The Seed Thief

“Ugh…”

Lulu rolled on the bed with an irritated grumble. Her stomach churned, twisting like a sour fist. Sick or hungry? She couldn’t tell.

After eating bread from the old woman in the village, her stomach ached. Yet there was nothing else to eat, so she kept eating it and ended up like this. Despite lacking common sense, Lulu knew eating spoiled food would cause an upset stomach.

Anger flared at the old woman for giving her bad bread, but it faded quickly.

“At least I spoke to someone after a long time.”

Lulu had only said one line, but it felt like a big deal to her.

Because she hadn’t talked to anyone for so long, her voice barely came out when she wanted to speak.

‘Next time, I’ll ask how to make good bread.’

Lulu knew how to make bread from recipes in a book the witch left behind. But after gathering ingredients and even building a fire pit, she followed the instructions and ended up with an oddly shaped lump of charcoal.

After that, Lulu gave up cooking. Boiling potatoes and picking tomatoes was enough to keep her alive. Sometimes roasting a small wild beast and sprinkling it with rock salt was tasty enough.

Of course, she knew the bread was delicious, but what could she do when she couldn’t make it? Her only option was to give something to the old woman, who did not carry a weapon against her.

Though her stomach hurt, she still thought the bread was delicious and turned to the book she was reading. Her plan to make a homunculus had made some progress recently.

A few days ago, while Lulu was looking for food in the kitchen, a pile of books collapsed.

Lulu usually ignored such things, but when it got to the point she couldn’t move, she had to clear the pile.

Nevertheless, Lulu did not have the strength to do so, so she removed each book one by one until noticing a rat hole clogged with paper in the corner of the floor. It was a page torn from an unknown book, full of letters.

Wondering what book it came from, Lulu pulled it out and scanned the content. Her face, which at first showed little curiosity, soon turned serious.

“This……!”

Lulu’s hands trembled as she held the crumpled worn-out paper.

“The human seed!”

Surprisingly, the page described the human seed Lulu had desperately sought! Moreover, it included drawings.

“So…the seed is inside the male’s genitals?”

She muttered, gaze locking on the human male body drawn on the paper.

She had seen human men many times but had never seen them naked. And none of the witch’s books depicted the male body so nakedly, more precisely, the genital part.

Lulu read the content with a burning passion for learning. However, the human seed was not the main focus of the content; it was mentioned briefly, with most content about other things. But Lulu could not hide her delight upon discovering where the human seed was.

“I got it! I finally got it!”

Lulu finally discovered the missing ingredient needed to complete the homunculus. She looked back at the paper.

[After extracting the human seed, that seed…]

“Extract?”

Extracting meant taking it out, right? So she had to take the seed out and plant it instead of just planting it? But how to do that?

Suddenly, Lulu’s gaze turned to the knife on the kitchen sink. She recalled that some forest fruits required a knife to cut through the hard skin to get the seeds out.

Should she cut the genitals like that? But wouldn’t a person hurt if she cut them with a knife? Then how should she take it out? Would it come out when pressed?

Clutching the paper, Lulu contemplated how to extract the human seed. However, no viable method came to mind all night.

“Is there a hole to take it out?”

But the hole in the drawing was too small for what appeared to be a seed sac.

Even after many days, Lulu still had no clue how to extract the human seed.

Rolling on the bed, Lulu slowly got up and approached the desk. There was an oddly huge thick book lying on the desk full of clutter from nowhere.

It was a book containing forbidden magic formulas that Lulu used to touch without thinking when she was young, earning her a severe scolding from the forest witch.

All magic in the world requires magic formulas. However, since magic was so complicated, most mages would prepare by looking at books while drawing out the magic formula before casting them.

It was common for those with insufficient abilities to draw magic formulas with ink on paper, while those with overflowing abilities prepared by shaping their magic into light, drawing it in the air.

Of course, Lulu preferred to draw magic formulas with light. She started doing so because there wasn’t enough paper and ink to draw to her heart’s content.

Lulu looked at the magic name written on the page.

“Obedience Magic, which steals the opponent’s will and turns them into a loyal slave…….”

Beneath the name was a dense description. It was said to have a high recoil on failure, making the caster more likely to be enslaved or knocked out. Furthermore, since the consciousness of the living beings was highly volatile, even if they were enchanted, it would not last forever and would eventually break free.

