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Prologue – The Witch and the Old Swordsman
The Rostadt Kingdom in the south of the continent and the Vulgark Empire in the north. The Great Sea of Trees, which stretches between the two great powers, was a magic forest.
Dark even during the day, the deep forest was said to be a land of supernatural evil where powerful monsters roamed. The existence of this buffer zone was also the reason why the kingdom and the empire never come into direct conflict with each other.
On the other hand, the forest was dotted with ruins of unknown eras, where it was said that gold, silver and treasures lie hidden. It attracted the hearts of adventurers, ambitious nobles and those who were poor wanting to get rich, and reckless people to enter the depths of the forest never to return.
However, there have been people in the past who have brought back ancient gold coins and jewels from the ancient ruins. The man who arrived in the village deeply wounded and near death kept repeating in his sickbed that he had found treasure, but he did not reveal its location until he died.
Therefore, the location of the ruins was unknown, which was also the reason why there was no end to reckless challengers.
Those who know their place and the reality of things make a living by exterminating weak monsters and collecting medicinal herbs in the shallow parts of the forest. The Great Sea of Trees was certainly a magical land beyond the reach of humans, but it was also a blessed forest that produces daily food and resources for the people.
In the southwestern part of the Great Sea of Trees.
“It’s noisy… Have those fools come to the forest again?”
The figure, dressed in a black wide-brimmed hat and robe, was about half the height of an adult. The old woman, carrying a staff longer than her height, stopped collecting medicinal herbs and frowned at the sound of an explosion that came from afar.
“Did someone use a fireball spell or something? If it catches fire, it’ll be a pain later. I guess I’ll go and check it out…”
As she muttered to herself, she sighed and tapped the ground with the staff she was holding. The bushes and trees were pushed aside to make way for the old woman. Now it was easier to walk through the forest, and the old woman walked leisurely in the direction of the sound.
As she went through the forest, she eventually arrived at the scene. It was in a terrible state.
A corner of the forest was on fire, and the smell of scorched trees, scorched flesh, and blood filled the air, and she could see people and monsters lying here and there. Weak and small monsters that were scavenging for carrion had already begun to gather, but when the old woman imbued her staff with a faint light, they fled from the scene.
“…Ah. This is terrible. And what’s more, is this a spy talisman? They seemed prepared, did something go wrong?”
Saying this, the old woman frowned. There was a dead man leaning against the base of a tree in front of her.
There was a deep claw mark on his shoulder, which seemed to be the fatal blow.
He was holding the spy talisman in his hand, but once the spy technique was seen through, it was meaningless.
He would have to perform the technique again, but the fact that he was holding the talisman that he had already used probably meant that the man did not have the skill to do so.
The traces of destruction and slaughter continued deeper into the forest. The old woman pointed her staff at the still smoking areas, carefully putting out the small fires one by one.
As she put out the fires, the old woman continued to follow the traces of destruction, but her expression gradually became clouded. Among the fallen were some who clearly had been injured by swords or were victims of magic. It didn’t seem like they’d simply been attacked by monsters.
Perhaps they’d had a falling out, or maybe something else…
There was also a young woman lying there who clearly didn’t look cut out for fighting, with claw marks indicating she’d been killed by a monster.
The old woman grimaced, sensing trouble was about to come. However, there were still some places where smoke was rising. Since there were no sounds of sword fighting or destruction to be heard, she decided that the battle itself must have either ended or reached a stalemate, and she continued walking in that direction.
There was a large wolf monster lying, its neck severed probably by a sword and had some charred parts on its body, and there was also the corpse of a magician who also seemed to have been slashed by a sword. Then there was an old swordsman sitting with his sword stuck in the ground. Half of his body was charred, and was bleeding in various places, but he still seemed to be breathing.
“Is…someone…still…?”
As the old woman approached, the swordsman muttered and gripped the hilt of his sword. Then, he raised his head and saw the old woman standing there, looking suspicious.
“Yes, but not the ones you were fighting.”
“It seems…so. I had heard that…a black…witch lived in the depths of this forest…”
Saying this, he lowered his hips with difficulty after affirming this something. The old swordsman was seriously wounded. It was a fatal wound. He thought about what to do without showing it on his face, but he also understood that he no longer had the strength to be treated.
“Well…some people call me that.”
The old woman – the witch stopped a little distance away from the old swordsman without showing any signs of caution.
“…If you don’t mind, Witch-sama, please… I tried using the potions I had, but I think I lost too much blood. I don’t think I’ll be able to keep it up with just willpower.”
“I don’t to deal with troublesome matters.”
“Please… I don’t mind if you take anything I have… Please… the person behind me… I’ve been entrusted with her care by my master… It’s important…”
That was all the old swordsman had to say. After that, his head lowered and no words came from him anymore, and his heavy breathing had stopped.
“…Hey.”
The witch called out to him, but there was no reply from the old swordsman.
The witch shook his head and looked behind the old swordsman.
It looked as if there were no one there. She swept away the barrier that she saw with her wand, and when she looked at the person who was hidden in the hollow of a tree… Her eyes widened.
“Sigh… I told you I didn’t want any troublesome matters…”
She sighed. The old swordsman was hiding a baby.
Moreover, no matter how she looked at it, there was a reason for this. The witch guessed that the young woman she had seen earlier might be her mother or wet nurse, and the people they were fighting with were probably assassins.
It appears that the old swordsmen chose the Great Sea of Trees as their escape route, knowing the risks, to avoid their pursuers for some reason. The pursuers noticed and caught up with them, breaking through their spy talisman and engaging into a battle.
When that happened, monsters of the Great Sea of Trees also attacked without regard of the circumstances of humans. And thus, this was the result. These pursuers might have been experts at assassination and searching for people, but their behavior in the Great Sea of Trees was amateurish.
No, if their goal was to eliminate the group, it could be said that they had achieved their goal at least? It was obvious what would happen to the baby, the only surviving person after this.
So what should she do? She had no obligation to listen to the old swordsman’s request. No one knew what happened here except for the witch, so if she went back to her cove saying that she didn’t see anything, no one would blame her. If that happened, the child would either starve to death or be found by monsters. Either way, she would not be saved.
Regardless if she raised the baby or took it to the nearest village and left it there, there would be a possibility that she would either get into trouble or bring trouble with her very presence.
First, if she leaves it somewhere, her pursuers would surely find her. The baby’s appearance – the color of the eyes was quite unique. If they asked around based on that information, it would be easy to find her even after many years had passed.
If the people who could mobilize their pursuers get serious, she didn’t think the child could hide or be protected in a place like a village or an orphanage.
So, would she be willing to raise the child herself? What about food? What about care? And what would happen if the thing gets sick? Dealing with babies was a lot of work.
“Food – ah… I just happened to have a milk-producing goat…”
The witch was reminded of the goats she kept around her hermitage and sighed deeply again.
“…Still, for a baby, that is a lot of magical power.”
The witch wasn’t thinking about having a successor, but she was interested in how strong of an apprentice it would become if she had one.
“…You guys will be dealt with later. I’ll make you a grave, so just wait.”
As she said this to the old swordsman, she tapped the ground with her staff, and a ring of light radiated from the spot. After casting magic to ward off monsters around the area, the witch picked up the baby in her arms and walked away, as she put out the remaining small fires.
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