Miss Witch’s Devotion Has Gone… Twisted

Chapter 426: Life Lessons

"Let's rest for a while. Tonight, we'll head to the Chailros family to take care of some business."

Loren walked over and stroked Naclis's hair. She instantly calmed down, like an obedient little cat.

Combining Loren's earlier conversation with William, Paqina connected the dots on what Loren meant by "taking care of business":

"Are you really going to kill them all?"

Although Paqina was a Witch, her identity had never been exposed. She had always lived as an ordinary student, and encountering something like this for the first time, she couldn't help but find it somewhat cruel.

"Paqina, I've been teaching you knowledge up until now. Today, I'll teach you a bit of life wisdom. Have a seat."

Loren sat down by the dining table and casually let Naclis lie across his lap. Throughout this, Naclis offered no resistance at all.

She remained very quiet, letting Loren stroke her hair as she squinted her eyes in comfort. Paqina increasingly felt that Naclis was just like a little cat.

Except that a tall, slender, beautiful girl of 170 cm being casually cradled in Loren's arms like a pet was somewhat jarring.

Naclis didn't seem to realize her image was completely ruined and continued enjoying Loren's touch.Paqina pushed those scattered thoughts aside, sat down beside Loren, and started discussing serious matters with him.

Actually, Paqina was rather looking forward to it. She had been alone her whole life, knowing only how to study, with no life experience whatsoever, let any life wisdom.

So, she had no understanding of social graces either. She had offended many people at the academy, but the Bountiful Magic Academy truly lived up to its reputation as the best magic academy in the God of Bountiful Harvest's territory—even offending people didn't affect Paqina's life.

If she had been at the Gedlan Royal Magic Academy, Paqina would have been bullied for sure.

"If you offended someone with great power and influence, what would you do?"

Just then, Seraphina brought over a pot of hot tea and handed a cup to Paqina.

"Thank you..."

Paqina held the hot tea and thanked her while pondering Loren's question.

"A wise man doesn't stand beneath a crumbling wall. I could hide somewhere my enemy can't retaliate, or simply keep my distance..."

That was exactly what Paqina had been doing. She knew she had offended people, so she generally didn't leave the academy.

Casper was at the academy year-round, and he genuinely cared about the students. If anyone dared to lay a hand on a student, Casper wouldn't let them off.

Paqina didn't mention things like apologizing. Loren was rather pleased by that, but the answer still wasn't satisfactory enough.

"You're not wrong, but it's easier to be the thief for a thousand days than to guard against one for a thousand days. Constantly being on guard against others is a burden on your own mind..."

"So... you mean..."

Combining everything Loren had done recently, Paqina already had a guess.

"The best way is to kill them all."

Loren took a sip of tea, looking completely relaxed, yet from his mouth came such brutal words:

"If you don't pull the roots, the weeds will grow back when the spring wind blows. The moment you realize you've made an enemy, you should kill them to silence them, erase everything that might leak the information, and eliminate everyone who could help them take revenge—only then can you sleep peacefully.

"If you're strong enough, kill them directly. If you're not strong enough, find a way to take them out by trickery. Only if you truly can't do anything should you choose to flee, and even after fleeing, always think about pulling out the roots."

That's how Loren operated. Since he had enough strength, he chose to kill directly.

If Loren currently had no status, no influence, and had offended a major noble, he still had plenty of ways to take them out by trickery.

The Sacrificial Ritual for the God of Greed that Koranda had set up earlier? Loren could produce something with an even stronger effect in just a few minutes.

"Back when I offended Koranda, I killed her entire family but didn't clean up thoroughly. I left a lover alive, and that planted the seeds of disaster, giving Lane a chance to go after me."

Paqina nodded, looking as if she half-understood.

The knowledge Loren taught her, she could grasp instantly, but social graces were harder for her to comprehend.

After thinking for a long time, Paqina finally spoke again:

"So, this time, are you going to kill everyone in the Chailros family?"

"What, do you have a different idea?"

"If possible, I hope you'll spare Yvonne. She's a really nice person. When she comes to ask me for advice, she's very humble, and she often shares some high-grade food with me...

"Not that she's just good to me—she's good to everyone. That's why I hope you'll spare her..."

But as soon as she finished, Paqina realized something else:

"If you spare her alone, even if she doesn't want revenge now, she'll eventually find a way to get revenge later, right? So you can't spare her..."

Loren nodded approvingly and said:

"It's good that you can think of that. But I don't actually plan to kill them all.

"The premise of killing someone's entire family is that they might take revenge. But the people of the Chailros family are incapable of revenge. If they knew what Lane did, they would absolutely not let him off.

"Besides, Lane is already dead now, with no value left, so they're even less likely to seek revenge."

As he said this, Loren's teacup was already empty.

"Of course, I'm not just going to let them off that easily either. I have a way to control their lives. I don't have to kill them, but I must completely control them."

"I see..."

Hearing that not so many people would die, Paqina was rather relieved. Loren figured she still needed to get used to this.

"Alright, it's getting late. Have a meal at my place. We'll head to the Chailros family tonight."

Seraphina had already taken the lead and was busy in the kitchen. Just then, Paqina seemed to remember something and stared at Seraphina's back for a long time. She even rubbed her eyes a few times, as if desperately trying to find something.

And Seraphina seemed to notice Paqina's gaze. She turned back and smiled at her before continuing to busy herself with cooking.

"What's wrong with Seraphina? You keep staring at her."

There was no way Loren could miss such an obvious action from Paqina, so he simply asked directly.

Her gaze didn't look like she was sizing up a romantic rival. Given Seraphina's looks, she would most easily be mistaken for one—many people had seen Seraphina as a rival before—but Paqina was clearly different this time.

Loren guessed that Paqina's Arcane Ability had detected something, but she wasn't comfortable saying it directly.

"Maybe I was seeing things..."

Paqina still didn't say anything and chose to continue drinking her tea. Only then did she realize her teacup was empty, which spoke volumes about how distracted she was.

"I hate riddlers the most. Even if you were seeing things, you still need to tell me what you just saw."

Loren was most annoyed by situations like this—someone seeing something important but thinking it was just their imagination and choosing not to speak up.