Every nation circulates quite a few classic stories among its people. The commoners of Naris circulate the legend of that golden-like king, Godolin, or perhaps about which noble's daughter living in a castle eloped with so-and-so, or maybe a farr responsible for repairing waterwheels discovering vast patches of gold in the riverbed.
Naris people liked this kind of lodramatic story that fit closer to life, just like the gentle love praised in "Moonlit Night," akin to their own lives yet possessing a faint layer of magical color.
But the stories of Schwari were entirely not like this. Perhaps because even their founding emperor firmly believed that slaying a giant snake would bring destiny and luck upon him, an abundance of stories regarding gods and ghosts, the truth of which was hard to investigate, circulated among the common folk of Schwari.
After Fisher smuggled himself from Naris into Schwari and then crossed all of Schwari to arrive near the border of Kadu, along the way he had beco completely immune to bizarre legends like "Devils tolling bells at midnight," "Conscious magic," and "Skin-shedding monsters."
So when Fisher sat in the carriage and heard his hired Schwari driver once again muttering this kind of story, he was sowhat impatient.
"Every night, our village will suffer attacks from unknown monsters, but the frequency of that thing's arrival is very irregular. So people say that monster is an old pervert with a giant wolf head and a body full of feathers, who frequently knocks on widows' doors and also likes to sneakily catch chickens in our chicken coops..."
Inside the carriage cabin, Fisher, wearing a white shirt and suspenders, held a quill pen in his hand, currently contrasting it with the map beside him to plan out his route.
Entering Schwari this ti, he disguised himself as a city reporter from Schwari's capital, Crimion, specially traveling around to investigate these rural strange tales. But in reality, his true goal was to search for the rare demi-human species hidden in the West Continent—Witches.
Beside the map on Fisher's desk, a book flashing with golden light was displaying the contents of its title page. That was four lines of seemingly destined prophecy, the last line of which was,
[The undying witch uses magic to compose epitaphs for them]
"Stealing chickens? And then?"
The driver outside had just finished speaking this segnt in rather bold and uninhibited Schwari Language. Fisher didn't even listen to the words outside, rely expressionlessly acting as a heartless straight man. This way could minimize the risk of his identity being exposed to the greatest extent. After all, relations between Schwari and Naris weren't good right now, otherwise Godolin IX wouldn't have dispatched Elizabeth out to the border...
Thinking of a certain lady with golden eyes and an agile smile, Fisher's action of dipping the quill pen into the ink paused, not writing down the next stroke of text for a long while.
"And then? Heh, it's strange to say, the n in our village worried it was demi-humans from the wild or weirdly shaped magical beasts coming to attack the village, so for a very long ti they guarded outside the houses at night, waiting to catch that monster when he ca over. But the result was truly bizarre. Every ti we kept a night watch, he wouldn't appear, and the mont we rested, the chickens in the coops would vanish into thin air."
"Could it be the chickens ran away?"
Fisher continued to patronize, giving incoherent responses to show he was listening.
"How could it be they ran away?! It was definitely a monster stealing our chickens. The next day Ylina picked up a very, very long black feather in the chicken coop. And what's more terrifying is that her son, when sleepily getting up to pee at night, truly saw the figure of a woman catching chickens in their own chicken coop. Those chickens didn't make a single sound, as if they were placed under a demonic spell!"
"The villagers felt that thing was either the mountain god of the mountains, or so monster or magical beast. But so people also said that guy was a... Witch!"
Fisher's writing action ca to an abrupt end. He hadn't listened to any of the previous words, but his attention was caught by the old man's last vocabulary word just now.
Pausing for a second, he put down the quill pen in his hand and pushed open the door of the carriage cabin, looking at the old man driving the carriage while drawing on a pipe outside,
"That story just now, repeat it again. What Witch?"
"Ah? Oh, it's like this. Since a few months ago, the chicken coops in our village have constantly been losing chickens... Wait, you didn't listen to speak at all just now?"
That old man turned back to glance at the young gentleman sitting in the carriage cabin. That gentleman's facial features were handso and sharply contoured. Though he clearly had a heavy scholarly air, his exterior was sowhat cold and stern. His expression was serious, causing the old man who had just wanted to complain a bit to purse his lips, then he continued saying,
"Alright, it's like this..."
The story was told once again, but Fisher sat behind the door rubbing his chin. Originally, he approached the border of Schwari and Kadu precisely for the Witches. The junction here possessed a very complex mountainous structure, and various ancient forests were also preserved to this day. According to ancient tos' records, many Witch activity records in history were in this vicinity.
