The Seed Thief

Scratching her messy hair, Lulu headed to the kitchen.

“There is nothing to eat.”

The kitchen, like everywhere else, was piled to the ceiling with books and odds. Lulu occasionally came across rotten potatoes or tomatoes as she rummaged through the pile of books.

Unable to find anything edible, Lulu went out of the house.

“Ugh!”

After being cooped up for so long, the sunshine pricked her eyes as if something stabbed them. Lulu quickly went into the shade of a tree and examined the fruits of the trees around her.

“I can’t eat this, and this too…”

Since she’d already eaten all the edible fruits and plants in the area, there was nothing left to eat. Then Lulu noticed the golem wandering nearby.

“Golem! Are there any potatoes left in the field? Check it!”

The golem stomped into the forest and returned after a while. Noticing something in the golem’s hand, Lulu happily ran to it, but.

“What’s this?”

In the hand of the golem were tiny potatoes, half a finger at most. There were only a few, but most were rotten.

“Ha…….”

A deep sigh came out. Whenever this happened, Lulu thought of the golem’s limit.

If the golem were human, it would have thrown it away, saying there was nothing to eat. But the golem was unaware of that. It just brought what Lulu had asked without knowing whether it was edible.

The hunger worsened as she moved. Lulu looked around some more and found a few small edible wild berries. Put them in her mouth and walked back to the house. It looked like she had to go out today.

* * *

That night, Lulu left home holding an old pouch. The golem tried to follow her, but Lulu firmly told him not to, even the scarecrow and the bone crow. She walked through the forest alone.

The forest witch’s old leather shoes, which didn’t fit her feet, made a trudging sound with every step she took. After a while, Lulu saw a small house with the light on. 

This house, which was at the very end of the village, was a place that Lulu occasionally visited. The old woman who resided there was the only villager who could converse briefly with Lulu.

After looking around to ensure she could hear nothing but grasshoppers, Lulu carefully picked up a small stone and threw it toward the window.

The fragile throw made a slight sound like a flying insect hitting it. Hesitantly, Lulu picked up another small rock and threw it at the window again. Then, she heard the front door open, followed by the harsh voice of an old woman.

“Can’t you stop!”

At the scream, Lulu quickly hid in the bushes. An old woman came out of the house, clutching a small dirty bag in one hand while the other held a lamp. She frowned as she approached the bush where Lulu was hiding. The old woman shouted to Lulu.

“You’re trying to break the window, aren’t you? I told you not to get caught by people!”

Lulu shrank subconsciously and gazed at the old woman in response. The old woman’s voice was much louder than the sound of the stones, but she did not bother to argue.

As Lulu stepped back and showed signs of fear, only then did the old woman clear her throat and spoke in a much gentler voice.

“My son is here. It wouldn’t be good for either of us if we got caught. Seeing that you came, you need something to eat again, right?”

Lulu nodded. Then the old woman reached out her hand to Lulu.

“Alright, give it to me. You brought the same thing as last time, right?”

At those words, Lulu handed the small pouch she brought to the old woman. The old woman took it and hastily pulled out what was inside. Several small, sparkling stones rolled on the old woman’s palm.

The old woman examined them with the lamp light, smiling satisfyingly. Then her expression hardened, and she turned to Lulu.

“Oh dear. It’s even more useless than the last ones.”

Lulu’s shoulders slumped at the old woman’s words. What she had given to the old woman was ores from the cliff in the forest. It was also an ingredient used for magic, which she and the golem would dig up whenever she had spare time.

“Well, I’ll just give you bread today, but you better bring more next time. Understand?”

The old woman said, then handed her bag to Lulu. Lulu hurriedly opened the bag and looked inside. There was some hardened bread in the bag.

As soon as she saw the bread, Lulu grabbed one and gulped it down with gusto. The old woman shrugged.

“I especially buttered the bread. Delicious, isn’t it? If you’re thankful, bring more ores next time.”

“Yes, I will.”

Lulu mumbled with a mouthful of bread. Then, the old woman waved her hand.

“Then hurry back to the forest. It’ll be a big deal if anyone sees you.”

Lulu hesitated at the hand gesture that seemed to drive away flies. It’d been months since she’d talked to someone. Lulu knew she shouldn’t get caught by the villagers, but she couldn’t turn around. As Lulu stood hesitatingly, the old woman raised her hand as if to hit her.

“Can’t you leave?”

“……!”

