Page 597

Really, had it not been for the Oath of Heart protecting her true essence, she might have worn away into something unrecognizable long ago.

"That's why it's so good to just be a homebody witch, honestly. Don't bother worrying about unnecessary things and making life difficult for yourself."

Excessive goodness only tormented herself, and the impotence of reality made one only sink in despair. The adult world was never simply black and white; to make life tolerable, one always had to learn to convince oneself.

The homebody witch looked down at the hammer in her hands, then shook her head.

This kind of faith could save her homeland in her past life, but it wasn't quite suited for the Witch World. After all, everyone understands equality among humans, but to expect humans to regard ants as equals was rather far-fetched.

Ideals are beautiful, but reality is brutal. It's better to accept reality sooner rather than later.

Not all transmigrators could become saviors; with her abilities, she could at most have a home and entertain herself there.

What else could she do? "Your ass decides your head," this saying is the real truth.

After all, my own kin haven't yet satisfied their hunger or their need for warmth; I hardly have the leisure to worry about the fate of otherworldly races.

No matter how noble the belief, it can't save the Witch World. The insatiable appetite of the witches isn't something you can satisfy just by drawing pies in the sky—it's like beasts needing to hunt when they're hungry. When the Witch World is hungry, it naturally goes to war; such is the law of the Western Universe.

Perhaps you could say that one could live on a vegetarian diet, but is it really reasonable to demand carnivorous beasts to turn herbivore because one feels pity for the animals that are prey? Who will vindicate the plants eaten by the herbivores?

Even if a beast does listen to you and switches to plants, and then it gets eaten by other carnivores due to its malnourishment, whose fault is that?

In the cold universe, it's always the survival of the fittest, survival of the strongest.

Those concepts of morality, order, justice, and evil are nothing but self-delusions of a small group of intelligent beings who no longer need to worry about freezing or starving.

The freedom of the weak is just limited to choosing their own way of life, but whether you're happy or not, the strong don't care, the world doesn't care, and the universe cares even less.

In the Western Witch World, if you really want to be a savior, there's only one way.

That is to become an Omniscient and Omnipotent deity, making everything comply with your will. Then, all problems will no longer be problems.

So...

"Good Sister, you better step up quickly."

The homebody witch turned to look at Denisha beside her, thinking this to herself.

After all, if you ask who in the Western Universe is closest to being Omniscient and Omnipotent, it's naturally the Three Witch Monarchs.

"Dorothy, why are you looking at me like that?"

Sensing the gaze of her junior, Miss Shepherdess also turned, scratched her face, making sure there was nothing dirty on it, before she asked this.

"It's nothing, I just wanted to ask what Denisha thinks about all this."

Dorothy naturally wouldn't tell the whole truth; she just asked like this.

"This just further solidifies my view that relying on such a bunch of ignorant folks is no way to save oneself."

Denisha remained composed, though she had also been moved by the various tragedies they encountered on their journey. After all, not long ago, she was in a situation no different from these people's, nearly burned to death by a Witch Hunter from the Church.

Perhaps it was due to this empathy that she almost intervened several times at the beginning, but she eventually held back, becoming calmer as time went on.

"Dorothy, you haven't tended sheep, so you might not understand, but there are some sheep in a flock stronger than hungry wolves. Yet even so strong, when faced with a wolf attack, they merely tremble and do not fight back, even though just a bit more courage would allow their sharp horns to easily pierce through the wolves' hide, leaving these bloodthirsty beasts gutted." (Remember, the sheep and wolves of the magic world aren't like those in reality.)

"But every time I shepherd, I have a secret," she said. "I kill a wolf in front of the flock. The sheep thus revere me, and I then turn the wolf's meat into feed for the strongest among them."

"Gradually, I discovered that the sheep, which used to tremble before the wolves, were no longer afraid, especially those few that had eaten the wolf meat. They even began to follow me and would initiate attacks on the wolves."

"Later on, the entire flock wouldn't need me to act; they took it upon themselves to attack the wolves under the leadership of those carnivorous sheep, and more and more of them began to eat meat."

"But sheep are just sheep after all; their courage has its limits. Although my flock no longer feared the wolves, they froze when they encountered a leopard, that is, until I killed the leopard. Only then did the sheep regain their courage."

"That's just how sheep are; they are inherently harmless, possessing strength but afraid to use it. Yet they naturally admire the strong and will instinctively follow the victor. If you win, they follow you, but when faced with a new, unknown enemy, they hesitate until they are sure you are still the victor."

"Sheep will only and dare only follow the winner; their courage is limited to this."

Miss Shepherdess did not directly answer Dorothy's question but instead shared this story first.

After the story, she looked at the slum before her, then sighed deeply.

"In my view, these are just the most primitive of sheep, needing a victorious shepherd to grant them courage."

"However, Dorothy, sheep will be sheep. They will only follow the victor. Relying on them to defeat the Church is unrealistic. At most, they can be your supporters, not your strength. When you face danger, you cannot depend on the flock."

Denisha had actually been somewhat hopeful about Dorothy's earlier idea that humans could conquer nature, but in this slum, she saw no such hope.

Just like her flock, which could actually devour lions and tigers, was useless against the Church's Witch Hunters.

Of course, this was also because she wasn't strong enough to maintain the image of a victor when facing the Witch Hunters; otherwise, the ferocious flock could have overwhelmed that squad of Witch Hunters.

But what would that accomplish? Even the most formidable flock could only consolidate her power, not help her break through limits; they were only good for bullying the weak.

Having learned her lesson the hard way with the flock, she did not wish for Dorothy to make the same mistake.

If given another chance, Denisha would definitely kill some sheep to eat their meat herself and thus strengthen herself further. She realized that in critical moments, only she could truly rely on herself.

Only if she won, the flock could gather courage to follow the winner.

Dorothy: "....."

Damn, what kind of sheep are these, so ferocious?

After hearing this from her Good Sister, the homebody witch blinked in confusion.

She always felt that the sheep Denisha spoke of were not of the same species as the delicious skewers she knew.

But still....

"Humans and sheep are ultimately different. Humans have thoughts and emotions, while sheep do not. For sheep, their own survival is the most important thing, but for humans, there are some things that transcend life itself."

Dorothy clutched her hammer tightly, murmuring softly.

Although this faith couldn't save the Western Universe, if it could just lessen the suffering of the underprivileged, it was already enough. So why hesitate? This isn't reality, just a grand dream during Witch's Night—a rare chance to be wild in dreams, no problem there.

Thinking thus, the homebody witch decided not to remain a spectator anymore. She approached the home of the man she met at the beginning, then knocked on the door.

"Hello, may I take a little of your family's time? Would you like some faith? It's free, how about trying a little?"

... The homebody witch, hammer in hand, continued knocking on the door...