minacia
perpetually sour
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- Jun 22, 2020
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This is an isekai story about a girl named Willow who transmigrates to another world. She wakes up and finds herself as a witch who lives at the edge of a village — and has a throbbing headache because she seems to remember certain things but not others. Specifically, is suddenly able to read a strange language and has some memories about this new world, but she doesn't remember anything about the person whose body she took over.
Some of the villagers come and visit her regularly. They seem to expect that she'll be able to create various potions and remedies, which is a problem at first because Willow doesn't have any memories about magic. Thankfully, the previous witch was a prolific writer and has a large collection of books, so Willow spends a lot of time reading them to figure out how to make various potions.
The story is consequently a gathering/crafting slice-of-life in the early chapters.
The first major turning point in the story is when a knight visits Willow's cottage. When Willow answers the door, the Knight is upset/disappointed/sad and remarks that "the witch is dead." Willow is confused because she is very much alive, and the Knight shakes his head and explains that the old witch is dead, and Willow clearly isn't her. Rather, the Witch is a hereditary role — when one witch dies, a new one appears to replace her. In a sense, this makes witches appear "immortal" when in reality they are constantly inhabited by new souls.
The Knight explains that he came to ask for a favor, but since the old witch is dead, it's useless. However, he does warn Willow to be careful — she is known to the world as the Wicked Witch of Wisteria (one of her predecessors from 30 years ago did a lot of evil and bad things), and many people will be hunting her to burn her at the stake. He recommends that she stay in hiding and interact with the villagers as little as possible.
However, his warning is a bit too late. Willow has already been visiting the village regularly and befriended many of them. In particular, she has been especially interested in the local orphanage/church/school, because in her previous world it was the easiest way to volunteer and get to know people. Many of the local villagers were already beginning to see her as a healer/witch and trust her.
One day, an Inquisitor arrives in the village (having heard of the rumors), and one of the villagers runs to her cottage and warns her of their presence. The villagers attempt to conceal Willow's presence, but they're unsuccessful (in part because they're not all united) — the Inquisitor realizes that the villagers are colluding with the witch and determines that the village must burn for heresy. The Knight also appears and begins to duel the Inquisitor, but is heavily wounded. Willow finally appears and says that she'll go with the Inquisitor if he leaves the village (and the Knight) alone.
The next arc of the story is spent on Willow's captivity. The Inquisitor is surprisingly incompetent (no horse, no money, no supplies... kind of like Don Quixote), and they are a long way away from the capital where the Inquisitor is supposed to bring Willow. They spend a lot of time on misadventures while traveling (with Willow technically his prisoner), and Willow takes this opportunity to slowly change the Inquisitor's opinion about her and witches in general. The Inquisitor is also honorable / knight-like in various ways and makes frequent detours to help various side-quests like rescuing a village attacked by trolls, and Willow even helps out. This arc has a colorful and even lighthearted atmosphere.
Eventually, the Inquisitor reaches an Imperial city, and suddenly Willow is transferred to a more conventional prison where her quality of life plummets. The Inquisitor is no longer responsible for Willow, and the story takes an extremely dark turn when suddenly more typical inquisition-things start happening (i.e. borderline torture). The Inquisitor feels ambivalent about how terribly Willow is being treated, and speaks up — however he is admonished by his superiors for being "influenced" and "corrupted" by the witch after traveling all that time together.
Some more time passes, and the Inquisitor's guilt rises. Willow's trial happens and she is sentenced to being burnt at the stake. Her execution date is set to happen in a few weeks, and the Inquisitor finally gets assigned back into being Willow's prison guard.
The climax of the story sits around this conversation when they are reunited. It's a sparse conversation, and they don't have a lot to say to each other. The Inquisitor tells Willow that he's sorry. Willow responds that he was just doing his job. They share a little small talk.
Dawn arrives, and the Inquisitor is unable to muster the courage to do anything. Willow is taken to the pyre, where she is to be burnt alive.
When she is tied to the stake, the Inquisitor has a moment of fervor and cries out from the crowd that he loves her. He pushes his way to the front and gets booed by the audience (they think he was beguiled by a witch), and Willow is shocked. The guards quickly apprehend him. However, she smiles wryly and tells him, "everyone makes mistakes, and it's our own burden to learn and grow from them."
