The Witch and the Doll Swear

Shetis.

The last place where the train stopped was the largest town in the basin named after the river valley. However, it was a short distance from the earldom that was given to Liliana for escorting the direct bloodline of the Lionheart King to Olympion. There is still some distance here.

Walking out of the train station, while Tina was still sighing with emotion at this town composed of white walls, red tiles, circular mosaic tile streets and fountains, Liliana had already hired a car that looked the most beautiful on the street. The luxurious carriage carried the two people and the doll along the road on the side of the river, heading south.

On both sides of the road, whether it is the other side of the river or the direction of the horizon, the land you enter is full of attractive green.

"Are these all vineyards..."

In my impression, the scenery that occupies the entire land and seems to set off pure waves in the sun and wind is always wheat fields and forest seas.

Tina never thought that on a cold winter day, the rows of wooden stakes driven into the fertile soil, with the green grapevines climbing up and stretching their stems and leaves, could also set off waves under the sky, making people mistakenly think that autumn is not far away. Go to the green waves.

"Except for a small part planted with winter wheat and a small amount of apple orchards, the rest are all planted with grapes. Half of the wine in Olympion comes from grapes here!"

Waving his whip to make the horses move forward steadily, the coachman smiled proudly and answered Tina's question.

"Are you two adults going to the Foerst territory? A few years ago, there were only some scattered villages and a winery. However, three years ago, the Foerst family announced the establishment of a new territory on the territory. In the town, a castle was built, which was very beautiful. Moreover, the wine of Mazuela Winery has been ranked among the top ten in the province in every tasting meeting for hundreds of years, and has been ranked among the top ten in the kingdom. Liquor, so when the town was first established, the Foerst family was really prosperous."

Perhaps because of his enthusiastic personality, or perhaps because the silver coin given by Liliana made him elated, the burly middle-aged man started chatting with joy.

Because the name of the winery is so long, the locals refer to the most famous winery of the Forster family as Chateau Massura for short.

This winery has always been located on the most fertile land on the west bank of the Holly River and has the best winemakers. The Förster Rose, Marsula Gem and Holly Tears brewed are all famous wines. Years ago, they also established a new town on the territory and built a magnificent castle for the family.

However, after those two years of glory, just like every story of prosperity and decline, the family gradually declined.

"...The Holly River Valley is divided into two counts and some small viscounts and baronies. Among these territories, the First Territory is the least prosperous territory. It does not even have castles and large settlements. As a gift to a This is the hereditary territory of the earl who is absent from the country all year round. I also understand their concerns and have not expressed anything about it. In fact..."

Hearing this, the witch frowned slightly.

"...In fact, after I handed over the territory to the most popular winemaker family in the territory at that time and allowed them to call themselves the Forster family, I basically ignored them. It was only opened in the Magician's Association. The two accounts set up in the bank allow them to deposit the income of the winery and the taxes of the territory, and they can withdraw a large amount of gold coins from my account every quarter for production, employee wages and territory management. ,but now……"

In the Holly River Valley, the earldom of Forster is the only territory without a town. Winemakers are relatively scattered on the land, centered on wineries and fruit growers and villages next to vineyards.

At least, this was the case when Liliana passed by here one time two hundred years ago. At that time, there were no Shetis, and there were no trains to the Holly River Valley. The wine was transported to the docks by horse-drawn carriages, and by boat to the Holly River. Downstream, and then around a big bend to reach the royal capital.

And there is not even a pier in the First Territory.

But two hundred years later, the witch couldn't tell what had become of this property that she didn't pay much attention to. Now, listening to the coachman's words, it was obvious that she was not very optimistic.

After asking the coachman some things, but the coachman could only tell the rumors that everyone knew, Liliana fell into deep thought.

When he was almost tired of looking at the unchanging vineyards on both sides of the road, the carriage stopped in front of a gate.

Liliana, who just listened silently to the coachman's gossip and rumors along the way, put a silver coin in the tall hat that the coachman took off when she left the carriage, signaling him to wait here for a while.

