Snow Witch'S Journey
My first village

After I left the rabbit, I became more and more curious about the Vulcoliak. The vulcoliac does not just appear naturally. In other words, someone did it.

If the Vulkoliak were to wander here, it should be that the witch who created it was not far away, except, the Vulkoliak had been wandering around for a long time before I found it.

Suppose there is indeed an evil witch figure who likes to curse people into monsters, asking the surrounding population may be one good option. Mother said, if it's not far from the forest there's a small village. Then that's where I'm going.

A rickety bridge crosses a frozen river. The river seems to have emptied into the shores of the Frozen Sea. I don't even need to cross a bridge that doesn't seem to last long. I just put my foot in the frozen river.

Not far from the river, there seemed to be a village that was quieter than I had expected. The village consists of 6-10 houses surrounding a well in the middle. The village has no fences or gates or guards. The village is completely open. Is that natural for a small village?

I'm really nervous. This is the first time I've entered a settlement. It was also the first time I met anyone else. I'm confused what to do. Could you say hello kindly? Do I have to apologize when I enter the village?

As I looked like a strange person with suspicious behavior, a man walked towards me. The man had two legs, two hands, short hair, a nose, two eyes and thick clothing. It looks like it's someone else's. He really looks the same as me and Mom. I admired the man I first saw as if I admired an artist. I have to be brave.

“P-excuse me sir, a-I..” That guy doesn't ignore me. He just passed me like I didn't exist.

Is my voice less loud? Or maybe the person has a hearing impairment?

I entered the village nervously. I don't know if outsiders are allowed in. After all, the village looked like a dead village. No excitement, no sound that broke the cold, very quiet. Or maybe I came at an inopportune time.

Inside the village, there are not so many people who move outside. I approached a fat woman who was moving a wooden box to a cart.

“P-excuse me, madam, may I have a minute? I just wanted to ask you something...”.

“Go. I'm busy,” said the woman indifferently. He was still busy lifting a number of wooden boxes.

Looking at that troubled-looking mother, I used my magic to help her. I flew one of those boxes and put it on the wagon.

The woman turned around, but she did not show a happy face and was grateful for my help. “So, you're a witch?” tanyanya cynic.

“Yes, I live at the end of the cliff there,” I replied.

“You mean the Witch Cliff? So, you're the witch's daughter,” the woman snorted.

‘The magician’ I think means my mother. Thank goodness they knew him. I nodded with pleasure. “Ya, yes. The witch is my mother. I was raised by him.”

“We don't consider a vile woman a witch. Go then! I don't want to deal with a witch!”

Did he just throw me out? She just said my mom was mean and just kicked me out? What mistake did I make to her? I even helped her move the boxes and she doesn't thank me. “You are the real vile woman!” mummy's upset. I left that woman not knowing herself. I shouldn't have helped him earlier.

What have you done to him? It is impossible right, the mother who is as gentle and gentle as the calm sea waves do cruel to others. Mom might be assertive, but she did it because she had to. I'm not a bad person, that woman is a bad one. Maybe I should show that woman a gentle mother figure.

In the well that mediates the houses of the citizens, there was a small cry behind it. I went up to him and found a little boy sitting crying. I saw one of his knees hurt.

“Hey, let me heal.” I dropped my knee on the ground and pointed my hand at his knee. A warm white light shone from my palm. Instantly, the wound was tightly closed and miraculously healed. “Is it no longer painful? What happened?” I tried to calm the cry of the child.

The boy stopped crying, but suddenly got up and left. I'm amazed. What says ‘thank you’ does not exist in this village?

My efforts to find information did not go smoothly, but I just wanted to be friendly, but they had gone first. I was thinking of trying harder. This village is too close to where I met the Vulkoliak. They should be aware of it and alert to the surroundings.

Oh, I got it! They may have stayed away from me because they were wary of outsiders. Then they knew first of all about me the existence of the Vulcoliak. It was the right thing to do, but….

Just to my left, not far from the well, my eyes found a house with a sign marked with a shop. No need to think about it anymore, I had to try for the first time an atmosphere of the tavern which he said was crowded and warm. I opened the door, and I found the opposite.

This place is not crowded, it is very quiet. In fact, I can see 4-6 customers in it. This place is not warm, it is cold. It was cold because there was not the slightest interaction that made the store warm. The people were just sitting alone at a table far apart and different, and were busy eating their meals. Isn't this village small? They should've been getting along with each other and not behaving as awkwardly as I see them now. This is not a shop, this is a cemetery!

What is this place? Is this really a shop like a book?

