Volume 2 Chapter 8 (1/2)
Chapter 8 – The Country of Honesty
”…The Country of Honesty?”
I was standing in front of the gate of a small country that stood on a coast, and felt confused after hearing what the gate guard had said to me
”That's right! Our country is called 『The Country of Honesty』 As the name implies, there are no liars in this country! It's a crappy country!”
”…Haa”
”The ates and enters the country, they will become unable to tell lies, even if they are a witch”
I felt a little curious after hearing what the guard said That was my mistake
”How exactly does that happen?”
”The sword that belongs to the King of our country has a mysterious power, and apparently that poas used to create a barrier over the entire country which prevents people fro lies I know, it sounds incredibly suspicious, but that's hoorks, apparently”
”……”
”Well then, Witch-sama, what do you want to do? Do you want to enter our country?”
After hearing what he had to say, I responded
I applied for a stay of three days and two nights, and went through the gate The early su inside carried a faint hint of salt
The appearance of the city along the coast was excessively colorful, and the houses that lined the alleyere painted in blue, red, yellow, green, purple, and many other colors At any rate, the place was dyed with many vivid colors There is no sense of unity in the appearance at all However, theoverall
This country gives off a good feeling
”Witch-san! Please buy sootten all hard because it's quite old The stuff I have here at the counter is actually leftovers fro it at the regular price! Come buy some!”
”…No, ould actually buy garbage like that?”
A voice saying unbelievable things was directed at me from a street vendor I happened to pass by, and I unintentionally retorted
For some reason, my sharp comments are about twice as harsh compared to usual Is this because I can't lie?
”What are you talking about? They've been lying here for a long ti to drop They are still edible, though! Buy some!”
”……”
Not being able to lie should be considered sinful
I had a bad pre the roadside stall right after I entered the country, and I was right The people of this country often mess with other people in quite a similar way
”Ohme off! By the way, I developed a new perfume the other day, would you like to buy soirl like you but I' a business here after all”
”Hey, good afternoon To be honest you're not really my type, you look too childish, and your breasts are also quite lacking, it's really horrible I'h, so would you like to grab a bite to eat— Ah, you don't want to?”
Everyone was so honest that I wanted to just call them idiots to their faces
the people who passed by erous aura because everyone just kept talking about stuff that shouldn't be said aloud
”Hey, I see you're still bald, as usual”
”And you, as fat as ever, I see”
”I've been thinking this for a while, but you have really bad breath”
”…Hahaha”
”…Hahaha”
The aggressive nature of the people was barely being contained, and was showing through the cracks in their facade
…What the heck was the king thinking when he decided to turn this country into such a place?
As I continued to walk through the city, the royal palace came into view
”Half a year has passed since lies have disappeared from my country What do you say, everyone? Isn't it wonderful to live in a country where there is no deceit?”
At that iving a speech that was receiving great applause
He held a sword of exceedingly strange design in his hand It was so strange that I ht have blurted out, ”Ah, you have bad taste,” if he were to ask me for an opinion
The people ere gathered outside the palace were shouting, and holding placards which said stuff like:
”The King is the best!”
”Thank you for giving us a country without lies!”
”I got a girlfriend thanks to His Majesty!”
”Long live the King!”
Not a single one of the coherent, I could only hear people shouting short phrases like ”Wa wa” and ”Kya kya”
The king nodded after appearing pleased with the reactions of his subjects, and pointed his sword at the sky
”Lies are evil! They are despicable! I swear by this sword, I will continue to keep this country pure and free from lies and deceit!”
”I will follow you forever!”
”Your Majesty, I love you!”
”So handsome! Take me!”
”Long live our King!”
The king's voice grew even louder, as he appeared to be very pleased with the praise from his honest subjects
”True trust is born fros and words that carry no deceit! Let us lead our country down the proper path by facing each other head on!”
I atching the speech fros that were difficult to put into words, when all of a sudden, so around, I saitch earing a brown-coloured robe and a tricorne
That woman with messy, brown hair appeared to be in her early twenties
”…Can I help you?”
