Until The Witch Dies

Chapter 10

Section 3: Tea Party War

Translated by AmaLynne

Finne Cavendish.

She is a student living in the provincial city of Lapis, one year younger than I am.

We have known each other for more than 10 years this year, and she is my best friend.

When did we first meet?

I got to know her when I and master saved Finne’s house from collapsing in a major disaster a long time ago.

Since then, our interaction has increased and continues to this day.

「What were you doing being silly?」

「Ho-ho-ho, it’s just a small, trivial, minute thing.」

With a wry smile on my face, I cleared the table with the messengers and made her a cup of tea, hoping to catch her off guard.

I then pour her a cup of tea, which was the reagent I had just made.

Two of the messengers looked at me with surprise.

「I made you a nice cup of tea, drink it, Finne.」

Looking at the teacups placed on the table, Finne turned her quizzical eyes toward me.

「There’s something strange in this, isn’t there?」

「I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ll beat you to death.」

When Finne turned her attention to the messengers, they nodded their heads in agreement.

「I’m going to roast you after… you traitor.」

「I knew there was something weird in there!」

「Sacrifices have to be made for the progress of mankind! Please hold on!」

「Don’t be silly, who’s going to drink it! Ugugugugu.」

Before I knew it, the messengers had dumped the tea into the sink while I was struggling with Feine, and this conflict was over.

After the fight, we fell on the desk, breathing on our shoulders.

「That… was a good fight.」

「What the hell is that!」

Shouted Finne, who let out an exasperated sigh.

「So why did you try to make me drink this stuff?」

「There’s no other way to do this… I’m so screwed!」

I vomited all over it.

That I would die in a year, that I had to collect a thousand tears of joy.

「A curse?」

「Master says it’s like a pre-existing condition I was born with.」

「Wow, I didn’t know witches could do that.」

「No, not「wow」. I’ve never heard of it either. That’s why I’m in trouble.」

「But it sure seems like a tall order to cry tears of joy.」

「It’s actually very high. Look at this. Two grains in a week. And they’re not tears of joy. They’re the trashy tears of a father and daughter, collected by mistake in a shitty thermos and worthless as a speck.」

「Bad mouth…」

I showed the bottle to Finne, and she peered inside with interest.

「I don’t know much about magic, but what can I say, they are beautiful tears.」

「How do you know that? Aren’t you sound like a know-it-all?」

「It’s pure, really pure. It’s like there’s nothing extra in it.」

「So it’s pure~…」

I flip the bottle and I can hear the gooey liquid hitting the bottle.

「To me, it looks like nothing more than a messy bodily fluid.」

「Your heart is dirty.」

Master told me to collect「pieces of emotions.」

If so, are these tears also one emotion?

As I stared at the contents of the bottle,「But」, Finne spun the words.

「If you use drugs to force tears of joy out of people, that wouldn’t do.」

「You know what I’m talking about.」

「After all, we’ve known each other for over a decade now.」

I am utterly amazed at how good she is at people.

I am the one who, just a few minutes ago, tried to experiment on her.

However, if she drank it, I was going to give her an antidote or belly-punch her to make her throw up.

But I would lose a friend if I told her, so I’ll keep it quiet.

Besides.

Somehow, I knew this wasn’t going to work.

The tears that I generated through drugs and cheating would never become「pieces of emotion.」

Surely, then, no seeds would be born.

And it’s not right to use such things as the source of my life.

Well, I can’t say such a thing after conducting experiments.

Seeing me pondering, Finne smiled a little funny.

「What are you laughing at?」

「You really are a kind person. Don’t just spit poison all the time, be honest once in a while.」

「Don’t judge me with unexpected words.」