Chapter 44 Returning Home "Don't worry~ We're just short of some herbs."...
Benson, panting, caught a glimpse of Lucas's expression and slapped him mercilessly on the back of the head.
"Ouch!" Lucas cried out, clutching his head.
"We all escaped, what's with that look on your face? Cheer up!"
Lucas couldn't speak, he just kept burying his head in his hands and sobbing. But the faint unease on his face had long since disappeared.
After sitting on the ground for a while, the three looked at each other's injuries and struggled to get up. They decided to find a clinic first—otherwise, given their current injuries, if they continued to sit there, there would likely be three more fresh corpses in the town by sunrise.
They dragged their weary feet and slowly walked into a nearby town.
Thank goodness, there are still clinics open at this hour.
When they went in, the three of them were covered in blood, which startled the nurse inside.
The nurse screamed and summoned the doctor. After a hasty treatment of the wound, Catherine and her two companions went to find an inn, hired a carriage, and embarked on their journey back to Devil's Forest.
This town is too close to the Vatican; if they stay here for one night, they probably won't get enough rest. It would be better to set off directly and take turns resting in the carriage.
After all the commotion, they finally boarded the carriage. Only then did Catherine have time to inquire about Lucas's situation at the Papacy.
Lucas said he saw the chaos Allen had caused, and although he didn't know if it was Catherine's doing, he knew it was an opportunity. He seized the chance to speed up and find Uncle Benson.
“When we found Uncle Benson, there were a few guards coming this way. I saw it when I came; there was nowhere to hide there. If they had come over, they would have run into us without a doubt.”
Lucas's heart still raced as he recalled the earlier scene: "Luckily, another knight came running up and said that someone had run away from the southeast corner. Upon hearing this, the group of knights immediately followed him."
Catherine raised an eyebrow: "Back then, that was when the Vatican was arresting us. How could someone so stupid... have managed to sneak out over the wall at that time?"
Lucas shook his head, indicating that he didn't know either.
But in any case, that person did help draw the patrolling knight's attention. Lucas thought to himself, grateful to this kind stranger.
For the next few days, the three of them took turns driving the carriage. Because there were few people and everyone was equally tired, even though Lucas was a child, he didn't receive the "child benefits" he was entitled to.
They constantly passed through towns, changing carriages at inns. After traveling a sufficient distance, they would also rest at inns.
On the third night, while Catherine was pretending to go out to buy food, she discovered a newly posted notice on a street corner, which prominently featured portraits and descriptions of the three of them. They were forced to leave the city that night, and thereafter avoided towns by taking detours, only occasionally resting in dense forests.
Finally, as Lucas secretly counted to the tenth time the campfire went out, they caught a glimpse of the Devil Forest's hazy outline in the night, looking like a colossal beast lying still ahead.
As soon as they stepped into the Devil's Forest, countless vines instantly converged from all directions, finally intertwining before their eyes and transforming into a charming woman with long green hair.
Of the three, only Benson was seeing the witch for the first time. Upon witnessing this eerie scene, he immediately became wary, his hand subtly tightening its grip on the large sword at his waist.
"You came back faster than I expected~ One, two..." The witch raised her fingertips, her tone amused, but it sounded as if she were counting her dinners, "There's even one extra person."
Benson's hands clenched tighter involuntarily, as if he were about to strike at any moment. The witch couldn't possibly be unaware of this, but she smiled and remained silent.
Finally, Catherine stepped forward and broke the eerie atmosphere.
She handed the secret manual to the witch: "I'll bring back what you wanted, and what I want..."
She was hinting to the witch not to forget the promise she had made.
Upon seeing this, Benson released his grip on the greatsword. Catherine's words clearly indicated that the two knew each other, or at least were not particularly dangerous enemies.
"Hehe, why are you in such a hurry? I was just about to have some new fun." The witch took the book and flipped through it casually before confirming that it was the one she wanted. At this moment, the smile on her lips became more genuine.
She turned around and waved to the three people behind her, signaling them to follow.
After walking quietly for a few minutes, the witch frowned. She realized that the pace was too slow, so she simply raised her hand and pointed casually.
The grass on the ground suddenly surged and throbbed, like long green snakes. The vines grew wildly, binding the three people's limbs in an instant. Just before the screams rang out, the vines rapidly twisted and turned, carrying the three closely behind the witch.
In just ten minutes, they arrived at the cave in Tarasco.
At the normal human pace, this would typically take more than half a day.
With a flick of her finger, the witch caused the vines to vanish. Freed from their restraints, Catherine and the other two instinctively collapsed to their knees, vomiting violently on the grass.