After I said that,
『You're the witch-saht?』
The woman silently held up a sketchbook with those words written on it with a proud expression on her face
”………?”
I shook my head
”No, I'm not”
By the way, the Adanization that conducts exaible to becoic, and conducts research into developing new kinds of anization that is involved in all ic
”By the way, people froic wear a moon-shaped brooch, you know?”
The only brooch I had was the one ona witch
After taking the effort to explain this to her in great detail, the woman finally seemed to have realized her mistake—she blushed red out of e with her pen while panicking
And then,
『I'et about what happened earlier!』
She once again held up the sketchbook towards me that had those words written on it, and ran away fro several times
What did she want, anyways?
”…Hmm?”
Now that I think about it, what about writing on paper? Was the rule about being honest applicable to that as well?
That question floated to e witch who refused to speak, and the crowd that had gathered around the royal palace
From my experience, it should have been i For exa a ”new” type of sweets would have a sign saying ”Neeets available!” but that would be followed by so like ”They're actually the saed” Other shops, whether they were candy shops, cafes, bookstores, or anything else—they all had signs which were equally horrible
”New product, recommended by the shop owner! It's delicious! Sorry, that's a lie It's trash It's utter crap You'll die if you eat this”
”A mystery novel by a new author! Even the author of that bestseller was shocked! (at how horrible it was)”
”This new product will ensure that you get a forty percent salary hike! It just feels that way”
Et cetera, et cetera
The signboards all had such slanderous words written on them, but none of them appeared to have been written there fron later on In addition, every signboard and advertise to erase the text or had been dirtied on purpose,them very hard to read
After getting tired of the streets where people were leaking their true intentions in an easily understood manner, I walked towards an inn
The inn had a sign that read ”Extre! It's cheap, but very beautiful,” and sonboard was too dirty
It's a country of honesty after all, so what's written on the sign shouldn't be a lie Thinking that, I stepped inside
However, the roo but beautiful It was trash It was the worst room I've ever been in I'd probably die if I stayed here
Does this mean that the owner of this inn considers this to be beautiful…? Apparently, they didn't have very good eyesight
I shutwhile feeling disappointed at this cruel reality
”…What should I write about?”
I decided to test the current situation and see hoould preventlies
After holdingfor a while, I decided to write about all the things I experienced today
And so, I wrote it down I fussed overand forcedmy pen
I see, the ic works in such a way that my hand autoht about justand looked back at what I wrote, only the truth ritten there
For example, I can think that I want to lie and write ”I a exactly the opposite on the paper If I try to say it aloud, my voice naturally says the words ”I am actually a woman,” and there is no sense of aardness at all
What's es I make to to what I have already written or said cannot be lies either If I try to write or say ”The previous state ”The previous statement is the truth”
Even if I try to use a different sheet of paper, and experiment with different ways to word it, no ic was apparently setup in a way that would preventwords to tell a lie
”…Hmmm”
This is a strange feeling
After finding that I was a little addicted to that feeling, I a with my body that refused to obey my will until I was exhausted
”…Huh?”
After continuing to write for a while, I noticed soe
I discovered the i that the people of this country were keeping silent about after being forced into honesty
I went for a walk inside the country the next day
Walking around on the absurdly colorful streets, asking the vendors of the street stalls ”Is this tasty? Was it freshly ivea lot of tasty and freshlya little tune
Seeing as it was a country on the coast, part of the city faced the sea I could hear the gentle sound of waves lapping on the shore as I walked around while eating
This is a nice feeling
As I thought, this country has a great atmosphere
”You asshole! I'll fucking kill you! Freakin' baldy with bad breath!”
”Shut up, fatass! Your body odor is just as bad!”
”Go die!”
”No, you go die!”