Surprised by the old woman’s behavior, Lulu immediately turned around and ran into the forest, disappearing from sight.

The old woman looked at the ores in her hand once again in the light of the lamp.

“How foolish.”

Her voice was full of sneers, and her mouth went all the way up to her ears. Just then, a middle-aged man came out of the house, roughly wiping his food-stained beard with his sleeve.

“Was that the forest witch? I thought she was an old hag, but she is younger than I thought. And she looks big in all the right places.”

The man licked his lips while looking at where Lulu had disappeared. The old woman shot him a stern glare and spoke sharply.

“Stop thinking nonsense! You look like an animal and drool anytime you see a woman!”

“No, it’s not that I’m interested…rather, isn’t it a curse or something? I heard from the villagers that she is extremely dangerous. The hole in the village’s entryway is said to be made by the witch’s lightning strike.”

“Hah! That’s because the villagers tried to kill her. She is just a stupid woman. Look at this! I gave her some dry bread, and she gave me this!”

The old woman showed the ores in her hand to her son. The man’s eyes widened. He didn’t recognize the ores, but it looked unusual. Though the ores had a rough surface, their color was brilliant.

“This…….”

Even the man’s eyes showed greed like the old woman’s. The old woman handed the smallest ore to her son.

“Go to the city tomorrow and sell this. I’ve checked out the value for this size, at least 30 gold. Don’t deal with anyone who offers less.”

The man unconsciously whistled at the old woman’s words. No wonder his mother hadn’t asked him for money these days. He never expected her to make a quick buck like this.

“Sell it as far away as possible. If you sell it a few times in the nearby villages, I’m sure people will wonder where it comes from. Nobody should know, not even a rumor, that the forest witch has these things.”

The old woman looked toward the forest.

“Such a useful bitch. The other day I stole a sheep from the village ranch and said the witch did it. The village chief couldn’t say anything.”

“What if you get caught?”

As the man mumbled anxiously, the old woman snorted.

“What’s wrong with that? The village chief and the surrounding lords all use her as an excuse to collect taxes, so why can’t we? Anyway, you won’t meet her separately, but if you happen to meet her in the forest, be kind to her.”

“Anything else good?”

“If you approach her with kindness, she’ll be receptive to your requests. When I first met her, she didn’t do anything or know what to do, so I talked to her, and she was overjoyed and followed me. However, the forest is guarded by strange monsters, so be cautious…just treat her well if you want more ore. She might even bring us gold nuggets later. Anyway, go sell this ore tomorrow.”

Said so, the old woman clutched her pockets tightly and entered the house. The man stayed behind alone, looking at where Lulu had disappeared.

He used to work as a servant in a big city nearby. But he was too lazy and had a drinking problem. He then got fired because he kept talking obscenities to the other maids in the household. Still, he wanted to get married, so he stayed in the city and tried to meet a woman. Of course, no woman liked him.

‘Even here, I can’t escape the problem.’

Since he used to work in the city, he thought that rural women would be eager to ask him about the big city, but when he tried to strike up a conversation, they often wrinkled their noses and avoided him.

Thinking of the women who had avoided him, the man gritted his teeth.

‘Well. Let’s see how long they can keep being arrogant.’

He looked at the ore in his hand, 30 gold for this small one. That was the money he could earn from working hard for two months straight.

The man recalled the pouch his mother had been holding. There were more ores larger than this one. From what he’d heard, she must have received them quite a few times from the forest witch.

‘But you won’t give it away easily.’

Should he search the house to find what his mother hid?

After some thought, the man’s lips curled into a smile identical to the old woman’s.

“That’s not necessary.”

If his greedy mother had confided in him, she would have hidden the ores elsewhere. And if any of the ores went missing, she would immediately suspect him. Besides, he wanted to get more ores – enough to last him a lifetime of worry-free living.

‘If you want to eat the fruit, it’s better to shake the tree than pick it up from the ground.’

It was better to own the entire tree.

The man’s gaze turned to the dark forest.

From afar, the forest witch didn’t seem dangerous at all. Seeing how grateful she was after receiving the buttered bread that was about to spoil, it was clear that if he offered her more than his mother had, he could win her favor.

‘Then…….’

The man thought about the witch’s back, who had returned to the forest. It was too dark to see but the body beneath her tattered clothes seemed good enough for him to enjoy. The fear the man had once felt toward the witch had long since dissipated from his mind.