Otaku Witch

"This truly is the City of Freedom, where nothing is taboo."

The three sisters had walked several rounds around this fringe district, merely sightseeing without doing anything. In the end, Dorothy spoke with such sentiment.

The name, City of Sin, was naturally given by outsiders, yet the wicked people inside never called it that. They preferred to call it the City of Freedom, for here, if you had the capability and the means, you would gain true freedom.

In fact, there indeed was freedom here.

Although the City Lord had ordered that no fighting was allowed in the city, it was just like the situation the Homebody Witch had seen on the streets before. Someone suddenly collapsed while walking—this prohibition on fighting seemed more like it was not allowed only if caught.

Thus, in this city, those Supernatural Villains possessing special abilities to kill invisibly were truly blatant, wanton, and enjoyed their freedom of power.

Along the way, the three sisters saw wicked people brazenly entering other people's homes, eating their food, using their wives, beating their children; yet the male homeowner merely sat by the door with a vacant gaze, numbly listening to the cries and screams of the women and children inside, along with the wicked person's proud and wild laughter.

The most intense emotion the man could express was to bury his face in his hands and sob silently.

As a mortal, he was truly powerless against such Supernatural Villains. Even if he attempted to resist with all his rage, he would ultimately just lose his life in vain.

Of course, some might say it's better to die valorously than live so disgracefully, but once he's dead, that's the end for him. But if the family really loses its pillar, what would happen to his wife and children afterward?

Then, not just those Supernatural Villains would be bullying his family; the neighbors around were none too gentle either.

In the end, that villain walked out of the house, looked at this helpless man at the door with disdain, spat contemptuously, cursed him as a useless wretch, then tossed a copper coin on the man's head and left.

The man watched the copper coin that had fallen from his head, a flash of uncontrollable rage in his eyes, but he ultimately restrained himself and sighed.

This too was a rule of the city; money given did not count as coercion, but as a transaction.

The man eventually numbly threw the copper coin far away; he would rather starve to death than accept that money.

However, he didn't want it, but others did; the copper coin was quickly picked up by someone else.

In other homes, some heads of families, either men or women, numbly accepted the money from the wicked people, some even showing a flattering smile.

Then these people moved with some hesitation but ultimately resolutely toward the homes of a few neighbors who could no longer endure and tried to resist, followed by chaos, vague screams of women and the cries of children...

Those who only had their homes invaded briefly by the wicked people were even considered lucky here. Some villains dropped a few copper coins and then kicked away the woman clinging to their legs and pleading, then dragged a child away from that home.

Some villains walked out looking refreshed, but thereafter, the house fell completely silent, deathly still.

In some houses, the smell of meat wafted through the air, then a few bones were carelessly thrown out the window, later picked up and carried away by stray dogs on the streets.

Oddly enough, while the people in this edge district were thin and frail, the stray dogs were all plump and sleek, their fur shiny and smooth.

.....

All things considered, this was indeed a city of demons—a true mortal hell.

And witnessing all this, the three sisters reacted differently.

The youngest, Alice, was now unable to contain her anger. She repeatedly wanted to go up and beat them, just as she had been doing for the past month. The little witch still had a strong sense of justice.

Only...

"This is your home turf, the City Lord is your uncle, and the Deputy City Lord is your mother, Alice, do you think you can solve this problem completely? Besides, such things will become too common once you become an Armed Witch later," Dorothy stopped her furious younger sister, even managing to smile as she spoke.

After that, Alice fell into silence; soon, the little witch's eyes began to cloud with doubt, and she visibly sank into despondency.

Seeing her sister's sudden dejection, the Homebody Witch felt slightly distressed, but ultimately, she didn't speak up to comfort the little witch.

If Alice had indeed been a mortal, then she might have considered that this was just a 13-year-old child who shouldn't have to see such things.

But Alice was a witch, one aspiring to become an Armed Witch, and she would inevitably see these things sooner or later; early exposure wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

The dreadfulness of this City of Sin compared to the glorious floating islands under the gleaming light of the Witch World, with piles of bones strewn underneath, was insignificant, like witches living godlike in the heavens, oblivious to the tragedy of the ground below.

If Alice couldn't even accept this, then, after she graduated from the Witch Academy and left the protection of her home and school to face the real Witch World, her days would be unbearable.

Recalling some incidents from her own childhood wanderings on the ground with Adam, Dorothy sighed.