She Is Not a Witch Chapter 124: The last monarch – the king of rime

Eastern part of the Empire, Koshisu Province.

This is a county province in the south of the eastern border. Hills and fields alternate in the area, and there are large and small noble fiefdoms. They build castles on the hills and fields, and beside these castles, some scattered cities Dotted with small towns.

Compared to other places, the provinces and territories in the eastern border are relatively peaceful and wealthy, with a mild maritime climate. Even the few provinces in the interior rely on prosperous business to live well.

However, even in relatively peaceful areas, there are still people living in poverty.

In the mountains full of yellow leaves scattered, a 14-year-old boy is trekking in the mountains. He is wearing rough linen clothes.

Although it is already winter, there is no snow in Yuesui Province, but there is some coolness in the mountains. The young man's clothes are thin, and sometimes he has to move his hands and feet more to avoid being frozen.

Elio stepped on a big rock with thick rope sandals, searched the grass and under the shade of trees, and soon found those hidden small gardenia fruits, which ripen late, usually in late autumn Can be picked. And because of the local climate, he can still find unfallen gardenia in the mountains in winter.

After finding the target, he jumped off the stone, brushed aside the dry and rough weeds with both hands, held the long branches of the shrub, and then stroked down the long branches with his hands, peeling off a row of small orange fruits, sliding into the palm.

These fruits are slightly smaller than grapes, covered with a layer of translucent and dry withered skin, and there are small green buds separated at the tip of the fruit. A comfortable visual effect.

Picking up a few fallen gardenias among the dead branches and fallen leaves, the boy put them in his carry-on cloth bag, tied a rope around his waist, and continued to search for the next place with gardenias.

Ginseng fruit can be sold to some herbal medicine workshops, but they don't receive a lot of goods, so they are more often sold to cloth dyeing workshops, because they can be used to extract pigments and dye them yellow.

It is worth mentioning that the yellow linen on his body is dyed with gardenia, the most hardworking ordinary people, this color is resistant to dirt and not easy to fade, it is very popular.

Walking among the dead grass and bushes, Elio grabbed these small fruits and put them in the bag. He tried to find as many as possible so that he could exchange for more money.

When it was noon, the young man sat down on a clean stone, and took out half of an unfinished dry biscuit from his arms. He had very little money, so he could only buy such affordable things. Fill the stomach.

Bite down these cold and hard dry biscuits with all your strength, and then chew slowly, trying to make the saliva moisten and soften the food so that it will not be choked.

Even though the cheeks were a little sore and soft after chewing, Elio was still a little hungry after eating half of the pancake. He licked the crumbs around his mouth, and the boy had to stand up again, taking sour steps, Continue to search in the mountains.

Until the sun gradually tilted, it was probably in the afternoon.

Stretched out his hand to pat the tiny insects stuck to the bag, Elio looked at the not-so-warm sun in the sky, and reckoned that it was going to go down the mountain.

He didn't dare to spend the night in the mountains, even if there were no wild animals, the low temperature there would still kill him.

He untied the bag, put his hand in it, and felt the tiny gardenia fruits rolling down from his hands, and he couldn't hold it with one hand. He felt a burst of satisfaction and happiness.

With these, I guess I can have a full meal tonight. No, I can't eat enough, I have to save some money, winter is coming.

He is already an adult, and after his mother is gone, he can only live on his own.

Elio grabbed the bag, quickly and skillfully shuttled among the rocks and yellow mud withered grass, slid down the hillside, and galloped forward.

In the distant field, a big city stands beside the flowing river, and the green smoke rises from time to time. This is the third largest city in Goesui Province, located in Kuyan County.

——————

There are sporadic lights on both sides of the street at night, and the windows of some rich people illuminate the street. Elio walks out of the gate of the workshop contentedly with a bag of copper coins in his arms.

Looking at the pedestrians around, he carefully wrapped the coins in his collar and ran quickly.

I have to go to the backyard of that beautiful bakery, where I can probably buy some expired crumbs. Such food can be said to be a luxury among the poor.

Those luscious cream mixed with cake crumbs are so sweet and delicious that he tasted them for the first time when he was 9 years old, when his mother was still there and made a few for himself.

When he came to the door of the backyard where people were coming and going, the boy stood on tiptoe and looked inside. When he saw a busy maid, he waved happily.

"Sister Anna."

This is a fairly common name, one in ten girls in the East is named Anna. After hearing the boy's shout, the maid raised her head and looked around, but she didn't immediately agree. She was used to answering the wrong person.

"It's you, Elio." She looked at the boy in a little surprise, and then walked over. It's almost closing time, and the store is also idle.

"It's me, I want to buy something to eat." The boy said excitedly.

