Chapter 30: The Scarlet Witch and the White Witch
Elsa was happy. She had already noticed that Luo Ling didn’t experience even a flicker of a trance while listening to her speak.
This was the first time she had met a friend she could talk to directly, especially someone her own age.
Even Old Ji’s mind would be slightly disturbed when he heard her voice, forcing her to speak slowly and as little as possible.
If the other Awakened Ones heard Elsa speak so fluently, they might even go into shock.
Elsa wasn’t someone who disliked talking, but because of this reason, she could only remain silent.
“A foreigner?”
Luo Ling finally took a closer look at the girl in the wheelchair and noticed that her face did indeed resemble a doll’s, her fair skin seemingly delicate—of course, compared to Luo Ling’s pale complexion, hers was relatively normal.
Her slightly curly hair wasn’t black but a dull reddish-brown, and with her lolita-style dress, she looked like a little princess from medieval Europe.
“Mm-hmm,” Elsa nodded and asked curiously, “Big Sister, are you not from China?”
Luo Ling’s white hair and pale skin were too striking. Few Chinese people had this hair color, and even dyed hair rarely reached this level of paleness.
“…Of course I am.”
Luo Ling couldn’t help but grin. How could changing her hair color almost strip her of her nationality…?
“Ah, sorry…”
Elsa’s face flushed with embarrassment.
“Silly Elsa! Stupid Elsa! Idiot Elsa!”
The teddy bear in her arms gloated. This chaotic evil teddy bear even enjoyed mocking its owner.
“It’s okay.”
Looking at the meek, kitten-like Elsa, Luo Ling’s tense mood eased slightly.
However… this little girl named Elsa, or Xu Qian, was visibly unusual.
Although she kept her eyes closed and didn’t speak aloud, she could see and talk.
Perhaps this was Elsa’s ability. Luo Ling was just curious but didn’t ask.
“Big Sister, what should I call you?” Elsa asked cautiously.
“Just call me Bai,” Luo Ling said calmly.
“Don’t you have a codename?” Elsa tilted her head, a sweet smile appearing on her lips. “Like mine, for example, is Scarlet Witch.”
Codename…
Like “Bone Doctor” or “Ancient Martial Artist”?
But… was it necessary?
Seeming to sense Luo Ling’s confusion about codenames, Elsa explained,
“It’s best for Awakened Ones not to reveal all their abilities to others, but we still need to cooperate. Codenames can briefly tell others what our abilities are, what we can do… Like me, for example, I might look frail, but I’m actually very, very strong!”
She clenched her small, pink fists, a proud smile on her lips. “I’m the group’s ultimate weapon! Whenever the others encounter a Grotesquery they can’t handle, they send me!”
“Terrifying Murderer Elsa!”
The teddy bear interjected at the perfect moment.
“I-I’m not!” Elsa quickly covered the teddy bear’s mouth. “Bella, stop talking nonsense!”
If that was the case, it made sense.
Luo Ling nodded thoughtfully.
“I don’t have a codename.”
“Then, how about White Witch!” Elsa suddenly had a brilliant idea and clapped her hands excitedly. “Look, White Witch, Scarlet Witch, it sounds like we’re partners!”
Perhaps because she hadn’t spoken to anyone like this for so long, Elsa was unusually talkative.
But, White Witch…?
Luo Ling pondered for a moment. It wasn’t bad.
The ability she had displayed so far was healing, which was usually called white magic in stories. The codename “White Witch” was quite fitting.
“Ah, sorry, I got too excited…”
Elsa didn’t hear Luo Ling’s reply and thought she had been too forward, shrinking back slightly.
Damn it, she had finally found a friend who could talk to her normally, she couldn’t afford to be disliked…
“It’s okay, I like it,” Luo Ling nodded slightly. “White Witch it is. I’m on the Myriad path, and my ability is healing.”
She extended her hand, a faint smile on her lips. “Nice to meet you, partner, Scarlet Witch.”
“Partner!”
Elsa’s face brightened, and she shook Luo Ling’s hand, her movements slightly awkward and hesitant, as if she rarely had such contact with others.
“I should go back now,” Luo Ling stood up. “My family will be worried if I’m too late.”
“Mm-hmm.”
Elsa nodded, her doll-like face beaming with joy.
Finally… she had a friend who could listen to her. The other older members were nice to her, but… they couldn’t listen to her words.
Luo Ling put the money Liu Songyi had given her into her pocket, said goodbye to Elsa, and left Qingshan Hospital.
Halfway there, Luo Ling used her Spores to scout the surroundings. Seeing no one around, she transformed back into her original form, changed into her school uniform, and walked home.
…
“Bai… she’s hiding a lot of secrets, and she might be dangerous,” Liu Songyi said in a low voice, arms crossed.
As a criminal investigator, he had rushed to the scene of the murder as soon as he could and had made a preliminary assessment of the Grotesquery’s strength.
It was something a Second-Order Awakened One could handle, relatively weak among Low-Sequence Grotesqueries.
But… the traces of the battle indicated that its opponent was extremely powerful, having killed it almost instantly.
Its true strength was unfathomable.
The unknown was often the most terrifying, so it was normal for the cautious Liu Songyi to be wary.
He had learned Luo Ling’s alias from Director Li’s visitor log during his investigation.
“I know that, of course,” Ji Shinian said slowly. His condition had worsened after accidentally glimpsing the thread of fate again.
“But…”
Liu Songyi frowned slightly.
“Xiao Liu, about this matter… don’t pursue it any further. I have my reasons,” a bitter smile appeared on Ji Shinian’s lips. “Of the three administrators, one is still in a coma, and another has met with misfortune. Only you are left to support everything…
“But even in this small Jiangcheng County, we’re not the only ones…”
He gave Liu Songyi a meaningful look. “Compared to Grotesqueries, Awakened Ones, who are also human… might be even more dangerous.”
“Old Ji, do you mean… you recruited her mainly to prevent her from joining other factions?” Liu Songyi asked, puzzled. “Is she really that important?”
Ji Shinian didn’t answer Liu Songyi’s question directly but instead asked, “Xiao Liu, how long did it take you to awaken and advance to Third-Order?”
Liu Songyi replied seriously, “About two years.”
“A century ago, with your talent, it would have taken at least thirty years to advance from zero to Third-Order.”
“Huh?”
Liu Songyi was stunned. His advancement speed wasn’t even considered particularly fast.
The strongest in the Patient Exchange Group was currently Elsa, a Fourth-Order Awakened One… though her abilities were somewhat indiscriminate and prone to friendly fire.
If Wu Qin, the Bone Doctor, were still alive, she would probably be between Fourth and Fifth Order.
“Because you used Sacred Relics, accelerating your progress along your path. In my time, Sacred Relics were even more precious… because Grotesqueries rarely appeared.”
Ji Shinian said calmly, “In recent centuries, the number of both Grotesqueries and Awakened Ones has been increasing, and the conflicts erupting in the ‘real’ world have become more severe. Countless cities and organizations have vanished from history, and even maintaining a semblance of peace is becoming difficult.
“We are living in an era of great change. If we don’t want to be eliminated in this cruel upheaval, we must seize every opportunity, whether ‘important’ or ‘unimportant.’
“…Even just to survive, we must give it our all.”
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