I decided to sit at a long table that was directly connected to the waiter. The waiter didn't say welcome or ask me what I wanted to eat? The man's hair was short and his eyebrows thick with the tip coming down to the base of the nose like a waterfall. I think his age seems to be enough to have a family. The man just sat down before I started the conversation.

“Excuse me.. sorry, sir, I just came to this village. Can I just ask you a few questions?”

The waiter looked at me cynically. “If you want to ask, you have to order first.”

“Oh, no, I'm not hungry. I just wanted to ask you for a minute. After that I'll go,” I'm trying to explain.

“No ordering, no questions,” he said ignoring me.

This guy's trying to blackmail me. I know there are no such rules here. He just wants to take it for granted. But, it seems like I have no other choice. “Alright, then .. I'd like to order a slice of butter bread. Is here any?”

“Yes. Ada.” The man got out of his chair and headed to the back, which was probably his kitchen.

I chose to order cheap. The butter bread is quite filling even though the price listed on the menu board is only 5 pieces of Pengrium silver.

I waited patiently for the waiter. I waited a long time when I only ordered one butter-stained bread. Moreover, the quiet atmosphere in this tavern that makes me awkward. To overcome this, I took my book again and wrote my story while in this village.

“Still on the first day.

Tonight, I visited my first village.

It's pretty bad, I think.

First, my mother was ridiculed by an ungrateful ugly woman.

Second, I helped a child but was ignored.

And now, I was forced to order food for a question.

Very silly, isn't it?”

No need to wait any longer, the waiter came. I could feel my forehead creaking in astonishment. How not, he came to give me steak meat that I did not order.

“Sorry, sir, it looks like you got the wrong person. I didn't order this.”

“No. You previously said you ordered meat steak-”

I handed the steak to the waiter. “Come, I ordered R-O-T-I-M-E-N-T-E-G-A. Take back this steak!” my sergeant's getting pissed.

“What are you serious about!?” he looked at me angry. His loud voice made everyone in the tavern notice me. “If the order has come, you have to pay for it. That's the rule!”

I don't care anymore about the questions I want to ask. I don't care anymore about the Vulkoliak or the villagers here. I'm leaving this place.

As I was about to leave, a rough and strong grasp held my arm. The waiter gripped my arm firmly. “You have to pay for it. 20 Silver scavenges! Or..” He then approached his ugly face near me. “You can pay for it with something else,” whispers give me goosebumps.

I reached into my bag by handing her 20 Silver Scrums and leaving immediately. That guy is weird! That woman is weird! That little boy is weird too! This whole village is weird! I can't take it anymore. I'd better leave this place forever.

Why is everyone here acting so weird? Does an outsider like me deserve to be treated like this? Then, didn't mom tell me that she used to look for groceries in this village? Are you treated the same as me? Or is the village you mean different? I should have asked Mom a lot. I don't want something like this to happen again somewhere else I'm going to visit.

I don't mind if there's an evil witch who curses them all into Vulcoliak. It's a place I won't be visiting a second time. I'm fed up.

“Excuse me, miss. Is miss okay?”

“What do you want!?” I snapped when someone else patted me on the shoulder.

“Then?”

“Please accept this,” he handed me 20 Silver Pengrium. “The shopkeeper did something wrong to the lady. So, with this, I hope I can make up for the loss that Miss experienced.”

“For what? You did nothing to me. It should be that waitress who should feel guilty!”

“Please, miss. Don't blame. Think of this gift as his apology,” he is still trying hard to beg me.

I watched the man in wonder. “Say. Why are you defending him?”

“Because of that waitress .. my father.”

I just realized it. This man is different from the others. He started the conversation and he felt guilty. He was friendlier than the 3 people I met before. I don't think it's a problem to talk to him.

This man is good, but I still wonder to him, “You know what your father did was wrong, but why defend him? Why don't you scold your father?”

“That's because .. they were forced to do it.”

By compulsion? What kind of silly answer is that. “What do you mean by forced?”

“Actually this happened when I was a kid. The village was very friendly and full of warmth. Travelers who come in welcome well, laughter fills every house, not as quiet as it is now, but that was before a witch came,” the man said.

I started hearing the story well when a word ‘witch’ was mentioned. The word refers to the only one in my mind, my mother. I've lived a very long time, if it's related to the past and witches, I'll automatically think of my mother.

“What is a witch?”

“Women? You mean the witch who lives in the Witch's Cliff?”

“Yes, that's my mom.”

“Oh, not him. This witch is a man. With a black high hat and a black suit. The man carried a walking stick with a wolf head on his handle. Strange Appearance for the Northmen. The villagers thought the man was a wanderer. But, as the citizens greeted him with hospitality, the male witch cursed everyone to be cold and cruel. And like now, all the villagers would not be able to be friendly anymore. Including my father.”