Anna is someone he has known for a long time. It is said that his mother helped her a little in the past, so they are familiar with each other.

"But it will be very expensive." Anna said worriedly. Although she is a maid in the bakery, she can't take out the contents at will, and this job is very important to her, so she dare not do anything that violates the rules. thing.

"I know." The young man took out a bag containing copper coins. For people who are on the line of food and clothing all year round, being able to eat well is the greatest happiness in life.

"Where did you make the money?" Looking at the bulging bag, there were estimated to be dozens of copper coins in it. Anna looked around and saw that no one was paying attention, so she came over to help him cover it and put it back. In the boy's arms.

"Don't learn from those hooligans on the street. If you are really short of money, my sister can lend you some, although it's not much." Anna squatted down, stroked Elio's hair, and looked at this Thin and good-looking cheeks, lamenting that he has a good mother.

"No, I went to the mountains to find some fruits bought by the workshop. I know where these things grow. I have been running in that mountain since I was a child, so I am very familiar with them." The boy explained, looking at Anna with a smile.

"Okay, I still have to be careful after this kind of thing. Although there are no monsters in the mountains, some ordinary beasts are dangerous enough."

"Yeah, I know, Sister Anna." Elio looked at the maid in front of him and nodded from time to time.

"Okay, I'll go to the back kitchen first. Mr. Andrew will clean up the expired pastries today, and I'll get some for you. You can wait around now."

"Yeah." Elio agreed, watching the maid walk back to the yard.

After that, he squatted on the stone by the street, with his arms around his body, so as to preserve the heat, and looked up at the darkened sky. Under the cover of the buildings in the distance, there was a smear of light purple on the sky, which was the fire cloud color.

As time went by, pedestrians occasionally passed by on the street, and none of them paid attention to this ordinary boy. Instead, a few ruffian boys that Elio was familiar with whistled at him, and laughed when he saw that he didn't respond. He walked over. The weather is so cold, bullying others is not an interesting thing, even they will want to get to the warm nest as soon as possible.

Just as Elio was in a daze, a familiar voice came from behind.

"Elio."

"I'm here." The boy stood up quickly, but he staggered because his feet were numb from the cold, and he leaned on the wall to stand still.

"It's freezing." Anna walked over with small steps, put aside something wrapped in oiled paper, squatted down, and checked Elio, and saw that his arms and body were red from the cold, and his lips were also slightly tinged. It turned purple, and I rubbed it affectionately for a while.

"Go home early, it's too cold outside." She reminded the boy, and handed over the small package.

"Here are the crumbs I got from Mr. Andrew. Most of them should not be broken, but they can't be put anymore."

"Thank you!" Elio took it excitedly, and quickly opened it, revealing crumpled bread and cake inside, with some white cream in it.

Ignoring the coldness, Elio took it out with his hands and put it in his mouth. The sweetness was as soft as cotton and melted in his mouth, and it was gone in one bite.

After that, he grabbed some more and put them in his mouth. Seeing the young man gobbling, Anna smiled, and then patted his back to avoid choking.

"By the way, money." Elio took out the bag of copper coins from his pocket, ready to pay Anna.

"No, I'll treat you as my sister this time. It's cold, so you should go buy some warm clothes."

"This..." Out of self-esteem in his heart, Elio really wanted to continue to give the money to Anna, but he hesitated again when he thought that he was often unable to sleep due to the cold recently.

"Okay, I'm working in a bakery, so I'm not short of this money." Anna saw Elio's hesitation, and continued to add.

"Then, I will repay sister Anna in the future." Elio took the bag back, waved to Anna, and ran towards his usual place.

It was a remote corner of the slums. Although it was very messy, it was the only place he could stay. He also thought about building a log cabin in the wild mountains before, but the wild beasts and monsters in the mountains made him give up his mind.

At least it's more convenient to work and make money here, it's probably colder outside.

The slums are full of mud and garbage, and it is extremely cold and dark at night. Because there are no lights, you can only move forward in the dark, and sometimes you have to be careful of those who have malicious intentions.

Fortunately, it is winter now, and there are quite a few people wandering outside. Elio trotted through the alley and came to a closed and dilapidated courtyard. He found a collapsed place on the side, stepped on the moss and gravel to pile up the footing, and turned into the courtyard.

"Is it Elio?" An old voice sounded.

"Yes." The boy replied, and then looked at the dilapidated house in the corner of the yard. An old man with gray hair looked at him through the air leaking window, and then disappeared into the shadows.

This old man is missing a leg and is half-blind. He lives here all year round and earns his living by making some strange 'handicrafts' on weekdays. He is considered Elio's neighbor.

"Drilling into his small room with air leaks, Elio moved stones to block the door, so that the wind through the door would be smaller.

