The Seed Thief

Vol. 1 Chapter 4.4

She liked Er not just because he was good-looking. Lulu wished he could stay by her side, not the homunculus that looked like him.

'Once Er leaves, no one will be there for me.'

Lulu closed her eyes, wiping away tears with the back of her hand.

It was the first night since Er's arrival that Lulu slept alone, away from his arms.

***

Several weeks had passed since that night. During that time, some changes occurred in the house. Ervandas, who had maniacally cleaned inside, now started maniacally cleaning outside as well, as if that weren't enough.

Ervandas repaired the stairs that had crumbled under the weight of the stone golem's steps. Thanks to that, Lulu could now enter the home safely, no more struggling up the broken stairs.

The front yard, cluttered with rocks and weeds, was transformed as Ervandas and the stone golem worked together to clear it, surrounding the garden with a stone border. There, Lulu planted fruit trees she used to pick from the deep forest. Now, she no longer needed to venture deep into the forest when wanting to eat fruits.

Next, Ervandas built a large cage where the bone crow could rest comfortably. Though confined to the ground due to its inability to fly, the bone crow seemed to love its new home. As proof, the day after the cage was built, the bone crow constantly followed Ervandas instead of Lulu—until it was locked in the cage because its presence hindered his cleaning.

And for the scarecrow. Lulu didn't do much since it was made other than mend its broken parts.

"No wonder people call it a haunted scarecrow."

Ervandas stared at the scarecrow for a while, then gathered some decent clothes he could find in the house and brought a large amount of straw Lulu had dried with her magic in the barn. Ervandas began to work on the scarecrow.

He filled the scarecrow's flat body with straw, making it plump, and dressed it in clothes without any holes or tears.

It had now been reborn as a splendid scarecrow that could be placed in a village field.

Pleased by its new appearance, the scarecrow hopped around joyfully until Ervandas warned, "I'll strip it off," it suddenly became polite like a gentleman. Of course, it didn't take long before it got excited again and leaped into the forest.

Changes also occurred for Lulu and Ervandas.

Ervandas, who couldn't pray when he was first enchanted, resumed his prayers. Lulu, by his side, listening to his prayers.

Clean thoughts, pure body, devoid of carnal desires, and so on.

He muttered such uninteresting words that she quickly lost interest.

And Lulu...

'It feels light.'

She gazed at the ends of her hair swaying around chest level.

***

Originally, Lulu's hair was so long that it trailed on the ground. She trimmed it sometimes but mostly left it be.

But when she tripped over her hair while walking through the vegetable garden, she realized it was time for a trim.

Lulu opened the desk drawer. Inside lay pens and stationery Ervandas had neatly arranged. She took out an old pair of scissors. Sitting on the stairs Ervandas had fixed, she grabbed her hair ends and started cutting.

Contrary to her expectations, her hair didn't easily snip off. The scissors' blades had rusted due to being left in a damp place by Lulu.

"Ugh, it's stuck!"