Miss Flame Crow's Principles

Almost everyone who attacked Floris Hospital that night had come from the town of Arora.

Everyone in town was a witch, from the shepherds tending their flocks to the old artists painting pictures and the little boys delivering newspapers.

It was probably the largest gathering of witches in all of West Laker State, with tens of thousands living there long-term.

Listening to Elvily's introduction, Sean froze. He hadn't expected the girl to bring him straight to their main base. He joked, "You trust me that much?"

If there was a mole, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Elvily looked at Sean. "What, you don't want me to trust you?"

"Not that." Sean smiled. "Honestly, I'm pretty happy about it."

It felt good to be trusted.

Seeing him smile, Elvily's lips curved up too, but she quickly suppressed it and said, "Don't betray my trust, or you'll die a horrible death."

It was only a formality. By bringing Sean here, she had, in a sense, made him one of her own. As the one who had brought him in, she needed to give him a symbolic warning.

After what had happened at Floris Hospital, Elvily had completely accepted Sean as one of her own. She'd felt a little guilty about having doubted him before, so bringing him here was also a way of making amends.

She wouldn't say any of that aloud, though, and there was no need to. The feeling was a little strange, but deep down, she really didn't want Sean to think she was a woman with a lot of ulterior motives...

"I think Iris just said you brought the patients from Floris Hospital here too?" Sean asked.

"Mm." Elvily nodded.

Sean reminded her, sounding a little jealous, "Don't tell me I'm not special and you trust everyone this much."

Elvily rolled her eyes. "Do I look that naive?"

Arora wasn't a place just anyone could visit.

For those who didn't behave, the town wasn't their home. It was hell.

Resources were scarce in this era, so Tier Five witches and above were extremely rare. There weren't many in all of West Laker State, but this town had ten, including her.

One of them was known as the "Liesplitter" and had lived in the town church for a long time.

He was a priest who specialized in mental magic and was good at making people honest.

He personally questioned everyone new to town. After that, they had to visit the church regularly to talk with him. No one could lie under his mental magic.

Witches often came and went from the town. Witch Hunters had tried to sneak in before, but there was only ever one outcome: they were bound to a stake and burned alive, using the Witch Hunters' own methods against them.

They never showed their enemies mercy.

"I see..."

Sean knew about mental magic. It was a very clean spell, more reliable than any so-called lie detector, and could indeed determine with great accuracy whether someone harbored ill intent.

"Did he test me too?" he asked.

"Of course," Elvily replied.

She hadn't, actually.

But she was going to say she had.

She couldn't let Sean think he was too special to her.

Sean smiled and didn't dwell on the subject. He went with the girl into town and strolled along the streets.

Compared to modern cities like Holkodo and Old Sigel City, the town moved at a much slower pace. Its architecture was quite old-fashioned, with a medieval look like the one in Void Arts Space. There were few cars on the roads; most people traveled by horse-drawn carriage, carrying all kinds of goods rather than passengers.

It was as though time had gone back several decades. Everywhere was steeped in a nostalgic atmosphere that stirred the heart.

Perhaps Elvily was well known in town. Everyone they passed greeted them warmly and politely, making Sean feel like a leader touring the area with an even more important leader to inspect local conditions.

At an intersection, Sean seemed to think of something and asked the girl, "Could I borrow your phone?"

Elvily instinctively grew wary. "What are you up to?"

"Calling you so I can get your number?"

Sean: "..."

"You seem to know how this works."

"Did I guess right?"

Elvily turned her head away. "No."

She wasn't going to give Sean the chance to use a trick on her.

If he wanted her number, why not just ask?

But that really wasn't why Sean wanted her phone.

"I want to call Kate," he said.

The girl and Iris had helped him tidy up, but hadn't touched his phone. When he got out of bed, he'd checked and seen that it was out of battery, so he'd left it charging in the hospital room and hadn't brought it along.

"Kate?"

Elvily remembered Isha telling her that Kate had helped Sean get the book signing arranged.

The night they'd gone to help at Floris Hospital, Sean had also called Kate over.

Sean explained, "I want Kate to come pick me up."

"You're leaving?" Elvily asked, confused. "You don't like it here?"

"Not that. This place is nice." Sean looked at the peaceful neighborhood, stealing glances at the girl from the corner of his eye as he sighed softly. "But no matter how nice it is, I can't stay here forever. Training and living both cost money. Didn't you tell me to figure something out on my own? I don't know many people. Kate's the only one who can help, so I have to swallow my pride and ask him."

"You're pretty close with him?" Elvily had wanted to ask that right away.

"Not bad," Sean said. "He seems pretty rich. He probably wouldn't mind taking on one more worker."

Elvily: "?"

What did he mean?

Was this guy seriously planning to go work for Kate?

"No!" Elvily flatly refused. "He might not mind, but I do."

Sean: "?"

"What do you mind?"

"You're one of my people, but you're going to run off and work for Kate. What would that do to my reputation?" Elvily said.

Sean seemed not to have heard her clearly. "What did you just say?"

"Whose person am I?"

Elvily: "..."

She suddenly realized what was going on.

Borrowing her phone to make a call hadn't been the trick. This was.

Looking at Sean's apparently sincere, serious eyes, Elvily glanced away and said, "Don't twist my words."

Sean looked innocent. "I'm just asking. How am I twisting anything?"

Elvily: "You're not allowed to ask, either!"

"Fine, fine. I won't ask." Sean sounded helpless. "Then I just won't go to Kate, okay?"

Elvily wanted to say she wasn't stopping Sean from contacting Kate; she just didn't want him to become Kate's lackey. But before she could speak, Sean put on a troubled expression and started muttering, "Then where am I supposed to get money? Sigh, life is hard..."

Elvily: "..."

Why did she feel like he was being so coy?

The strange thing was, she really hated people who acted all coy and affected. But when Sean did it to her, she didn't find it annoying. Even knowing he was putting it on, she couldn't help softening a little.

Luckily, she was a woman of principle. No matter how softhearted she felt, she wasn't going to support a man. What would people think?

"Go ask Iris. She has money."

Iris had no idea that her good friend had volunteered her for this again.

But even if she had known, she probably wouldn't have had time to complain just then.

She had just gotten a call and rushed to the church when someone told her that something major had happened.

The Hall of Truth in Void Arts Space seemed to have been robbed.