Now suddenly having caught a clear clue, Fisher imdiately had a target. Regardless of whether it was true or not, it was best to go verify it first,
"Sowhat interesting, how often does she co to steal chickens?"
"That's hard to say. Sotis once a week, sotis several tis a week, and her arrival ti is different every ti. The widows say they feel soone approaching in the first half of the night, but when that brat saw that woman it was almost daybreak. However, this week she hasn't stolen anything yet."
"I understand, I am very interested in her. Like this, this week I will help you all keep the night watch, to see if we can catch her..."
But upon hearing this sentence, that old man in front hurriedly shook his head, advising,
"Oh dear, oh dear, this won't do. You are a reporter from the city, keeping watch late at night for a thief whose identity is unknown... if sothing happened, the loss would outweigh the gain... To tell the truth, after failing to catch that thing several tis, the villagers were all frightened by that sinister thing. We'd rather she steal a bit of stuff as long as no one gets hurt."
Fisher smiled soundlessly, sticking out the walking stick propped up beside him. Soon, dense white lights spread up that walking stick,
"This is, magic? Good heavens, I've only seen it when I entered the city to attend prayers as a child, and it was only a magic that could light lamps..."
In reality, most magic was very distant from commoners. The excessively exorbitant cost of magic wasn't sothing they could consider, and moreover they simply had no use for this stuff. So they felt, as it should be, that Magicians who could use magic were all remarkable big shots in the city.
"Don't worry about . If sothing happens I can guarantee my own safety. And even if sothing happens, you all don't have to bear responsibility..."
Nonsense, Fisher right now was a stowaway who ca over from Naris. His identity fundantally couldn't stand up to verification. In case sothing happened to him, the Schwari governnt would even have to thank this bunch of villagers for helping subdue a Naris spy...
"Moreover, the village has to face attacks from an unknown monster every night; I think you all must have endured enough a long ti ago, right?"
Since Fisher said it like this, that old man opened his mouth and naturally wouldn't refuse. In his heart, he even felt this reporter from the city was truly considering things for them, rather than coming over to casually find so inconsequential news and hurriedly leaving, after which the public's attention would be drawn, ti would be killed, and they would obtain a gimmick, while generally no one paid attention to what actually happened to the commoners who truly discovered these matters.
"This... alright then, we're here, this is our village."
The carriage slowly stopped at the village entrance. What appeared before Fisher's eyes at this ti was a peaceful, harmonious, yet small-scale little village. Elents like cooking smoke, flowing water, and waterwheels were all present. And walking further into the village, he quickly saw a dense jungle in the distance.
The depths of that jungle were the mountains extending from Schwari to the border of Kadu. The continuous mountain ranges remained a forbidden zone for humans to this day, isolating the northern junction of Schwari and Kadu like a natural moat.
The two nations only stationed border patrol troops at the edges of their respective jungles, while the mountains in the middle truly turned into a holy land of nature, a mysterious no man's land.
Walking more than ten miles further from this village, one could see Schwari's border outpost. But unless necessary, Fisher had no intention of approaching that side. Although he carried a very, very large amount of magic, as well as the graduation gift Helson gave him, illegally crossing a nation's border line was still a bit too dangerous.
That old man received Fisher at his own ho with quite so delight. In the ho, there was also a wife and two daughters not yet ten years old. The older twenty-year-old son had gone to work in the city's factories and only returned twice a year.
And hearing that Fisher, this great reporter, was going to help them keep the night watch at night, the old man's wife chattered endlessly, sharing with Fisher her speculations regarding the monster's identity in a flurry of words. Both the old couple were talkative people, and even those two daughters could chi in with a sentence or two,
"I heard there used to be an exiled Schwari Magician in the mountains. That guy researched a taboo magic and was convicted and exiled by the king! That magic requires killing living people to use their organs to cast magic. Even after being exiled here, he still wouldn't stop, actually using his own daughter for magic experints."
"The people in our village all say that the woman who cos over to steal chickens is the ghost of that Schwari Magician's dead daughter. Before she died, she constantly suffered abuse and always wanted to eat a al of chicken at, which is why she cos over every day to steal chickens..."
Amidst such conversation sounds, the color of the night grew thick. And Fisher also prepared to go outside the village to keep watch according to the agreent, to see if anyone ca to steal chickens. The old man still wanted to advise him a bit, but seeing Fisher being overly persistent, he had no choice but to hand his hunting single-barrel shotgun to Fisher for self-defense.
