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25. The Magical Beast and the Start of a Hot Summer #2
“Wow, this is a Tartar Titanic! How on earth did you catch this? I’d have struggled to even lift it!”
In our usual cramped little hut,
Eve the witch, dressed in a blue dress, greeted me and Leaf with a smile.
As she took the fish from my hands, her smile faltered as she tilted her head.
“But it’s only half a fish. Where’s the head and body?”
━I wanted to check if it was poisonous first.
“…Right, right.”
I recalled the taste of the fish I had put in my mouth.
It was more reminiscent of bland and dry chicken breast than fish, but it was still somewhat enjoyable.
Had I not gotten my hopes up about the grand title of “owner of the pond,” I might have tasted it even better.
“For a Titanic of this size, even half of it could squeeze out top-tier fish juice.”
Eve tossed the entire fin into her giant cauldron.
The fin quickly bubbled and melted into a thick liquid.
Either the campfire was super hot, or whatever was already in the pot was a powerful dissolvent—one or the other.
Eve kept stirring the pot vigorously with a long ladle.
It looked like a tough job, as beads of sweat were forming on her forehead.
“Alright, about halfway done. Now all we need is some Harpy tears and the sap of the World Tree.”
━Harpy tears?
My ears perked up at the familiar term.
“Oh, actually, I think I might have some left somewhere.”
Eve rummaged through the shelves and cabinets, dust flying everywhere. Suddenly, she exclaimed brightly, “Here it is!” as she held up a hexagonal glass bottle sealed with a cork.
Inside, something small and round was visibly trapped.
━Is that Harpy tears? Doesn’t look like it.
The whitish object inside the glass bottle could easily be mistaken for a bead, pearl, or gemstone.
It was only about 1 cm in diameter at best.
Eve gently shook the bottle.
The bead tapped against the glass, creating a clear, cheerful sound.
“Looks like a pearl from a forest clam, right? But in reality, it’s a treasure so valuable that it can’t even be compared to a forest pearl. It’s incredibly hard to acquire. Harpies only inhabit the deep western woods, and shedding tears like this happens maybe once in a lifetime.”
━Hmm.
I thought about Harpy Salome’s face.
The last time I saw her was when she was soaring high with Mao, Lao-Hoo’s daughter.
“Harpies pair up with their partner for life. When they meet their fated love and shed tears of joy, that’s when these pure drops come from their eyes. Isn’t that romantic?”
━Well, yeah.
“I heard it from Ilgast, so whether it’s true or not, I can’t say. I got this as a gift from him.”
Eve clicked her tongue as she looked at the glass bottle in her hand.
“Who would’ve thought he’d leave like this? Isn’t that just so typical of him… always doing nice things for others until the very end.”
Since Eve had already heard about Ilgast’s demise through Leaf and me, she seemed to have a lot of thoughts about his d*ath.
“What a fool. The forest could’ve been destroyed once, but in a few hundred years, it’d recover to its original state.”
Eve casually mentioned something horrifying, almost making me lose my grasp on time and scale.
I gazed at the Harpy tears in her hand, lost in thin thoughts.
‘He gave such a precious gem as a gift to a woman…’
I began to speculate about the relationship between Ilgast and Eve.
Maybe there was something deeper than mere acquaintances or friendship?
However, Eve’s next explanation pretty much shot my theory down.
“This is his wife’s tears. A keepsake of hers. But now it’s become his keepsake instead.”
━Ilgast had a wife?
I felt a bit surprised by this revelation.
Mythical creatures felt so beyond mundane worries, almost like celestial beings or immortal beings in stories.
At least it seemed they were far removed from the idea of “family.”
The Harpy tears clinked together in the glass bottle.
“Ilgast’s partner, Herodia, was a stunning Harpy. It’s said that beasts traveled from afar just to hear her sweet, melodious cry.”
━Herodia….
Hearing the name Herodia made my eyebrows twitch; I felt like I had heard it somewhere before.
Then it hit me, a memory from the cave entrance of Ilgast.
‘Didn’t Salome say she was Herodia’s daughter?’
My head felt all fuzzy and ringing.
‘So Salome was Ilgast’s daughter.’
There were no resemblances, and since neither had shown any signs of that, I hadn’t expected it at all.
More importantly, wasn’t their species just too different?
‘Were they a family that could distinguish between personal and professional matters?’
I began to think about the many forms of families that could exist in this world.
“Since he gave it to me to use, I should. If I just let it sit, it’ll collect dust.”
Eve popped the cork from the glass bottle with a satisfying “pop” and let the bead tumble into her palm.
Immediately, what seemed like a hard bead transformed into a white liquid, flowing steadily out of her hand.
‘Looks like mercury.’
Eve flung the sticky liquid into the cauldron.
Sizzle! The POP sounded loudly throughout the hut.
Eve excitedly stirred the pot again!
*
“Get up, Alpha, Leaf. We’re just about done.”
Feeling drowsy at the table, I stirred awake.
I had lost track of time; it seemed I dozed off for a bit.
‘I haven’t been sleeping well lately.’
I stretched, stretching my front paw up towards the ceiling.
━Cooking is all done…!
