Witch hunt (Part 1)
Broken windows, Closed-off houses, kids peaking out secretly and their parents pull them back before closing their windows that end up shattering due to the impact or opening back up.
Other residents that stayed in the streets were blatantly staring at us.
What a sight to see.
"You said you wanted to see the slums in broad daylight?"
"Yeah. It was still as bad as when I check up on it at night." At least at night, some of them are peacefully sleeping and not burying holes staring at me just like now.
"They're not very friendly. What did you expect?" My companion chuckled. Those ginger eyes were crescent like the moon horizontally.
Compared to acting like the fake Erazubeth Kalil, she had accompanied me here without that mask.
"You've never told me your name. You're not friendly either."
There was a tiny flinch, as small as a grain of rice, but I could see it since I've long activated [Mana Manipulation: Eyes] to watch out for incoming attacks. I saw the slight waver in her own mana.
"I already told you my name is Elios Ragnadi."
Her blonde hair which I presumed to be dyed was tied neatly in a braid, but she started to untangle that.
It must be her unconscious reaction to things that make her anxious.
"You said it was a pseudonym although you're currently using it. I was asking for your real name." I continued on the path towards our goal and left her behind me pondering.
"Tsk. What are strangers doing here?"
"It's not that time of the month yet, are they different people?"
"They must be new to that secret organization. Look at them showing their faces as if it's nothing."
"Yeah... Mages in that secret organization proudly walks over the witch's hut after all."
Among the gossips of the people I figured out the main points that I wanted to hear.
A secret organization's members come in these same streets walking confidently without masks. They are mages and they enter the witch's hut.
In a nutshell, the Ribbons might have secret meetings here or meet a specific member, someone labeled as a Witch.
Since the building itself was named as the witch's hut.
"She's not very popular, isn't she?"
"Guess so." I nonchalantly replied to Elios Ragnadi's comment. "I really want to meet the infamous witch now..."
We made haste towards the back end of the slums.
The Witch's Hut which looks like a cozy bungalow in an even deserted part of the slums, looked ominous despite its clean and well-kept garden surrounded by white picket fences.
"There must be a reason why the people stays away from here."
I nodded at Elios' comment. "Any other information? Let's do a recheck."
"The Witch, is a non-secret member of the Ribbons. Some rumors say that her specialty is fusion magic and alchemy. She's not technically aggressive as rumors say about her. Despite the old lady-like personality, she's young at around mid-20s."
"You should sort out your information. It's all over the place."
"I just compiled it right before you left your estate. It's not that easy to get information on her too."
Speaking of estate, it had already been around three weeks since I've sent out two tasks for Linette. I hope she's finished it. According to Xavi's, the information guild's private helper, messages, Khiel had come home yesterday.
If everything goes well then by the next month I could meet up with him already.
The letter sent to the headmasters was a trap set up by me. If they believed it then it didn't really matter but I had to give out actual letters privately.
In some circumstances, the reliable MCD of mine was broken down to prevent further prying on my location. Since Lady Lilith had previously mentioned that she found me through location tracker by Lady Lanessa's MCD that picked up on my mana too.
I don't know how it actually works.
"Should I do the knocking?"
"Oh wait, there's a bell. Should we ring it instead?"
"You should just choose one..." A soft and calm voice startled us from behind.
Once we turned, soft pink hair took most of my attention. "Although I do prefer it if you just ring the bell, I'm sometimes in the basement so it's hard to hear knocking at most..." She was paired with pearly white complexion and pink eyes.
She smiled.
"Excuse me for our intrusion but do you live here?" I asked.
Based on the descriptions, mid-20s seems like a perfect observation. Technically not aggressive fits too. "Yes. I am whom they refer to as the Witch. Oh! Please excuse me, do come in..."
At her offer, we entered the home-like cottage.
"Would you like tea or coffee? Maybe water? Duck piss or something?"
I didn't know if the other menu were a joke, as she had a playful look on her face or if it was true. Weirdly so my mouth moved before I could comprehend my own thoughts, "Duck piss?"
Elios turned to look at me in amazement, but there was a sly smirk tagging at her lips. "I'll have the same thing."
The Witch's eyes sparkled in delight and her smile turned into a full grin before laughing. "Hahahahaha! You're the best! You chose best! Hahaha! I'll bring it now!" That's what she said before moving towards what looked like a small kitchen.
We awkwardly stood there, waiting for the witch.
"Here you go!" I was given an odd skeleton head mug with bubbling yellow liquid. It looked light.
"Is this... safe?" As I asked, Elios just gulped it down nonchalantly. Uh what...?
"You should try it." She answered and the witch nodded.
"It's good! Hahaha! You're really the best, Miss." The witch said with her soft cheerful voice like petals of flowers raining down the sky in buckets just for gags.
I reluctantly took a sip, both of their eyes staring at me were sparkling.
Oh?
"It's good. Wait, does this have alcohol?"
The witch shook her head and smiled, "It's a fizz juice. Unlike alcohol, fizz juices doesn't have alcohol in them but still a type of beverage for occasions."