After the coachman gratefully prayed to Goddess Shiva, that the holy light and fire would bless such a generous noble lady, and drove the carriage to the side to wait under the shade of a tree, the witch held the little doll and looked at this person with a scrutinizing gaze. In front of you is this castle with an open door.

The area is not very large, but it is not small either. It has thick iron-clad wooden doors and a thick 5-meter-high city wall. There is no moat. Instead, there are long water canals. The water drawn from the Holly River irrigates the castle walls. It accommodates a vast vineyard, and a little further away, another town with white walls and red tiles is located over there.

"...It seems that the situation is indeed not that optimistic."

"Um……"

Liliana, who stared for a moment and took a deep breath, said this.

After taking a deep breath, Alice nodded and tilted her head in embarrassment in the witch's arms.

"Huh? But it doesn't look so bad."

Tinna, who was covered in goosebumps all over her fingers because of the church that the coachman mentioned in her prayer, had goosebumps all over her body. She looked at the castle, which was still quite new, and then at the witch and the puppet with serious expressions. Take a deep breath.

"smell good."

The cold air cleared up the brain that was a little lazy due to the afternoon sun, and immediately the girl's sense of smell was filled with the sweet aroma of the fruit. Because of this sweet aroma, she unconsciously showed a smiling face of enjoyment.

The vineyards in the Holly Valley will plant the grapes in spring and summer respectively, which will be harvested in autumn and cold winter respectively. Now that autumn has passed, in the cold winter wind, the sweet aroma of the grapes is even stronger than when Shetis just came out.

"This must be a big harvest, Miss Liliana, is what the coachman said true? It feels like, it doesn't look like the winery is in trouble at all."

"No, Miss Tina, look at the fields near the castle, those grapes haven't been harvested yet."

"That's right..."

"If it is not harvested at this time, even if it can be harvested later, the winter grapes that accumulate more sugar in the fruit will soon be ripe. It's okay to make wine from grapes, but Alice remembered that this winery didn't seem to make that kind of wine, and the grape varieties were not right."

"...that is to say?"

Alice looked worriedly at the castle gate that was open but no one was on duty.

“… generally the winery’s own grapes are the first to be harvested, because they are planted on the best land, cared for and of high quality, and are used to make the winery’s best wines, If a winery doesn’t even harvest its own grapes.”

Liliana looked at the gate of the castle with icy eyes. At the top, craftsmen carved the coat of arms of grape vines and goblets with exquisite craftsmanship.

Only half, this is the most special coat of arms Tina has ever seen.

"I seem to understand something... It looks really bad..."

When the carriage passed by a small town that was much smaller than Shetis, Tina also saw this coat of arms, which was also made of stone, inlaid on the stone pillars on both sides of the road, covered by some withered vines Tangled.

Although it has withered, there is no one to clean up the broken branches and leaves.

It was as if the gates of a castle were open but unguarded.

"So... are what the coachman said true? It's a bad year, a curse or something."

"...Probably, what exactly is it, you should ask and find out."

After speaking, the witch hugged Alice and crossed the gurgling ditch.

There are no soldiers guarding the gate of the castle. There is only a room in front of the gate, which is probably a guard room. A man in coarse clothes sits bored behind the window, picking his nails with a toothpick.

Seeing Liliana approaching with a doll in her arms, he was taken aback for a moment, and then with a troublesome expression, he spoke to expel her from behind the delicate wrought iron window.

"This is not a place where children can come and play, go, go."

Like chasing away troublesome feral cats.

"Well, we are..."

In order to reveal her intention and identity, Ting Na took a step forward.

Although Liliana said that the name of that secretary was meaningless in areas other than the City of Thousand Towers, the girl did not intend to get paid for nothing.

But the witch stretched out her hand and stopped her.

"...We're here to buy wine."

Waving her hand to signal the girl not to speak yet, Liliana spoke indifferently with her face up.

"Ah? What did you say? Little girl, did you come here on purpose to find fault?!"

