080 – Haildo, Tracking the Witch # 2
What are the Nymphs doing up on the roof?
When I followed them up, the Nymphs were spinning around a round glass jar and dancing.
It was a very strange sight and also quite funny.
“They are dancing the Moonflower Dance…!”
“It’s the Luna Dance…!”
Spinning around—.
The Nymphs turned around the glass jar.
At that moment, a fascinating phenomenon began to occur inside the transparent jar.
A cool and sparkling light began to rise like mercury in the previously empty jar.
Finally, Inoi raised the glass jar high and shouted.
“It contains moonlight…!”
Moonlight in a glass jar.
It felt almost magical since it was the first time I had seen such a thing.
It had been quite a while since I got to know the Nymphs, yet there were still surprises left.
Swish-.
Splash-.
Inoi came down to the yard holding the glass jar filled with shimmering moonlight.
Then, she poured the moonlight onto the footprints where the fake Seo Ye-rim had escaped, and something amazing happened.
The vague footprints began to emit a silvery light.
They led to that dark paddy field, and upon looking farther, they connected to the apple orchard of the village chief in the neighboring house.
“Let’s go!”
I followed the footprints into the apple orchard.
At some point, I saw that the footprints abruptly stopped.
Strangely enough, the footprints had indeed come to an abrupt halt.
“What is this?”
Where did they vanish?
Just then, Illinois shouted.
“Ahh-! Everyone, look at this…! Something like this fell into the apple orchard…!”
Swish-.
What Illinois picked up was a giant feather, as large as Illinois’s head.
I had no idea what beast it belonged to, but it was an enormous feather.
“I believe this must be an owl’s feather…! Inoi learned how to distinguish between owl feathers and those of other birds…!”
According to Inoi, the feather Illinois had picked up was indeed from a very large owl.
If you estimate its size, it was said to be around the size of a person.
An owl that is the size of a person exists.
“It must mean that the witch can freely transform her form…! A witch who can also transform into the form of an animal surely exists…!”
Inoi’s explanation clarified the sudden halt of the footprints.
If she transformed into an owl and flew away—then it suddenly made sense why the footprints stopped in the apple orchard.
However, Ari, who had helped me in the pursuit, seemed to be unsure as she touched the footprints.
“Magic that transforms into an animal? I never thought such a thing could really exist.”
“Exactly.”
Transforming into a gigantic owl certainly sounded cool.
Finally, morning came.
The only clue left from the fake Seo Ye-rim was the owl feather found in the apple orchard.
Flame-.
Seo Ye-rim was trying to conjure flames on her palm.
“I feel like I’m in shackles. My magic dropped to A rank?”
Seo Ye-rim still hadn’t recovered from the drop in her magic after getting her hair cut. It was shocking to see a S rank Awakened become A rank.
I was worried since I knew well that Lee Joon-Hun had fallen.
“It’s okay. We can catch her soon.”
I looked at the Nymphs.
They were putting the acquired owl feather into a rural cauldron and bringing it to a boil.
They were going to use some special magic, it seemed.
“This Coris has arrived…! This Coris has heard about the witch who transforms into an animal…! She must be a terrifying woman…!”
By lunchtime, the ice water Nymph Coris appeared, waving her hands.
It seemed she had taken public transport by herself.
“This Coris has brought a whole bunch of clovers that will help with the magic…!”
“Muhuh, that Illinois has also brought back a lot of weeds…!”
Splash, splash—.
The Nymphs added various herbs into a jar.
The pot was bubbling.
Soon, Inoi caught Kkungkkungi, the Squirrel Beast, and snipped off some of his tail fur with scissors.
Snip-.
Grr…
Every time the Nymphs used magic, Kkungkkungi’s tail fur was being cut shorter.
It seemed like Kkungkkungi was getting angrier every time his tail fur was snipped, but there wasn’t much he could do about it.
Later, I should build a Squirrel Tower for Kkungkkungi.
Splash, splash—.
Inoi added a lot of ingredients.
Then Inoi said.
“To break the curse of weakening, we need a witch’s hair…! But since Core Ye-rim’s hair has lost its power, we need another witch’s hair…!”
This was a repeated process just like when I broke the curse of weakening.
The problem was that we couldn’t use Seo Ye-rim’s hair.
Swish-.
At that moment, Illinois took something out from her pocket.
“I had taken a hair for the membership of the honorary Nymph Yuranoi…! We can use this…!”
Splash, splash—.
Cha Yura’s blue hair went into the pot.
Bubble, bubble, bubble—.
The fireplace began to boil fiercely.
Watching that, the three Nymphs started spinning and dancing again.
Bang-!
About five minutes passed.
Finally, a small explosion occurred inside the fireplace.
Inside was a liquid glowing with a rainbow-like brilliance.
“We drink it…!”
“We’re drinking it…!”
“This Coris, together with the Nymph sisters, made the potion…!”
The color was slightly different from the one I had drunk before.
Was it because it was a potion made by all three Nymphs together?
“Are you telling me to drink this? This suspicious thing?”
