Chapter 47: Return Back
After that, all that was left was to return back. We left the eggs there,
thinking that if they hatched and eventually grabbed more mana stones we would
have a good source of money, and we made our way to the Grim Palace once more.
As we left the cave, the thought of catching the Ent again came to my mind. It
would be quite convenient to have the Ent tell me about things when we needed
it.
On the other hand, we could always just grab another one the next time we came
here.
It didn’t take long for us to make our way to the same grassy path we had
treaded to get here. Weiss and I chatted a little.
When we were just a small bit away from the Grim Palace, we stopped.
"Should we roll one in the forest?" I asked.
"Yeah."
And so we did. Smoke plumed out from behind the Grim Palace.
Now, with a lot, lot more magic stones—enough for her to put in her experiments,
me to put in my tools, and us to sell and get some money to spend on the
renovations—we were armed.
We sat down on the boulders and laughed as we had puff after puff of our joint.
"Say, Butler," Weiss called out. "What are your favorite types of sweets? Not
cake?"
"Cake, yes. Chocolate cheesecakes."
"I like cheesecakes," said Weiss. "Make one someday."
"Definitely. In a few days? I’ll go and get all the materials for the
renovations from Serenia."
"Going there again would be a little troublesome." Weiss rested her head on her
palm. "Your mana is not that helpful."
"Even after seeing that spell, Weiss?"
"Yes, Phantom." Weiss smiled widely. "It’s a one-off thing, no?"
I nodded. A blush was threatening to spread up my neck. I hadn’t signed up for
this, to be honest! What the hell? Were we dating or what? Why were the two of
us acting like a couple about to be wed soon? Heck, or more like two people who
were in the process of eloping—literally on the run right now.
Guhhh. The specificity made me think even more.
I took a deep drag of the joint and looked at Weiss.
"I’ll come with," she said, "to the city."
My eyes widened.
"You’ll leave the Grim Palace?"
Weiss reached out, and I passed the joint to her. As she took a drag, too, she
started speaking.
"It’s about time. I can’t stay in there forever... It feels like all this is a
bit of a calm before a storm."
Some of the CEF bastards had escaped. Even if they hadn’t, they wouldn’t take
long to come here.
Neither of us would be surprised if the Grim Palace was targeted by the CEF, the
Empire, or the Church—or by all three at the same time next.
How this came to be.
What was the reason behind it?
It was really just luck.
"Every Witch Queen has always been ready to face the entire world," said Weiss.
"We are witches. The Walpurgis also exists for solidarity amongst witches. The
only difference is that I would have to actually face it."
"Will you attend?" I asked, and Weiss quickly shook her head. Not this year, it
seemed. She was still lazy.
We sat in silence for a few seconds.
"You know, Butler... I get a little nervous thinking about ’tomorrow.’" She
lowered her gaze. "Back when everything was normal, I was worried that
everything would be normal forever—that I would not live a ’full’ life."
I hummed.
"I would frequently imagine big things, like fighting the Empire or going to the
demon world."
At the end of the day, Weiss was a young girl. She had spent her entire life
here, in the Grim Palace, from the moment she was snatched by her predecessor
until now.
"I did know one day I would have to find a successor and leave my legacy; those
anxieties hit me deeply when maman died."
"Maman?"
"The previous witch."
I nodded.
"And now... because things really seem to be happening, I feel a strange tug.
Some of it feels unreal, as if it won’t happen. I was anxious about none of this
being there, and now I am feeling shaken to commit to it." She passed the joint
back. "Foolish, no?"
I took a deep puff. Very deep. Then another.
"Weiss, I... Hmmm..." Leaning back, I moved the joint down and looked at her.
"It’s different when we imagine things or recount them. It’s like reading a
story. Life isn’t particularly like that, is it?"
"What does that mean?"
"We have to live through every day. Every second, every minute. Regardless of
how mundane or slow it is, regardless of how heavy and big it is, and we have to
act through it all."
I took a puff, then showed her the joint.
"Crushing, rolling, and smoking takes us what—ten minutes? We can be facing the
worst war, seeing an army just ten minutes away from our house. And we’ll still
have to live each of those ten minutes."
"It goes fast sometimes," she said, "and slow at others."
"It’s all those minutes nonetheless. And each of those you’ll have to live. It
will all build up, one by one, and through it all, you’ll be right here, living
in just the moment you’re living in."
When we look back or we look ahead, aren’t we still not living in those moments?
"Every time I have those ten minutes, I think I’d like to share a joint with
you."
I stood up and gave her my hand. Weiss looked at it, then into my eyes.
"That’s a strange motivational speech," she said. "What is the point of it?"
"I am not saying things will be this way or that way; that’s just for things to
be. All we will have is right now. So, let’s make the most of that, no?"
"No honor, no pride, no goals or dreams—you won’t talk about those?"
"Doesn’t suit a thief."
Weiss chuckled.
She grabbed my hand and got to her feet.
"Right. I guess this suits you."
It was time to go back home for today.
