"You did what?!" She leaned closer and shouted at me, "Please don't tell me you killed a noble!"

"It was a thief, calm down, "I put my arms in front of me and gestured her to calm down, My eyes was glued to hers, not daring look away lest expose my lie, "The thief was already dead when I found him!"

She narrows eyes, (is that her favorite gesture?), scrutinized me and said, "You're lying,"

“Everyone knows the fact that if someone’s eyes are sweeping all over the place, then they’re lying, “ She continued, “It became so well known that now, the opposite is true.”

"I didn't kill him! Maybe..." I couldn't really remember which of the thieves I killed, "I'm not really sure..."

"Haah..." she sighed and sunk back to her seat, "Just... don't get involved in your troubles."

"Yes, ma'am" I mocked a salute with a wry smile.

"Here," she grabbed some silver coins from beneath the counter and handed them to me.

"It's only worth half of a gold coin, it isn't that thick." She replied and went back to looking at a map.

Since we've already initiated conversation, I'm not going to let this chance go, I asked her a question.

"By the way, do you know Chill flowers?"

"Yes, those flowers are pretty rare but you can buys some from the capital for about 10 gold coins," She really seemed a lot more talkative today, though right now she's absorbed back to looking at a map.

"What else about them? I heard they could be used to make potions or in enchanting." I grabbed one chair from a nearby table and put it near the counter.

"They could be, but only an experienced alchemist with at least a level 5 on alchemy can create potions out of it, same with enchanting." She paused for a little bit, "They're filled with mana and cools the air around them, an ice snake always guards a chill flower though."

I gulped and quickly flipped through the bestiary, I found the entry for the ice snake.

Ice snakes—formidable creatures of soil and ice. Do not engage if not prepared with cold resistant armor and weapon that has an electric enchantment.

Adult Ice Snakes can reach up to the length of two houses and as big as an adult’s head. It’s fangs can be as long as an adult’s index finger and can inflict both paralytic and cold poisons.

They leave a trail of ice in their wake that will vanish after half an hour. They would also hunt for an hour every day.

The Ice Snake’s poison, scales, fangs, and eyes are valuable and can reach up to a gold coin when stacked up.

The most redeeming features about Ice Snakes is that they guard a Chill flower. It can be used for potions and enchantments and sold for 50 gold coins to some very specific markets. All chill flowers are guarded by an Ice Snake but not all Ice Snakes guard a chill flower.

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Why didn't I see the snake? Where was the snake?

I put my hand to my chin and pondered the possibilities.

Could it be hunting? But the book said it always leaves a trail of ice wherever it goes. That means I should have at least seen a trail.

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Dead? Possibly, but I’m guessing that whoever killed the snake should have known what it was guarding,.

Being scared off by the lightning when I came down, could be a possible idea, but then again, there was no trail.

Without answers, I returned to thinking about the knife I had. The ‘cursed’ one.

“Lily, how are things ‘cursed’?” I need to know more about it. Martha said that some cursed weapons drive their user insane or devour their souls. Some armor were said to be permanently attached to their users and drove them berserk. However, Martha mentioned one ‘cursed’ item that caught my attention, an obsidian black ring that, when worn, makes the user ‘dream’ about a world where technology was far greater and massive colossuses of stone rose up to the sky.  I theorized that it was some way to see Earth from here.

Lily had a sour look but answered nevertheless, “ ‘Curse’ is just a skill that can be achieved by having an Enchanting level of 8 and a death attribute higher than 40.  

“That’s if you’re talking about the skill, if you’re asking about superstitions, then black weapons or armor are said to be cursed. Black hair was used to be called a curse and bad luck but it changed when the king of Thalis a hundred years back, summoned a black haired hero from Earth.”

“Wait a minute!” I exclaimed, “Earth?!’

How did they even knew it existed? Was a hero really summoned here? Then that means… there might be a way to go back if I can reverse its effects!

“Yes, What about it? It’s the place where Heroes come from. My… The current King of Thalis is right now planning to summon Heroes again. The demons have been acting up from the south.” She said, now in full lecture mode.

“No, no. It’s nothing. It’s just that I never thought that it was real…” I blatantly lied, “Please continue.”

“Okay…” She furrowed her brows at me, “Anyway, since the Hero saved the continent from the demons in the south. Black hair was now treated as a gift rather than a curse.”

“What happened to Hero after defeating the Demons?” My bullshit senses are tingling.

She smirked, “They said they returned the Hero back.” Her tone was full of sarcasm and she even did air quotes on ‘said’.

“Thought as much.” The hero probably died. Either by the hands of the demons or the kingdom.

“Now, If can continue with what I was saying.” At this point, she has stopped looking at the map and full on started a lecture, “Silver hair is also  being thought as cursed.

“The look on your face asks ‘why?’ Well let me tell you, what color did hair turn to when nearing old age? Silver, Grey. What color did the moon, the beacon of darkness, take when it is full? Silver. What hair color did R’teesh, Bringer of eternal sleep, have? The color, shade, whatever you call it. Silver, in terms of hair, is considered cursed. It’s even really funny how people fear silver hair, especially nobles, when they use silver as utensils, as their armors and as their weapons!”

Now, at this point, she was just ranting. I do understand why silver hair is considered bad luck and an omen of death. Probably much more so than anyone in this world. It was Alia; she probably governs death or something. She was the one I met when I died, her blessing gave me more Death attributes than others, and she had white hair. It was probably silver, but since there was no actual source of light in her inhabitance, maybe it just didn’t shine?

The thing in my mind is the question of ‘Why is she so upset about silver hair?’

 “Why are you so worked up about it? It’s still early morning, calm down.”

She took deep breaths and calmed down gradually, “I… I’m sorry,” She said meekly, “Once I start talking about something, I can’t stop myself…”

She became shy all of a sudden…

“Don’t sweat it, “ I said, standing from my chair, “Wanna go grab some food? Bread is not really enough for me. I’m still hungry and you look like you could you need some food too. “

“Ah… no, I don’t really need to eat. Mages have slower metabolisms than normal humans.” She said and returned to her map.

“Are you sure about that? It’s my treat. You could eat some juicy fried pork or some sweet, savory—“

Before I could finish, a rumbling noise was heard. It wasn’t mine. I looked towards Lily and noticed that she was now glaring at me while clutching her thin stomach.

“You did not hear anything. Understand?” She was glaring, but if you look more closely, you could notice that her face was flushed.

“Umm…Okay?” I just nodded at her behavior.

She dropped the map she was holding into the table and went out of the counter.

She was wearing some clothes that looked like what Villager A’s daughter would have worn, a one piece skirt that reaches her shins and an apron above it. ‘Why are you even wearing an apron? You’re a librarian for god’s sake.’ I thought to myself.

“Come on, hurry up!“ She walked out the door and smiled a little bit mischievously, “Your treat, right?”

Is she cold, shy or mischievous? I really don’t know.

I’m having a really bad feeling about this breakfast.

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Somewhere, south of Krilka, the ground is rumbling and trees are toppling over. A load roar resounded, followed by the simultaneous roars of smaller but more numerous beasts.

Somewhere, south of Krilka, the Horde started its march.