Not a Witch

The cold wind blowing on the wilderness in winter is like a thin blade brushing against the cheeks. Although it is not as cold as in the north, it is still uncomfortable.

With a few wrapped breads in his pocket, Elio ran along the road in the field, guessing which road might lead to the village according to the simple handwriting on the fork of the road.

After taking many wrong paths, it took him nearly three days to finally find the village Andrew mentioned.

"There is a white birch tree at the head of the village." The young man recited the logo of the village silently, and then walked quickly into it.

Scattered houses are scattered among the hillsides, and it is still deep winter, and the doors of every house are closed, only the rings woven with frozen green are hung on the door, which is the custom of praying in winter.

Elio had no choice but to knock on the door of a house cheekily, asking if there was a newly married girl named Anna.

"I don't know." Someone shook his head.

"Go away, brat." Someone refused to pay attention.

"I haven't heard of anyone getting married recently."

"Are you talking about the butcher? It's that simple. The one in the village is the house near the boulder and the sheepfold."

"Thank you." Elio saluted gratefully, then ran over quickly.

With tired steps, Elio finally stopped in front of a house, and there was a terrifying curse from inside.

"Do you know how to serve people? I spent a lot of money to buy you, not to raise waste." After speaking, I could hear the sound of the water basin being overturned, followed by a slap.

"Sorry, sorry." Elio finally heard Anna's voice again.

The door opened, and Anna, who was already dressed as a woman, came out squatting on a basin and splashing water outside the door. At this time, she saw the child standing outside the house.

"You are... Elio?" There was some disbelief in the voice.

"It's me, Sister Anna." The boy wanted to speak up, but Anna quickly winked and waved his hand.

Then he stood where he was, watching Anna put the pot back into the house, and after a while, he quietly walked out through the back door, pulling him into the shade of a tree.

"How did you come."

"I want to give you back the money." Elio took out the money bag in his arms, which was still warm.

"No, take it yourself." Anna waved her hand.

Elio was stunned, a little at a loss, and finally asked.

"Is Sister Anna okay now?"

"It's okay, you don't have to worry about me, you should think more about yourself." Anna hesitated, and then continued to speak.

"Actually, you don't need to thank me specifically, because your mother helped me in the past, and I just repay the kindness."

"Don't come here again, it will make people suspicious, and it will affect your reputation." She said a little more emphatically, but then added.

"It's not that I hate it, it's just that it will be better. If you have money, remember to learn a craft, and you can find a place to settle down in the future and live well. This is not a disappointment to your mother."

Anna put her hands in front of her body, recalling more than ten years ago, when she was just a little girl who had just grown up.And the beautiful lady took the child passing by the village, which was an amazing scene that she will never forget in her life.

After finishing speaking, Anna waved her hand to bid farewell to Elio and walked into the house again. Not long after, there was another sound of scolding and apology.

Listening to this sad voice, Elio stood under the tree for a long time before leaving silently.

The celebration of the winter festival came, he was one year older, and life seemed to be a little lonely again.

Two weeks later, the winter festival celebration was held in the city, and many people from nearby villages also came here to watch and participate. The shops on the streets, large and small, were hung with wreaths woven with frozen green, and the dark green branches and leaves and berries were dotted with colors. The gloomy world makes the residents of the city show rare smiles.

At this time of year, it is difficult to go out due to the weather, so it is also a rare time to rest.Everyone sits together and discusses recent current events, such as harvests, anecdotes, etc., and then sits in a lively bar with a fire, drinks beer, and listens to the bards playing various stories.

chirp——

Accompanied by the long sound of piercing the sky, the servants of the nobles lit the fireworks made by the alchemist, and then everyone in the city began to appreciate the beauty of the night sky in full bloom.

Boom!Red fireworks bloomed high in the sky, crimson meteors streaked across like rain, and then another bright yellow firework burst, bringing a large shower of stars.

Amidst the crackling sounds, residents from nearby areas stood on the street and watched, and some applauded slightly.

"These mages are still quite useful. No wonder the nobles want to protect these people who escaped from Luerna."

"But these things can only be used by noble masters."

"But it's also good to look at, it's really beautiful."

"Haha, this one too." The civilians in the city whispered.

"Hello." Elio saw a familiar face in the crowd, who was the one who showed him the way in Anna's village some time ago.

"Oh, hello, it's you." He seemed to recognize Elio.

"Yes." Elio nodded, and then asked about Anna's situation.

"This... well, I advise you to open some more." He sighed and said, and then wanted to avoid it.

"What the hell happened." Elio was worried and scared.

"It's nothing, that Anna, I'm afraid she's gone now."

The calm words exploded in Elio's mind like a thunderbolt, so that he didn't listen to what the person opposite said later.

He ran in the dark night, his body was like a red-hot coal fire, panting for heat, and ran in the direction of his memory.

The small village outside the city was hazy under the cold starry sky. He was far away from the hustle and bustle of the city, and plunged into the icy night. The cold winter air rolled in his lungs, which made him feel a sharp pain. The back made him suffer even more.

why?

why?

Why did the people who were still alive some time ago suddenly disappear, even through such a difficult winter?

Why this time...

'The girl named Anna committed suicide. The words of the uncle's sigh are still lingering in his ears, which makes Elio unable to let go of it for a long time.

He ran to that village in a frenzy, rushed into that house, argued with people amidst the sound of scolding and fighting, and then was beaten to the head with a thick wooden stick.

