Curse of The Witch

Village

The sun was already high in the sky, paving a path for a certain young man. Under the shadow of trees, a single man walking. Slowly pulled his cart while experiencing new feelings that he's never expected to come back, a feeling of joy. He's walking and sometimes hums a weird song to relieve his boredom.

"It's been a while since the last time I feel this happy,...." thought him.

Until recently, Orion was lost in despair. He didn't know what reason he live, and what reason he is walking all this time. Seeking a reason for his endless journey to end, but, he can't stop walking. As if his reason for living was wandering on the mortal world without reason. He still vividly remembers the despair that he felt back then, but in the end, a certain young girl comes to his aid. Thwart his plan to end his endless journey.

"Well, I'm grateful she saved me back then,...."

"Even though I don't want it"

He chuckled, remembering his life this far after living with her. A daily life full of amusement.

".... I've been wondering, why she's living alone in that deserted village?"

Latina's house was at the peak of a hill, the house's backyard was a cliff and at the bottom of it, the area is a vast forest as far as eyes can see. A lone house stands alone at the peak, but if you go down a bit many vacant houses have already been destroyed over time.

"A strange place to make a house,...."

"Is it the fact that she's a witch come to play,....?"

When the first time Orion opened his eyes, Latina introduced herself as a witch in front of him. Twirling balls of light with one hand, showing that she's a genuinely witch. After that, under the pretext of making Orion her disciple, she allowed him to stay with her until now. Even though Orion declined her invitation, she's still clinging to that pretext until this day.

Even though the said day has not long passed, the slight mention of it makes a little smile appear on his face.

After a while, Orion finally reaches the village. The village is not large but brimming with people. Chatting each other while working, making that small village lively even with its little population. Many kids ran around, laughing and playing with each other. Making the village even more lively.

Far inside the village, there's a shop standing with a metal sign with the shape of cats hanging.

'Cat's Tail'

Without further ado, Orion stepped inside. Ringing the bell that was installed above the door. The inside was vast, there were not many shelves that can be seen, and the store was displaying daily necessities from spices to other utensils such as scrolls and potions.

From inside the store, a tapping sound can be heard. After that, a young girl appeared with her blonde hair and wearing a simple folk dress. She has long hair, with blue eyes, staring at Orion that still browsing the displayed product.

"Welcome, how can I help you?" Said that girl.

"Ah, yes,..."

"Excuse me, what kind of product that this store sell?"

"This is a general store, so we take all kind of products and sell it," said that girl.

"Do you also take potion or scroll?"

"Yes, since there are only a handful of people that can make it, we also take potions and scroll as well,"

"Good, I have some with me, can you take a look at it?"

She said "Sure," with a smile on her face.

In front of her, there are three bottles of potion and five scrolls. Two of it was empty and the rest has a scribble on them. With a nimble movement, she looked at each of them.

"This,..... quite good,"

"Where did you find it?" Ask her.

"My housemate made it,"

Hearing that, her eyes widen a little.

"Is your housemate a mage?"

"Ah, no, she said she was a witch,"

"Oh, that's quite rare," said her.

Orion titled, he still didn't know anything about detailed information about something like that.

"What do you mean?"

"Witch is a title that's bestowed to them when they mastered magic, and there's not many of them,"

"I see,"

Orion went silent, rummaging through his thought. About the information that he got from that conversation. He didn't know that Witch is quite a prestigious title that only a handful of people have. While he's deep in thought, the girl in front of him still continuing her appraisal. But the sentence that come out of her mouth next caught him off guard.

"You're quite lucky that your wife is a witch,"

"Eh?"

His eyes widen, and a wry smile can be seen on his face.

"Ah! N-no, you've mistaken, she's not my wife,"

She's stopping her hand, facing him and staring into his eyes.

"Then, are you her disciple?"

"No, I'm not her disciple as well,"

"Hmm,...."

Closing her eyes, she seems to ponder something. It seems the fact that Orion was not Latina's disciple or husband bothered her.

"U-um, is there something wrong?"

"Ah, no, it's just weird," said her.

"Weird?"

"Yes, usually, the one that stays together with a witch is either her husband, family, or her disciple,"

"But you're not one of them, right?"

Orion went silent, he think that what the girl in front of him said was true. With a title like that, it's weird if she lives with random people that she barely knows.

"Moreover, witches are a peculiar people."

"hmm?"

With a confused look, he said, "What do you mean by that?"

"Witch is usually lone wolves, they prefer living alone and dedicated their lives in solitude,"

"Well, not all witch are like that but most of them are like that," she said.

Now, the reason why Latina's house was in a deserted village like that comes to light. But one thing that still bugs him, if Latina is like the other witch. Why when he decided to leave the house and live alone in one of the deserted houses, she seems reluctant and as if stopping him to leave the house.

"Ah!"

The girl in front of him seems to realize something, "I see,...." said her.

Seeing her like that, Orion has a strange feeling.

"W-what it is,...?"

"My, my, you,....."

With a big smug smile on her face, she said, "You're too embarrassed ain't you?"

"Huh?"

"Aaaah, I know, I know, the two of you are newlywed so saying about your marriage is a bit embarrassing isn't it?"

With a nod, she then said, "Yes, yes, this big sis understands your concern, so it's ok,...."

"Huh? N-no you are mi-,"

"No need to explain it, this big sister understands,"

Orion face turned into a wry smile, inside his heart he want to correct the misunderstanding but with her personality like that he finds it bothersome so he stay silent.

"Well, whatever, so how much can I get from this?"

"Oh yes, here, take it,"

She gave him a small pouch full of coins.

"Considering the quality of the potion and the scroll, this is the best that can I give,"

"I'm sure if you take it to a bigger town you will get more but it is the best that can I offer," said her.

Without further ado, he takes it and heads to the door.

"Then, I'll leave with it, thank you,"

"Thank you for your patronage,"

When he reached the hand door, the girl behind the counter called him, "Hey, It seems we will meet often, my name is Sarah, what's yours?"

"Orion, call me Orion,"

"Then Orion, see you later,"

"Yeah, see you later,"

With a smile on both of them, they're waving to each other.