He wrapped the broken old blanket around his body, then curled up in the corner, enduring his still hungry stomach, imagining a beautiful scene, where he could eat bread at will, where he had a mother, There is also a small warm stone house.

In this way, Elio fell into a deep sleep.

The next day, he went to a place selling old things on the street, and found an old overcoat that didn't fit well. Although it had several holes, it was still a good thing to keep warm as long as it was mended.

In the next week, before the hoarfrost covered the ground, he went to the mountains a few more times, looking for those gardenia fruits that could be sold for money, until one day he finally gathered a huge wealth of one silver coin.

This is the first time in his life that he has earned so much money. Even if he doesn't go out for a month, he can barely survive on the huge amount of wealth.

With the money, Elio headed towards the bakery again. He wanted to return the money to Sister Anna and buy some delicious food.

"Anna?" A strange maid stood in front of the backyard door, preventing Elio from entering.

"Oh, I remembered, that maid, she is no longer here."

"Then where did she go?" Elio was a little anxious.

"I don't know, I just heard that she quit. She seems to be married. You should also know that she is not young. In our case, she should be a mother at this age." The maid explained impatiently, and then drove the dirty boy away.

"Don't come here, customers will be disgusted when they see it in the future." She said with disgust.

"Sorry..." Elio apologized and ran away.

He vaguely remembered the place where Anna lived. It was another corner of the city. It seemed to be a place where ordinary civilians gathered. Although they were not rich, the houses and streets were intact.

"I'm sorry, I've never heard of someone named Anna." An old woman shook her head, and then told the boy to ask other places.

"Ha, who is that? Don't get in the way." Some people waved their hands impatiently.

"Get out, it's disgusting." A certain girl covered her mouth and nose and waved her hands in disgust.

"Anna? There are too many people with that name." An uncle with a prey on his back shook his head.

"I don't know." Passers-by hurried past.

"Who are you?" Some people directly refused.

In this way, Elio asked for a day and still got nothing. He squatted on the corner of the street and thought for a long time, and finally got a new idea.

It was evening again, and Elio stopped Mr. Andrew, the pastry chef of the bakery, who was going home in the street.

"Hello, I want to ask about the whereabouts of sister Anna." Elio looked at the man seriously.

"Are you...? Oh, come to think of it, it seems that Anna really takes care of you." Andrew looked at the thin black boy.

"I advise you not to look for it, Anna has gone home."

"Go home, which home to go to?"

"Her hometown is actually in a mountain village in a neighboring county, and she usually lives in her uncle's house, and she just gives some money for rent."

"Actually, you don't know that Anna has worked very hard. Most of the money she earned was taken away by her uncle, and sometimes she hid some of the money in the store and asked me to help keep it."

"Recently, I heard that his uncle introduced a butcher to her, so he married her."

"But..." Elio wanted to ask a lot of things, where did he marry, how was the other party, whether sister Anna was happy or sad, and so on.

"You don't have to think about it, it's not a good thing to bother people." Andrew shook his head.

"But I have to pay back the money. I owe sister Anna a lot." Elio looked at Andrew seriously.

"Oh, this..." Andrew wanted to get away, but was stopped by Elio several times, and finally had to tell him the direction.

"It's in a small village not far from the city, probably to the east?" Andrew said, turning his head around.

"I'll go find her." Elio ran away without looking back.

The cold wind blows on the wilderness in winter, like a thin blade brushing against the cheeks. Although it is not as cold as in the north, it is still uncomfortable.

With a few wrapped breads, Elio ran along the road in the field, guessing which road might lead to the village according to the simple handwriting on the fork of the road.

It took him nearly three days to go the wrong way, and finally found the village Andrew mentioned.

"There is a white birch tree at the head of the village." The young man silently read the logo of the village, and then walked quickly into it.

Scattered houses are scattered among the hillsides, and it is still deep winter. The doors of every house are closed, only the rings woven with frozen green are hung on the door, which is the custom of praying in winter.

Elio had no choice but to knock on the door of every house cheekily, asking if there was a newly married girl named Anna.

"I don't know." Someone shook his head.

"Go away, kid." Someone refused to pay attention.

"I haven't heard of anyone getting married recently."

"Are you talking about a butcher? This one is very simple. The one in the village is near the big stone and the sheepfold."

"Thank you." Elio saluted gratefully, and then ran over quickly.

With tired steps, Elio finally stopped in front of a house, and there was a terrifying curse sound from inside.

"Do you know how to serve people? I spent a lot of money to buy you, not to raise waste." After speaking, he could hear the sound of the water basin being overturned, followed by a slap.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Elio finally heard Anna's voice again.

The door opened, and Anna, who was already dressed as a woman, came out squatting on the basin and splashing water outside the door. At this time, she saw the child standing outside the house.

