The Witch is still very nervous. The moment they exited the deep woods, she felt the fresh air in the forest for the first time. It isn’t the smell of weeds and grasses that she usually smells commonly around the deep woods. She never ventured this far before but now, she was already outside what she called home back then.
"Follow me, this place is still far from my farm."
Although she is not familiar with the forest, she can tell that, like the deep woods, it has a strange power that causes it to shift around every few hours and change its layout entirely, confusing anyone who is currently exploring it. So, it is just amazing that this farmer is still able to track the farm’s location even with the changes that the forest usually undergoes many times. Even she gets lost in the deep forest many times and if not for her little pet Gooby, the creature that Elaina saw before, she would not be able to locate her house again. Gooby is a summon of hers so she didn’t need to go around with Gooby outside. Many people might take offense and attack if they see Gooby despite being a docile creature.
As they walk around the woods the sunlight that was covered by trees before slowly slipping through the little cracks of the leaves. For her, after all these years, this should be the first time she will feel the sun’s rays once more.
"We are almost there. If you are already tired, we can have a rest around here," Elaina suggested. Chapters fırst released on novel·fıre·net
"Don’t worry, I am fine. How many times have I walked really far from my house around the deep woods for many years? A walk is trivial for me," the Witch answered with a bit of a humble brag.
"Well, if you say so. But if you do want to take a break, tell me and we will go to an immediate break."
The witch nodded. Despite her nervousness, it didn’t change the fact that she is excited to return to civilization and perhaps think of living a new life once more. It isn’t wrong to dream, right?
It didn’t take them too long to arrive at the aforementioned location that the farmer before her mentioned. It was a big farm. The land around it is also quite big and although it is fenced right now, if she wanted to expand her land more, it is very easy as well.
Not only that but seeing fairies on her farm and some spirits as well, she was not prepared for what she was seeing. She was even surprised when a white bear and a big cat-like beast appeared before them and welcomed Elaina before looking at her and sniffing.
"W-what is going on? Why are there fairies here? I thought they were already extinct. And what’s with the spirits working on your farm?! This isn’t what I envisioned a farm to look like! And what’s with these beasts?!"
Elaina chuckled seeing her reaction.
"It is true that the fairies have gone extinct before. But it’s a long story and they have been back from the brink. As for the spirits, they should be natural workers around if I am not around. You will get used to it. That’s how things run on this farm. As for these two, this one is Zaza, and this one is Shardu. Shardu is the beast guardian of the farm while Zaza is a companion of one of the people living in my farmhouse and Zaza is acting as a bodyguard and companion. Don’t worry about them, as long as you don’t do anything that would cause them to get angry, they aren’t scary."
The witch wasn’t expecting this. After all, even other people are not that lenient around spirits and fairies. In fact, she heard that the reason for the fairies going extinct was due to them getting enslaved and kidnapped by humans for profit. Not only that but if a human is working with the spirits, one would call them witches before.
"Things have changed. And not only the spirits are working together with humans, other races too so if you see a beastman, elf, or other races interacting with humans, that is normal nowadays," Elaina explained as she removed her gloves and put down her bag to the patio.
After that, she carried the bag again and opened the door before looking at the witch with a smile.
"Come inside. Since you let me in last time, it is natural for me to also do the same thing," Elaina smiled and entered the house while keeping the door open.
"Then...if you don’t mind..."
The two entered the farmhouse and the witch’s initial reaction was awe. She didn’t expect to enter another house other than hers. Not only that but it feels different than the houses she has entered in the past. It is now pretty different from what she expected and with how modern the place is, she felt like she has been lost in time.
Then, someone came downstairs carrying two adorable kids in both arms as they slowly descended the stairs.
"Oh, Sis. It seems you are back. Arthur has been crying earlier looking for you."
"Is that so? Come here, baby, I am home. Did you miss me?" Elaina smiled while kissing the kid’s forehead a few times.
"Are these two kids your kids?" the witch asked.
"Yes. These two are my precious twins. Adelaide and Arthur."
Julia looked at the witch and she started to stare at her head up until in her toes. It was like she was scrutinizing her very being.
"Sis, I never expected you would drag someone unexpectedly. Based on her appearance, it seems that this woman is a witch?"
The witch was surprised when the girl before her accurately told her about her real identity.
"You can tell, Julia?" Elaina was surprised.
"Well, obviously. I mean, for someone who practices magic and crafts concoctions, I would be a fool if I didn’t even recognize a witch who is dressed as one and emits quite a tremendous magic potential in her body."
"You can tell? Even though you are not a witch?" the witch was not expecting the development.
"Witches nowadays are considered relics of the past that many people want to forget as they have realized their mistakes while many others lament the death of these witches as they might have become the pillars of the world if they were still alive and perhaps the world might be in a much better place if most of them were not ostracized."
"Thanks to the help of the remaining witches, the world was cured by the plague, and the plague was soon explained. Magic was also introduced properly and is cleared from any sort of connection to any evil as magic was a natural thing. As a result, the world has changed and magic has become a new integral part of daily human lives, allowing it to be improved by everyone."
Hearing Julia’s explanation, the witch didn’t realize tears falling in her eyes. She can’t believe her ears after hearing everything.
"Then all of the deaths of my sisters, and my friends were all not in vain! The plague was cured...and magic was no longer treated as evil! That’s...that’s the best news I could have ever received!"
Julia looked at Elaina with a frown on her face, not knowing why the Witch was crying.
"Just leave her be. She is one of the original witches due to her hiding somewhere where the humans hunting for witches did not locate her and for her to have the unique constitution of being immortal, so hearing these facts affected her so much. Just leave her in this one. She suffered for so long, it is time to let those regrets go."
Hearing that, Julia immediately realized the reason of her tears and nodded.
"I will go back to my room then. If she wanted to talk to me, just send her to me. Perhaps she will ask for more information about the witches, I can tell her more."
"You have quite an extensive knowledge about witches, Julia. Have you studied a lot regarding them?" Elaina asked.
"Most books related to apothecary and tomes have some talks that involves a witch, their past and history and stuff. Because they are the one who originated and made magic popular in the first place, I decided to keep on learning on them. It’s natural I would be able to know what happened to them after the incident even though most of those things are just from the book and not something I have learned personally from someone who was there."
Elaina pat Julia in the shoulder which made Julia smile before she returned to her room. Elaina continues to pamper her twins for a while as they wait for the witch to finish crying. It’s a lot to take in for the witch, but it is necessary for her to learn the truth.
At least, now, she accepted peace of mind now.