As I yawned lazily, something poked at my uvula.
━Cough! What are you doing?!
I coughed, expressing my displeasure towards the witch Eve.
She grinned like a mischievous child as she fiddled with her fingers.
“Every time I see someone yawning, I just want to mess with them.”
━You’re not a kid, are you?
━What’s going on? Is everything done?
Leaf, who was dozing on the table, lifted his head.
The white drool crusted around his mouth made him look incredibly silly.
Had he taken the form of a raccoon, it would have been forgivable; but now he was stuck in the body of a young girl.
━Wipe your drool; you look like a complete fool!
━Slurp, oh, right. Is it because my mouth shape changed? I keep drooling while I sleep.
━No, why are you using my tail?!
Leaf committed the unforgivable act of wiping his mouth with my swishing tail.
I snarled and swatted at Leaf’s head with my paw.
It was a soft, fluffy paw, so it didn’t hurt; but it certainly would’ve jolted him awake.
Leaf pouted as he rubbed his head.
━What should I do? I have no fur to wipe with right now!
━Use the back of your hand!
“You two are quite the pair,” Eve smiled at us, like a caring mother.
She handed each of us a glass bottle.
Inside the small milk bottle-sized glass bottles was a red, clear liquid sloshing about like ruby wine.
━What’s this?
In response to my question, Eve bent down and scratched my head with her fingernail.
“It’s a potion to change your talents. If you mix in just a drop of Mother World Tree’s sap, it’ll be complete. Since the sap evaporates quickly, you should add it right away if possible.”
━So it’s still incomplete, huh?
I stared at the glass bottle held in my paw.
When I popped the cork and took a whiff, surprisingly sweet and fragrant aromas hit me, increasing my appetite.
━So where can we get that World Tree sap? Do we have to go all the way to the World Tree in the center of the forest?
I slipped the glass bottle into the vine pouch hanging from my waist and asked Eve about the final ingredient.
Normally, the World Tree was referred to as the great tree at the center of the forest, known as the Mother World Tree.
“If you could get it from there, that would be great, but—”
Eve paused, looking deep in thought.
‘So, what’s in the center of the forest?’
The Ancient Nest, which was divided into four regions: North, South, East, and West, maintained a balance and harmony.
So what existed close to the center, near the World Tree?
‘Could it be like a border area where the four forests intersect?’
I found myself curious about a question I had never considered before.
At that moment, Eve, who had been lost in thought, muttered, “Hmm.”
“Right now, it would be tricky to head to the central forest.”
━Are there many dangerous creatures?
“Summers are managed by the northern beasts in the central area. There are lots of bugs. You said you don’t like bugs, right?”
━Ugh, bugs.
Just thinking about leggy beasts made me scrunch my face.
I had heard the northern forest was a paradise for bugs, including spiders, scorpions, ants, and every kind of creepy crawly.
At the mention of bugs, Leaf’s eyes lit up.
━Ladybugs, roly-polies, stinkbugs… bugs, bugs, bugs!
━Shut it! What in the world is that tune you’re singing?!
I growled mightily at Leaf.
The strange tune he was trying to hum made him shrink back, responding in a crawling voice.
━Ah, it’s the song the Monkey that caught me used to sing. It just won’t leave my ears!
━If you sing that song one more time, I’ll feed you bugs!
━Eww! N-No way!
Leaf shook his head in disgust.
Though Leaf and I often didn’t see eye-to-eye, we did compromise on our shared disgust for bugs.
Of course, while I wouldn’t even touch them, Leaf was okay with just handling and using them.
However, when it came to the idea of “eating” bugs, Leaf was way more horrified than I ever was.
When I tried to ask if there was any reason for this, he simply responded with a short, “Half a fish.”
His expression at that moment truly looked like he had bitten into a bug.
Eve, gently petting our heads, spoke to us soothingly.
“Alpha, Leaf, since you both dislike bugs, it would be challenging to go to the central area where the World Tree is located. The summer in the forest gets really wild with bugs.”
━So where are we supposed to get the World Tree sap?
“There are roots of the Mother Tree scattered all over the forest. Most are deeply buried in the earth, reaching to the very center of this world, but some reveal themselves outside of the forest.”
━Roots…
The mention of the World Tree’s roots reminded me of the summer festival from a fortnight ago.
I still vividly remembered the scene where a huge root burst from the ground, causing destruction and chaos.
That too must have been a root of the World Tree.
“To the southern edge, past Yan-Mite’s cave, you’ll find roots of the Mother Tree rising.”
At Eve’s brief explanation, Leaf cocked his head, “Grrr.”
━Are you talking about the Bewitching Forest?
“Yep, Leaf. You know the way, right?”
━I-I do, but is there any other place?
“As far as I know, that spot is the only place where roots grow in the south.”
━Ugh.
Leaf sighed as if the ground were about to sink beneath him.
━What’s wrong?
When I asked, puzzled at the reason, Leaf scratched his head and mumbled, looking troubled.
━There are monkeys there.
━Monkeys, huh…
By “monkeys,” she must have meant beings similar to the one that bound Leaf up like a package.
I pictured the monkeys in my head and casually asked, as always.
━Are they strong?
