Chapter 3

Chapter 002: The Mysterious Technique

In a cottage in the forest, filled with bare winter trees and snowballs.

The cottage, roughly built with logs and thick branches, had mud plastered in every crevice to block the cold winter wind, but the chilly air from outside still easily seeped in.

Ariel sat on the bed, holding Mu's wrist and teaching her how to absorb life force. Finally, when Mu fully understood and became familiar with the method, Ariel released her hand.

"Phew, that was really tough..."

Sweat streamed down the right side of her face, which was not burned.

Guiding Mu to move her life force on her own and ensuring it didn't go wrong required an enormous amount of magic, leaving her extremely exhausted.

"Wow, this is really amazing. Something inside my body moves according to my will..."

Mu was delighted to have learned something new, but her joy faded when she saw Ariel's clearly tired and exhausted face, which looked as if she had been chopping wood all night.

However, Ariel couldn't show her exhaustion to Mu, whose life force was almost depleted due to her. It would be too embarrassing and apologetic.

She smiled as if everything was fine, sat cross-legged on the bed, and neatly placed her hands on her knees.

"Mu, a person's life force must remain stable within their body. Moving it is very harmful to the body. So, if you move it carelessly..."

"Move it... huh?"

"If you do it wrong, you might lose your life faster. It would be better not to do it at all."

"Ah, yes..."

"Especially when sending it to others, it can be very harmful to yourself. Since you have very little life force left, you must cherish it. So, never use it carelessly just because it's interesting or fun. Understand...?"

"Yes, I will remember."

Mu answered with bright eyes.

Ariel, sitting cross-legged, continued to give Mu instructions while recovering from her exhaustion.

"This isn't magic, so other mages or knights won't be able to detect it. But as I said..."

Ariel emphasized again,

"Only move your life force when it's absolutely necessary. Otherwise, it will shorten your lifespan and harm your health."

"Yes, I will definitely do that."

"Whenever you see someone with strong mana or life force, try to use this method. That way, you can recover some of your lifespan. Your lifespan is only about three years..."

Ariel regretted mentioning the three years.

When she took Mu's life force, she was too exhausted to focus properly.

As a result, she inadvertently absorbed 30 years of life force, leaving Mu with only about three years. She couldn't bring herself to tell her.

Just knowing her lifespan was shortened would be infuriating; finding out she only had three years left would be devastating.

She glanced at Mu, who surprisingly seemed cheerful.

'Why is she so kind... Why doesn't she blame me...?'

"Anyway, if you want to live a little longer, use this method on strong-looking women."

Ariel said this and then sat still with her eyes closed, still sitting on the bed.

Just half a day ago, she had fought a life-or-death battle with a group of powerful hunters and received a critical injury. She had escaped the pursuit by depleting her life force and taught Mu the method of absorbing life force, using her own magic power.

Her body was still not fully healed from the critical injury, so she needed time to recover.

Seeing Ariel resting, Mu quietly got up from the bed and melted snow in a dented pot to prepare water. She then placed the pot on the hearth and added a few more pieces of wood to keep the fire going.

Mu, trying not to disturb Ariel, carefully boiled water in the pot.

* * *

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As time passed and the water in the pot began to boil, Mu took four potatoes from the food storage bin and put them in the pot. Although only twenty potatoes were left for the long winter, she didn't want to save them today.

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The sound of the boiling water was loud, and Ariel exhaled deeply and opened her eyes. She looked at Mu boiling potatoes on the floor for a moment, then got off the bed and stretched her back.

"Potatoes?"

"Yes, I just put them in. They're small but delicious. Hehe."

For a villager surviving the winter, how precious would a few remaining potatoes be?

Ariel knew this well, and seeing Mu boiling four of them made her feel even more guilty. She had already taken 30 years of Mu's life; she couldn't take the potatoes needed to survive the cold winter.

'Oh, you are so kind... I'm so sorry. I'm really, really sorry, Mu.'

"Mu, I have to leave now."

"Huh? Already?"

Mu suddenly felt disappointed at the news of Ariel's departure.