The nice atmosphere was destroyed in an instant
Looking over in that direction—in the direction I alking, I could see twoabuse at each other One of them was a fat man who looked like he'd explode nicely if I pricked him with a needle, and the other was a bald ht, it was al from body odor and bad breath respectively
……Actually, it's the same people I saw yesterday
”…Ha”
The two of theht, and they didn’t care about the fact that they were attracting attention fros The people who stopped to watch the, and nobody tried to stop the two men
Well, the same holds true for me as well
”Is it okay not to stop those two?”
I called out to a young man as near me and asked him that It's obviously better to stop the to throw the responsibility to someone else
However,
”Hmm? Witch-san, did you perhaps come here newly from someplace else?”
Seeing hed
”Quarrels like this happen all the tiood way to relieve stress, though, so nobody tries to stop them”
”……”
”Our irritation just keeps building up because of that idiotic king, so this ood diversion”
That was certainly a strange thing to say
There see—who said that true trust could only co each other head on—and his subjects
”That's enough, stooooooooooop!”
That hen a voice loud enough to hout the street
Looking over at theat their side, gripping a staff—she was using ic to forcefully stop their fists just before they hit each other
She appeared to be a little younger than me, and had star-shaped and lossy black hair swayed as she glared at the two
”Stop fighting in the middle of the day for stupid reasons Can't you see how you're troubling the other people around you?”
That girl had a fa a tricorne
”And you people as well, if you have the ti, why not try and stop the like this, when I'm not even from this country?”
It looked like the girl was quite angry
”……”
I had given irl was standing right there
”…What are you doing in a place like this, Saya-san?”
I walked out of the crowd and stood in front of her The girl saw me as well, and,
”Eh…? Elaina-san…?”
Her eyes ide open and her jaw dropped
Her surprise was so great that she loosened her grip on her staff, and thedisappeared as well
Having been released froic all of a sudden, the fists of both men crashed into each other's faces at the same time, and they both fell over
”Ah, I'm sorry”
An extrehout the street
”I never iain in a place like this, Elaina-san This ht? We should probably just go ahead and get ht?”
We left the two unconscious men to the people in that area and the two of us talked while walking around the city
”It really has been a long while How are you?”
I decided to ignore her thoughtless remarks
”I'y, thanks to this hat I safely ed to become a witch as well”
Saya-san gently touched her tricorne I'lad that she seems to like it
”What is your witch name?”
”It's the Witch of Charcoal”
”Oh… It's somewhat similar to mine…”
I am the Witch of Ashes They're almost identical
”I begged my teacher for a name with kanji similar to 'Ashes'”
Saying that, she proudly puffed out her chest Due to that action, the two brooches pinned to her robe struck each other and made a noise like a metal chime
One of them was star-shaped, and the other was moon-shaped
”So you joined the Adic?”
She nodded
”Yes I thought that this would be the quickest way to earn ”
If you register yourself with the Adiven a brooch shaped like the ional branches of the Bureau It looked like she was able to obtain a fairly stable source of inco this
Oh, I see That means:
”So, you came to this country on a job?”
”That's right So I'd appreciate any inforive me I don’t really know much about this country”
”You accepted the job even though you didn’t know much about the country?”
Is she an idiot?
”No, uht now because I did soh reward, so that's why I accepted it and came here”
”……”
I sighed at Saya-san's carelessness and lack of planning
”What were you planning to do if that promise of a reas false?”
”But this is the Country of Honesty, right? They wouldn't lie”
”Apparently, that's not really true”
”What do you mean?”
”Saya-san, do you have a spare piece of paper?”
”Yes I do…”
”Here, give that to me”
”……?”
With a confused look on her face, she pulled out a thick piece of paper from her pocket and held it out to me
”Here you go”
No ave me was the letter of request from this country
”…It's not okay to scribble all over so like this, you know?”
