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

"I'm afraid so," Rachel said, "This coincides with my findings these days."

After a little thought, she published her findings:

"Although they are all witches, in different countries and regions, they... no, we, will be called completely different names——"

"In Ceylon, we are called saints; in Zhendan, we are called witches; in Kievan Rus, we are messengers from heaven; and in Bharata, we have transformed ourselves into the incarnation of the great god..."

As Lacie spoke, she couldn't help but think of the only witch she had ever encountered head-on, Thea, who had helped the mortals of Victoria build their nation.

——Xia claims to be the empire’s highest technical advisor.

In a trance, Lacie suddenly seemed to understand something.

"Shit," she couldn't help but curse in her heart, "That conspiracy theory that 'witches are secretly controlling the entire world' can't be true?"

No matter which country they are in, witches play an important role. Take Ceylon as an example.

Rachel vaguely remembered that the saint from Ceylon had saved the country from the brink of destruction and put it back on track. If it weren't for her, the Ceylon Dynasty would have become a mere noun in the long history of the Pangaea.

Other witches have probably played similar roles in the development of different countries in their respective chosen topics.

Although Rachel didn't know what the witches' ultimate goal was, she felt that she was quite close to the truth.

At least she had figured out what the witches were doing.

There is no doubt that the witches are interfering with history in their own ways, affecting the future direction of human countries or the entire Pan-Continent.

That is why Xia told her that she did not need to deliberately pursue the truth and answers because she was already on the right path.

——Because she is already interfering with history and influencing the future direction of the Pan-Continent.

She chose Charles and Olden.

The brave man and the White Tower are the "subjects" of this Witch of Twilight and Dawn.

"But...don't the witches have a common goal?"

She thought again.

They belong to the same race, have the same characteristics and behavior patterns, and they all practice their own ideas to complete their "projects". If this is the case, there must be some common force driving their actions.

Like a rather strange tree.

Some branches are lush and some are withered, some branches are blooming peach blossoms and some are growing osmanthus. However, if you trace back to the source, all branches are extended from a branch, and that branch provides them with nutrients, trying their best to make them bloom their own flowers and grow their own fruits...

So, what exactly is that branch?

Lacie felt that she was only one step away from the truth. As long as she could find a way to figure out what that branch was, she would be able to determine the origin of the witch race and understand their ultimate goal.

However, there was too little useful information, and she couldn't draw any reliable conclusions. She could only make blind guesses.

But it doesn't matter. As long as we reach Victoria, meet the witch Thea, and confront her face to face, everything will be fine.

The truth will then come out.

Thinking of this, she said to Lao Deng:

"There is no doubt that even a not-so-complete witch like me is interfering with the future direction of the Pan-Continent, so it is basically certain..."

Rachel paused and said seriously:

"At this moment, except for our White Tower, the other countries chosen by the witch probably already know about the tall and thin ghosts that polluted Diesel, so those big countries readily agreed to cooperate with our White Tower. On the contrary, those small countries that have not been chosen by the witch will doubt the existence of the tall and thin ghost because of the information gap, and some extreme cases will even refuse to cooperate."

Lao Deng was silent for a moment, then agreed:

"What you said makes sense, but I think there is one more thing we need to do..."

At this time, Charles, who had been listening nearby, suddenly spoke up:

"We need to find out how much a country like Victoria, which was helped by the witch, knows about the Slender Man and the previous civilization that was most likely destroyed by the Slender Man, right?"

For some reason, after listening to what Charles said, Lao Deng suddenly sighed, and then responded:

"Yes."

Maybe she anticipated something?

She had already guessed what Laciel would say to her next. Laciel would say...

"So, there are two more reasons why Ciel and I are going to Victoria."

As she spoke, she let go of Charles' arm and counted on her fingers, listing the four reasons one by one:

"Find out the truth about the death of the previous hero, seek an explanation for the assassination, and as we just discussed, find out the witches' purpose and position, and find a way to obtain more information about the Slender Man and the mystery of the destruction of the previous civilization."

Finally, Miss Witch concluded:

"Now, it seems that I have to go to Victoria no matter what."

"..."

After the third, and particularly long, silence, Lao Deng's slightly helpless and playful voice came from the other end of the communication spell:

"Well, now that my dear student has said so, I can't just keep going my own way and stand in front of you two..."

"Go ahead," she said, but she also warned, "but be careful."

[To be continued]

-

23. Producing offspring

After the serious discussion, the atmosphere suddenly became much more relaxed.

Especially Lao Deng.

It is somewhat unrealistic to expect Lao Deng to be serious all the time. Lao Deng is like this. He can be serious, but only a little bit.

This is Lao Deng. Do you have an Lao Deng like this? He is really old and great.

They were discussing the future of Pangaea, the survival of the new era and the previous civilization, with a serious face. But the next second, the topic was over, and Lao Deng returned to his old ways, deliberately complaining in a very disappointed tone:

"Hey, sure enough, what was that sentence you said to me last time... Oh, I remember it now!"

