While Emilia, the current master, was calming down, Ren was not idle. Doom Companion had not yet ended.
"Reinhardt, Mikoto Suoh, how are things on your end?" Ren asked.
"All is well," Mikoto Suoh replied.
"The magic beasts that attacked the Royal Capital have all been killed," Reinhardt said. "I didn't expect all three Great Magic Beasts to appear. This chaos has spread too widely. There's no major damage inside the Royal Capital, but the outside still needs to be cleaned up."
"Leave that to ," Ren responded.
"Ren-san, I am very grateful!" Reinhardt exclaid.
Ren then called out, "Satella, these magic beasts and the Witch Factors on the Witch Cult mbers are yours." Satella, condensed from shadows, appeared.
"I will complete it well, Master," Satella said before transforming into shadow and dispersing.
"Who was that just now?" Esdeath's perception of auras was still keen. "I felt a powerful force from her."
"That was the Witch of Envy, Satella, my newly recruited subordinate," Ren explained.
"Oh, the Witch of Envy," Exusiai said. "I heard Emilia ntion her in the group. She's a very terrifying witch who almost devoured the world, and she's also a Half-Elf like Emilia, which is why Emilia is disliked by the people here."
Exusiai continued, "Emilia also told stories of other witches, each quite mysterious and dangerous." Although Exusiai's physical ability might not be great, her mory was quite sharp.
Nami rolled her beautiful eyes. "A subordinate? Didn't you say you had a slave who was the Witch of Greed? You didn't possibly take all the witches of this world as slaves, did you?"
Clap, clap, clap! Ren clapped his hands, praising Nami. "You guessed correctly."
"Slave..." Bronya was montarily speechless, having never expected Ren to have such a hobby.
"Ren, will it be dangerous to subdue such witches?" Shinobu Kocho asked. In her heart, as long as Ren was happy, that was all that mattered, but safety was always the first priority.
"I imagine such dangerous witches must be difficult to control, right?" Saeko Busujima added, also feeling that the witches feared by this world were not to be trifled with.
"Don't worry, everything is under my control," Ren reassured them, pleased by their concern.
Suddenly, he noticed a prying gaze. He turned his head and stared in one direction, at a tightly closed door.
"What's wrong?" Exusiai looked over but saw nothing.
"I'll go take a look." He walked slowly to the door, bent his finger slightly, and with a small force, the door was pushed open.
As soon as his right foot stepped inside, he heard a delicate shout. "Who allowed you to enter the library freely?" Once he was inside, the door closed automatically.
"What's going on?" Confused, Exusiai pushed the door open, only to find a storage room inside. There was nothing there, and Ren was gone.
"It must be so kind of magic. Just wait here," she said to the others. To be precise, Ren had entered another space.
This was a room filled with books. Before him was a young girl with golden spiral twin tails, looking displeased. She had fair, translucent skin and light blue, pinkish X-shaped eyes. Her light, almost cream-colored long hair was styled into vertical spiral twin tails. The girl, in her elaborate ruffled dress, gave off a delicate and lovable impression.
The girl stood with her hands on her hips, glaring unhappily at Ren, the intruder. "You were the one who peeked at first," Ren stated, claiming innocence.
"Betty only sensed a powerful magical energy and took a look to ensure the safety of the Forbidden Library," the girl nad Betty said, puffing out her chest, not feeling that she did anything wrong.
Ren ignored her, instead leisurely surveying the surrounding bookshelves. "Hey, this is the Forbidden Library. You're not allowed to look around freely. If you don't leave on your own, Betty will force you out," she warned.
"Oh, do as you please," Ren replied carelessly, walking up to a book that had been specially placed on a solitary table. He reached out his hand.
"Don't touch it!" Betty shouted, but Ren didn't stop. "Betty will kick you out!"
Betty activated her spatial power, attempting to expel Ren, but she found it had no effect. He had already picked up the book. His palm easily flipped through it, page after page, all blank, without any text.
"Is this the gospel book?" It was his first ti observing one himself. It seed to contain no revelations.
"You know about the gospel book?" A person who could intrude here and know about the book stirred a ripple in Betty's heart.
"Roswaal also has one, but yours has no words on it," Ren said. Betty's gaze dimd as she muttered, "Can you leave now?"
"I'm Emilia's guest. Is it really okay for you to kick out like this?" Ren adopted a defiant, unmovable attitude.
"What happens outside has nothing to do with Betty. Betty is in charge of the Forbidden Library," she retorted, asserting her authority.
But Ren ignored her. "My na is Ren, what's yours?" he asked. Betty's ability was useless against him. She put on a stern face and said coldly, "Betty."
Ren, of course, already knew she was Betty, an Elf created by Echidna. He held up the gospel book in his hand. "Are you, like Roswaal, following the revelations of the gospel book?"
Betty bit her silver teeth, not replying.
"Why don't you tell what kind of prophecy you're following? I like listening to stories." Ren sat down, crossing his legs and holding the gospel book to his cheek with his right hand, assuming a posture of soone ready to listen to a story. With a shimr of golden light, a bottle of beer appeared in his hand. "I have beer, you have a story."
This intruder was so annoying. Betty didn't even know him. Why was he asking so many questions? What difference did it make if he knew about prophetic revelations? That prophecy...
Betty lowered her head. A mont later, a slight tremor ca from her voice. "Betty must wait for the person revealed by the gospel book to sign a contract with him, rewrite the contract, and only then can she freely leave this place."
"How long have you been waiting?" Ren asked.
"...Four hundred years." Betty's mories seed to return to the very beginning. Her mother had left her after leaving behind the vast Forbidden Library and the contract to wait for "that person." After that, the book of destiny never gave any guidance again.
In this narrow, dark room, Betty had spent an excessively long ti. Even after reading through the entire boundless sea of books, the person she had been waiting for still hadn't arrived. The gospel book, which should have told her her future direction, revealed nothing.
How many tis had that loneliness shattered the young girl's heart? Countless tis each day, she would check, hoping for new content in the book, believing that one day she could fulfill her mission. But as ti passed, everyone left her. The door opened again and again, but each ti it represented betrayal. A fragile heart would one day be exhausted by the long wait.
Four hundred years had passed, encompassing most of this world's history—the Age of Witches, the end of destruction and the beginning of prosperity, the kingdom's protection, the contempt for Half-Elves. And Betty had experienced all of that era and lived until now. Such feelings were difficult for those who hadn't experienced them to understand—an endless promise, and a book of prophecy full of blanks. This seed like a joke Echidna played on Betty.
The Witch's mind was unimaginable. Echidna was the Witch of Greed, a Witch who would abandon everything for knowledge. But Betty had prayed countless tis for that person's arrival during these 400 years. She had fantasized countless tis about the book of prophecy giving guidance, but it was ultimately just a dream.
400 years had long since erased the initial expectation and prayer; the forr hope had already transford into despair. She couldn't even break free from this contract; her identity as an Elf prevented her from giving up her life. "You truly are a perpetrator of evil, Echidna."
Well, I was just curious. Heh, as expected of the Witch of Greed. By the way, Betty is your daughter, right? Hmm, it's not wrong to say that. Then you could say she's my daughter too. Oh, is master proposing to ? Unfortunately not, you are just a sex slave, understand your place. Oh, does a sex slave not have the right to pursue a higher position?
Ren stopped paying attention to the ntal conversation he was having with her. He felt that calling these Witches 'Witches' was truly appropriate, as each of them had strange, extre psychological disorders.
He looked at Betty, who was imrsed in the past, falling into sadness, and seed on the verge of tears. Ren sighed. His slave Witch really caused trouble.
Rip! A strange sound. Betty looked up. !!! What did she see? The gospel book was being torn by that man!
"What exactly are you doing?" Betty's heart trembled. Her gospel book was gone—even her last shred of hope was gone!
"Helping my slave pay a debt, freeing you a bit," Ren said with a shrug.
"Free ?" Betty gazed into his eyes, her crystalline pupils filled with pleading, hope, and a struggling glimr.
"Can you put first in your heart, think of first, choose first, overwrite the contract, rewrite the contract, erase the contract, take away, pull , hold tight?" she asked, her hands tightly clasped behind her back in nervousness. These were the necessary conditions to rewrite the contract and free her.
But Ren's reply stunned her. "I can't. I have many girlfriends, and they all hold important places in my heart."
He stated it directly, as he didn't like to lie. He couldn't put anyone else first. Or rather, all his lovers were first in his heart. You could disgustingly curse him as a stud; you could lowly mock him as a pervert; you could scorn him as a scumbag. He could be called a romantic by the highly intelligent, and he could be admired and praised for his universal love. He didn't care.
Whether he was an ultimate stud dominated by his lower body or a playboy entangled in chaotic emotions, he would accept it without rejection. Because this was a true reflection of his inner self; this was the kind of person he was. No matter how many debts of love he accumulated, he would be responsible for every promise he made. When it ca to the word 'love', it was estimated that no one took it more lightly than him, and no one took it more seriously than him.
He could not easily make promises, nor would he lie about non-existent fabricated facts due to lust. Sotis, sincerity and true feelings do not always lead to love, but the love that is gained will surely shine brightly like a pearl. Just like the sincerity Yukino once sought. He had never been insincere towards Yukino. He didn't hide his desires or his care. This was Ren's sincerity. But at this mont, his sincerity could not yield love.
And what he brought to Betty was that fleeting pain.
"..." Betty slumped to the ground, utterly dejected. Ren's sincerity brought her despair. So-called salvation was indeed all false. After four hundred years, she should have known. Everything was completely fake. That person would never appear. Even a delayed salvation could not fill the void of four hundred years.
Tears stread from the corners of her eyes; they were the crystallization of her despair. She raised her hands, and her crystal-clear eyes held nothing but pleading. "If you cannot save , please kill , please end this endless contract!"
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