"Goodbye," Zheng Yichen said to the reluctantly departing girl at the entrance to the town. Katrina looked at Zheng Yichen, her mouth slightly open as if she wanted to say something but stopped herself.
She really wanted to let go of some things and travel with Zheng Yichen, even to understand the paranormal phenomena and to get in touch with the world associated with it. In her time in the forest, she learned about the paranormal from Zheng Yichen and realized that those scenes from the movies were just ordinary environments in the world related to the phenomena.
It was the kind that brightened one’s eyes.
After returning to the town, she talked to her father about some things, not mentioning the witch or Zheng Yichen’s origins. She just wanted to have adventures with the Hunter-Demon, but her father scolded her harshly, telling her she shouldn’t harbor such inappropriate thoughts.
Even though she’d seen Zheng Yichen deal with the Headless Knight with her own eyes, just as he said, there was no tangible evidence, and no one believed her. The Sword of Hell, as the Headless Knight’s weapon, could serve as proof, but without the Hellfire ignited, it looked no different from a normal weapon.
Ordinary people couldn’t tell the difference... let ordinary people hold the sword to feel it? That was pretty much the same as directly igniting the flame. Why was it that others had issues holding the sword, but Zheng Yichen didn’t? Was a Hunter-Demon not human?
On Zheng Yichen’s way out of the town, he encountered a carriage with a young man inside, curiously watching Zheng Yichen as he departed with his backpack. He had never seen such attire even in the city, and couldn’t help but take a second look.
The forest cave, where Zheng Yichen arrived, didn’t surprise the Forest Witch when she saw him: "Are you sure you want to travel with a witch?"
She had no intentions of leaving this place before; a witch’s identity was not something to be flaunted. It was better to live quietly here than to roam around. But the information brought by Zheng Yichen gave her new ideas. She wanted to get in touch with the paranormal and understand more knowledge.
"I’m looking for the paranormal, and you’re interested in it too, of course we should go together," Zheng Yichen replied. The Forest Witch was older and, despite always staying in the forest, as someone born and bred in this world, she certainly knew more about this world than he did.
There was no problem taking her with him, especially since she also had necromantic skills and could summon nearby Undead to gather some information, which was much faster than him searching slowly.
"I thought you’d choose that young girl."
"She has a wealthy life."
"Hmm," the Forest Witch looked at Zheng Yichen with some surprise. Katrina had a great fondness for him, and if Zheng Yichen had asked, eloping would not have been a big deal, and elopement was not uncommon in this era.
It might even become a story among traveling storytellers... and then those storytellers would get beaten up.
No one wanted to see their daughter run off with someone. The story is romantic, but it’s not so glamorous for the family involved.
"Are all people from other worlds like you?"
Zheng Yichen, who walked out of the cave, shook his head: "Would people of this world also be like you? The concepts in my world are ’more open’ than yours here, and the capacity for acceptance is also stronger. Something like the church swindling people doesn’t work as well in my world."
"Is it because of that thing called the internet?" the Forest Witch asked curiously.
"That’s part of it, mostly it’s an education issue. Kids from my place can easily learn, recognizing a lot of words at a very young age and having decent arithmetic."
With comparison comes disparity, and generally, the education in a modern society isn’t too bad. Not to mention happy education, but at least the basics are covered, and what he meant by basics was being literate and having simple arithmetic skills.
"Your description makes me even more eager to find that anomaly," the Forest Witch expressed with anticipation. The kind of world Zheng Yichen described would allow her to conduct legitimate research and search for various materials suitable for magic, all with a legal identity.
She could even purchase through that ’network’, and if she invented something special with a broad utility, she could apply for a patent and thus gain a substantial income. If possible, she might even join some research institutions as a researcher...
All of this was incomparable to the world she currently inhabited!
In this world, would she undertake significant magic or Magic Potion research? If the Church found out, it wouldn’t just be a routine inspection; they’d come to her door armed with oil and torches.
So much the better to leave this world behind.
"However, that is my world. The worlds connected by the anomaly are random; nobody knows what situations might exist there. Some might be more advanced, and others could even be more primitive than yours..."
The sound of horse hooves approached from the distance, and a girl riding a white horse arrived.
"You don’t want the girl to lose a life of wealth, but she doesn’t think the same," the Forest Witch said with a light laugh as she watched the approaching figure.
"The problem is serious; I’ve known her for less than a week," Zheng Yichen said earnestly. In his world, what could develop from knowing a girl for less than a week?
Sure, progress could be made—if you were handsome, and rich at the same time... Having money, and the willingness to spend it, would render the first requirement not so important, and one might see progress within a week.
"Maybe it’s love at first sight?"
"Isn’t that just lust at first sight?" Zheng Yichen clicked his tongue and watched the girl, dressed in a white velvet cloak, come to a stop.
"I’ve made my decision; I don’t want to live in a small town for the rest of my life." After discovering a wider world, the young witch’s heart had long harbored new aspirations.
"What about your father?"
"...I’ll go back and have a look," Katrina glanced back towards the direction of the town, where a police officer from the big city had come to investigate a murder case. But to her, it felt like that Chapter was closed.
With the Headless Knight taken care of by Zheng Yichen, what else could happen?
"I don’t mind, but you need to be prepared for an ordinary life," Zheng Yichen told the girl. His own life wouldn’t be too hard, but it wouldn’t be very comfortable either.
The Forest Witch, accustomed to living in the forest all year round, wouldn’t mind such minor problems, but Katrina, raised as the daughter of the town’s richest man, might not be so adaptable.
She was very beautiful, but after the decision to follow him, any complaints about outdoor living would make her beauty irrelevant.
"I will overcome these issues!"
And then Zheng Yichen learned that the girl had snuck out. She didn’t discover it later; she confessed it on their way.