Tensely, Cyg gripped the handle of the door. Alicia had left right away without further inquiry given that Merry was right outside. Steeling himself, the thief stepped out as naturally as possible. He believed himself to be a good liar—rubbing shoulders with unsavory folk was common for him and had made it a necessity. None of it mattered here, because a second after the witch saw him she raised an eyebrow.
“Had a nightmare?” she asked.
His blood chilled. She had seen through him in a different way than what had Alicia done before, and he hadn’t the faintest idea as to how.
Carefully, he picked his words. “Terrible week.”
She chuckled. “We’re all happy that’s over and done with. Come and eat before the food gets cold.”
Nodding, Cyg did as told. Sure enough, the witch seemed to have no recollection of what he just experienced, and with his legs restored, this appeared to be genuine time travel. How insane, he thought, picking at the same food he had precisely a week ago.
He stayed mostly silent during breakfast, unsure of how to speak to Merry. She’d already picked up on him acting strange at the start, so he supposed there was little risk in just shutting up instead of making it worse.
When the all food was eaten and the all dishes were cleaned, Merry said to Cyg, “Well then, enough lounging around. Let’s get you up and working outside, shall we?”
And Alicia, again, was prompted to act as his guide.
As soon as they closed the front door behind them, Cyg asked, “Where are we going?”
“There’s a creek close to here,” she replied, “Let me explain there.”
Cyg followed, but before he lost sight of the house, he glanced back to check if Bassy was there—and sure enough the beast was curled up in the backyard, and when Cyg looked at it, its crown wriggled in response.
He breathed out roughly, recalling the sensation of being bitten in half, and tried to distract himself with the scenery. Cyg recognized most of the plant life close by even if he hasn’t pinned down their names or uses, but it wasn’t long before the land became very unfamiliar again. When they passed by a flower Cyg had never seen before, Alicia remained silent, having dropped all pretense.
A question popped into his head. “Why isn’t there a garden or something growing nearby? Wouldn’t you want to cultivate specific plants you need?”
“Given what dangers live or grow around here, Merry could probably heal anything anyone could bring to her, so it’s not like she needs anything. And when she is missing something, she just goes to town to buy it. I think she said it wasn’t worth the effort raising difficult or rare species in the rare event she might need it,” Alicia replied. And then after a moment, she asked, “Wait, that’s the first thing you ask? Don’t you have a hundred more important questions?”
Cyg checked behind him to see if any basilisks or witches happened to be following them, and when there weren’t, he replied, “I thought you had a whole thing ready. I’m not gonna ruin what you had planned.”
“Err...” The apprentice mulled over something and sighed. “Don’t worry about Bassy, she doesn’t go after anyone unless they did something to her or she’s ordered to by Merry.”
The thief hummed. “That’s good to know.”
From there until they reached their destination, they remained silent, only the sounds of nature and their footfalls to be heard.
The creek was ten minutes away, and it turned out to be a quite slow-moving stream. It began north, curved gently to the east, and settled back into a mostly southward direction. It was also about five jumps across and was knee-deep at most, making crossing it annoying but not particularly dangerous. With how clear it was, one could easily watch fish make their journey downstream.
“This must be your secret spot,” Cyg joked. It was obvious they could’ve talked far earlier unless it turned out the witch had some absurd hearing.
“I suppose,” she replied, walking up to a large flat rock. Alicia swept her simply dress so it did not fold when she sat down, leaving Cyg to stand. “Anyway, I didn’t come up with the circle; I sent Archmage Orin a letter and he gave the thing to me while fighting off Merry.”
Cyg raised a hand. “Wait, wait, wait! The archmage from the tower near town? That one? And he got into a fight? Hold on, can we start from the beginning?”
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“That is the beginning.”
He rubbed the bridge of his nose, groaning. “What did you send a letter for? And how?”
“...To ask for help talking some sense into her, and Merry lets people go if she thinks they would’ve been fine without her. I expected her to have given you an explanation,” Alicia said, raising an eyebrow. “What was my previous self doing putting the sigil on you?”
“No, Merry did give me an explanation, but it was nothing detailed,” he replied, “This would go a lot smoother if you put it more like a story instead of letting me fill in the holes for myself.”
“Hmm.” She crossed her arms, thinking about something for a second. “No, I’m not a very good storyteller. Wouldn’t it be easier as I explain things from order of relevance?”
And Cyg thought she wasn’t a very good liar either, for it was plain as day she was hiding something, and each time she tried to watch her tongue the conversation slammed to a halt. Figuring this wasn’t the time to pry out any secrets, Cyg moved to continue. “Okay, so the archmage has been missing for a while. Meaning he lost.” He clicked his tongue. “Well, that’s a nightmare. I guess fighting the witch is getting crossed off the list. Did you see what she could do?”
