Chapter 61 [A Short Break]
"Speaking of which, how did Erica first mention me to you?"
Noticing that Yuriel seemed a little down, Mela considerately changed the subject.
However, she never expected that this topic would be even more dangerous than the harm the church had done to Yuriel.
Yuriel suddenly raised her head, her eyes fixed intently on Mela:
"Ah, my aunt told me that she met an exceptionally clever girl back then. So clever that even when she was just an ordinary person, she could remember the sleeping spell that the girl had only used once. And she even managed to cast it on her successfully."
Yuriel seemed to see Erica again, a smile playing on her lips as she mentioned Mela.
She said that Mela was the first little girl she had ever met who became a witch on her own.
She said that Mela's talent was so good that even she, a born witch, was jealous.
She said she wished Mela would leave with her, as she wanted to witness the birth of the most powerful witch.
Erica had never used that proud tone with Yuriel.
As if Yuriel, born a witch, could do whatever she wanted.
Her brilliance paled in comparison to Mela's.
It's like one star meeting another, brighter star.
Thinking of this, Yuriel's gaze towards Mela deepened, as if she wanted to see through her completely.
Mela, however, seemed completely unfazed by Yuriel's scrutiny, calmly nodding and saying, "It's alright. Once we find Erica, she'll see for herself that I'm far more capable than her now."
"...Wait, you're coming with me to find Auntie?" Yuriel was caught off guard by Mela's decision.
She had already planned that once she found a safe place, she would naturally part ways with Mela and then set off on her own again.
She still hasn't given up on finding Erica.
Mela then said she wanted to come with her too?
“That’s right.” Mela stood up with a smile.
“Actually, I originally planned to take Silas back to the Dark Forest after rescuing you, but didn’t you say that Erica wanted to see me after I grew up? Considering that she was, to some extent, my teacher who taught me to become a witch, I should of course grant her wish.”
...Is it too late for her to take back what she just said? Yuriel has no desire to become Mela's companion.
Rather, Yuriel felt a vague and inexplicable jealousy towards Mela, who held a place in Erika's conversations.
Seeing Yuriel's discomfiture, Mela's smile deepened with delight. "Are you rested? If you are, let's continue. Let's find a place to stay and heal your injuries first."
After saying that, Mela took the lead and left.
Silas glanced at Yuriel, who was lagging behind and keeping a distance from Mela, and whispered in Mela's ear, "You were just teasing her by saying that, weren't you?"
Silas occasionally has moments of brilliance; for example, it can sense that the real reason Mela joined Yuriel to go find Erica is definitely not as easy as she just said.
“Of course.” Mela parted another clump of grass, deliberately lowering her voice as she answered softly.
“I said, Erica is my teacher, so I need to find out what her current situation is.”
According to Yuriel, Mela also felt that Erica's disappearance was not normal. Even if she chose to leave voluntarily, it must have happened very suddenly, which is why she forgot to leave a message for Yuriel.
So the question is, what kind of thing would make Erika panic to this extent?
Mela's eyes darkened for a moment, not to mention that Yuriel's experience made her vaguely sense something was wrong; the church's attitude towards witches seemed to have changed.
In the past, they wished they could expel all witches from towns that belonged to ordinary people, and even kill them all. If an unlucky witch was caught, she would be sent to the gallows without delay and burned alive in front of everyone.
However, at least a month has passed since Yuriel was captured, and despite the torture she endured, she has survived, suggesting that the Church no longer intends to kill the witch.
So what do they want to do?
Or perhaps it wasn't that the church changed its attitude towards witches, but rather that a few individuals had other ideas.
In short, a series of mysteries were tangled together like a messy ball of yarn, leaving Mela temporarily unable to sort them out.
But she knew very well that Yuriel alone could not possibly find Erica while ensuring her own safety; she would be lucky if she didn't get herself killed.
Unfortunately, unlike Mela, who had lived among ordinary people in town, Yuriel had been hiding in a small cabin in the mountains with Erica since she could remember, and had almost never interacted with anyone else.
When it comes to being naive and innocent in her interactions with others, Yuriel is even more so than Gwentil.
*
After a night of travel and frequent stops, Mella and her group finally arrived at a little-known town called Greystone Town at dawn.
"Wait here for me. I'll go to town and buy you a complete set of clothes to change into before we go into town together," Mela said, gazing at Graystone Town in the distance.
“Okay.” Yuriel nodded in agreement. She knew she couldn’t just walk into Graystone Town in these tattered clothes, otherwise it would be like openly announcing to everyone that her origins were questionable.
They were still afraid that others wouldn't suspect them and report their whereabouts to the tax official, who would then send people to arrest them.
So Mela left Silas behind and went into Greystone Town alone.
