I Picked Up a Witch from a Novel

Episode 0-a. The One Who Moves Forward.

The blood of the nobility is blue.

Carrying burdens that are simply too heavy for the warm hues of commoners, they cool their blood and shine with a blue tint as they move forward.

Or perhaps, not having to engage in labor leaves their skin pale white, in contrast to the sunburnt skin of the commoners, revealing blue veins.

That bloodline, class, and noble pride are what they alone pursue.

They utter the words “noblesse oblige,” yet deep down, their true intentions hardly concern the commoners at all.

They hoard all sorts of benefits and regard commoners as insignificant beings.

The small gap that once existed between the nobility and commoners has only grown wider, until now, even when raising their heads high enough to strain their necks, they cannot see the tips of their boots.

And this was a truth I had come to feel painfully in my life in this world.

There are no nobles who care for the commoners.

They are too busy looking out for their own interests, and any noble who claims to care for the commoners is nothing more than a fraud.

In a world where such modern thoughts do not prevail, there could be no idealist.

It is akin to someone like me, who saved the gray witch to change the world, opposing the heavens like a twisted cog in a machine.

Thus, the path towards the option of being a noble was excluded from my journey, from my conclusion from the very beginning.

Reaching out for their help, I would only receive the cold sprinkling of blue blood in return.

The blood and power of class that I could never obtain.

Though I did not view it negatively, I thought there would be no nobility walking the same path as I.

However.

I met a noble who shattered my hardened thoughts in the Principality of Saravati.

With a dress more noble than anyone else’s, blonde hair and wall-like eyes, and a hairstyle rich with waves.

Always carrying a fan that matched well with her haughty expression and demeanor.

“It is a noble’s duty to stand before the commoners…! I shall take the lead!”

“Shut up, you’re in my way, so move aside.”

The noble girl, who was panicking by the roadside due to the broken wheel of her carriage, was oddly different from her appearance.

Even until I passed by, she could not solve the problem and was struggling against the threats of bandits, accompanied by an old knight and a stout coachman.

“Ah…, I should be the splendid one….”

“If you want to be splendid and die, then go ahead.”

“You, commoner, are very rude!”

Even while I was helping her, unable to leave her annoying mouth alone.

“Ahhh…! It’s a bandit! They are coming at us!”

“Are you crazy, really?”

Her way of speaking was so out of the ordinary that it broke my concentration and even that of the bandits.

The fact that I took quite some time to kill them and drive them away was truly remarkable.

And.

“Noble lady, I’ve replaced the wheel of your carriage, so please go along your way now. Always carry spare wheels with you.”

“Commoner! I am Lucia Vicente Todorica Seymour! I will not forget this grace, so please tell me your name!”

“…, That’s enough, just go.”

“Oh, no…! I, Lucia Vicente Todorica Seymour, cannot be a noble who does not know gratitude! Commoner, I shall fulfill your wish!”

“Then just give me 1 billion dera and leave.”

“Ah…, I don’t have that much yet…. Hmm, let’s see, how about you wait just 10 years…, no, 20 years…, no, I mean 40 years!”

“…, You’ll die of old age before that.”

“Nobles do not grow old!”

“I’m a commoner, so I will grow old and die. And besides, the knight behind us is also old and panting.”

“Then something else…! A different wish…! Something that I, Lucia Vicente Todorica Seymour, can fulfill…!”

The noble lady was annoyingly persistent and strange, clutching at my trousers and refusing to let go.

So I looked at her indifferently and said.

“Noble lady, act according to your bloodline and class. I am, as you say, a commoner, and you are a noble of blue blood. Therefore, you do not have to repay any grace to a commoner.”

Her head drooped at my firm refusals.

“Then, travel safely.”

“….”

Just as I was about to turn back to my carriage after saying that, she took out a small dagger from her pocket and swiftly cut her hand.

“What are you…?”

And what followed was blood flowing red.

“It’s not blue blood. What does bloodline and class have to do with acts of repaying grace? Do nobles not work for the commoners? Noblesse oblige, nobles have responsibilities. Wealth and power come with accompanying responsibilities and duties.”

“….”

