Volume 3, Chapter 31 – Enemy, or Friend?

“As long as I take you to our current residence, you will be willing to help us?”

Friede’s tone became excited.

The sharpness in her eyes gradually disappeared. Fia gently shook her head.

“No, I didn’t say I would definitely help you. I just want to know what kind of people the conservatives you speak of are.”

Although Friede could give a general description if she asked directly, she was, after all, a member of the reformist faction. Even if she didn’t deliberately deceive her, her description of the conservatives would inevitably be tinged with subjective feelings. Fia needed to witness it with her own eyes.

“Are you asking about Lianne and the others?”

The excitement in her black eyes diminished slightly. Friede placed her clenched right hand on her chest, her expression one of great conflict.

“Although I haven’t completely broken ties with Lianne, she is not unaware of what I am doing. To be honest, I have been avoiding seeing her recently, to avoid being asked what I have been up to.”

“So, you are unwilling to see Lianne now, and therefore cannot take me to the Witch Hall?”

“No… it’s a little different.” Friede’s voice grew weaker, and she lowered her eyes, appearing even more vulnerable. “I can take you to the Witch Hall, but your identity as the ‘Guided One’ will surely be known by the conservative faction represented by Lianne. That group knows that Latania and I have been searching for the person guided by the Lady Witch of Hope, and they also know that I want to change the status quo of the Witch Hall.

If you were to stand before the conservative faction, I’m afraid… I’m afraid this meeting will turn into an armed conflict.”

“Aren’t you going to fight sooner or later? If the conservatives attack me first, I won’t be polite either.”

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Friede’s indecisive appearance made Fia raise an eyebrow.

Indecisiveness was not a quality a leader should have. If Friede hadn’t told her just now that there was a possibility of a fight breaking out as soon as they met, she could have used her to get rid of the witch named Lianne. Of course, if that were the case, she would have thought that Friede had used her, and in turn, would have disliked her.

A hesitant look appeared on Friede’s face, and she bit her lip.

“The conservatives’ strength is no weaker than ours. I am not yet clear on your power. I’m worried that you will be at a disadvantage, Miss Fia.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. From the looks of it, besides worrying about my lack of strength, you probably have something else you want to say, don’t you?”

Fia’s words made Friede pause for a moment, and finally, she let out a sigh of resignation.

“Yes… I really don’t know your strength, so on the one hand, I’m worried that you will be defeated, and on the other, I’m worried that you will accidentally kill Lianne. I am indeed on the opposite side of Lianne, but I also believe that she might be able to become our ally.

Lianne is not directly equal to the conservatives; there are some differences between her and them. She and I became witches in the same batch, and she was the strongest among us. Although her personality is eccentric, it’s because the witch’s ritual made her lose her physical body. During this time, even though she knew I wanted to reform the Witch Hall, she did not stop me.

Before we became official witches, she and I were good friends who could talk about anything… I guess she might also be looking forward to a successful reform, but because she is the administrator elected by the masses, she cannot take everyone on an adventure with her, so she chooses to stick to the old ways.”

Personal feelings are involved?

Fia asked without a trace of it showing.

“Can you tell me more about the witch named Lianne? Including her personality, abilities, rank, and why she was able to become the leader of the conservatives.”

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“Of course.”

It felt like a subordinate answering a superior’s question. Friede’s tone gave Fia that feeling. As a Sixth Rank powerhouse, her demeanor was truly lacking in authority.

Come to think of it, any witch who had undergone the witch’s ritual would lose something, either an organ or an emotion. For example, the Witch of Hope had lost her selfishness. Since Friede’s appearance was flawless, she must have, like the Witch of Hope, lost something mental.

While Fia was thinking about Friede, Friede was also carefully explaining to her. Just as she was called the Ash Witch, the witch named Lianne was known as the Constellation Witch. She was skilled in earth-type magic and had entered the ranks of the Sixth Rank earlier than Friede.

At first, Lianne’s talent in magic was not as good as Friede’s, but after undergoing the witch’s ritual, because the price she paid was much greater than Friede’s, she obtained even greater power. What Friede had lost in the ritual was the emotion of “anger,” while what Lianne had lost was her entire physical body.

Normally, losing one’s physical body was equivalent to death; the soul would immediately go to the Land of the Dead beneath the netherworld. However, Lianne had not died because of the loss of her body. On the contrary, she had survived as a soul-like entity and had gained the ability to be completely immune to physical attacks.

It should be said that she was not an undead creature; she did not have the characteristic deathly aura of the undead, so neither holy magic nor light magic could harm her.

An ordinary person might think that this was a very good outcome. Lianne was not among the undead, and at the same time, she had obtained an extremely powerful ability. However, only those close to her knew that the pain she endured was much greater than that of an ordinary witch. Losing her physical body meant losing her sense of smell, taste, and touch, but her soul had retained the two instincts of “hunger” and “sleep.” She could satisfy the latter, but the former could never be resolved.

