The Witch and Her Companion: I'm Just a Normal High School Student, but I Became the Familiar of the Highest-Ranked Witch. Also, It Seems I'm the Only Guy in the Witch Organization I Joined - Chapter 45: A Piggyback Ride and Old Tales

Chapter 45: A Piggyback Ride and Old Tales

[Baba Sakurako]

──”H-here… your c-coffee… nano. Sorry to keep you waiting… nano.”

“Oh, thank you very much…”

The person who brought me the coffee with an alarmingly unsteady grip wasn’t Bubblegum-san, nor was it the blue-haired girl with a nosebleed.

Her hair was as white as snow, and her bangs were absurdly long. I always thought my bangs were longer than most people’s, but this person was on a whole other level.

“Mufu, listen to this, Sakurako-chin! You know how I went to visit the Seraph Witch Association the other day, right? Well, after that, Boss got super mad at me, and now I’m stuck here minding the store! Isn’t that, like, totally unfair?”

“…That’s, uh… quite unfortunate. Wait, Bubblegum-san gets scolded too?”

Bubblegum-san had disappeared earlier, saying she would go make coffee. But when she came back, she was empty-handed and, for some reason, sat across from me to chat instead.

In the end, someone else brought the coffee, so what did she even go there for?

“Muhaha, the Ravens is all about hierarchy, y’know… But seriously, getting chewed out just for eating her favorite cup ramen? That’s overkill!”

“…Wait, I thought you got in trouble for going to the Seraph Witch Association?”

“Mufuu, well, that day I was on cooking duty, right? But I didn’t have time to make breakfast, so I just grabbed some random cup ramen… Turns out, it was Boss’s!”

Now that I think about it, back when she left the Seraph Witch Association, she was muttering something about her shift too.

The ‘Boss’ she keeps mentioning is probably the leader of the Ravens, but… cup ramen? Does that mean this Abyss person is actually a surprisingly down-to-earth witch?

“So, going to the Seraph Witch Association wasn’t actually a problem?”

“Muhaha, I was just there to say hi. Anyway, Sakurako-chin, why don’t you join the Ravens?”

“…Gofuh!“

The sudden, out-of-nowhere recruitment pitch made me spew my coffee everywhere. The way she used “anyway” was way too avant-garde.

“Muhaha, gross, Sakurako-chin! Don’t tell me you can’t drink coffee?”

“…N-no, that’s not the problem. It’s just that the conversation jumped too fast! Why would I be joining the Ravens?”

As I wiped my mouth and the table, I tried to steady my breath. Rose-san had warned me to just ignore recruitment attempts, but I didn’t think they’d actually try to scout someone like me… They really have no standards.

“Muhaha, the Ravens are always short on people! If you joined, the cooking duty cycle would be longer, and I’d be sooo happy!”

“…So I’m being recruited just for cooking duty?”

“Mufuu, I mean, can you even do anything else? You look weak as hell… How old even are you? Over a hundred?”

“…I’m seventeen, actually.”

“Muhaha!? Seventeen!? You’re just a damn baby! Muhahahaha!!”

Bubblegum-san burst into laughter, slapping the table repeatedly.

I wasn’t exactly sure why, but I definitely felt like I was being mocked.

“…Um… Did I say something funny?”

“Mufa, sorry, sorry! It’s just, at that age, you’re basically still in diapers! And here I was, seriously trying to recruit you for the Ravens. I’m too much, aren’t I?”

Yeah. That wasn’t just my imagination—I was definitely being ridiculed.

It’s true that I only recently found out I was a witch, so in a way, I really am just a baby in this world.

But Hikari-chan and the others are around my age too, and they’re proper witches. Hearing Bubblegum-san’s laughter, I started to feel like she was mocking them as well, and that made me a little angry.

“…Even at seventeen, a witch is still a witch. I can use magic properly, and my master is an amazing witch!”

“Muhaha, but I bet you can’t do anything impressive yet, right? Can you summon a magic sword? Have you ever killed an Inquisitor? Just looking at you, I bet your so-called master isn’t much either!”

“…W-well… I don’t really know about magic swords, and I’ve never even met an Inquisitor, but… at the very least, my master is way more amazing than you, Bubblegum-san!”

“Muhaha, oh? Did I hit a nerve? Look at you, talking back now! So cute! You should totally join the Ravens. I’ll make you my pet!”

I tried my best to put on a strong front, but Bubblegum-san clearly looked down on me, and her attitude just kept getting worse.

“No, thank you. Thanks for the coffee… but I have training with my master, so I’ll be leaving now.”

“Muhaha, I don’t know who your master is, but I bet I could teach you magic better than them. You should ditch them and come to me instead!”

“…Why don’t you bring that up with my master directly?”

Maybe having magic flowing through my body made me a little braver, but this was the first time I’d argued so openly with someone since elementary school.

But now that I’d let my emotions get the better of me and made things tense… was I going to get killed for this?

“…Muhaha, I like that. Let’s do it—straight to the source!”

“…Huh?”

“Mufufu, take me to this master of yours. I’ll beat them up and make you mine!”

They say words can be your downfall, and I wasn’t joking. This was a disaster.

If Bubblegum-san found out I had connections to the Seraph Witch Association and blurted it out in front of the president, my secret would be exposed.

And if that happened, I’d be facing a punishment far worse than a forehead flick.

I had to find a way to de-escalate this.

“…Wait! Now that I think about it, Bubblegum-san is waaaay more amazing than my master! I just got a little worked up there… maybe I drank too much coffee…”

“…Muhaha──”

“Yes!?”

“Just take me to them.”

That voice was laced with pure murderous intent. The only kind of person who could resist that would be a reckless fool with a death wish.

