Chapter 111: The Doctrine

In the library's side hall, Nina buried her head in Elara's chest and cried unrestrainedly. Elara gently held her, patting her back in comfort.

The swelling on her face had subsided after some basic treatment, with only a bit of blood still clinging to the corner of her mouth.

Nina, exhausted from crying, leaned against her, sniffling and sobbing. Elara finally seized the opportunity to look up at the blonde Priest who had been quietly standing by: "Joshua, thank you. I've caused you trouble again."

The Priest smiled faintly: "No need to be so polite. I just happened to be in the library looking up some information when I ran into you. I couldn't just leave you be."

"Information?"

Joshua nodded: "I'm currently writing a paper on the history of the development of auxiliary magic and was searching for some information related to Augusta. The other places only had materials that others had already used. I thought I'd try my luck here in the ancient manuscript section."

"Augusta..." Elara was aware of this person, the greatest auxiliary mage on the magical continent in the past few centuries. His most famous accomplishment was the invention of the Curse Mark, which transformed monsters that had been possessed into a fighting force for humanity, thereby reversing the early disadvantage humans had in their struggle against the Inner Demons.

As a Witch, Elara had very mixed feelings about Augusta. Without the Curse Mark, she wouldn't be so easily manipulated by others. On the other hand, without it to suppress the monster within her, she might have been consumed long ago.

"I've seen a few notebooks related to him, and I think there are also some unbound manuscripts. Would those be useful to you?" Nina, hearing about a subject she was familiar with, also lifted her head.

"Manuscripts too?" Joshua's eyes lit up.

"Yeah, they were thrown into the farthest corner of the bookshelf with some other documents. Not many people look at them, but since they are considered antiques, they haven't been discarded," Nina said, tapping her lips as she recalled.

"To think you could find something like that?" The Priest felt his luck was a bit too good.

"I've read everything with words in this library," the girl said nonchalantly. She would often pass the time by reading books here when she was bored.

"Everything..." Joshua had a horrified expression on his face. "They're all ancient books here..." Even he found them difficult to read. What kind of creature was this unremarkable-looking little Witch?

Nina wiped her tears and put on her glasses: "If you need them, I'll go get them for you."

"Thank you," Joshua said respectfully to her, his voice becoming solemn.

"You saved me, so it's the least I can do for such a small favor," Nina said before running into the tall bookshelves.

"However, I didn't know Joshua was also writing a paper," Elara said, having never seen Noyce write one.

Joshua let out a helpless, wry smile: "There's no other choice. After Noyce graduated and took over most of Alicia's tasks, the title of Chief Witch was temporarily transferred. With fewer tasks for Alicia, I didn't have much to do either. I had to find more work to keep my high-ranking Priest's benefits. And I might as well earn some manuscript fees."

He had his own grievances that he couldn't voice. Alicia's extravagant lifestyle, after leaving the Bishop's substantial financial resources, it was uncertain whether she could change. If he didn't save more money, once he defected from the Church and lost his income source in the future, it wouldn't be long before Alicia would leave him destitute.

"What a tough situation..." Elara muttered. The Xis Church was a place overflowing with wealth, yet Joshua always gave her this strange feeling of being forced by life, constantly busy and poor, which was completely different from the other carefree Priests. Then she thought of something: "Will hitting that student just now have any impact on you? Didn't the Church prohibit private duels?"

"Teaching a student a lesson doesn't count as a private duel," Joshua said with a smile. "Moreover, although he'll have to lie in bed for a few days when he goes back, he doesn't even have a minor injury. It's just plain painful. Even if it were really investigated, it wouldn't be a big deal."

"That's good..." Elara let out a sigh of relief. She didn't want Joshua to get into trouble because of her again.

The blonde Priest looked at her expression with interest: "So, this is the reason you didn't tell Noyce about being bullied?"

"Huh?" The girl was taken aback. "How did you know?"

"If you had told Noyce, I wouldn't have been the one to beat him up today," Joshua said with a knowing smile. "But your concerns aren't without reason. I could control my strength when facing that student so as not to hurt him too badly. But if it had been Noyce, after learning that you had been humiliated, he might not have been able to hold back from killing him."

He had been keeping an eye on the movements within the Church these past few days, to prevent some hot-headed Priest from impulsively attacking someone. He hadn't thought that the one who almost got attacked was himself.

Elara gritted her teeth and reluctantly lowered her head. This was the situation of a Witch. Others could hurt and humiliate them at will, but they couldn't fight back.

"But..." The Priest changed the subject, "Your understanding of the Church's regulations seems to be incomplete."

"??" The girl looked up in confusion.

Joshua found a chair and sat down opposite her, preparing for a long talk: "On my first day in the Xis Church, someone warned me never to be tempted by the blonde Witch."

"Alicia?" Elara pictured the radiant Chief Witch in her mind. She was so beautiful; surely there were many who lusted after her. However, it was hard to imagine anyone daring to bully her.

"Many years ago, there was a blind Priest who tried to assault her," Joshua recalled the expression of the Priest who had told him this story and couldn't help but chuckle.

"What happened next?" Elara became nervous.

"Well... it's said that four or five Priests who went to rescue her were severely injured, and countless others had minor injuries. The whole Church was in an uproar until the Bishop himself had to step in to subdue her."

"No wonder Alicia..." Elara sighed in admiration. "But wasn't she punished?"

"Of course she was punished. According to the rules, when a Priest makes a mistake, they are dealt with according to the Church's laws. Since Witches are considered the private property of Priests, when they make a mistake, their Priests are supposed to punish them themselves.

The Bishop personally punished her. No one knows exactly how she was punished. But as you can see, Alicia is still the lively Chief Witch. And that trouble-making Priest... well, no one has seen him since. He's probably dead or at least incapacitated."

"Witches can only be punished by their Priests..." Elara pondered, her eyes rolling. "So if a Priest deliberately favors them, wouldn't that mean..."

"As you can see, she does whatever she wants," Joshua shrugged. "No matter what she does, as long as the Bishop is still in power, no one can take her life. Witches can heal from any injury as long as they don't die. But humans are different. No one would risk their own life to fight a Witch just for a bit of lust. So, whenever there's a new Priest, they are warned never to provoke her."

Elara gaped in astonishment: "This is actually possible... The Church's regulations seem to have a huge loophole..."

"A loophole..." Joshua smiled. The entire Brightness Temple's doctrines are formulated by the Central Church. However, the Central Church has always looked down upon Witches and disdained to establish rules for them. The regulations that currently govern Witches are set by the Xis Church, the only location of the Witch Academy on the continent. To put it bluntly, it's up to Bishop Timothy.

Although Timothy is brutal in his actions, he is quite good at protecting his own. If it weren't for him holding the power of life and death over Witches firmly in his hands, Alicia, who disregards the Church's laws, would have died hundreds of times over.

Elara lowered her head and fidgeted with her fingers. She knew her life was in Noyce's hands, but for the first time, she realized that there were things Noyce couldn't do that she could. If she could completely free herself from the entanglement of those Priests, enduring a bit of punishment would be insignificant.

"So... as long as I can become strong enough myself..." She clenched her fist, and it seemed as if the path ahead suddenly became clear. The road was here, and it was up to her to walk it.