Witch Redemption

“Yes, he committed suicide a week after he came here,” No. 47 recalled the memories from a year ago, his eyes, hidden under his hood, were somewhat blurry. “Actually, there were two witches in the same group who were professional priests, and the other one should be No. 11. She died completely the day after she was sent to Mori City, and the cause of death is unknown.”

"..."

The air suddenly became heavy, and a long silence followed. Number 86 asked in confusion, "Why is the priest the weakest?"

"Priests, as devout believers of God, derive their power from the gods. But those gods have all fallen, so what is the fate of priests? Some of their skills are unusable, and most of their skills, even if they can be used, can only achieve one percent of their original effect. In addition, the racial characteristics of elves are inherently more agile, so archery and magic-based professions are more suitable for their development."

In other words, many factors have made this race and profession Li Lan's biggest disadvantage!

"Did you tell him these things?" asked number 86.

"No, and it's not necessary. Although his growth will be much slower than others, as long as he can survive, he will definitely be the one who lives the longest and is the safest."

"Yes, I hope he can do well."

"Don't worry, we've taught them the basic survival techniques. We'll reinforce them tomorrow. As long as they can survive the torrent of the Crimson Night the day after tomorrow, they can lead the new batch. They won't end up like us, and there might be opportunities in the future."

At this point, number 47 concealed the sadness beneath the hood.

A year has passed. Thinking back on those past events, it feels like everything happened just yesterday. When I came to my senses, one by one my accomplices had already died, and now only a few people remain around me.

"About..."

Perhaps realizing that number 86 was referring to someone, number 47 simply raised a finger and made a shushing gesture.

"I'll make the arrangements."

………………

As usual, Lana ran to Li Lan's room to eat black bread. "Karen, do you think Number 47 and the others are hiding something from us?"

“I don’t know. Everyone has their own secrets. As seniors, we shouldn’t pry too much,” Li Lan thought of the impression this senior had given him from yesterday to today. It was impossible for him not to feel moved. “In short, they have no ill intentions towards us.”

Yes, there was no malice intended; Li Lan could tell.

For those who had just transmigrated, Number 47 was not stingy at all. From the first day to the second day, he taught them how to survive in this world. Even if he was hiding something, it was probably for their own good.

Moreover, the deeper he understood, the more he realized how lowly the status of transmigrators was in this world.

If I'm not mistaken, their existence is perhaps equivalent to fish on a chopping board, always at risk of being crushed by unknown threats.

"Hey, I'm just wondering, if we really were transported to a game world, we should be heroes! Surrounded by beauties, with a harem of women, climbing to the pinnacle of life, instead of pitifully hiding in a small room eating this tasteless stuff."

Lana couldn't help but grumble a few more times.

“Those predecessors are the same. I’ve seen them eat the same breakfast, lunch and dinner for ten thousand years.” In any case, everyone is extremely sensitive to money. Li Lan discovered today that all the witches are poor. “They can hardly afford to eat big fish and meat.”

"Because they always get ripped off. Did you see what happened today? The previous person's stuff was bought for ten dollars, but when the senior went up to it, the other party cut the price down to one-twentieth. That's clearly malicious."

“Yes, but they can’t find a way to change things either, and that’s the fatal flaw. We might have to grapple with this for a long time to come.” Li Lan recalled everything that had happened in the past two days and began to slowly digest the common sense that number 47 had taught them.

"Actually, I was observing them just now." Lana opened her blood-red maw, and her fierce fangs crunched into the hard black bread with a crisp sound.

"Ok?"

"They seem to be genuinely in dire straits, with each person only managing to contribute about two hundred Brown bills, and judging from the time they traveled through, they haven't earned much in a year."

Lana raised her fingers and counted, "Let's convert it, roughly what does Brown here correspond to in our world?"

If we say that one brown equals one dollar, based on today's income of number 47, we can judge that she earned about 12 dollars a day. After deducting various expenses, she can only save a few dollars a day, and sometimes even have a negative income!