The witch raised an eyebrow: "So fragile? I only let you ride on my vines once..."
The three of them were completely unable to refute, and simply lay on the ground as if they were about to vomit up their bile.
Seeing that they seemed to need a long time to recover, the witch raised her hand and waved it. Immediately, a thick vine swung down from a giant tree beside her. Both ends of the vine were attached to the tree, and it fell in the middle due to gravity, forming a curved arc.
The witch lightly touched her toes and sat down, waiting for the three people on the ground to recover to the point where they could talk normally.
After a few minutes, Benson recovered first, followed by Catherine and Lucas. The witch yawned, seemingly gaining a new understanding of the fragility of the human race.
She raised her hand and pointed to the cave next to her.
The cavern in Tarasco is so vast that the light from the Devil's Forest can barely penetrate it, only covering a shallow layer at the entrance. From the outside, the cavern is completely dark, and no one knows what terrifying creatures might lurk within.
The witch chuckled and said, "That little spider is lying inside right now~ Why are you looking at me like that... Don't worry~ We're just missing some herbs, it'll take a while."
Catherine looked up at her: "Approximately how long will it take?"
"Hmm... maybe three or four days~" The witch wrinkled her nose in dissatisfaction when she saw the look of displeasure in Catherine's eyes. "That's already very fast! Aren't you satisfied?"
“You’ve already tried your best to speed things up. I know it won’t be easy to completely remove the mark, but I believe this is the fastest you can do. How could I be dissatisfied? I can only express my gratitude.”
Catherine said these words with a smile, which sounded nice, but something just didn't feel right.
The witch rolled her eyes inelegantly, didn't respond, and turned to go into the cave.
Lucas pretended not to notice the exchange between the two and eagerly followed them to ask questions. He had accumulated a lot of questions about potions during his many battles at the Papacy.
In the blink of an eye, only Catherine and Benson remained outside.
Benson glanced at Catherine: "So, you really aren't a witch."
That's a very certain statement.
Although he didn't know who the woman was, her subsequent actions clearly revealed her identity—she had no intention of hiding it at all.
Since that woman is a witch, and if Catherine is also one... she shouldn't have this attitude.
Catherine smiled, showing no intention of arguing: "I didn't expect you to ask so directly."
That's an admission.
To Catherine's surprise, Benson did not show anger as she had imagined. Instead, he leaned his upper body onto the grass, supporting himself with his hands behind his back, looking very relaxed.
He smiled and said, "I knew it! My initial guess was right."
It seemed that his anger at being deceived couldn't completely overshadow the pleasure he felt from guessing correctly—although his anger was nowhere to be seen on his face.
"You're not angry?" Catherine raised an eyebrow. "I remember when you first started out, you were very wary of me. You acted as if I were some kind of explosive potion that could explode at any moment."
Seeing Benson's gaze, Catherine, with a hint of triumph, said, "Although I didn't know you before Saturnalia, how could I, the 'disguised witch,' be completely unaware of the threats around me? I always have to prepare for the day my identity is exposed."
Benson looked at Catherine, who was smiling brightly, and subconsciously looked away: "Back then, at the camp, everyone in the camp pinned all their hopes on you, this fake witch. Such high hopes are bound to be shattered eventually, and the longer it dragged on, the more painful it became. Besides, I didn't know what your purpose was at the time..."
Benson didn't say anything more, but Catherine understood.
Now it's just Lucas and him here. Lucas obviously already knew his identity. Without so many people in the camp weighing on him, he naturally wouldn't care so much about whether her identity was real or fake.
Catherine nodded and stopped dwelling on the matter.
By noon, the witch was still inside the cave and hadn't come out. Lucas, however, ran out, holding a piece of monster meat that the witch had taken from the top of the cave.
During their few days away, in order to save time, they ate nothing but bread and dry bread to stave off hunger on the road. But now, they could finally eat meat! Lucas couldn't hide his joy.
The wood was piled up, a fire was lit, and the meat was slowly roasted on it, releasing a fragrant aroma of charcoal and fat. A gentle breeze carried the scent into the cave. A few minutes later, the witch casually sat down next to Catherine and naturally tore off a piece of meat to eat.
Lucas, sitting opposite him, was young and couldn't help but burst out laughing.
After receiving a glare from the witch, he shoved a piece of meat into his mouth and stared wide-eyed, feigning innocence.
"Hmph! Too late!" With a flick of her finger, the vengeful witch gave poor Lucas a half-day frog trial card.
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