Volume 3, Chapter 33 – The Constellation Witch

After passing through the spacious hall that seemed to be used for some kind of ritual, Fia took a deep breath before the grand double doors. Although it was unlikely that Lianne’s strength was much greater than Friede’s, she was, after all, the administrator of the Witch Hall. In Fia’s impression, witches were always associated with mysterious powers, giving one a sense of the unknown that was unsettling.

Having mentally prepared for the possible situations and corresponding responses, Fia exchanged a look with Friede, who was leading the way, and pushed the doors open—Latania, Milu, and the apprentice witches were left behind in the hall.

This was a rather spacious room. The ceiling was four or five meters high, and the surrounding walls were covered with polished marble. The most conspicuous object in the center of the room was a long conference table that could seat more than twenty people at once. On the wall opposite the door hung a huge tapestry with a strange pattern. It was made of fine silk as a base, with a pattern woven from mithril thread.

From Fia’s perspective as an outsider, it looked somewhat like a large, diamond-shaped crystal with six wings. This was probably, like a tribal totem, the symbol of the Witch Hall.

The situation was different from what Friede had said. There was only one person in the room. The young girl—if a cloud of black mist could be called a girl—was sitting at the head of the conference table, which was covered with sheets of parchment filled with mysterious text.

Hearing someone enter, the black mist paused its movements. Immediately after, an uncomfortable feeling rose from the bottom of Fia’s heart. Although the black mist had no eyes, Fia could clearly feel that the other party was sizing her up. It was a rude gaze that swept over her skin inch by inch, leaving no detail overlooked.

If not for the fact that she knew the black mist’s true form was a woman, Fia would have frowned by now.

Seemingly having sensed something, Friede took a step forward, placing herself between the black mist and Fia, forcing a pause in the confrontation. She looked at the black mist and spoke tentatively.

“Lianne.”

The black mist sitting in the chair trembled and responded to Friede’s call.

“…Friede, you’ve finally come to see me.”

A woman’s voice.

[Wind of Exploration] reported that the black mist’s mana was not yet at the Seventh Rank, its color only slightly deeper than Friede’s. Fia relaxed a little. An enemy of this level was not even as strong as the Moon Dragon. She began to observe the black mist named Lianne. What Lianne had lost in the witch’s ritual was her “physical body.” The black mist she was seeing now was Lianne’s remaining soul—to think a soul was something visible to the naked eye. And although it could not touch any object, it could still produce sound and communicate with people. Magic was truly amazing.

Come to think of it, what the tall witch named Latania behind Friede had lost was her “feminine voice.” In Fia’s understanding, the organ that caused the difference in voice between men and women was the vocal cords. A woman’s vocal cords were short and narrow, so the pitch was higher and thinner. If the structure of the “people” on the World Tree Continent was no different from that of the “people” in the Human Alliance, could it be that the witch’s ritual had simply made Latania’s vocal cords longer and wider, and thus the result was “losing her feminine voice”?

If that were the case, the side effects of the witch’s ritual would be too easy to solve.

While Fia was thinking about such things, the conversation between Friede and Lianne was still ongoing. The black mist, about the size of a human, slowly floated up from its seat as if it had no weight and eventually came to Friede’s side. Apart from its appearance, the black mist behaved no differently from an ordinary human, its voice full of amusement.

“I thought you would continue to avoid me. It’s been over a decade. You’ve grown a lot. Not only is your strength on par with mine, but you’ve also gathered so many companions. Your faction is almost as strong as our group here at the headquarters.”

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“Haven’t you also changed a lot? When I left, you were like a madwoman.”

“That’s all in the past. People always adapt to their environment and themselves.”

The black mist waved something that looked like a hand, its voice full of helplessness. Then, Fia felt it turn its gaze back to her.

“Is this the courage that made you come to see me? Tsk tsk, I didn’t expect you to actually find her, the successor of the Witch of Hope. Although you must have heard about me from Friede before you came, let me introduce myself. I am the administrator here, the Constellation Witch, Lianne. I used to be friends with Friede. And your name is?”

Used to be friends, but not anymore?

Fia buried the playful question in her heart and answered calmly.

“Fia.”

“Fia… a good name. From your attire, you are a noble of the elf race, aren’t you? Even my divination magic cannot see your rank. A commoner could not possess an item of this level that conceals perception. It seems you are not of our world.”

It seemed that Lianne rarely had anyone to talk to, giving Fia the impression that she was quite talkative. The former looked back at Friede. ¹ fr? there’s someone more talkative there than her isn’t it… smh

“Let’s sit down and talk. I’ve heard about what you’ve been doing from the other witches. I know why you’ve come back, Friede. There’s no point in hiding it.”

It wasn’t until Friede and Fia had taken their seats that the black mist sat back down at the head of the table. As if she had a lot on her mind, she let out a long sigh and said earnestly.