What's more, the paper had sentences written on it in beautiful handwriting, it's definitely not so on
By the way, the contents of the job were as follows:
『To the Adic We have a request Our country has currently been transfor in our king's sword Not being able to lie is not necessarily a bad thing, but all of us citizens here are highly inconvenienced because of this Would you please come to our country and fix this proble reward in return for your service—』
Saya-san puffed out her cheeks as she watchedthe request letter seriously
”Certainly, this job has a high reward, but the request letter doesn't have the name of the client, their address, or any other contact infor the client first So that paper has no further inforht look like an important docurill it, or eat it, I don’t really care”
”Do you think I'?”
After giving a sigh to the pouting Saya-san, I once again looked at the paper in my hands
I feel like I've seen this somewhere before The thick paper looks like it was taken fro also looked familiar
Oh, my
”I think I know the person rote this request”
”Ehh? Really?”
”Do you reht now?”
I said that while returning the thick paper to her
We walked to the area near the royal palace
Unlike yesterday, there wasn't h the courtyard
”………”
”………”
We discovered the witch-san ere looking for right away
『Has anyone seen the Witch-san dispatched by the Ad a moon-shaped brooch』
She andering around, shoving a sketchbook with those words written on it in the face of everyone as passing by She's behaving very suspiciously She's being very conspicuous
”Hey! You're here again!? You've been banished fro around here! You incompetent witch!”
『Hiii! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!』
What'spursued by a soldier
”…Is it that strange person?”
”Yes, it is indeed that strange person”
I nodded to Saya-san, who looked doubtful
And so, we chased the witch-san as running away
”What a horrible experience…”
After running around for a while, the running witch curled up in a back alley while clutching her sketchbook Her eyes were full of tears
I stuck my head out of the alley to make sure that there were no soldiers in the vicinity, and then,
”hello, how do you do? We met yesterday”
Saying that, I stood in front of that witch
She looked very surprised
『The witch-san fro?』
”If I re for a witch froht?”
『Y-Yes, that's right……』
”Let me introduce you This is my friend, Saya-san Apparently, she's the witch who has been dispatched by the Adic”
I said that with one ofat her chest with the other hand
”Ah, hello”
Saya-san gave a very half-baked response
The girl looked very surprised once again
『That brooch! So you're the witch dispatched by the Adic!? I see… I am the Witch of Quicksand, Eihemia I am the person who sent a written request to the Adic』
Saya-san pulled out a thick sheet of paper
”Are you talking about this letter?”
After nodding several tie on the sketchbook and showed us the word 『YES』on the page, then flipped to a different page and wrote, 『I'ot to addplace Tee hee~』
She gave that as an explanation
It looks like she had prepared some simple words in the sketchbook beforehand More importantly,
”Umm, can you not speak?”
『YES』
”Why not?”
『The mouth is the source of all evil』
”Would youseriously?”
『…There's a good reason for this』
So she wrote
『That reason is also related to the present condition of this country Would youto it, as part of the job?』
”Fumu”
”Ah, please wait for a minute I want to take notes”
I nodded, and Saya-san pulled out some paper and a pen She looked just like a neorker, extremely serious about her job
After looking at both of us in turn, Eihemia-san started to write
『Actually, the king's sas made by me』
For some reason, she looked a little proud
Eihemia-san, who used to work in the royal palace, received the following request fro
”Please get rid of all the liars in the country I wish to only have truthful people as my subjects”
When she asked for the reason, she found out that he had apparently been lied to and betrayed by a vassal, and he couldn't stand it anyet rid of all the liars
Eihe i a plan to get rid of all the liars in the country
And then, she had an epiphany
”That's right! I just need to !”
However, ical energy So, Eihemia-san sacrificed her own voice in order to create that enorh After worrying over it for a long tiic user in order to create the energy
As a result she becaic and also lost her voice, but the sword had been completed
By the hy had she decided to sacrifice her voice in the first place? When I asked her that in the :
『If I couldn't lie any how I felt about him…』
It looks like she was very shy
She then i
『Your Majesty, as long as you grip this sith your dominant hand, the people of this country will becoo of the sword or touch it with any part of your body other than your dominant hand, the effect will disappear Please accept it』