Miss Witch, please don't leave your fragrance everywhere

"Hey!!!"

The atmosphere was immediately ruined by Angelica. Victoria admitted that Angelica was the type that made her more envious than jealous, but it was hard not to get angry when she heard her say it.

But it also cleared up her autistic mood... Was she doing it on purpose? Victoria couldn't tell for a moment.

"I think the most perfect solution is to save the knight Barin's brother from death. Although this cannot change the contradiction of taxation, at least it can save many lives."

"Then we..."

"However, there is no way to do this. Witches are not omnipotent and cannot change what has already happened. Miss Victoria, there are many imperfections in the world. The conflict in Medemblik did not have a perfect ending. If you cannot accept it and put all the blame on yourself, you will only add burden to yourself. This is my experience."

Angelica had also tried to pursue perfection before. She longed to build a country where all races could coexist peacefully. Because Angelica stood too high, she fell particularly painfully.

Victoria is very much like Angelica back then. She hopes that no one will get hurt, but the conflict in Medemblik is a messy account that is difficult to settle. All Angelica can do is to prevent Victoria from getting stuck in a rut and thinking that it is her own responsibility.

Earth Online does not set a True End for each event, nor does it provide a chance to reload the game. Therefore, someone once commented: Reality is a shitty game.

Victoria expressed a wish to be alone, and the three of them stayed in an eerie silence in their campsite outside Medemblik until sunset.

I should have stopped Miss Victoria at that time... According to normal procedures, they should have been flirting in the town by now...

Angelica held her body and muttered, her resentment almost overflowing. Victoria thought for a long time and came to Angelica again.

"I have the answer."

"Why are you reporting to me? I'm not Miss Victoria's teacher... But it looks like Miss Victoria has made a decision that she can live with."

"I can't say I have a clear conscience. I don't know if this is the right thing to do, but I just think it's the best way. Maybe this isn't the right answer. Maybe doing this will make some people feel guilty while preventing others from receiving the punishment they deserve. Just like Angelica said, there is no perfect answer, but I still think I'd rather make a mistake than do nothing."

Unlike Undine's incident, Victoria did not ask Angelica for help.

It was late at night and the moon was bright in the sky.

The armor on a certain man showed no sign of reflecting the moonlight. The reason was simple: the brand new armor on the man had already been stained red with blood. The strange thing was that the man did not wipe the blood off the armor, but let it turn black, like a brand left on the armor. For this man, even if he wiped off the blood on the armor, his soul could not be cleansed.

Ironically, he had not yet established any military exploits, had never fought in battle, and had never charged into battle. The first time he raised his sword as a knight, he swung it like a butcher's knife at unarmed civilians.

So the man came here to settle his final grudge.

There was another knight waiting here for a long time.

"Knight Balin?"

The knight in blood-stained armor moved his helmet, but since his helmet was a typical barrel helmet, the movement was not noticeable.

Victoria then introduced herself and told Balin that she knew the whole story.

The voice of Knight Balin came from under the barrel helmet.

"So you decided to protect that man after all."

"I have confirmed with him that he participated in the looting that day. I will stop you and hand this man and you... over to the court for punishment."

"Sanctions? Courts?"

Balin seemed to have heard a huge joke. Victoria was somewhat glad that Balin was wearing a bucket helmet, otherwise she would have seen Balin's miserable expression.

"What qualifications do they have to punish me? Wasn't it the court that did nothing at the beginning? Since you know the whole story, you should understand that if the court had taken action, I wouldn't have fallen to this point."

The court was aware of the looting, but considering the cost issues and various factors, the court chose to remain silent.

Balin, who once believed in justice, lost his faith and became extremely disappointed, so he took up his sword and started revenge.

Victoria was fully aware of the complexity and diversity of the world.

If a person seeks justice from the court to no avail and is forced to choose private revenge, is the court at this time qualified to judge the person who committed the crime of murder?

115 The Duel of Knights

"Yes, the court is not qualified to judge you."

Victoria threw the glove onto the armor of Knight Balin. Since Balin was a knight, he naturally knew that this meant the initiation of a duel.

“But I think it is still necessary, even if this trial cannot bring salvation to everyone, nor can it bring the existing order to nothingness.”

Victoria's final conclusion is very clear. She sympathizes with Barin's experience and understands that Barin chose to use the sword to seek revenge after his appeal for justice was fruitless. However, Knight Barin's behavior cannot be supported. Once Knight Barin's behavior is acquiesced, more people will no longer appeal to the court, but instead seek revenge in their own way.

If his revenge was recognized, why can't mine?

Such thoughts will pop up like mushrooms after rain.

However, there is no guarantee that everyone's motives are justified, and there are many people who still feel that they are not wrong after being sentenced. Therefore, the behavior of Knight Balin cannot be considered, which will lead to the collapse of order and then develop in the direction of disorder.

