Millennium Witch.

Chapter 16 - 16 - Hit by a Chicken
Two years later.

One sweltering summer morning, Rosalyn walked through a kilometer-long corridor covered with wisteria blossoms and came to a secluded corner formed by the collapse of an overpass. She parted the bushes and revealed a pile of thatch.

This is the mysterious hunting spot she discovered. Wild pheasants often lay eggs here, allowing her to steal a couple of eggs every now and then to improve her meals.

She was now 12 years old, and her adventure outfit made her figure look even taller. Compared to when she first arrived two years ago, she had lost some of her childishness and gained more of a girl's naivety. She was also over 1.55 meters tall and was rapidly approaching the 1.65-meter height of her teacher.

"Let me see... Hmm, there are five eggs this time? I'll only take two, Ms. Chicken, I hope you won't be angry..." She muttered to herself, took out two eggs from the eggs, smiled, and turned to leave.

Unfortunately, this time she was arrested, and the pheasant that was arrested was not quite the same as usual—

It grew to be about the same height as Rosalyn, with a bulging, sore-covered growth on its head, resembling a giant, proliferating gland covered in wriggling tentacles. Its naked body and fleshy wings were featherless, and oozed a foul-smelling slime.

“Um…you don’t seem to be feeling very well, Ms. Chicken…” Rosalyn said.

Its head was distorted, and its flesh was exposed. By the teacher's standards, this was a typical characteristic of a basic aberration. But on the Radiant Continent, such a monster was enough to kill four or five adult villagers. Even more terrifying was that once scratched by it, the filth would spread and eventually devour the entire village.

"Cock-a-doodle-doo!!!" Soon, accompanied by a loud crowing, the mutant rushed over, its sharp beak like a dagger piercing the air.

Rosalyn remained calm. The instant the aberrant creature approached, she was enveloped in a blue aura, instantly shifting to the side with effortless ease. Then, she gently raised her hand, and a dozen or so blue bullets, each the size of a little finger, rained down like shotgun pellets, freezing the pheasant into an ice sculpture.

“…Let me help you find relief.” She sighed softly, snapped her fingers, and crimson flames swept out, engulfing the pheasant.

Although the mutated pheasant was still howling in its final moments, it soon collapsed to the ground, turning into a charred corpse.

After dealing with the mutated pheasant, Rosalind felt somewhat melancholy. Although she had been severely humiliated by Ms. Chicken when she came here to steal eggs before, they had become acquainted through a fight. Now, a year later, Ms. Chicken was gone, making her, who already had no playmates, even more lonely.

I wonder what kind of life the teacher led before I came... But a reclusive master like her probably wouldn't be as restless as I am. Even without me, she could live a leisurely and happy life. It's me who needs her...

Rosalind bowed deeply to Ms. Pheasant, then stood in silence for a minute before turning to leave, clutching the eggs. But just as she was about to move, another pheasant blocked her way, glaring angrily at her, its small body brimming with immense energy.

Rosalyn looked at the hen that looked even more familiar, then at the ugly corpse not far away where she had been bowing and mourning, and her expression froze for a moment: "...Huh?"

……

"Where have you been? You didn't run outside the safety boundary again, did you?" Yvette asked, sitting in the manor's tea room, holding a book, looking at Rosalyn whose hair was much more disheveled than usual.

Two years ago, after gifting Rosalind a Sky Ring Y2 and continuously improving and adding magic to it, she now possesses a certain degree of autonomy and no longer needs Yvette's constant supervision. Therefore, Yvette has specifically divided the map of Ish City into zones: a three-kilometer radius around the manor is a safe zone where free movement is permitted; further out, exploration of the central area requires prior approval; and all areas beyond this zone are strictly prohibited.