At first, Lianne had been driven mad by the intense and unsatisfiable hunger. Anything that moved in front of her, whether it was a rat or a person, she couldn’t help but want to kill and turn into a piece of meat. Even stones were on her menu. At that time, she was just like the evil witches known to the world. Even the people in the Witch Hall stayed away from her, afraid of being harmed by her.

Unfortunately, at that time, Friede also needed to adapt to the changes in her body after losing the emotion of anger and was unable to help Lianne. Later, she was taken away by the predecessors of the reformist faction in the Witch Hall and left Byrne City, so she did not know what had happened to Lianne over the years.

In short, when she saw Lianne again, she had returned to normal. As long as no food was placed in front of her, she could communicate like a normal person. If not for her deep impression, Friede could not even overlap the current Lianne with the crazed Lianne of the past.

As for why Lianne was in the position of the leader of the conservatives, according to Friede, she was only elected as the administrator of the Witch Hall because she was the strongest.

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“Since Lianne herself has no intention of stopping the reform, wouldn’t it be better for you to just discuss it with her, Friede?”

“No… Lianne has been a traditional and responsible woman since she was an apprentice witch. As long as she is the administrator of the Witch Hall, she will definitely stop us from changing it, not to mention that there are many conservative witches in the hall. They will surely incite her to maintain the status quo.”

Friede probably meant that there was a possibility of failure in the reform, and Lianne, as the administrator, could not make a choice when the future was uncertain. When a person was responsible for an entire organization, it was difficult to make a risky decision. Compared to change, maintaining the status quo was safer. It was less that Lianne was the leader of the conservatives and more that she was caught between the two factions, finding it difficult to choose.

It was understandable, but not supportable.

When an organization became well-structured, many things that had originally seemed troublesome would be solved. For example, Lianne, who was prone to hurting people because of her hunger in the beginning—if the Witch Hall had had a department to accommodate dangerous witches at that time, allowing them to gradually adapt to their bodies after losing something, then Lianne would not have had the possibility of hurting people.

Not to mention that there were bastards among the witches who killed innocent people and tarnished the reputation of the entire group. Sticking to the old ways was harming the entire group; making a change was the general trend.

Fia let out a long sigh.

“I understand, more or less. I’ll decide after I go to the Witch Hall and see for myself—by the way, I’ve been meaning to ask, I’m not a witch, can I enter the Witch Hall? Shouldn’t the location of such an organization be strictly confidential?”

“You must be joking, Miss Fia. Not to mention that you hold the relic of the Lady Witch of Hope, so it is only natural for you to enter. First of all, even if outsiders knew our location, what could they do to us? Except for us witches ourselves, no one knows what rank the strongest in the Witch Hall is.

Plus, with the deeds of the famous Ninth Rank Miracle Witch, even if people hate us, they wouldn’t dare to come to the hall. Although many witches don’t like to interact with strangers, if a witch brings an outsider in, the others won’t do anything, at most they’ll just say a few harsh words.”

“I see. It’s not that you can’t bring outsiders in, but because the person being brought in is me.”

Fia couldn’t help but smile wryly. Her identity as the “Guided One” would be targeted by the conservatives, and going in would easily lead to an armed conflict between the two sides. And Lianne could potentially become an ally. To fight with the conservatives now would be to force Lianne to become an enemy.

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Friede lowered her head guiltily.

“I’m sorry. It was clearly I who asked you to help us, yet I’m being so indecisive at a time like this…”

“It’s nothing. In fact, I think this is good.”

From Friede’s description, it could be felt that Lianne was likely only on the opposite side of Friede because she was the administrator of the Witch Hall. She herself was not a stubborn conservative. Under such a premise, it was indeed difficult for Friede to make a choice.

The real conservatives were the other witches behind Lianne. As long as they were dealt with, everything would be solved.

“But you have sought out the Flame King and me before, hoping that we would stand on your side against the conservatives. Didn’t that mean you were already prepared to be enemies with Lianne and fight her?”

“That… that was the worst-case scenario. If we had allied with the Flame King, I really couldn’t have proposed the condition that he only restrain Lianne and not kill her, and I don’t think he would have agreed to it. But you, Miss Fia, are reasonable and seem to be at ease, as if Lianne is not a difficult opponent, so I… I couldn’t help but want a more perfect ending. Once you become our leader, Lianne will surely become your capable assistant.”

One capable assistant like Anastasia is enough.

A sense of helplessness rose in Fia’s heart. She slowly stood up.

“Alright. I will not kill Lianne, and I will try my best not to conflict with the conservatives. Can you take me to the Witch Hall now, Friede? Oh, right, there’s one more question. Do you know where there is a huge and dazzling crystal under Byrne City?”

“A huge and dazzling crystal… Do you mean the Witch’s Heart Core? How would you know what it looks like, Miss Fia? Even I have only seen it once when I became a witch!”

Her voice was full of astonishment, and Friede’s mouth fell open.