“Let me say this first, Friede. I am just an administrator elected by the masses. I don’t have much real power. It’s a fantasy to expect me to persuade the others. Your ideals run counter to the purpose for which the Witch Hall was founded. I don’t think this can be resolved peacefully. You might say, ‘The successor of the Witch of Hope is here. According to the last words she left before she left, she will bring a power of change and guide us onto the right path. We just need to believe in her.'”

“But I have to say, the Witch of Hope never said she would choose a successor. And even if she did, can a single dagger prove that she is the one? The witches who are unwilling to change will surely use this to make a fuss. In the end, this is something that only those who are willing to believe will believe. Without sufficient achievements, you cannot convince anyone. Everyone has long been used to being on their own, and even joined the Witch Hall to gain the power of revenge. Now you want everyone to go and help the humans who once betrayed them. Isn’t that asking too much?”

Perhaps Friede and Lianne are older than I thought.

Previously, Fia had thought that Friede was, like her appearance, a woman of twenty-four or twenty-five. But now, from Lianne’s tone and posture, she could tell that their ages were at least in their forties or fifties. The reason Friede looked young was either because she had used a life-extending magic potion or something else.

In addition, Lianne’s words had also changed Fia’s image of her. From Friede’s description, Fia had thought that she was a serious, unapproachable person. But now it seemed that she held no hostility towards her and Friede. Lianne was just a very ordinary woman.

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Fia’s gaze turned to Friede across the table. She had come here this time to confirm whether it was necessary to help her. So even if Friede were to give up here, she would not feel any regret. In the end, this was someone else’s business. She was just an outsider brought in by Friede, with at most the inexplicable identity of the “Guided One.”

Friede did not back down because of Lianne’s words. On the contrary, she stared at Lianne at the head of the table with a pressing gaze.

“Don’t you think it’s unfair for all witches to be blamed for the sake of a small handful of people? No one is born liking to be ostracized. We also want to stand in the sun. Because of the atrocities of that group, all witches have to hide like rats. This situation should have been changed long ago. Have you never thought of leaving the Witch Hall and living on the surface, Lianne? To build your own family, have a lover and children, to experience what a woman should experience.”

“Over the years, Latania and the others and I have traveled the continent. As long as we don’t reveal our identity as witches, both humans and beastmen are willing to accept us, and invite us to stay in their villages to avoid being harassed by wild beasts. They will even give us money and food to thank us for dealing with some foolish monsters on the road. However, once we reveal our identity, even if those people don’t immediately turn against us, they will distance themselves from us, treat us like the plague, and believe that our kindness is just a prelude to harming them later.”

“It shouldn’t be like this. It is precisely because the witches of the past were irresponsible and condoned the wanton behavior of that group that today’s bad fruit has been borne, making the world see us witches and the Darkborn as the same thing. I don’t want this to continue. I want to put an end to it in my generation. The Witch Hall must change, Lianne!”

By the end, Friede’s voice was so loud that the table trembled slightly. She stared at the black mist, her eyes burning, her determination written on her face.

She must have experienced many “betrayals” from people to be able to have such an uncompromising expression. Although Fia could not empathize with Friede’s feelings, she could sympathize to some extent. If not for the Witch’s Heart Core binding her, she would not have returned to the Witch Hall at all, but would have gone to establish a new organization and completely cut ties with her witch identity.

Unfortunately, Lianne was not swayed by Friede’s words. The outline of the black mist floated gently as before, like a distorted shadow under the dim light cast from the ceiling.

Lianne said calmly.

“Since you want to get rid of your witch identity so much, then just stop calling yourself a witch and go to a place where no one knows you. No one will restrain you, and no witch will trouble you. Everyone does their own thing and does not interfere with each other.”

“But the Witch’s Heart Core is in your hands!”

“No one will touch the Heart Core. There is only one. If it is destroyed, everyone will die. It’s not a situation where only you will disappear, Friede, while everyone else remains fine. We have lived in peace like this for thousands of years, and it will be so in the future.”

Lianne paused, a hint of personal feeling in her tone.

“And don’t you think it’s unfair to the witches who don’t want to change, Friede? Not everyone wants to stand in the sun. Most of the people who live here have been betrayed by their relatives and friends and have no hope for the outside world. No, it’s not an exaggeration to say that they hate the people outside, which is why they gave up everything to become witches. Now you are forcing them to come into contact with the people who abandoned and betrayed them again. You are just imposing your own ideas on others.”

“As you can see, I have no physical body. Latania should have told you. Even as I speak to you now, I am suffering from hunger. As soon as I smell a little food, I can no longer maintain my sanity. I cannot return to living on the surface, let alone have a family.”

Lianne’s words stunned Friede. She knew that what she had said was true, which was why she was speechless for a moment. Not to mention that the witches gathered here were all people who had been hurt in the world and had no place to go, first and foremost, what Lianne had said about herself was an irrefutable fact. Without a physical body, she could not return to a normal life. For her, a normal life was like a flower in a mirror or the moon in the water.

