A Single Mother's Farm of the Gods
Chapter 305: The Deep Wood Witch [II]

Chapter 305: The Deep Wood Witch [II]

Witches.

It is a term mostly coined directly by women. A term that was considered negative back in the day when plagues were barely understood and people back then were desperate to find cures. Suppose plague doctors were identified back then using masks with beaks and black robes. In that case, witches are mostly described as women who wear long robes, wear long, pointy hats, are capable of using various magic, healing practices and healing magic, and can cast hexes which is one of the terms they called plagues back then when it was still barely understood.

People back then were so paranoid about the spread of plagues that when some ladies who had some knowledge regarding early apothecary techniques, they were soon hunted by townspeople for the wrong reasons, and executed for a sin they didn’t commit like "they are the reason why the plague has spread" or "she was the one who made me sick" and various other pleas that if analyzed properly, are all bullsh*t and untrue.

Those who survived the ostracization by the people about people it, witches were soon promoted as apothecaries which would lead to some revolutionary ways that would soon cure the people from the plague and would allow the people to learn the real truth of the plague’s spread. But of course, even though they survive, many people consider them lucky as the majority of the people who were coined as "witches" have never been able to escape their fate of death.

Witches mostly disappeared after modernization happened and science and magic became one of the pillars that led to the ascension of the human civilization’s way of life. However, they didn’t disappear and were mostly in hiding so that they wouldn’t be discovered in the process by the world for fear of being ostracized and killed.

Elaina has never seen a real witch before but she has heard many things related to witches back then and she considers them as old news that has been around for quite some time but she believes that if they do exist, they would be someone who is already away from civilization and are not ready to reconnect to the populace in fear of being attacked and mocked.

However, seeing a real witch was not part of her expectations when she started exploring the deep woods. Her outfit and hat are all on point and it seems that she has been living in these woods for quite some time seeing how they are moving around like they have been always around and have already memorized the layout of the area.

Although Elaina believes that witches are good people who receive a misconception due to the fear that they received from the plague, Elaina is still worried about who this woman is currently. Not only did she just learn about this woman’s existence right now but it was also kind of odd that she was able to continue living in this forest, especially during the Winter Season last year. Considering how chaotic the forest was back when the Snow Men existed, one who does live in the forest and survive the situation back then must be someone powerful and cannot be underestimated.

Despite feeling the fear, Elaina decided that she had to follow the witch and trail her until they reached their home. She is curious if this woman is indeed a witch who has escaped and has closed off any chances of returning to civilization after the events. Another reason she wanted to follow the witch...is because her companion creature made Elaina curious the moment she saw it just now.

That creature that was following her just now...she is unsure about it but she has an idea that it was a monster. One that dwells in the dungeon. Perhaps the reason it was following her is because the witch befriended the monster and is now her companion while she is still not having any contact with the outside world.

"[Are you sure about following her, Elaina? Considering that she might be capable of using magic, she will be a dangerous individual for you. And if she finds you as an enemy, she will be dangerous! You better bring in the magician girl with you as a safety measure instead,]" The God of Farming is worried and suggests to make Julia accompany her if she wants to trail on her.

"I can handle this. And besides, if I bring another person with me, she might find it suspicious and might find me a big threat instead. I would rather take my chances alone since at least, it has a fifty-fifty chance of success."

Elaina then quickly trailed behind the witch. She hasn’t gotten far just yet so she followed her from afar. And thanks to the tall grass, she can sneakily follow her. The only thing she fears is that the creature that is following the witch has great sensitivity and might detect her following. Since that thing is something that Elaina is not even familiar with, she would rather be at a safe distance to ensure her safety.

Continuing deeper into the forest, the witch and her creature continued to scour the deep forest, collecting various herbs and resources around. Elaina is also gathering resources on her own as well while keeping herself hidden.

Although Elaina is unsure whether the woman has yet to detect her, considering that she didn’t still attack her location means that she either knows her and just ignored her presence completely, or that she has yet to be aware that she is just trailing behind. The possibility is indeed there.

Elaina is not sure how long has she been following the witch. She only followed her thanks to the map that the Almanac provided and is making sure that she have her way back still mapped, allowing her to go back home even if she is now very deep into the forest.

As she continued to trail behind, the witch soon arrived in a small clearing that had a house standing in front of a huge tree. It was huge, but it was quite small compared to the regular trees she had seen in the forest. But considering its size, she can say that it was more like a giant umbrella than a tree in her eyes.

Her house is not dilapidated but it sure does look ancient. The structure is something that Elaina has seen in the book’s illustrations. It has a similar vibe to the old houses back then before it became modern and people are now making houses out of metal and bricks.

One more thing that was odd. For Elaina who cannot detect and feel mana at all, when she got near the dwelling of the woman’s house, the feeling of magic that she usually only can see from Julia whenever she casts very strong spells, it was quite strong just by standing there. It was like the place is swirling with various powers of unknown mystics.

"Who’s there!?" the witch that Elaina was following then turned around as soon as she was getting into the house.

Elaina immediately hid under the bush and made herself hidden, sweating profusely. Now she understood the feeling of mana being strong around her house, it wasn’t because it was surrounded by powers or anything, but it was because the witch herself had used it as a detection magic that would detect any individuals around.

"There is no point in hiding, I can already tell someone is there, so before I blast your hiding spot with fire, you better get out of there and reveal yourself to me!"

Fearing that she might blast her hiding area for real, Elaina slowly got outside from her hiding spot in a hurry.

"Hey! Don’t attack okay? I am not someone dangerous. I am not here to fight!" Elaina said as she raised her hands in the air.

"A human?! No...how did you know that I am here!? Are you going to persecute me again even though I made sure that I will stay away from human civilization from now on?!"

"Wait, hear me out, okay! I am just exploring this forest when I spotted you, okay?! Seeing that I didn’t expect any humans living here, I trailed behind to know how a human is currently staying in this dangerous part of the forest," Elaina said, while still observing the movements of the witch. If she moves and cast magic, Elaina will immediately retreat before things gets worse.

"An explorer? Are you sure you are just an explorer? You might be here, trying to hunt me down and kill me for being a witch yes?! Right?!" the woman is shaking and is ready to fight back even though she is feeling threatened and she is feeling an intense fear in her life.

"Relax...okay? As I said before, I am not here to fight nor start any trouble to you. As I said before, I was exploring the forest and while I am exploring, I stumbled upon you who is collecting resources as well. As proof that I was not lying about exploring the place, here, let me show you what I collected so far. If I was some threat actively looking for you, would I even bother collecting these herbs and mushrooms?"

As she pulls out the bag and pour the contents out of the bag, the witch’s eyes went wide when she saw her bag.

"W-what is that? A magic tool?!"

Elaina frowned and looked at her bag and into the witch. A magic tool?