The warm blood gradually became cold in the winter night, and the pain on the top of his head gradually became numb. With a stiff body, he walked step by step to the hillside behind the village, where Anna was said to be buried.

Walking in a dark mountain forest, Elio's hands and feet gradually became cold. He only felt that the mass of flesh on his feet seemed to belong to someone else. It was cold and stiff, and he would no longer feel pain when holding his hands on the rough bark.

Is this winter? It's so cold.

Even if the cracked lips were slightly opened, there was a burst of pain, which stimulated Elio's gradually numb nerves, preventing him from falling down.

He couldn't see in the dark, and he couldn't find the place where Anna was buried. He could only walk in the mountains and disappear into the darkness step by step.

And behind this young man, in the distant city, grand fireworks are rising one by one, blooming with delightful brilliance, and these light rains fall finely, arousing countless beautiful reveries in people's hearts.

Chapter 120 Five Cold Winter Scenery

"Do you know what rime is?"

In the carriage, Lorraine Hill was talking to a blond and thin girl who was looking out of the car window curiously.

On the mountain road along the way, the trees are in full bloom with fine and delicate 'white flowers', making the bare crowns lush and beautiful.

"Rime?" The girl repeated the unfamiliar word, tilted her head in confusion, and looked at Lorraine Hill in front of her.

"Although the rime looks like snowflakes, it is not snow." Lorraine Hill recalled the scientific explanations he had seen in the past.

"It is not a snowflake falling from the sky, nor is it an ice hook left by the water flowing through it, but an ice crystal that appears directly on the tree for no reason."

"In fact, the essence is the crystallization formed by the condensation of colorless water vapor. But because it does not accumulate and shatter like snowflakes, it is more complete and beautiful." The girl stretched her hand out of the window, and a small ice crystal fell out of the window. It floated down from the canopy, landed on the palm of the hand, floated and rotated gently, then put it on the colder book cover, and handed it over.

The naturally condensed ice crystals present a standard hexagonal rhombus, with fine forks in it, which looks very beautiful.

"It's so beautiful." The girl leaned down carefully, lying on the table and looking at the ice crystal.

Seeing her interested look, Lorraine Hill also smiled.She rescued the girl from the ground of the ruins, and later found out that she was actually the key to unlocking the seal of the ruins.Because she needed her blood, Viscount Moruo lifted her out of the cell in Iron Hill City.

"Do you have any other family members?" the girl asked after she woke up.

"I don't know." The girl shook her head. She remembered that her father was away all year round. She didn't know what her father had done until the guards came to her house to arrest people that day.

Because of their involvement in the underground organization of resistance, their family was arrested, and only the elder brother escaped because of something else. After that, the mother died of illness in prison, leaving her alone.

"Father, it's probably gone. I heard from the guards." The girl pinched her fingers uneasily.

"My brother doesn't know if he survived."

"Have you ever thought about revenge?"

"I don't know, I hate those who abuse me, but I also know that some of them are just doing their duty." The girl said hesitantly.

"I don't know who to hate specifically, I just feel sad."

"Is that so?" Lorraine Hill also felt emotional.

Many times when encountering misfortune, you can always find a specific person and thing, as long as you defeat them, it’s like snowflakes falling from the sky, or frost condensing in the canal, everything can be traced.

But sometimes, misfortune and sadness are like the rime in the mountains, which quietly condenses for no reason, and hangs the branches all over.

I can't find where it came from, and I don't know why, everything just happened like this.Even if you want to defeat it, you can't find the object or thing to fight.It was as if all the strength in his body hit the empty space, and it was empty and uncomfortable.

If the problem only needs to be fighting, then it is so simple and clear.

Unfortunately, everything is not so easy.

You are not a specific thing, but the entire era and environment that created everything at present. Countless people are trapped in it, unable to extricate themselves, just like the cold water vapor at night is slowly soaked, and no one can escape the severe cold of winter.

Outside the carriage where the two of them were, the snow was white and covered with snow-white ice crystals everywhere. A convoy of hundreds of people was driving slowly in the mountains, heading for the distant city.

------

Longya province.

Originally, this was an inland county of the empire, but because of the ceded territory after the war, it has now become an important border area of ​​the empire's West Chui.

Newly built high towers rose one after another among the rolling mountains. Soldiers in white and gray armor occasionally appeared on the watchtowers of the towers, monitoring the border near Clancia.

Forage and kerosene are prepared on these three-story stone towers, which can be ignited once the opponent attacks, sending out a strong signal of wolf smoke, attracting the defenders stationed behind.

Although a contract was signed with Crancia, the empire did not fully trust the other party, and a large number of elite legions were also stationed here.

However, unlike in the past, the flag flying on the high tower here is not the red dragon flag with a black background of the Baskar family, nor the blood rose flag of the imperial family, but the white griffin flag with a golden background.They are lions from the mountains in the west of the empire, soldiers of the mountain kingdom.

The Salius family is a special branch in the empire. The history of the Duke of Griffin is not shorter than that of the emperor's royal family, but an equally long country.

In the era of the Cang Yue Kingdom, the Griffin Principality was a famous country among the mountains in the western region, and the griffin-headed monster flying between the cliffs became the family's crest, and they were indeed good at cultivating such ferocious monsters.

Those Griffin Knights who wield thunder guns, shuttled in groups between the mountains and mountains, are powerful legions that can slaughter giant dragons.