drawn to it.
After about thirty minutes, when the pot-au-feu was ready, I first served it to the children of the orphanage. I filled wooden bowls, produced in large quantities for this day, with pot-au-feu and a slice of bread. My sisters handed these to the children, who eagerly accepted and enjoyed the food made by witches.
After serving the children, I addressed the adults gathered outside the orphanage.
“There’s still food left, so we can serve more. If anyone is struggling for food, please come and take a meal without hesitation.”
“Really? You’re not going to ask for money later?”
“Of course not. This is a charity activity.”
“Hmph, witches doing charity? Sounds fishy. Maybe you’ve poisoned the food?”
“You’re free to doubt us. But if you trust our help, please come inside the orphanage. We’ll provide you with a warm meal.”
Saying this, I returned inside the orphanage, and several emaciated adults followed.
I, along with my sisters, then handed them warm pot-au-feu and a slice of bread.
More adults, who had been watching, began to enter the orphanage. We tirelessly served the food, receiving positive feedback. The people who ate the pot-au-feu thanked us with smiles.
The soup kitchen was going smoothly, just as I had hoped. Many seemed to realize that not all witches were evil.
However, just as we were about to run out of food, an incident occurred.
A middle-aged man in the orphanage’s yard, clutching a sharp stone, suddenly started running towards Hekate, who was next to me.
“I won’t be fooled by such a farce… Die, minion of the devil!”
Screaming and with bloodshot eyes, the man hurled the stone at Hekate. Caught off guard, Hekate froze, and there was no time for my magic to intervene.
The only option left was to push Hekate out of the way.
As I pushed her, I felt a heavy impact and a sharp pain in my head from the stone’s collision. Then, I lost consciousness.