The air was thick with the smell of sulfur.
Before her lay a garden nourished by misty dew, while not far away, a hot spring continuously vented steam from within a great tree hollow.
Jiang Han placed the head boxes she had collected from the South City branch one by one on the wooden table in the garden. Beside her, Caroline the Worm Witch held a cup of black tea, sipping at it in small mouthfuls as she watched Jiang Han with pure, flawless eyes.
Jiang Han had borrowed Caroline's garden because, when she had been somewhat at a loss on the road earlier, the other woman had extended a hand of friendship and asked whether she needed help.
Witches were rarely polite for politeness' sake, and Worm Witches were the most straightforward of straightforward folk. Jiang Han had thought:
'Maybe Caroline knows demons better?'
'Maybe I'll need her help with my work?'
So she had gone along with it. It was absolutely not because she coveted the delicious food made by Caroline's cooking dog.
"What do you want to eat?" Caroline asked, looking at Jiang Han as she sipped her tea.
"What are the options?" Jiang Han forced out a smile.
Once again, she warned herself inwardly, 'I'm absolutely not bothering Caroline because her cooking dog makes good food.'
Caroline's gaze lingered on her face. She set down her teacup, her eyelids half-lowered, and said as though weighed down by worries:
"French food, German food, Japanese food, Korean food."
They were all delicious... Jiang Han quietly swallowed, then feigned indifference as she said:
"Caroline, you seem very down today. Did something not go well? Or do you have some trouble on your mind? You can tell me. I'm not a professional, but my previous work as a hostess involved