I held my head, but not because it hurt. During my tenure as a cog in the corporate machine, I’d had awful headaches and usually took medicine for them, but these days, I was the very picture of health.

Think. Think. What can I do to minimize the damage?

That’s it! I’ll have her overwrite it with different information and save that.

I checked behind me, making sure there weren’t any other adventurers here now.

“Natalie, please spread a rumor that my being level 99 was an error.”

“Are you telling me to lie?”

“Yes, I am. Say that I’m a perfectly normal witch who simply knows a little about botany. I’m begging you. Tell them the status slate was malfunctioning!”

Natalie is guild personnel, which means it wouldn’t be strange for her to know a lot about statuses. If she says it was a mistake, lots of people should believe her!

“I’d feel awful saying someone with your abilities was actually weak… You’re the pride of our village, great Witch…”

“Knowing about my abilities won’t make anyone happy. On the contrary, jealous people could start coming out of the woodwork. At the very least, strength isn’t necessary to my peaceful life. Please help me out!”

If everyone had despised me, it might have been nice to get some payback.

The villagers already had plenty of respect for me, though. I also had a good track record, the long years I’d spent helping the village through medicine and healing. Status didn’t need to enter this equation.

“I understand. I mustn’t cause trouble for the great Witch of the Highlands.”

Natalie seemed convinced.

A little damage control seemed feasible.

First things first—I’d done what I could for now.

“Aah… You know, in terms of adventurer rank, you’d undoubtedly be an S among Ss, a legend unseen since the kingdom was founded… What a shame…”

“Maybe so, but please just deal with it.”

“But it would make the name of Flatta Village famous far and wide—”

“Deal with that, too. They say fame comes at a price. There’s a danger that it would bring trouble to this quiet village.”

“Um, could I just tell Guild Headquarters—?”

“Absolutely not!”

I made an X sign with my arms, rejecting Natalie’s request with all my might.

Up until this point, my relationship with the village had gone the way I wanted it to. I was just maintaining the status quo. Nothing wrong with that.

Afterward, I was careful never to let the villagers see my power. I hadn’t shown it to them before, either, so basically all I had to do was play the part of a perfectly normal witch.

Natalie seemed to have told the people around her that the slate had been wrong, and no more villagers asked me whether I was level 99.

That put an end to the matter. I’d spend my days killing slimes and brewing potions again.

Or so I thought, until one day…

…someone knocked on the door of my house.

Who could it be…?

***

Almost no one ever knocked on my door.

For starters, the location wasn’t exactly convenient.

The highland was a decent walk from the village, so getting there was a pain. It wasn’t on the way to anywhere else, either, so you wouldn’t just happen to be in the neighborhood to stop by.

On top of that, witches were special individuals to the villagers, so nobody just casually dropped in for a visit. People occasionally brought something to share with me, but that was about it.

Because of that, hardly anyone ever came to my house. Of course, there were emergencies—maybe a child had fallen ill and the parents wanted some medicine—and at times like that, I raced to wherever I was needed.

Since it would be terrible if someone had been taken ill, I closed the grimoire I’d been reading and headed for the entryway.

When I opened the door, I discovered a party of four adventurers.

They weren’t villagers, to say the least.

For one thing, the man at the front of the group appeared to be a young swordsman. He was probably in his early twenties.

There was another swordsman with bulging muscles, a woman in a robe that clearly marked her as a mage, and a teenage cleric. Four people in all.

“Yes? What do you need?”

Had they come to inquire about any powerful monsters nearby?

I wanted to apologize to them. There was absolutely nothing except small fry.

Oh, and there were no dungeons housing fantastic treasures, either. As a matter of fact, there were no dungeons period.

All I could really offer was that the forest had plants with healing properties.

If this has anything to do with an adventure, I’ll just politely decline.

“Are you Miss Azusa, ‘the Witch of the Highlands’?” asked the young swordsman, who seemed to be the leader.

“Yes, I am. Unfortunately, this isn’t a good area for adventuring. The monsters are weak, and we don’t have any dungeons.”

“No, it’s all right. That isn’t why we’re here.”

Then what was? Were they peddlers?

“We would like to engage you in a trial of strength.”

“……Huh?”

My voice cracked. I’d never heard that proposal before.