With a hint of loneliness in her words, Lianne continued.

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“I can guarantee that no one will touch the Witch’s Heart Core. We will live in peace as before. Even if you go outside and establish a new organization, Friede, I will not say anything. Everyone in the Witch Hall is free. The reason people gather here is just to lick each other’s wounds and comfort each other after being hurt. To ask everyone to change is to destroy their last sanctuary.”

Friede has been completely cornered.

Fia couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. Playing the emotional card was indeed an easy way to silence people.

I should help her a little. Lianne was deliberately avoiding the problem. She couldn’t just let her lead the conversation by the nose, otherwise, Friede would be back to square one and would surely come to trouble her again later.

Fia placed her hands on the table and interjected, feigning a relaxed tone.

“It’s fine for Friede to establish a new organization, but aren’t there two things the Witch Hall should deal with?”

“Does the Lady Guided One have something to say?”

Because Lianne was just a cloud of black mist, Fia could not discern her emotions from her eyes. She sighed quietly.

“Haah, I am not standing here as the ‘Guided One.’ To be honest, I obtained this dagger by chance, so I don’t consider myself to be the so-called Guided One. I am here only to confirm what kind of organization the Witch Hall is.”

“And the result?”

There was a hint of amusement and expectation in Lianne’s voice.

She probably thought she would praise them. Fia could read this from her tone. The witches here were powerful, the facilities were complete, and life was quite prosperous. An ordinary person coming here would think they had arrived at a noble’s mansion. No, even the mansion of an ordinary noble was not this wealthy.

Unfortunately, Lianne was greatly mistaken. This place only made her feel oppressed and unhappy.

Fia first let out a light scoff, then spread her hands.

“Very disappointed.”

“Oh? How so?”

“It’s lifeless and dead. The apprentice witches under you and the ones under Friede are worlds apart. Don’t you feel ashamed for treating your apprentice witches like slaves? According to you, witches are all hurt in the outside world and have no place to go, so they are forced to come here to lick each other’s wounds. But what are you doing now? Comforting them? I don’t think that submissive look is what they desire. They need comfort, not to be ordered around. The reason why there are eccentric and murderous bastards among the witches is inseparable from the environment you have created.”

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If Lianne had eyebrows and a mouth, she would have already raised her eyebrows and pouted.

“This is a rule that has been formed over thousands of years. Besides, only official witches can be called witches. Apprentice witches are just chicks who haven’t even passed the ritual. Without being tempered by their seniors, it’s impossible for them to pass the witch’s ritual peacefully.”

“Can cultivating a slavish nature also be called tempering one’s character? There are many ways to temper one’s character, yet you choose the disgusting method of oppressing your own companions. They already have no place to go, why do you have to bully them? Words are meaningless. The apprentice witches under Friede can already explain a lot.”

Faced with Fia’s questioning, Lianne was silent.

Fia scoffed coldly. She couldn’t stand the bullying of the weak, so she was merciless towards Lianne.

“I only have two points to make. First, even if Friede establishes a new organization, she must first obtain the Witch’s Heart Core so that she can have new and strong blood to build an organization that is praised by people and helps the poor.”

“Second, even if you don’t hand over the Witch’s Heart Core, the Witch Hall must get rid of those witches who do all sorts of evil. You want to take revenge on those who betrayed you, no one will say anything. But if you impose your power on innocent ordinary people, experiment on them, and satisfy your own hobbies, then the situation of witches being reviled and besieged will never change—you had better pray that those witches don’t fall into my hands.”

“Hmm… the Lady Guided One is not yet of age, yet you have such a big mouth. As expected of a noble lady, completely different from us commoner-born witches. But I must advise you, the kind of witch you speak of already has some strength. Even if they fall into your hands, the outcome is hard to say.”

Lianne was mocking her.

Come to think of it, when they first met, Lianne had looked at her and said that she was not of their world. Now that she thought about it, she was referring to the fact that her noble status was out of place with the commoner-born, suffering witches, and that she could not possibly be the Guided One and could not stand with them.

Indeed, she could not stand with them. One could not accomplish anything by staying with vermin.

How annoying.

She had come here to see if it was necessary to get rid of Lianne and the conservatives. And now, since Lianne intended to let the fallen witches go unchecked, the answer was obvious.

Fia stood up and said with a smile.

“Indeed, witches were originally victims. But if you turn your blades on the innocent, then the victims become the perpetrators. In that case, you are no different from the Darkborn. If you continue to evade the issue, Lianne, and let those witches fall under the banner of tradition, then I will choose to help Friede and let them return to the light.

Also, although I haven’t reached elf adulthood yet, my full name is Dofilia Alexia Yushir. Now do you still think the outcome will be ‘hard to say’ if those people fall into my hands?”