Chapter 154: Grand Witch Special Forces
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 154: Grand Witch Special Forces
Yohan quickly realized that this place was several decades in the future.
The sight of skyscrapers soaring as if to pierce the sky brought back vivid memories of the 21st century he had once lived in.
‘Then again, the Empire State Building was a 20th-century building…’
The first train appeared in the 19th century, and less than a hundred years later, massive buildings like that began to emerge.
Considering that, this pace of development wasn't all that fast. Besides, this world had the Witch of Machines, the living answer key to all technology.
If the Empire and Makina put their minds to it, achieving this level of development wouldn't be too difficult.
“...Do you have any idea what you’ve just done?”
Of course, that didn't mean what Margaret had done was excusable.
She had brought Yohan to an environment that reminded him of his past on Earth. In other words, she had forcibly severed all the bonds he had painstakingly forged in this world.
Margaret tilted her head as if she didn't understand and asked, “What did I do wrong?”
“If you jump through time like this, we can’t go back to the past—”
“So? Why is that wrong?”
Cutting Yohan off mid-sentence, Margaret slowly approached him and spoke.
“I—I only need you, Yohan. You kept trying to run away to the past, so I sent time forward like this. —I don't see how any of this is my fault.”
“...You don’t even realize what you’ve done—”
“It’s you! If you hadn’t tried to run away from me, Yohan! I wouldn’t have done this!”
With tears welling in her eyes, Margaret screamed. She pounded her chest in frustration as if to show how wronged and stifled she felt.
“It’s not like I asked for much! I didn’t ask you to love only me, and I didn’t ask you to get rid of the other witches! All I asked—all I asked was for you to love me, too!”
Don’t run away!
Fight back!
Watching Margaret shout, Yohan’s expression hardened.
“—You. Are you so sure that the Yohan you know is really me?”
“O-Of course. Yohan, I’m sure because I love you more than anyone…”
“Then, I suppose you knew I had this ability?”
Yohan immediately turned Margaret into a human. Feeling her magic vanish in an instant, Margaret tilted her head, sensing something was wrong.
To figure out what was amiss, she snapped her fingers, trying to cast a spell. Naturally, a powerless human couldn't possibly use magic.
“Wh-What—?”
“What’s wrong? Didn’t expect I could do this?”
“No, what is this…”
Yohan grabbed the hand of the now-powerless Margaret, slammed her against the wall, and gripped her chin.
“I’m not the Yohan you know. Just like you’re not the Margaret I know.”
“N-No. That can’t be… You’re Yohan. You are, right? My, our Yohan…”
“Shut up.”
With a flick, Yohan shoved Margaret back inside the cabin. He let out a heavy sigh and gazed at the buildings in the distance.
He had taken away her magic to prevent her from jumping further into the future, but…
‘Can we go back?’
He could only shake his head at the question of returning to the past. Since he couldn't trust Margaret, he would need Regina's help, but Regina struggled just to turn back time by a few days, resorting to sending only memories back.
Having come decades into the future, returning to the past might be impossible forever.
Impossible to meet the people he had left behind…
‘Huh?’
Come to think of it, it wasn't like he had any significant bonds he'd left behind in the past. Yohan finally nodded, realizing his situation wasn't as dire as he'd thought.
Still, he needed to discuss it with the other witches. While he might not have left anyone behind, he couldn't be sure about them…
“Umm… I don’t understand a single thing you’re saying…”
The witches, who had just woken up, tilted their heads as they listened to Yohan’s explanation. They couldn't comprehend what he was talking about.
They had come to the future? They might not be able to go back? What on earth did that mean?
Time was supposed to flow toward the future, and not being able to return to the past was just common sense, wasn't it?
“You’ll understand once you go outside.”
“Outside?”
The witches finally put on their coats and stepped out of the cabin. Since the cabin was built halfway up a mountain in the Forest of Magic Beasts, they could immediately see the view of the town below.
The trees that once obscured the view had all been cut down, leaving only stumps. The buildings in the city below were constructed from a material they had never seen before, soaring high enough to pierce the sky.
They were structures not easily seen in the era they came from. The witches fell silent, staring at the city.
“What in the world is that…”
“...This is the future?”
“How did they build things so tall?”
While the witches were exclaiming in awe, Yohan pulled Regina aside to speak with her privately.
“...Regina, do you think we can go back to the past?”
“The past you’re referring to, when exactly would that be?”
“To the era we lived in.”
“I don’t know the exact year of this era, but… if it’s decades into the future as Miss Margaret said—then I’m afraid it’s impossible.”
Regina explained why returning to the past was impossible.
“The nature of my magic is that turning back time by just a few days completely drains my magic power. And recharging requires as much time as I turned back. It’s not an easy task.”
“Not easy, meaning?”
“Theoretically—if we were to consistently go back in time for several decades, it might be possible to return to the past of several decades ago.”
Theoretically—Yohan couldn't take that word at face value. Even without it, the logic was flawed.
Needing decades to go back decades… what kind of wordplay was that?
Of course, since his own consciousness would also travel back in time, he wouldn't die of old age, but…
‘My mind might break…’
Living for decades that no one but him, Regina, and Margaret would ever perceive would be quite agonizing.
Especially for a human, whose lifespan was barely a hundred years.
“So it’s impossible.”
“Not exactly… but it’s impossible to solve in the short term.”
“Right. I understand.”
Yohan said, glancing at Margaret inside the cabin. She did it because she wanted to be loved? Just because love was the motive didn't mean anything was permissible.
At the very least, causing trouble like this was not okay.
“Master, so what will you—”
Thwump-thwump-thwump-!
Just as Yohan was about to ask for Evangeline's and the other witches' opinions, he looked up at a loud noise coming from the distance.
In the sky, a helicopter was flying toward the cabin.
The helicopter stopped directly above them, and several people jumped out. They didn't rappel down with ropes; they just leaped. Yohan was startled by the act.
‘What in the world is that…’
Grand Witch Special Forces.
The side of the helicopter was emblazoned with these words.
“Attention, everyone.”
The soldier at the front of the group that had landed on the ground shouted, drawing everyone's attention.
The soldier, whose gender was impossible to tell, confirmed all eyes were on them and began to speak.
“You are all currently unregistered witches, and your illegal use of magic has been confirmed. We ask for your cooperation with our investigation.”
At the soldier's words, Hekaterina let out a scoff and stepped forward.
“Illegal? Who the hell gets to decide what’s legal or illegal?”
“—In the name of Her Great Majesty, the Emperess.”
“The Emperess? Ah, that little brat.”
The soldier flinched slightly at Hekaterina's words, then immediately pulled the rifle from their back and aimed it at her.
Hekaterina, who already knew what a gun was, simply grinned and stepped forward nonchalantly.
“What, you gonna do something with that? If you can shoot, then shoot—”
BANG-!
The soldier fired without any warning. A hole appeared in Hekaterina's head, and she collapsed to the ground.
The other witches groaned and held their foreheads. Yohan sighed along with them.
The soldiers who had shot Hekaterina approached Yohan's group as if there was nothing more to see, slowly aiming their guns.
“You are all under arrest. Failure to comply may result in your death.”
“Excuse me, sorry to bother you.”
Yohan looked at the approaching soldiers and pointed at Hekaterina, whom they had just passed.
The soldiers tilted their heads and looked back, only to freeze stiff. They saw Hekaterina getting up, a hole still in her head.
“H-Hahahaha-! You shot first, didn't you?”
Hekaterina, blood streaming down her face, stood up and transformed into a monster. The Witch of Fear had descended upon the future.