Millennium Witch.

Chapter 45 - The Journey: Beginning and End
After that enjoyable spring outing and exploration, Rosalyn embarked on a solo island-hopping trip in September and October of the same year.

As for whether it is September or October, it is unknown. After all, it is a post-apocalyptic world with only two people, and time can only be recorded according to the climate changes of spring, summer, autumn and winter.

She felt that the teacher was capable of observing time more precisely, even down to the date, but was simply too lazy to do so.

Of course, the sword lessons should have been an obstacle to the trip, but the teacher recently required her to practice the basics on her own and wouldn't allow her to watch anymore, ostensibly to "free up her time." But she felt that the slow learning progress must have hurt the teacher's pride, which led the teacher to make such a decision.

Teachers who make excuses are still quite adorable.

But what will the teacher eat and drink while he goes on his trip?
Rosalyn still had some doubts, but the teacher confidently told her that it was none of her concern, which put her at ease.

Yes, the teacher has lived alone for hundreds of years, so there's nothing for her to worry about. Besides, many of the dishes in the kitchen were conceived by the teacher first, and she completed them afterward. The reason she rarely cooks is simply to give her students an opportunity to serve her and repay her kindness.

Before setting off, Rosalyn packed her bags and first watered the vegetable garden on the estate. She then greeted the rabbits and deer kept in the animal pen. After leaving, she also made sure to visit the other farm areas to check on the wheat growth and collect the remains of the animals or mutants entangled in the electric fence.

Then, she walked through the arcade covered with wisteria vines, a street with a classical ruin aesthetic, and went to look at the shadow of the overpass ruins where Ms. Chicken was.

However, the whereabouts of the first generation of Lady Chicken are unknown, and this place has become the base for her descendants to multiply and thrive.

When she arrived, the second-generation members were playfully writhing and toying with a hideous centipede over a meter long with many humanoid eyes. This centipede, perhaps having recently consumed the flesh of some mutant, had only recently mutated, and its fighting movements were extremely clumsy; it was being easily manipulated by a group of pheasants. Rosalyn was held captive for over half an hour, and only intervened to save one of the second-generation members when it was on the verge of death.

Before leaving, she solemnly bowed to the second-generation members, placing her right hand on her chest, to express her respect for their heroic act of protecting their home to the death.

—When her father went to the front lines to fight the demons, her older brother and the others made this gesture before they left. She didn't know what it meant at the time and just watched silently. Now she understands, but it's a little too late.

However, after so many years in the Land of the End, the hope of ever returning is truly slim. The book that records the legend of the Filthy Demon says that the aurora borealis is a rare celestial phenomenon that appears only once every hundred years. Perhaps the idea of ​​returning home has always been just a beautiful delusion.

……

Rosalyn's island-hopping trip lasted six months, mainly circling the island, without going to the Ish Mountains.

The purpose of the trip is twofold: first, to relieve the monotony of the post-apocalyptic life; second, to continuously hone one's ability to survive independently; and third, to check along the way for any mother nests or stage-3 aberrations, and to prevent certain crises from recurring.

She traversed the heart of Grey Harbor and saw the crater that had once been occupied by the Mother Nest, below which lay the city's sewer system—or, more accurately, an underground river.

The area was covered in lush green moss, and occasionally, in places where sunlight shone, you could see maidenhair ferns growing out of nowhere. Perhaps because the waterway was too narrow, there were few aberrations in the underground river, and many agile fish swam around. Many small animals that are not commonly seen on the surface also gathered here, playing happily, like some kind of secluded paradise.

Later, she walked through the abandoned town and arrived at the ruins of Luya City.

In the past, Luya City's mother nest was located in the shallows, creating many deformed jellyfish or fish monsters, making it exceptionally evil and eerie. But now, when you come here, the white sand beach is gently lapped by the waves, washing over stranded starfish and anemones. Schools of unidentified crabs leisurely crawl under the coconut trees, and if you ignore the dilapidated streets overgrown with weeds nearby, you can actually feel the relaxed and leisurely atmosphere of a seaside vacation.

