I Gave You a Chance, but You Were Useless

Shasta comforted the little Witch before her.

"Is what you said true?" Gevra asked timidly.

Her tiny body resembled a little quail.

Shasta was afraid of upsetting her, so she was exceptionally gentle, leaving even Morey dumbfounded.

"It's true. You won't have to hide everywhere anymore. I'll take you to Witch Forest, where all our sisters and companions are," Shasta said softly.

But Gevra shook her head through tears. "But I'll only bring misfortune."

"I know, Gevra. You blamed yourself for the house collapsing, your father breaking his leg in a fall, and the ox in the Livestock Shed going mad. You could also sense a miraculous, mysterious power surrounding you, affecting everything. You were terrified, so you cried to your mother. Your family learned everything because of that, and you were seen as the source of misfortune. Your father cursed you as a cursed child and cruelly drove you from your home. You felt despair, but you could only turn and leave because you had brought suffering upon your family. So you hid in the deep mountains and lived here alone for nearly two years. That must have been difficult, right?"

"Gevra, you are an unfortunate child, I know. Perhaps your misfortune constitution is real, but you mustn't reject it because of that. It has brought you much unhappiness, but it is still your power. Don't fear it. Don't be afraid. From now on, I'll teach you how to master this mysterious power and control it. You can definitely become an outstanding Witch."

Gevra felt as though none of this was real.

She could not understand what Shasta was saying in her ear, nor could she comprehend the situation. But she had an instinctive fear of the outside world.

"Do I have to go outside with you?"

Shasta's answer was unquestionably firm. "Gevra, you need to understand that only when all your companions are Witches can you be a normal person."

Gevra pleaded, "I only want to stay here. Can I not go?"

She was truly fragile, like a startled little rabbit. She could feel the kindness and warmth coming from Shasta.

But even so, Gevra still feared the woman before her and everything she had said.

Shasta said softly, "Witches do not hurt their companions."

"But the Church will burn me to death, and burn my family to death. I can't let those Church masters catch me." Gevra's voice took on a sobbing tone again. She knelt before Shasta as if begging for the mercy of someone above her. "I've never gone outside, Lady Shasta. Please, let me go."

Shasta only felt a nameless fury surge within her. She had always acted decisively, yet after wasting so many words today, she still had not managed to persuade Gevra.

She did not vent her anger on Gevra.

She knew of the latter's past experiences and present circumstances.

She was angry at the Church, angry at Gevra's parents, and even angrier at what Witches had suffered. This rage scorched Shasta's nerves, making her whole body tremble as black smoke began to rise from her.

Reason would not get through to her.

This girl perfectly embodied what it meant to be unreasonable.

Shasta prepared to take Gevra away by force—not through violence, as that would only provoke Gevra's power. If the latter's abilities went out of control, there was no telling what might happen.

So Shasta said in a gentle yet firm tone, "All right, child. My time is short. Leave everything to me. One day, you'll understand what a correct choice it was for you to leave this place."

Gevra was very good at reading people. She realized what Shasta intended to do, but she did not dare resist this strange Witch.

Feeling uneasy, she said weakly, "I can't just leave like this. I need to tell Uncle Dick, and Uncle Jet, and Grandpa Garin, and Uncle Borg..."

At that moment, a dull series of grunts suddenly echoed through the mountain forest.

At first, it was not obvious, but the sound rapidly drew closer. It was accompanied by the rustling and shaking of bushes and grass, while the trees shuddered as though some dangerous creature were charging toward them.

The mountain wind howled, and Shasta's expression suddenly changed!

Led by the hunter, Romain arrived at the Dirty Doctor's residence.

He saw the filthy, black-bearded man before him—or perhaps the beard had once been white and had been stained black from years of neglect. He was filthy from head to toe.

It could only be said that Garin's title of Dirty Doctor was well deserved.

