Chapter 1.4 "What Enca sees"

Enca immediately put her face on the table. A dining table by the side of the road. Enca sat alone and waited for her best friend.

With a luxurious and splendid interior. A relaxing place to enjoy the view of the city makes it often visited by nobles. It was not often that Enca, who had become an adventurer, had a bad experience meeting nobles.

It could be said that this luxurious place was not suitable for adventurers. However, Enca didn't really care about the reactions of the nobles. For her, this place was the most special place in the city of Arcadia.

Besides, Enca had become a regular customer here. So when Enca moved to another place one day. She didn't want to break the owner's heart.

"Ah, Enca," the old woman who owned the restaurant greeted her, "You're not usually alone like this. Where's Llona?"

Enca smiled slightly, "I'm actually waiting for her, ma'am."

The old woman was immediately surprised by Enca's words, "Eh? How spontaneous. Llona didn't tell me anything. Is there something important?"

"It wasn't anything important, really," Enca answered quietly while staring at the dining table, "I just wanted to see her."

To get such an answer. The old woman was thoughtful for a moment. Then she realized that Enca was sad. So the old lady immediately called one of the waiters and asked him to bring a special dish with a wink.

The waiter nodded immediately. She clearly understood what the owner of this restaurant was saying. It didn't take long. The dish the restaurant owner was referring to finally arrived.

Enca was confused as to why the owner had brought a red pudding with strawberry pieces and powdered sugar sprinkled on top. Because Enca had not ordered anything because she was waiting for Llona to arrive. Obviously Enca refused it.

"It's okay. I'll give it to you for free. After all, this is just a prototype menu that will not be sold to the public," the old lady said with a friendly smile, "So, in exchange. Please let me know the results of this prototype pudding later. Can you?"

Enca nodded slowly. Then she took a small spoonful of the pudding and put it into her mouth. It tasted sour and sweet at the same time. Enca obviously liked it very much.

"By the way, what's the name of this pudding?" Enca asked to change the subject.

The old woman laughed quietly. She admitted that the pudding didn't have a name yet. She asked Enca to name it after she had finished it.

After the owner of the restaurant had left. Enca was thoughtful for a moment. She did not know what to call the pudding. So she racked her brain even harder to find the answer.

"Pamestas."

*****

A girl wearing a robe with a black hood entered the dining room panting. She slowly opened the hood and let her long black hair fall down her back.

The few people who saw her were obviously surprised. It was rare for a girl from the kingdom to be allowed out without a strict escort.

Her brown eyes scanned the room, searching for her favorite friend. The girl immediately smiled broadly when she found her best friend sitting alone in the corner of the room.

"Yo, Enca!" the girl greeted with a warm smile, "It's rare that you call me out of the blue like this. It's a good thing your pigeons found me while I was doing something outside the Magic Academy."

"Llona...."

Llona, who saw Enca's lazy face, was curious. For she had rarely seen Enca's sad expression like this before. So, without thinking, Llona hugged her.

Enca, who was suddenly hugged tightly. Obviously, she immediately asked Llona with a chuckle and said that Llona was exaggerating.

"In that case. What happened to you?" asked Llona gently, "I don't want to see your face when you pretend to be so strong.

"You know about the otherworldly person I told you about a few years ago?" asked Enca with a heavy sigh.

Llona nodded firmly. She had even seen the person Enca was talking about.

Enca tilted her head, "Actually, he came back to this world a few days ago."

Llona's eyes widened. She realized that the Yggdrasil Tree was indeed very mysterious, and there was still no trace of history about the tree in the past. Llona understood very well about the arrival of people from another world. But the case Enca told her about was unique.

Enca took a deep breath. She started to tell her about her past. Especially about her first meeting with Andra, which he might have forgotten.

*****

A dark temple in the forest. There were several deafening screams from a girl. The girl was crying out in pain. Her cries seemed to invite everyone to come and help her.

The man with a blank stare and a round object in his right hand kept staring at the girl. A strong desire to kill burned in his heart.

"I swear! I'm not the witch you're talking about!" the girl desperately defended while holding her bleeding stomach, "I'm just a witch who joined the adventurer's party.""

The girl continued to beg for mercy, occasionally checking the iron collar around her neck. Thanks to the iron collar, she couldn't cast magic. Even though she was a B-class adventurer.

"I'm not a witch with the blood of The Witch of Time!" the girl shouted as she continued to walk backwards, occasionally bumping into things behind her.

"Don't lie!" the man shouted, "This device I'm holding declares that the witch is in the city of Arcadia!"

"You idiot. How many people do you think there are in this city?" asked the witch girl.

Just then, the witch girl crashed into the wall behind her. The man returned with the bloody knife and stabbed the witch girl in the chest.

The witch girl was in excruciating pain. She fell to the ground and crawled to a nearby door as best she could. Fortunately, she was still conscious enough to keep the mana in her body from leaking out.

The man with the knife followed the witch girl from behind and came to the door. The man immediately kicked it. Obviously, the man knew that the door led to the basement.

The witch girl, who fell down the stairs, was immediately shocked. She realized that she was not the first victim of the unknown man's madness. Right in the middle of the basement. There was a pile of corpses of other witch girls in the room.

*****

Llona narrowed her eyes. She did not know what to say to Enca. There had never been anything like this before. On the other hand, she could only accept that the tree of Yggdrasil was still a mystery.

With all the stories that Enca had explained. Llona could only give the advice to watch Andra from a distance. Because the news about Andra might attract the attention of the royal researchers who were investigating the Yggdrasil tree.

Enca smiled a little and thanked Llona for coming and taking her time. Llona laughed softly and thought that as friends it was natural to tell each other stories.

Without the two of them realizing it. The sun, originally above them. Slowly sinking to the western horizon. After leaving the restaurant. Enca and Llona took a short walk through the cityscape of Arcadia.

"It looks like summer is coming to an end soon," Llona chirped with a warm smile, "I would like to play with you near the beach like last year."

Enca nodded slowly, "Ah, actually I already played at the beach a week ago."

"Uh, why didn't you invite me?" asked Llona weakly after learning the truth.

"Didn't you say that this year's summer is very busy?" asked Enca while tilting her head, "Even though you said it yourself two months ago."

A small sigh escaped Llona's mouth, "That's disappointing. I can't see your cute swimsuit."

"I'm not like that..."

Llona immediately hugged Enca tightly from behind, "You blushing like that is very cute, Enca."

"Uh... Don't tease me!"