"Right! Anyway, I'm the witch. Sorry for that advertisement sort of moment but yeah. What do you want with me?" With that soft look and a slight tilt on her head, she looked even younger than how old she usually seemed like.
Elios who didn't know why I requested information on someone labeled as 'The Witch' of this timeline also looked at me for an answer. "I heard you can create potions..."
She was just like a witch from the story books.
Maybe that was why she been part of one in our generation.
The Witch, or namely Sualei, was a commoner and alchemist living in the slums for years. I didn't know she was part of the Ribbons but either way, she wasn't part of the atrocities that they did.
After creating different kinds of medicine and potions that helped the people and mages recover from the sudden decline of mana after the Tragedy, she was recognized as a capable person in both medicine and potion-alchemy.
She was given the title 'Mother of Medicine' and received a badge of honor which she proudly wore on her funeral.
Sualei, the witch, had lived a lifetime of 163 years despite not being a powerful mage. It was a blessing and a curse. As she became powerful in creating potions and medicines, she had wilted herself and gradually looking like an actual witch.
The storybooks in my childhood did her no justice.
As she was right now, here in my eyes, she was beautiful.
Despite her advanced skills, the empire had remained poor and it worsened because of civil wars that happened.
"I need to you to create a single potion for me. These are the instructions and materials or ingredients needed for it." I took out a notebook from my inventory.
Having the mana system definitely made things easier for me.
With the use of being able to review a portion of my memories, I was able to write down all the ingredients or materials but few parts of the instructions.
As much as I didn't want to take the credit for it, I had no choice. Or do I...?
"This!" The witch exclaimed. It seems like she's already familiar wit the ingredients. "Where did you get this? The ingredients have no negative reaction to each other, no, they do but... the other ingredients cancel it out..."
"It's just a little something from my master." Even Elios perked up at the word master. She probably thought it was Lady Lilith but she's wrong.
"Ohhh! Can I meet your master?" The witch's eyes sparkled.
I simply nodded my head, "Of course you can! I'll do that favor to you once you've finished the medicine. I'll pay for it as much as you can."
There goes one of the things I've mentioned in the letter for Rakhiel. Money.
"Great then..." The witch trailed off and stared at Elios who suddenly became quiet.
"Well first of all I should introduce myself, right? It seems we don't have time yet..." The witch smiled. "My name is Sualei. I am the eighth member of Ribbons as Miss Elios might have told you already..."
I glanced at them back and forth before realizing that they might know each other.
"Yes. We know each other. And based on the how I know her, an event should take place soon... Her ability is showing it." Sualei looked worried.
Elios' eyes were shut but there were orange glows of light bursting out of it as she struggled to keep them closed. She was sweating too. When Sualei wanted to wipe her sweat away, Elios opened her eyes frantically, she trembled as she did.
"We don't have time. Run!"
"What...?"
Elios and Sualei dragged me without much issue at the room where Sualei went in for the 'duck piss'. It was a cozy kitchen with a back door.
"The back door is just a trap." Elios stated calmly before she and Sualei went over the stove area and manually moved it.
They looked like they were struggling so I used gravity manipulation on the stove to make it move faster. They looked grateful at that action but nonetheless moved without much words.
After they completely removed the stove out of the way, there was a small vent that could fit one person each.
"Let's go. Use your magic to help Sualei move the stove again please..."
"Okay."
I moved first rather than ask questions. Whatever was happening, I'll deal with it after this.
[Gravity Manipulation: Stove: 50%]
The magic helped and in no time, the passageway was closed, leaving us in the empty and dark small vent. It wasn't as small as I thought... or at least that's what I deduced.
"This vent has magic that temporarily cuts down mana and life energy as someone passes through here. It makes the body smaller too."
"Isn't it dangerous for us to be here?"
"Crawl fast so we can get out fast."
We exchanged in hushed voices. She did it first so I only followed.
After the intense crawling session and heavy silence I've finally gotten the courage to actually ask what was going on.
"Elios why are we doing this?"
"Isn't it to find what you call panacea...?"
"You know what I mean." Crawling in a small vent. Risking our lives in this very vent that halves life and skills temporarily. For what is all this for. The reasons was...
"Witch hunt..." Elios started, her voice becoming heavier and heavier as she spoke. "There are massive waves of mages coming here to track you down. Someone from I don't know leaked information that we went to see Sualei."
"Will Sualei get in trouble?"
She looked back at me for a second before scoffing and crawling again. "As her friend I appreciate your concern for her but you don't have to worry. Whether she betrayed the upper Ribbons, doesn't matter. They're keeping her alive because she accepts requests from anyone and that's her only redeeming quality for them in her career."
"And how do you know those information you just said? Did you sense it?" It was something that I became mildly frustrated of. My [Sensory] magic was placed all over the slums the whole time since I've scouted the area last night but the things she mentioned wasn't something I detected.
"No... It's not sensing. Ugh. It's complicated, I'll explain it to you when we're safe."
With that we continued our crawling session for almost an hour.