This stretch of mountain terrain was relatively open, with sparse vegetation. A wooden cabin stood there, filled with bottles and jars, crushed medicinal powder, herb roots, insects soaked in alcohol, crucibles, and other such things.

This Dirty Doctor held a high status.

In Sigg Town, whenever a child came down with some strange illness, the child's parents would tirelessly carry them up the mountain to seek Garin's treatment.

They only needed to pay a small amount of food.

Garin's existence was even more special to hunters. Nearly every hunter had received treatment from him.

Romain found a faith emblem dedicated to the gods inside the wooden cabin. It was the exquisite, intricate Thirty-Three God Thrones—a throne design formed from lines and thirty-three dots.

He spoke. "You're from the Church, aren't you?"

Garin was very old, his face covered in wrinkles, yet his eyes were bright.

He showed neither surprise nor alarm at Romain's arrival. He simply calmly allowed Romain to search and inspect his room. Even after the faith emblem was found, he showed no reaction.

The hunter Dota looked utterly horrified. He had not known Garin's identity before, but he knew that Garin took good care of the Witch Gevra.

Gods above, a member of the Church actually cared for a Witch? It was like an angel blessing a demon in hell.

Mol began sweating profusely again. He had always thought Garin was merely a highly skilled wandering doctor.

One Witch had already shocked him enough, yet Sigg Town was hiding someone from the Church too?

Damn it! How did I know nothing? Was there anything impossible in Sigg Town? How could such a tiny place hide so many extraordinary people?

Sigg Town had no missionaries, priests, or churches. The townsfolk only knew scattered bits about the Church from traveling merchants, so naturally, there was no way to uncover Garin's background.

But Romain had noticed it the moment he arrived.

The arrangement of the items resembled the Church's style.

Besides, only the Church possessed a systematic body of medical knowledge. They were even more capable than court physicians, and they possessed extraordinary healing Divine Arts.

In Romain's view, without Divine Arts, the Church's medical system was quite backward and dark, and its brutal treatment methods made the corners of his eyes twitch.

But that did not prevent Garin from being talented.

In this day and age, any doctor who could treat an illness without killing the patient was a good doctor.

Romain said to Garin, "You left the Church? Do you want to work for me?"

"The Church decrees that servants of the gods may only believe in the gods for their entire lives," Garin answered in an aged voice.

"Oh? So you can't submit a resignation letter?"

Garin did not know what a resignation letter was, but he understood the meaning, so he did not answer.

Romain continued, "Then does this count as abandoning your post without permission?"

Garin fell silent for a moment before he could only say, "I did not abandon my post without permission. I have not lost my faith in the gods."

The Church represented the gods' physical presence in the mortal world. It was essentially their sole authorized institution and direct branch.

This meant that for believers to abandon the Church was equivalent to abandoning their faith in the gods. If one did not join the Church to believe in the gods, it did not count as true faith.

Garin remaining faithful after leaving the Church made him something of an oddity.

In this fantastical world, the gods were very likely real. It was simply that no large-scale divine miracles had appeared for a long time.

Romain, however, held no reverence for either the Church or the gods.

You have healing Divine Arts, but I have a War Knight.

Everyone had extraordinary abilities, so who were they trying to scare?

If they had the guts, they could drag out their god and let it have a go at me.

If the gods possessed the power to reshape heaven and earth and cared about their believers, why did they not send down divine power to help the lambs who believed in them? Why did they allow this era to develop so barbarically?

If the gods did not possess the power to reshape heaven and earth, then he had no need to hold too much reverence for those beings who called themselves gods.

If the gods did not care about their believers, then it did not matter even if he killed every member of the Church.

What was more, the Church had not changed this era throughout its long existence.

I gave you a chance, but you were useless. So when I start cutting people down, you'd better not stop me, or I'll cut you down too.

Romain was just about to say something when a faint, pig-slaughtering scream rang out from the distant mountain forest, echoing through the wilderness!