I Picked Up a Witch from a Novel

Episode 4-a. Entangled and Intersecting Timelines.

The intense clash of mana can twist ordinary space.

The continuous collisions of massive chunks of mana can overturn the flowing time.

In fact, it’s now a commonly understood fact that collisions among great magicians have been prohibited.

However, since it happened often in the past, there are still places where remnants of such events linger.

A vast ruin known as Versio.

Both space and time have been entangled and crystallized there.

It is a time that could be the past, present, or even future.

It is a space that could be an empire, a kingdom, a principality, or a sacred nation.

So, if you’re lucky, you may be able to obtain what you wish for.

But if you’re unlucky, you might find yourself crystallized alongside the tangled timelines.

Those who entered Versio and vanished are not called the missing.

They are pilgrims forever wandering through time and space.

They are phantoms repeating time and space, never able to escape again.

If you don’t want to be called that, be careful.

If you go too deep and become ensnared, you too will become such a being.

********

An average-sized, ordinary town.

“Brother, we will meet again someday.”

“Stop talking nonsense and go back home, have three kids, and live well.”

I glanced at the golden sun and the gyaru girls, waved my hand, and climbed aboard the carriage.

“So, brother, you’ll come to the south at least once someday?”

“Get lost.”

Though all three still looked uncomfortable and pained, they waved their hands to bid us farewell.

“Haha, once again, thank you very much.”

“Don’t die in some weird place for no reason, just live well.”

“Yes, I really have to go back home now. I will return as soon as I recover.”

It was a brief connection, but we shared some intense moments together, so I felt a little sad, but it was indeed time to say goodbye.

I had spent quite some time helping and taking care of them, and dragging it out longer wasn’t feasible.

“Alright, see you later.”

“Yes, brother! I hope all your wishes come true!”

I had handed them the potion made by Avery and the bright red fruit obtained from a small village, so they would probably be fully recovered and back home within a month after we parted.

I nodded briefly and whipped the reins.

I continued to wave goodbye for a while until the carriage moved far away, finally noticing the three of them limping back to their lodging.

And as I watched them enter their lodging while driving the carriage, I heard Horn grumbling.

“Too much attachment for no reason. If you waste time being swayed by emotions, you’ll grow old and die before reaching your goal.”

Of course, Horn’s words weren’t entirely incorrect.

“But you, old man, kept glancing back too.”

“Hmph, I was just waiting to see when they would leave. Besides, I’m not some human rag who will grow old and die.”

Yet, Horn was also glancing back as if pretending not to.

The two kids and Avery hadn’t directly said anything, but they waved until the golden sun and the gyaru girls disappeared into the lodging.

“Pretending not to care while feeling a bit disappointed, huh?”

“…, I know nothing of that.”

“Of course, you wouldn’t know.”

“Of course I don’t, you insolent brat.”

We bantered as usual.

Now, I had grown quite accustomed to the bumpy carriage on the mountain road, and I retorted to Horn’s remarks while straining the reins tightly.

It was time to resume our slightly postponed journey.

The sky was growing dark.

“Make the campfire bigger. The kids are shivering from the cold.”

“No, the surrounding branches are all wet from the snow, so the fire won’t grow.”

We parked the carriage by the roadside before night fell and lit a campfire.

While we were on the move, snow suddenly started falling, pouring down like a blizzard from the sky, leaving us no choice but to deal with it.

“Just grab an extra wagon wheel and throw it in.”

“Don’t talk crazy, really.”

“I can make another wheel later, can’t I? Ugh, I’m cold too, just bring one and throw it in the fire already.”

“Don’t compare a blacksmith to a carpenter, okay?”

As a result, the kids and Avery were shivering from the cold, and I sighed deeply, pulled out an extra wagon wheel, and tossed it onto the campfire.

The flames eagerly devoured the wheel, immediately flaring up larger.

The cold surroundings were soon filled with warmth.

