Witch Training Manual: My Water Magic Is Wrong

Wayne walked up to Feru and looked down at him.

Feru looked up, his whole body frozen in ice crystals, only his head was still able to move.

"Please...please spare me..."

Wayne did not answer.

He raised his right foot and stepped on Ferru's left knee.

Click.

Feru's screams echoed through the stone hall, making the flames on the torches flicker.

Wayne moved his foot onto his right knee.

Click.

Feru's face was covered in tears and snot.

Then Wayne dislocated both of his arms.

Ferru's cries stopped.

It's not that the pain has subsided, it's that the pain made me faint.

Wayne took a step back and looked down at the mangled mess on the ground.

"Marco."

"exist."

Wayne nodded his chin toward Ferru.

"Feru killed a total of 156 people."

Marco's brow twitched.

"Half of them are women and children," Wayne said, his tone unchanged. "He also likes to eat people's ears. Raw."

Marco gripped the hilt of his sword tightly with his right hand.

"Since he likes to cut off people's ears, you can do it."

Marco loosened his grip on the hilt of his sword, walked up to Feru, and looked down at him. Feru tilted his head back, his eyes half-open and half-closed, his pupils unfocused.

"My lord, rest assured." Marco's voice wasn't loud, but every word carried a fierce edge, squeezed out from between his teeth. "I guarantee the mission will be accomplished."

Wayne turned around and walked towards the entrance of the stone hall.

Emma followed behind him, her steps heavier than before. Ella brought up the rear, glancing down at Ferru as she passed him, then quickly looking away.

"elder sister."

"Um."

"Is that person... in a lot of pain?"

"Should."

Emma didn't ask any more questions.

Outside the stone hall, Diaz was directing his mercenaries to clear the battlefield.

The bandits in the hall had all been dealt with, lying scattered haphazardly on the floor. The mercenaries moved among the corpses, some finishing off the wounded, others searching the bodies, and tossing valuables into their sacks.

Diaz saw Wayne come out of the stone hall and went to greet him.

"Sir, the area outside has been cleared. A total of 237 people were apprehended, and none escaped."

Wayne's gaze swept across the lobby.

What about our casualties?

"Five people were injured, all with minor injuries. They fell and got hurt, so it's nothing serious."

Wayne nodded.

Diaston paused, then added.

"Sir, what should we do with the bandits' loot? They've all been searched and piled up over there—gold, silver, jewels, magic cores, magic potions, a whole jumbled mess, quite a lot."

Wayne walked toward the pile of valuables.

Gold and silver jewels were scattered all over the ground, shimmering with various colors in the torchlight. Magic cores of all sizes were piled up, ranging from first to third tier, in varying quality. The potions were even more chaotic, some in bottles, some in jars, some wrapped in oiled paper, some with labels still intact, others illegible.

"The gold and silver jewelry will be divided into three parts. One part will be given to the mercenaries who participated in the war, one part will be distributed to the people of Frosttown, and one part will remain in the church."

Diaz pressed his right fist against his chest:

"Thank you, sir!"

Wayne crouched down, picked out a few good-quality magic cores from the pile, and put them into his storage bag. He then rummaged through the pile of potions and found a few bottles that still had labels, smelled them, threw most of them back, and kept only two.

He stood up and dusted off his hands.

"I've taken the magic core and the potion; you can deal with the rest."

"clear."

A scream came from inside the stone hall.

It's not Marco's, it's Ferro's.

Diaz glanced at it sideways, then turned back.

"Sir, Mr. Marco is inside..."

"Don't worry about it."

Marco walked out of the stone hall.

Blood was dripping from his right hand—not his own, but Feru's. A few drops were also splattered on his face, gleaming a dark red in the moonlight. He walked up to Wayne and stopped.

"Sir, it's done."

Wayne looked at him.

"Well done!"

Diaz stood at the entrance of the stone hall, his gaze sweeping over the corpses lying haphazardly on the ground before settling on Wayne's profile.

He looked for two breaths.

I watched for another two breaths.

Wayne turned his head to look at him.

"What's wrong?"

Diaz's throat moved.

"N-nothing."

The panel then appeared.

[Dias - Current Status]

[Status: Confused, but not conflicted. Tonight was the first time he'd seen another side of Wayne. Before this, his impression of Wayne was that of the priest reciting prayers behind the pulpit, the kind man distributing free medicine to the women of Green Nightingale Street, the hero carrying a cross and charging into the monster horde during the demonic tide. Compassion, gentleness, and mercy—these were the labels he'd attached to Wayne. Tonight, those labels were completely ripped off.]

[Note: He had initially thought Wayne would spare a few lives, or at least take them back to the kingdom for trial. That's what a normal person would do. But Wayne didn't. Two hundred and thirty-seven people, not a single one spared. From the sentries at the mountain path entrance to the ordinary bandits still asleep in the hall, and even the few leaders in the stone hall, they were all wiped out. No prisoners, no trial, no mercy.]

[Note 2: Diaz had been in the mercenary group for many years, killing and witnessing countless murders. But he had never seen a priest kill so cleanly and efficiently.]

Diaz glanced at Marco.

Marco stood at the entrance to the stone hall, blood still dripping from his right hand. The bloodstains on his face had dried and formed dark red scabs. His expression was no different from when he arrived, and perhaps even calmer.

Diaz lowered his voice.

"Mr. Marco."

"Um."

"Don't you think... His Excellency the Bishop is a bit... "

"What's up?"

Diaz considered his words carefully.

"A bit too..."

"That's absolutely right," Marco said for him.

Diaz paused for a moment.

"what?"

Marco tilted his head and looked at him.

"Commander Diaz, I ask you. Should those bandits have been killed?"

"Should."

"So what's the problem with you killing them, sir?"

Diaz opened his mouth, but no words came out.

Marco looked away.

"I've spent so many years in the North and seen far too many cases of 'deserving to kill but not deserving to kill.' Many people say they deserve to be killed, but when it comes to actually carrying out the deed, they hesitate. Why do they hesitate? It's not because those people don't deserve to be killed, but because they're afraid of getting their hands dirty."

He paused.

"My lord, you are not afraid. You knew those people deserved to die, so you killed them. It's that simple."

Diaz fell silent.

He stood at the entrance of the stone hall, going over Marco's words in his mind several times, before finally taking a deep breath and exhaling.

"you're right."

He turned around and shouted at the mercenaries.

"Hurry up! It's almost dawn!"

The mercenaries quickened their pace.

Some searched people's bodies, some finished off others, and some moved the corpses.

Diaz walked up to Wayne.

"Sir, some abducted civilians have been found in the ravine behind the mining area."

Wayne turned his head to look at him.

"Is he still alive?"

"Alive. Forty-one people, men and women, old and young. The youngest was only seven or eight years old." Diaz's voice deepened. "Locked up in the mine, used... used as livestock."

Wayne remained silent for two breaths.

"Bring him out and send him back to Frosttown. Have Wilford arrange for someone to take care of him."

"clear."

Diaz turned around and walked towards the mine.

He took two steps, then stopped.

"grown ups."

"Um."

"I was just..." his voice muffled, "I was thinking, were you too ruthless tonight? Two hundred and thirty-seven people, not a single one was spared."

Wayne looked at him without saying a word.

Diaz continued.

"I don't want to think about it anymore. You're right, everyone inside deserves to die. I suppose you've also received guidance from the goddess."

Wayne nodded.

"If we don't kill them now, we'll be the ones who are guilty if they kill others later. I'm glad you think that way..."