And since I wasn’t one of those, I had no choice but to escort Bubblegum-san to the training grounds in the mountains.

＊　＊　＊

“──Um, President… do you have a moment?”

“Hm? Ah, ’tis Sakurako… hold thy tongue for but a moment, I am faced with a most perplexing dilemma.”

I had finally arrived at the back mountain where the President resided, bringing along Bubblegum-san, who was dressed in a café uniform.

Incidentally, aside from Bubblegum-san, a blue-haired person and a bangs-covered person had also tagged along as her chaperones.

At present, I had them waiting a short distance away, under the pretense that I was fetching my master.

Since we had come this far, there was no choice but to have them meet. However, the timing was unfortunate—Vivian seemed quite preoccupied.

“…Um, President, there’s someone who wants to meet you.”

“Bah, cease thy prattle! Did I not bid thee wait? …What manner of vexing problem is this, I cannot fathom it at all…!”

“…What exactly are you doing, President?”

“Hah? Canst thou not see? I am reading the newspaper!”

Indeed, Vivian was seated upon a felled log, holding a newspaper wide open. Given her small frame, the large pages nearly concealed her entire form from view.

“Is reading the newspaper really that troubling?”

“Indeed, it is! This ‘Sunday Brain Teasers’ section presents an enigma most confounding! ‘What is something that loves to be carried on one’s back, despite not being a babe?’ Verily, such a thing doth not exist!”

…Solving riddles while others are struggling—must be nice to have so few worries. The answer is probably a randoseru (school backpack) or a rucksack.

“…Loves to be carried on the back, yet isn’t a baby… could it be, like, a pervert?”

“I sincerely doubt such crude riddles would be printed in a newspaper.”

“…Hmm, aye, merely desiring a ride upon one’s back doth not make one a deviant… perhaps a mere clingy child…”

She wasn’t even trying to answer properly anymore. Vivian showed no intention of setting aside her newspaper, mumbling to herself all the while.

What to do? If I kept Bubblegum-san and the others waiting too long, they might lose their patience. But if I just gave Vivian the answer, she might throw a fit. This was the real riddle.

“Mufaaah, how much longer are you going to make me wait?”

Uh-oh. Bubblegum-san and her entourage, having run out of patience, were closing in from behind.

…No, maybe it was better this way. They were already acquainted through Karasu Raven, so there might even be some nostalgic reminiscing once they reunited.

“…Hmm, not a babe, yet loves to be carried… what could it be…?”

“Mufaaah? Sakurako-chin, is that newspaper-reading brat your so-called master?”

“…Er, well, yeah.”

At last, Bubblegum-san had reached my side. Vivian, still engrossed in her riddle, had yet to notice them.

“Mufufu, hey, you there, little one! Set aside that newspaper and look at me!”

“…Ah, ahhh! They have come so near…! Er… who might ye be again…?”

Incredible. She had ignored them so completely that even the usually confident Bubblegum-san looked a little pitiful.

“Mufuuu, to ignore me, of all people, you’ve got some nerve! You’re just some fledgling witch who doesn’t know the great Me!”

“…Ohhh, verily! Bubblegum, is it not?!”

Vivian suddenly kicked her legs, exclaiming loudly as if she had just now realized. Had she finally recognized Bubblegum-san?

“…Mufaaah, so you did know me all along! Hah, but of course! Such beauty, such infamy—of course, I’d be famous!”

Bubblegum-san grinned smugly, looking quite pleased with herself. The “beauty” part I could understand, but was widespread infamy really something to boast about?

“…How nostalgic. You were a noble, yet such a crybaby and a clingy one at that… always begging to be carried on my back, like an infant. Aye, there is no mistake—thou art the answer to this riddle!”

“…M-Mufaaaah!?”

So Vivian never understood the riddle at all. More importantly, Bubblegum-san had apparently been quite the spoiled child back in the day. My, my, how she had grown…

“…What!? The answer was a school backpack!? Dost thou take me for a fool, knave!? CURSED WRETCH, HAVE AT THEE!!”

Apparently, the answer had indeed been randoseru. Sakurako Baba earns one point!

Vivian, now furious at the riddle, shredded the newspaper into pieces—thus finally setting the stage for the long-awaited reunion.

“M-Mufuuu… h-how does this tiny brat know these things!?”

“…Hmph, never again shall I read this wretched newspaper! …Hn? Oho, but if it isn’t Bubblegum!?”

“…!?”

“It’s been so long! Why, I was just thinking about thee! What has it been, some centuries now?”

“…M-Mufawawa!? T-that hair, that speech…! Could it be—Vivian!? Vivian Hearts!?”

Bubblegum-san visibly stiffened, looking as though she had just seen a ghost. Meanwhile, I struggled to hold in my laughter at her ridiculous “Mufawawa!?” reaction.

“…Is it not plain as day that I am who I am? Hmph, very well—shall I carry thee upon my back, for old times’ sake?”

“M-MUFAAAH!? Cut that out! Forget it, forget it!!”

“…Heh, thou hast said it twice.”

The blue-haired one and the bangs-covered one snickered quietly from behind. Even I was struggling not to laugh.

“What, dost thou blush? Worry not, thou mayest cling to me as in the days of old! Come, Bubby, over here! Bubby dear!”

“MUHAAAAA!? Knock it off already! I’m begging you! I implore you!!”

“…Bubby, huh? How adorable.”

“A surprising side of her… hehehe.”

“Y-you scoundrels! Cut it out! Back to the shop, now! Immediately!!”

──And so, thanks to Vivian’s endless reminiscing, Bubblegum-san’s mental state was thoroughly shattered.