Songstress of Schwarzwald: The Secret of Zoe, the Exiled Music Mage

This winter, after finishing my morning chores, I head to Lang Village to learn sewing from Hanna, with Maggie by my side.

Then I return home to the Great Forest for lunch with Selina, and after that, we go gather medicinal herbs.

From evening onward, it’s Troubadour training! Though I’m still only practicing the harp.

I’ve managed to play scales well enough that Selina doesn’t get angry at me anymore.

Plus, Maggie’s been teaching me songs, and I’m working hard to play them. Maybe that’s why I’m improving so quickly.

At first, channeling magic into the Waymark to teleport to Lang Village was hard and time-consuming, but now I’m quite used to it.

I sell herbs at the general store, then use that money to buy fabric at the tailor shop and sew underwear!

Up till now, when I washed my underwear, I’d either wear my tiny old pair or go naked in summer. I’m so happy to have spare undies now.

And the time I spend sewing while singing songs with Maggie is the best part of my day!

But Hanna does scold me sometimes, saying, “Zoe, your hands are wandering!”

One thing to note is that Maggie doesn’t come to the tailor shop every day. Some days she has to help at her family’s general store.

Also, on blizzard days, she stays home.

This is hard to tell when you’re inside the Great Forest. The forest doesn’t get heavy snow like Lang Village does. Snow dances in the wind here and there, but it doesn’t accumulate much. Strange!

I’ve learned to understand that when Selina says, “Today’s impossible!” she means it.

At first, I thought she was just being careless! So I’d teleport to Lang Village anyway, only to find myself in a terrible blizzard and immediately teleport back to the Great Forest.

“Hey, why doesn’t it snow much inside the Great Forest? And why don’t the herbs wither either?”

I can afford to buy fabric thanks to the herbs not withering, so I’m grateful and all, but it’s still mysterious.

“The Great Forest is filled with magical power. That said, it’s still affected by the seasons, just more gently than outside.”

Huh, so that’s how it works.

I strum my harp—plink, plink—and decide there’s no point in me worrying about it, so I forget. Though really, I should have thought about it more seriously.

But it’s more fun to play the songs Maggie taught me on the harp. I sing while providing simple accompaniment.

“Zoe, you’ve gotten so good!”

During winter, I often couldn’t go to Lang Village, leaving me bored. For so long, I only had Merry and Ben the goats to talk to, but now I have Maggie and Hanna, so I’m dying to visit Lang Village.

Selina just sits there reading books. I wish she’d teach me more magic!

What I especially want to learn is Storage! It’d be so convenient!

“You still lack self-control, so you’d probably use it in front of people. Absolutely not.”

Selina must think I’m a total baby… I’m frustrated!

Even though I’ve watched Selina use Storage magic several times, I still can’t do it.

But over the winter, I learned to use Air Cutter without singing. That was a bit of a relief. I’d always worried—what if I couldn’t use it because my pitch was off when monsters attacked me?

But I still can’t manage Rasonpré. Maybe because it’s not urgent enough?

In other words, maybe I can’t use Storage because I don’t really need it! 

It’s convenient, but I can manage with bags and pouches. I have a carrying basket too.

On days when snow dances through the forest, I’ve learned that Lang Village is probably in a blizzard.

Today’s no good either… I miss Maggie.

Maybe because I was staring at the sky looking disappointed, Selina suddenly says, “I think it’s time to collect tree sap.”

On second thought though, she was probably just reminded because we’re out of sweets.

During winter, even Killer Bees collect less honey. No matter how much gentler the climate changes are inside the Great Forest compared to outside, there are still fewer flowers.

“Tree sap—that’s from defeating Treants and extracting it, right?” I ask Selina, who’s getting up from her usual spot on the long bench and preparing to go outside.

“That’s right. You should put on your coat too. And bring the hatchet and machete from the shed.”

Oh come on, are we really going to defeat Treants with just a hatchet and machete? I saw her extract tree sap before, but I remember the trunk being quite thick.

After getting ready, we walk through the Great Forest searching for Treants.

I don’t know how old Selina is, but she keeps her back straight and walks so quickly.

“Keep up!” she says. “There’s a stray Treant over there!”

Adult legs and child legs have different strides, you know.

“If we want to extract lots of tree sap, wouldn’t it be better to find a group?”

“Don’t be silly. We’re not selling it anywhere—we just need enough for you and me to eat.”

I guess that’s true?

But seeing a Treant for the first time made me nervous. “We’re going to defeat that thing? Isn’t that impossible?”

It’s a huge tree, and it’s walking, and I feel like it’s looking at us. Well, it doesn’t have eyes, but I can sense its gaze.

“Right, you try attacking with Air Cutter too!”

Nervously, I cast “Air Cutter♪” but only manage to cut off one branch.

Whoosh! Something flew at us from the Treant.

“Barrier!” Selina saved me, but the nut that hit her barrier exploded!

“Tch, this one’s not a tree sap Treant. But I do love walnuts!”

“Selina, you should check that first!” I complain. Regardless, she quickly defeats it with “Air Cutter.”

“Now that it’s downed, let’s gather the edible walnuts! You can manage that much, can’t you?”

Ugh, she’s making fun of me!

“Rasonpré♪” I collect the walnuts.

Walnuts look like small apples, but the outer shell is hard and bitter. You dry and eat the seed inside.

“Now, let’s get cutting! You use the hatchet on the small branches.”

Selina makes crude cuts with Air Cutter—snap, snap. I use the hatchet to remove branches.

“Use Air Cutter for the thick ones.”

“Help me out, Selina!” She’s taking it easy!

But just as I’m getting annoyed, a Big Boar came charging out of nowhere—snort, snort!

“Those piggies love walnuts! We were running low on meat anyway, so this is perfect!”

Voom! She cleaved its head off with a blade of wind.

I may have tons of complaints about Selina, but I do acknowledge that she’s truly skilled as a witch.

We somehow managed to remove all the branches, so Selina stored the Treant.

“Carry the remaining walnuts on your back!”

What about the branches? I wondered, but it turned into storage magic training.

“But you said before that you wouldn’t teach me Storage yet!”

Selina sighed.

“You just can’t use it in front of people. Besides, you’ll be eight next year. That’s when children become apprentices. Your friend Maggie might become an apprentice somewhere after the new year too.”

Storage magic aside, I’m shocked by the idea that my only friend Maggie might leave.

“Well, she might stay another year, and there’s no point worrying about it. It depends on what her parents think. Maggie’s mother is doing well with the general store, so she might keep her at home.”

“I hope so!”

Since there’s no point worrying about this, I have Selina teach me storage magic.

“Storage!” Selina, who usually doesn’t say incantations, demonstrates for me.

She does chant for attack magic more often though.

“Storage!” Yeah, I’m not storing anything at all.

“Don’t be silly. You’re a Troubadour, so you have to sing it first.”

Ah, right! Even though I can use magic without singing more often now, I couldn’t do it at first.

“Storage♪”

The Treant branches in front of me disappeared.

“Huh, where’d they go?” I know I stored them, but it’s so mysterious.

“I’ll teach you that when we get home! Tonight I want Big Boar steak.”

Well, I suppose we don’t need to practice in a forest where monsters are wandering around.