Miss Witch’s Devotion Has Gone… Twisted

”Hello, I’m Loren. Nice to meet you. I really like your personality.”

Loren walked up to Laila and extended his hand.

He still remembered the first time he met Laila. Back then, Loren knew nothing. He casually bought an iron sword, learned a martial skill, and went to rob a noble’s carriage, purely treating it like a game of Grand Theft Auto.

The outcome was predictable. Loren was almost beaten to a pulp. It was at that moment Laila appeared and rescued him.

After some conversation, they learned that those nobles were utterly wicked, having committed every evil deed imaginable. When Loren went to rob them, they had just kidnapped several respectable women. So, Loren and Laila hit it off immediately and wiped out that group of nobles.

Laila looked at Loren’s hand, then at his face. She was certain Loren harbored not a shred of malice; on the contrary, he was filled with goodwill towards her. He was telling the truth.

Her Arcane Ability was named [Relentless Pursuit]. It allowed her to mark a target through will or physical contact. Once marked, she could find that person no matter where they were.

Furthermore, within a certain range, Laila’s attacks would automatically track marked targets.

Not only that, her Arcane Ability had an additional effect: she could sense the emotions of others. That’s how Laila could distinguish between good and bad people.

”Hello, I’m Laila.”Laila shook Loren’s hand. At the same moment, exclamations erupted from inside the carriage:

”Loren? The legendary Master Mentor?”

”To think the Master Mentor is on the same train as us... What an honor...”

”Loren? His other name, Luo Tianyi, is known to everyone in the God of Night and Thunder’s territory! I actually got to meet him in person...”

”...”

Such astonished murmurs filled the air. Loren was already used to it.

”You... You are the Master Mentor? My apologies...”

Realizing the person she had just been dismissive of was actually Loren, Laila immediately began apologizing earnestly, her demeanor becoming much more respectful, completely shedding her initial air of contempt.

Loren’s reputation for teaching without discrimination and treating everyone equally was well-known. No one knew how many things he had done to help the weak. Laila held Loren in particularly high esteem, but Loren felt a strange sense of dissonance, like the character Runtu calling Xunge ”Master.”

The train started moving, and Loren returned to his own seat.

To save space, the train seats were arranged back-to-back. The six of them fit perfectly, with a narrow table in the middle just big enough to rest their feet on. Laila’s flexibility was indeed impressive.

”Where are you heading on this trip, sir?”

Laila’s seat was right next to Loren’s, making conversation easy.

”Oh, I’m going to the Bardo Kingdom to investigate that unknown structure.”

”What a coincidence! I’m going there too. Shall we travel together?”

Compared to Naclis and Luna, Laila was much more direct, openly stating her desire to travel with Loren without reservation.

The prospect of traveling with Loren excited her greatly.

”You all are going to Bardo too?”

Just as Loren and Laila were talking, a fat man sitting in front turned around. His obesity gave his skin a somewhat pale appearance. He had a full beard, a round face, and bore some marks of sexually transmitted diseases, perfectly fulfilling Loren’s worst stereotypes.

”Are you a Plague Believer?”

Every single aspect of him matched the characteristics of a Plague Believer, and his status seemed quite high at that, making Loren instinctively want to change carriages.

”No, I am still a believer of the God of Bountiful Harvest. I plan to go live in the Bardo Kingdom, far away from those ignorant fools in the Nofica Theocracy. Only the open and tolerant Bardo Kingdom is my true homeland.”

”You do you.”

Loren let go of any urge to intervene and respected the man’s chosen fate.

If he could get this fat without being a noble, he must be from the Nofica Theocracy.

Due to the inability to have children, the God of Bountiful Harvest’s territory was particularly hostile towards gay men. Actually, it’s more accurate to say that everywhere outside the God of Plague’s territory was hostile towards gay men, but the God of Bountiful Harvest’s side was exceptionally so.

Thus, many people viewed the most inclusive and open Bardo Kingdom as their spiritual homeland, wishing Bardo would just wipe out the Nofica Theocracy tomorrow.

While they might think that way, many were also aware that they couldn’t survive outside the Nofica Theocracy. So, they might curse it, but they never missed a single bite of Nofica’s food.

In contrast, the already impoverished Gedlan Kingdom, even though it bordered Bardo, didn’t have many people considering Bardo their spiritual homeland.

As for the real Bardo, Loren could only say that compared to that place, Gedlan was practically paradise. At the very least, Gedlan wouldn’t actually let people starve to death.

However, since the man before him was actually willing to go to Bardo, Loren was willing to give him a thumbs-up. He was one of the few with backbone. Loren wouldn’t laugh too loudly when he inevitably got himself killed.

”Previously, a group of envoys from the Bardo Kingdom stayed in that tiny speck of a country, Gedlan. Such an honor, yet those useless fools in Gedlan messed it up. The envoy was assassinated by the Black Moth Butterfly...”

People in the Royal Capital of Gedlan looked down on country folk. People in the Nofica Theocracy looked down on the Gedlan Royal Capital. It was a whole chain of discrimination.

Whenever Bardo was mentioned, the man’s tone dripped with worship and longing. This sycophantic attitude disgusted even Laila.

”You are so disgusting.”

Laila was always blunt and made no effort to hide her revulsion for this fat man.

”Heh, how could a bunch of closed-minded, stagnant people possibly understand the greatness of the Bardo Kingdom? The Bardo Kingdom is the beacon of human civilization!”

”...”

If progress meant promiscuity and stirring up shit, then Loren admitted he was an old fossil.

”But those people wanted to release a plague in Gedlan. Their deaths actually saved the people of Gedlan.”

”Heh, more plague viruses would be great! It’d be best if they killed all those ignorant fools. The sooner the people of the Bardo Kingdom slaughter them all, the sooner we can embrace civilization.”

”You!”

Laila directly drew the gun at her waist, its dark muzzle aimed at the fat man. Before she could pull the trigger, Loren successfully pushed her gun down.

”Master Mentor...”

The fat man fled the moment he saw Laila pull out the gun. It took a long while for Laila to calm down and realize how impulsive she had been. If she had actually fired, the consequences would have been unthinkable.

”To truly destroy someone, you must crush their spirit. Wait until we actually reach Bardo. Let all his fantasies shatter, then let him die. That’s true destruction of both body and soul.”

Hearing Loren’s words, Laila smiled and extended a fist towards him.

”Master Mentor, it seems we get along quite well. I thought you might have a Saint-like heart and let him go.”

As an adventurer, Laila had been to many countries and naturally knew what the real Bardo was like.

The bottom tier in Gedlan might live miserably, but Bardo was a true living hell.

Loren also extended his hand, bumping fists with Laila, a smile on his face.