He lay alone in the haystack outside the chicken coops. This way he could not only keep warm but also conceal his figure to the maximum extent. The households raising chickens weren't many; sleeping here, he was very close to every household's chicken coop. Clutching the firearm and walking stick, he counted all the households' chickens once through before lying down properly.
In the sky, a massive and extrely icy full moon had risen to mid-air at so unknown point. The countless dazzling stars nearby all seed like re decorations, unable to cover up a single shred of that giant moon's radiance.
Fisher kept his eyes open, vigilantly listening to any signs of disturbance nearby. But even when the moonlight grew deeper and deeper, and Fisher's eyelids grew heavier and heavier, nothing happened.
"Cluck cluck..."
Wrapped in the environnt of nearby faint chicken clucks, for so unknown reason, Fisher's eyelids grew increasingly heavy. His consciousness seemingly also slowly sank into a dream. The scene within the dream was extrely pitch-black. Fisher stood alone in that deathly still pitch-blackness until at a certain mont, a bright full moon abruptly rose before his eyes, staring at him icily.
That frigid gaze instantly stimulated Fisher awake. He suddenly rembered he was still helping others look after chickens.
He staggeringly sat up from the haystack, only to find the surroundings were terrifyingly quiet right now.
It was still midnight. When he looked up at the sky, there was actually a purple lark standing on the roof of a villager's house below that giant full moon. The feathers of that lark were exceptionally beautiful under the night sky. Seeing the awakened Fisher, it even tilted its head in a human-like manner.
"Lark?"
An ominous premonition surged in his heart. He hastily patrolled around the nearby chicken coops, looking at the chicken coop under the eaves where that lark was standing, only to astonishingly discover that a chicken was missing there!
"Coo coo!"
The lark seed to discover Fisher had noticed the anomaly. In the next mont, it spread its wings and flew towards a certain direction in the forest. The surroundings were completely silent. The other villagers basically had no combat power; even if he woke them up it would only add to Fisher's burden. So he chased alone following the direction the bird flew.
The lark led Fisher all the way into the mountain forest behind the village. As the night wind brushed past, under the illumination of that giant full moon, the entire forest seed to grow restless. But Fisher's complexion was cold and stern, completely unflustered by this spectacle. Behind him, he even pulled a Weaver's thread, worrying he might get lost in the forest.
"Coo coo!"
That lark flying in the forest seed to have pinpointed a direction, emitting a crisp sound while rapidly descending. And Fisher's footsteps also halted at this mont.
For no other reason than firelight had actually appeared in the direction ahead.
Frowning, he carried his walking stick and looked towards the direction of the firelight. He found that it was a moderately sized clearing within the forest. In the center of the clearing, a plucked chicken skewered on a wooden stick was currently roasting over a bonfire made of stacked firewood.
Fisher raised an eyebrow, looking towards the direction of the owner holding the wooden skewer. The first thing that entered his eyes was a head of black hair cascading down like a waterfall.
"Hum hum hum~"
The owner of that black hair was humming a ballad whose specific tune Fisher couldn't discern, currently squatting before that bonfire fully concentrated on roasting that chicken. Her hair was overly long, concealing quite a bit of the simple linen clothing she wore. But even so, it still couldn't conceal her curvaceous figure.
The lark Fisher had chased all the way obediently landed on her shoulder, muttering sothing unknown beside her ear. In the next mont, that woman turned her head to look towards Fisher's direction sowhat surprisedly.
Beneath a head of black hair, her facial features were beautiful. A pair of bottomless purple eyes exuded a seductive charm. Soon after, obvious panic was revealed on her stunning face,
"Uwa!"
"Coo coo coo!"
Right when she spoke up did Fisher realize several larks exactly identical to the one on her shoulder had simultaneously landed on the branches nearby. The instant that woman spoke up, all the birds began emitting "coo coo" sounds.
After seeing Fisher who had caught up and was still clutching the firearm, she panicked to the point of imdiately getting up, preparing to run towards another direction in the forest. Even so, she still gripped that skewer of roasted chicken in her hands.
Then the next second, entirely beyond Fisher's expectation, perhaps she had squatted for too long, completely oblivious that her legs had gone numb. Then this sudden rising caused her left leg to trip her right leg, instantaneously making her fall flat on her face right where she stood.
"Plop!"
This sequence of operations made even Fisher stare blankly. Only after a second did he, realizing after the fact, leap down carrying the walking stick in his hand, pouncing towards that chicken thief,
"Running?"
