The Seed Thief

How long had she been running? An old house appeared among the trees. As Lulu ran up, the golem had been shuffling around the area, approached her happily. Lulu shouted sharply at the stone golem.

“A scary human is chasing after me! Stop him when he comes! Knock him down!”

“……!”

At Lulu’s shout, the slow-moving stone golem spun around as if its previous movements had been a lie, its chest thrust out facing where Lulu had run from. It looked as though it would run and punch the intruder at a moment’s notice.

After giving orders to the golem, Lulu hurriedly entered the house and ran straight to her room, flipping open the blanket on her bed. Still clutching the scarecrow and the bone crow in her arms, Lulu tried to calm herself down as she thought of the man she’d seen.

‘Who is he?’

Certainly not from the village. She’d observed villagers many times but never saw that man. Moreover, the intimidating presence he gave. His glare was even more terrifying than the thunder, the typhoons, and the fire that burned the forest during wildfires.

No matter how deep the forest was, he would soon find out about this place. And without doubt, he would slash everyone with that sword.

As she recalled the man moving determinedly, Lulu’s breath caught in her throat again.

“Urgh, what should I do?”

She tried speaking to the scarecrow and the crow in her arms, but they remained silent and motionless as that man’s blow took its toll. The unfamiliar sight of them made Lulu panic even more.

‘We must flee right now! But what if he heard our footsteps and chased after us? Moreover, where can we go? Might it be better if we stayed quiet like this so he couldn’t find us?’

Lulu’s teeth chattered in fear. She had to do something, but the horror of near death crushed Lulu’s body. She couldn’t get out of the blanket except squirming.

Lulu shivered for a long time, and her injured foot, hurt while running away, throbbed. But as she became accustomed to the pain, her eyes began to close sluggishly.

She had prepared magic since morning, then hid to observe villagers without eating anything all day. Lulu’s strength reached its limit after meeting that man and fleeing like a madwoman.

‘I shouldn’t fall asleep……’

One never knew when that man would barge in here. She had to be alert to her surroundings, listening to even the slightest sound. But contrary to her thoughts, Lulu’s eyes gradually closed.

Lulu hugged her tattered clothes tightly, a rag that could no longer be called clothes. The scent of the forest witch was hardly present. Still, it was the most comforting and reassuring remnant to Lulu.

‘I’m scared.’

Was it wrong to try taking the human seed?

‘I only wanted one seed.’

She didn’t intend to create many humans. If she made many, she would have to steal that many seeds. Moreover, the ingredients to make the Homonculus were also hard to obtain. She only wanted one person to be with her…..

Along with the fear came an inexplicable sadness. 

Lulu buried her face in the forest witch’s clothes and swallowed the sniffles. Then at some point, her consciousness slowly sank into darkness.

Amidst the faint sound of the golem’s footsteps echoing as it wandered around, Lulu fell into a deep sleep.

* * *

“Awww…….”

Lulu groaned at the intense sunlight that brightened even inside the blanket. Waking up was as hard as always. But this time, not only did she struggle to open her eyes, her body ached like she’d been beaten.

“Why does it hurt so much… Urgh!”

As Lulu tried to pat her throbbing body, she jumped up in alarm at the sight of the scarecrow’s head and the bone crow in her arms, causing the cover to be pulled back, and the sunlight stung her eyes.

“Argh!”

Covering herself with the blanket again, Lulu tried to figure out what had happened. Fortunately, memories from the previous day quickly flashed through her mind.

“The man!”

Throwing the blanket again, Lulu frowned at the sunlight and carefully put the scarecrow’s head and the bone crow she was holding in the corner of the bed. Then she approached the window and peered out.

A short distance from the house, the golem was still walking around in a wary stance. Fortunately or unfortunately, there were no bloodstains on the golem’s fist and no sign of a person lying nearby.

“I guess you haven’t come this far.”

Relieved, Lulu flopped to the ground in a heap.

But she couldn’t completely relax. If that man couldn’t find her at night, wouldn’t he find out on such a bright day like this?

Her mind racing, Lulu scrambled to her desk. On her way there, she bumped her little toe into the corner of a book, and tears welled up in her eyes, but now wasn’t the time to care about such pain.

“Attacking spell! A powerful attacking spell!”

She needed a magic spell she’d used in the village long ago. At least that would be enough to stop that man.

Lulu quickly drew the magic formula, flipped through the books, and prepared other spells. Spells to create fireballs, spells to make thorn bushes grow, spells to make the ground instantly disappear, and so on.

