Miss Witch Doesn't Want to be a Diva

Those with good personalities and intelligence, he would inquire about nearly every day; for those children he didn't like, just giving them some food each day would suffice. To their complaints and cries, the priest would only respond indifferently.

In the eyes of some children, Priest Boise was kind and patient, a very respectable person, while in the eyes of others, Priest Boise was strict and cold. There were also children who saw Priest Boise merely as a hypocrite who sought fame through rescuing children.

If three children were to describe their image of Priest Boise, people might think they were talking about three different people, but all three answers would be true, and they were indeed describing the same person.

At fifteen, Gleid returned from playing outside as usual, feeling very hungry, so he rummaged through the church's cupboard, hoping to find something to eat. It just so happened that Priest Boise entered the kitchen, seeing him turning the cupboard inside out.

"Are you looking for something?" The priest's expression was somewhat cold.

"Yes." Gleid felt that something was not right and stopped his movements.

"There's nothing here." After saying this, the priest looked at the already empty countertop, then left.

Before long, the priest came back, holding a bag of breadcrumbs, tossing it towards Gleid. But the bag of breadcrumbs hadn't reached Gleid's hands when it fell to the ground, mingling with the dirty floor.

"Eat this." The priest glanced at him, then turned and walked away. Your adventure continues at empire

Even as Gleid slowly picked it up, a particularly uncomfortable feeling also rose in his heart.

If the priest treated everyone this way, it would be one thing, but unfortunately, that was not the case.

Another girl who often praised Priest Boise, saying how great Mr. Boise was, and who followed Priest Boise around, would always receive the priest's smiling face. He would buy her more expensive and tasty food, not require her to do any chores, and even teach her some Transcendent knowledge, attempting to slowly empower her.

Once, a sponsor invited the priest for a drink, and Gleid stealthily followed. He thought he might be able to sneak some good food.

It was then that he heard Priest Boise's true inner voice and thoughts.

"Sigh, although rescuing children may seem grand in others' eyes, some kids just... make me feel nauseous. I've always tried to overcome this feeling, but later realized, there's a reason some brats are abandoned..." His speech was somewhat slurred from drinking, occasionally pounding the table with his hand.

"They're like sewer rats, foolish, deceptive, sneaky, unbearably lazy, who would want such children?"

"If it weren't for the few good kids, I really wouldn't be able to stand staying..."

"Do you know, last month I specifically prepared some items, planning to make a big cake for everyone during the winter festival, but the next day after I placed the items in the cupboard, they vanished... Later when I went to the kitchen, I saw that guy sneaking around, I really wanted to grab a stick and give him a beating."

"But I couldn't do that, because it would ruin my reputation."

"Even raising a stray dog would be better than some people."

"Hahaha, calm down, Priest Boise, we are all aware of your struggles. Think about it, who came here during the mining rush more than ten years ago? They were mostly petty thieves, robbers, ruffians and the like. The bastards they left behind are naturally not much better."

"But then again, there are so many 'good people' in the federation living lives of luxury, with endless kindness to share. If we want them to spend money and pay up, we need to put on a bit of a show, don't we?"

"Come on, drink some more, have a good night's sleep, and tomorrow we will take another round of photos around the church and the surrounding environment, then mix in some sentimental music, and the job's done."

"As for that worthless scum you can't put against a wall, just giving them enough to eat to keep them from starving is enough, don't spend one more second on them. They're just stray dogs nobody wants on the street, and some can barely even be called 'human,' why make trouble for yourself?"

"Hahaha..."

The laughter echoed in the tavern while Gleid slowly walked away.

Outside, the sky was still snowing, the vast snowy landscape blanketing the world in a hazy grey, eerily quiet.

On the snowy ground, he silently took step after step on the icy path, looking at the frozen sludge mingling with the white snow, his fingers and toes icy cold. This reminded him of a distant past, where it seemed he was also walking on a cold snowy night, like a dirty stray dog.

Isn't it enough just to be alive, shouldn't being alive be a happy thing? But for some reason, he wasn't as happy as he used to be.