Then, she left Luya City again, and in the late winter of the following year, she traveled along the long East Ring Road, through frost and snow, stopping and starting along the way, until she finally returned to Ish City.

In the suburban factory area outside the city, she saw the cyborg mutant that had attacked the master and apprentice before—the giant mechanical tortoise.

Last year, after obtaining the Pale Tentacles, the teacher launched a massive cleanup operation against all the high-level aberrations on the island, and the mechanical giant tortoise was not spared. Now, its aberration flesh is gone, but its body is relatively intact because the teacher felt that it might be repairable in the future and deliberately showed mercy.

As she passed under the dusty head of the mechanical giant tortoise, she looked up for a moment and felt that the tortoise's eyes, which should have been lifeless, looked surprisingly lively. In particular, the angle of the camera under the glass layer seemed to have been adjusted, pointing directly at her, as if it was quietly gazing at something.

Rosalyn thought of the theory of "animism" that her teacher had introduced to her, and guessed that although the mechanical giant tortoise had died, many of its soul runes still remained, which was why it gave her such a strange sense of agility.

So, being someone who wasn't afraid of deformed beings but was afraid of ghosts, she nervously left the place and never planned to go near it again.

……

I set off last autumn and returned to the central district of Ish, which was already the spring equinox.

A light drizzle was falling that day, a gentle spring rain that made the distant ruins of the Black Tower resemble a lighthouse standing in the misty rain. Though it did not emit light, it could still guide the way.

Before returning to the manor, concerned about the second-generation leaders and the situation at several central district farms, she didn't go straight back. Instead, she took an umbrella and went to the shadows under the overpass ruins to check on the chicks there.

Clearly, the nest had suffered a fierce attack during her absence, resulting in the number of second-generation roosters being about half that of the previous autumn. This saddened her greatly, and she couldn't help but pause to mourn the fallen warriors. But she soon discovered that there were quite a few eggs in the nest, about a dozen, and immediately became happy again. She took three eggs and then, amidst angry crowing, quickly fled the place.

Then she went to inspect the farm's wheat fields.

But to be honest, while the seeds were sown, the surrounding environment was a complete mess. Weeds grew rampant, stealing nutrients from the wheat, and the damaged power grid wasn't repaired or replaced in time. Leftover wheat stalks were piled up to the side without being dealt with, seemingly unconcerned about attracting pests like aphids and stem borers.

This made her puff out her cheeks, thinking to herself, "The teacher is too relaxed. This can't be considered as having been groomed at all."

But soon he became worried, suspecting that his teacher was living a life of famine, starving and his stomach was sticking to his back. So he quickly rode the wind and flew back to the manor without even opening an umbrella.

The manor remained peaceful and serene under the spring rain. The lamps hanging in the trees emitted a warm glow, turning the surrounding rainwater into an orange mist. Seeing the familiar scene, Rosalin relaxed, preparing to surprise her teacher. Then she noticed several clothes hanging on the clothes rack on the second floor, forgotten and futilely dripping in the rain.

She took a deep breath, pushed open the door, and found her teacher sleeping on the sofa by the French windows, holding a book.

If we disregard the premise that the wheat fields are neglected, clothes are forgotten when it rains, and the table is piled with clutter, then this scene is still quite beautiful, echoing the melody of the spring rain, like a sleeping beauty who is secluded from the world.

She exhaled a breath of stale air, lowered her pace, and went upstairs to collect the laundry.

She finally realized that her teacher couldn't live without her either.

……

After Rosalyn's six-month island-hopping trip ended, life at the manor returned to normal. The weeds were gone, the dust was cleaned up, the clutter was tidied up, and there was no need to worry about laundry or cooking.