Witches who curse people. It seems that this witch is a bad person. And also the man's explanation of his wolf stick got me thinking. “What is he who curses people into Vulkoliak?”

“Vulkoliak? I don't know. But, obviously, none of our citizens turned into monsters, only his nature changed.”

It was hard to believe, but that explanation made me understand the condition of the village. Not that I should forgive their attitude towards me. They should be careful of outsiders coming. If no one explained this, I might be swallowed by my own anger and could have hurt the villagers.

My business with this village is done. I also received the Pengrium of that man. “Alright, I understand. I'll take your apology gift.”

“If I may know, miss witch where to go?”

“Actually, I want to wander to various places, so I will go east first.”

“Then, what if I drop off miss? I'm a trader.”

I'm thinking. As long as I travel, transportation will become easier. After all, it was not bad there was also a friend accompanying the trip. “How should I pay?”

“No need to pay. I intend to give miss a free ride.”

Oh my God, this guy is so nice. “Alright, I want,” I answer with great enthusiasm.

After I waited for him outside the village, there was a stomp of footsteps and the sound of a wheel. I saw two brown horses pulling a carriage with a white tent. The man waved his hand at me in the front seat. He then extended his hand to me. “Let me help.” What a nice guy.

I grabbed him by the rough hand to get on that high chair, then sat down next to him. The man immediately drove his horse onto a wide path. My lap top seemed to be too wide, so in order for my hat not to disturb the man, I took it off and placed it on my lap.

We passed through a very long forest. Because it was late at night, the forest became very dark and I always had goosebumps when I thought there were ghosts or other monsters lurking in the forest. Luckily, this carriage had one lantern hanging above me and another one sticking forward among the horses. I could still see a pair of tireless brown horses and the man next to me.

The man looked young and fresh with his white tunic. His short hair is black. I think he's about 20 years old from his face. I don't know, I'm just guessing. The man's hands were rough, so I knew that he must have experienced driving this car. Maybe it was just his hair that was similar to his father, other than that it was not. I was even surprised when he said that the obnoxious waitress turned out to be his father.

I glanced back and the village had already vanished into the darkness. “Hey, is it okay, you left the village? What if there are other Vulkoliak?” I asked the man who was busy holding his horse.

“Let alone, even though they are cold, they have often faced wolves or bears. Their ability in survival cannot be underestimated.”

“If the curse spreads throughout the population even to their descendants, but why are you different? You are not cold to me, you are friendly and kind,” my wonder.

“Maybe because when the male witch came, I was not in the village.”

“So yes...,” I said with floating end.

With my current abilities, I can't lift the curse magic, but it should be easy for mom. Then why didn't he pick it up? Don't you know about the curse yet?

I realized when the red thread suddenly connected in my mind. And the only one who can explain the red thread is the man next to me.

“Did the citizens ever ask my mother for help, I mean, the witch on the cliff?” I deduce this from the words of the village woman who said that my mother was a vile woman.

“Hm. Ever. They had often asked the Cliff Witch for help. All their requests were rejected. Even when the citizens were cursed, the witch closed her eyes. He then made a protective layer surrounding his cliff house to prevent us from entering.”

“Do you know why the witch did not help the citizens?”

The man looked at me in surprise, “Isn't that miss daughter? Miss should know better than me.”

I asked the same thing. I kept a lot of things secret to me. Her life was longer than mine, so, I guess it's natural not to tell her everything she's ever experienced. However, after I got involved with one of these secrets, I got even more curious.

“Before my arrival to the village, did the Cliff Witch come first?”

The man shook his head. “No. We haven't seen him out in a long time.”

I guessed! Suspicious mother! Look what you did, the first village I visited gave me a bad experience. I am now ashamed to see myself, I am ashamed to see the man next to me. Mom knew? Mom made that guy's dad behave badly to me. And his son even gave me a gift of apology.

“I'm the daughter of that vile Cliff Witch. Aren't you mad at me?”

“Ah, no.” While driving his horse, he was still able to respond to my question. “From miss's expression, miss really doesn't know what Miss's doing. So, I can't just be mad at an unknown deed.”

For some reason, hearing her words, I immediately felt relieved. “You really are a good man.”

“Thank you, miss.”

“So, k-because I ... have never had t-friends before .. bi-can we ... can we be friends?” I am still feeling embarrassed, too.

“Ya, of course.”

I smiled with satisfaction. I felt as if I had reached a point of victory. All my previous annoyance that had piled up like a volcano, was instantly gone. I feel very happy. “Really? Then don't call me miss again, call me, Niva.”

“Alright, Niva, call me Edras,” the man smiled at me.

I can't believe it. I finally have a friend!

Mom, I got my first friend!