Chapter 117: The Witch’s Hut Part 7

"What makes you think I can trust you…"

"Do you have anyone else to trust besides me?"

"…"

"I assure you, Didier, you can't drive the crows out of the Silver Mountains alone."

"What?!"

"If someone with your skills could do it, you would have done it by now."

"Grr…"

"You can't do it alone. I know I can't do it alone either, which is why I'm asking for your help."

"…"

"It seems the answer is clear. Now, shall we wake up my companions?"

At my words, Didier who had been biting her lip lightly snapped her fingers.

-Snap!

-Whimper, whine, whimper!

Ayla burrowed into my arms and she continued crying pitifully like a puppy having a nightmare. I soothed her while ignoring her size, and looked around at the others.

"Is everyone starting to come to their senses?"

Lloyd was the first to nod. As always, his face showed no signs of emotional disturbance. He didn't look particularly happy, nor did he seem sad about waking from his dream. In contrast, El and Aquila had tear-streaked faces. Especially El, whose eyes were so swollen from crying that she could hardly open them.

"El, are you okay?"

I could easily guess what kind of dream El had. It wouldn't have been much different from mine. She must have dreamt of a happy daily life with her family. In that dream, El would have been an ordinary noble lady, with a gallant father and a kind mother by her side.

The "happy dream" experienced in the witch's hut was, in a way, an incredibly cruel one.

"I'm, okay, sniff, I'm okay, Master."

"Alright, drink some water. You should also wash your face."

Aquila was already wiping her face with her sleeve. What kind of dream did she have? Was it a dream where she met Tondra and reclaimed the Silver Mountains?

While the group was recovering physically and mentally, I asked Didier.

"Didier, when was the last time you saw Tondra?"

"If you're asking about the last time I actually saw it, it was a hundred years ago."

Actually saw it?

Then, did it mean there was another way to meet it besides in person?

"What about other meetings?"

"Ten years ago."

Just like Khalid.

"Tondra fell asleep a hundred years ago. But a part of a dragon's soul is always awake. They are great beings."

"Oh…"

"Does it make sense if I say I'm like Tondra's familiar?"

"I guess."

"Tondra left messages periodically. Most of them were trivial jokes… but it wasn't bad. However, fifty years ago, the frequency of the messages began to decrease, and thirty years ago, they stopped completely."

"...."

"I thought it was strange. Much more time had passed than I expected without any messages. But I assumed it was because he had fallen into a deep sleep."

"I see."

"Then, ten years ago… I received the last message."

"What was the message?"

"Tondra said to be ready because it would wake up soon."

"Ready…"

"But don't get your hopes up too much. I received the same message fifty years ago, but Tondra did not appear."

"Did not appear…"

Be ready…

For what?

Come to think of it, it told Khalid it was going to retrieve an item it had left with him.

What was Tondra planning to do once it woke up?

No, why did Tondra fall asleep in the first place?

And why has it been asleep for much longer than expected?

…Is this related to the crows?

Or is it something else?

The elves stopped being born a hundred years ago too.

Could these overlapping things be just a coincidence?

Absolutely not.

I think that if we found Tondra and had a conversation, we might be able to clear up some of these lingering questions.

Even if it wasn't specifically because of the dragon's egg, it was good that we came here.

"Khalid didn't remember the exact location of the lair… Didier, do you remember?"

"The paths in the mountains often change. I remember the general location but not the exact spot."

"The general location is enough."

I gestured to Aquila. She then spread the map she was carrying on the table.

"Hmm… It was probably around here."

Didier's finger pointed to the boundary of the cursed land and the silver mountains. The terrain was unusually rough, the markings on the map were ominous, and Aquila's expression was as sour as if she had bitten into something rotten.

"Aquila, what do you think?"

"It's the same place my grandmother mentioned. It's much more dangerous, though."

Since the Sherpas wouldn't have directly entered the dragon's lair, Didier's memory would be more reliable.

I took out the old book and compared the map on the last page with Aquila's map. The location was similar to where the fragment of Earte was located. I wasn't sure whether to consider this fortunate or unfortunate.

"What's that?"

.

"Ah!"

When I suddenly heard Khalid's voice from behind, I was so startled that I let out a scream.

"How can you sneak up like that without a sound? You scared me!"

"It's full of unknown words. I've never seen anything like this."

