Chapter 758: Inherited Belief
“Did you learn this from your parents?”
Sharon nodded. “Mainly from my father. He often told me that many things in the world were wrong simply because no one had corrected them—and once wrong ideas went unchallenged long enough, people stopped being able to see them as wrong at all. He taught me that familiar things can still be mistaken, and that if none of us stood up to fix them, we’d repeat the same mistakes and make the world steadily worse.”
Wendy said slowly, “But most people won’t stand up unless the harm reaches their own doorstep. Before His Majesty defeated the church, they were burning children they called witches. Most bystanders cared only about the gold royals the church paid—not about whether those children had done anything evil.”
“That was wrong,” Sharon said. “They told themselves the mistakes were harmless to them personally, so they could accept them for a bit of gain. But mistakes that are allowed to persist grow into everyone’s problem, eventually.”
Wendy studied her, increasingly curious about the people who had raised this child. She asked, as casually as she could, about Sharon’s parents—and received an answer she hadn’t expected. “They’re not my real parents,” Sharon said.
“They’re not?”
The girl began eating more slowly as she spoke. “My parents are dead. The war destroyed Eagle City and the order of the Southern Territory—after that, there were refugees and beggars everywhere, and bandits preying on them both. My parents were part of the patrol team, fighting the bandits. One day they simply didn’t come home.” A brief pause. “In the end the town lord fled, and everyone who remained followed. Mapleflower Town became a deserted domain.”
“In other words,” she added, “this was a consequence of the Royal Decree on the Selection of Crown Prince. A decree that seemed to have nothing to do with ordinary people—and destroyed them anyway. Just as my father would have said.”
Wendy touched Sharon’s head gently. “I’m sorry for bringing this up.”
The girl’s grief passed across her face and receded quickly, like a cloud shadow moving. She dispelled it with a visible effort and straightened. “That’s all right. They knew the risk. My father always said that since mistakes cost everyone dearly in the end, it’s better to pay the price to correct them at the beginning—and it’s an honor to be the one who pays it.”
Honor. Wendy thought of the patrol teams she had known over the years—most of them more like rats than guardians, placing their own interests first, breaking discipline the moment it became inconvenient. Sharon’s real parents were something different. Something genuinely rare.
After a silence, Wendy said, “The people who came to see you today…”
Sharon licked her fingers clean. “My father’s friends. He helped them once, years ago. For the past two years I’ve lived with him—uncle Cormac—and his wife. They have no children. They treat me like their own daughter.”
They did, Wendy thought. An ordinary family, taking in someone else’s child. That’s not nothing.
She didn’t say anything more after that. She just watched Sharon eat, and let the silence be comfortable.
The girl cleaned the last of her deep-fried pork cutlet from the plate and sat back with a sigh of deep satisfaction. “Thank you. This is the best dinner I’ve ever had.”
Neverwinter could feed its people now—no one inside the city walls went hungry anymore. But meat was still a rarity on ordinary tables; a scrap of dried beef stirred into oatmeal was already something to feel grateful for. A whole deep-fried cutlet of this quality was the kind of meal that only alchemists and City Hall officials encountered regularly.
Wendy took out a handkerchief and wiped Sharon’s oily mouth. “After you join the Witch Union, you can eat like this every day.”
Sharon’s eyes went wide. “Really? Meat every day?”
“Fresh boar, not the cured kind from the Convenience Market.” Wendy put the empty dishes back into the dinner box. “His Majesty prefers the streaky pork—but not every boar has that particular quality. Only the extra fat ones. If you steam it, it comes out soft enough to melt. If you fry it, it’s crisp and the smell fills the whole hall. He calls it ‘Five Flower Meat.’” She shook her head slightly. “I’ve never understood what flowers have to do with it.”
Lightning and Maggie, when they went out on patrol, never came back without something from the Misty Forest. Rabbits and bird eggs at first; now, since Maggie had taken on her Winged Devilbeast form, whole boars and snow wolves. Roland had once called the Misty Forest a great untapped treasure—a comment Wendy had thought a slight exaggeration at the time. She didn’t think so now.
“How do you know all this?” Sharon’s hand went to her mouth. “Could it be—”
Wendy smiled. “Yes. When His Majesty isn’t too busy, he eats with the witches.”
“And the one gold royal—”
“Also true.”
Sharon pointed at herself slowly. “May I…”
“Join the Witch Union?” Wendy laughed. “Of course you may. The Union guides every witch in developing and improving her ability, and takes responsibility for her safety and wellbeing in return. We accept all witches willing to work for His Majesty and Neverwinter as our sisters.”
“Would I have to live in the castle?”
“That’s up to you. If you’d rather spend more time with your family, you can keep your home.” Wendy could hear what the girl was really asking—Sharon had already taken uncle Cormac and his wife as her family, though they shared no blood.
“And the school—”
“The Union offers special courses for witches. Our abilities let us learn faster, and we need to learn more, so the universal curriculum doesn’t quite fit us. In your case, you’ll begin with ability practice first, since you’re still young. The witch courses are usually in the evenings. If you can manage both schedules, you’ll be able to finish your universal education and earn a diploma.”
Sharon didn’t hesitate. “I want to join the Witch Union. I want to become someone like Miss Nana.”
She hadn’t needed to say it. Wendy had seen the answer already—the same certainty that had shown in her face when she was explaining what wrong was wrong, and that the region you came from had nothing to do with it.
I can move the ability test and contract signing forward, Wendy thought. This one is ready.
Chapter 758: Inherited Belief
Translator: Transn Editor: Meh
“Did you learn this from your parents?”
Sharon nodded and said, “Yes, mainly from my father. He often told me that many things in the world were wrong because no one corrected them, and then people would get used to these wrong ideas as time went by. He taught me that many common things might be wrong and that if none of us stood out to fix them, we would repeat these mistakes and thus make the world worse and worse.”
