Miss Witch’s Devotion Has Gone… Twisted

”How long did it take you to build this castle?”

The castle and the surrounding buildings seemed like they were from a different world. Not only was the exterior magnificent, but the facilities inside were also top-notch, so Naclis couldn’t help but ask.

”If we’re talking about this castle, it took about thirty years.”

Since Naclis was the one asking, the Princess answered very enthusiastically, even bragging about how much effort they had put into building this castle.

That number shocked Naclis. The time they spent building the castle was longer than her own age.

After hearing this, Naclis thought of something even more frightening.

”If just building the castle took you this long, then how long have you been waiting for the Brave One?”

Facing this question, the Princess just shook her head:

”I don’t know. I’m sixteen this year, my father is fifty. Ever since he was very young, everyone has been waiting for your arrival.”

”You... never thought about resisting?””How can humans fight an evil dragon? If we resisted, it would kill all of us. But if we offer a sacrifice on time, it only eats one person per month.”

After Loren’s earlier explanation, Naclis knew the evil dragon was actually very weak, but these villagers didn’t know that.

Naclis wanted to ask more, but Loren spoke up first.

”So, how do you deliver the person chosen as a sacrifice to the evil dragon?”

Seeing it was Loren asking, the Princess’s enthusiasm waned a bit, but since Loren seemed very close to the Brave One, she still had to show respect.

”The evil dragon prefers tender meat. We select people under twenty years old and draw lots, letting luck decide who gets sacrificed.”

”To prevent the sacrifice from resisting and angering the evil dragon, we tie them up and send them over along with prepared treasures and other food.”

Now Naclis understood why the sacrifice themselves wouldn’t resist the evil dragon either. They had cut off the sacrifice’s last hope of survival.

”Why...”

Naclis truly couldn’t understand. Not only did they never fight back from start to finish, they also didn’t allow others to resist.

”Humans are that kind of creature. As long as you don’t oppress them to the absolute limit, as long as you leave them a sliver of faint hope, they won’t rebel, like lambs waiting for slaughter.”

”At the same time, people who have fallen into despair are terrifying, like a pack of mad hyenas, tearing at everything before them regardless of the cost.”

”So, a skilled ruler masters this balance. Like this evil dragon.”

Loren’s words displeased the Princess, but with Naclis present, she couldn’t refute him and could only quietly retreat.

”Brave One, please stay in the castle for now. Maids will come to attend to you shortly. They are the most beautiful girls selected from the entire country.”

Loren didn’t mind the Princess’s attitude. Earlier, when Loren said the Princess of Gedlan was the village chief’s daughter, it was just a metaphor. But this Princess in front of him truly was the village chief’s daughter. Her seemingly gorgeous clothes were also like a patchwork robe, prepared just to welcome the Brave One.

Loren walked into the castle, continuing to speak:

”The most brilliant thing about that evil dragon is fabricating the prophecy of the Brave One. This not only gave people hope but also gave them a reason, a reason to shirk responsibility.”

”Even while enduring oppression, they would think, ’The Brave One will come anyway, so we don’t need to risk our lives,’ and continue their muddled existence.”

The castle interior was spotlessly clean, with all kinds of luxurious facilities available. While having to pay tribute to the evil dragon, they also built this castle. One could imagine the immense price those villagers paid.

”They’d rather build a castle than resist the evil dragon.”

Loren directly lay down on the bed. It was very soft, comparable to the luxurious hotel Bardo had prepared for him before.

Anna also lay down beside Loren, hugging him.

Naclis couldn’t be as casual as Anna; she still cared somewhat:

”So what should we do?”

No matter what, the people here lived quite miserably. Since it was just a simple task along the way, Naclis wanted to help them.

”If we kill the evil dragon, they will continue to rely on others’ help. Once we leave, any random riffraff could come and rule them again.”

”If we truly want them to be well, we must teach them to resist.”

As he spoke, Loren took out the Strength Card. The farmer killing the knight on the card face was very prominent.

”The Strength Card can transmit inner strength to others. It can give them courage and power. With the Strength Card, we can help them master their own strength, no longer relying on others...”

Here, Loren’s attitude suddenly reversed:

”But why should we go to such great lengths to help them? A bunch of lambs lining up for slaughter aren’t worth saving. Let’s just kill the Murmuring Dragon, take the spoils, leave, and be done with it. Let them fend for themselves.”

If what ruled here wasn’t a Murmuring Dragon, but some powerful monster, and the villagers weren’t numb, but had been fighting the monster desperately, Loren might have helped them.

But people who only want to be saved by others don’t deserve saving. Loren wanted to kill the Murmuring Dragon purely for the loot.

”You read my mind.”

Laila suddenly wrapped her arms around Loren’s neck and gave him a thumbs up.

Loren remembered the first time he came here was with Laila. After hearing their story back then, Laila planned to just take Loren and leave immediately, letting them continue waiting for the Brave One.

So this also illustrates one thing: if no one came to save them, they would keep waiting in their muddled state until the game plot began, until the Divine War ended.

”Alright, let’s rest here for a few days. When the Murmuring Dragon shows itself, we’ll just deal with it and leave.”

”Okay.”

Naclis didn’t question Loren’s decision. She knew this was the best choice.

The villagers didn’t make Loren and the others wait too long. Soon, many maids entered. After all, the place was only so big. The so-called ’most beautiful girls’ selected were actually just average. To put it bluntly, they weren’t even as good-looking as the maids the old King of the Gedlan Kingdom had sent Loren back then.

They carried many delicacies, offering the best treatment this small country could muster.

To put it absurdly, to scrape together this meal for them, the King’s family would probably go hungry today.

But Anna wasn’t polite either. Under the maids’ dissatisfied gazes, she began eating heartily, while Naclis hadn’t even touched the food yet.

Even knowing it wasn’t easy to gather this food, Anna ate without any psychological burden.

Back at Luna’s place, Anna didn’t eat much because she knew Luna’s family wasn’t wealthy. This time, she knew this was what they deserved.

Helping these good-for-nothings solve their heart’s greatest trouble, taking some benefits was perfectly normal.