If I Had a Child Too

"...Flat as a plate, rust-colored, rough, covered in thorny gray carapace-like skin, with three pairs of spider-like limbs, taller than I was..."

"You encountered Koshchey in the Amell Mountains?"

"Yes, Koshchey. That was the name Visenna used too... Oh, we're here..."

Colin chatted idly as he led the group beneath the oak's shade.

Once his eyes adjusted to the shift between the glaring sunlight and the shadows, he immediately noticed that something seemed off about Visenna's expression.

But when he looked at Bloody Red Fox—the Sorceress who had just turned a human into a leech—the gratitude and eagerness to please on her face were obvious.

What had happened?

Colin quietly moved closer and exchanged a glance with Visenna, only to find her gaze so complicated that he could not read it at all.

"What happened?" Colin whispered into Visenna's ear.

Visenna gently shook her head.

Colin was about to ask again when Visenna's gaze had already shifted to Francesca Findabair.

The crude disguise Francesca Findabair wore to fool humans naturally could not deceive the mistress of the Druid Circle of Myna.

After only two looks, she recognized Francesca Findabair as an elf. With her peerlessly beautiful features, golden hair, and blue eyes, Visenna had already formed a guess. Then, when her gaze fell upon the last Sorceress to approach, that guess was confirmed.

"Sage Aemin, why are you here as well?" Visenna asked in surprise.

Druids were students of forests and nature. They learned about nature by speaking with flowers, grasses, and trees, wielding powerful natural forces to maintain the balance of the ecosystem.

Humans, elves, dwarves—all intelligent beings were part of nature. Naturally, most Circles of Druids did not share ordinary humans' disgust and hatred toward nonhumans.

Quite the opposite.

Unlike sorcerers, most Circles of Druids opposed humanity's extermination