Mr. Mortis said that the Magic Potion Merchant had his own Herb Cottage in the western area outside the city, where he occasionally stayed and helped the villagers of the Fishing Village treat illnesses and injuries.
The address of the Herb Cottage was quite clear; it was a location known only to his friends. After leaving the city, Shade turned into Red Butterflies and flew ahead. Then, after following the muddy forest path left by the snowfall for only a short distance, he spotted the cottage in the woods. It was surrounded by a fence, with an herb field in the yard and Licorice Leaves drying on the outer walls of the wooden house.
Both the courtyard gate and the cottage door were locked, and there were no footprints in the thick snow covering the yard. But aside from Shade, there was someone else outside the courtyard.
A woman wrapped in a grayish coarse linen shawl stood outside the fence, holding a child bundled in a small blanket. When Shade appeared, she was peering into the yard, seemingly trying to determine whether the Herbal Doctor was home.
The child looked less than a year old, but the woman's face was as weathered as if she were already forty. Years spent by the sea had left her cheeks a dark red like salted fish, while her dry yellow hair was carelessly tied into a bun with fishing-net cord, exposing sunburned, molting skin at the back of her neck.
Shade did not conceal himself, so the anxious woman, shivering from the cold, noticed him as well. Even with her limited experience, she could tell at a glance that this handsome young man was an important person from In The City.
She did not dare speak to Shade first. But when Shade had