Miss Witch’s Devotion Has Gone… Twisted

Chapter 117: Night Watch

"Loren, why are you still awake?"

When Laila got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, she found Loren still awake, silently keeping watch over them.

For safety, Loren had chosen a large room last night that could hold everyone, so he could respond immediately if anything happened.

"I'm a little uneasy, so I'm keeping watch."

"You go back to sleep, don't worry about me."

Even Loren was wary of things by the sea. The unknown is the scariest thing. The Endless Ocean is too vast and too deep, so there could very well be something in it larger than the Starry Sky Whale.

Besides, the ocean is the most heavily polluted place;

it might even be that some Outer God has already descended into the sea.

"……"

Now that Loren had said that, Laila couldn't go back to sleep. She leaned against Loren and kept him company through the night.

She did not think Loren was overreacting. If Loren wanted to do this, he must have his reasons."It seems a lot colder tonight."

It was already April or May, so it shouldn't have been this cold. Loren got out of bed, covered Anna and Scarlett with blankets, and checked whether Naclis was drooling.

He remembered that Naclis tended to drool when she slept, but she wasn't this time—maybe she only did so when sleeping next to him.

When Loren returned to his place, Laila draped the blanket over him.

"Loren, if you were to marry, what kind of person would you want to marry?"

Laila rested her head on Loren's shoulder and asked suddenly.

"Me? Actually my standards for a partner aren't high. If they have benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, faith, loyalty, and filial piety, I'll be satisfied. They shouldn't be too ugly though. But I don't plan on marrying now—I'll wait until I've raised the children."

Those virtues essentially boiled down to someone having good character.

"I thought someone like you would have very high standards."

Hearing Loren's list, Laila breathed a sigh of relief.

From the moment they met, there was a large gap in status between them. One was a penniless adventurer and a witch, the other held a position outside the Church's authority.

Fairy tales only dared depict love between a commoner and a prince, yet the gap between Laila and Loren was several kings wide.

Laila even felt it a great honor that Loren would bother to play with her, so she never dared to step forward.

Even she didn't know when she had become so timid. The more time she spent with Loren, the more afraid she was of losing him, the more cowardly she became.

"Low? Not low at all."

Put it in Loren's previous life, and never mind listing benevolence through filial piety — just demanding loyalty alone would set a lot of people off. If Loren posted his requirements online today, he'd be hanged tomorrow.

Those people would shout "feudal society ended long ago" while demanding Loren be the richest man alive.

"Do you have any requirements for the person you marry?"

After answering Laila, Loren asked in return.

"Me? Hmm… I hope my partner is well-educated, one point eight meters tall, knows music, looks handsome, has a gentle personality, has high status without being arrogant, and preferably has heterochromia. If possible, I also hope he already has children, so I can become a mother without pain… or a father without pain."

"……"

On the surface it seemed Laila's standards were too high, but actually she was reciting Loren's ID number.

The other items were fine—nice qualities—but heterochromia and already having children were rather specifically targeted.

After saying so much, Laila realized something was off. When Loren asked the question, the first person to come to her mind was Loren himself, and she instinctively listed his traits.

"Uh… are my requirements too high?"

"Not really…"

Loren knew why Laila had said so much. It wasn't that she genuinely demanded high standards;

if Loren were just an ordinary person, her list would have matched his.

It wasn't that Loren could meet her requirements;

her requirements simply were Loren.

"Actually you could lower them a bit—being willing to have two kids without being married would be enough…"

After thinking it over, Laila changed her demand, only to find the target was still clearly the same.

"Do you like the idea of becoming a mother without pain that much?"

Loren teased, and Laila was about to retort when she suddenly realized something—Loren had just said "become a mother without pain."

Laila reassured herself in her heart that it was only a slip of the tongue. It wasn't the right time yet;

give her more time and she would confess to Loren.

Time passed quickly amid the two friends' idle chatter. Loren and Laila got along well;

they agreed on many things.

Dawn gradually came, and that inexplicable chill slowly faded. Loren immediately got up.

Although he usually loved to sleep, when things mattered Loren could go a week without sleep.

Mirrorheart rose at the same time. With nothing else to do, Loren planned to go buy breakfast so the children could eat as soon as they woke.

But when he opened the door, a Wind Messenger was blocking it.

"Master Mentor…"

"Save the extra greetings. Are you here because of what happened last night?"

This Wind Messenger must have been standing at Loren's door since yesterday night but didn't want to disturb his sleep.

"No wonder. Your reputation as a seer is well earned.

"Last night we heard many screams. When we arrived at the scenes we only saw pools of blood;

there were no corpses left.

"Many such strange incidents have occurred. We don't understand what is going on, so we came to ask for your counsel."

This was why, despite Loren being a devotee of Abundance, the entire Church respected him: he genuinely could help them solve many troubles.

"Most of the incidents happened by the sea, right?"

Loren had felt uneasy by the sea yesterday too;

the unease noticeably lessened once he moved inland, so his guess was natural.

"That's right. Do you know anything?"

Loren's answer made the Wind Messenger's eyes light up. It was the first time since Loren's transmigration that he had seen a divine envoy with intact eyes.

"I'm not certain. To know more, I need to examine the situation.

"Mirrorheart, stay and look after the children. I'll go investigate with Laila."

"Yes, Master."

Mirrorheart composed herself, hands folded before her, inclined slightly and bowed to Loren, then turned back inside.

Walking along the path, Loren asked for details:

"Do the victims have any commonalities?"

"No, they were just people who lived close to the shore."

"Random killings, then. This is troublesome…"

Creating an unsolvable case is easy: in a place with no witnesses, randomly pick up a brick, smash someone's head, and run away. Even Sherlock Holmes couldn't solve that kind of case.