Chapter 694: Please, Save Me

Loren looked at Luna without saying anything, but his meaning was clear.

They had already achieved their goal and found the Desolation Deer’s location. There was no need to stay here any longer.

Still, Loren left the choice to Luna. They had not come here for the Desolation Deer’s location in the first place. They had come for Jessica, and finding the Desolation Deer was merely incidental.

“I have one more question.”

Luna did not leave right away. Instead, she continued asking:

“This woman… she’s so powerful. Why do you still make her charge at the front? Wouldn’t it be better for her to stay in the back and cast spells?”

Looking at Jessica’s face, Luna suddenly felt a pang of emotion. They had originally been the same age, but Luna’s age had been frozen ever since she met Loren. Now, Jessica looked considerably older than her.

That was why Luna had initially meant to call her a girl, but changed it to a woman at the last moment.

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“You may not know this, but she once committed a grave crime. She’s on the battlefield to atone for it through her service.”

“Oh? What crime?”

Luna feigned curiosity as she asked, but she could not help feeling tense inside.

“She colluded with the Master of Witches and associated with witches… Those sins were enough to get her killed several times over.

“Even if she severed ties with them in time, it wouldn’t matter. Even if she truly didn’t know those people were witches, so what? The fact remains that she colluded with witches.”

That was one of the Church’s cruelest aspects. Whether or not someone really knew that another person was a witch, merely associating with them could bring punishment upon them as well.

As a result, people’s fear of witches had become downright obsessive.

“I see…”

Luna sighed. She did not think there was anything wrong with Jessica severing ties with her. Whatever she truly felt, she had to distance herself from Luna in public.

There was nothing to gain from refusing to do so at a time like this. It would not help Luna at all, and would only put Jessica in danger.

So it did not prove anything.

“She didn’t give us any useful information, either. If she could really help the Church, she wouldn’t have ended up in this state.”

The Commander continued, but even so, Luna felt no relief.

After all, even if Jessica had wanted to betray them, there was little she could reveal. At most, she could expose Loren’s Simplified Spells, but that would do her no good either.

She actually knew no more about Loren than anyone else did. The information she had was hardly valuable.

“If you want to know what she really thinks, you’ll have to ask her directly once she wakes up.”

Loren offered the reminder from beside her.

They had no need to worry about Jessica lying, since Loren had a lie-detection ability.

Whether she meant it or not, Jessica’s answer would surely be that she had always stood on Luna’s side.

Just then, Jessica’s eyelids began to twitch. She was waking up.

“Leave us. I want to speak with her alone.”

Luna dismissed the Commander in an even tone. He did not notice anything amiss. He would only assume that Luna wanted to get information about the witches from Jessica and earn merit.

“Yes, ma’am.”

The Commander answered and left the military tent. Luna instinctively activated a Shielding Spell, just as Loren had earlier.

When Jessica opened her eyes, the first person she saw was Luna, wearing a mask.

“Is that you? You’re the one who just saved me.”

“Yes, it was me.”

Luna could barely keep her voice even anymore. She forced down her feelings and spoke:

“While you were unconscious, I heard a few things about you.

“There’s something I’m curious about, and I hope you’ll answer honestly.”

“Go ahead.”

Jessica grew tense as well. The only thing she could be sure of was that the powerful person before her was a Bountiful follower. She knew nothing else.

Her past had also come to light. There was no telling what absurd excuse this person might use to kill her on the spot.

“What do you think of witches?”

Luna did not reveal who she was. For now, she used this false identity to ask a relatively indirect question.

But even this question was enough to make everything clear.

At Luna’s question, Jessica reacted as if she had been startled. She hurried to answer, terrified that if she took even a second too long, she would die:

“I hate every witch with all my heart! If I found out a witch was hiding among the people around me, I’d kill her on the spot! No matter what it took!”

Jessica had blurted the words out instinctively. She had no idea how many times she had said them before.

“That’s a lie.”

As soon as Jessica finished speaking, Loren judged whether her words were true.

Once Luna was certain, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

She knew Jessica had been forced to say whatever it took to stay alive. She naturally would not hold it against her.

Jessica had nearly been driven mad by these questions. There was no way she could speak her true feelings.

In the end, Luna decided to reveal her true face.

“Jessica, it’s me.”

As Luna’s mask vanished, her true face was revealed, unchanged from four years ago.

“Even if you came here yourself, I wouldn’t change my mind! I’m going to kill every witch!”

Jessica’s eyes were vacant as she repeated those extreme words once more.

“That’s a lie.”

When Loren spoke this time, Jessica looked over at him too. He had already taken off the Hermit card.

“I’m Loren. She really is Luna. We’re back. You don’t have to worry that someone’s using a disguise to trick you into talking.”

“Master Mentor…”

When she saw Loren, Jessica suddenly struggled to hold back her tears. She opened her mouth, but no words came out.

Loren knew she saw him as her savior, but still wasn’t sure that the person before her really was Loren.

“Jessica, I know you’ve been helping Luna come up with plans all along.”

Loren had hoped that sharing something only the two of them knew would prove his identity, but Jessica’s expression barely changed.

She was truly terrified. Even hearing him reveal such a private detail did little to reassure her.

“Forget it, Luna. Show her your Arcane Ability.”

Loren chose to have Luna demonstrate it. He did not let Naclis, hidden in his shadow, show herself.

The Witches’ Arcane Abilities were secrets. Their whole point was to be unexpected and bizarre.

“Okay.”

Right in front of Jessica, Luna transformed. Only when moonlight fell across Jessica’s face did she finally believe that the people before her were Luna and Loren.

In an instant, Jessica could no longer hold back her tears. She clutched Loren’s arm tightly.

“Master Mentor… please, save me…

“My parents are in their hands. They’re forcing me onto the battlefield, forcing me to die!”