After diligently drawing magic formulas that could damage her enemy, Lulu approached the window again and looked out. With these spells, she definitely won.

‘Now, come!’

Lulu waited for the man, telling herself to shake off the fear from the previous night. However…he hadn’t shown up even till the night came.

“Heuaamm…….”

Lulu let out a long yawn while looking at the forest. She didn’t notice any presence from beyond the forest all day. Lulu then approached the scarecrow’s head and the bone crow placed on the bed.

“First, I have to fix you two.”

The problem was that the broken parts of the scarecrow and the bone crow were left where the man had been. Lulu could attach new pieces of wood or use the bones of other animals, but it’d be best to fix them with parts that were originally theirs.

She also needed to find the forest witch’s shoes she lost while running.

Then the answer was set. Went back to where she’d seen the man and retrieved the scarecrow and crow’s parts. She might also find the lost shoes along the way.

Lulu had barely escaped, yet she had to return to where she had seen him again.

‘But…why didn’t he chase after me?’

Seeing his determination the night before, he seemed ready to chase and stab her to death. He must’ve followed her, yet no sign of him since.

‘Is he hurt?’

Then Lulu remembered what magic she’d cast on him.

“Obedience Magic!”

Because she didn’t prepare any attacking spell, she cast the spell she intended to use on the village people on the man. But the obedience magic only made him move according to orders.

“I think I told him not to come…to stay there…”

The magic must have worked because she never failed to cast magic.

If the man perceived her words as commands.

Lulu felt cold sweat running down her back. Could it be that the man was still there?

* * *

The sun sank behind the mountain, and the surroundings gradually darkened. After pondering for several hours, Lulu finally started walking toward where she’d seen the man. Of course, she wasn’t alone but with the stone golem.

Usually, the golem’s footsteps were too loud to avoid being noticed by the villagers so she only let it roam around the house. This was the first time the golem had come this far.

Was it that fun? The golem’s footsteps were more cheerful than usual.

“Do you think we come out to play?”

The stone golem sheepishly shrugged when Lulu gave it an accusatory glance. What else can I do?

“Alright. Let’s find that guy first.”

Lulu clicked her tongue at the golem’s silly action and walked while checking to see the village lights in the distance. She must have gone the right way since she found the shoes she had lost. Wearing the shoes with worn-out soles and feeling the pebbles under her feet, she walked further.

“It should be around here.”

Seeing the bush where she had hidden, Lulu held her breath and scanned the surrounding. Then she found a long wooden stick lying on the ground. That was unmistakably the lower part of the scarecrow. Her face tensed even more, Lulu held onto it like a sword and moved cautiously.

The wooden stick couldn’t be called a weapon, but at least she could wave it if the man suddenly attacked.

The moment Lulu jumped out from the brush, she saw the man who had tried to kill her standing there. Their gazes collided in mid-air just as they had the night before.

“……!”

“……!”

Lulu and the man both held their breath at the same time. The golem behind them froze as well, taking a stance to strike the man at any moment.

The stifling silence filled the forest. Lulu quickly examined the man’s state. Though he seemed like he would approach her immediately like yesterday, he didn’t move an inch and just stared at her.

The man’s face was as pale as his silver hair. Lulu saw that his face was drenched in cold sweat, puzzling.

‘As expected, he can’t move.’

It was clear that from last night until now, the man recognized her words as commands and remained motionless in that spot.

‘What should I do?’

What to do with this man now? While Lulu began to ponder the new problem, the man looked at her and spoke.

“Master.”

Lulu covered her ears in case the man might scream, but his words made her drop the branch she was holding.

What did he just say? Master?

Lulu shuddered at the word ‘master’ and hastily backed away from the man. She looked at him like he was crazy. As Lulu retreated fearfully, the man stretched his hand desperately toward her.

“Please don’t go, master!”

Lulu got goosebumps at the appellation she’d never heard before. Besides, wasn’t he the man who had tried to kill her without hesitation last night?

He certainly didn’t sound like this last night, so why the sudden change in demeanor?

“Ah…”

A sigh escaped from Lulu’s mouth.

‘Because of that magic!’

Called the magic of obedience, she thought it would make the target yield for a short while. But she hadn’t expected such perfect, complete servitude.

While Lulu tried to figure out what to do with this situation, the man urgently called out to her again.

“Master, could you please grant me the freedom of my body, even just for a moment?”

Did he truly see her as his master? Unlike yesterday, the man spoke to Lulu in a very cautious and respectful manner.