"Sungah, do you plan on going out to the night market today as well?" Florin inquired out of the blue while working tirelessly alongside Sungah.

"I think I will." Sungah replied before resuming her work, hanging damp outfits on clothes' lines situated behind the manor.

"Well…mind telling me the reason?" Florin asked.

"A reason? Why does going to a place that sells a variety of items ranging anywhere from food to wooden sculptures require an explanation?"

"No, not like that. I was just curious why you insist on going there every time you can. It's almost scary how seemingly obsessed you are with such a place at every given chance, almost like a habit."

"Habit…Well, I guess you can say that. My reason for going there is…rather peculiar. But it's nothing special." Sungah answered, a wave of nostalgia washing over her—recalling the fond memories of the night market that had occupied a part of her mind.

As an orphan, besides impressing 'Mother', reading books supplied by Mother and playing with the other children—nothing else could make her as happy as she would while circulating between those three activities.

However, after a few years or so—they started becoming dull and repetitive. Those activities, albeit as important as they are—no longer satisfied Sungah's childish desires. She yearned for more, yet never had the courage to request for more.

All she could do was merely feign to be jubilant while repeating the same thing over and over again. That was until one day, abruptly—Mother brought her along with a few others to their very first trip to the night market.

The blindingly bright lights, the declarations of prices in order to charm customers as well as the intoxicating scent of street food overwhelmed the children.

Their bodies shivered in fear of the unknown, their feeble minds were unable to comprehend the chaotic mess one could describe a night market to be. Yet slowly and certainly, the children adapted to the tumultuous atmosphere.

Treats were given to them while straddling amidst the bustling crowd of people arguing, haggling and asking the stall owners questions. The children barely understood the words of the customers, but it did not matter. They felt like they were inside of a fairytale, a very chaotic but jovial one at that.

Even though they never created any particularly impactful moments while over there, it was undoubtedly something that helped them feel just a tad bit less bored from their usual repetitive days.

"Alright, I guess I won't pressure you to tell me. Anyhow…sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but think it's best for you if you stay in the manor today, Sungah." Florin advised, her voice was quiet—as if warning Sungah of an imminent danger.

"May I have an explanation as to why?"

"Hmm…an explanation…Oh!…There's a parade."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"No it's…How do I explain this…Do you know about the 'Witch's Parade'?"

"No? And what does it have to do with the night market?"

"Every few months, a Witch's Parade is held on that particular street where the night market is hosted. It's an event celebrating the death of the four prominent witches, as well as a cause for both common folks and nobles alike to search for any potential witch's candidate or a witch herself."

"I see but…what does that have to do with me going there anyways? It's not like I'm a witch. So I don't think I'll have any problems going there."

"I don't think you understand the severity of the problem if you go there…Witches are abnormally powerful creatures with law defying powers. But witches are always, and could never be anything else other than a woman. It's weird but only a woman can be a witch."

"What about witches' apprentices? They could be with men or women. Wouldn't it be reasonable to suspect men of possibly having close ties with a witch?"

"Yes, but it's different. Apprentice witches aren't born with those law defying abilities. They are merely taught how to curse people with mild problems or fevers, nothing more. Which is why no one would pay too much care if there's an apprentice witch which happens to be a man."

"But still, a witch's apprentice that happens to be a male would still make the people have a bit of prejudice against males. However, I understand that you are trying to convey that the Witch Parade thing is an event which highly discriminates against women. Still, just because I'm a woman, it doesn't excuse me from not going there if men can also be suspected as a witch's apprentice." Sungah argued.

"You make a good point, but think about it again, Sungah. It's undoubted that men are also being discriminated against, but it pales in comparison to how much women are being discriminated against here. Think of it like this. Let's say you are a hunter and there is a calf and a cow. Which one would you choose if you wanted to eat meat?"

"A…unique analogy but I would choose the cow, obviously. A calf is still a mere child and can hardly provide a sufficient amount of food for multiple people. But what does that have to do with…wait a minute." Sungah's pupils dilated as a connection was formed within her head.

"You finally understood me. Witches are like cows, while witches' apprentices are like calves. Both are crucial for one's survivability, but one is worth more than the other. Which is why women tend to be accused of being a potential witch while there are hardly any people paying attention to men as a potential threat. So, will you please not go to the night market just this once?" Florin begged.

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"Alright…I won't go to the night market this time. But there are also a few questions I would like to ask you in return, Florin. Just…why do you possess an unfathomable amount of knowledge regarding witches? It's…uncanny." Sungah interrogated, suspicious of Florin's knowledge regarding witches.

"Well, I already told you I was obsessed with witches to an insane extent as a child, didn't I?"

"Yes you did. But surely there's a limit to how much a child can process, even if they are obsessed with something to the point of insanity. Florin…just what are you actually? And why…do you want me to deliver that letter?" Sungah uttered, the atmosphere instantaneously became tense as those words left her mouth.

Ever since she had received the mysterious quest from Florin, she could not help but to make speculations as to the person in question that was required to receive the letter. Yet no matter how many suspects she had set her sight on—not a single one correlated to Florin's desires. She tried handing the letter to every single maid in the manor, but it was futile for the quest remained uncleared at the end.

Sungah felt frustrated by the ridiculous task that had been given to her. And every single time she tried asking Florin for even a small hint—her question were dismissed without thought. She could no longer bear to be ignored.

Her eyes lingered onto Florin, patiently waiting for even the simplest of response to escape out of Florin's mouth. The environment between them gradually grew stiffer with every second that passed by. The sound of birds flapping their wings high above the sky could be heard clearer than ever before.

"It's…complicated." She replied meekly, beads of sweat beginning to form on her forehead.

"What's so complicated about revealing to me the person that is needed to receive the letter? What's the point of asking me to deliver a letter, if I don't even know the recipient? Why did you choose me out of everyone else in the entire manor to supposedly deliver the letter?"

"I can't tell you, Sungah. But…everything will make sense soon en-!" Florin's sentence was shortened by a deafening thud caused by a fist hitting the wooden pole.

"Soon enough, soon enough. Stop messing with me. I'm done being treated like this." Sungah proclaimed, seething with an insurmountable amount of anger that had been culminating for days.

"Talking like you're some sort of fortune teller, and claiming to be my friend when I'm not given even a single guide to deliver the letter…soon enough will start to make sense if it means the paper's recipient is the flames itself." She continued, staring daggers at Florin.

"No! You can'! It's very cruci-"

"Florin. I'm done acting nicely. So, tell me. What the hell do you want me to do with that thing? Burn it? Throw it away? Read it myself? Answer me."

The atmosphere gradually stiffened as they glared into each other's eyes. Once more, Sungah waited patiently—clinging onto a sliver of hope that Florin would at the very least tell her the recipient's name at most. Nonetheless, she was left disappointed as Florin merely looked away and remained silent.

"...Fine. If you still don't want to answer me, so be it. To give me a letter without telling me the location or who I need to give it to…just what am I to you? A friend, or a joke? Well…it doesn't matter anymore now, I guess. I'll see you sometime again, Florin." Sungah said in a disheartened tone, resuming her duties as their conversation came to a halt.

…

"Bleurgh! Argh! Gargh!" A brown-haired woman groaned as multiple armed men striked her frail body mercilessly.

She was stationed onto a wooden platform with one end of a rope tied around her neck and the other end wrapped around a wooden pole erected behind the platform. Her hands too were tied by a rope—incapacitating herself from protecting her body. Just slightly away from the platform were crowds of people surrounding the gruesome sight while chanting for her demise.

"Kill her! Kill her! Kill her!" They chorused, brandishing their pitchforks and torches towards the innocent woman.

"No! Don't kill her! She hadn't done anything wrong!" A man pleaded desperately as a guard restrained him from saving her. His voice however was dulled amongst the chanting of the crowd.

He tried beseeching once more but it only resulted in another guard punching him in the abdomen.

"Shut up! Your wife is a criminal! You married a witch and you know it! So shut up and be grateful that at least you won't be executed!" The guard snapped, causing him to continue overwhelming the man with a brutal beating until he was rendered unconscious.

"Damn it! He just had to be so damn resilient." The guard snarled while wiping off the blood stains from his armour.

"Haha. Sucks for you man." The other mocked him before putting down the unconscious man onto the ground.

"I-I…am not…a witch…" The woman repeatedly mumbled amidst the injuries and pain inflicted onto her body. Her voice was hoarse and barely audible. She was barely holding herself from passing out due to physical and mental exhaustion.

"Just admit that you're a witch already!" One of the armed men snarled at her before delivering one strong punch to her liver, causing her to bawled in pain as she finally fell down to the floor. She tried clutching her stomach at an attempt to ease the agonising sensation but the rope bound her hands and prevented her from doing so.