“A trial of strength? Did you want to arm wrestle or something?”

“No. We’d like to do battle.”

“I’m a witch who ekes out a living by gathering medicinal herbs. Fighting me won’t make you legendary heroes.”

“We heard there was a level 99 witch here.”

This rumor’s everywhere!

That adventurer in the guild really must have overheard. Even adventurers who stuck to this area traveled to the towns and villages near us, so I guess that’s how it got around…

“Ha-ha-ha… That was a misunderstanding. The slate broke and gave a weird number, that’s all. In terms of actual skill, I’m level 10 at most. Actually, that’s probably too generous. Level 3, possibly?”

“You shouldn’t lie.”

The woman who looked like a magician was the one who’d spoken. She was in her late twenties.

“I’m in a similar position, so I can tell. The mana is practically rolling off you. There’s no mistake. You’re phenomenal.”

Argh! You can tell from things like that?!

What is this? Are we like Stand users who are drawn to one another?

Still, I’m not fighting, no matter what. I mean it. If I get into one battle, I’ll never be able to stop.

“So—I’m just speaking hypothetically, all right? But even assuming I were a witch with genuine skills, I’d still have no reason to fight you.”

That’s a perfectly sound argument. I’ll stick with that one.

I don’t run a dojo here, so there’s no point in anyone trying to beat me.

“You see, we want to get stronger. Please spar with us and help us!”

They’re polite, but I really don’t want to involve myself with this.

This was a problem. If I didn’t get these people to go home, my peace and quiet would be ruined.

If it’s come to this, maybe I can fool them with a lie.

I cleared my throat and began.

“The truth is, long ago, I once grew drunk on my own power.”

*Never happened.

“We didn’t know…”

They were listening more earnestly than I expected. I felt a bit guilty.

“I hurt many people. Some even lost their lives to my attack spells.”

*The only thing I’ve killed is slimes.

“And so, I resolved never to fight again.”

*Everything about this is true.

“So even great adventurers have painful pasts…”

“Yes, and as a result, I can’t fight with you. Please understand.”

*Seriously, I’m begging you. Take a hint.

They’ll probably give up now.

“We understand how you feel, Miss Azusa. We’ll withdraw.”

“Thank you very much. May the road you travel be a bright one.”

“Many more adventurers like us are bound to come to you, and it’s probably going to be a lot of trouble. Be careful not to let anyone ambush you. Some adventurers only care about making a name for themselves.”

Hold it.

“Have the stories about me spread that far?”

Now there’s a nasty piece of news.

“Yes. I doubt there’s an adventurer in this territory who hasn’t heard about you by now. Besides, the local adventurers are very proud that Azusa, their ‘Witch of the Highlands,’ is the strongest being around.”

What do they think they’re doing, making me the pride of the region?! I wish they’d quit sabotaging my R & R.

No help for it. I’ll change my strategy.

“All right. I will spar with you, and only you, just this once.”

“Do you mean it?!”

A wave of enthusiasm surged through the party. They were treating me like some sort of celebrity.

“On one condition, though: If you lose, I want you to go around telling people the Witch of the Highlands was nothing special. If possible, I want to avoid fighting.”

The female magician nodded vigorously.

“All right. Sparring or no, I’d hate to seriously injure you, so…”

I went outside and used a farming hoe to draw a big circle in the dirt. It was more of an oval than a perfect circle, but it would serve.

“Let’s say whoever steps outside this circle loses. Is that all right with you?”

Of course, no one declined, and the matter was settled.

This way, we’d be able to finish up fast without anyone getting hurt.

“If I leave the circle, I lose. If every one of you leaves the circle, your side loses. Let’s do it that way. Oh, and anyone who steps outside is out of the match at that point.”

Those conditions favored my opponents, so I doubted they’d complain.

“Well then, let’s get right to it!”

As if to declare that victory went to the swift, the magician girl thrust her staff out in front of her and chanted something.

“O wind, choose this moment to become my servant and raise a tempest…”

Naturally, she’d thought of using the wind to hurl me out. That had been my plan, too.

Foooooooom!

A cyclone twisted my way. Just from the noise, I could tell it would pack a punch. Apparently, these adventurers were fairly high-level.

Is that how you use Whirlwind magic?