The Witch of the Ice Wall Has Returned.
“Is it true?”
“Have you spent your life being deceived? Why don’t you go see for yourself!”
Even if the young informant hadn’t urged him, Dieter had already intended to do just that. As he slipped his arms into his outer coat, he opened the bottom drawer of his filing cabinet. Without hesitation, he snatched up a file with a red label and rushed out.
The drawer he left barely closed had a tag that read: “Unresolved Cases (Copy).”
There was a two-story house in a residential area atop a hill, its windows facing the sea. Narrow alleys had already filled with onlookers gathered in small groups. Rumors sure spread fast.
“Excuse me. Coming through, thank you…”
Pushing his way through the crowd, Dieter raised his voice at the front gate.
“Is anyone home? I’m from the Bureau of Public Order.”
“The Bureau of Public Order? Is that like the police?”
The gate opened, and a woman stepped out, only to frown immediately.
“You’re not shining a spotlight on me, are you?”
“Excuse me?”
“No, it’s just that your face is practically glowing… I guess when someone’s too good-looking, they really do shine in real life.”
The woman muttered this nonsense as if in disbelief. She looked to be around Dieter’s age, neither particularly tall nor short. Her hair was tied up in a round bun at the crown of her head, and she wore pants made of cheap fabric.
That cloth is barely good enough to make a camping tent, let alone clothes.
A stranger suddenly appearing at the “witch’s house”—the chances were high that she was the new witch. According to legends, witches always appeared out of nowhere, dressed in strange outfits like this.
If this woman really is a witch, that is.
The witches who guarded the Ice Wall hadn’t shown themselves to humans in a century. A few years ago, there was even a case of an impostor. Caution was essential.
Noticing Dieter’s silent scrutiny, the woman furrowed her brows in discomfort.
“Hey. First, a crowd suddenly gathers, and now even uniformed officials are barging in. I’m a little overwhelmed here. Is there a problem?”
Her wary expression made her seem like an ordinary person. If anything stood out, it was her well-defined features—meticulously balanced, making her quite beautiful.
But the Witches of the Ice Wall were undeniably more than human. They had the power to decide the fate of this world if they so wished. Could this woman prove her identity with mere beauty alone?
Well. A fake will be exposed sooner or later.
If she claimed to be a witch and intended to stay in this house, she would have to take on the responsibilities that came with it.
Dieter knew exactly what he had to do.
“I apologize if we startled you. Since this house has been vacant for a long time, people were naturally curious. Are you the one who came from the Ice Wall?”
“Well… something like that.”
At the woman’s vague reply, one of the onlookers gasped.
“I knew it! She’s a witch!”
“She’s finally returned! They haven’t abandoned us after all!”
Some rushed down the hill to spread the news, while others drew closer, encircling Dieter and the woman. She grew more tense.
Trying to calm the excited crowd, Dieter spoke quietly.
“Since you acknowledge your origins, may I ask about your connection to the previous resident, the twelfth witch, Una?”
“Una? Oh, you mean the one who was here before me. My aunts used to call her ‘that twelfth brat.’ Since I came after her, I guess that makes me the thirteenth.”
She spoke about herself as if she were telling someone else’s story. Her detached tone should have felt unnatural, but Dieter’s attention was drawn to something more important.
“‘Aunts’? Are you saying the previous witches are your aunts?”
“Hmm. I suppose, in a way?”
“Please clarify. Are you saying you’re related to them by blood?”
“Why should I answer someone who’s prying into my personal matters on our first meeting?”
“Because this is a matter of great importance to our city. Are you the closest living relative of Una? She had no direct descendants aside from you? Your cooperation is necessary.”
The rapid exchange of questions and answers made the woman’s expression harden.
“Look, I’ve only heard Una’s name. I never even saw her face. More importantly, what are you doing here, interrogating me like a criminal? Is this some kind of investigation? Shouldn’t you introduce yourself properly first?”
Her sharp words came in quick succession. She crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one side, clearly displeased.
But Dieter knew how to handle people like this.
“You’re absolutely right. My apologies. I am Chief Inspector Dieter of the Central Division, Bureau of Public Order in Portovice.”
“…Han Mia.”
As if she hadn’t expected the stiff-necked officer to back down so easily, Mia momentarily lost her momentum. Dieter seized the opportunity.
“I appreciate your patience. I came to inform you of an important unresolved matter regarding this house.”
“Huh?”
“This residence is one of six homes across the continent that the Witches of the Ice Wall have traditionally used when visiting human lands. Naturally, the property belongs to them. However—”
Dieter unfolded the document in his hands, making sure Mia could see it clearly.
“Your predecessor, Una, took out a mortgage on this house in the past but never repaid the debt.”
Mia’s eyes widened. Dieter nodded gravely.
“A century ago, your aunt borrowed money using this house as collateral but then vanished without repaying it.”
“…How much?”
Dieter hesitated momentarily, considering whether to disclose such sensitive information. But if Mia was truly the rightful owner of this house, there was no reason to withhold it.
She took the document marked “Unresolved Cases” and scanned the numbers. Even at a glance, the number of zeroes was staggering. Worse, the debt had continued to compound with monthly interest. Compound interest was indeed terrifying.
On the sunny hillside overlooking the sea, Mia’s scream echoed.
“Those damn scammers! They dumped a mountain of debt on me and called it a house!”
Not long before contract-based call center agent Han Mia moved into a debt-laden, two-story house by the sea—
“Ugh…”
The ice in her iced Americano had completely melted. Mia dusted herself off and stood up.
Today, she had finally managed to reclaim her deposit from her unscrupulous landlord, who had done everything possible to withhold it. Of course, he still found an excuse to deduct over a hundred thousand won, blaming defects that had existed for millions of years. But what else was new?
“Eat it all, eat every last bit. May you go bald from it.”
Mia decided to consider this an offering to ward off misfortune and celebrate her small victory. So instead of heading straight home as usual, she took a detour to the riverside park, a few stops away.
The great river that flowed through the heart of the capital had been a familiar place to Mia once. As a child, she had played there endlessly, but as she grew older, she had stopped visiting.
Now, returning for the first time in ages, she found the place swarming with couples. Even though she carefully chose a seat between two unfamiliar couples to avoid getting drenched by rainwater pooled on the benches, she quickly grew bored of the whole outing.
“It got chilly after that bit of rain earlier. I should just go home and have some ssanghwatang.”
Still, something about the night made her want to indulge herself. Stopping by a convenience store, Mia treated herself to a spicy stir-fried ramen—she knew her weak stomach would punish her tomorrow, so she grabbed some digestive medicine in advance. She also picked up a pricey craft beer, which had a discount for multiple purchases, and hangover soup ramen for the morning after.
When she stepped outside after paying, a group of young male students loitering at a parasol table called out to her.
“Hey, hey! Excuse me! Where are you from?”
Bright blonde hair and violet-blue eyes—Mia’s distinctly foreign appearance meant she heard this kind of thing all the time.
“But I’m from here, I was born here, you punks.”
If she responded fluently in the local language, most people would be so startled they would shut up immediately. But guys that age were nothing but a hassle to deal with. Ignoring their snickering, Mia briskly walked away.
By the time she reached her place, it was just past midnight. She was searching for the shared front door key to her one-room apartment when a voice called out behind her.
“Miss, can we ask you something?”
At this hour? In a residential alley like this?
Mia’s shoulders tensed as she turned around. Sure enough, two women were looking up at her with serene expressions. Both were dressed in extravagant traditional clothing, like actresses straight out of a historical drama.
There was nothing inherently wrong with the clothes, but under these circumstances, that attire was just creepy. It radiated an unsettling aura.
“One of them is obviously a shaman. And the other… what, is she royalty?”
Scammers? Cultists? Either way, getting involved would be a nightmare.
“Have a good night.”
Mia mumbled as she turned away quickly, but one of the women raised her voice.
“Wait! This will only take a moment! Are you the ‘baby found in the river’? The one who appeared out of nowhere, as if you had fallen from the sky?”
“…Hah. Are you a journalist? I’m not giving interviews. That story is ancient history.”
It was a trivial old tale—a story about a nameless infant, abandoned on a frozen river during a harsh winter, miraculously rescued and raised.
Even the local newspapers had long since forgotten about it. Yet somehow, there were still people searching for that child?
While Mia’s mood soured, the women’s expressions brightened.
“It is you, isn’t it? Yes! We’ve finally found you!”
“We’ve been searching for so, so long!”
“I don’t care. Go home. Honestly, do you think you’re reporters? Dropping the honorifics like that—Hey! Let go! Ack!”
The suspicious women suddenly grabbed Mia by both wrists and yanked her forward. She lost her balance and fell headfirst.
She squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for impact—but the expected pain never came.
Instead, there was a loud SPLASH—wait, splash?
“WHAT THE HELL?!”
The puddle at the women’s feet swelled, transforming instantly into a pond, then a stream. The water surged forward, rushing violently like a flood, swallowing all of them whole.
Mia was swept away, carried by the impossible current.
“Guh! Cough, cough!”
When she finally broke the surface, gasping for air, she found herself on the riverbank of an unfamiliar mountain valley, surrounded by brilliant blue ice.
“Child, welcome home!”
And just like that, Mia crossed the river once again—returning to a world she never knew was hers.
