Shut up, brave man! I don't want to atone for my sins to you!

If that were the case, Lacie estimated that the entire Pan-Continent could be considered for reopening.

Nations no longer have to engage in intrigue and deception, and wizards and mortals no longer have to fight each other to the death - under the irresistible wave of the Great Impact, everything will return to nothingness, and all souls will be integrated into one.

Lacey even thought this was not a bad idea.

At the very least, a world in which humans can fully understand each other has been achieved, and human countries no longer have to worry about the invasion of the Slender Man.

Isn’t that good?

Of course, the above are just Laci's personal opinions.

She felt that all the souls in the entire Pangaea were integrated into one...which was actually not a good thing. Anyway, she didn't want Charles to know what she was thinking at all times.

Thinking of this, the little maid couldn't help but raise her head and secretly observe Charles - secretly observe her master's expression.

She found her master deep in thought.

His eyebrows were furrowed, his slightly thin lips were pursed tightly, his expression was solemn and serious, and he looked...

"Men who work hard are really handsome."

What a strange thing, Lacelle thought.

At this moment, she suddenly heard Charles say:

“That might not be a bad thing.”

"?"

Upon hearing this, Lacie asked a question.

What do you mean?

Ciel actually thought that Victoria was ready to go to war with the wizard world - he thought this was a good thing?

She subconsciously wanted to call Charles a fool, but she quickly remembered that Charles was not a fool and he must have his reasons for saying that.

So she tried to think like Ciel.

If it were Ciel, what would he think after realizing the above facts?

Soon, even faster than Lao Deng, she understood Charles' intention -

"deterrence".

Even when facing steam armored troops equipped with forbidden force fields, the mages are not helpless.

In Rachel's previous life, on that planet illuminated by the light of reason and where there was no magic or spells, humans built a glorious civilization from scratch using the two simplest and most rudimentary means of throwing stones and boiling water.

And here, on Pangaea, wizards can still use either of these two methods - they can lift boulders or even mountains and hurl them at mortals who try to disobey them.

Forbidden spells can eliminate magic power, but they cannot eliminate the kinetic energy that magic adds to the stone.

"Use magic to defeat magic."

That's right.

"Use physics to defeat physics."

This is also correct.

The mages thus achieved "deterrence" over mortals.

But unilateral deterrence cannot achieve balance. If one end of the seesaw is high, the other end will definitely be low.

Therefore, mortals must also have some kind of "trump card". In order to maintain balance, they must also be able to "deter" the mages.

Originally, they lacked the means to "deter" the mages, but the witch Thea gave them this means - coupled with the fragments of the holy sword obtained from the previous generation of heroes, now they may really have the ability to pose a threat to the mage world.

"I just don't know if Victoria's abilities are enough to be a deterrent."

Lacie thought, biting her fingers gently.

What is "deterrence"?

The deterrent is that Victoria declares that it can't stand it anymore and wants to explode with the wizard world, and it must really have the ability to explode with the wizard world -

Before Victoria appeared, the biggest "deterrent" between human countries was the six limited wishing machines. Just like the nuclear weapons in Rachel's previous life, it was because of the existence of the six limited wishing machines that a real large-scale war never broke out between human countries.

Victoria never had a finite wishing machine.

This may be the important reason why human countries have allowed Victoria to develop for many years.

Because only a few big countries have the killer weapon of limited wishing machine, other small countries that do not have limited wishing machine at least have a few high-level wizards.

And Victoria... this empire founded purely by mortals, at least on the surface, has never had any high-level wizards.

As the saying goes, "If my neighbor stores grain, I store guns; my neighbor is my granary."

Although Victoria seems to have risen rapidly in recent years, and is a place of "vibrant vitality and flourishing everything", everyone knows that Victoria is just a useless flower stand. The reason why it has not been divided up is simply because the arrogant wizards think that this fruit is not yet ripe -

It is better to wait until it is ripe before picking it.

I'm afraid all mages think so.

The unripe fruit was extremely sour and astringent and could not be eaten, so they decided to wait, but they probably could not imagine what the fruit would look like when it was ripe.

"If the mages are still arrogant and still think they can manipulate Victoria at will and want to divide up this mature mortal empire, then I'm afraid that when they make a move, Victoria will knock out their front teeth and let them see what the power of mortals is."

Victoria might be considered a fruit—but it was definitely a fruit filled with venom that would cause people excruciating pain.

Lacie suddenly began to look forward to seeing what the mages' reactions would be after swallowing the fruit.

Even if it were to be judged, she, a witch, should be classified into the "magician" camp.

But she was in Cao's camp but her heart was with Han.

You know, Witch Thea is my sister, we have fought side by side and defeated many opponents. I have known the brave Charles for a long time. This guy is incredibly strong. I think we can have a good chemical reaction when we team up. Sometimes it is difficult to make a decision. After many days and nights of thinking, I decided to bring my talent to Victoria. I can't wait to wear the badge of Victoria. As for Lao Deng and Baita, I wish them all the best in the world of wizards.

She is already a Victorian!

From the legal point of view, no! From the rational point of view, yes!

She comes from a purely rational civilization. When it comes to rationality, she is not only well-informed - she has a good background!

Although to be serious, she felt that she belonged neither to the rational side nor to the legal side. She considered herself neither a mage nor a mortal. She was just a bystander, a passer-by who had strayed into the Pangaea.

She had no intention of intervening in the dispute between mages and mortals, just as her original intention of assisting Lao Deng in building the White Tower was to remain neutral. If mages and mortals fought, she would not help anyone.

Maybe Witch Thea was right.

Perhaps what the one-eyed general of the Victorian Steam Armor Corps, the insane one-eyed man, said was not wrong.

Neither of them is more glorious than the other.

The biggest dispute between mages and mortals is not about right or wrong, but about stance.

But the struggle over positions was already a mess, and she was too lazy to think about those complicated things. Anyway, she had no sense of belonging to either the wizards or the mortals - the only place that could make her feel a sense of belonging was the White Tower, so if the wizard world and Victoria fought, she would not help anyone.

What does she think?

She rode on Ciel and looked!

As for Lao Deng...

She knew Old Deng. Although he was a bit evil-minded, he was essentially a good person and a pure scholar. She would most likely not get involved in the dispute between Victoria and the wizard world.

She would probably just do her best to mediate and try to promote peaceful coexistence between mortals and mages...

——The prerequisite for peaceful coexistence is that mortals and mages must have similar powers.

"So in the final analysis, it all depends on whether Victoria can provide enough "deterrence" and whether the emperor of Victoria is really ambitious enough to expel all the wizards from the Pangaea."

Laciel didn't think that Victoria now had the ability to declare war on the entire wizard world.

Excessive self-confidence is arrogance.

She felt that the Emperor Victoria would not be so stupid.

Thinking of this, Lacie suddenly gently scratched the palm of Charles' hand with her fingertips.

Touched by her, Charles instinctively lowered his head and looked at her.

She tried to lower her voice and asked:

"Hey! If Victoria and the wizard world really fight...which side will you stand on?"

Laciel knew that most heroes throughout the ages would choose to stand on the side of mortals because they were the oppressed weak compared to the mages.

But Ciel wasn't a true hero - he was a hero, the real hero in her mind - so she was a little curious about Ciel's opinion.

So, in her expectation, after a brief silence, Charles told her very seriously and gently:

"War is not good... I will not stand on the side of the mages, nor will I help the mortals... I think I will try to prevent the war from happening."

"But what if you can't do it? The war won't stop just because of the opposition of one or two people."

"Then I want to try it too."

"Even if there is no benefit?"

"..."

Charles was silent for a moment, then suddenly let go of Lacie's hand and touched her head instead.

Then he whispered:

"For me, peace is the best reward."

"Okay!" Lacie smiled and moved closer to Charles, almost leaning her whole body on him, "Then I'll follow you!"

"As expected of a man my buddy has his eyes on!"

She thought proudly.

[To be continued]

-

14. Pretend not to exist

Charles decided to go to Victoria.

In public, it is to investigate whether Victoria really has the ability to pose a threat to the wizard world.

Personally, he needs to find out the cause of death of the previous brave man Elvis and the truth about the disaster that destroyed his hometown.

Now, no matter what, there is a reason to go.

But before going, just as Old Den worried - in order to avoid Charles and the Holy Sword being detained in Victoria - Rachel thought they had to make some preparations in advance.

"First of all," Rachel raised her index finger to Ciel who was doing push-ups on the ground, "I will visit Victoria as the co-founder of the White Tower and the Witch of Twilight, not as the chaplain of the Brave Squad."

"Hmm..." Charles lowered his head, easily supported his body with one arm, and breathed steadily, "Using the White Tower to put pressure on Victoria, it sounds like a good idea..."

During the brief pause in his voice, the brave man's body sank again, and at the same time, he added the second half of the sentence:

"——But will the Emperor of Victoria really care about the pressure from the White Tower?"

Lacele choked.

But she didn't feel annoyed, instead she slowly squatted down in front of Charles.

The hem of the maid's long skirt fell lightly, like a lily of the valley bud, but with the rich scent of golden roses.

To match the maid outfit, Lacie wore white tights and small leather shoes because she knew that Charles would like that.

If Victoria's steam armor troops are a powerful weapon specially used to deal with mages, then white tights and small leather shoes are treasures for special attacks against heroes.

"Look, I'm going to catch you and turn you into a black bass!"

Lacele thought maliciously and stretched her feet forward on purpose so that Charles could see it more easily.

The lacquered leather shoes were smooth and shiny, and the white velvet stockings were dust-free, making the maid's feet look particularly petite, delicate and lovely.

——She even wanted to take off her little leather shoes right there and then to give Charles a little shock on her jade feet.

The white silk at the heel is stretched to reveal an alluring pink color, the color of which is like strawberry chocolate, and it is wrapped in a pair of black leather shoes with a very strong contrast, giving people a very stunning visual impact.

Even Lacie herself thought that her feet were pretty, with a kind of beauty that was a feast to the eyes.

Charles seemed to like her feet very much, but he... seemed a little uncomfortable and didn't dare to show it in front of her.

"Are you afraid that your buddies will laugh at you?"