The Wandering Witch VOL. 1 - The Prelude Arc (COMPLETED)

3.2| A Thieving Crow

Noct followed the girl as he blended quietly into the crowd. He had just climbed down from the rooftop a mere few seconds ago, taking careful measures to keep enough distance from her in any case that she would somehow notice his presence. Judging from the way she looked unaware, it was very unlikely, though. Still, Noct never took any chances when it came to any act of thieving. As a thief, even the smallest mistake could lead to serious consequences. A seasoned one could easily find himself locked behind bars all because of something they had overlooked. Noct did not intend to become like that.

As he eyed the girl's cloaked figure, he was already formulating a plan in his mind to trick her. His heartbeat thumped in his chest at a steady pace, his spine tingling with glee. In the end, Noct decided with the usual strategy he used on most people. First, he decided, he needed to look for the perfect chance to introduce himself as a kindly, friendly and trustworthy person. Although the facade he put up was something quite opposite to his real personality, Noct had done this countless of times before that the act came to him easily. All he needed to do was to raise his voice in a cheery tone, soften his eyes in a warm and pleasant look and smile and grin like the timid, helpful person he was acting as.

"Oi, have you heard of the latest witch rumor?"

Noct caught a snippet of a conversation in his ears as he passed two middle-aged men resting lazily beside a stall.

"Ah, you mean about the so-called 'Snow Witch'?" the other one asked back, voice growing faint as Noct moved away of their earshot. He pretended to dismiss what they had just said, but nevertheless, a cold shiver ran throughout his body after he overheard them.

The Snow Witch. Noct had heard that title being mentioned around in rumors for quite some time now. Uldard, after all, was well-known for its dislike towards the Witchfolk, so witches (and rarely, wizards) were usually the topics that people most loved to talk about. The Snow Witch was simply the latest one that everyone seemed to be talking about.

In Terrall, Witchfolk was the collective name referred to those naturally born with powers and abilities no regular mortal had. The first note of their existence had been six hundred years ago, when the First Witch, Vitte, had declared the existence of her kin. Ever since then, the world slowly began to change. As their numbers steadily grew, the Mortalfolk turned weary. Some accepted them and considered them as holy, divine beings granted with the love of the gods. Others, such as Noct, considered the Witchfolk as a spreading plague, a disease that marred the natural laws of the world. They were enigmas that should not have existed. False gods. Corrupted beings hiding in the flesh of people.

However, even though their kind was unique in itself, being granted a Title was even more rare. Aurden, the capital kingdom of the entire continent of Terrall, decided three hundred and fifty years ago to formally grant names to those special witches and wizards who stood out among their own kind in terms of skill and talent. Geniuses, they were often regarded. Being granted a Title meant that their abilities were recognized one of the most powerful and extremely dangerous. Titled witches and wizards were known to have enough skill to activate magic of the highest scale and other difficult, sophisticated spells. Over the course of history, there had only been less than a hundred who were Titled. As of the present, only a handful of them exist. And The Snow Witch was one of those few.

Starting about two weeks ago, Noct would constantly overhear about her whenever he went to any of the kingdom's crowded places in search of a victim to rob. People, he noticed, mostly talked about The Snow Witch in dark, wary tones. In the rumors that Noct had managed to overhear, it painted her as a nefarious witch who traveled from place to place for reasons that were mysteriously unknown, and, that, in each and every single location she had visited, destruction and misfortune had befallen upon the place. Some say that she was a merciless woman who killed for the sake of her own pleasure. Some say she was a witch who was already a hundred years old yet still retained her maiden youth. Some say she had powers unlike the other witches, a wicked power that gave nightmares to the unfortunate souls who crossed her path. Some even say she had invoked a spell on a small village once and plunged it into a state of winter for months, resulting in the death of its people because of cold and starvation.