After a bit of thinking, Alicia answered, “I saw the archmage shoot out a bolt of lightning which stunned her for a bit, but the second bolt did nothing. Then a fog covered the entire outside of the house, and Merry told me to get inside. I couldn’t really see anything after that.” She paused for a second, then added, “Then Orin used earth magic to peel off thin strips of wood from the walls, and engraved them with the spell circles. I wasn’t there to see how it ended, but considering how he’s gone and Merry isn’t, it’s safe to say he was defeated. The diagrams arrived in a very rough state, and luckily, I managed to figure out which parts to fill out to set it up.”
“Then our best bet is to make a run for it, huh?” Cyg said, “Last time it caught me pretty quick, but if we try to make it as far as we can without getting noticed, we might stand a chance... but you should already know this, and if you’re still here, it means it didn’t work.”
“...I did try that idea out, just not on myself,” she replied, watching him for his reaction. He only waved his hand, as if saying it was obvious. “Merry doesn’t have a reason to check where we are unless she has a reason to look for us or we entered or exited somewhere important. If you leave her domain, she’ll know. I got you out to the edge of the domain once, and it didn’t seem like you managed to escape since Merry came back unworried.” The apprentice absentmindedly shifted some rocks around her feet before realizing she had forgotten something. “Oh, I didn’t use you as a test subject because I was afraid of getting hurt. I mean, I was, but the range of the circle can’t escape her domain.”
Frowning, Cyg asked, “What is a domain anyway? All I know is it makes the owner stronger.”
“Ah, Merry’s been teaching me about domains as part of the apprenticeship, so I know some things but not all of it. Now that I think about it, this whole thing really is tangled up in giant knots,” Alicia mused, “A domain is basically an extension of their soul, a larger hole in the fabric of reality for mana to funnel through. Merry’s domain has been in the ground long enough that its physical components no longer matter; the giant sphere centered around her house already permanently warps the Outer Sea without any support. I think Merry would need to abandon it for a few years before it fades back, and we obviously don’t have that time.”
“Huh, wait, doesn’t that mean you can make a domain too?”
“Merry’s is too strong; it’ll instantly crush mine. I can make very small ones that last for a while, but that’s kind of pointless. Anyway, Merry’s domain checks anything that comes and goes and automatically blocks the passage of anything suspicious,” she replied, “I left to town with Merry once, and I saw that the sigil was faded when I was outside.”
“...Wait, that means...” Cyg trailed off, the realization slamming into him like a hammer. He picked up a pebble in frustration and tossed it into the river, the thing not even skipping once before sinking.
Alicia sighed. “Also, long ago, I got... desperate, and I tried to kill Merry. I got bolder when attempts failed and nothing worked. Poison doesn’t work since she can neutralize the toxin instantly. I surprised her with an explosive once, and she would heal herself while subsequent ones wouldn’t even scratch her. I tried unloading an entire box of bombs on her after and she still managed to put herself back together.”
By now, Cyg was scowling. “This is what we’re up against?”
With her usual tired eyes, Alicia stared at him. “If you want out, just wander out the domain so I can maybe learn what happens after.”
“Right, that! What the hell even happens after we die? Does this world get reset? Do you just jump into a new world?”
“I don’t know,” she confessed, “I still don’t understand the runes in the circle. Sphere, actually. I had to assemble like four different blueprints into a three-dimensional mode. Not to mention, they’re purposefully obfuscated. I can refill the circle myself, but it’s a process that takes months—not to mention I’m only able to sneak in when a patient is there but not Merry.”
Cyg, now pacing in circles, rolled up his sleeve. “And this says I have, what, six tries? If we leave, we don’t get a redo, she’s immune to anything we can possibly throw at her, she can heal herself, and we don’t even know what Aspects she has! Plus she has a basilisk for a pet too! What the fuck is this?!” Alicia watched him, not adding a word. She already knew this long ago, but to him this all didn’t feel real yet. Feeling his heart racing, Cyg forced himself to take deep breaths. This is all what he’d been told, not what he’d seen for himself. When he calmed back down, he muttered, “I’m being too hasty; I... I have to see something for myself.”
Preferably, he’d test everything Alicia told him, but six tries aren’t enough for all that. Why, he’d have to assume it’s all true and work from there. What could he do that she couldn’t?
Upon hearing that, Alicia immediately brightened. “You have a plan. That’s excellent, because I’ve been long out of those.”
“We’re making a run for it. Kind of.” He paused and then spun around to face the elf. “You said you knew how to make explosives?”