Majo no Tabitabi - Volume 15 - Chapter 1.01

CHAPTER 1 STORY 1

A Scary Story

“And so after that man gobbled up every last one of the manjuu, he said this: ‘Ah, I’m scared. Now hot tea is scary.’”

There was a lovely crescent moon hanging in the night sky over the Country of Mages. Beneath the moon, at an inn, Saya told me the story as she took a seat on the bed, wearing a look of total terror.

“…I’m sorry, you said this was a scary story, right? Where are the scary elements in the story you just told me?”

“Whaaat? I can’t believe what I’m hearing. You’re a boor, Elaina. Think about it on your own.”

“…………”

I had only asked because I was disappointed by the contents of her story. This was after Saya had barged into my room suddenly in the middle of the night, going on about “Let’s tell scary stories!” and whatnot. Still, for some reason, I was the one being scolded.

“Okay, next it’s your turn, Elaina. Come on, try and scare me!”

“Sure.”

“Oh, but I can’t really handle scary stories! So I request the kind of story that is just a little tiny bit scary but ultimately has a happy ending!”

“That’s a tall order.”

I was even more puzzled as to why I was now being forced into telling her a scary story. And she had set the bar quite high.

But unfortunately, I had no shortage of material for that sort of story.

“I see. Very well, then, I’ll give you one of my spare stories.”

Then I told it to her.

Somewhere out there was a traveler.

Upon arriving at a certain country, the traveler took a room in an inn as always and stayed the night. However, the room the traveler rented was terribly strange. Night after night, some unfamiliar stranger came in and invited the traveler, “Eh-heh-heh…let’s sleep together…heh-heh…”

The traveler, fearing for her safety, barricaded her room so that no one could come in. She felt safe, sure that now no one could enter.

However, the unfamiliar stranger, in a dreadful turn of events, broke down the door.

“No one knows what happened to the traveler that night—”

When I finished telling my story, Saya shuddered dramatically and said, “Eeek…that’s so scary. That unfamiliar stranger was definitely a stalker! Poor traveler!”

“By the way, the story I just told is true.”

“A t-true story…? Eeeek… I’m scared. Elaina, let me sleep with you, please.”

“I figured that was your intention in coming here from the start, but I absolutely refuse.”

“Oh, come on! Now I’m going to be too scared to sleep! It might even affect my training tomorrow.”

“That’s not my problem. Please go shiver yourself to sleep.”

Then I glared at her while sighing. “And hurry up and fix the door, will you?”

[Publication Information] Volume 1

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[Author Comments]

This story is based on the very famous rakugo bit “Scary Manjuu.” I wasn’t really aware of it, but I wrote another bonus story for Volume 10, which was a turning point in this series, using the same themes. Moreover, it has exactly the same title! You never think anything through, do you, Shiraishi?!