Chapter 506

Inside the floating vehicle, the two figures, one large and one small, stared at each other for a long time, but in the end, neither could make the other yield.

"Ah, yes, yes, yes, who let you be the boss? Everything you say is right."

Ati lowered her head first and shifted her gaze. She shrugged, spread her hands, and spoke to Dorothy in such a perfunctory manner.

The little loli knew that her own strength was not at an advantage, so saying anything more would be in vain and would only result in her getting a beating for nothing. So, what else was there to say? She might as well let the other party be happy.

To this, Dorothy naturally heard the perfunctoriness in Ati's tone, which made her shake her head, feeling somewhat self-deprecating.

She must have been bored out of her mind to actually argue with someone about this kind of thing.

Sure enough, this kind of argument involving ideology would never have any results, because both sides of the debate often had their own reasons and evidence.

A thousand people have a thousand different ideas, and people often only firmly believe in what they are willing to believe. This is the limitation of being human, and there is nothing more to say.

Only an omniscient and omnipotent god can be forever correct; apart from that, any non-divine being will commit errors.

No one can guarantee that they will be correct forever, and this naturally includes herself.

Regarding this point, the Home Witch was very clear.

Her viewpoint could only represent her own thoughts, and it was not some so-called standard answer.

There was no such thing as correct or incorrect regarding her and Ati's respective viewpoints, nor was there a distinction between superior or inferior; both might just be fragments of a standard answer.

It was like a picture with a snake drawn on the front and a dragon drawn on the back. Two people stood on the front and back sides respectively to take a look, and then went out to compare answers. One insisted it was a snake painting, and the other insisted it was a dragon painting. In the end, neither could convince the other.

Of course, this was just a metaphor; the reality of the answer could not possibly have only these two sides. Parallel spaces, myriad worlds, everything is possible—this is the wonder and greatness of fate.

Everyone is walking on their own path of destiny, and apart from themselves, others have no right to interfere with their choices.

"Regarding the violence I just used, I will not apologize, because you were the one who first mocked my wish with your sharp tongue. However, I must apologize for the behavior I just displayed in trying to convince you. Sorry, Ati, I shouldn't have tried to impose my will upon you. You can take my words from just now as a reference, but you must not follow them blindly. Whether you are willing to listen, and how much you listen, this should be decided after you have thought about it carefully yourself."

Ending her daily self-reflection, the Home Witch looked at the evil-seeded little loli opposite her and then spoke earnestly.

Back then, also in a vehicle, Mother had demanded she return to inherit the throne, but Dorothy had refused, choosing the freedom to decide her own life. Thus, she should not repeat the same mistake with Ati.

Although this was just a dream now, and the Ati in front of her was nothing more than a remnant shadow of the past in a dream—an NPC—since she had promised Senior Dai Na that she would teach this child well, if possible, Dorothy hoped she could become a good teacher.

Teaching students is not about cloning a puppet exactly like oneself; good students need to possess the ability to think independently.

"Uh..."

The Home Witch's apology instead left the evil-seeded little loli opposite her at a loss. It was the first time Ati had been treated like this in all her years of growing up. For a moment, her mood was unexpectedly somewhat complicated.

However, rebellious as she was, she naturally would not accept the apology so easily. She thought for a moment and then switched on her contrarian mode.

"You say it as if it's true. You already forced me to sign that master-servant contract. Now stop acting like a hypocritical good person here. You said so much, isn't it just to make me obediently listen to you and be a so-called good child? I won't! I'll make you so mad, bleh, bleh, bleh..."

The little loli made a face, mocking the bad woman opposite her.

But regarding Ati's mockery, this time the Home Witch did not rush to refute it. She thought about it seriously before speaking.

"Making you sign the contract before was because we were enemies at that time, but now, we are teacher and student. This specific issue naturally needs specific analysis. Your position determines your perspective."

"As for what you said about wanting you to be a good child, that depends on what your understanding of a good child is. What kind of person do you think is a good child?"

Dorothy became interested and asked back.

Because the location of the research institute was truly somewhat remote, even at the speed of the floating vehicle, it would still take some time to arrive. Anyway, since she was idle on the road, she might as well chat more with this dream disciple to increase the bond between teacher and student.

"What else could it be? Aren't good children all like that? Good at studying, listening to family, and if they are girls, they also have to be well-read, sensible, and understanding. It's an old-fashioned set. Don't you adults want all children to become like that?"

Ati was somewhat irritated by the question, mainly because the three words "good child" really made her somewhat unhappy.

