The old woman bowed her head urgently as if the moment when her eyes met Carl's was an illusion.
They were young men dressed in fine clothes and leading fine horses from the hills near Himmeln. Anyone who saw them couldn't help but think they were nobles.
"…Are you heading to Himmeln?"
Carl, looking at the old woman's hunched back, spoke softly.
His voice seemed to have a strange resonance, and even though it was spoken on a windy hill, it was clearly conveyed to the old woman's ears.
"Yes."
The old woman bowed her head even more and spoke in a trembling voice.
Carl licked his lips for a moment, then spoke in a calm, composed voice.
"But why don't you walk along the road instead of going up the hill?"
"I must have taken the wrong road because I couldn't see the road because of the snow."
One of the nobles laughed at Carl's words.