“But I don’t know how long it lasts.”

Unfortunately, the part about the duration of the magic was eaten by bookworms, leaving a hole.

“The mental magic usually lasts for about a year… I guess it’s similar.”

Lulu said as she examined the duration of the other magic formulas written back and forth, then started drawing the magic formula while looking at the book. Soon enough, a glowing magic formula floated above Lulu’s head.

Looking at the floating formula, Lulu clenched her fists as if she had made up her mind, grabbing her cloak and walking out of the house.

As Lulu walked out, the golem that had been sitting under a tree approached her happily. Lulu looked at the golem and said seriously.

“I’m going to catch a human man…Oh, no. I’ll bring him in just for a moment.”

At that, the golem waved its stone hands around its head as if saying,

“But there is no other way! If I get that one ingredient, I can make a homunculus!”

It had been a long time since she got all the ingredients, but she could not make it until now because of that one ingredient. Now she knew where to find it so she would not stand still.

“I’m not going to keep the human. I’ll just extract the seed and send them right back! Besides, since the villagers have several young humans with them, the seeds would regenerate like flower or tree seeds! I’m sure they can spare one!”

Lulu muttered a stream of words, not knowing if she spoke to the golem or herself, and swiftly turned around. As if telling her to stop, the golem grabbed her worn clothes, and with a snap, her old cloak was torn, leaving only one sleeve intact.

“Argh! Are you serious?! It was already a ragged piece of clothing!”

When the witch’s ragged clothes ripped further upon the golem’s touch, Lulu let out an angry howl. The golem jerked back at her angry voice but still waved its hands around its head. Though it had no mouth, a voice seemed to say.

But Lulu couldn’t back down now.

‘It only takes a moment.’

After bringing in a human with obedience magic and extracting the seed, she will send them back immediately.

“I’ll be back soon! Don’t follow me! People will notice if they hear your footsteps!”

As a creation of LuLu’s, the golem had no choice but to obey her command no matter what it was.

The golem remained where it was, shrugging its shoulders as if saying,

* * *

Leaving the golem behind, Lulu walked briskly toward the village. The sun hung high in the sky. It was the busiest time for the villagers.

‘When you go to the farms or pastures next to the village, there definitely will be people working there.’

They usually worked alone, so no one would notice if she sneaked up on one, cast magic, extracted the seed, and sent them back. The victim himself was unlikely to remember what had happened to him.

Lulu’s brisk walk continued until a field came into view. As she spotted farmland carved out of the sloping ridge between the trees, Lulu hid in the bushes and surveyed the farmland.

When Lulu felt like meeting people, she would come near the village to observe them. Women drove oxen to plow the fields, men worked beside them, and children ran around their sides. Older people sometimes came by to give food to the workers.

They merely lived their lives, yet watching them was so interesting. But when they left, Lulu returned home alone to her cottage deep in the forest, filled with melancholy.

‘Now it’s over.’

If she got the human seed and created a human companion, a family, she would no longer spy on people like this.

‘Just once…!’

Lulu rolled her eyes furtively in the bushes. Who? Who should she cast magic on?

Today there were more people in the fields than usual, which usually only occupied by one or two people. Lulu carefully observed them.

Like all living things, healthy seeds produce healthy beings. Lulu wanted to create a very robust and healthy homunculus. Thus, the seed’s owner must be in good health.

‘I must be careful since it will inherit the same characteristics.’

Just as red flower seeds produce red flowers, the human seed would inherit the owner’s characteristics. The proof was that humans all had young humans resembling themselves somehow, didn’t they?

Lulu pondered what characteristics her homunculus should have.

‘I want it to be tall.’

Lulu was on the short side, so she could not reach the ceiling or high shelves with her hands. Although she could fly up with magic, it would be more convenient if her hands could get it directly. What else should the seed have?

Lulu’s gaze turned to the people roaming the field in the distance. Tall people, short people. People with black hair or red hair. People with thick or thin arms…

As Lulu examined each characteristic, her gaze fell on a man carrying a child. The man smiled as he whispered something in the child’s ear. The child then closed his eyes as if tickled and soon burst into laughter. Lulu muttered unconsciously at that sight.

“I hope it can laugh and cry well.”