The pyre is lit, and the Inquisitor is left to watch in anguish as it burns to cinders.
The end.
Some of the villagers come and visit her regularly. They seem to expect that she'll be able to create various potions and remedies, which is a problem at first because Willow doesn't have any memories about magic. Thankfully, the previous witch was a prolific writer and has a large collection of books, so Willow spends a lot of time reading them to figure out how to make various potions.
The story is consequently a gathering/crafting slice-of-life in the early chapters.
The first major turning point in the story is when a knight visits Willow's cottage. When Willow answers the door, the Knight is upset/disappointed/sad and remarks that "the witch is dead." Willow is confused because she is very much alive, and the Knight shakes his head and explains that the old witch is dead, and Willow clearly isn't her. Rather, the Witch is a hereditary role — when one witch dies, a new one appears to replace her. In a sense, this makes witches appear "immortal" when in reality they are constantly inhabited by new souls.
The Knight explains that he came to ask for a favor, but since the old witch is dead, it's useless. However, he does warn Willow to be careful — she is known to the world as the Wicked Witch of Wisteria (one of her predecessors from 30 years ago did a lot of evil and bad things), and many people will be hunting her to burn her at the stake. He recommends that she stay in hiding and interact with the villagers as little as possible.
However, his warning is a bit too late. Willow has already been visiting the village regularly and befriended many of them. In particular, she has been especially interested in the local orphanage/church/school, because in her previous world it was the easiest way to volunteer and get to know people. Many of the local villagers were already beginning to see her as a healer/witch and trust her.
One day, an Inquisitor arrives in the village (having heard of the rumors), and one of the villagers runs to her cottage and warns her of their presence. The villagers attempt to conceal Willow's presence, but they're unsuccessful (in part because they're not all united) — the Inquisitor realizes that the villagers are colluding with the witch and determines that the village must burn for heresy. The Knight also appears and begins to duel the Inquisitor, but is heavily wounded. Willow finally appears and says that she'll go with the Inquisitor if he leaves the village (and the Knight) alone.
The next arc of the story is spent on Willow's captivity. The Inquisitor is surprisingly incompetent (no horse, no money, no supplies... kind of like Don Quixote), and they are a long way away from the capital where the Inquisitor is supposed to bring Willow. They spend a lot of time on misadventures while traveling (with Willow technically his prisoner), and Willow takes this opportunity to slowly change the Inquisitor's opinion about her and witches in general. The Inquisitor is also honorable / knight-like in various ways and makes frequent detours to help various side-quests like rescuing a village attacked by trolls, and Willow even helps out. This arc has a colorful and even lighthearted atmosphere.
Eventually, the Inquisitor reaches an Imperial city, and suddenly Willow is transferred to a more conventional prison where her quality of life plummets. The Inquisitor is no longer responsible for Willow, and the story takes an extremely dark turn when suddenly more typical inquisition-things start happening (i.e. borderline torture). The Inquisitor feels ambivalent about how terribly Willow is being treated, and speaks up — however he is admonished by his superiors for being "influenced" and "corrupted" by the witch after traveling all that time together.
Some more time passes, and the Inquisitor's guilt rises. Willow's trial happens and she is sentenced to being burnt at the stake. Her execution date is set to happen in a few weeks, and the Inquisitor finally gets assigned back into being Willow's prison guard.
The climax of the story sits around this conversation when they are reunited. It's a sparse conversation, and they don't have a lot to say to each other. The Inquisitor tells Willow that he's sorry. Willow responds that he was just doing his job. They share a little small talk.
Dawn arrives, and the Inquisitor is unable to muster the courage to do anything. Willow is taken to the pyre, where she is to be burnt alive.
When she is tied to the stake, the Inquisitor has a moment of fervor and cries out from the crowd that he loves her. He pushes his way to the front and gets booed by the audience (they think he was beguiled by a witch), and Willow is shocked. The guards quickly apprehend him. However, she smiles wryly and tells him, "everyone makes mistakes, and it's our own burden to learn and grow from them."
The pyre is lit, and the Inquisitor is left to watch in anguish as it burns to cinders.
The end.
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