However, Yvette felt quite innocent. She wasn't actually that lazy. She hadn't brought in the laundry on rainy days because she was asleep and didn't know; the wheat field wasn't well-managed because she could skip meals and lacked any real need for it, and she didn't know when her apprentice would be back; the clutter on the table was because she was used to waiting until a certain threshold before cleaning everything up...

Just like some single guys who fill their laundry baskets with clothes before throwing them all into the washing machine, why be so meticulous when you live alone?

Moreover, putting everything else aside, she has genuinely been practicing her melee weapon skills diligently, and she is no longer as reliant on large-scale spell bombardment as she used to be. This is solid proof of her hard work.

But she decided not to explain these things to Rosalyn.

Because this doesn't fit her public image.

Yes, this really isn't just being stubborn.

……

Time flies, and another year has passed.

That year, Rosalyn was nineteen years old, practically a big sister. Yvette used her crafting skills to make her a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, adding to her intellectual and scholarly air.

Rosalyn didn't understand why she had to wear glasses, since she wasn't nearsighted. But since her teacher liked them, she did it. And this made her feel more and more like a teacher than a teacher when she looked in the mirror.

Of course, considering that she was indeed acting as a martial arts instructor for her teacher, this doesn't seem to be a problem.

Compared to previous years, this year was exceptionally peaceful. Through the underground seed bank of the ruins of an agricultural college, the two started growing rice, and the day when they could eat rice was just around the corner.

The following year, having improved their diet, the two moved to Luya, the northernmost city, and built a small, predominantly wooden seaside villa together. This way, when the summers got too hot, they could escape to the north together, strolling and sightseeing on the white sand beaches.

In the third year, Rosalyn proposed the Ocean Upgrade Method, which turned the ocean into a super training ground for teachers to upgrade their skills and absorb aberration factors. However, due to Yvette's lack of adaptability to underwater activities, the two of them spent most of their time in shallow waters, not daring to go too far.

The efficiency was indeed much higher, and both of them were certain that the white tentacles would evolve as they continued to devour and digest the food. However, how long this process would take was still unknown.

……

On a summer night, the Milky Way hangs low.

The stars intertwined across the deep blue sky, like a handful of shattered mirrors scattered across it, reflecting shimmering silver light on the distant lake. The chirping of insects rose and fell among the grass, and occasionally a firefly would flit by, leaving a brief, luminous arc.

Stepping onto the magic skateboard, skimming across the lake, Rosalind, dressed in a blue mage robe, gracefully landed on the metal platform of the Abyss Base.

This is her 12th year since she transmigrated. Now 22 years old, she has finally shed the girlishness under her teacher's protection and has become more intellectual, mature, and well-rounded. In her teacher's words, "You are now a qualified mature woman."

She found this puzzling, but since the teacher didn't explain, she didn't ask any further questions.

She pushed up her gold-rimmed glasses, opened the door, and walked down the stairs, the crisp sound of her high heels clicking on the metal steps continuing into the dark depths below.

However, she wasn't here for adventure. Instead, her teacher needed some interior decoration for a newly built seaside villa in Luya City, and she came here to cut some Magic Light Vines to take with her.

She tucked the excess blonde hair behind her ear and began to busy herself, cutting off the magic vines one by one, tying them up, and sending them to the metal platform outside.

This was undoubtedly a tedious and boring process, but she did it with great motivation. Who doesn't enjoy the process of gradually making their home warm and beautiful?
As for going home, she had given up on it completely two or three years ago. Crossing the aurora borealis and meeting her teacher was already incredibly lucky; for such a once-in-a-century celestial phenomenon to reappear and send her back to her family after completing her studies was simply unbelievable. Even daydreaming couldn't be more absurd.

After spending more than half an hour and making several bundles of magic vines, Rosalyn, having completed her mission, was finally able to leave. She walked to the metal platform, lazily stretched her waist, and looked up at the starry sky.

She saw a dazzling aurora borealis stretch across the night sky, like a melting galaxy, pouring down into her eyes.

(End of this chapter)