The Seed Thief

Vol. 1 Chapter 2.3

How long had she been running? An old house appeared among the trees. As Lulu ran up, the golem had been shuffling around the area, approached her happily. Lulu shouted sharply at the stone golem.

"A scary human is chasing after me! Stop him when he comes! Knock him down!"

"......!"

At Lulu's shout, the slow-moving stone golem spun around as if its previous movements had been a lie, its chest thrust out facing where Lulu had run from. It looked as though it would run and punch the intruder at a moment's notice.

After giving orders to the golem, Lulu hurriedly entered the house and ran straight to her room, flipping open the blanket on her bed. Still clutching the scarecrow and the bone crow in her arms, Lulu tried to calm herself down as she thought of the man she'd seen.

'Who is he?'

Certainly not from the village. She'd observed villagers many times but never saw that man. Moreover, the intimidating presence he gave. His glare was even more terrifying than the thunder, the typhoons, and the fire that burned the forest during wildfires.

No matter how deep the forest was, he would soon find out about this place. And without doubt, he would slash everyone with that sword.

As she recalled the man moving determinedly, Lulu's breath caught in her throat again.

"Urgh, what should I do?"

She tried speaking to the scarecrow and the crow in her arms, but they remained silent and motionless as that man's blow took its toll. The unfamiliar sight of them made Lulu panic even more.

'We must flee right now! But what if he heard our footsteps and chased after us? Moreover, where can we go? Might it be better if we stayed quiet like this so he couldn't find us?'

Lulu's teeth chattered in fear. She had to do something, but the horror of near death crushed Lulu's body. She couldn't get out of the blanket except squirming.

Lulu shivered for a long time, and her injured foot, hurt while running away, throbbed. But as she became accustomed to the pain, her eyes began to close sluggishly.

She had prepared magic since morning, then hid to observe villagers without eating anything all day. Lulu's strength reached its limit after meeting that man and fleeing like a madwoman.

'I shouldn't fall asleep......'

One never knew when that man would barge in here. She had to be alert to her surroundings, listening to even the slightest sound. But contrary to her thoughts, Lulu's eyes gradually closed.

Lulu hugged her tattered clothes tightly, a rag that could no longer be called clothes. The scent of the forest witch was hardly present. Still, it was the most comforting and reassuring remnant to Lulu.

'I'm scared.'

Was it wrong to try taking the human seed?

'I only wanted one seed.'

She didn't intend to create many humans. If she made many, she would have to steal that many seeds. Moreover, the ingredients to make the Homonculus were also hard to obtain. She only wanted one person to be with her.....

Along with the fear came an inexplicable sadness.

Lulu buried her face in the forest witch's clothes and swallowed the sniffles. Then at some point, her consciousness slowly sank into darkness.

Amidst the faint sound of the golem's footsteps echoing as it wandered around, Lulu fell into a deep sleep.

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