The Tiny Witch from the Deep Woods: Volume 2, page 19
Recognizing their concern, Misha smiled and patted the two boys on the head. “It’s not that strange to go see my friends’ grandma if she’s sick, right? And if I happen to have anything that can help, I don’t mind sharing a bit. Okay?”
“Yeah, okay!”
After clearing up the boys’ doubts, she urged them to set off, and they quickly ran to get cleaned up.
“Wait, Yuu! Wait for me!”
Misha laughed as she watched Anna and Ren run off after them, before making her own way down to the water. She had to clean up Ren before they could go anywhere.
Ren, of course, would have none of it, so their attempt at washing up quickly turned into simply playing in the water as they ran around trying to catch him. Misha hadn’t really expected anything less—but she didn’t expect to be roped into it along with the others.
As they all played, Tenz quietly stepped away to get towels and changes of clothes for them.
Misha ran through the symptoms. Fatigue and coughing fits—and though it wasn’t bad, at night she developed a slight fever. Her throat was red and swollen, but that was easily explained by the coughing. She also suffered from an upset stomach, robbing her of much of her appetite.
“Looks like the first symptoms of a cold. I’ll give you something to help your sore throat and stomach. Take it immediately before you eat. And just in case, I’ll leave something here for your fever too if it gets bad. And since you’ve had a small appetite, make sure what you eat has plenty of nutrients.”
The children’s grandmother was resting in her bedroom, which faced the backyard of their house. She was a bit surprised when they brought someone who wasn’t all that much older than themselves to take a look at her, but after watching Misha go about her exam, she almost felt she should apologize.
The girl her grandchildren had brought claimed to be an apothecary, so the elderly woman had assumed Misha’s mother was a real apothecary while Misha played as one. Deciding there was no harm in playing along, she accepted Misha’s request to take a look at her, but it quickly became apparent that Misha was the real deal. The medicine she pulled out as she talked was likely real too.
“Thank you for taking the time to give me an exam, but I am afraid we are not so wealthy that we can afford to buy medicine to cover a simple cold like this.”
Misha slowly shook her head as the old woman tried to refuse the medicine. “I’m not asking for money. I may be an apothecary, but I don’t sell medicine. I’m here from Bluheitz to study, not for business. I’m just here to visit my friends’ grandmother.”
It wasn’t that easy for the old woman to accept Misha’s excuse. She knew the medicine from Misha would cost enough to feed their whole household for three days. Meanwhile, her reluctance to accept the medicine bothered Misha, who had never considered someone might turn her down.
As the two settled into a bit of a deadlock, Tenz stepped forward from where he was waiting by the back wall. “Lady Misha was able to make an enormous breakthrough in her work thanks to your grandchildren. Could you please accept this as a symbol of her gratitude?”
His serious expression mixed with his compassionate tone was such an odd juxtaposition that it single-handedly broke the tension of the room.
“Anna and the boys were really worried about you, so I wanted to see if I could do anything. Besides, this medicine was made from herbs that I picked from my home. I’d be much happier if they helped someone who really needed it,” Misha added. It was a perfect follow-up to Tenz’s persuasion.
Anna and the boys nodded energetically in agreement. Finally, the serious looks arrayed against her pushed the old woman back, and she gave them an awkward smile.
“Then I suppose I have no choice. Thank you.”
“My pleasure. And let me know if you run out, okay? Or rather, I’ll be back to see how you’re doing later!” Having finally triumphed, Misha gave a wide and beaming grin.
Her reaction, like a young child who had finally gotten her hands on something she loved, was enough to draw a more natural smile out of the elderly woman.
She is a wonderful apothecary, but I suppose she is still a child at heart.
If Misha had grown up in the forest as she said, then the herbs she had picked there were probably of little more value to her than the flowers growing in the fields. That made her think of Anna, bringing home bundles of wildflowers she had picked from the fields. If that was the case, then it was her responsibility as an adult to accept the gift with grace.
Taking the medicine while everyone was still around to see it, she smiled with another thank you.
With the change in plans for the herb garden, the herbs that Adol had painstakingly raised but ended up with no medicinal value had all been uprooted. However, even if they couldn’t be used to make medicine, they still could have weak effects in herbal tea, so Misha had been drying and preserving them.
While she was inspecting the racks of drying herbs, she suddenly turned to ask Adol a question. “Mr. Adol, what are the medical institutions like in this country?”
Considering her experience at Anna’s house, it didn’t seem like the people had much access to doctors. Misha understood that doctors and apothecaries were fairly rare even in Bluheitz, but as far as she knew, it was perfectly normal for most people to have access to painkillers or cough medicine. At least, that was how it had been in the small farming villages she had visited with her mother.
Leyas’s job had been to go see people who had more serious illnesses, those that simpler medicines couldn’t handle. Well, it had been her “job,” but she had hardly ever accepted money for her services. Most of the time, she had been paid in vegetables and dried meats. She would always say that “the blessings of the forest are for everyone to share.”
