Millennium Witch.

Chapter 26 - Are you satisfied?

Given the high-magic environment of the ancient civilizations and the unanimous presence of "dragons," Yvette harbored some doubts about Rosalind's location on the Radiant Continent. However, these doubts were quickly dispelled—if this were truly the case, the origins of the initial aberrations remained a mystery.

However, in the following days, Yvette did not continue to delve into the free mythology and historical research materials. Firstly, there was simply too much material, an overwhelming amount, to read through. Secondly, her curiosity about the origins of the civilization's demise was merely curiosity, not something she felt compelled to investigate thoroughly.

In contrast, she would rather observe Dr. Reger's treatment process as a "young" intern—after all, she had already paid in advance.

This situation continued for many days, and because of the rumor that "a super pretty little girl with silver hair and red eyes has appeared at the Hoffman Clinic," the number of patients at the Hoffman Clinic was much higher than usual, and there was often a queue at the door.

This left the Hoffmans both exhausted and happy every day, as they seemed to be able to pay off their children's student loans much faster.

However, after about a month, those days abruptly ended.

That morning, the Hoffman family's peace was shattered by the arrival of three police officers—someone had reported Reggie Hoffman for practicing medicine illegally, and the police were there to take him in for questioning.

So when Hans and Marie returned from school in the evening and learned of the incident, the entire Hoffmann family was plunged into immense pain and sorrow.

"How could this happen..." Rosalyn was bewildered when she returned home from next door. It all happened so suddenly, giving her no time to prepare.

Yesterday, she could still chat and play happily with Hans and Mary, and have dinner with Reger and Mrs. Susan. Today, such days are over. Because the breadwinner of the family has collapsed, Hans and Mary's expensive student loans are simply beyond Mrs. Susan's ability to manage on her own. The best outcome is that Hans and Mary will transfer to a regular high school, or even drop out of school altogether to work.

You never know which will come first, tomorrow or an accident... Yvette thought to herself, without responding to her apprentice's words.

She was powerless to help in this matter. If Mr. Regel were innocent, that would be fine, but it turned out to be true, and not only true, but he also had the even more dangerous experience of purchasing and learning pirated rune knowledge. With such double crimes, unless he paid a huge sum of money, he would face at least ten years in prison.

These ten years were enough for Hans and Marie to miss the most important stage of their lives, cutting off any possibility of breaking through social class barriers and forever sinking into oblivion in the Blackwater.

"Teacher, is there anything we can do to help them?" Rosalyn asked pleadingly, unable to bear watching her only two friends fall into such a painful vortex.

“It’s difficult, though not entirely impossible, but…” Yvette said, “there’s no need, because it’s just a dream.”

She was very blunt, and it was indeed true. Money could certainly get Regel out, but she didn't know when the dream would suddenly end, and she couldn't possibly spend the money she'd used to buy important documents on something like this—that would be too extravagant.

"Ah, yes, it's a dream..." Rosalyn paused for a moment, then realized that she wasn't in the real world, but in a dream existing in the past. No matter what she did in the dream, she couldn't change the established facts of what had happened in the past.

She fell silent and stopped making those unreasonable demands of the teacher, but she kept her head down, as if she couldn't shake off her disappointment.

The next afternoon, standing in the corridor on the 18th floor of the Wright Apartments, Rosalind saw Hans and Mary walking out of the apartment with blank expressions, carrying cardboard boxes and placing them on a small cart outside.

She walked over and asked, "Where are you all going?"

“Mom talked to the apartment manager and moved the rented room to an empty room on the 15th floor below, so we can get a little bit of the rent back…” Mary said in a low voice. Looking at her red eyes, she must have cried a lot since last night.

"So... don't worry, we still live in the same apartment building," Hans reassured her, forcing a smile that looked more like a grimace.

Rosalyn didn't know how to respond, so she offered to help carry some things. While carrying them, she suddenly remembered something and lowered her voice, "Um... have you ever thought about... who... reported it?"

“I don’t know. The whistleblower is anonymous. And now…” Hans sighed, his brow furrowed with exhaustion and helplessness, “what’s the point of investigating who it is now?”

Rosalyn didn't say anything more. She knew that finding the whistleblower at this point was useless; it was all too late. This was essentially an emotional impulse. She was curious whether the whistleblower understood the consequences of his small act, and whether he would regret his actions.

A week has passed.

As the last patient left with a sigh, the electronic sign for the "Hoffmann Clinic" went out its final, faint light. This once quietly shining little clinic officially closed, with a funeral-like solemnity. The news spread rapidly through the neighborhood, and many people were shocked to realize for the first time that the highly skilled and inexpensive Dr. Hoffmann actually did not have a medical license.

However, due to their past performance and reputation, most of them still expressed their condolences to the Hoffman family, and many even brought gifts to their door.

Another week passed, and unable to afford a lawyer, Reger stood trial in court.

But perhaps due to his good attitude in admitting guilt, or perhaps because his reputation won the jury's sympathy, he received a relatively lenient sentence, which was reduced from at least 10 years to 6 years.

This is still quite a lot, but it can be considered a stroke of luck amidst misfortune.

On the night she returned from the day of the verdict, Rosalyn learned from Hans and Marie that they had applied to transfer schools.

Unable to afford the fees of a top-tier school like Black Tower High School, they transferred to Blackwater High School, a third-rate school that couldn't be worse.

Mrs. Susan, on the other hand, set up a roadside stall on a noisy and dirty street corner, selling simple food to support her family and pay off her high student loan interest on a meager income.

This was the first time Rosalind had witnessed the process of a family's destruction so clearly.

