Witch Training Manual: My Water Magic Is Wrong

After breakfast, Wayne sat in the yard to digest his food.

Emma and Ella were washing dishes by the well, their heads huddled together, chattering away, probably whispering something to each other.

Lillian peeked out from the side door, looked around the courtyard, and then her gaze settled on the end of the corridor, where she stood frozen in place.

"May...Mayfair?"

Wayne followed her gaze.

Mayfair walked over from the other end of the corridor.

She was still wearing her black nun's habit, her hair tucked into her headscarf, just like always. But her face was different; she had completely shed her disguise, revealing her true beauty.

Emma looked up at it for a long time.

"Mayfair, you look beautiful today."

Ella followed behind, whispering in agreement:

"Yes, it looks good."

Lillian circled Mayfair once: "What did you eat yesterday? You look completely different overnight!"

Mayfair felt a little uncomfortable being stared at.

"I didn't eat much."

"Then what...?"

"have no idea."

The panel popped up at this point.

[Mayfair - Change Report]

[Background: For the past few days, she's been going to the graveyard every night, not to bury people, but to level up. The way necromancy-based abilities are improved is different from other types; it doesn't require meditation or potions, just spending as much time as possible with the undead.]

[Note: She spent three nights in the graveyard, summoning every undead spirit within a ten-mile radius. She communicated with those she could, suppressed those she couldn't, and devoured those she couldn't suppress. In three days, she jumped directly from the early stage of Tier 2 to the late stage. That's how the necromancer class is—leveling up incredibly fast in the early stages, but incredibly slow in the later stages. The prerequisite is that you can tolerate spending every day with dead people.]

[Note 2: She's been targeted recently.]

[Note 3: She's been forcibly suppressing her desires lately. Since the water magic incident, something has taken root within her, growing stronger every day. Although the Goddess's Garden offers her solace, she still struggles to control herself. After seeing the Witch Cult members, she thought that if she were as direct as them, perhaps she wouldn't have to suppress herself so much. But she couldn't bring herself to say it.]

The afternoon sun was mostly obscured by clouds, and the courtyard became dark.

Thomason ran in twice as fast as usual, his shoes clattering on the stone pavement. He stopped in front of Wayne, his chest heaving, still catching his breath.

"Sir, someone is coming from the north."

Wayne looked at him.

"Who is it?"

"Adventurers," Thomason said in a low voice, "The leader is called Vincent, one of the most famous adventurers north of Frosttown, a second-tier warrior, leading a group of men, and has been operating in the north of town for many years. He said..."

He paused.

"What did he say?"

"He said that your free clinic treatment previously caused his younger brother to die."

The courtyard was quiet for a moment.

Emma stopped washing the dishes, water droplets dripping from between her fingers, making a soft, rhythmic sound in the quiet yard. Ella put the bowl in the basket and took a half-step closer to Wayne.

"Owner……"

Mayfair stood motionless in the corridor, but her gaze beneath the headscarf changed. Lillian put down her broom and glanced towards the courtyard gate.

"His brother?" Wayne's voice was flat. "Who?"

Thomason shook his head.

"I don't know. He said it happened last month, before we even came to Frost Town. But he insists that the church's free clinic killed his brother, saying that all church people are the same, that the previous bishops were terrible, and that you're no better."

Thomason added another sentence after he finished speaking.

"He brought more than a dozen men, all armed, and they're heading this way."

Wayne stood up and straightened his clothes.

"Take me to see it."

A crowd gathered at the church entrance.

At the front stood a man in his thirties, wearing a half-body leather armor, with a short knife at his waist, and a scruffy beard. Behind him stood seven or eight people, standing casually, their hands resting on their weapons.

Vincent saw Wayne come out of the side door and took a step forward.

"Are you that bishop?"

Wayne stood on the steps.

"it's me."

Vincent looked him up and down.

"My brother came to see you for treatment two weeks ago, and you prescribed him some medicine. He passed away this morning. What should we do?"

A buzzing sound arose from the crowd. Several residents who had been there for weeks stepped back, some whispering, "Is it true?", while others looked towards the church.

Wayne looked at him.

"What's your brother's name?"

"Gru".

"What illness?"

Vincent was taken aback.

"How would I know what illness it was? I wasn't the one who came to see him. He came back a few days ago saying that a new bishop had come to the church and that medical treatment was free, so he came. He took your medicine, stayed at home for half a month, and passed away this morning."

Wayne didn't respond.

"What do you suggest we do?" Vincent's voice grew louder, and the seven or eight people behind him also moved forward half a step.

The panel popped up.

Vincent the Adventurer

[Identity: Leader of a mercenary squad in the northern district of Frosttown]

[Actual age: 34 years old]

[Past: He spent over a decade in Zhenbei, managing a dozen or so men, doing errands, guarding, and debt collection. His strength was average, but he was ruthless. Everyone in Zhenbei knew that offending Vincent's men would result in anything from broken limbs to being thrown into the mountains to be fed to monsters.]

[Gru, his half-brother: He's not like him at all. Gru is honest and hardworking. He runs a small grocery store in the north of town, has a wife, and they live a frugal life, but they don't starve. He did come to the church about two weeks ago, but not for medical treatment; he came to get medicine for his wife. She was weak after childbirth and heard that the church was offering free medical checkups, so she came. Wayne prescribed some medicine, and after taking it for two weeks, she recovered. Gru didn't die. He's alive and well. He was even selling goods at his store this morning.]

Vincent's goal: money. He'd recently lost a lot of money gambling and was heavily in debt, with creditors pressing him hard. He'd heard the church had received a lot of donations lately—from the mayor's family, the witch cult, and the merchants—all very generous. The church had recently punished his sister-in-law, so he was using that to extort money. He was betting that the church would give him money to avoid trouble.

[Note: His brother didn't know about this. His sister-in-law didn't know either. He didn't tell them at all; he came secretly.]

[Note: He chose this time very carefully. In the morning, there are more people and more onlookers, so the church members wouldn't dare to act for fear of damaging their reputation. Even if the matter went to the mayor, he would be portrayed as the aggrieved party "seeking justice for his brother," thus having the upper hand. This wasn't the first time he'd done this; several merchants in the north of town had been extorted by him this way. He always chose a time when there were many people, shouting loudly, and the merchants, not wanting trouble, would give him some money and leave. He'd tasted success.]

Wayne stood on the steps, looking at Vincent's self-righteous face.

The plot seems so familiar.

Back when he was in Audrian, some thugs had caused trouble at the church, using similar tactics and acting similarly. One claimed he had diarrhea after drinking holy water, another said his hand rotted after touching an icon. In the end, it turned out they were all gamblers trying to extort money.

He looked down at his hands. These hands had healed many people, and also sent some to meet the goddess. The former were the goddess's grace, and so were the latter.

"You said your brother is dead," Wayne said, his voice not loud, but everyone at the church entrance heard him clearly. "Where's the body?"