The man's face, which was originally full of troublesome expressions, became distorted.

"I don't care which noble's daughter you are, even if the Masura Winery becomes what it is now, not just anyone can come and step on it!"

Just after the witch finished speaking, he stood up from the chair behind the window, pressed his unshaven face to the window rail of the guard room, shouted out of righteous indignation, and spit flew all over the place.

But the witch just raised her eyebrows lightly, and a rainbow-colored light curtain emerged from the air, blocking the spittle stars half a meter away.

Suddenly appearing in front of the magic between himself and the girl, the man was stunned for a while, his eyes widened, and even Tingna, who was standing behind Liliana, saw the sudden burst of flames in those gray-brown eyes .

"Don't think magic is a big deal—you nobles—"

When these words came out of the man's bearded mouth, he was almost furious, and he rolled up his sleeves to reveal his muscular arms. The whole person is like a wild bull, trying to tear open the iron window and swing the arm thicker than Miss Witch's waist to the faces of the two of them.

"……Shut up."

But the Witch didn't let him finish.

A small package passed through the iron fence accurately, and slammed fiercely on the nose of the bull. It was fast and heavy. The stunned man screamed and fell backwards. During the cry, the girl seemed to hear the sound of the bridge of her nose being broken.

"Damn, damned brat—"

The roar stopped abruptly.

"...I won't say it a third time, we're here to buy wine."

After removing the curtain of rainbow light, Liliana repeated it lightly.

After personally coming to the source of the trouble that disrupted her plans and plans, Miss Witch's mood seemed to deteriorate uncontrollably.

No doubt it hurts.

But the man behind the iron fence held his nose, but didn't make a sound.

He stared blankly at the girl who was dressed in a luxurious foreign body and was holding a doll that looked expensive, and then looked at the bag of golden coins in his hand that just smashed his nose .

"...Are you, you guys, really here to buy wine?"

Although with an expression of disbelief, he seemed to have calmed down.

After being dizzy from being hit by a small bag of gold coins, no matter who it is, it is true that they will calm down and think about it.

"No, that's right. We came here on purpose because we heard that Masoura Winery is the oldest winery in Holly Valley. Do you mean that you plan to keep customers away?"

Ting Na hurriedly spoke before the witch.

Although I don't know why Liliana concealed her identity, but if the witch who is in a bad mood answers, this man who is obviously not a receptionist may have his nose smashed once more.

"...Is it an outsider?"

The man looked at the two dubiously, muttered, held his nose, knocked open the door of the guard room, and ran towards the interior of the castle.

Only then did Tina realize that the man's left leg was only in half, and under the knee, a metal round rod replaced the calf and foot that should have been there.

a disabled person.

He staggered into the castle, by this time.

"...Hey, Miss Liliana, who taught you how to use money like this... Do you always carry a lot of gold coins with you?"

Ting Na looked at Liliana.

"...When Lin Lun came here, he was in a hurry. He didn't replenish the money on his body, and now he only has 3 to 40 gold coins."

Liliana raised her eyebrows slightly when she saw the man's legs. But she didn't show any more expressions, and she just responded flatly to the girl's question.

"Yes, is it..."

[Only 3, 40] It looks like, right?

Sure enough, no matter how long we travel together, we still can't get used to Miss Witch's view of money.

But it is undeniable that the heavy gold coin has extraordinary magic power, especially after hitting the face. A few minutes passed, and from the castle, a young girl who wore a red-spotted apron over a long cotton skirt ran over quickly.

Seeing the two women standing in front of the door, she slowed down, and while walking, she untied the scarf that was stained with wine red spots like the apron.

The red-flame-like curly hair spread out fluffy, and when she walked in front of Liliana, the somewhat disordered breathing due to running had calmed down, and the same pair of fiery red eyes looked at the two without a trace for a while, then she bent down, He bowed deeply to Tina.

At the same time as she bowed again, she also held out her other hand, which was not holding the hijab.

"On behalf of the Foster family, I apologize for Jon's rudeness, two guests."