In her view, the Hoffman family had done nothing wrong; they were all good people. Mr. Reiger, though unlicensed, was genuinely skilled, saving patient after patient with his low fees. He deserved flowers, not handcuffs. But now, an anonymous whistleblower had destroyed them, completely legally and without fault. This was utterly abnormal, completely contrary to her imagination of the advanced, beautiful, and abundant world of Origin Civilization.

“Teacher,” Rosalyn said softly, her voice filled with deep bewilderment and confusion, as she looked down at Mrs. Susan’s hunched figure busily working at her stall on the street corner from the window of room 1809. “Why is it like this?” “That’s just how the world is,” Yvette said without looking up. “It’s just that you didn’t see the whole picture at first.”

Rosalyn fell silent. As a 12-year-old girl from a backward civilization, her beautiful fantasy about the original civilization remained strong, so strong that even after witnessing a gang fight, her idealized image was not shattered.

But now, she has to admit that she has developed a bit of disgust for this world.

“Gronnie Clinic,” Yvette said, looking at the holographic screen.

"What, teacher?" Rosalyn didn't hear clearly.

“The head physician at Groney Clinic is Gos Groney, the sender of the anonymous whistleblower letter. If you want to know his thoughts, you can ask him now,” Yvette said calmly, lowering her eyes.

……

As night deepened, a chilling autumn rain began to fall from the dark sky. At first, it was a fine, almost silent drizzle, but soon it began to patter, striking the metal exterior and the cold glass curtain wall. Under the dim streetlights, it wove together into a curtain of rain that shimmered with a pale silver light.

The clinic was nearly empty on that rainy night, except for Goss Groney, who sat behind the counter inside. A man in his thirties, he had his legs propped up on the table, leisurely scrolling through videos on a hologram until Rosalind pushed open the door. Only then did he take his feet down and ask, "Young lady, buying medicine or a consultation?"

"Are you Dr. Goss?"

“Yes, you know me?” Goss smiled.

“No, I wanted to ask you why you reported Mr. Hoffman,” Rosalyn said bluntly.

Goss's smile vanished, replaced by astonishment and wariness. He rose from his chair, stood up, and said coldly, "What report? What nonsense are you spouting!... Who told you? Did those poor bastards from the Hoffman family send you to cause trouble?"

“I know it was you. I just want to know why you did this.” Rosalyn looked up at him, and although she appeared slender and petite, she did not look weak at all.

"Why do you do this?" Goss sneered, thought for a moment, and then replied, "Of course, well, for justice."

"Justice?" Rosalind looked at him incredulously, feeling an indescribable absurdity.

"A fraudster with no qualifications is posing as a doctor to swindle people! I stopped him. If that's not justice, then what is?"

“Shameless scoundrel! You’re lying! You’re just jealous that Mr. Hoffman’s business is better than yours, and his reputation is better too!” Rosalyn said through gritted teeth. She had already figured it out on the way there, but she still wanted to hear him admit it himself.

The night rain outside intensified, and lightning flashed in the dark clouds. Goss smiled contemptuously: "Even if you say that, I'm still doing this for justice."

Then, looking into the girl's angry eyes, he continued, "If this isn't justice, then why was my report accepted so easily? Why were the police able to arrest him 'legally and legally'? Why would a solemn national court, based on solid evidence, solemnly and earnestly convict him?"

“That’s because…because…” For a 12-year-old girl, it was too difficult to sort out the logic and launch a counterattack in an instant. Rosalyn only instinctively realized that the other party was sophistry, but she couldn’t say what the problem was.

“So, the answer is clear: Regel Hoffman is an evil criminal, and his wife and children are accomplices who benefited from him.” Goss shook his head and silently used his cybernetic body to issue a command, activating the store’s defense program.

"They aren't, and you're only reporting them to steal customers and make money!"

"So what if it's for money? Incompetent swindlers should go to jail. I'm just doing what's right and earning a little extra money on the side, is that so wrong?" He said nonchalantly, "From beginning to end, it's a very simple matter. Black is black, and white is white. And you, lovely little girl, what exactly do you want me to answer? What do you want to hear?"

"you……"

"And even if I say what you want to hear, so what? He's the one who pleaded guilty in court, not me. Go ahead and report me if you dare, but I do have a medical license."

Hearing these words, Rosalyn finally fell silent. Her fists clenched and unclenched several times, almost losing control and letting the magic spell fly out. She still couldn't believe that someone could be so shameless, making her want to cleanse him on the spot like a demon, otherwise she felt she was about to become deformed.

"You can't do it, Rosalyn, you can't do it..." She took a deep breath, her pupils trembling, then suppressed her emotions, turned around, and walked towards the door under Goss's mocking gaze, like a defeated puppy, utterly pathetic.

Outside, the night rain poured down, as if the whole world was submerged in a cold, inverted black sea. The moment she stepped out of the clinic, the cold, damp air hit her face, instantly making the girl much more awake.

Then, her gaze pierced through the dense curtain of rain and caught sight of an unexpected figure—the teacher.

At that moment, Yvette, dressed in a black dress and holding a black umbrella, stood alone on the sidewalk a few meters from the clinic entrance, maintaining a perfect distance from the clamorous rain, like a detached deity. Upon seeing Rosalyn's bewildered gaze, a rare and slow smile curved her cool lips.

"Teacher, I'm sorry, I..." Rosalyn walked over in the rain, lowering her head in shame.

But Yvette did not mean to criticize.

"Just now, you restrained your impulse and didn't directly tear down his shop. I'm very satisfied." She held the umbrella over the student's head and said gently, "As a reward, I'll report Goss for you. Are you satisfied?"

(End of this chapter)