Sorcerer's Handbook-Chapter 651: No Lies

“No wonder, I remember not having that many sisters. Turns out they were personalities split from me…”

After Ash briefly explained the origin of the Witch sisters, the Little Witch surprisingly accepted it quickly. “When I grow up, I can split into sisters to play with myself. That’s amazing!”

“Yeah, yeah, witches are super amazing!” Ash agreed, trying to slip away, but the Little Witch caught him. “Wait, I want to know more about the person I like when I grow up.”

“No need to make it complicated. Once you regain your memory, you’ll remember me.”

“It’s not the same, not the same!” The Little Witch shook her head vigorously. “If you lost your memory and I appeared in front of you, telling you I’m the princess you’ll protect for a lifetime, wouldn’t you want to know more about me?”

Putting himself in her shoes, Ash had to admit she made a good point. But now wasn’t the time for a leisurely chat. Ash thought for a moment. “I’ll answer three questions at most. After that, you must finish your painting.”

“Okay.” The Little Witch said, “First question, when you met me, did I already have four personalities?”

“Yes, they were the Secret Princess, White Queen, Black Butler, and Scarlet Dead Apostles.”

“Second question, what do I like about you?”

“I actually asked you that once, but you didn’t answer me,” Ash paused. “I just spent many adventures and moments with you… Maybe your fondness for me is just like a playmate’s fondness.”

The Little Witch nodded, then turned to look at the whiteboard and suddenly said, “It seems I had a tough life when I grew up.”

Ash was taken aback.

“How lonely must one be to split into other personalities for companionship?” The Little Witch said, “I must have been very miserable and helpless, like a princess captured by a dragon, to become so desperate.”

“And then, you shone into my world like a light, protecting me like a knight, so that’s why I like you.” The Little Witch held up four fingers. “I split into four sisters, so my taste must have improved fourfold! Don’t worry, my grown-up affection for you is definitely serious, and four times as serious!”

Ash never expected to be comforted by the Little Witch. “I wasn’t worried!”

“Alright, alright, don’t be shy.” The Little Witch patted his shoulder with an air of maturity. “By the way, I saw a little girl in the painting. Have we had children already? Speaking of which, how do you have children?”

Ash quickly denied it. “No, we haven’t, and we don’t even live together!”

Little Witch: “So the painting I saw is actually my inner wish?”

Ash recalled his painting of everyone going on a picnic and camping, nodding slightly. “It could also be an imagination of happiness.”

“Happiness…” The Little Witch murmured softly, then suddenly said, “When I read fairy tales, they often end with the princess and knight living happily ever after. I was always curious about their life together afterward.”

“Then I flipped back to the beginning, saw the bad king’s lust and greed, the evil queen’s malice and jealousy, and realized a book can be read twice.”

She touched the whiteboard gently. “If we live together like in the painting, will we always be happy? Or will we turn into the bad king and queen?”

This question was too profound for Ash to answer. He figured only his mom might have a clue, and even his brother and sister-in-law, who had been married for years, might not have an answer.

But the Little Witch didn’t need him to respond. She started drawing on the whiteboard. “No matter what, having someone to like and a life to look forward to, I’m already lucky as I grow up.”

Cunning yet smart, calm yet passionate, mature yet profound, pessimistic inside but positive in thought… Ash realized the Little Witch was so different from the Witch’s four sisters. Whether it was the Secret Princess, the White Queen, the Black Butler, or the Scarlet Dead Apostles, none completely matched the Little Witch, yet they all seemed to have a trace of her.

It was almost as if… there was another sister of the Witch that Ash had never met.

“One last question…”

Ash said, “I think I’ve answered more than three questions for you already, haven’t I?”

The Little Witch looked at him. “Each of us gets to ask three questions, and since I’m four sisters, I should have twelve questions. But I just want to ask you one more…”

Ash surrendered. “What else do you want to ask?”

The Little Witch pointed at Little Sword Princess and Little Weiser.

“Do we all like you?”

Ash was silent for a few seconds before squeezing out a few words, “Not all of you.”

The Little Witch nodded knowingly, “So fairy tales are lies. There are actually male Bewitchers in this world…”

Stop, stop, if you keep talking, I can almost hear Igor’s laughter in my head.

Ash quickly moved over to Little Weiser. As soon as she saw him coming, she huddled in a corner, trembling with her back to him.

Though this child was also quite peculiar, she was much better than the Sword Princess Witch. Using his advanced experience from dealing with his nephew, Ash squatted beside her and asked, “Do you like drawing?”

“…Yes.”

“Then why don’t you go draw? You can just copy the picture.”

“…It’s scary.”

“Hmm? Is what you’re drawing scary?” Ash was puzzled. “What are you drawing?”

“I, I,” Little Weiser stammered, unable to articulate her thoughts. When Ash pressed her with more questions, her nose twitched, and her eyes welled up with tears. She whimpered, “Vionelle, Vionelle, come quickly…”

There were two options here: one was to spin her like a top, which would make kids behave, a method Ash had used on his nephew with great success; the other was to talk to her and slowly calm her down.

Obviously, the latter was the only choice here. After all, blocking memories was temporary, and if Weiser regained her memories and found out Ash had spun her, their Bond Level might drop. Besides, to be fair, Yolan Vesser had been diligent and never caused Ash any trouble since joining the team, so he was willing to be more patient with her.

So he asked, “Who is Vionelle?”

Little Weiser sniffled, “Vionelle is Vionelle.”

“Is she nice to you?”

“Yes.”

“Then you want to go back and see her, right?” Ash coaxed gently, “If you finish your drawing, you can go back to see her, okay?”

Little Weiser sniffed back her tears and turned to look at Ash. “Really?”

But she quickly shook her head. “You’re lying to me. Last time, they lied to me too, and there was no artifact to make Vionelle better.”

Ash asked, “How did they lie to you last time? What’s wrong with Vionelle?”

“Vionelle… Vionelle isn’t well. She’s been bedridden. She promised to take me shopping for clothes. I wanted her to get better, so I asked many people. They told me that at dusk, if I went to a certain place, I could find an artifact to make Vionelle well again.”

Ash frowned slightly. “Is Vionelle sick? Isn’t there a Healing Sorcerer to help her?”

Little Weiser shook her head. “I… I asked an elder sister who helps with pain, but she said there’s nothing she can do. Ordinary people at this age feel unwell. Only sorcerers can live a bit longer.”

A lifespan limit for ordinary people? Genetic disease? Environmental pollution?… Ash asked, “And then? Did you go looking for the artifact?”

Little Weiser nodded. “I went to that place at dusk, searched for a long time until it got dark, but found nothing. Then I got lost for a long, long time, saw many things, even some really scary ones… boo hoo…”

As she spoke, she seemed to recall those terrifying experiences and started crying. Ash helped wipe her tears and asked, “Did you leave afterward?”

She took a deep breath, choked a bit, coughed twice, and nodded. “It took me a long time to get out, then I ran back to find Vionelle. Vionelle realized I was missing, and when she saw me return, she asked where I went. She was angry that I was out at night and spanked me hard…”

“She told me she was dying, that she wouldn’t be around, and that I’d have to take care of myself.”

Little Weiser looked at Ash, her eyes brimming with tears, and asked, “When people die, where do they go?”

These kids keep asking deeper and deeper questions… Ash said, “They probably go to Celestium to enjoy happiness, right?”

Little Weiser shook her head. “No way, only the most powerful people can go to Celestium. Vionelle isn’t a sorcerer; she can’t go to Celestium.”

If not Celestium, then it must be hell. But looking at the pitiful Little Weiser, Ash couldn’t bring himself to say, ‘Vionelle went to hell to suffer.’

He hesitated for a moment, then suddenly thought of another option. “You know the Virtual Realm, right? It’s vast, and it’s the final destination for everyone. When people die, they return to the Virtual Realm.”

But Little Weiser was still unsatisfied and pressed on, “What do people do in the Virtual Realm after they die? Can they return to reality? Can Vionelle come back to see me sometimes? Can she write me letters?”

Seeing Little Weiser’s eyes filled with hope, Ash almost instinctively told a lie. “When people die, they find eternal happiness in the Virtual Realm, so they can’t return to reality.”

At that moment, he saw a look of wonder in Little Weiser’s eyes, and even the tears in her eyes seemed to sparkle.

“Really?!”

“Really.”

“That’s great! That’s great!” Little Weiser was so happy she jumped up and hugged Ash. “So it’s true, Vionelle wasn’t lying to me!”

“What?” Ash was taken aback. “Vionelle wasn’t lying to you?”

“I asked Vionelle where people go when they die, and she said exactly what you did!” Little Weiser said joyfully. “I thought she was lying to me again!”

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