The cavalry of Codo Bay slaughtered the entire village, looting the belongings of every house, and the only thing to be thankful for was that they didn't have time to set fire to the place, which gave Hodge and the others a place to stay, considering that the nearest town was dozens of miles away, and Hera was in dire need of rest.

They returned to Hodge's hut, which was at the end of the village, some distance from the site of the massacre, and the smell of blood in the air was much lighter.

Hodge didn't close his eyes all night, because the house was ransacked, except for the worthless bottles and cans, many medicinal herbs, reagents that had been prepared, and even water were snatched away and turned into dust in that storm, so he carried a knife alone at night, picking medicinal herbs in the snowy region, and digging through the frozen river to get water.

In these days, he knew that Daphne's attainments in herbalism were obviously far beyond him, at least at the level of a master, and more importantly, Hera was a woman after all, and it was obviously more appropriate for Daphne, who was also a woman, to treat her.

After a long night's work, the sun slowly rose in the distance, and the gray sky gradually turned white, and Hodge sat a little haggard on the small bench outside the house, leaning against the wall to take a light nap.

The sound of the wooden door being pushed open woke Hodge, and he stood up and looked at the door in a dazed way, where Daphne was coming out, washing her hands with the snow chips from the doorway.

Hodge walked over to her, "How's it going?"

Devany turned her head to look inside the room and said, "It's stabilized, it's not life-threatening, and I don't know if it's lucky or unlucky, although the awakening process is not complete, she has indeed become a real witch, and I can sense the changes in her abdomen." ”

"To be alive is to be lucky. ”

"To be alive is to be lucky?" Devany smiled at him, "Why don't you go in and see her, she's awake now." ”

"Good. Hodge nodded, and was about to enter the house, when he was suddenly stopped by Devany, who looked at her in confusion.

Devonie opened and closed her mouth a few times, as if thinking about something, before she finally said, "I forgot to remind you that you have to be prepared, huh...... Because of the timing of her awakening, as well as the incomplete process, she became ...... It's not quite the same anymore. ”

"Not quite the same?" Hodge was slightly stunned.

Devany shook her head: "It's not the same anymore, both physical and psychological. ”

Hodge's mood suddenly became heavy.

She looked into the room again, sighed, let go of Hodge's hand, and whispered, "Go ahead, but be careful, she's not in a stable mood right now." ”

......

Hodge walked softly into the room, looked at the bed inside, and saw Hera sitting at the head of the bed, expressionless.

The first thing that caught his eye was the change in Hera's appearance.

Once upon a time, Hera was a cute little girl with long brown hair and gray-green pupils.

But now Hera's hair was white, not as pure as snow, but a slight yellowishness, and a different shade of color, like many spots attached to her hair, a sickly white.

And her pupils, the gray-green eyes that had once been full of innocence and shyness, were gone, replaced by pure gray, a color between white and black, which made her pupils look dull, revealing a sense of dead silence.

Hodge thought of the change in his pupils, and perhaps this change in appearance was also an integral part of the wizard's awakening process.

He walked over to the bed and stretched out his arms, wanting to comfort the little girl who had been through it as he had done before.

"Hera. He whispered, his palm running through her hair.

But the moment his hand made contact with Hera's body, her eyes suddenly changed, full of anger, and she instantly bounced to her feet like a snow leopard, her back against the dirt wall, and her eyes were full of vigilance when she looked at Hodge.

“...... Hera?"

Hodge was surprised, why did she react so strongly, why was she so hostile to herself?

Is this really the little girl in my impression?

Hera looked at her, her mouth wide open, and roared like a ferocious beast spreading its fangs.

"Ahh

She kept repeating the monosyllabic word, and now she made a hoarse and low voice that was quite uncomfortable to hear in the ears of the others because of the previous overuse of voice.

Hodge covered his ears with his hands, smiled reluctantly, looked at her and said, "Hera, it's me, I'm Hodge." ”

"Ahh

Hera was still yelling at him, and with the hostility she was now displaying, Hodge had no doubt that if she still had the ability, she would have turned her voice into a sonic blade like the one in the storm.

Hodge moved slowly towards Hera, watching his movements, Hera's shouting became more and more rapid, and she looked a little panicked, her back was already against the wall, but she still tried to retreat, and her hands began to scratch at the wall indiscriminately.

She's scared!

After realizing this, Hodge felt a little distressed.

He strode forward suddenly, grabbed Hera's hands, and stopped her from scraping the wall.

The panic and fear in Hera's eyes became more obvious, and she kept shaking her head.

"It's me, don't be afraid of Hera. ”

"It's me, I'm Hodge, and I'm not going to hurt you. ”

"Hera, do you remember me?"

"Those wicked people are gone, no one will hurt you anymore, calm down. ”

He took the trouble to tell Hera that he was not her enemy, and after a long struggle, Hera gradually calmed down.

"Remember me?" Hodge looked calmly into her eyes.

Hera shrugged her head slightly, as if remembering something, let out a "hmm" sound, and buried her head in Hodge's arms.

He breathed a sigh of relief and stroked Hera's head, as usual: "It's okay, it's all over." ”

......

When Hodge walked out of the cabin, Daphne had been waiting outside for a long time.

"Why did you get out?" she asked.

She was so tired that she fell asleep again not long after she calmed down. ”

Hodge shook his head and asked, "What's going on with her voice?" ”

"I'm not sure if it was because the storm lasted too long, because she was overusing her voice, or because of the after-effects of her awakening being forcibly interrupted. ”

Hodge crouched down against the wall and exhaled, "Is there a chance of recovery?"

"It should be hard. ”

"...... why did she look at me like she didn't remember me at first, and looked at me like she saw an enemy. ”

"You don't have to ask this question, I know the answer. ”

Daphne gently patted the snowflakes off her hair and shoulders: "She was so stimulated that it would take a long time to fully recover." ”

Hodge was silent for a long time before he spoke slowly.

"She shouldn't have ended up like this. ”

Indeed, such a kind and lovely little girl should have a better life, she will be more beautiful in a year or two, and become an eye-catching flower in the snowy land, and countless excellent young people will fall in love with her, and finally she will have a happy marriage and a happy family, as it should be. ”

Devany paused for a moment, and her tone became heavy, "But who could have predicted all this, just like other witches, they didn't voluntarily become witches and give up their original life paths. ”

"Even if they don't become witches anymore, who can guarantee that the tragedy in the village will not happen again, and the lives of commoners are even worse than their own pets in the eyes of the nobles, and if Hera's beauty is taken by a nobleman, who can guarantee that she will not be crowned as a witch and become the plaything of the nobles?"

"This is our world, and we can only restrain ourselves, but we can't stop the accusations that have been named. ”

Devany looked at Hodge quietly and whispered, "We couldn't help ourselves. ”