Fisher didn't want to hurt her, rely wanting to control her so she wouldn't run away. So the thod he used was utilizing his magic attached to his walking stick to strike her body. This way, striking both her body and Mana Circuit simultaneously, even the toughest tough guy in the world would find it unbearably agonizing.
Seeing her still trying to run, Fisher whacked his walking stick onto her back,
"Ouch..."
That woman cried out charmingly from the pain, emitting an extrely cute sound. Subsequently, she hastily squatted down, hugging her own head with both hands while hastily speaking up and yelling loudly,
"Don't... don't hit , don't hit , wu... I'm a good person, I'm a human, I didn't do anything, help, murder!"
That woman kept a grip on the chicken in her hand, protected her own face with both hands, and a string of bombarding sounds transmitted over. The first half of this sentence was in Naris Language, while the second half consisted of Schwari Language and Cardo Language, as if deeply afraid Fisher couldn't understand and would beat her to death.
That woman's charming cries of pain brought Fisher's action of gripping the walking stick to an abrupt end. Looking at that woman fragilely hugging the chicken, curled up and trembling on the ground, he felt sowhat unable to bear it for a mont. After a second of silence, he withdrew the walking stick in his hand, frowning as he looked at this female before him whose facial features were blurred and unclear,
"Who are you, why do you go steal other people's things?"
This sentence was said using Schwari Language; he didn't want to expose his Naris identity.
But this montary compassion and the deep moonlight made Fisher fail to notice that the expression of the woman hidden beneath black hair before him turned into a "succeeded" treacherous smile. In the next mont, when she charmingly and weakly hugged the chicken at, got up, and brushed aside the black hair on her forehead, her stunning expression was entirely pitifulness and grievance born of pain.
She seed a bit unwilling to speak her identity, but she carefully shot a glance at the walking stick in Fisher's hands, deeply afraid he would hit her again. So, in the end, she still nodded, maintaining an extrely charming and weak tone as she spoke up saying,
"I... I didn't an to go steal other people's things... It's just that I'm too hungry, passing the point of no return, which is why... so please don't hit again, it hurts a lot, wuwuwu..."
"..."
Expressionlessly, Fisher didn't open his mouth, only continuing to look at her, seemingly waiting for her to continue explaining.
The opposite party carefully raised her head to send her gaze exploring over. After seeing the opposite party had no intention of continuing the attack in her peripheral vision, the other shore imdiately began to explain,
"I... I am actually the daughter of a Schwari Magician. Very early on, my father took to hide in the deep mountains and old forests to research magic, living there. But since my father passed away, it beca very hard for to survive in the forest alone, so passing the point of no return, I ca out of the mountains... I'm really too hungry, but I also don't know how to do other things, so I can only go steal other people's stuff to eat."
Her words were vivid and pitiful. Grasping his walking stick, Fisher saw from the corner of his eye the scabbed wounds exposed on her arm. Her ankle also developed a bruise due to the fall just now, an appearance of being severely injured.
And the female before him also beca unnatural due to Fisher's naked sizing up. She uneasily clutched the skin on her body. In the next mont, an obvious sound transmitted from her stomach.
She was truly too hungry. That woman lowered her head sowhat embarrassedly, also incidentally sweeping a glance at the chicken at in her hands and swallowing a mouthful of saliva.
"...Eat. I want to ask you a few questions in passing."
Noticing that his gaze was indeed a bit ungentlemanly, the green Fisher embarrassedly coughed to cover up his awkwardness. Then he stood up, looked at her, and spoke thus.
"I... I can eat?"
"You've stolen so many tis already. Even if you don't eat now, are you still expecting the cooked chicken at to turn back into a live chicken and return to the farr's chicken coop?"
After hearing this, the woman before him finally couldn't hold it back anymore. She took a bite out of that thoroughly cooked chicken at, fiercely biting down a large chunk to enjoy this rare delicacy,
"Thank you, you great good person!"
"A good person is out of the question... so, the one constantly keeping going down to that village earlier to steal chickens was you?"
Eating the chicken at in her hands, the woman pretended not to hear, behaving as if she temporarily went deaf, nearly making Fisher laugh out of anger. When he raised the walking stick in his hand once again, her expression imdiately turned pitiful again,
"It's ! It's ! I... I know doing this isn't right, but I was really too hungry, and there's no other way right?"
Fisher raised an eyebrow, sowhat puzzled as he continued asking,
"The villagers reported many unnatural phenona to . I had thought the one going to steal things was a... Witch."