"Gargh! I-it…hurts…so much…" She grumbled while trying to crawl away.

"Geez, you bastards are one tough couple. Let's see…if you can keep up that tenacious will of yours. Hey, lift her up." The guard ordered. The armed men hurriedly lifted her back to her feet and brought her close to him. Gradually, she regained her vision and senses as the dreadful pain subsided momentarily.

But what replaced the pain was simply something far more horrendous. Something that brought out stamina from within her fatigue and exhaustion.

"No! Let him go! Let him go!" She demanded while struggling to escape from the armed men's grasp. In front of her was the guard holding her barely conscious husband by his head.

"I was going to spare him at first…but now that you're finally saying something else, I guess that isn't an option anymore. Watch this, you wicked witch." The guard sneered as he placed his dull sword around the man's neck.

"No! Don't! Don't!" She implored, tears starting to drip from her cheeks. Her husband, albeit being severely beaten up and was moments away from going to the afterlife—couldn't bear to see the sight of his beloved weeping in front of him. With the miniscule amount of energy contained left in his body, he formed a weak yet reassuring smile just for her.

"Honey…it's alright…I'm fin-" His words ended unexpectedly and unfinished. A loud thud echoed throughout the streets as his head dropped onto the ground. A long silence ensued but such an atmosphere was immediately shattered by the enthusiastic cheers of the crowd.

"Kill her! Kill her! Kill her!" They chanted with a renewed vigour, gleeful to have witnessed an accomplice of the so-called witch meeting his end.

"No…no…" Her voice was low, her body trembled greatly as she stared at the decapitated head of her lover from afar. She was grief-stricken. It felt as if something vital had been stripped away from her life.

"Oh. That's a great expression, witch." The guard mocked, kicking the rolling head towards her. Tears flowed from her eyes like a waterfall as she mourned his death. His once gentle and reassuring voice could no longer be heard. His once bright, shining smile had been taken away.

"Why!? Just what did we do wrong to deserve this!?!?" She shouted up into the sky, begging for a miracle, or at the very least—an answer. Yet all she was granted was yet another hit by the armed men.

"Because you're a witch! A vile, sick witch! That's why this happened to you!" One of them answered feverishly. An immoral smile crept onto his face as he saw the wretched look plastered onto the pitiful witch.

"You heard him, witch. Now come here and accept your fate." The guard commanded, waving his bloodied sword at her face. He stepped closer to her, readying for his blade to take the life of another. Promptly however, a strong gale of wind knocked him prone beneath her.

The ropes that once restricted her were shredded into fibers by an invisible force. The wind silences the gasps and screams of the onlookers, a raging storm suddenly brewing above them. Thunderbolts struck the passerby while the ground crackled with electricity.

The crowd ran amok the place, seeking for shelter all while shouting "Witch!". Their confidence and ego were destroyed upon seeing the woman let loose. But their attempts at escaping were in vain for an invisible barrier had been erected to lock them all up. The guard that used to look so smugly at her—now looked up at her with a frightful expression.

Despite clutching a sword in his right hand, he instinctively understood that it was useless—for the being in front of him was something that cannot simply be defeated by a mere chuck of iron. A force of nature that could not be stopped once it had begun.

"You're right…I'm a witch. Thank you…for reminding me why humans should die." She stated, lifting him up by the neck using the wind.

The crowd could only watch in horror for the crimes she was soon about to commit. Just as she the guard's thoat gradually tightened from the wind—everything seemingly returned to normal. The clouds dispersed, the wind no longer blocked their exit and the screams died out.

The onlookers' eyes widened with gratefulness and shock by the scene in front of them. Another guard had punctured the witch's heart from behind and saved them from their impending doom. The witch looked solemnly at the blade piercing her heart, before letting out a tired sigh as her lifeless body fell to the ground. The crowd cheered with fervour, calling the guard a hero.

"Heh. I guess that worked out in the end after all." He smirked while stepping on the witch's corpse. "Have fun reuniting with your husband, witch."

…

Meanwhile, within a very dim alleyway…

"Bleurgh!" Sungah vomitted near a pile of rotten food, disgusted by the horrors her eyes had bear witness to.

"Sick…everyone is sick…I shouldn't have gone out…" She grumbled, regretting her decision of heading out despite Florin's cautions—doing it out of retaliation for not being given answers to her questions.

"Ha…ha…why am I…so idiotic even nowadays. I need...to get away from those maniacs..."

…