"Are you... Elio?" There was some disbelief in the voice.

"It's me, Sister Anna." The boy wanted to speak up, but Anna winked and waved his hand.

Then he stood where he was, watching Anna put the pot back into the house, and after a while, he quietly walked out through the back door, pulling him into the shade of a tree.

"Why are you here?"

"I want to give you back the money." Elio took out the money bag in his arms, which was still warm.

"No, take it yourself." Anna waved her hand.

Elio was stunned, a little at a loss, and finally asked.

"Is Sister Anna okay now?"

"It's okay, you don't have to worry about me, you should think more about yourself." Anna hesitated, and then continued to speak.

"Actually, you don't need to thank me specifically, because your mother helped me in the past, and I just repay the kindness."

"Don't come again in the future, it will make people suspicious and affect your reputation." She said a little more emphatically, but then added.

"It's not that I hate it, it's just that it will be better. If you have money, remember to learn a craft, and you can find a place to settle down in the future and live well. This is not a disappointment to your mother."

Anna put her hands in front of her body, recalling more than ten years ago, when she was just a little girl who had just grown up. And the beautiful lady took the child passing by the village, which was an amazing scene that she will never forget in her life.

After finishing speaking, Anna waved her hand to bid farewell to Elio and walked into the house again. Not long after, there was another sound of scolding and apology.

Listening to this sad voice, Elio stood under the tree for a long time before leaving silently.

The celebration of the winter festival came, he was one year older, and life seemed to be a little lonely again.

Two weeks later, the winter festival celebration was held in the city, and people from many nearby villages also came here to watch and participate. The shops on the streets, large and small, were hung with wreaths woven with frozen green, dark green branches and leaves and berries The world dotted with gray and gray colors makes the residents of the city show rare smiles.

At this time of year, it is difficult to go out due to the weather, so it is also a rare time to rest. Everyone sits together and discusses recent current events, such as harvests, anecdotes, etc., and then sits in a lively bar with a fire, drinks beer, and listens to the bards playing various stories.

Chirp——

Accompanied by the long sound of piercing the sky, the servants of the nobles lit the fireworks made by the alchemist, and then everyone in the city began to appreciate the beauty of the night sky in full bloom.

Boom! Red fireworks bloomed high in the sky, crimson meteors streaked across like rain, and then another bright yellow firework burst, bringing a large shower of stars.

Amidst the crackling sound, residents from nearby areas stood on the street to watch, and some even applauded slightly.

"These mages are still quite useful, no wonder the nobles want to protect these people who escaped from Luerna."

"But these things can only be used by nobles."

"But it's good to see, it's really beautiful."

"Haha, this one too." The civilians in the city whispered.

"Hello." Elio saw a familiar face in the crowd, who was the one who showed him the way in Anna's village some time ago.

"Oh, hello, it's you." He seemed to recognize Elio.

"Yes." Elio nodded, and then asked about Anna's situation.

"This... well, I advise you to open some more." He sighed and said, and then wanted to avoid it.

"What the **** happened." Elio was worried and scared.

"It's nothing, that Anna, I'm afraid she's gone now."

The calm words exploded in Elio's mind like a thunderbolt, so that he didn't listen to what the person opposite said later.

He ran in the dark night, his body was like a red-hot coal fire, panting for heat, and ran in the direction he remembered before.

The small village outside the city was hazy under the cold starry sky. He was far away from the hustle and bustle of the city and plunged into the icy night. The swaying back made him suffer even more.

Why?

Why?

Why did the people who were alive some time ago suddenly disappear, even through such a difficult winter?

Why this time...

'The girl named Anna committed suicide. ’ The words of the uncle’s sigh still linger in his ears, making Elio unable to let go of it for a long time.

He ran to that village ~IndoMTL.com~ in a frenzy, rushed into that house, quarreled with people amidst the sound of scolding and fighting, and then he was beaten to the head with a thick wooden stick.

The warm blood gradually became cold in the winter night, and the pain on the top of his head gradually became numb. With a stiff body, he walked step by step to the hillside behind the village, where Anna was said to be buried.

Walking in a dark mountain forest, Elio's hands and feet gradually became cold. He only felt that the lump of flesh on his feet seemed to belong to someone else. .

Is this winter? It's so cold.

Even if the cracked lips were slightly opened, there was a burst of pain, which stimulated Elio's gradually numb nerves, preventing him from falling down.

Unable to see in the dark, and unable to find the place where Anna was buried, he could only walk in the mountains and forests, disappearing into the darkness step by step.

And behind this young man, in the distant city, grand fireworks are rising one by one, blooming with joyful brilliance, and these light rains fall finely, arousing countless beautiful reveries in people's hearts.