Greystone Town has no special products, so even though it is adjacent to Golden Oak City, it does not attract much attention. At most, passing merchants use it as a temporary stop to rest for the night on their way to Golden Oak City. As a result, there are many inns and taverns of all sizes, with people constantly coming and going, which made it convenient for Mela and Yuriel to hide.
Mela didn't plan to linger in town. She headed straight for the clothing store, quickly bought a simple but conservative dress, and left town for Yuriel to change into.
She looked with satisfaction as the dress completely covered Yuriel's wounds.
"Alright, let's go."
Now they can enter Graystone Town together.
Mela still chose a small tavern tucked away in a corner.
Because it was daytime, there were very few customers in the tavern, and the wild vegetable porridge and pumpkin soup that Mela ordered were quickly delivered to her and Yuriel's rooms respectively.
The wild vegetable porridge was ordered by Mela for Yuriel. Her stomach had been hungry for so long, and even if she was starving, it wasn't suitable for her to eat meat right away.
Mela ordered the pumpkin soup for herself; after all that traveling, she wanted something less dry.
Silas didn't eat anything.
Right now, it's more interested in satisfying its desire to sleep than its appetite.
Keep in mind that its eyelids were already drooping. If it weren't for its strong willpower, Silas wouldn't have been able to hold on.
Therefore, as soon as Silas saw the bed, he lay down on the pillow and immediately fell asleep.
Mela was also sleepy, but she remembered that she couldn't lie down on the bed right after eating, so she forced herself to stand for a while longer before collapsing onto the bed and snuggling up to Silas, falling asleep face to face.
I slept straight through until evening.
When Mela opened her eyes and saw that the room was dark, she realized that she needed to get up and light the kerosene lamp hanging on the wall.
Silas was still asleep, his belly rising and falling with each breath, showing how exhausted he was.
It wasn't until Mela brought out dinner that Silas groggily opened his eyes.
Even though it wasn't fully awake, it instinctively flapped its wings and flew toward Mela.
"Hey, Silas, wake up!" Seeing that Silas was about to crash into the plate, Mela had to reach out and stop him.
Silas was startled by his own actions, and now he was completely awake. "Look what a stupid thing I almost did..."
"Alright, come over here and fill your stomach quickly." Mela didn't mean to blame Silas. She put the tray on the table, sat down, and considerately poured the food into the small bowl she had specially asked for.
Silas leaned over to take a look and saw that dinner was stewed meat and roasted cabbage. He immediately grabbed his knife and fork and began to eat with relish.
"Knock knock knock".
There was a sudden knock on the door.
Mela pushed back her chair, stood up, walked to the door, and pulled it open. Sure enough, standing outside was Yuriel.
She had clearly had a good night's sleep, and her eyes had regained some sparkle.
"Is there something you need?" Mela asked.
Yuriel gestured for herself to come in, and after carefully closing the door, she said, "Of course there's something I need to discuss. Shouldn't we talk about where to go next?"
“Hmm…” Mela hesitated for a moment, then glanced at the closed window. “Won’t the stars tell us where to find Erica?”
The implication is that there's nothing to discuss.
Just follow the stars.
Unexpectedly, this suggestion was exactly what Yuriel wanted to hear. With a hint of wanting to compete with Mela, she deliberately said, "The stars told me that if we want to find any trace of Aunt, we need to leave Redcliff territory and head east."
“I see. Then let’s head east tomorrow,” Mela said decisively.
"Wait a minute, why did you agree so readily? Don't you want to see the starry sky for yourself?" Yuriel was dumbfounded.
"Why would I doubt your astrology skills?" Mela retorted, puzzled. "You were taught by Erica, surely you can't be incapable of learning astrology?"
“What do you mean by ‘you can’t possibly not even know astrology’? Do you know that even most witches only know how to use a crystal ball for divination? Once they lose their crystal ball, they’re as helpless as a cook without a pot,” Yuriel said, unable to contain herself any longer.
Mela just said that on purpose, right? Just to show off her exceptional talent.
Unfortunately, Mela innocently shrugged, "Oh, this is really the first time I've heard about this. After all, I only know one witch, Erica. No, now I have to add you to the list."
Therefore, Mela truly did not know that astrology was an extremely difficult subject for most witches to learn.
Astrology is clearly the most traditional form of divination, a form of prophecy that only witches can learn.
If even witches themselves can't learn it, how can astrology be passed down?
“…I’m going back to my room,” Yuriel said curtly.
She always felt that if she continued talking to Mela, she would become even more jealous of her talent.
You should know that when twelve-year-old Yuriel successfully predicted the weather for the next month using astrology for the first time, she was so excited that she couldn't sleep.
Erica even laughed at him for a long time because of this.
Yuriel's expression shifted as she thought of Erika. Where was her Aunt Erika right now?
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