The reason for her caution was that during her recent explorations, she discovered some high-level aberrations in the Ish Mountains and Luya City, among other places. Due to the unknown nature of these aberrations and the sheer number of ordinary aberrations nearby, she didn't approach them. However, this didn't stop her from suspecting that even higher-level boss-level aberrations existed in the high-risk areas she had marked. Since aberrations evolve by devouring each other, the entire Ish Island was essentially a giant breeding ground for such aberrations; the emergence of high-level aberrations was not surprising, and perhaps even inevitable.

"No, no, teacher, you warned me, I won't go!" Rosalyn quickly explained, then scratched her head sheepishly, "It was from being hit by a chicken..."

Yvette fell silent, glanced at her a few times, and continued reading her book until half an hour later, when Rosalyn, who had fried the eggs, brought them over along with the rest of the lunch. Only then did she close her book with satisfaction in the tea room and leisurely enjoy the lunch her apprentice had presented.

The sun was shining brightly, and perhaps because of its distance from the equator, the summer heat wasn't particularly intense; in fact, it was quite comfortable. A strong wind blew, and the clouds dispersed, revealing a clear, azure sky. After dinner, Yvette stood up and said, "Let's go to where the fog is."

……

The "fog" Yvette referred to was a dream fog, or at least in her view, it should be a dream fog, just like the fog she saw three hundred years ago when she cautiously explored the tenth basement level of the Abyss Base.

That came from a recent exploration of the "Blackwater Zone." In a ruined building that had not yet collapsed, Rosalyn took the lead and went in. Then she discovered the pervasive mist on the second floor. When Yvette walked up the old stairs, she was shocked to find that the girl was already in the white mist.

but……

Why didn't it trigger?
Yvette didn't understand, but she was certain of one thing: it definitely wasn't normal fog, and there was no reason for fog to form there. Rosalyn's ability to move freely in and out of the fog meant either the fog's power to pull people into dreams wasn't strong enough, or—

The dream fog only works on her.

Considering that she once brought things from her dreams back to the modern world from the mist, even though they were just simple clothes, it still proved that she seemed to have a strange connection with the dream mist, a connection that others, at least people from other worlds, could not reach.

Now, she is going to uncover the true nature of that fog. If it is indeed a dream fog, then she will definitely enter a dream there, and Rosalyn, who is unaffected, can be by her side to protect her sleeping body in reality.

Taking on apprentices is indeed useful.

……

For this trip, Yvette and Rosalind's vehicle had been upgraded and was now a magical vehicle capable of low-altitude flight, with a hovering height of up to 200 meters.

However, compared to the land mode, the magic power consumption in the flight mode is drastically reduced. In addition, the elemental capacitors will experience "elemental decay" over time. The magic motorcycle, which once had a range of thousands of kilometers, now has a range of less than 100 kilometers. This forces Yvette to stop halfway each time and use herself as a battery to recharge the magic motorcycle.

Fortunately, the technology of "element replenishment" was developed before the apocalypse. Capacitors experiencing elemental decay can be fully restored simply by replenishing the lost elements... Hmm, if I can successfully travel back in time this time, I'll take the opportunity to gather some technical knowledge in this area... Knowledge changes destiny...

She quietly began to plan, feeling that she was one step closer to becoming a professional "magical mechanical engineer".

An hour later, Yvette and Rosalind landed the magical motorcycle in a wasteland next to the facility where the Dream Mist was located.

Then, as planned, the two carried out a thorough sweep of the area, eliminating all the mutants that might threaten them in advance.

Finally, they used wind magic to move some large objects into the building and blocked all the entrances, thus completing all the security preparations for the operation.

"Teacher, I still don't feel anything." Rosalyn said, turning her head as she walked up the stairs to the second floor and entered the fog.

Seeing this, Yvette hesitated for a moment before tentatively going up to the second floor. However, just as her body was completely swallowed by the mist, the drowsiness she had experienced before swept over her again.

"You stay here... and watch over... me..." After struggling to finish these instructions, she lay on her side on the ground, her head resting on her arm, and fell into a deep sleep.

(End of this chapter)