Shut up, brave man! I don't want to atone for my sins to you!

She casually wrote and drew on the table, and simply wrote down the conversation between her and Charles in the form of keywords. Then she stared at Charles with her azure eyes and asked:

"Then the question is, what was the disaster that Diesel encountered thirty years ago?"

Charles was silent for a moment, without saying anything, but turned to look at a guest not far from them.

——That was a Diesel man drinking by himself.

But at the same time, he is most likely also a product of the emperor's wishes.

"Before Crazy John left," the brave man suddenly said, "I asked him one last question -"

"Diesel, have any new babies been born or any elderly people died in recent years?"

"Guess," Charles also stared into Rachel's eyes, "what was his answer?"

Charles answered a question with a question—but Rachel read the answer from his question.

So, she answered instinctively:

"Zero, right?"

Then, without Ciel's reminder, she reasoned in a low voice:

"I originally thought that Diesel might have encountered some natural disaster, or that the limited wish machine might have gone out of control, but then I suddenly thought of those slender ghosts in Diesel, and coupled with the question you raised..."

Following the hero, the witch also turned her head and looked at the Diesel man who was sitting at the table next to them, who was drinking by himself and had no idea of ​​their discussion.

"The Emperor's wish may not simply be to revive all the people of Diesel," she lowered her voice, as if she was afraid of awakening something. "He... probably used the limited wish machine to temporarily restore all the people of Diesel who were contaminated by the Slender Man thirty years ago to human form."

After saying this, she showed a complicated expression again:

"In this way, whether it is the abnormal but extremely peaceful atmosphere in Diesel, or the Diesel people who were killed by the old investigator and then revived... they can all be explained."

The former is because the entire Diesel has been kept in a certain state due to the emperor's wishes.

The latter is because as early as thirty years ago, all the Diesel people had been polluted and turned into thin ghosts.

Can Slender Man really be killed?

Rachel didn't know, but what was certain was that the wishing machine probably really fulfilled the wish of the old investigator.

He did see the truth.

Even the two of them, after using the tracing spell to experience the old investigator's experience, all came to the conclusion that the old investigator at that time had most likely lost his mind and his cognition had been polluted, so he who thought he was normal was actually a madman, and the black shadow in his eyes was a normal person.

But after all the twists and turns, in the end, it was actually them who were wrong.

Lacey took a deep breath.

She suddenly remembered something she had heard Lao Deng say by chance:

“Never question a wishing machine. Even the few defective wishing machines that have limited availability may ignore your wishes, distort your thoughts, and cause you to pay a terrible price in misfortune, but in the end, they will definitely fulfill your wishes.”

Wherever you ask, there will be a response.

It fulfilled the investigator's wish. It allowed him to see the truth of everything, even though this truth was almost unknown and buried under the thick dust of history, leaving no trace; even though this truth was almost mistaken for the fantasy of a madman and the conjecture of a polluted person.

Lacey suddenly felt a little breathless.

She thought of Diesel's Emperor -

The old investigator who wanted to see the truth paid the price of death for his wish. What price will the emperor who wanted to resurrect an entire country pay for his wish?

No, in fact, what she was most worried about was not the Emperor, but...

The witch turned her head sharply and looked at the hero sitting next to her.

The hero noticed her strangeness, frowned, and asked with concern:

"What's wrong? Are you okay?"

Lacie subconsciously wanted to answer me, of course I'm fine, I'm worried that something might happen to you!

But for some reason, when the words came to my lips and I should have said them, only the first half of the sentence remained.

"I'm fine." Her voice even seemed too calm.

No, it wasn't just her voice, her whole person became extremely rational, like...

Just like when he faced the pastor who appeared from nowhere.

She originally thought she would be jealous, but it was obvious that guy was definitely not the "self" that made her jealous before, but someone else in the true sense.

Even though they had the same experiences, memories and personality, the pastor seemed strange to her.

Does she really... like Ciel that much?

She didn't think so. Maybe there were some, but it was definitely not that exaggerated or life-threatening.

Because she knew very well that all short-lived species were just passers-by to long-lived species like her, and were just an insignificant fragment in her long life - just like a short-lived species accidentally saw an exceptionally bright firework, and was therefore deeply impressed, and could still recall it many years later, and would sigh, "How beautiful!"

But that's about it.

Rachel felt that with her personality, if she really fell in love with Charles, she would probably be very sad when she had to watch him leave when his life came to an end.

Just imagining it now, she felt her heart tighten, her eyes sore, and she couldn't breathe.

"So no matter what, you must never confess to that guy!"

As for something like the sun, just look at it from a distance and feel its light and heat. If you get too close, you will only get burned.

