Chapter 55. The Reason for Returning

Given Ailexia’s personality, she probably wouldn’t have directly asked for help. But if she had revealed her entire situation, she must have obtained information worthy of that disclosure. Otherwise, there would have been no reason to explain what had happened to her in such detail. She would have just left.

‘But if she got the information, why didn’t she go straight to the sorceress village?’

She would have headed into the forest once she determined her body was fit enough, and after securing food and supplies from the old woman one way or another, she would have left this house.

‘Come to think of it, why is this person living alone far away on the opposite side from the sorceress village?’

In a situation where public opinion toward sorcerers remained unfavorable, the sorceress village had consistently been their only comfortable nest and dwelling. Most rarely left that place.

Of course, these days some occasionally ventured outside to earn money or out of curiosity about the world. They disguised their sorcery as magic. It was possible because most people couldn’t accurately distinguish between the two.

Sometimes they were caught when they failed to properly conceal their sorcery patterns and suffered hardships at the hands of imperial palace mages, but surprisingly, the punishment wasn’t too severe. They were typically imprisoned for a while and then sent back to the forest.

‘That’s definitely what Father told me when he returned from visits to the duke’s mansion or the imperial palace.’

However, all those people had completely left the forest.

Not like the old woman before her, who remained deep within the forest, just far from the village.

‘The sorcery she showed as a “trivial trick” looked as flashy as magic, so there shouldn’t be a problem.’

Questions kept leading to more questions. The more she thought, the more things didn’t make sense. But Iella shook off the urge to delve deeper into the old woman’s circumstances. It was too personal to ask about.

Fortunately, the old woman showed no particular reaction to mentions of the sorceress village.

“Did Ailexia ask about the sorceress village? It seems like her wandering through the forest was an attempt to find it.”

“She did ask. And yes, she was looking for it.”

“But she kept failing and coming back, right?”

“That’s right.”

After briefly confirming, the old woman paused momentarily before continuing.

“Since you know the location of the sorceress village, you must also know how sorcerers are treated.”

“To some extent, yes.”

“Good. Then you also know that despite those attitudes, there are people who try to use sorcerers in any way when needed?”

Iella nodded. That was what she had thought after discovering the torn page in the ancient book.

“Such people are more persistent than you might think. Sometimes, rather than secretly searching for sorcery methods, many come to the forest to directly take sorcerers away. Once they’ve decided to use sorcery, their reservations are no longer an issue.”

“……”

“sorcerers hated that terribly. Naturally. They couldn’t lose the sanctuary they had barely created after being driven out. So they took measures. To ensure those people could never find the village.”

“They used sorcery, I assume.”

When Iella immediately understood and asked, the old woman lightly nodded. Only then did Iella resolve some of her questions.

‘They were blocked by sorcery, so they couldn’t find the way. That’s why they always returned empty-handed.’

But at the same time, she became troubled. Iella also planned to go to the sorceress village. If sorcery was blocking the way, simply showing up wouldn’t be enough.

‘Even if I came with Vanessa, if she can’t break the sorcery, the situation wouldn’t change… wait a minute.’

As worry engulfed her, Iella’s eyes suddenly sparkled at a passing thought.

‘The sorceress village is for sorcerers. Then wouldn’t entry be permitted without Vanessa having to break the sorcery?’

She might not know, but Vanessa could do it. If even one person could enter, that would be enough. Vanessa could seek help from inside and come back together, or at least discover a method.

Iella immediately confirmed with the old woman.

“Does that sorcery work on sorcerers too?”

“No. Since it’s designed to block outsiders, it wouldn’t work on sorcerers. Most sorcerers would be from the village.”

Iella’s face brightened at the old woman’s answer. She had roughly determined the location of where Ailexia had been, and even if she missed it again, she had found a way to enter the sorceress village—a tremendous achievement.

“However, if someone has completely left the village, that’s a different story. Like me.”

If only the old woman hadn’t added that comment a beat later while staring at her face.

“What?”

“Considering that Miss’s personality, don’t you find it strange? During all those failed attempts to find the village, surely she must have had that thought at least once, yet why did she stubbornly head into the forest alone?”

“That’s……”

Iella bit her lip. Thinking about it, that was true. But she couldn’t bring herself to pry further. Though the old woman had mentioned it first, Iella didn’t want to dig into and stir up personal matters.

She’d had enough of that experience with Allen’s past.

Fortunately, perhaps recognizing why Iella was hesitating, the old woman began speaking without being asked, as if it were no big deal.

“As I aged, my sorcery power weakened. Having lived in the village for a long time, I knew it didn’t matter, but I hated it. I didn’t want to gnaw at myself watching friends who still had sorcery power, nor did I want to be stuck in the village for such reasons. So I left. I cut ties completely, fearing I might weaken if I created a way back.”

Iella didn’t know how to comfort her. Her matter-of-fact voice was filled with traces of countless worries and determination.

“Well, occasionally wild animals come down asking for food, so it wasn’t boring, but it’s nice not to be lonely now that there’s a person here.”

The old woman added good-naturedly, as if shaking off the mood that had changed like before. Then she moved on before Iella could respond.

“Anyway, if it’s for reasons like mine, you might not be able to enter. Still, if you find it, there must be other ways. Are you planning to go there too?”

“Yes. I’m considering it for now.”

“Hmm, but it might be difficult now. You never know when you’ll switch again.”

Iella matched the old woman’s attitude, pretending nothing was wrong. Seemingly pleased with this, the old woman appeared to contemplate seriously for a moment before suddenly mentioning something Iella had forgotten.

Thanks to this, Iella, who had been focused on gathering information, gasped. She immediately looked around to check the time, but finding nothing suitable, she shifted her gaze outside the window.

It was still bright outside.

“……But it’s strange.”

Iella unconsciously said while looking at it.

“Why haven’t I gone back yet?”

Clearly, the first time she returned, she went back to Ailexia’s body not long after. While she was thinking alone and in the middle of conversing with the innkeeper who had entered the room.

‘Considering the time it took then, I should have gone back by now. No, it seems like it’s been even longer.’

She couldn’t know exactly, but that’s how it felt subjectively. If she excluded the time spent thinking alone on the second floor and the time spent thinking alone at the inn as similar, and compared what came after, she had conversed more with the old woman than with the innkeeper.

So naturally, the time should have been longer.

“It seems the other side hasn’t awakened yet.”

Just then, the old woman remarked as if it were nothing. Iella raised her wavering gaze. She saw the old woman pouring freshly brewed warm tea into a cup.

“Do you know… the reason why our bodies switch?”

“I know the most likely reason.”

“Please tell me!”

Even Vanessa had been perplexed, and they couldn’t find anything despite searching through ancient books. Iella hastily requested. Her pink eyes shone with intense light.

“I’m recalling based on what I heard back then. Do you remember what the situations were like just before switching?”

“I do.”

“Do you also know that the two of you are in a very unstable state right now?”

“Yes.”

“Then this will be easy to explain.”

The old woman picked up her cup again and sat down. Then she took a small notebook and quill pen gathered at one side of the table and opened a blank page.

Soon the quill pen moved across the paper.

“They say eyes are the windows to the soul. Therefore, for a proper soul exchange, one must find someone with identical eye color. But you and the other person aren’t perfectly identical, correct?”

“Yes. I know that’s why it’s incomplete and the sorcery is unstable.”

“Finding such a person in the world is extremely difficult. If searching nearby, only family members would qualify. That’s why this sorcery has limited use and is said to exist only in theory.”

Nodding at Iella’s answer, the old woman drew two human figures on the paper.

“Anyway, this sorcery has inevitably occurred between you two. Both body and soul are suffering. The body containing the soul is at risk of breaking at any moment, and the soul is desperate to break out of that body. What happens when the body can no longer endure?”

“The soul is ejected. That’s why it returned to its original body.”

Iella finally felt like the gears were meshing together.

So far, she had returned to her original body twice. And she had been in life-threatening situations that caused her to faint exactly twice as well.