Witch Training Manual: My Water Magic Is Wrong

Just as dawn broke, Thomason pushed open the church door.

He yawned and was about to go to the well opposite the church to fetch water when he looked up and saw a person standing at the door.

The person in front of the steps is Ace.

His hair was a mess, and he had dark bags under his eyes, making him look like he hadn't slept all night.

Thomason was taken aback.

"Young Master Ace? What brings you here so early..."

"Is Bishop Wayne here?"

Thomason opened his mouth, wanting to say "not up yet," but after glancing at Ace's expression, he swallowed his words.

"Yes, yes. Please wait a moment while I go and inform them."

Ace walked inside.

"No need to inform him, I'll go find him myself."

Thomason pulled his hand back halfway through his outstretched hand.

Ace is the mayor's son, and the doorman couldn't stop him.

Wayne had just returned from washing his face in the backyard, carrying a towel, when he bumped into Ace.

Ace rushed forward impatiently, reaching out to grab Wayne's hand, but Wayne took a half step back and dodged.

He's not used to being touched by men.

Especially early in the morning.

Ace's voice was strained.

"Bishop Wayne! I have a question for you."

"explain."

"Leon was last seen here yesterday evening, wasn't he?"

Wayne looked at him.

"right."

Ace's breathing became rapid.

"What's she doing here?"

"Borrow money."

"Borrow money?" Ace's voice rose a half-octave. "Borrow what? Why does she need to borrow money?"

Wayne draped the towels over the rack.

"She said she was leaving Frosttown. She didn't say where she was going."

Ace's face went from white to green, then back to white. His lips trembled twice, and a sound like someone was being choked came from his throat.

"You...you lent it to her?"

"Borrowed."

"How much did you borrow?"

Thirty gold coins.

Ace's legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground.

He and Leon spent less than half a month together.

But that feeling was etched into his very bones.

He thought Leon would stay.

I will at least say goodbye to him.

Unexpectedly, she took the money and left that very night.

Ace got up from the ground.

His gaze changed, from sadness to anger, and from anger to a hateful questioning. He stared at Wayne as if he were an enemy.

"It's you."

Wayne looked at him.

"You lied to her," Ace's voice was forced out through clenched teeth. "Without your support, she wouldn't have been able to go anywhere. You gave her the money, you made her leave. You're the one who broke us up."

"It's you."

Wayne looked down at Ace on the ground.

"What does this have to do with me?"

"None of your business?" Ace's voice rose a half-octave. "Do you know she's carrying my child? Do you know how a woman like her, heavily pregnant, survives outside? If you don't give her money, why would she leave?!"

"That was her choice."

Ace got up from the ground and staggered a couple of steps.

"She chose to leave, so you let her leave? What kind of priest are you? Shouldn't you be trying to reconcile them? Shouldn't you be helping us resolve our conflict? This is all your fault!"

Wayne glanced at Ace sideways.

The young master's illness has relapsed.

With such a strong desire for control, anyone would run away.

Besides, it's none of his business.

Ace reached out and grabbed Wayne's collar.

Before his fingers even touched the fabric, Wayne had already moved.

Wayne's slap landed on Ace's face.

Snapped!

It made a crisp sound.

Ace slumped to the side and fell to the ground. That slap extinguished the fire in his head, shattered his stubbornness, and chased away his spoiled brat mentality of "the whole world owes me."

Ace cried, kneeling down and sobbing.

He thought he had gotten everything he wanted, but it all turned out to be like a bubble in the air, so illusory.

He cried not only because he was sad, but also because he felt that the slap hurt more than when his father had slapped him.

The panel popped up at this point.

[Ace - Current Status]

Status: Sad.

[His inner monologue: He didn't understand. He had prepared everything, so why did Leon still leave? He was willing to change for her, willing to give up everything for her, even willing to accept her transformation from a man to a woman. But she still left. He didn't understand. Did it really matter who was the spear and who was the shield? He had made all the preparations.]

[Note: At this moment, Leon has already left Frosttown with a caravan bound for the Kingdom of Ymirsella. To be precise, she should now be called Lena; her time as a man is running out.]

[Additionally: He thought he had obtained it, but in reality, he never possessed it.]

Wayne stood still.

Thomason stood at the corner of the corridor, craning his neck to look this way, wanting to look but not daring to look, not daring to look but wanting to look, his neck stretched out like a turtle poking out of its hole.

Wayne waved to him.

Thomason jogged over.

"grown ups?"

"Take Young Master Ace back to the mayor's mansion."

Thomason glanced down at Ace.

Ace was still lying on the ground, his face covered in tears and snot, muttering something that was hard to hear.

"Okay."

Thomason crouched down and pulled Ace up from the ground. Ace didn't resist; he was as limp as a lump of mud, his legs dragging on the ground. Thomason half-supported, half-dragged him out.

Meanwhile, Emma and Ella were still sleeping.

Emma huddled against the wall, the blanket pulled up to her chin, revealing only a small section of her pale red hair.

She was a restless sleeper; one leg was sticking out from under the covers and pressed against the blanket, her toes curled up.

Ella was unusually well-behaved this morning. She didn't wake up early, didn't secretly loosen her belt, and didn't even turn over. She was sleeping very soundly, so soundly that she didn't wake up even when Emma put her leg on her waist.

Before dawn, Emily finally took that step.

The whole process was somewhat similar to an anime that Wayne had seen in his previous life, though he couldn't remember the exact name. The only difference was that in that anime, there was a magical mirror, and Emily was the judge of shadows.

No details.

No details are needed.

In short, she succeeded.

In a very Emily-esque way.

However, Emily was also quite surprised throughout the entire process. She hadn't expected Wayne to be so receptive, as if everything that had happened was perfectly normal. Throughout the whole ordeal, Emily didn't dare utter a single word; everything repeated itself with an eerie calm.

She thought she had done a good job.

She was secretly pleased.

The hard work I've put in over this period has finally paid off.

While Wien was studying the scriptures.

The panel popped up.

Emily's situation

[Status: Happy. Not the kind of happiness one gets from "curse healing," but the kind of happiness that comes from "effort paying off." She had finally completed the entire process, and everything was just right.]

[Note 2: She even speculated that perhaps the goddess had controlled you at the time. Otherwise, why would you have cooperated so readily? Maybe the goddess really did control you. After all, it all felt like a dream, so unreal.]

[P.S.: She decided to come more often in the future. Regardless of whether it was the goddess's intention or not, she considered it a way to express her gratitude.]