Victoria's mind was filled with the words Angelica had told her: there was no happy ending to the conflict in Medemblik.

Knight Balin did not answer. Both of them were knights, and eloquence was not their forte. If neither of them could convince the other, they would use their swords to decide the winner.

The duel between the two knights began under the moonlight.

Sequence 5 and Sequence 6 magic was applied to the knight Balin without hesitation. The heavy armor seemed to have no effect on Balin. Balin swung the sword in his hand, and the wind blades that vibrated easily knocked down the trees in the forest behind him.

But it didn't hurt Victoria, she also used magic to protect herself and avoided Balin's attack. However, Balin's wind blades were not disposable, with Balin as the center, the endless hurricane blades could tear Victoria's body apart at any time.

Aquila Sequence Five: Fierce Wind Blade, a magic that combines high lethality and surprise. Its principle is to use magic to control the airflow to form a sharp blade. The airflow is invisible, and one must have a high level of mental sense to feel the flow of magic power in order to identify the wind blade.

Balin was surprised by Victoria's agility. He didn't expect that she couldn't hit him even once. Balin didn't underestimate Victoria. A woman who could become a knight must be outstanding. Balin was a real genius, and so was Victoria.

...can't get close.

Victoria dodged the fierce wind blades that would cause blood and flesh to shreds at the slightest touch, and tried to close the distance. However, the closer she got to Bahrain, the denser the wind blades became, forcing Victoria to look for an angle to cut in again.

The night will not affect the magician's battle. After all, anyone can learn magic like the Song of the Nighthawk.

"Diamonds, sequence 4, indestructible. Full body coverage."

But Victoria didn't get close not because she had no other choice, she was looking for Bahrain's weakness.

With the help of magic that increased her speed, Victoria used her indestructible power to knock away the wind blades, and only suffered scratches, approaching Balin. The two knights engaged in close combat, and after the collision of swords and sabers, Victoria should have been slightly at a disadvantage. Balin and Victoria's talents were not so different, but Balin had a fatal flaw.

"Well……"

Balin let out a distressed roar from beneath his helmet. The magic used by both of them to amplify their strength was similar, and neither of them was better. Men had greater physical strength than women, so it was Balin who should have forced Victoria to retreat. Just now, Victoria had used magic to speed up and move forward, but Balin was still able to react.

Old injury.

Balin had fought with Medemblik's guards before and was injured. He did not wait until he recovered before looking for Medemblik's survivors, because the few remaining guards posed no threat to him. On the contrary, if the lord of Medemblik called for reinforcements, that would be really difficult to deal with.

After all, Victoria's existence was not part of Barin's plan from the beginning.

Any fatal difference between equally matched opponents would be quickly magnified, and not long after the close confrontation, Victoria showed signs of suppression.

“Don’t underestimate me…!”

If Bahrain chooses to retreat, there may still be a glimmer of hope and a chance to make a comeback.

"I must kill that guy. How can I let you stop me?"

"Your anger has gotten to your head, Knight Balin."

Staying here and fighting was not the right decision. Victoria didn't know why she said that. Perhaps she felt ashamed for taking advantage of Balin's old injury to break through. The long sword that was suppressing Balin became dull for a short time.

Balin was also a talented knight, so how could he not seize this fleeting opportunity? His choice was still not to escape, but to attack. Blood poured out like a crescent, and Balin's sword cut Victoria's muscles.

"Separation sequence four: structural dissociation!"

The strongest Sequence 4 magic that Balin could master was attached to his sword, which was similar to the magic of elementalizing matter. It penetrated Victoria's indestructible armor and directly injured the flesh behind the armor. Since elementalization requires precise control of magic power, if there is an error in its use during battle, it will cause the weapon to be directly destroyed by itself.

Victoria's beautiful face was covered in bloody make-up.

It was Balin whose expression changed drastically. After a successful attack, he found that his body could not move.

"Pictor Series IV: Shadow Painting."

Shadow Painting is a magic that can fix the opponent's shadow frame to achieve a freezing effect. Judging from the duration of the freezing effect, it is undoubtedly the highest level of confinement magic. However, it has the limitation that it can only be effective on shadows. Once the light source is lost, Shadow Painting will automatically become invalid.

The battle at night caused Balin to ignore this point... The most crucial thing was that Victoria moved cleverly at the beginning of the battle and used Balin's wind blade to cut down trees and clear the field.

You are blinded by anger... not just about Bahrain's failure to retreat, but about such a blatant oversight that Bahrain was completely unaware of it.

After successfully immobilizing the opponent, Victoria followed up with her strongest attack as a response to Bahrain's duel.

"Calcination sequence 4: Excessive expansion!"

High temperature is the most powerful killing magic for knights who arm themselves with armor. It explodes from inside the armor like a balloon inflated to the limit. Barin was severely injured and Victoria's victory was confirmed.