“There are some ordinary doctors and apothecaries, but here in the capital, there are a few free clinics as well—but the only part that’s free is the exam. They still charge for medicine, so poorer families can’t make much use of them,” Adol replied absentmindedly, still focused on his own work.
“They charge for medicine?”
“Medicine in the capital has to be made from herbs imported from elsewhere. That makes it pretty expensive here. That’s one of the main reasons we started the herb garden in the first place,” he finished with a heavy sigh.
That means if the herb garden goes well, those clinics would be able to give away medicine for free? Or at least sell it cheaply?
With the herbs thoroughly dried, they let off a concentrated aroma. Secretly popping a bit of a mint-like plant into her mouth, Misha tilted her head.
The herb garden had been part of the plans the capital put in place to help prevent the tragedy of the plague from years ago from repeating itself. Unfortunately, it wasn’t going all that well yet.
Enjoying the sharp scent of the herb filling her mouth, Misha looked over at Adol quietly continuing his work.
“Let’s do our best, then.”
Adol looked up at Misha’s murmur to find that pair of jade eyes staring at him from point-blank range. He gently smiled at her in return and nodded.
“Yes, let’s.”
Misha gave her own nod and turned back to her own work.
Chapter 18: At the Home in the Forest
Ryne,
If you are reading this letter, then it seems I failed to make it back to the forest. Maybe you just missed us while we were away at the mansion. Hopefully. But please, if I’ve left Misha behind, protect her. Raised as she was in the depths of the forest, she knows nothing of human malice. I have no doubt the world will hurt her greatly.
If possible, please bring her back to the ways of the People of the Forest. Being my daughter, she learned nothing of them, yet she has the skill to become one of the greatest among them. Although, perhaps that’s just bias on my part as her mother. Also, while I have not confirmed it for certain, I believe she has inherited their power. Honestly, I should have put her in your care much earlier, but I was too weak to say goodbye to my daughter.
Ryne, I know you understand, but I was very happy here. I never regretted leaving our home to be with the man I loved. I was truly, truly happy. Thank you for watching over us for so long. I’m sorry for being a selfish sister until the end.
Please take care of Misha for me.
The messy writing made it clear that this letter had been hastily scrawled out. It was easy to tell from the unusual disarray inside the house that the owners had left in a hurry. It was difficult to tell how long it had been abandoned, but the large number of hoofprints out front were another sign of the urgency of their departure.
And amid all that panic, Leyas had stopped to take the time to write a letter for him. Ryne wasn’t sure if that was something he should praise her for. Or perhaps Leyas, sharp as she was, had predicted something was going to happen to her.
Sitting down on one of the chairs, cold from extended disuse, Ryne took a deep breath as he set down the letter he had found in a hidden cupboard. He was just barely weathering the storm of emotions inside him. Even after all the death he had seen in his life, the letter left behind by his little sister, his only sibling, hit him hard.
He had been wandering the battlefields as he always did when it had suddenly occurred to him it was about the time he had promised he would visit Leyas again. Perhaps the timing should have triggered a sense of foreboding in him. On his way to his sister’s home in the forest, he came across a number of unsettling rumors.
No matter how quiet the funeral, there was no way to stop people from talking. To make matters worse, it was a scandal involving the king’s own brother. Those rumors had brought Ryne fairly close to the truth already, but he’d still decided he needed to go and check for himself. This letter had been waiting for him.
Stupid girl, Ryne cursed inwardly as he bit his lip. He knew if he said anything out loud, the storm inside him would be unleashed.
He recalled Leyas’s gentle yet strong smile. She’d always been a girl who never changed her mind once it was made up. She had been taken far from her home and lived secluded in the wilderness, yet she hadn’t uttered a word of complaint. She’d spent her life waiting for her husband’s monthly visits, along with the daughter she loved so dearly. It had been a quiet, peaceful life, and no doubt she’d been as happy as she’d claimed in her letter.
So there’s no point in pitying her. Not even if she lived her whole life as a social outcast.
Crumpling the letter in his hands, Ryne tossed it into the fireplace and started the fire. He then took a slow, silent walk around the house, gathering up a few things of interest and tossing them in the fire alongside it. They were all evidence of knowledge that was too much for this world. The results of his sister’s research, which she had continued even in her exile.
Though she never would have shared her results with anyone, Leyas had been too much of a scientist at heart to have let anything that sparked her curiosity lie unexplored. Ryne focused his efforts on learning about treating external injuries, but it seemed Leyas had taken a different path. From his perspective, her progress had been remarkable.
Her discoveries might not cause a dramatic upheaval in the field of medicine if they became public, but they would certainly push it hard in the right direction. But with no one to manage that knowledge, Ryne couldn’t allow it to leak into the outside world.
There was little reason to think anyone would ever come to this little cabin deep in the woods, but stranger things happened. Well, actually, anyone who figured out Leyas’s origins would probably be drawn here by curiosity. Ryne wasn’t about to let her work fall into the hands of people like that, so he spared nothing. He cast it all into the flames.
It didn’t take much to turn medicine into poison. It was the first lesson taught to children among the People of the Forest, and after he’d witnessed countless battlefields, the malice of human beings had ingrained that wisdom into Ryne.