"It's indeed a bit scary. What's scary is that they're all experienced people. Logically speaking, transmigrators should have a lot of experience from their previous lives, which should be an advantage. There's no reason they shouldn't be able to find a way to make money. But even so, they can't make any changes, which means..."

Li Lan's expression changed slightly.

Lana whispered, "This shows that the country is targeting them, no, it should be said that it is targeting us 'witches'. When you asked about firearms today, Senior Number 47 bluntly mentioned that the law does not allow it, and this prohibition will be the key point."

Li Lan suddenly remembered that among the knowledge copied into the magic book today were the "Imperial Constitution" and the "Witch Regulations." It seemed necessary to find some time to review them in order to avoid violating anything that might lead to disaster.

"Karen, I choose to believe them, and you do too, right?"

After finishing off the black bread, Lana stood up.

"Of course." Faced with the kindness of others, Li Lan would not choose to refuse, but he would also give himself time to make a judgment.

"Then let's work together. I have many wives waiting for me. I must go back. I need to cooperate with my seniors to find a way back to the original world."

Could it withstand a hundred torrents of the crimson night?

After vaguely realizing that this country could withstand the raging torrent of the Crimson Night on its own, Lana no longer believed that this was the right way to return.

Of course, it wasn't that he didn't believe what number 47 had said, but rather that he thought there was another way.

After all, this world is not a world of physics and technology, but a magical world where many elements are combined, which represents infinite possibilities.

Full of confidence, Lana left quickly. Li Lan, who was rubbing against her "teething stick," looked at the pillow on the old wooden bed and felt a headache coming on.

"I'd rather have a normal race than an elf. Even sleeping has become a problem."

………………

On the third day after arriving in this world, under the guidance of number 47, Li Lan and Lana finally learned how to use a drop of chicken blood to create a trap to kill the mimicry of chaos, and also learned how to kill this low-level monster in one go.

Of course, their lack of strength means they are still far behind number 47, a gap that is unlikely to be bridged in the next few months.

Since they had agreed to have dinner with several other seniors in the inner district of Mori City tonight, they only hunted a few Mimic Chaos creatures today and rushed back before they could even exchange their Magic Cores.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, a large group of people had already gathered in the living room of the residence. Even No. 86, who usually showed off his appearance and figure openly, changed into the same gray and white outfit, put on a cloak, and hid half of his face and cat ears in the hood.

"What I dislike most is going out. I can't even let other people see this cute face of mine. It's so frustrating." Number 86 grumbled, hanging the Libra Cross Greatsword under the cloak on his back with a special sword ring.

"Stop being so vain, where's the money?" Witch No. 93, who was also all ready to go, questioned, afraid that this carefree guy would lose the money.

"What are you afraid of? It's all in my wallet. You all know my racial talent, right? No thief can steal my things."

After saying that, this sunny and cheerful senior pulled Lana to his side, "Good lad, is this role for real? Let me see!"

It made some strange noises, and then number 86 touched Lana's black "antlers" that were showing through her hood.

Because of her unique race, Lana had to make an opening in her hood to conceal half of her face, allowing the two forked horns unique to dragonkin to be revealed. This did attract a lot of attention when they went out together.

"Hmm, it's cold, like the texture of steel, quite different from what I expected!"

Lana, trying to hide her embarrassment, hesitated for a moment before realizing she couldn't resist. She simply let this senior witch "abuse" her for a while, and then, out of curiosity, the other witch seniors joined in...

"Stop fooling around, are you guys ready? Inner District, let's go!"

Without making a sound, concealing his intentions, number 47 casually touched Lana's horns.

Hmm, it really is made of steel, so cold and hard!

"Hehe, the Argonians are really rare. None of the previous batch of transmigrators had ever seen such a race."

Pretending not to know about the curious thoughts of number 47, number 86 asked Li Lan and Lana, "Karen and Lana, are you going to use sword rings? That way, you can hang your weapons on your backs."

"Uh, no, not for now."

Li Lan chuckled and refused, instead hugging the Libra Cross Greatsword engraved with leaf patterns to her chest.

Are you kidding me? This thing weighs over 50 pounds! It's too heavy to even carry in your arms, let alone on your back.

I can't bear it, I can't bear it at all.

Fortunately, there's a saying that a heavy sword has no edge. This kind of unsharpened weapon is actually easier to handle. Holding it with the gauntlet in your arms, you don't have to worry about hurting yourself. It's just that this thing is really too heavy.

If it weren't for the repeated emphasis by number 47 that this proof of being a witch must be carried with him at all times, he wouldn't have bothered carrying this thing.

Clearly, Lana had the same thought, but because of her special race, she was much stronger than Li Lan and didn't have to exert herself as much as Li Lan.

And so, the six people dressed in the same witch costumes marched across the many broken walls and ruins, and soon arrived at the nearest street.

Passersby and shop assistants around the area secretly speculated about what he was wearing.

After all, it had been more than half a year since I last saw so many witches acting together.

"Um, the Witch Cult has gone on a mission?"

"I don't know, maybe they're going to pick up the next batch of witches. There aren't many left in this batch."

"It shouldn't be. Isn't the Crimson Torrent tomorrow night? Maybe they're preparing for that."

“Right, we also need to prepare to go into the inner city for refuge. Starting this month, the refuge fee has increased by three browns.”

"Perhaps it's because the population has increased? Maybe some idiots will protest and refuse to deliver."

"It's alright, it's alright. We've seen plenty of people like this. They'll understand after experiencing it once."

"Haha, that's right, you've done this kind of crazy thing before."

Chapter 14 The Last Supper

Mori City is divided into five districts. The border district, near the Mori Defense Forest, is a vast area including the Witch's Residence. The inner district, beyond the border district, is a secondary area further inland and is quite prosperous due to the lack of direct threat from monsters.

Beyond the inner city, those three areas are called the inner city: the lord's inner city where lords and nobles reside, the pilgrimage area belonging to the Holy See, and the sanctuary open to the people whenever the Crimson Night Flood arrives.

"We are heading to the inner city now. Witches are considered 'serious criminals' by the Empire and are not qualified to enter the inner city. They can only enter with an order from the Witch Order or the Holy See."

Number 47 explained the general situation of Mori City to Li Lan and Lana. In front of them, they could see an incredibly tall city wall, hundreds of meters high, which completely separated the entire outer city.

Li Lan recalled that when she came here by steam train the day before yesterday, she passed through this terrifying high wall and was so shocked that she couldn't speak.

"Did you receive orders from the Witch Cult when you went to the capital to pick us up that day, senior?"

“Of course,” No. 86 continued, “We haven’t been back to the capital since the first day. We were so envious when No. 47 was summoned.”

So that's how it is. Li Lan realized that all the witches abandoned at the border were probably left to fend for themselves.

Because of their extremely low status, witches are unable to rise in rank no matter what. They don't even have basic civil rights, which is a huge problem.

"Are there witches like us in other border regions?"

“Yes,” number 47 answered confidently. “The Empire has many border cities, and Mori is just one of them.”

“There are also many witches in other border cities, and they are very likely from the same world as us,” Serial No. 86 added. “Speaking of which, we received a mission from the Witch Cult more than half a year ago and encountered those people.”

"A bunch of barbaric bastards. It would be a disgrace to be from the same world as them."

Witch No. 93 recalled some unpleasant memories, and her words became somewhat sharp and sarcastic.

"They are too selfish, and they are a bunch of bastards who like to extort their accomplices. They are cowardly bullies who prey on the weak."

The somber tone of "Need 94" also carried obvious dissatisfaction, showing no mercy. It seems that their dissatisfaction was not just simple hostility.

"I want to cheer up, but I don't even know if those people are still around."

Number 47 smoothed things over and promptly changed the subject, "Now that we're at the Caribbean restaurant, what are you planning to eat?"

"Caribbean? Pirate feast?" Li Lan asked, bewildered.