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(S1-J6-Z6)水の魔女〜砂漠の国と記憶の代償〜

第4話 - 水の魔女〜砂漠の国と記憶の代償〜(英語学習用:英検2級)

2026年03月12日

#感動的

#魔女

#ダークファンタジー

#孤独

#希望

#完結

水の魔女セレン(瑟伦)

Sacrifice in the Desert: The Water Witch and KarinWhile traveling around the world, I arrived at a country in a golden desert where the sun was extremely bright. Soon after I found an inn, a young man approached me. He looked very anxious.

”Hello. You are a witch, right? I have a favor to ask you,” he said.

He told me about Karin, a Fire Witch who lived nearby. No one had seen her for two years. People tried to visit her house, but they could not enter because of an invisible wall.

When I reached the house, I felt an enormous magical power. It was a powerful and sad barrier (結界) that could even seal a demon king.

“Please stay away,” I said to the man. I gathered my water magic and destroyed the barrier.

Inside the house, time seemed to have stopped. I found a hidden door under a carpet in the living room. It led to a dark basement. I told the man to wait outside because the magical energy inside was too dangerous for humans.

In the basement, I saw a girl named Karin. Red magical energy was flowing out of her body like a flood. She was crying.

“Please leave,” she sobbed. “I don’t want to hurt anyone anymore.”

She pointed to something in the corner. It was a strange creature that used to be a human. She explained that two years ago, she failed to control a powerful spell and accidentally changed her lover into that form. She had been suffering in the dark ever since.

I made a proposal to her.

“Do you want to continue living as a witch with this guilt? Or do you want to live as a human under the sun?”

”I want to be a human,” Karin replied. “But will I lose my magic?”

”Yes,” I answered. “Not only that, you will lose all your memories of magic. You will even forget that you were once a witch.”

Karin made a difficult decision to become a human. I performed a ritual to remove her fire magic with my water magic. Soon, she became an ordinary girl and fell into a deep sleep.

I carried her to a bed on the first floor. To protect her, I decided to play the role of a “villain.” I wrote a letter to the townspeople:

”I have stolen all of Karin’s magic. I destroyed her house and turned her into a powerless human. If you want to blame someone, blame me.”

The next morning, the townspeople gathered around the inn and shouted angrily, “Come out, you evil witch!”

I smiled a little and flew into the sky on my broom. People threw stones at me, including the young man who had asked for my help.

From high in the sky, I saw Karin. She was talking to the neighbors. She looked confused, but the look of despair was gone from her face.

”Good. This is for the best,” I whispered.

I was sure that she would live a peaceful life with the people she loved. A single tear fell from my eye and disappeared into the desert wind. My journey continues. I wonder what kind of magic—and what kind of lies—I will need in the next country.

●全訳：砂漠の魔女と偽りの書き置き●

世界を巡る旅の途中、私は黄金の砂漠にある、日差しの非常に強い国に到着しました。宿を見つけてすぐ、一人の青年が近づいてきました。彼はとても不安そうに見えました。

「こんにちは。あんた、魔女だろ？頼みたいことがあるんだ」と彼は言いました。

彼は近くに住む炎の魔女、カリンについて話してくれました。2年もの間、誰も彼女を見ていないというのです。人々は彼女の家を訪ねようとしましたが、見えない壁に阻まれて中に入ることができませんでした。

私がその家にたどり着いたとき、膨大な魔力を感じました。それは魔王をも封印できるような、強力で悲しい結界でした。

「離れていてください」と私は青年に言い、水の魔力を集めてその結界を破壊しました。

家の中は、まるで時間が止まったかのようでした。リビングのカーペットの下に隠し扉を見つけ、それは暗い地下室へと続いていました。中にある魔力は人間には危険すぎるため、私は青年に外で待つように伝えました。

地下室には、カリンという名の少女がいました。彼女の体からは、赤い魔力が濁流のように溢れ出していました。彼女は泣いていました。

「出ていって」と彼女は泣きじゃくりました。「これ以上、誰も傷つけたくないの」

彼女は部屋の隅にある「何か」を指差しました。それは、かつて人間だった奇妙な生き物でした。彼女は、2年前に強力な呪文のコントロールに失敗し、誤って愛する人をその姿に変えてしまったのだと説明しました。彼女はずっと暗闇の中で苦しみ続けていたのです。

私は彼女にある提案をしました。

「この罪を背負ったまま魔女として生き続けたいですか？それとも、太陽の下で人間として生きたいですか？」