Miss Witch’s Devotion Has Gone… Twisted

Loren, disguised as a wandering bard, walked through the streets and alleys, singing a modified nursery rhyme.

In the lyrics, "Anna" had been changed to "Witch," and Loren's self-reference had also become "the Observer," making it easier for outsiders to understand.

Spreading messages to the witches was one thing, but Loren also wanted to take the opportunity to influence people's faith in the Orthodox Gods, while also promoting his own title as the Perpetual Observer.

After Loren had called upon him like this several times, the existence of the Perpetual Observer could no longer be hidden at all.

Even after the Orthodox Gods had nearly wiped out an entire generation, it still took them a long time to completely erase the existence of the Perpetual Observer. Such a thing wasn't easy to accomplish.

Loren did know that the God of Confusion controlled an Anomaly capable of completely erasing all proof of a person's existence, but the conditions for its use and the side effects were somewhat harsh.

Anomaly 1-019, the "Floating Tower."

The Floating Tower's appearance was that of an ordinary, dilapidated lighthouse, looking somewhat rickety and ready to collapse at any moment.

After burying a person's corpse beneath the Floating Tower, as the corpse rotted, the evidence of that person's existence would also be gradually erased.

When the corpse had completely turned to bones, his existence would be fully erased, leaving not even a trace in people's memories.

If the Floating Tower were to collapse, all those buried things would transform into disasters to exact comeuppance upon the civilization that used it.

The sins committed by the Church of Confusion would have to be borne by all of humanity.

Toppling the Floating Tower was also part of Loren's plans, if all his other plans failed.

The Floating Tower was useless against Loren. To erase Loren's existence, one would first need to kill him.

That alone was simply impossible.

After the nursery rhyme had spread well enough, Loren returned to the inn.

By now, they had already arrived at the edge of the God of Bountiful Harvest's territory. The effect of spreading the nursery rhyme was excellent. The rhyme was catchy, and combined with the influence of the Sun Card, its spread was already guaranteed.

The lyrics contained blasphemous content, so people were unlikely to sing it in public, at least not in the short term, but spreading it wasn't difficult.

"I'll rest for one night and then leave. You all wait for me here.

"If something goes wrong, run quickly, head back to our home. Once I find that you're not here, I'll return."

This place was also some distance from where Loren had spread the nursery rhyme, so even if they really investigated, they wouldn't trace it back here.

"Okay..."

Being close to the Lost Snow Mountains, Veronica felt a bit cold.

Loren snapped his fingers, and warm air began to blow through the room. This was an air-conditioning magic that Loren had developed.

"These are the thick clothes I bought for you earlier. Change into them now."

Loren tossed the outfit he'd casually picked up from the clothing store to Veronica. Strictly speaking, only Veronica was afraid of the cold, but Loren had still bought a few sets for everyone.

"Oh, oh..."

Veronica acknowledged with a sound, then immediately started taking off her clothes right there.

"Just put it on over your clothes, no need to take anything off..."

Loren held his forehead and muttered a complaint.

Veronica didn't understand anything, so she'd never stopped giving him free shows.

"She's already been trained into such a state by you, so how is she still a virgin... Are you into neglect play?"

Hearing Anna's words, Mirrorheart said nothing, simply silently giving a thumbs up.

Loren looked at Mirrorheart, who quickly put on an innocent expression:

"Don't look at me. I haven't seen Anna in four years. It's her own fault for holding it in too long, she's just pent up. Really, it's not on me."

"..."

Anna blinked her big, innocent eyes, looking completely pure, as if she couldn't possibly have said something like that just now.

"Forget it...

"Mirrorheart, what have you been doing while I was away?"

"I found a place to tie myself up, just treating it like you were neglecting me."

Loren had already mentally prepared himself before Mirrorheart answered, but he never expected something this explosive.

"So that's how you spent the four years?"

"Yes. At first, Lilith would still come by to feed me, but later she went to ask the Bloodline Prince for help, so I could only just wait there."

"Not..."

Loren rubbed his temples. He had still underestimated Mirrorheart.

What kind of normal person could endure being left alone for four years... they'd have turned into a skeleton by now. Only Mirrorheart could withstand that.

"So how did you manage to find your way back?"

Loren didn't plan to keep discussing those bizarre topics and began changing the subject.

"Our souls were already bound together long ago. I can sense your location."

"It can do that?"

This was an unexpected bonus. At least he wouldn't have to worry about Mirrorheart not being able to find him in the future.

Even if Loren truly had to leave for a period of time for some reason, the witches could follow Mirrorheart to find him.

"That's not all. I have other uses too."

As she spoke, under Loren's bewildered gaze, Mirrorheart took out a small mirror and handed it to Loren.

The next moment, Mirrorheart casually picked up a steak knife and slit her own throat.

"Mirrorheart..."

Loren supported Mirrorheart's body. He wasn't too worried, such an injury was nothing to Mirrorheart.

Anna was startled, but she was also familiar with Mirrorheart, so she didn't pay it too much mind.

She had even tried more horrifying games before, and both Loren and Anna had grown somewhat accustomed to it.

Veronica also had no particular reaction. She didn't care about Mirrorheart. Toward anyone other than Loren, she remained as cold and indifferent as ever.

At most, she might pay some attention to Anna, who was now her older sister.

But this time, Loren noticed something different. He genuinely felt Mirrorheart's life force ebbing away.

No, it wasn't ebbing, it was disappearing in an instant.

Loren's panic lasted only a moment. Mirrorheart had just said she wanted to demonstrate her other uses, so this should be it now.

Given Mirrorheart's personality, even if she truly wanted to kill herself, she would do it at the moment of reaching her peak, absolutely not now.

Loren quickly thought of the mirror Mirrorheart had just given him. He picked up the small mirror and looked into it, and in the mirror, Mirrorheart was standing right behind Loren.

Loren whipped his head around and found Mirrorheart standing right behind him.

She clearly hadn't been there just a moment ago. She had appeared the instant Loren looked into the mirror.

"I told you before, Mirrorheart is my name, but it's also the name of my race.

"There are actually many 'me's, but only one can appear in reality. The others all exist in the mirror world.

"When the me in reality dies, the other me's in the mirrors can appear in reality through anything that can reflect images, including the surface of water."

"..."

Only now did Loren realize that Mirrorheart was actually this powerful.

Suddenly, Loren thought of something absurd.

Could Mirrorheart's mana replenishment actually involve swapping in a different person?

"Even without dying, my natural regenerative ability is strong enough on its own.

"So there's no need to swap people for mana replenishment either. I can rely on my own regenerative ability."

Mirrorheart had even guessed what Loren was thinking and began proactively answering.

Then Mirrorheart took her own corpse from Loren's hands and struck a pose:

"Would you like to try it while it's still warm?"