Home/The Reason I Was Reincarnated as a Witch in a Novel/ch 1

Chapter 001

Under fireworks that embroidered the night sky, while everyone in the capital celebrated the Founding Festival with joyous hearts, a secret transaction was taking place in a back alley of the Roman Empire's capital.

"Three bottles of Hair-Growth Potion. One hundred gold each, for a total of three hundred gold."

"Here you are."

"Correct. Use them well."

The cloaked figure opened his pouch, counted the gold coins, and smiled with satisfaction. Then he pulled out three medicine bottles from his bosom.

The old gentleman present at the illicit deal let out a low sigh upon seeing the bottles. He recognized at a glance that the potions the black-market dealer had produced were genuine.

The faintly glowing potions.

Just one was enough to tell whether they were the recent renowned 'Witch's' brews. The old gentleman received the shimmering bottles with great care and turned on his heel. His hurried steps as he turned suggested he was eager to return home and test the medicines.

The old gentleman's hat flew off in the wind as he left the secret meeting place. In his fluster to catch it, his smooth bald pate glinted in the dim alleyway.

"My, my... How smooth."

Lindsay, who had inadvertently glimpsed the dealer's baldness, muttered sheepishly beneath her cloak. She had disguised herself to sell off-market potions at high prices for money.

Though she ran a legitimate shop, her reason for dabbling in black-market deals was simple: it paid well.

Having earned a tidy profit again today, Lindsay confirmed no one was around and pulled out a thumbnail-sized vial from her bosom. It was the potion to cancel the effects of the 'Enlargement Potion' and the 'Deep-Voice Potion' she had taken to conceal her identity.

As Lindsay drank the potion, a wisp of steam rose, and her cloak—which had previously bulked her to larger than an adult man—shrank. She waved away the vapor emanating from within the cloak and slipped out of the alley.

The alley where she had conducted her transaction was not far from the central square, where people were reveling in the festival.

Too many people...

Lindsay hesitated at the crowd gathered in the square to enjoy the fireworks display.

Crossing the central square would get her home quickly. But seeing the throng, she doubted she could pass through unscathed.

Disliking jostling through crowds, Lindsay chose to circle around the square. She walked along the less crowded outer edge, enjoying the festival from a distance.

"Papa! Fire go boom!"

"That's called a firework. The mages modified signal flares to make them..."

"Papa..."

"Ah! My little princess, are you bored?"

She passed a father and daughter sitting on the square's steps, exchanging adorable chatter.

"I love you, Romi."

"I love you too, Juli."

She passed a couple affirming their love.

"...Has vanished!"

"The mana is cut off...!"

"At this rate... runaway... it's..."

"We must find the Tower Master...!"

Then she came upon mages having suspicious conversations.

Lindsay frowned at the urgent whispers of the green-cloaked figures. Their agitated voices carried an unsettling gravity.

She clicked her tongue at the careless mages and scanned her surroundings.

Confirming that everyone was absorbed in the fireworks and that she alone had overheard them, Lindsay indifferently raised her head to look at the sky.

Just then, a crimson firework burst high above with a bang. Lindsay's jade-green eyes were dyed in scarlet.

Firework festivals are the same everywhere. Whether in Korea or in a novel. Though I'd say there are fewer varieties here than back home?

Delivering an assessment that would make the mages who had painstakingly researched colors and sizes weep, Lindsay arrived at the opposite side of the square from where she had started.

From here, she could take the main road, cut through a small alley, and reach her home.

Before leaving the square, she took in one last view of the fireworks-lit sky, then turned her back on the square without hesitation and hummed.

"A perfect day for falling in love."

Today was the day the novel's prologue began.

---

Why is he here?

Lindsay's eyes twitched at the sight of a man collapsed before her small two-story building.

His hair, gleaming like silver thread, spilled across his fair face, making him appear even more pure and pitiable. Yet such beauty did not register in Lindsay's eyes.

That man should be lying in some alley in the capital—not in front of her house.

Lindsay's gaze naturally drifted to the roof above her doorstep.

On the pitch-dark roof, two yellow orbs gleamed. A pair of cat's eyes, every part of them black except the pupils.

The black cat, stretching its forelegs and extending its haunches in a long yawn, meowed.

[He suddenly collapsed, meow.]

"Why here of all places...?"

[How should I know, meow? Just give me dinner already, meow.]

Ugh, you're not even a cat and you keep using that 'meow' crap!

"Weren't you supposed to be watching the house?"

[Strictly speaking, he's in front of the house, meow.]

Always has a comeback, doesn't he.

The black cat paid no mind to Lindsay's sharp glare and licked its forepaw. Perhaps being stuck in a cat's body made Nero obsessive about grooming.

Lindsay shot one glare at the demon in feline guise, then approached the fallen man.

[Mana runaway, meow. Gonna heal him, meow?]

"Of course. I can't just let him die."

If her guess was right, the man before her was a major character from the novel.

[Such a kindhearted angel, there's none like you, meow.]

"I am pretty kind."

Replying casually to the cat's sarcasm, Lindsay scooped the man up in a princess carry.

She kicked open the shop door on the ground floor. Through the open doorway, a counter and shelves packed with colorful medicine bottles came into view.

"Nero. Lay a blanket on the floor, will you?"

[I sweep and clean every day. No need to lay anything, meow.]

"He's a patient."

Nero very slowly fetched a blanket from the corner of the shop and spread it out. Lindsay laid the man on the green blanket Nero had arranged and immediately checked his condition.

"It's completely corrupted."

She had expected his mana to be contaminated, but the severity was far worse. The man's mana had lost its original color and was rampaging wildly out of control—enough to make one wonder how he had endured this long.

How did the heroine purify mana this corrupted?

Lindsay clicked her tongue at her hazy memories and placed her hand on the man's chest. Through the thin shirt, she could feel heat and savage, untamed mana.

[Planning to absorb it, meow?]

"Obviously. When someone serves up a meal on a silver platter, do you knock it over?"

[Tsk, tsk. Always looking for the easy way out...]

Says the one who taught me this method.

Lindsay shot a glare at the cat perched like a loaf of bread on the shelf, when a faint groan came from below. She immediately began absorbing the man's corrupted mana.

The mana that flowed through her hand turned jade-green and gently merged with the mana already inherent in her body. As the power swelled within her, Lindsay murmured:

"So this is the power of the second male lead..."

[You really ought to visit a temple.]

Forgetting his 'meow' speech, Nero advised his contract-holder, who kept spouting nonsense. A trace of concern surfaced on the cat's face. He had been worried about his contractor, who had been saying strange things now and then for the past month.

"Huh? A temple?"

[So you can receive a blessing to clear your head, that's what I mean.]

"You're not using 'meow' anymore?"

[I mean all of you, meow. More importantly, that human opened his eyes, meow.]

"Nero, you tsun— Wait, what?"

Lindsay lowered her head, which she had raised to speak with Nero. The eyes that had been closed within that delicate face were now open, unlike before.

The man's eyes that met hers resembled a beautiful lavender petal, a soft violet hue.

Caught off guard by suddenly meeting his gaze, Lindsay stammered, unlike her usual self.

"Uh-uh... Hello there?"

[Have you lost your mind? Meow.]

Nero's harsh retort came in response to her flustered greeting, but Lindsay had no mind to care. Did he hear everything? How long has he been awake?!

As Lindsay stood with her mouth agape, unsure what to say, the man wore a delicate smile and slowly parted his lips.

"Hello, my lady."

[That one's crazy too.]

Lindsay dazedly agreed with Nero's merciless assessment.

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