Chapter 23: The question stands

"Kidnapping might be… a little bit too much. But there is one thing that I"m willing to try."

Shaking her head in denial, Ayda was in an uncommon state for her. Maybe this topic was what would always make her sensitive because of the reasons that I have yet to learn, or maybe it was my reaction that managed to catch her off-guard. With no way to judge it, I could only throw random guesses, not getting any closer to the truth at all.

"You know this place and the situation far better than me. With that, I"m willing to try whatever you have on mind first. I know that I"m using this word a lot, but kidnapping… Let"s say it"s the last resort I"m willing to go for."

Seeing that my words had a calming effect on the girl, I managed to calm myself down as well. For some strange reason, noticing the signs of her being upset on her face was making my chest tighten.

Obviously, I was perfectly aware of what it could mean. A cute girl like her paying me all her attention and getting all clingy, willing to go for great lengths to help me achieve my goals… Even without her borderline s.e.xual attempts at me, I could tell that she was acting more like my wife than a random stranger I met just a few days ago!

But as much as even my previous self from before the apocalypse would be interested in those things, as much my self from just before the attack on my home would be pleased with this kind of situation, the same couldn"t be said about my current self.

With the life of my mother that I just barely managed to save hanging on an extremely thin thread, nothing else could take the priority in my actions rather than striving to find a way to help her. Even the current problem of finding someone who could let me become a wizard wasn"t aimed just at fulfilling the system"s mission for this world.

While obviously, I had some great hopes for the reward for completing the mission, I was perfectly aware of the fact that the more cards I would hold, the greater the chance that I would be able to find a way to save my mom.

Be it a wizard, or the true mage that Ayda mentioned before, as long as it gave me more tools to work with, I was pretty happy to engage in it. The one thing that made me slightly worried…

The one thing that made me slightly worried was whether or not the early phase of infatuation would turn into something potentially threatening to my cause. Because I couldn"t deny with my entire self about this entire rush to find someone to initiate me having absolutely nothing to do with the worry of never seeing this girl again.

"Okay… I think we might have shot at something in about two to three days. But we will have to travel for a day to reach one place…"

Calculating in her mind, Ayda already grasped my hand and started pulling me away like usual. For some reason, seeing her acting like she normally would put my soul at ease for a bit. Yet another example of what was scary with my mind. Because I knew that if I cared for this girl enough, then my will to save my mother would be undermined by this new, weaker state of my mind.

For better or worse, those thoughts quickly disappeared from my mind. In just a few moments of dragging me around - which I already considered as my new most common mean of transportation - this d.a.m.ned girl somehow managed to find a coach with a driver, rent it out and finish shopping for the snacks!

Maybe it was something related to losing one"s emotions by practising witchcraft, but what had to take at least several hours, Ayda finished before I could realise.

"Listen. The opportunity that I talked about before… Isn"t failproof. I have one acquaintance… that I might convince into helping you. But once again, this is the single method I could come up with without involving "let"s kill them all" train of thought."

Coughing slightly when casually speaking about the possibility of murdering people, Ayda quickly fixed her face before moving back to the topic.

"I know for sure that that idiot will be returning from his mission soon and I know which route he will take. All that we need to do, is to wait in one of the taverns by the road and be on the lookout."

Explaining as she stood up from her sitting place to fix the layout of the pillows, Ayda reiterated all the details of her plan.

"Don"t we need to be on guard though?"

Stopping her train of thoughts, I caught her surprised look.

"You know, you said that wizards are not particularly fond of witches, didn"t you?"

Seeing the girl nod her head while momentarily ceasing her attempts to improve her sitting place, I continued.

"Even if that wizard you spoke off…"

For some reason, just bringing up a matter that involved another man, made my voice crack a little. I wonder what could that be?

"... has some connections to you, I don"t think he will be pleased to have a talk with how I understand it, a well-known witch out in the open. To be honest, knowing humans, even if that wizard will be willing to spare you some of his time, I do not want to guess what would the people around him do before that."

Maybe it was just a coincidence, but in my homeworld - at least before the apocalypse - wizard word had way gentler connotations when compared to the word witch. Witches were burning at the stakes while wizards were actually the wise old men that flocks of people visited with hopes of advice.

Maybe it was this partial earthy mindset that made me consider this option. After all, I had to have some kind of plan if things suddenly turned awry. If I didn"t want to salvage my life with emergency exit at the cost of forever losing Ayda…

Just this thought alone scared me. Both because of what would the future entail with this lovely girl deal, but also how much I had to care for her for the vision of her death or separation to scare me so much!

That meant, I had to prepare as well as I could. I had to know exactly what to do, even if the threat was just a product of my imagination. Maybe I was greedy, but I wasn"t willing to lose either of them. Not my mother, nor this cheerful and dedicated girl that I met in this foreign world.

"Hah, don"t worry."

Looking at me while uttering a mix of baffled sigh and actual laughter, Ayda only shook her head in denial.

"There is no way anyone will raise his hand against me. They will be too scared to do that, that wizard you spoke while looking pretty anxious as well."

Seeing through the momentary lapse of my heartbeat when I brought up the matter of another man, I could only hope that Ayda didn"t notice the thoughts going deeper in my mind.

But even if she was sure that this kind of situation wouldn"t appear, the question still stood.

If I were to choose between risking my life in this world for Ayda, potentially losing my chance to save my mother right as I was about to obtain it… Would I do it? Would I risk the lives of both me and my mom, just to save this girl?