Silver Needle

"That person lives in the northern village cave, we have to go to the village to look for information."

Iris had just finished taking a shower and was combing her long hair, Thomas just stared at her while chewing the cookie in his mouth, still upset inside.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Iris asked back, feeling Thomas's disapproving look. But the boy just looked away.

Iris paid it no mind, her mood had always been good lately, thanks to her new body.

The witch stood up, and put on the black hood she got from the bar lady, she glanced at Thomas, the boy was only wearing a shabby white top and knee-length pants, his legs were not wearing any pads, and there were many scratches on them.

Iris suddenly felt like a bad mother.

"Come on, we don't have much time," Iris said with a smile, taking Thomas' hand, Litzy trailing behind them.

They walked hand in hand to the village at the bottom of the hill, where Iris executed humans last night, Iris covered her head with a hood, as did Thomas.

Some of the people they met seemed indifferent to their existence, the village that day was very crowded, and it seemed like today was market day.

"Tommy, we're going to do some shopping," said Iris, Thomas confused.

"Why shopping? Can't you use magic?" Thomas asked, he saw this morning that Iris took out clothes from her magic bag. He thought maybe it was one of the magics Iris used.

"Magic is only temporary, Tommy. I have a lot of money anyway." Iris took Thomas' hand and gave the boy three gold pieces, Thomas's eyes widen at the sight.

"Where from ..." Thomas stammered as he remembered Iris was very poor, in just a day, this woman left him for the village and became rich in an instant.

In the Megalima kingdom, the currency is silver and gold, one gold piece is worth a hundred pieces of silver, and now Iris is giving Thomas three pieces, Iris is very rich.

On the side of his admiration for Iris, Thomas also felt sad. He was a prince, but he now stretched out his hands to receive money, like a lowly beggar.

"Shop what you like, we'll meet here in an hour." Iris smiled under her hood, stroked Thomas' cheek, and then walked away followed by Litzy.

Thomas watched Iris leave with a bitter smile, in the end, he was the one who was always a burden to Iris.

Become Iris' partner?

Thomas must be dreaming, he's no match for Iris. The woman was now so beautiful and her body was very charming. Being his only child, he should be grateful.

But Thomas was still upset.

His little footsteps walking around the market, feeling uncertain, and walking alone in the crowd reminded him of the past. He and his sister, Princess Tiersa, loved to visit the market in secret to buy sweets.

Thomas used to love eating candy or candy apples, but when he grew up he never touched them again. And now that he was standing among the food vendors, he couldn't help but try them one by one.

Meanwhile, elsewhere Iris was sitting with an old acquaintance, in an old house, he was Lord Dai, an old man of the Orc race who had long since retired from the royal army.

"I didn't expect to see you back," said Dai as he unrolled a worn-out paper, as a retired marine, he held a lot of geographic information about the Megalima kingdom.

"And you're still as beautiful as ever. Ah, how long have we not seen each other?"

"I don't know, maybe a few hundred years." Iris smiled faintly, they generally have a long life, unlike humans who only live a few tens of years.

Dai chuckled, and his glasses slid down his nose. He quickly fixed it with his little finger, Dai had a body like the Orc race in general. Big, tall, and green, but Dai has a friendly and witty face.

"That bar lady... did you do it?"

"Yes, that's me."

Dai nodded in understanding, he had no intention of interfering in Iris' affairs.

"This is a map of the Megalima kingdom. You are currently here." Dai pointed to the farthest part of the map, the northern region.

"Since you're looking for that person, he's in the southern region, the journey there is a little difficult, but since you're a witch it's no big deal."

"I understand."

"But the thing is, why did you meet him? He's human, probably rotting underground by now."

"I have to see him."

"You're doing it for someone? It's not in your nature at all," Dai commented, sitting lazily in his chair.

"Who's he?"

"Human," Iris said curtly.

"Ho ... humans always make mistakes and are very arrogant in front of other races. Taking care of people who are cursed by the White Wizard will only cause you trouble."

"Hmm?"

"As his body shrinks, he loses not only his strength but his thinking power as well."

"He's acting like a child," she said, looking at the role of paper, she smiled. "But he's quite sweet."

Dai took a deep breath, then said, "Remember, sooner or later he will rot on the ground."

"Well, he did. But I can't just let him die, no matter how much he helps me."

"You tied it up?"

"Not for now," Iris reflected on Thomas's small face. "There's something I want to know about him, so I'll be patient."

****

Thomas was sitting on a bench by the market, resting. Beside him was a bag of sweets and sweets, and he was chewing the fish bread he had just bought.

Sitting solemnly while eating something and alone, Thomas's presence was not conspicuous, before a hunchbacked old woman sat beside him.

Thomas didn't say anything, he didn't intend to be friendly either, his mind was a little weird lately, so he was a little selfish. Thomas kept eating and eating until the third fish cake.

"The Little Prince."

The old woman opened her voice, Thomas was surprised and looked up, the cake that was still partially left fell to the ground.

"I knew it was you," she said again, her wrinkled face smiling, the white hair on the back of her head in a neat bun.

Thomas didn't say a word, still too shocked that his identity was known.

"Take this," continued the hunchbacked old woman her hand holding out a small black tube, Thomas took it and opened it. Inside was a silver needle.

"You can use it for certain circumstances." The old woman did not seem to expect an answer from Thomas's mouth. With her wooden stick, she walked into the crowd of the market and disappeared.

Thomas stared at the needle for a moment, at one glance, he knew who a needle this small could kill because silver needles were the weakness of Witch and werewolves.

"Iris."

Thomas muttered, feeling sad, he didn't have high hopes for the witch, let alone finding survivors of the curse, he just wanted to enjoy the rest of his life now.

Whether he would die from the curse or die at Iris' hands, he didn't care. Most importantly, being with her made him feel good.

Thomas likes Iris.