Wendy said slowly, “But unfortunately nobody would be willing to stand out unless the bad things happened to himself. Just like before, when the church persecuted the witches, most people only cared about the gold royals they could get from the church instead of thinking whether those hanged kids were really evil.”
Sharon said, “What they did is wrong. They thought those mistakes would do no harm to themselves, so they could repeat them for their personal interests. However, the mistakes will make the world worse, and then it’ll become everyone’s problem.”
Surprised by Sharon, Wendy could not help but feel curious about her parents. She pretended to ask casually about them but instead got an unexpected answer. “They’re not my real parents,” Sharon said.
“They’re not?”
As the girl began to talk about her parents, she started eating slower. “Well, my parents are dead. The war destroyed Eagle City and the order of the Southern Territory. After that, homeless refugees and beggars were everywhere and so were robbers. My parents were members of the patrol
team, fighting against them, one day, they just didn’t… return home. In the end, the lord of the town fled. Seeing that, all the townspeople left, too. Nowadays, Mapleflower Town had already become a deserted domain.”
“In other words, this tragedy was caused by the ‘Royal Decree on the Selection of Crown Prince’ .” Just as her father said, this absurd decree which seemed to be irrelevant to the people turned out to be a disaster for them.”
Wendy gently touched Sharon’s head to comfort her, saying, “I’m sorry… for bringing up these things.”
The little girl quickly stopped mourning her parents’ death. She dispelled her sadness and recovered, saying, “That’s alright. They were already prepared to sacrifice themselves… My father often said that since mistakes would cost us greatly in the end, we’d better pay the price to correct those mistakes in the first place, which was an honor actually.”
Wendy was moved, thinking, “Honor… Most patrol team members wouldn’t give a damn. They behave like Rats, placing personal benefits above those of the public. When order and discipline stand in the way of personal interests, they won’t hesitate to break them. Given that, Sharon’s real parents were really rare and respectable.”
After a long silence, she said, “Those people who came to see you…”
Sharon licked her fingers and said, “they’re my father’s friends. He helped them before. In the past two years, I’ve lived with him, uncle Cormac, and his wife. They don’t have any kid and treat me like their own daughter.”
Wendy fell silent, thinking, “They did do their best to take care of Sharon. That’s quite a rare thing for an ordinary family.”
After that, she did not say anything and just looked at Sharon eating her dinner.
The little girl finished her last deep-fried pork cutlet and heaved a long sigh of relief, looking satisfied. ‘Thank you. This is the best dinner I’ve ever
had.”
Now that Neverwinter was able to provide plenty of food for the people, no one in the city was worried about being hungry anymore. However, meat was still a rare thing on tables of ordinary families. People of which would feel greatly satisfied to simply have a piece of dried meat in their oatmeal. As for this kind of deep-fried half lean meat, only highly paid people such as the alchemists and officials in City Hall could afford them.
Wendy took out a handkerchief to wipe Sharon’s oily mouth and said, “after you join the Witch Union, you can eat dinner like this everyday.”
Sharon’s eyes shined and asked, “Really? I’ll be able to have meat every day?”
Wendy put the dishes back into the dinner box and said, “of course, and you’ll have fresh boar meat instead of the cured meat in the Convenience Market. His Majesty prefers the streaky pork, but not every boar has that quality… Only the extra fat ones will have this kind of pork. If it’s steamed, it’ll be soft and tender and melt in your mouth. If it’s fried, it’ll be crisp and smell really good. Ah, by the way, he likes to call this kind of pork ‘Five flower meat’… but I really don’t get why it’s related to some flower.”
Thanks to Lightning and Maggie who liked to hunt and toast their preys in the wild whenever they were on patrol. The Witch Union members could enjoy the tasty food every day. In the past, they could only bring back few toasted rabbits and bird eggs, but since Maggie had the ability to evolve into a Winged Devilbeast, the number of their preys had increased drastically. They could bring back boars and snow wolves now, and if Roland required them to bring meat back, they could fill the castle’s basement with their preys within a day.
Wendy once had wondered why His Majesty had called the Misty Forest a great treasure trove which had not been fully utilized yet, but now seeing the tasty food on the table everyday she believed what he had said.
“How come you know this sort of thing? Could it be…” Sharon asked surprised, with her hand covering her mouth.
Wendy could not help but smile. “Yes, that’s right. As long as His Majesty isn’t very busy, he will always eat with the witches.”
“What about the one gold royal…”
“That’s also true.”
The little girl pointed to herself. “May I…”
“Join the Witch Union?” Wendy chuckled. “Of course, you can. The union will guide you to use and improve your ability and at the same protect and take care of you. We accept all the witches who’re willing to work for His Majesty and Neverwinter as our sisters.”
“After joining it, do I have to live in the castle?”
“It’s up to you. If you want to spend more time with your family, you can still live at home,” Wendy explained. She could tell that Sharon had already taken uncle Cormac and his wife as her family, though they were not related by blood.
“What about the school…”
“The union offers special courses for the witches. As we’re able to learn faster and need to learn more, the universal education doesn’t suit us.” Wendy paused to think for a moment. “In your case, you’ll be required to practice your ability in the beginning, as you’re still very young. As for the courses for witches, they’re usually arranged in the evening. If you can manage to go to school at the same time, you’ll be able to finish your universal education and get a diploma.”
Without any hesitation, Sharon nodded vigorously, saying, “I want to join the Witch Union. I want to become someone like Miss Nana.”
Even if she hadn’t said it aloud, Wendy could still see the answer from her eyes’ expression—Just like in her questioning before, the girl was certain about every decision she made.
Wendy thought, “It seems that I can move up the date of her ability test and the contract signing.”