Seo Ye-rim frowned.
However, since there was no other option, she had no choice but to pour this oddly shaped potion into a cup and gulp it down.
Ugh—, Seo Ye-rim gagged.
“Ugh, it tastes horrible! But—.”
Flare—.
The temperature around Seo Ye-rim rose instantly.
Swish-.
Seo Ye-rim reached her finger toward the ice scarecrow that Cha Yura had made and shouted.
“Fireball!”
Psshh—
A fiery bullet shot from the tip of her finger.
It pierced through the ice scarecrow.
“I got my power back!”
This meant that the weakening curse placed on Seo Ye-rim had been broken.
Seo Ye-rim was very happy, and the Nymph sisters raised their hands in joy.
“This Inoi helped Core Ye-rim…!”
“Muhuh, that Illinois is the master of potions…! The effect happens immediately…!”
“This Coris doesn’t know what’s going on, but it was fun…!”
Swish-.
As Seo Ye-rim looked at her palm, I spoke to Inoi.
“You said the curse returns to the caster, right? Then, the witch who attacked Seo Ye-rim might be in danger because of the recoil?”
“That’s right…! It must’ve come back to her as a fearsome curse…! I’m sure she’s having a rough time right now…!”
# # #
“Tch, I failed. They went on a date and turned out not to like each other. What kind of situation is this? My disguise was found out! I’ve never had this happen before! I finally got a hair!”
Flap, flap—.
From somewhere, a large owl flew into the dark room.
Soon, the owl began to gag loudly.
It felt like all of its strength had drained away.
“…Ugh, damn it, the curse came back!”
The large owl realized that the curse she had placed on Seo Ye-rim had returned to her.
Instead of being embarrassed about receiving an unexpected counterattack, she was angry.
“Was it those brats? Did they give me a curse?”
Hah—
The huge owl caught her breath.
She recalled the small fairies that had been with Seo Ye-rim.
“I thought they were just silly little ones, but they’re quite clever. Little Nymphs, indeed.”
Swish, swish—
The woman felt the curse rising from the tips of her feathers.
If this continued, her life would truly be at stake.
“How about it? Honey-colored hair. Can you help me?”
She asked the person sitting in front of her.
Tap, tap—.
The honey-haired woman, who had been looking at the burning fireplace and furnace, opened her slender eyes.
“No.”
“…Are you joking? If this continues, I’ll die! Hurry up and help me!”
“I don’t know. I forgot how to do it.”
“Alright! I’m sorry for acting on my own! But you know, isn’t it that itch to just sit still like this?! I came all the way to this distant land shaped like a rabbit from America.”
Pat—
The owl now stood up and began to fly around the dark room.
Flap, flap—. Flap—!
Watching the noisy owl, the honey-haired woman sighed deeply.
“Alright. I’ll break the curse, but you have to sit still.”
Swish-.
The honey-haired woman picked up a syringe.
When she stuck the syringe into the owl’s body, the owl seemed to struggle painfully as it flapped its wings but then transformed back into a woman.
She had brown hair and tanned skin.
She was rather slender and had an alluring gaze that could captivate people.
The only peculiar thing was that her short, pointed triangular ears were visible among her brown hair.
She opened her lips to speak.
“Now I feel somewhat alive. Sisters should help each other, don’t you think?”
“…….”
# # #
“Do I look like a Nymph?”
I was surprised by Inoi’s words.
Soon, Inoi began to whisper with Illinois and Coris before turning back to me with a serious expression.
“The witch’s true identity is definitely a Nymph…! The magic used by the witch is undeniably that of the Nymphs…!”
“…A Nymph?”
I couldn’t believe it.
Nymphs were the small, chattering triangular-eared fairies like Inoi, Illinois, and Coris, weren’t they?
Weren’t they friends who gathered pretty pebbles and sold them for five 100-won coins?
You want me to believe that such Nymphs cast lethal curses and attack others with magic?
Yet Inoi’s expression was serious.
“There are not just good Nymphs in the world, but there are also bad Nymphs…! Nymphs filled with resentment and hatred exist…! Such Nymphs become terrifying…!”
Nymphs are terrifying…!?
Honestly, I couldn’t imagine it.
But Inoi looked genuinely scared, trembling, and Coris was also shaking, exclaiming, “It’s scary…!”
Soon, Illinois nodded with her arms crossed.
“I’ve heard about the Nymphs who forgot their names…! Nymphs consumed by terrifying grudges who have become nameless…!”
It was said that there are Nymphs filled with such resentment that they forget even their names.
Upon hearing that story, Seo Ye-rim seemed to hesitate for a moment before speaking to Illinois.
“Illinois. It was actually me who ate the ice cream you wanted.”
“Yikes…! I will never forget this grudge…! If you want to make it up to me, you must increase my allowance…! 10,000 won a day is too little…!”
Illinois was extremely angry.
Watching her, I fell into thought for a moment.
So the identity of the witch was Nymphs.
Of course, I knew what I had to do.
“I must chase after the witches.”
