Chapter 24: Let's get this straight...
She had always had a fine sense of smell, part of what made her an herbalist was that her senses were sharper than an average human's. Thanks to this, Sascha was able to discover the subtle differences between normal herbs and magical herbs.
Sascha's nose wrinkled, sniffing delicately, instantly uncovering the contents between the two lids of black bread. Slices of meat, mayonnaise, and tomato. She gulped and like an animal on the brink of starvation fell on the contents of the basket.
Pixie's wings snapped as they watched with puzzled eyes as the human practically breathed into the dresser within reach of her. They looked at each other, a question shining in their hearts, weren't humans like weak prey? Why did seeing this human give them the impression of a predator devouring her prey?
Sometime later Sascha paused for breath. She instantly discovered that the food had almost completely disappeared.
Where had all of her food gone? She gave a puzzled look at the last piece of bread between her fingers. At what point did you eat it all? Even if she felt puzzled the truth could not be overlooked. Finally, she put the matter aside, shrugged, and continued nibbling on the last piece of sandwich.
In her heart, she reflected on the content of the note. Even though the witch said to rest, was she going to rest? Even after eating and drinking from the old woman's kindness? Sascha took a slow look with unfocused eyes. She didn't want to meddle, but she didn't want to take advantage either. That just wasn't right.
It was pure chance that she heard the commotion made by a set of silver-winged pixies not far from her. Still biting into the piece of bread, Sascha silently approached to investigate.
The creatures continued to buzz happily around her, no matter how hard Sascha tried to get rid of them, they just weren't going away, she finally had no choice but to let them be. The noise was coming from a small stone cabin on the side of the main house.
She poked her head through the open door and took a look inside. Sascha blinked in surprise at the mess inside. The booth was small, perhaps four meters square, with a narrow corridor on one side and a tall cabinet and tall shelving on the other.
"Pffff" she stifled a sudden fit of laughter as she saw a Pixie floating in the air with an ankle tangled in a leather cord. Her wings were indigo blue with silver trimmed edges, and they flapped madly in all directions in a vain effort to break free.
All the drawers in the cabinet hung open, their contents scattered on the floor. Mason jars teetered precariously near the rim, one step away from disaster.
Sascha coughed and hit her chest. Her throat working through the mouthful of food that she can't quite decide whether to go down or up her esophagus, she finally managed to calm down and escape from a fate where she was suffocating to death. Then she would reach out and raise a hand to help the little thing break free.
Blue Wings turned in Sascha's direction with a fierce grin and obvious killing instinct. An arcane gleamed on the tip of her tongue. Then, her large black insect eyes fell on the intruder and the arcanum died even before being born to live. All the bellicose mood simply disappeared from the creature's temper.
Blue Wings stared wide-eyed at the human with an aftertaste of green in her mana, her entire demeanor seemed to have taken a sudden 360-degree turn. Those black eyes without a trace of color stared at Sascha, a trace of adoration shining in the depths of her.
Sascha would never know how close she came to suffering at the hands of the little creature.
"That's it" she sighed after finally getting the Pixie free.
The Pixie suddenly came to life and wondering what kind of spell the human put on him, she fled out of range, but not out of sight. Sascha watched him run away with a soft, amused smile twisting his lips.
She gave a snort that did not stop sounding feminine despite everything and then faced the disaster before her.
"You have to be careful what you ask of the world, the Great One will know who might be listening" she repeated aloud the Old Man's frequent words.
Well, she wanted something to do and now she had it. Despite her words, Sascha was happy with something to do. With the skill that practice and study bring, she began to collect and organize the supply store.
She hummed low in her throat while she was at it, a small part of her consciousness aware of the absurd amount of pixies spying on her every move from the outside. Still, she didn't stop. She wanted to finish before the old woman returned.
Organizing the witch's stock was a tougher challenge than she imagined. Sascha frowned because there were some plants that she was not familiar with. However, it was no surprise, as the number of herbs in the human realm was dimensionally smaller than that of the Forest. Sascha was not put off by this, on the contrary, she felt like experimenting and studying the new species before her eyes.
"Get hold of yourself, Sascha" she sighed deeply. "Don't forget that you are a guest"
Even so...
She couldn't stop her mouth from drooling when she thought of learning about all these new and unfamiliar herbs. Wasting no more time, she tied her hair into a loose bun, rolled up her sleeves, and began to painstakingly organize the mess.
This is how the old woman found her a couple of hours later.
"I thought I told you to rest" Melida spoke from the doorway with a frown.
Sascha jumped slightly out of her skin, her heart pounding in surprise. She cleared her throat slightly clearing her throat and said. "Ah. The pixies made a mess" she explained in a low voice. She didn't want to offend the witch. She just couldn't afford it.
Melida looked at her with tired and very serious eyes before opening her mouth. "Let's get this clear, I can't have you as my apprentice"
The witch's words were like a bucket of ice water over Sascha's euphoria.