Tina took the money bag and handed it to Liliana without thinking too much.

This made the red-haired girl startled for a moment, and then she looked at the girl who was still standing in front of Tina, holding a doll, and she was as delicate as a doll herself.

"...Does the winery have extra gold coins as compensation?"

Just in time, Liliana, who was holding Alice with one hand, took the purse handed over by Tina, her dark eyes met the fiery gaze, and seeing Liliana, the girl couldn't help being in a daze for a moment, but immediately she was in a daze. The business-like smile that Tina used to wear every day was revealed on her face, and she straightened her back and gave a noble skirt ceremony to Tina and Liliana.

"Although Masura Winery is in trouble now, the employees still need to apologize for their impoliteness. I am the eldest daughter of the Furst family, Mary Furst. I heard that the two plan to buy wine... I don't know what to expect. Which ones to buy and how much to buy?"

That smile was very forced, and even those fiery red eyes revealed a deep sense of fatigue. The girl named Mary was trying her best to cope with the witch's cold words.

"... Then we have to wait until after the visit to make a decision."

"……visit?"

……………………………………………………………………………………

Today is definitely a weird day for Mary. .

The winery has been in distress—or on the verge of bankruptcy—for some time, and no guests have visited for a long time. Therefore, when Jon with a swollen nose said that two guests from other places were coming to buy wine, the girl who was worrying about the bill was completely stunned.

When he said this, Jon's nose was swollen like a clown's, and there was an indescribable smile on his face. To be honest, at that time, Mary thought that he came here deliberately to find her own happiness.

But that bag of gold coins is the real deal, under a clear coating that prevents scuffing. On one side is the cross of virtue, on the other side is the seven-winged coat of arms of Magnus. The girl has some magical knowledge. Although she can't say exactly where it comes from, at least, the gold coins of Holly Valley are not like this.

So she immediately dropped the bill that would not make any progress even if she looked at it with her eyes, and even her father didn't have time to inform, driving her tired body, she quickly came to the door of the winery, and prayed to the eternal flame Jon, who couldn't read all the words, didn't mess things up too much.

Blessed by the holy fire, from the current point of view, this little noble lady doesn't seem to take Jon's offense to heart.

It's a pity that this didn't make the girl's heart relax.

"Well, why do you want to visit...?"

Whether it's this beautiful girl in an expensive dress.

Or her request.

"... visit a winery known for its fine wines since Olympion's founding, and see how the luscious fruit is transformed from mellow to aged in the hands of skilled winemakers... Questions?"

Mary's perplexed question was met with no ups and downs in the answer.

"No, that..."

Any questions?

The girl's rhetorical words at the end of the sentence were very soft. After the words fell, the black pupils lifted up. Mary had never seen such a pure black, but felt that she had fallen into the boundless night sky, surrounded by majestic stars, and she was in it. , Even the depths of the soul are illuminated.

--what happened? this girl...

Mary's breathing caught slightly.

At first glance, the girl who was so cute that one couldn't help but want to hug her seemed to have taken off her cute disguise at the moment, just like a rabbit shedding its fur to become a proud and majestic female wolf.

The coldness of deep winter seems to be more lingering.

——Is this, magic?

The trembling from the heart stopped the girl's heartbeat for a moment, and she was unable to speak. The girl's words forced her to think about the question of "what's the problem?"

All right.

If unmanned workshops, orchards with rotten fruits on vines, and empty cellars are not a problem, then there is no problem at all.

Oh, and the bills you don't know how to pay.

With a long history, the Marsula Farah de Lisucia winery, which has been rooted in this land since the founding of Olympian, has never been so embarrassing in any period, but.

As long as these things go to the next town, even a child who has just learned to speak can say it with joy. Now, even if the messy situation will only tarnish Forster's reputation, even such a arrogant guest, now she doesn't care about it. There are so many.

Hesitating for only a moment, she took a deep breath, and under her slanted bangs, Mary smiled wryly.

"...Please come with me."

And a pent-up dissatisfaction.

After speaking, Mary turned around and walked quickly towards the castle.

Passing through the gate of the castle, behind the solid city wall is a castle also made of huge stone bricks. The main body of the castle is independent from the outer wall, with the same tall studded door. After passing through this gate, which is open and unattended like the city gate, you enter the front hall of the castle.

With fiery red bangs dangling in front of her eyes, Mary walked quickly ahead by herself, leaving a distance of almost ten meters.

The girl turned her head from time to time, but the cute and majestic girl had no intention of chasing after her at all.

She and the girl in a suit kept their own pace, lagging behind and looking around, still talking in a low voice.

Originally, Mary walked so fast because she wanted to see the girl who was much shorter than herself struggling to catch up with her, but now she couldn't hear what the two of them were talking about.

They looked at the statue of the eternal flame placed in the half-sunken groove on the wall, and at the trophies and medals placed on the stone pillars and stone platforms on both sides, but they didn't look at her directly.

"Cough, cough."

The girl had to clear her throat, trying to catch their eyes.

"Two guests. This is the front hall of the Masula Winery, which is used to show the glory that the winery has won. The whole winery is in this castle, from the left hand side to the winery's orchard, from the right The promenade used to be a wine-making workshop, and the second floor is a room for business and affairs that is not open to the public. I don’t know what the two guests want to visit. If you want to visit them all, such a slow pace will not work.”

Although she was smiling politely, this passage sounded like she was provocative. Mary knew that she was a bit out of sorts.

"...Take me to the workshop."

However, the girl and her entourage just walked past her indifferently and walked towards the corridor on the right.

Didn't even look at her again.

"...Then, this way please."

It was as if the blow with all its strength had only hit the air, which made Mary feel a strong sense of fatigue. She quickened her pace and walked in front of the two, but this time, she did not deliberately distance herself.

Although she is an arrogant little girl who makes people feel annoying, but they are guests.

The girl warned herself in this way, to be patient, to be patient.

Maybe this is the last turning point for the winery.

"Phew... let's visit one by one according to the brewing process. First of all, here is the sorting room."

Taking a deep breath, the girl forced a smile on her face, and pushed open the first door of the corridor.

"This is the first step in grape processing. The careful sorters sort the grapes picked by the growers here, sifting out the grape leaves and other sundries mixed in during the picking process, and also remove those that are not suitable for winemaking. If the grapes are small or not ripe, the stems will be removed, cleaned and sent to the next room."

"Then here is the pressing room, where the selected grapes are broken. In order to make the red wine have a beautiful color, the broken grapes are directly put into the wine tank for fermentation. If the white wine is made, the juice will be squeezed once, but we The winery mainly produces red wine. Many traditional wineries still insist that only young and beautiful women can make good wine by stepping on the grape juice squeezed with their feet, but our winery has fully used mechanical tools, which can evenly and properly Crushing the grapes without crushing the seeds imparts bitterness to the wine."

"Next here is the wine tank room. The grapes that are crushed and pressed will be put into these metal tanks, managed by the winery's first-class winemakers. The whole room is solidified with a permanent magic circle that isolates dust and maintains temperature. Let the grape juice ferment into the most perfect first wine, and then."

"Then here is the last wine cellar, the temperature and humidity are kept constant by magic. After nearly a thousand years in the underground of the winery, every piece of wood here comes from the mountains of Lovalon, and the winter frost oak stands there for a hundred years. Years later, the dwarves cut them down with their axes, and the wine stored in these barrels has a softer taste than the unmelted snow on the top of the mountains, and a more elegant fragrance than the perfume of a lady."

Opening a door, closing it, and going to the next room, this repetitive behavior finally ushered in the end at the end of the spiraling downward stairs.

Under the cool light created by magic, Mary's shadow shone on the wall, maintaining that courtly posture.

Teenage girl feels like a clown.

"...Is that all?"

And, still a failed clown,

The girl in a suit and short skirt still reacted a little bit, and asked politely about the part she didn't understand, but from the beginning to the end, the girl holding the doll watched her open one after another with a blank expression. door, doing a comical show to an empty room.

Until now, this nasty girl who is cute but not cute at all has spoken. Speak the first sentence.

"... If you are talking about wine, this is all you have. They were stored two years ago and one year ago respectively, 5 barrels of First Rose, 7 barrels of Masura Gem, and 4 barrels of Holly's Tears... ...Only these have been stored for two years, and it is far from being suitable for drinking."

The smile was gradually replaced by exhaustion. The girl approached the wine rack containing the wooden barrels, and stretched out her hands to caress the expensive and delicate wood.

"Is this what the guests want to see?"

Mary said without looking back.

She was tired, seeing such a wine cellar, she was not in the mood to maintain the etiquette of the waiter.

"...Where are the workers at the winery?"

"Only the family members are still here, and now they harvest grapes in the orchard, because the orchard is very big, there are few people, and the efficiency is very low."

"...And the fruit growers."

"We don't have the money to hire that many people anymore."

"...What about those treasured wines?"

"The last barrel of 30-year-old First Rose was sold half a month ago, for 200 gold coins."

Every question was without the slightest emotion, and Mary's answers were feeble.

"...Is there no other place?"

"That's right, the visit ends here."

Mary let out a long sigh.

Leaning against the wine rack, she marveled at how amused she was to find the desire to buy after seeing all this from two customers who didn't seem to know what was going on at first.

After seeing deserted workshops and empty cellars, yet.

"Now that the visit is over, do you want to buy these? Young and lovely little guest, the 2-year-old Forster Rose only needs 6 gold coins, the Masura Gemstone only needs 5 gold coins, and Holly's Tears only needs 3 gold coins... The ones that are only stored for one year are not sold, those are still too young, even if you try to wake them up with more skilled skills, they are still too blunt, and they are not ready to drink."

She imagined what she would say and how she would do when she finally arrived at the wine cellar. She imagined that she would persuade them to buy these with sweet words that she usually looked down upon, and even pleaded without hesitation.

When he actually said it, it was dry, with a little contemptuous provocation.

——In the end, as a winemaker, I still hold the honor of First. I really don’t know whether I should be happy or scold myself for being ignorant of current affairs.

How would she answer?

You don't need to look to know what kind of expression you have now, thinking about it, you will have some expressions. In this way, the red-haired girl raised her head mockingly.

But the silent girl was still staring silently with those dark eyes.

This old cellar, some traces of repairs, empty wine racks, a few wine barrels, the smell of wine in the air, and finally.

The girl called Liliana looked at the girl.

"... Now that the tour is over, call everyone and explain to me what happened."

"……ha?"

The girl stared at her first words, leaving Mary in the same daze she had when she said she was going to visit the winery.

— Calling everyone? Explain what happened?

Immediately, an unknown fire erupted.

——Do we still have to explain the ins and outs of our descent to this point to every guest?

"you--"

Almost at the same time that her roar was about to echo through the wine cellar.

Whoosh—

The witch raised her hand and threw something driven by magic.

It was a small thing that shone with silver light under the magical light. Mary instinctively reached out to catch it, and subconsciously wanted to throw it back. After confirming what it was from the corner of her vision.

"...!?"

screamed in disbelief.

"you……"

"...Call everyone, tell me what happened, don't make me say it a third time."

the second time.

The girl with coffee-colored skin glanced at her coldly. The majestic starlight stopped all the red-haired girl's actions as before. She looked at Mary and repeated her previous words in an unwavering tone. Then, with The girl in a suit left from the stairs of the wine cellar.

Mary was left alone in the wine cellar.

"...Are you kidding me..."

After her back also disappeared, and she stared blankly at Mary who had gone away, she lowered her head again.

In the girl's palm, the ancient silver ring was being dyed light blue under the magic light. The hollow ring, the flat ring surface, and the dark green emerald were cut into a coat of arms that the girl was very familiar with.

Vines, with goblets.

Only half.