Miss Witch’s Devotion Has Gone… Twisted

"Make sure you spread the word: all witches belong to me. Anyone who harms a witch will make an enemy of me for life, understood?"

Loren repeated what he had just said. The church member nodded numbly, clearly still in shock from what had happened.

Those words had been thought through by Loren. Saying the witches were his property was essentially declaring them as his assets rather than loved ones, so no one could use witches to threaten him.

Besides, the Noah incident had already served as an example. Under Loren's covert manipulation, that matter had spread far and wide.

Everyone knew someone had once tried to use Loren's friend to threaten him, and Loren had killed both the friend and the blackmailer.

Threats didn't work on Loren. Calling the witches his property removed any remaining leverage.

That infamous reputation wasn't beneficial for Loren's image, so only high-ranking people were told about it; commoners weren't aware. But anyone daring enough to attack Loren certainly knew.

Loren also wasn't worried that witches would dislike him for saying that. They were starved for care; hearing that someone claimed them as property would probably make them emotional.

After all, at least someone cared about them.

"Y-yes..."

Once Loren let him go, the church member breathed a sigh of relief and then ran as fast as he could.

After the man had bolted, Loren snapped his fingers and one of the man’s arms was cleanly severed.

Even then, the man didn't look back; if anything, he ran faster.

Loren picked up the crystal ball the church member had dropped, then looked at the mother.

She was pale with terror. She was an ordinary person who had never seen such a gruesome scene before.

There had been many dead in the Bardo Kingdom; she had seen corpses, but never like this.

In the end Loren ignored her. Killing the mother in front of the child wasn't ideal, no matter what the mother had done.

It reminded Loren of a case where a son caught his mother with her lover. The lover panicked and tried to silence the son, but the son was too strong to be subdued.

Then the mother started helping the lover, and the son instantly stopped resisting.

Loren carried the little girl and flew into the air. She still wore a stunned, numb expression, still not processing what had happened.

Given her age, that was expected; she couldn't accept it.

She didn't even know she was a witch.

If Loren hadn't intervened, she would have had no good outcome.

If the Church couldn't deal with Loren, how could they handle her?

Perhaps the church would insist she had no fault, but they still had to give an account.

After Loren returned to the basket, Luna immediately hugged the girl. Luna understood this feeling best.

"We'll depart at once. I'll test the crystal ball's detection range first."

Saying that, Loren flew away while estimating distance.

At around twenty meters away, the crystal ball stopped reacting.

That relieved Loren. Fortunately he wasn't a witch; at first he had worried the crystal ball might detect him.

If it did, many of his actions would be compromised, and the Hermit's concealment ability would be weakened.

The crystal ball was cheap; it had only been recently developed and was already everywhere.

Loren suspected that in a few days, everyone would have one.

After finishing with the large crystal ball, Loren began testing the smaller one.

The small crystal ball wasn't shorter-range; it switched from group detection to single-target detection, able to identify only a specific person, and its range was still long.

After the tests, Loren resumed flying with the group. He left the task of comforting the child to the witches.

He didn't intend to keep her with him forever. If they encountered people from the Witches' Church, he could hand her over.

The Witches' Church protected its secret witches; if the child didn't expose herself, she'd be very safe there—far safer than traveling with Loren.

If possible Loren wanted Anna and the others to hide in the Witches' Church for a while, but they clearly preferred to stay with Loren.

Loren only landed after flying into the wilderness between the territories of the God of Plague and the God of Pain. He wasn't tired, but the witches were.

Sitting in that basket wasn't very comfortable; Loren had made it on the fly with Abundant Magic. He could tweak it.

"Everyone eat first. I'll improve the basket."

After they touched down, Scarlett efficiently brought out utensils and ingredients to get dinner ready.

Several maids started bustling about too, proving it had been right to bring them along.

The little girl still hadn't spoken. Loren didn't know her name, let alone her Arcane Ability.

This would likely become a common occurrence—living as witches had become even harder.

Before they could hide among humans; now even that refuge was gone.

While the maids cooked, Loren modified their transport, making it more comfortable and windproof, and padded it with a mattress.

After Loren's adjustments, it resembled a baby cradle.

That increased air resistance considerably, but for the Dusk Crow ability it was nothing.

By the time Loren finished, the meal was ready, but the little girl still hadn't found the appetite to eat, stuck in grief.

Luna sat with her the whole time, but Luna's comfort didn't help.

"Let me try."

Loren moved beside Luna, and she instinctively made room.

"Okay."

The girl had chiseled, delicate features and was very adorable—typical witch appearance.

Honestly, Loren didn't know how to deal with such a small child; he had never handled one before.

Before Loren could speak, the child latched onto him as if he were her only refuge.

"...."

Loren said nothing, simply stroking her hair.

Once she calmed, he began feeding her. Finally she started to eat.

Loren gave a wry smile. Witches were surprisingly easy to handle, even a child.

Though the girl ate, she still didn't speak, and Loren didn't press her.

After the meal, they continued onward.

The modified basket was so comfortable that Scarlett fell asleep immediately.

Being carefree could be a good thing—better than being too terrified to sleep.

Soon they entered the God of Pain's territory. It looked much like Loren remembered: bloodstains and bones everywhere. The only difference was the presence of sufferers carrying crystal balls.

These sufferers dragged their feet without lifting them; the bones on the soles of their feet scraped the ground, leaving a bloody trail.

The streets were more decorated than before. Many adults held gifts, and children hopped and skipped, letting the ground grind their feet bloody.

Then Loren remembered: today was Christmas, his birthday.

At that moment, Loren spotted a rise of gray mist somewhere, and that gray mist looked very familiar to him.

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