1 Capture of a Witch

In a village where small cottages numbering up to a hundred were built amongst the numerous tall green trees, a particular seemingly old house made of sturdy dark woods, not much different from the others, was seen surrounded by a group of unidentified men hiding in obscure places, each donning a long black cloth that covered their whole figure, hiding their facial traits under the wide hood of their cloaks.

The momentum of the wind trailed across the rich dense trees and to the villagers' humble residence, dropping whatever leaves, dust, or any other worthless waste onto their yards, giving them another reason not to laze around for the day.

Like any mischievous child would do, the wind refused to forget to tease these foreign visitors that had dared to enter its territory without any permission from its mighty self. After all, as the absolute ruler of this land, it has all the right to punish these impolite trespassers!

With a huff, the wind gave a considerably lenient blow to these visitors, prompting their loose cloaks to dance in a disarray, exposing the leather armors hiding within.

"Alexander, when are we going in to capture that witch?"

Grumbling, a youth sounded out as he impatiently pushed his long blonde fringe that had been stabbing his eyes for the nth time, away from his sight.

They had been standing on guard there, surrounding the old house like a group of embarrassing fools for hours and truth to be told, it had been quite a chilly day.

Despite the layers after layers of cloth tightly wrapped around his lean body, his arms and legs couldn't help but quiver under such cold weather.

He just couldn't bring himself to understand. 'Is there a need to be this cautious? For God's sake, these men were hunters! Supposedly professionals in this field!'

He gritted his teeth, struggling to hold himself from chattering out loud and embarrass himself.

If it's not because of the rumors circulating within the town about the said woman to be one of those legendary witches, why would he, Taylor Sloven, an esteemed count's rightful heir, lower himself to join these peasants and travel so far away with them?

"My Lord, please do be patient. These witches are known for their wicked nature and their great mastery of forbidden magic. It will be dangerous for us to act without having enough preparations against such strong forces.

If the suspicious woman is indeed a witch, and a powerful one at that, we won't be able to face her alone. It will be best for us to take our leave before the woman notices our presence."

Listening to his words, Taylor snorted, his lips curling into a ridiculing smile. So they're not here to catch the witch but to confirm the credibility of those rumors, huh? And here he was, earnestly tailing them in this meaningless expedition like a naive little fool!

"The day's turning dark and when the night truly comes, what are we going to do?"

The youth raised his head to peer at the sky as he asked with an impatient voice.

"Fret not, My Lord. We'll take some rest at a nearby inn and continue the day after."

At the words of the ignorant man, who was also the leader of the group, something within him seemed to have snapped as Taylor raised a hand to cover his aching forehead.

"We'll continue the day after? Are you kidding me? Is wasting a day of this noble's time for nothing not enough for you?!!"

The youth jumped out of the huge bush of fully grown berries as he furiously patted away the numerous clingy leaves latching onto his expensive piece of clothing like some shameless gold diggers salivating over his fortune.

God knows how many of these wild berries he had stuffed himself with just to entertain himself from this incredibly long and meaningless wait. He cursed under his breath.

Throwing a sharp gaze at the older man, he cursed him for his cowardice before he turned to face the old cottage. It was definitely no more than a normal wooden house that had gone weary over the years and yet, it was mysteriously eerie but strangely enticing to look at in this particular moment.

Was it that the rumors had managed to cloud both the eyes and the mind that he started to have some baseless hallucinations of the impossible? Nonsense!

Grasping the hilt of his sword that was conveniently strapped at the side of his waist, Taylor scoffed at himself as he took steps after steps closer to the old wooden cottage.

At a closer look, it seemed that the cottage wasn't just old, but also empty and abandoned. Cobs of spider webs and dust spun across the top and the bottom surface of the house, clearly indicating that it had been years since it had been cleaned nor touched by any creatures in this land.

A sense of relief and also pride sprang out of his heart as he stood before the handleless dirt-covered wooden door. Placing a gloved hand onto the piece of wood, he didn't forget to throw a gloating look at the leader and his group whose faces had turned white at his courageous act before he pushed the door open.

"See? There's nothing inside, you fools. What a dimwit scaredy c- Eeekk!!!"

With a short anguish shriek, Taylor took a sluggish step backward, his face pale and his lips dry as he powerlessly dropped to his knees, clutching at his chest with a distorted look on his face.

'Wha- What had just happened?'

His breath was hitched and he couldn't breathe! Is he going to die here, just like that?!!

'S- someone! Please save me!'

Just as he was about to be driven to the brink of despair, a powerful voice exploded in his ears, blasting his eardrums as it brought a tremendous inhumane pain to the frail and helpless youth.

"NOTHING BUT A MEASLY ANT. WHO ARE YOU TO TRESPASS MY TERRITORY?!"