Living in the mountain cottage, Mu had been lonely since her grandfather passed away. Although Ariel had suddenly appeared and shortened her life by 30 years, she wasn't disliked because Ariel cared for her and looked after her.

"It's still dark outside. Can't you leave when it's light tomorrow?"

Ariel crouched down in front of the hearth, facing Mu, whose shoulders were slumped.

"Mu, I'm a witch who killed a baron. Witches are hunted by witch hunters, and now that I've killed a baron... a large search party will soon comb this area thoroughly. They might even..."

Mu's face was full of worry as she waited for Ariel's next words.

"Even wake up sleeping wild boars to ask if they've seen me."

"Ah! Sleeping wild boars!"

'Oh... She really believed my joke... What should I do...?'

Ariel felt even more worried seeing Mu believe her joke, but there was nothing she could do.

She knew that with the baron dead, not only the baron's knights but also the knights from the viscount's and count's territories would be on high alert.

In a situation where a search party might arrive by morning, it wasn't safe to stay until daylight. It wouldn't be good for either Ariel or Mu.

"Search parties might come looking for me even by tomorrow morning. Mu, I've erased all traces of my dark magic from you, this cottage, and the surrounding area, so you don't need to worry."

"Yes..."

"Also, if they interrogate you, pretend you know nothing. Act as if you've never seen or met me. You must completely erase me from your memory."

After finishing her words, Ariel stood up and walked to the cottage's entrance.

"Wait, just a moment!"

As Ariel was about to open the door and leave, Mu quickly called her back.

When Ariel turned around, Mu rummaged through the storage bin, took out a leather bag, and put three almost cooked potatoes, which were as precious as her life, into the bag.

After a moment of thought, Mu added the last potato to the bag.

'Oh... those precious ones!'

Mu also took down a wooden bucket hanging on the wall and filled it with melted snow.

'Mu...'

Mu tightly closed the lid of the bucket and handed the bucket and the leather bag of potatoes to Ariel.

"I don't know where you're going, but how can you go with nothing? You'll starve to death before you get far. Please take this."

Ariel looked at the leather bag and wooden bucket Mu offered for a moment, then carefully took them. She knew how precious these potatoes were to Mu now, but she couldn't refuse the kind and grateful gesture.

"Thank you, Mu..."

"It's nothing. Hehe. Stay healthy wherever you go."

Mu, feeling shy and reluctant.

Ariel smiled slightly with her unscarred right side of her mouth.

"Stay healthy, Mu."

Ariel put the leather bag inside her robe and held the wooden bucket in her hand as she left the cottage. It was still deep night, and the outside was dark, illuminated only by the stars.

Ariel's retreating figure quickly disappeared into the darkness, making Mu feel even more disappointed and reluctant.

From tomorrow morning, she would be alone again in this cottage. Accepting this lonely reality, Mu slowly closed the door.

Every time a cold wind blew, the sound of it entering through the gaps in the wooden walls of the cottage was loud. Neither Mu, lying on the bed under a leather blanket, nor Ariel, walking the mountain path illuminated by her dark magic, knew that Mu's life force was greatly vibrating at that moment.

* * *

The next morning.

The sky, which had been dark, was now bright.

Although it was the dim sunlight of winter, it was bright enough to search every small path in the mountains.

A group of riders galloped through the forest, shaking the snow off the bare branches. They were a group of ten knights, the witch hunting squad.

* * *

* * *

"Captain Melvin! There's a cottage ahead!"

The lead knight turned back and shouted, and the eyes of the following knights became more alert. Each knight, wearing metal armor under fur clothing, spurred their horses to surround the cottage, with a few spreading out to guard the surroundings.

Captain Melvin, wearing a cloak, signaled, and two knights dismounted, drew their swords, and approached the cottage's entrance.

After standing on either side of the entrance and exchanging glances, one of the knights kicked the door with his metal boot.

* * *

* * *

The door flew inside and fell, sending dust and ashes from the hearth into the air. As the dust billowed out through the entrance, the inside of the cottage became momentarily obscured.

"Ah! The door can be pulled open from the outside!"

A cry of frustration came from inside the cottage.

It was Mu's voice.

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