As long as she embraced the darkness, she wouldn't have to experience the despair of losing the light.

But at the moment this thought came to her mind, she felt an indescribable strange feeling...

Torn, incomplete, as if something was missing...

Rachel shook her head, trying to drive the sudden discomfort out of her mind, then looked at Charles and said:

"The price for the investigator to fulfill his wish was death. The price for Long Jin I to fulfill his wish... we don't know yet. But what about you? If I remember correctly, you also made a wish to the wishing well."

At this point, she paused and deliberately skipped the content of Charles' wish:

"So, what is the price you should pay? The Limited Wishing Machine will indeed faithfully fulfill the wishes of every one of its users, but it will also charge a price, and both are equally unavoidable."

Charles looked at her and was silent for a moment, as if he wanted to ask her if she really hadn't guessed what his wish was, but he didn't say it until the end.

But he didn't need to say anything, Lacie could read his mind.

Of course she guessed it.

She had guessed it a long time ago. Should she be proud of it? She seemed to be proud of it. She should even be nice to Charles and take this rare opportunity to ridicule him.

But she didn't know why, she just felt sad.

It was obvious that after the priest appeared in front of Diesel, her sanity that had evaporated due to her proximity to Charles returned again. She was the first to guess the truth of thirty years ago without even needing Charles to remind her.

She had obviously made a decision not to get too close to Ciel, so that she wouldn't be sad when they parted due to life or death in the future.

Obviously...

Her emotions were clamoring, but this time, her rationality was stronger than ever.

So, like a true witch, Lacie ignored Charles' expression, lowered her eyes, avoided his gaze, and whispered:

"If you notice anything unusual or feel uncomfortable, be sure to speak up."

After saying that, she quickly changed the subject:

"Since you said that the Emperor might still be sane, then the plan to visit the Emperor can indeed be put on the agenda..."

The witch arranged everything in an orderly manner, but she was a little confused.

"What's wrong with me?" she thought. "Why do I feel a little... strange?"

[To be continued]

-

58. Witch Priest

The witch and the brave man made an agreement and prepared to meet Longjin I the next day.

Before leaving the Wheat Tavern, after finishing his last glass of wine, the brave man suddenly asked:

"Then...what about the priest? If she, as a creature of wishes, cannot make a wish through the wishing machine, will she..."

He wondered whether the pastor who had not achieved his goal would become a destabilizing factor that would disrupt his plans if there was no second him.

However, when the hero was halfway through his words, the witch suddenly turned around and looked at him.

Perhaps because she drank too much wine, the girl's cheeks were dyed a dazzling red, as if there was a ball of fire burning.

But her expression was exceptionally cold, and there was a sense of alienation in her pupils.

"You..." the witch asked in a low voice, "are you concerned about her?"

"?"

The hero didn't understand why she suddenly asked such a strange question.

But before he could figure out how to respond, the witch turned around again, pulled out the chair, stood up, and left without any reluctance.

"Don't worry about it, I'll take care of it."

She simply left out these words.

The brave man who was left behind by her was at a loss.

He felt that since the appearance of the fake priest, the witch was becoming more and more strange, just like...

Just like when he and she first met in the Sea of ​​Forest three years ago.

……

After leaving the Wheatear Tavern, the witch walked back to the inn with slow and light steps. She ignored the boss who greeted her at the door, and went straight to the door of the pastor's room and knocked on it.

"Who?" asked the priest.

"I." The witch replied.

After that, there was an awkward silence inside and outside the door.

After a while, sporadic footsteps were heard in the room.

The door opened from the inside, and the pastor stuck his head out from the half-open door.

She smelled the witch's scent carefully and couldn't help asking:

"you've been drinking?"

"Yes."

"How much did you drink?"

"I didn't drink much."

"You don't drink much, but you smell so much of alcohol. You must be kidding me!" The pastor muttered in a low voice, and was startled again, "No, why is your face so red?"

Then, she reacted, frowned, and asked in disbelief:

"You didn't use a spell to remove the effects of alcohol on you?"

This time the witch did not answer the priest's question.

Instead, she just stared at her, her blue eyes locked onto emerald ones.

The pastor suddenly understood something.

So she sighed softly, opened the door, and said to the witch:

"come in."

The witch hummed softly and followed the priest into the room.

The door is closed.

One of them sat on the bed and the other sat on the sofa.

As soon as we sat down, the pastor said with a tone of disappointment:

"Why are you doing this? Even if you get yourself drunk and look pathetic, that guy still won't notice that you're sad. Can't you just tell him that you're sad and want him to hug you?"

The witch lowered her head and replied: