The Miracle Fields

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Once upon a time, a sudden hailstorm destroyed the crops in the hamlet of Segiu. Then, a plague swept through their fowl, leaving the villagers gaunt and fearful of the coming winter.

One dusk, a stranger visited them. His forearms were scarred with twisting patterns – neither wounds of war nor marks left by an animal’s bite. He promised lush fields and endless grain if they let him marry the blacksmith’s beautiful daughter.

Though she wept, as her heart belonged to another, and though the priest begged the villagers to refuse the stranger’s offer, warning them of devilish deals, fear won. The people agreed, and the man took the girl away to his homeland.

At once, the fields burst with life, yielding enough to suffice for three winters. The villagers rejoiced and feasted, praising their fortune. Yet as they ate, their flesh blackened and rotted from within. One by one, they died in agony, their bodies withering into spoiled meat.