VIP Chapter 315: Gathering in Nov
“Finally… I’ve returned here… Nov.”
Liya spoke as she stepped down from the carriage that had stopped in Nov.
“It’s a shame that the dungeon here was cleared at some point. Otherwise… I could have seen if there were any express routes to this place.”
She sighed and brushed the dust off her mage robe.
Then, she slightly lifted her large hat. In winter, such a hat was quite warm.
She tightly gripped the metal staff in her hand, as if it were something exceptionally important, holding it close as she walked.
After this trip, she had a better understanding of how witches “traversed” within each dungeon.
Because witches possessed a special ability to create “mezzanines” within dungeons and reside there without belonging to any specific dungeon. Witches were like “communicators” within the dungeon network—although Lis mentioned that this communication system had only been gradually established over the past century.
Therefore, any dungeon where a witch nested became like an established postal station, allowing for near-instantaneous travel—naturally, this was limited to those with witch bloodlines.
Liya, who had been living with Lis at the Witch Association for the past few days, did not know many more details. According to Lis, she had passed the trial, and if she wished to stay, she could learn more.
“But, it’s impossible. Until I find him, I won’t stay—”
She looked at Nov, slowly walking through its streets.
Nov was clearly much more deserted than when she had left. When she was here, it was a town known as a “Novice Village,” where adventurers would queue from the guild hall to the village entrance, with a whole commercial street alongside it.
Now…
She walked past the entrance of the XXX bar. The bar, whose owner was rumored to be the previous Guild Master of the Adventurer’s Guild, now only showed a desolate counter. Even in the afternoon, there were too few customers.
“I must find Will.”
She casually picked up the latest newspaper from a nearby newsstand.
Having stayed perhaps too long in the world of witches, where time seemed to be disregarded, she needed to know what time it was now.
Her hands trembled slightly as she picked up the newspaper; she was afraid to look at the date.
Her three years at Entak Academy, and the three years she had Will as a student, were the only “three years lived by human time” for her.
Before that, her perception of time felt subtly different from that of humans.
Because of this, she would often snap back to reality, only to discover that the world had changed drastically.
Had the days she spent with her mother also passed in the blink of an eye, spanning many years? If… if that were the case…
“No. Will told me. For me, there’s no need to evade—be brave enough to look, to feel, to seize what you desire…”
She unfolded the newspaper.
Thankfully.
Seeing the date, she breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that at least the year had not changed.
About three months had passed since she last met Will.
The first news on the newspaper was that Treya had canceled her engagement due to dealing with the northern conflict.
“Hmph, it seems that Treya didn’t succeed either.”
—Otherwise, with Treya’s personality, no matter where she was, she would have gone mad trying to fulfill her promise and drag the person to marriage.
As rivals and teammates, who had a confrontational relationship within the party, she knew very well what methods that person would employ.
However, besides that report about Treya, which was only tangentially related, there was no news of him in the paper, not even mentioning him as a “child of the Hysterm Family.”
“…Where could he have gone?”
“From the two pieces of news I’ve seen, he was once… taken to the capital by Treya, and now, it’s clear that Treya also has no information about him.”
While walking and reading the newspaper, Liya looked up and realized she was standing at the entrance of that small house.
“As expected, I’ve returned here…”
She hadn’t even consciously thought about it; her body had simply reacted and led her here.
In the very beginning, Will had rented this small house for a year under the name Shining Star.
At that time, Liya, who had followed him here, had also fantasized…
After that, he would stand at the back of the group, watching his most outstanding, most adorable, and most powerful teacher defeat the powerful monsters before them one by one.
“Hmph, it’s alright. As long as I’m still here, that day will come again—”
Therefore, she should still be able to enter their former house. No, not just her; if he couldn’t return to the capital, or go to the north where Treya was, the only place he could go besides the Hysterm Family home was here.
Things he had before that bad woman took him away were still left here.
As long as…
As long as he isn’t dead, he will definitely come back!
He will definitely return according to their agreement!
He will definitely, as before, possess the drive to act unimpeded by anyone, overcoming any difficulty to return to their side.
She tightened her grip on the key Will had given each of them. The key also had a keychain bought at the market that matched each person; hers was a mage’s big hat—which was also a witch’s big hat.
Then, she remembered the question Lis had asked her—
—”What will you do when you find him?”
She placed the box she was carrying on the ground and opened the exquisite handbag. The moment she opened it, she felt her magic circuits begin to vibrate.
Although Lis had dismissed “the method she had used before.”
She believed that for Will, who had already obtained her blood, this was the best method of control—
Using a large amount of Blood Mint Essential Oil to stimulate the flow of witch’s blood within him, making him, like herself, develop an inescapable dependence—
Because he was the one who told her.
For the person you love the most, you must use the most direct and straightforward method of control.
But…
Aside from the clinking sounds of the glass bottles in her hand, she heard a “footstep sound” from behind her, one that was all too familiar.
“Hm?”
Thump, thump.
It was the sound of light boots walking on the grass.
Treya.
When she was still her teammate, Liya had heard the annoying sound of these boots walking on the ground many times—especially when she practiced outdoors at night. That guy probably had no idea that Liya’s room was right above the room where she practiced her sword!
She quickly put away the things in her hand and retreated to the side of the grass, leaving behind a bottle of Blood Mint Essential Oil.
Without a doubt, if she confronted Treya, she would be the first to attack.
Because the last place Will appeared was in her hands—at least from her perspective.
Treya appeared in her field of vision.
As the current Empress, she naturally could not appear before the public casually. She was not only wearing a black robe, her face hidden within it, but also a black mask covering half of her face.
Except for the annoying sound of her boots, almost all of her attire had been changed.
She walked forward step by step until she stopped in front of that house.
Author’s Note: The previous parts should all be corrected now.
