Chapter 141: Please Believe This is Not the Last Day, and Not the Only Future
With the help of her witch powers, Peiya could slightly touch the power of the Calamity Witch even without transforming.
In her eyes, the demon wolf’s body seemed to go backward in time. She saw how the wolf had been slowly put into storage. Then she noticed threads on its body, what were those?
Shiny, crystal-like threads were spinning behind her.
Peiya stepped forward and placed her finger on one of the threads. The demon wolf beside her immediately started crying out in pain.
“There is something on its body controlling it. Maya, do you have a way to deal with this?”
“Let me take a look.”
Maya stepped forward. A beam of light in her hand began to spin and soon covered the demon wolf. With the help of her magic, the threads quickly disappeared.
Right after that, the wolf’s skin began to change. The original black color faded away like a receding tide, turning into a normal white.
“So it was a white wolf. I thought it was black. It can even change the color of its skin?”
Peiya was a little surprised. She had not expected this at all. At first, she only felt that the demon wolf was a bit strange.
Now it seemed that being controlled by threads was not the whole story.
“Peiya, why is this happening? The fur…”
“No need to panic. Didn’t we just say that if they keep attacking humans, there must be a reason? Otherwise, a monster would not attack humans without restraint. Maya, you went with me to the monster forest before. Have you ever seen monsters run straight into our attacks on purpose? Even monsters feel fear. They would not attack us without caring about their lives. Unless… it has lost its instinct to fear. And the thread you cut just now might be the thing that affected her, making her lose her fear of death. This kind of reckless behavior really feels like the result of some crazy experiment.”
Maya opened her mouth slightly in surprise. Even Karl, who was standing nearby, looked shocked and could not help but speak,
“I haven’t seen something this complicated in a long time. Looks like the old man was right, this time, we caught a big case. When you have time, you should come meet my teacher. She would really like someone smart like you. Unlike me, I always get scolded by her.”
Karl laughed and patted Peiya on the back. The force was so strong that it almost knocked her apart. Luckily, a witch’s body was quite tough.
“That was a really strong hit.”
“Ah, sorry, I didn’t control my strength well. Are you okay, Miss Peiya? I didn’t mean to do that.”
Karl quickly stepped forward to check on her, worried that she might have hurt Peiya.
“I’m fine. We more or less understand the mystery of it now. But I’m curious about one thing, why would a beast tamer want to study a demon wolf?”
Based on the information they had, the demon wolf was definitely a secret. Peiya needed to stay silent about it and see if she could learn something new from the two of them.
“A demon wolf… I remember that being related to the ancestor of the demon race. So I think they want to study demon wolves to find better ways to control magical beasts. My teacher once said they might even want to create artificial lords, then use them to control some small countries. As for anything else, I don’t know yet.”
Control small countries…
That was possible. There were already many areas near the kingdom ruled by monsters. If they really succeeded, maybe exploring new lands in the future would not even need human effort.
Of course, Peiya did not care about the safety of the demon race. What she was really thinking about was this… were their goals really that simple?
Once someone gains power, what they do with it is no longer something others can control.
“Maybe that’s possible. But I think they want more than that. Also, I don’t believe the king and the church are not involved at all. Are the kingdom’s spies just useless? Unless some nobles are secretly taking benefits for themselves, or someone inside the church is covering it up. Those are the only two explanations I can think of.”
Peiya bit her lip. The two people beside her looked very calm. To them, this kind of thing was nothing. They were already used to how the world is now.
“Miss Peiya, to be honest, we are just small, ordinary nobles. Even if you ask us, we can’t really help with something like this.”
Karl continued, “The reason I brought you here is, first, to find the truth behind the previous attack. Second… it’s also for my own selfish reason. I want to help my younger sister earn some credit. When I write the report later, I can also mention you.”
“So that’s how it is?”
Peiya was a little surprised, but she quickly understood. After all, Maya was Karl’s real sister.
There was nothing wrong with helping your own family gain some credit, especially for something positive like this.
What really made Peiya feel emotional was that she didn’t expect someone like Karl, who seemed a bit careless on the surface, to have such a soft heart inside.
For some reason, Elise’s face suddenly appeared in Peiya’s mind.
Tch.
I wasn’t thinking about her.
Peiya pushed that thought away and checked the aura on the wolf. She didn’t understand much about karmic fire, so she ignored that part and focused on checking a few other things.
It seemed that after getting rid of the threads, the demon wolf was now just an ordinary monster.
“So we’re done here, right? I don’t think there’s anything else to investigate on it. You should take it back and report, right?”
“Yes. Maya, let me explain this part.”
“Okay.”
“Eh? Why are you suddenly making that kind of expression?”
Peiya stepped back a little, confused about what they were about to do.
“It’s like this, Miss Peiya. Don’t be nervous. On the way here, Maya and I talked privately. We didn’t want you to leave empty-handed, so I plan to tell you some information about the next witch.”
“The next witch?”
Peiya was surprised. She really didn’t expect this kind of ending…
“Yes. Her name is the Eternal Night Witch. You probably already know that. I’ll tell you something you haven’t heard before. Her name comes partly from her power being related to the night. But more importantly, my teacher told me that true eternal night means reincarnation. In the place where the Eternal Night Witch exists, everything will go through cycles again and again, even the sunlight in the sky. It will slowly fade away. Her so-called immortality is just being trapped in a cocoon of endless cycles, slowly disappearing within them…”
“...This is all we know about her for now. And you don’t seem like someone who can just sit still. If you ever get the chance to witness all this, I have a small request. Please help me pass on a message. After hearing my teacher’s explanation, I feel that this girl is actually quite pitiful. But I cannot forgive the witch’s crimes on behalf of the victims. So I hope that after she finishes making up for her sins, if she has the chance, she can come to the main city. I’ll treat her to some meat and have a sparring match…”
“...What’s the point of endless cycles? In my opinion, having a good sleep and then opening your eyes to see a brand new tomorrow, that is the real future. Not destroying the past and starting over again and again. That only traps you in an endless search for a perfect answer. I don’t believe every step I take is correct. But before I take that step, I won’t let myself regret it. Because I believe the future will be good in the end. And if you’re really afraid of that unknown tomorrow…”
Karl brought her fists together and hit them hard, then laughed awkwardly.
“…then it’s better to hold onto the present and live each day well.”