Stew

After the consultation, Aliester and his group had prepared to move to an inn. Caramel had recommended one of the trusted ones in Hemlock.

"There are a lot of shady inns that had been popping out of nowhere recently, so you have to be careful." Caramel said as she gave them the address.

She turned towards Aliester and handed him a faded cloak. "By the way, young master, wear this."

Puzzled, Aliester asked. "why?"

"You stand out like a sore thumb." She answered. "People here in Hemlock have dark shades of hair and eyes due to being casters. People like you are rare."

Aliester took the cloak, which was surprisingly soft despite looking worn out. "this is imbued with incantations. Must be expensive." He muttered before asking the woman. "how much?"

"Consider it paid. The recipes you have given me is much more expensive than that cloak." She smiled like a cat who got a bowl of cream.

Aliester eyed her suspiciously, he had given her five recipes for the cold brew and a couple of coffee-based cocktails. He got a feeling he had given her a lot more than the information he had gained.

"Is that the reason, you are going out of your way to help me?" he asked.

Caramel simply smiled. "Equivalent exchange, remember? I will have to give you favors later on, especially once the recipes will become a big hit."

Aliester simply nodded, but he thought. 'I felt like I have been scammed. But at the very least, Caramel still tried to give me more than just information.'

Then as if remembering something, Caramel called out. "Young lord, you have to be wary of some of the casters, they are not on your side. And just a little something…"

Caramel tossed a small dagger towards the young lord.

Aliester unsheathed the dagger which was embedded with jewels.

"I hope that could help you." She waved them farewell.

After resting for a few hours, Aliester left his companions in the inn. Since, he was the only one who could go to the Hallows, it took a lot of convincing the knights to let him go solo.

Ertz had advised to take a few knights with him. Terrano and Euclide were the ones who did not back down easily. They wanted to come along but Aliester resolved to do the mission alone.

~~~

"So why did I end up in this situation?" Aliester grumpily asked.

He could feel the warm broth seeping his clothes. A red notification was blaring, [sub quest: defeat the taboo witches].

He just did not mind the sub-quest, since he was more preoccupied with his current predicament.

The smell of herbs and other savory ingredients had wafted to his nose. If only he was not the main ingredient, he would really like to take a couple of spoonsful from the cauldron.

"Just a bit more ingredients and the soup will be ready." The old woman cackled while dumping a bowl of mixed vegetables in the cauldron.

"I think I need more aromatics." The woman tasted the soup before leaving to fetch something from the other room.

Since the old witch is gone, Aliester tried to get out of the cauldron. But the rope which held his wrist proved to be tight. He could not jump out without severing the bind.

"Damn it! I never thought that I would be turned into a stew."

[You have let your guard down. Caramel had warned you to be careful, but you deliberately followed that shady witch.] Zarame sounded as if reprimanding him.

Aliester almost sulked. When he explored and stumbled upon the swampy terrain a couple of hours ago, he met a young witch, her name is Marlene.

When he asked directions to go to the Hallows, the girl claimed she is a close acquaintance of Holly Hallows.

As if in a trance, Aliester followed the Marlene, who led him to a hut.

He could not recall what had happened after that. When he regained his consciousness, an old woman replaced the young witch and he found himself immersed in a cauldron about to be cooked into a stew.

"Damn! It is getting hot. I need to get out." He gritted. He could feel that the soup was already starting to simmer.

Aliester was able to produce a small blade from his inventory and gradually cut the ropes. Unfortunately, the old hag came back with a basket of herbs. She did not seemed to notice that her captive had already cut his shackles.

Aliester waited for an opportunity to escape. "I do not know whatever spell she had up her sleeve. It is best to be careful."

So, when the old woman dipped the ladle in the soup, Aliester held her hand and send current to electrocute the woman.

The old woman fell unconsciously on the floor.

"Looks like it was not enough to kill the witch." He said as he got out of the cauldron. "The soup looks and smells appetizing, but I would never eat that!"

Just before Aliester could get out of the hut, he felt a surge of mana from the kitchen. Unfortunately, he was not able to get away on time. Vines shot out of nowhere and bind his entire body.

"Do you honestly think I would just allow you to walk away?" the young witch he encountered earlier appeared. "it is quite rare to find a high-quality ingredient such as you."

Aliester could see her black eyes shine like obsidian.

Unlike when she met her earlier, Marlene looked really sinister. Her black hair whipped around her like snakes as she cast her spell.

The young lord sweated as the vine coiled tightly around his body.

"I wanted to keep the ingredients fresh for the spell to work. But I guess, I should have knock him out cold first." The old hag emerged.

'There are two of them and I am bound like this.' Aliester gulped. 'I don't want to die like this."

"I think we really have to butcher him, Mother Malerna." The young witch said. "we just need to consume the entire thing than have him escape from us."

The girl produced a reddish blade and advanced towards him.

In panic and desperation, Aliester was able to unleash his affinity. Several hundred bolts of lightning surged inside him and spread through.

Since the voltage was high, it scorched the vines that held him.

Because, it was an unplanned release of affinity, Aliester subconsciously summoned a strong lightning bolt from the skies.

A pillar of light veined and hit the hut.

As the light ebbed, the young lord could feel the vines loosened. Warmth and small electric currents were emitted through his body.

'I felt like a lightning pokemon.' He muttered awkwardly while trying to locate the two witches.

Instinctively, he knew that the lightning was not enough to kill the two casters. His intuition was proven when he saw a black mist surrounding the two witches.

"He is quite strong." Marlene said as the black mist dissipated. "I like preys who would fight back. It makes the hunt thrilling!"

Aliester narrowed his eyes towards the young witch. She seemed stronger than the older one.

"please stand back, mother. I will deal with this one." Marlene said as she held out her hand. A black pentagram formed.

'I am not a caster. I do not know what will work against this witch. Any idea how to defeat her?' Aliester asked Zarame.

Zarame took a while before she answered. [If you want to defeat a caster, do not allow her to cast a spell.]

The young lord deadpanned. 'very helpful Zarame.'