"When someone speaks, at least pretend to listen… It's a language used in my hometown. Even someone like you wouldn't understand it, Khalid."

"Interesting. May I take a look?"

"No. It's a personal item."

Damn it, of all people, it had to be this crazy wizard… Well, everything written in this book was in Korean, so no matter how much Khalid tried, he wouldn't be able to understand it. Still, I felt uneasy. So I closed the old book and tucked it back into my clothes.

"Anyway, that means we need to head there. Aquila, how long do you think it will take?"

"If we're lucky, three days."

"Three days, huh…"

"If we're lucky. Since we don't know the exact location of the lair's entrance, it could take more than a week."

"Then we need to prepare thoroughly."

I tried to open the door. Due to the avalanche, the door of the hut wouldn't open properly. I had no choice but to use [Beastly Strength], and only then did the snow push back, allowing the door to open.

"Ayla!"

The door was open, but there was another problem. The snow was piled as high as my height, so it was quite difficult to see around. I called Ayla to dig out the surrounding snow. Watching Ayla diligently shovel the snow and make a path reminded me of my time in the army, and my eyes grew a bit misty.

"We need to find the goats and mules first."

-Kuung!!!

"Right, I'm counting on you, Ayla."

With my words, Ayla quickly dashed into the snowfield. The goats and mules were surely hiding nearby to avoid the avalanche. They had started to back away even before the avalanche hit. I had thought they were just scared because of the golems' fight… It turns out animal instincts are truly amazing.

While Ayla searched for the goats and mules, I scattered the seeds of snow blossom trees and ice moss trees around the hut and used [Breath of the Forest] to grow them. This was to feed the goats and mules when they returned.

"We should make some water too."

This was simple. All I had to do was light a campfire and place a pot filled with snow on it.

"Master!"

"Hmm?"

"I caught a snow pig!"

It seemed that animals had already started to be attracted to the blooming snow blossom trees. Since that was the case, I might as well start preparing a meal. It would take three days to a week to reach the lair.

There's a hut here too…

I decided we should have a hearty meal and rest for the night. I got up from where I was boiling water and approached El. The snow pig El was holding was quite plump.

"Well done, El. Prepare the meal. I need to check if there are any snow mountain cabbages nearby."

"Yes! Be careful!"

Before long, I found snow mountain cabbages growing between the rocks. Two of them grew in a row and now they looked like a small snowman.

Others need to eat too, so I'll just take a few.

The environment in the polar regions is harsh. If I monopolize everything, many lives will perish. I harvested only a few snow mountain cabbages and returned to the hut.

First, I lightly boiled the cabbage in the simmering water. Then, I took the pork El had prepped, mixed the fat and lean meat, and seasoned it with salt and pepper. The fat from the snow pig was exceptionally soft and melted well. I could already taste the sweet taste of the fat.

"El, bring the cabbage."

I filled the lightly cooked, softened cabbage with the minced pork mixture and rolled it up. One, two, three, four, I kept rolling them, losing myself in the process and clearing my mind. That's the beauty of cooking.

I placed the cabbage rolls that were filled generously with pork into a cast-iron pan to cook and let them fry in the pork fat.

-Sizzle.

The cabbage rolls sizzled as they were fried in the pork fat. While rolling them around to shape them properly, I waited until they were perfectly cooked, then poured a thick and rich tomato sauce and black olives over them. Alright~let them simmer.

Now, it was time to wait.

-Growl…

Didier's stomach growled as she hovered nearby. She pretended the sound didn't come from her, but it was obvious to anyone that it had.

"By any chance, has it been a long time since you've cooked?"

I knew very well what kind of meals witches had. Since she lived in such an extreme place, she might have been eating much worse than Khalid. Tsk tsk.

"…There's no time to waste idly in a place like this."

"Shall I guess? You've been living on jerky and biscuits, haven't you?"

"…"

"Really, these wizards. Why don't you understand that proper nutrition is important for your brain's function? I guarantee you, if you'd just eaten properly, your magical achievements would have been twice what they are now."

I grumbled as I placed the ice moss El had picked onto the bubbling cabbage rolls. The ice moss melted instantly like cheese, stretching and emitting a savory smell.

I already missed the meals my mom used to make in my "dream"…

But, as expected, the "real" food I cooked was the best.

"Now, let's eat!"