She Is Not a Witch

The young man’s name was Pullman, hailing from Brown Wood Village, a remote settlement on the outskirts of the Western Wind Kingdom.

Pullman said he had been traveling east since leaving home, without rest, taking about 7 days to reach this place.

Loranhil estimated that, based on her previous life’s experience, an average person could walk at most 50 kilometers a day. But this was forested mountain terrain, so that distance should be reduced. This meant that human society could be reached 150-200 kilometers west of this forest.

“I made a mistake, so I ran away.”

After a moment of silent hesitation, the young man finally explained why he was here, but didn’t elaborate on what mistake he had made.

As he said this, his eyes dimmed, and his voice unconsciously lowered.

Looking at the young man who had fallen silent again, the girl guessed there might be some hardship difficult to express.

Loranhil didn’t pursue this matter further and asked another question.

“Where do you plan to go in the future?”

“I… I don’t know. Perhaps I’ll find a place to survive in the forest, or maybe one day I’ll be eaten by a passing magical beast.”

A bitter, self-mocking smile appeared on the young man’s face as he buried it in his arms resting on his knees.

The yellow campfire crackled softly in the night, dispelling the evening chill of the mountains. The scent of burning wood permeated the air, and occasionally, distant insect calls could be heard.

The forest at night was not safe, especially in the rarely visited Tisilan Mountains where supernatural magical beasts often left their traces. However, since the death of that predatory red dragonfly nearby, other magical beasts hadn’t yet expanded their territories here, so it was relatively peaceful recently.

The young man believed that for an ordinary person like himself, entering the great forest was suicidal.

But he had no other options left.

How did it come to this? He had always thought of himself as a coward, just wanting to be an ordinary person helping others tend sheep.

If he had to name his biggest dream, it would be to win the favor of Aunt Sandy at the village entrance, to get her to agree to his marriage with Joanna.

Although Joanna had a few freckles on her face, he really liked her lively demeanor. Unfortunately, Aunt Sandy was a tailor, with a better family background than his. They could even occasionally eat white bread. He had only eaten half a piece of white bread in his entire life, and that was just a small portion given to him at his cousin’s wedding.

The young man stared blankly at the campfire before him, lost in memories and contemplation.

“Haven’t you considered how to survive?”

Loranhil took out a few fruits and placed them by the fire, intending to eat them after they were roasted. The green fruits were similar to the tangerines in her memory, with a sweet and sour taste.

“I don’t know…”

A flame of hatred burned in the young man’s heart, but he also felt despair at his own weakness.

“Well then, could you tell me about the situation outside?”

“You… No, noble young lady, thank you for saving me. Please ask, I’ll tell you everything I know.”

“No need to be so respectful, just call me Loranhil.”

“This… I’d better address you as Miss Loranhil. Otherwise, it would be too impolite.”

“Hmm, you’re quite polite. Did someone teach you?” Loranhil was a bit curious.

“No, I just saw that’s how everyone in the city addresses noble young ladies.”

“I see. Have you ever been to school?”

“No, commoners like us don’t have the privilege to attend school, nor do we have that much money. In our village, only the village head can read. The rest of us only recognize a few important numbers.”

“I see. What era is it now?”

“It should be around the 1600s of the Third Era. I’m not sure exactly, I just heard it once from a priest passing through our village.”

Has it been that long? Trina’s memories were still from the Second Era, and we don’t even know when it ended. Now it’s already over 1600 years into the Third Era. Loranhil sighed inwardly before continuing her questions.

“What countries are there on the continent now?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know. The farthest I’ve been from home is Trinity City. I only know that I’m in the Western Wind Kingdom.”

“As for other countries… I’ve only heard of the Black Rock Empire. It seems to be a mercenary power in the north. I’ve seen some mercenaries who claimed to be Witz mountaineers from Black Rock.”

Loranhil chatted a bit more and got a general idea of the current outside situation. Although Pullman didn’t know much, from his descriptions of daily life, customs, and labor, it seemed the current world was similar to medieval Europe. People’s productivity was limited, and nobles ruled their own territories under a feudal system.

Regarding supernatural abilities, Pullman had only heard that the captain of Trinity City’s guard had Sequence 1 power, which was already considered very strong. Even nearby bandits didn’t dare to provoke him.

How weak, Loranhil thought. Although she herself was only at Sequence 1, having learned from Trina, a former power figure in the Mercury Dynasty, she knew that in Trina’s description, Sequence 1 was merely a transitional learning stage, at most used for support roles. The dynasty’s warriors started at least from Sequence 2.

In fact, the dynasty’s most elite combat units were all Sequence 5, such as the New Moon Death Scythe Knights, who were all Necromancy Sequence 5 · Death Scythe Knights.

It couldn’t be helped. At that time, with thousands of years of accumulation in the elven nations, the average combat power was very high. Soldiers without at least Sequence 2 power didn’t even qualify to serve as cannon fodder on the battlefield.

What had the Ivar world experienced in these 1600-plus years to regress to this state? And why hadn’t the elves counterattacked? Although the Silver Elves were exterminated, many Forest Elves remained, not to mention the Ice Elves who had completely migrated to the northern continent. They were fully capable.

There were still many questions, but it was impossible to understand everything today. She would learn more after leaving the forest. The girl stopped her inquiries.

“Where are you from, Miss Loranhil? Someone like you must be from a great noble family.”

In the young man’s limited experience, only a young lady from a great noble family could have such appearance and attire. Moreover, the girl’s fingers were fair and showed no signs of labor, something ordinary people couldn’t achieve.

“No, I’m just an ordinary person… Well, I lived in the forest with my teacher since childhood. My teacher passed away not long ago.”

The girl replied after a moment’s thought. It was essentially true.

“Are your injuries alright? I see blood stains on your clothes.”

“It’s nothing. I won’t die anytime soon, but… there are some things I fear I can never do again.”

The young man’s voice choked up.

“What things?”

The night wind in the forest blew gently, causing the campfire to flicker constantly. The young man began to tell a story that was both ordinary and sorrowful.