Her strange tone soon returned to normal as she stepped boldly toward me, extending her hand.

“If you have enjoyed the benefits of being a noble, is it not natural to fulfill that duty? Even if many nobles distort that meaning and live shamelessly, I am not one of them. I am not a corrupt noble who doesn’t even know gratitude.”

“….”

Her words, which had already rotted away for everyone else, came out sharply, and the way she looked up at me with grievance was undeniably different from any noble I had encountered.

Perhaps, even if she were a noble, she was not the type of person I had been searching for.

“So please tell me your name.”

“…, Ain.”

I blurted out my name without any thought.

“Ain, huh…, yes. What a wonderful name.”

“But noble lady, there’s something more important than that.”

And where the sound of leaves rustling lingered, I spoke the words I had been holding back until now.

“Not just a noble lady, but Lucia Vicente Todorica Seymour of the Seymour family.”

“Yes, anyway. You should slowly lift your fan again and return your speech to normal, shouldn’t you?”

That was her concept which had become increasingly uncomfortable and now broken.

Even though her short stature kept showing her crowning glory, she tried to maintain her noble aspect.

I told her to revert those back again.

“Oh.”

“….”

“What do you mean…. I, I said nothing. So, commoner, please tell me what you wish!”

Her face turned bright red as she claimed to know nothing and ran off to her carriage.

Then she stood a distance away and shouted, but behind her, the coachman and knight shook their heads.

So I thought that Lucia’s odd behavior might be quite famous within her family.

In any case.

The carriage rattled down the unpaved road.

Behind the carriage I was pulling, there was a long line of wagons.

High-quality wood gathered from the northern snow country of Krepen was loaded onto dozens of wagons heading to the principality.

This was an extension of the story where I had hastily told someone to become my companion when asked what I wanted.

The story of the noble girl who had so little compared to what she desired and begged me earnestly for success.

Perhaps it could be another clue to save the gray woman, the choice of becoming a noble that might connect from there.

And in such a story, a dwarfish, hoarse voice abruptly interjected.

“The carriage is a complete mess. By the time we arrive at the principality, my behind is likely to be shattered.”

“Old man, aren’t dwarves sturdy?”

Having been on the move in the carriage for several hours, it was reasonable enough to feel a little pain in the backside, yet the old man immediately revealed his grumpy nature.

“That’s a discriminatory statement against dwarves. You little humans whose heads would crack with a hammer blow.”

“That’s not even a discriminatory statement, just a bad comment. Moreover, the kids are riding without complaints, why are you, the oldest, behaving like this, when your age is supposed to be in the hundreds.”

“What’s it to you?”

That was not particularly matching his age in terms of words and actions, so I glanced at his juvenile quarreling figure and shook my head.

“… If you’re that unhappy, why not check the carriage before we depart?”

“Kid, I’m a blacksmith, not some carpenter!”

“That’s a discriminatory statement against carpenters.”

Besides telling him not to make discriminatory comments against dwarves, he ironically utters many weird things himself.

“Those who merely chop firewood have nothing to say about being discriminated against, like those elves.”

“….”

No, that’s a discriminatory statement against elves.

You racist dwarf, old man.

So, with such thoughts filling my mind, I urged the horse a little more.

At this rate, I felt like I would have to listen to the dwarf’s grumbling voice for hours more.

I diligently drove the carriage, managing to arrive at the principality an hour earlier.

And.

“Commoner! Was my life-or-death stake in the point pool betting successful?! Can I remain a proper noble?!!”

“….”

“Commoner! Hurry up and answer…! Is the day coming when I’ll have to drop Vicente Todorica Seymour from my name and become like you, a commoner…?”

“Noble lady, can you just shut that mouth of yours?”

“Not noble lady, but Lucia Vicente Todorica Seymour!”

“…, then why am I the commoner?”

“Because that is, of course, the difference between nobility and commoners!”

She, who had once asked me not to call her noble lady first, was still a noble who greeted us, referring to me as a commoner.

It was troubling.

If I burned all the wood, I would surely become the same commoner.

Should I drag her down to the level of commoners like this?

I was thinking such thoughts while staring at the springy blonde hair.

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