Sorry, Leyas. I’d love to take all of this back to the village, but I have to prioritize those still alive. I’ll do what I can to remember what I’ve seen and share it, though.
If he was just heading straight back to the village, it might have been possible, but Leyas had over ten years of records here. It wasn’t something he could carry around while doing other business. Of course, it also wasn’t the kind of information he could trust in anyone else’s hands.
Staring into the hungrily burning flames, Ryne toyed with one last book in his hands. It was a diary that Leyas had kept. She hadn’t written in it every day, but occasionally she’d documented things that had struck her as particularly important. It contained everything from her insights as an apothecary to memories of her daily life.
To other apothecaries, it would be a treasure trove of information. But more than that, it would be a precious memento for the daughter she had left behind.
After a bit of hesitation, he slipped the book into his bag. As long as he kept a careful eye on it, making sure he waited for the proper time to hand it over to Misha, he could spare one book.
The diary’s first entry was dated the day she’d left the village, and it brought a pang to his chest. She wouldn’t have been allowed to bring her old diary out of the village, so everything before that day would have been lost. All she had taken with her was a few changes of clothes, some jewels given to her by their father the day she was born, and the staff her mother had once used, figuring she would need it if she was traveling.
“Seriously. What an idiot,” Ryne muttered out loud this time as he watched the crimson flames greedily devouring the house’s secrets.
Nonetheless, he still remembered the smile she’d had when she’d said she was happy; it was so clear in his mind. He had to put the rest of Leyas’s life choices out of his mind. The man who’d taken her away had at least seemed to have treated her well.
Once the fire had done its work, Ryne disposed of the ashes and stepped outside. He then turned, looking slowly around from his spot in the doorway, before whistling through his fingers.
The deep sound echoed through the forest with a peculiar rhythm. As the last of the whistle vanished, the flapping of wings signaled the arrival of a bird. The bird of prey was the messenger bird Misha and her mother had kept.
“Hey, Kyne. Long time no see,” Ryne said, as if speaking to an old friend. He reached out and scratched the bird beneath the chin, and Kyne happily closed her eyes, enjoying the pleasant sensation. “You must be lonely now that everyone’s gone, huh? I’m going to go find Misha. Do you want to come?”
Kyne stared back at Ryne as he spoke, and quickly gave a loud squawk as if to answer the question.
Ryne smiled. “Okay, then. Can you start by taking a letter to my good-for-nothing brother-in-law, then? I’ll come by right after.”
After attaching the message tube to Kyne’s leg, he waved his arm to send the bird back into the air. Using the offered momentum, Kyne flapped her wings hard and soared upward. After flying in a wide circle overhead, the bird glided off into the distance. Once she was out of sight, Ryne set off.
He didn’t glance back at the small cabin a single time. There was nothing left of the darkness that had marked his expression as he watched the fire burning inside. It was a bit sad to think that this little house would neither have anyone to live in it nor anyone to visit it any longer. However, Ryne left it as it was, to stand as the last guardian of all those memories that had been made inside.
His arrival had been sudden, and his departure quiet and subdued.
Still recovering after Misha had left, Deenoark had been sitting in his room when the sudden arrival of the messenger bird informed him that he was to have a guest. Arriving at the chosen spot on the designated day and time, a small, forgotten herb garden in the mansion’s courtyard, he saw a lone man hiding in the shadow of a tree.
Once the man saw Deenoark, he lowered the hood of his cloak. The sudden reveal of that unforgettable color made Deenoark stiffen. And then he bowed his head.
Ryne sighed as he received the duke’s silent apology. He made no excuses, simply lowering his head. Ryne couldn’t bring himself to throw any accusations at him. The memory of his younger sister’s smile, of her happiness, killed the barbs long before they reached his lips.
“Please, lift your head. I’m not here to blame you for anything.”
Deenoark lifted his head at that languid voice. Ryne’s voice was no different than it was in his memories. There was no sign of hatred or even sorrow in it. Brilliant jade eyes, identical to those of his beloved wife, stared back at him. Nevertheless, there was something in the sight of him that disquieted Deenoark, who shifted uneasily just for that motion to send a twinge of pain from his back down into his leg.
“Oh, right. I heard you were wounded in the back. I guess your nerves are still a bit strained,” Ryne muttered as he saw Deenoark stiffen again.
His casual mention of Deenoark’s condition elicited surprise from the duke. Ryne flashed him a knowing grin.
“News of your injury is everywhere. Considering how long it’s been and what symptoms you still have, it’s not hard to make an educated guess, so stop looking at me like I’m some sort of monster.”
When he learned that Ryne had been on that same battlefield with him, just a short distance away, Deenoark was stunned yet again. He never would have guessed that Ryne had been so close by.
“When I heard what happened, I considered heading over to see you, but you were long gone by then. Well, I wouldn’t have been able to make it to you that quickly either way, so it’s hard to say whether your friends’ quick reaction was for the better or worse.”
Deenoark hung his head. As a result of his return, the most precious person in the world to him had been lost.