However, Victoria, who won the duel, was not very happy.

It was not until Angelica, who had been observing secretly, came to Victoria to heal her wounds after the duel ended in victory that she forced a grateful smile towards the witch.

【Witch TIPS】

The "Red" witch Dorothea, whose name means "God's gift".

116 Miss Witch and the Fair World

a few days later.

Knight Balin and the men who were not killed were charged with their respective crimes and brought to court for trial.

Angelica and Victoria were not present and did not pay much attention to the outcome of the trial, although Angelica did not care much about the matter in the first place.

At the baths in Medemblik, Angelica and Victoria rented a small hot spring and took a comfortable bath.

Fortunately, Victoria did not suffer any scars and her injuries have basically healed.

But Victoria has been in a bad mood these past few days... Angelica couldn't help but sigh that the rigid-minded knight was indeed troublesome.

"Still struggling with Knight Barin? Miss Victoria."

"Well... we had a brief exchange before the duel. He actually pursued a fair trial, but it didn't yield any results. He chose a radical path out of desperation. To be honest, the biggest blow to me was the actions of the court. There was a time when I had the same philosophy as Knight Barin."

Victoria believes in the correct rules, and the Knight Academy will deliberately teach students in this direction. The easier it is to control a knight who can use magic, the better.

So Victoria could understand how disappointed Barin was when his faith collapsed.

Angelica washed her armpits with warm water. Her attitude was the same as before. She did not participate in the incident of Medemblik and was just a bystander throughout the whole process.

As a person who experienced it firsthand, Victoria would have a change in her mentality whether she learned that Bahrain's demands for the cause of the incident were not responded to, or that the perfect ending was destined not to exist.

"Miss Victoria, do you know the belief in a fair world?"

"what is that?"

"People subconsciously tend to believe that this world or society follows the principle of justice, that good is rewarded with good, and evil is punished with evil."

"Isn't that so?"

“This is just people’s good wishes. So when injustice happens, people will feel uneasy and spontaneously find excuses to convince themselves.”

Angelica held up two fingers.

"First, evil will be punished. If someone is maliciously harmed, people will sometimes blame the victim first, thinking that it takes two to tango and that there must be something hateful about pitiful people. They try to put the blame on the victim. This is because the victim is similar to themselves and makes them feel uneasy. So they must belittle the victim and make him deserve the punishment. Only then will they feel at ease that they are different from him and will not be harmed."

Victoria couldn't refute it. At least the teachers at the Knight Academy would use the excuse that it takes two to tango to smooth things over.

"Second, good will be rewarded with good. People will place their hopes for justice in the gods and the judiciary, hoping that good people will be rewarded. People will believe that the judiciary can clear the innocent, and they will also believe that the gods will compensate good people. However, the world is inherently imperfect, and good will be rewarded with good, and evil will be punished with evil. This is people's wish, not the law that the world follows."

There are many people who were kind throughout their lives but died alone and helpless, and there are also many devils who did many evil things but lived out their old age peacefully.

“When the vision of good deeds being rewarded is shattered and people realize that injustice does exist in the world, they will take radical actions to eliminate this injustice at all costs.”

Baring's expectations of the court were dashed, and this disappointment gave him unprecedented motivation to launch a revenge campaign.

Perhaps Victoria should have experienced it herself one day, and it was lucky for her to break the unrealistic fantasy in advance.

"Wait a minute. If the judiciary is inherently imperfect, I can understand why, but why God... Although God did not stop the tragedy from happening..."

Victoria was in chaos. Why didn't God stop this tragedy? What was the idea behind this script?

In this world of swords and magic, gods really exist, and people who believe in atheism are as ridiculous as those who believed in geocentrism in the era before Angelica traveled through time.

The witch had no choice but to tell Victoria the truth.

"Gods are concepts based on laws and cannot intervene in the world. Gods will only appear if they want to change the existing laws, and at the same time they are given the possibility of being defeated. To give a simple example, the elves believe in the sun god named Mithra. The rising and setting of the sun is the law of Mithra. No matter who prays, Mithra will not give more or less sunlight to anyone, because he is just following the law."

"The reason why the gods don't care is actually..."

"Correct answer. Gods cannot intervene. Gods will only intervene if they think there are problems with the current laws. If Gods think there are no problems with the laws, then Gods are truly invincible - it's not that Gods are so powerful, but the premise of fighting with Gods is impossible. On the contrary, if Gods want to change the existing laws, they will give themselves entities that can be defeated. Maybe it's because Gods love the world, right? Before Gods amend the laws, they will always allow the world to resist Him."

Thousands of years ago, Hades was defeated by a human warrior, probably because Hades was dissatisfied with the laws he governed. However, it seems that Hades has not given up.