At this point, Lao Deng almost burst into tears:

"Alas, a girl cannot be kept when she grows up! Alas, a daughter who is married off is like spilled water!"

Laceel almost couldn't hold it in.

She thought to herself, how can a wizard like you say such things? It doesn't even fit the style of the painting!

Although she was the one who taught Lao Deng all these nonsense, she ended up shooting herself in the foot.

Thinking of this, Lacier couldn't help but sigh:

"Okay, okay, I'll just follow Charles to Victoria. Charles will protect me, and you'll be there to back me up... If the Emperor of Victoria knows what's best for him, he won't dare to do anything to me."

"But if the Victorians are determined to launch an all-out war and stomp on us hard, then our trip... is really no different from sending sheep into the tiger's mouth."

Lacey didn't say this out loud.

She didn't want Lao Deng to worry about her.

Although Lao Deng always acts like a naughty old man, that is just a disguise. If she is really so naughty, how could she have built the White Tower from scratch?

At least several decades ago, when Rachel first met Lao Deng, he was a serious and unapproachable guy.

So time is really a magical thing.

It can make Lacele dependent on Charles, and it can also make old Deng seem like a completely different person.

Lacey suddenly fell silent.

After a while, she said to Lao Deng seriously:

"Don't worry, I will be careful. You have been my teacher and student for so many years, you should know better than anyone that I am not good at anything except escaping..."

As she spoke, she stretched out her hand again and slapped Charles's solid chest muscles twice:

"Besides, there is Ciel. Even if you don't believe me, you should believe the hero in this world! He said he would protect me, and he will definitely protect me. No matter what, he will definitely bring me back from Victoria safely!"

"……Right?"

With a little trepidation, the witch turned her head and pretended to ask Charles for his opinion, but in fact she was giving him crazy hints.

"Hurry up and do something, you stupid hero! Don't fail at the critical moment!"

As soon as she thought this, Charles grabbed the hand that was still patting his chest muscles.

Then, after a small scream, Lacie was pulled into Charles' arms.

The tall warrior embraced her slender body, lowered his head, and gently rubbed her earlobe with the tip of his nose. Then, it was unclear whether he was talking to Lao Deng or swearing to her. In short, he responded in his usual reassuring low voice:

"I will...even if it costs me my life."

"..."

Lacey thought to herself, Oh my god.

If someone else said this, she would just smile - risking one's life is like swearing to abstain from sex from today on, just listen to it.

You can fool your friends, but don’t fool yourself.

But now, the person who said this to her was Charles.

That stubborn idiot whose emotions are so heavy that it almost suffocates people.

He said it, and he will definitely do it.

After all, he probably still feels guilty about the sword she blocked for him, just like when he faced his mad mother in Lentiheim. This guy may seem calm, but in fact he might be a complete love-brained person.

"Love-brain is so scary..."

Lacie grumbled something under her breath, as if complaining.

But the corners of her mouth curled up slightly, and she couldn't suppress it no matter what.

"What a coincidence," she thought, "it seems that my buddy is also...love-brained."

So, with a little pride, she said loudly to Lao Deng on the other end of the communication spell:

"Did you hear that? Ciel will protect me! So don't worry! We will definitely come back safely!"

This did sound a bit like raising a flag, but Laciel didn't intend to care at all.

Just plant the flag!

Bastard! Don't underestimate love! It is a power that can even break the theory of life span!

Just some flags or something, look, I’m going to smash them all!

Lao Deng, who was on the other end of the communication spell, seemed to be shattered by the power of love just like those flags.

So after a long time, she replied with a slightly emotional tone:

"Is that so? I see. Well, I believe you will be able to return safely from Victoria."

Lacie nodded and thought to herself, hum, that's good to know, buddy only needs to make a little move to easily take down Victoria!

Just as she raised her tail, she heard Lao Deng say:

"But just in case, I think you two should keep a backup plan..."

"Backhand?" Lacey frowned, not understanding what Lao Deng was talking about. "What do you mean?"

Lao Deng said slowly:

"If both of you are left in Victoria... that means Victoria is ready to declare war on the entire wizard world. By then, with the power of the White Tower, it will be difficult to rescue you two, so we may have to seek external help and think of other ways..."

"?"

Lacey didn't understand what Lao Deng was talking about anymore.

It is true that they might be forced to stay in Victoria, but if her magical skills and Charles's agility could not escape from Victoria, then what would be the point of them leaving any backup plans?

She didn't understand, but she vaguely felt that Lao Deng seemed to be planning to do something bad to her again.

So the witch lady became alert and her eyes turned into the shape of 0.o.

"What can be done?" she asked.

Just like when she was playing a shooting game in her previous life, her teammate fell down just after leaving the game and reported "mid lane sniper", she immediately went over and yelled: "Where is it, where is it? Let me take a look!"

She stood up and was shot dead in one second. What's there to say?