Eating chicken at, Renee's pupils shrank slightly. She hurriedly waved her hand, dryly laughing while explaining,
"How could that be? How could I be a Witch?"
"Then what are those larks on those trees?"
"That's... that's magic originally created by my father. He is a Magician with very deep attainnts in magic... um, if you can give so more things to eat, I can take you to experience the exclusive Schwari magic my father originally created!"
Hearing this, Fisher sowhat entertained the thought, but thinking of how he still had the matter of "finding the undying witch" needing completion, there was no need to waste too much ti here. If there were no Witches over on Schwari's side either, then he would have to head towards another direction. And even the travel ti in between would take a very, very long ti.
Hesitating for a mont, he shook his head and said,
"No need, I still have other matters to attend to... however, for you to constantly go steal other people's chickens is also unrealistic. I will compensate you and the villagers for the chickens you stole previously. You're on your own regarding subsequent matters."
Seemingly confirming that the female before him was truly harmless to people and animals, just an ordinary chicken thief, Fisher then grasped his walking stick and prepared to turn and leave.
Yet behind him, that woman's previously pitiful expression instantly vanished without a trace. She carefully sized up the man before her, as if she saw so dangerous aura upon his body. Subsequently, she hurriedly spoke up, asking with a sowhat trembling tone,
"Wait! You... are you looking for soone?"
"Mm, you know I'm looking for soone?"
"...Mm, early this morning while hiding in the bushes I saw you. You were asking the villagers about so matters. I didn't hear very clearly, but you seem to be looking for so Witch?"
Expressionless, Fisher turned his head. Looking at that harmless to people and animals, pitiful female sitting there, he swept a glance over all the wounds on her entire body, and he said,
"I am looking for an [undying witch]. Do you have clues regarding her?"
"An undying... Witch?"
Her movents paused slightly, and then she very naturally tilted her head, maintaining an appearance of soone deep in thought.
But Fisher didn't discover that, although her expression was natural now, all the larks on the trees were looking at his figure at this mont.
"Wu, I'm also not too certain. But I... there are many records regarding Witches in my father's magic tower, it's possible there might be clues..."
Her words reached this point, but her action of speaking ca to an abrupt end. She rely blinked and looked at the Fisher before her.
Right With one glance Fisher knew what she ant; this guy was asking for remuneration.
"So, what do you want to help you do?"
"Just one dinner... if you could give so money that'd be even better. But besides helping you find information, I'll also demonstrate the exclusive magic my father researched for you!"
She spoke thus acting without thinking, but Fisher narrowed his eyes and sized her up. Just to be prudent, it was still best not to put too much trust in the chicken thief before him,
"No need, you're on your own, farewell."
The woman before him pursed her lips, and then forced a smile,
"Al... alright. Actually I... I just didn't dare go back again after I left my father's magic tower. There are many dangerous beasts in the mountains... I'm afraid if I went over alone I'd be eaten... but all of my father's belongings are still there, I want to retrieve them... but no matter what, still, thank you, for not being calculative over my stealing."
Fisher shot her a glance and then waved his hand. Carrying his walking stick, he turned and left. That woman then sat there hugging her knees, quietly watching his receding figure, as if seeing him off.
But from a place Fisher couldn't see, that woman's expression under the firelight turned into an intriguing smile. She gently held up three fingers, watching Fisher walk further and further away.
As Fisher walked further and further away, the fingers on her hand were also lowered one by one. When the final index finger was put down, Fisher's movents in the distance also ca to an abrupt end. He let out a sigh, turned to look at that pitiful-looking woman,
"I'm going back to handle so aftermath, and preparing so supplies in passing. Entering the forest at night is simply far too dangerous; it's best to set off during the day again. Tomorrow I will bring you food, don't steal anymore. In return, look up records regarding Witches for , and demonstrate your father's magic to , deal?"
The dim purple eyes of the woman before him grew bright bit by bit. She was sowhat incredulous, yet also seemingly felt grateful because Fisher could agree to her request,
"Alright... I promise you!"
"Mm, then it's settled."
Just as Fisher was turning around to leave again, that woman abruptly spoke up again to call Fisher to a halt.
Under her sowhat ssy hair, a bit of a radiant smile blood on her not-quite-clean face. That pair of purple eyes were even more profound than dazzling stars, making it impossible to discern specific anings.
She smiled innocently, and asked Fisher,
"I've forgotten to introduce myself and ask your na... what's your na..."
"My na is Renee."
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