And after that, everything went smoothly.

Having camped several times prior, we took out our pots and threw in some suitable ingredients, waiting for it to boil.

Outside the tent, snow piled up white, and we sat close to the campfire, blankly gazing at the scenery.

Then, to pass the time, I casually brought up a conversation.

“Ain, so where are we going now?”

Starting with Tori, who looked blankly at the pot, snowflakes, and the campfire, the conversation intertwined with the bubbling sound of cooking began.

“Honestly, I haven’t decided where to go yet…”

Of course, I didn’t expect it to continue properly.

“Really…?”

“Eh?”

“Hmm?”

“Haha…, as expected, no plans is so like you, Ain.”

“No, well… For now, I had planned to head east and go wherever I fell into, but things have been so chaotic lately that I haven’t had the time to look. I’m sorry.”

And this was Avery’s first time moving without a plan, yet he talked as if being unplanned was my trademark.

It really made me want to raise my fist in disappointment.

Anyway.

To put it simply, we hadn’t decided where to go yet.

It turned out this way because I didn’t have the luxury to leisurely make plans in either Tebris or the small village, almost as if I were making excuses to my companions.

In fact, while trying to follow the prophecy letter that urged us to head east, I accidentally found the first destination, Tebris, but the other places I wanted to go weren’t simply located east.

As I scratched my head awkwardly, Tori, who had spoken earlier, approached me with a beaming smile and hugged me.

“It’s okay! Then we can decide before the stew boils over!”

“Uh, yeah. Saying it’s okay sets a bit of a tight time limit.”

“Hehe!”

At most, it wouldn’t take even 10 minutes for it to start bubbling.

I gently stroked Tori’s head as she sat in my arms, thinking deeply.

I tried to roughly organize what places lay further ahead.

“First of all… As far as I know, excluding ordinary towns, if we narrow it down to places with mysterious and quirky things, there are roughly three.”

“I know one. Isn’t it that strange town that you have to follow the signposts?”

“Oh, you know about it. That’s right. To be precise, it’s a hotel where you must follow the signposts.”

“That one is rather famous.”

First, there’s the hotel mixed with the Napoli urban legend that eats people.

“That’s true. And to continue, there’s a huge workshop nearby. It’s a place that can create or repair items if you bring materials. By the way, we have that ancient device from the reward that’s broken right now.”

The second was a city with a large workshop.

I had stuck the remnants of Nasatya, which I obtained in Tebris, in a corner of the wagon because it was completely non-functional, but I thought maybe I could fix it there.

“Haha, I think I know the third. So, um… I believe the Versio Ruins are probably nearby….”

“Yes, it’s the Versio Ruins. It’s where bizarre magical phenomena occurred due to duels between ancient great magicians, fixing the space-time in a twisted state.”

The third was the ruin where the space-time was twisted, which was closest to the other two.

So I planned to aim for one of the three famous locations without needing to investigate every part of our route in great detail.

I briefly explained these three locations, and Horn was the first to express his opinion.

“Exclude the hotel. I wouldn’t say it myself, but there’s nothing but danger for a shabby party like ours.”

“If we just follow the signposts properly…”

“If it were that easy, why would it be called a hotel that eats people, you fool.”

Horn shook his head as he said that, and the others cautiously nodded in agreement to his firm words.

“Then I’ll decide between the other two places, excluding the hotel. Let’s decide quickly, the pot is boiling.”

The remaining candidates were two.

“We want the workshop! It sounds like fun!”

“I’m more drawn to the Versio Ruins. If luck is on my side, I might obtain knowledge from the future or the past, so it might lead to progress in my research…”

“Um, I’m sorry, kids, but I think the ruins seem a bit better to me too.”

“Eh!!”

The voting results ended in a 2 to 2 tie.

So.

While the pot was now completely boiling, the four who were divided in opinion were staring at me as if urging me to make a choice.

They were looking at me intently as if expecting me to support their side.

---