In the past, she had always been a standard good child, even if that good child's outer shell was just a disguise she put on as an evil seed.

After all, everyone likes good children. Who would like a bad seed like her who was born full of bad intentions?

Ati had a very clear understanding of the fact that she was essentially a bad child.

Adults like all children to be good children, but they never care whether the children are truly willing to be good children.

Clearly, those adults are all full of lies themselves, and every day they open their mouths to talk about how they were back then, but how much of their glorious deeds are actually true? Was their past really all about being good children?

Or is it that, in fact, they were all just like her, disguising themselves as good children?

Anyway, among the people Ati knew, there were no such truly perfect good children. The disgusting disguises of those adults who couldn't even keep their contracts with small children were all laid bare under her Heart Contract.

Human nature is inherently evil; of this, she was absolutely certain.

Anyway, Ati didn't want to be any good child. She wanted to do whatever she wanted to do. She was willing to be this evil seed.

At the moment, the evil-seeded little loli crossed her arms over her chest. She looked at the bad woman opposite her with a smile, waiting for her answer.

It was just a pity that her Heart Contract ability had no effect on this bad woman; otherwise, she would have publicly executed the thoughts in this bad woman's heart right now.

Come on, let me hear what kind of nonsense you are prepared to use to fool me into "turning over a new leaf" now.

And to this, Dorothy shook her head and felt somewhat amused. She just looked at Ati opposite her with amusement, looking until the evil-seeded little loli felt completely uncomfortable.

"What are you laughing at? Hurry up and start your performance. Or are you at a loss for words, not knowing how to teach me anymore?"

Ati urged, feeling embarrassed and angry.

"I just suddenly discovered that you really are still just a child."

Dorothy reached out and touched the little loli's head, but seeing that the other party was really about to explode, she had to withdraw her hand and then coughed.

"Your standard is not that of a good child; it's simply the 'child of someone else's family.' Many people like the template of the 'child of someone else's family,' but as far as I am personally concerned, it actually doesn't matter."

The Home Witch shook her head and then pointed at herself.

"If I really followed that standard, I wouldn't be a good child myself. How would I have the ability to teach you to be like that?"

Dorothy shrugged, self-deprecatingly.

After all, she was a veteran homebody who stayed indoors all day, and her mana talent was also lackluster. In the universal values of the Witch World, she definitely belonged to the kind of bad child with an unsociable personality and poor grades.

But so what? She was generally quite satisfied with her life. As for other people's opinions of her, what was there to care about? Anyway, she stayed at home all day without going out, and she couldn't hear other people's evaluations of her. Besides, being talked about wouldn't make her lose a piece of flesh.

"Ati, you don't need to care about other people's opinions, and you don't need to force yourself to be a good child in the mouths of others. That has no meaning."

"Your life is lived for yourself, not for others. You just need to live happily and joyfully yourself."

"I won't require you to become that kind of template-like good child. That kind of good child is not as interesting as you, Ati, in front of me right now. As a teacher, if you insist that I have an expectation for you, then I hope you can become a person without regrets."

Dorothy thought for a moment and said this.

"Without regrets?"

This was the first time someone had made such a request of Ati. The little loli was somewhat confused for a moment.

"Hmm, it means that when you look back on the past in the future, you won't feel remorse for wasting your years, nor will you feel ashamed for accomplishing nothing. If your life can be without regrets like this, then it can already be considered a very successful life, can't it?"

The Home Witch blinked and explained it this way.

"Just like that?"

Ati was somewhat dumbfounded. This was different from the requirements others had of her in the past, and it sounded a bit too simple.

"Yeah, just like that. How your life should be spent should have been your own choice to begin with. Other people's teaching was originally just a suggestion. Whether to take it or not is decided by you yourself. Others don't need to be responsible for your life; your life can only be responsible for by yourself."

Dorothy nodded affirmatively; this was also her own philosophy of life.

"Then what if I choose to be a bad person? The really, really bad kind, killing and setting fires everywhere..."

Seeing that she was almost about to be convinced, Ati felt somewhat unhappy and continued her contrarian nature.

However, the evil-seeded little loli's words were not finished before they were blocked by the look in the bad woman's eyes opposite her, which looked like she was smiling, but there was no smile in her eyes at all.

"Of course you can. I've said it before, your life is chosen by yourself and responsible for by yourself. As long as you can truly be responsible for your sins, then I have nothing to say."

"However, Ati, you have the right to decide your own life, and others naturally also have the right to decide their lives. And when two life paths intersect and collide at a certain point, there is always one person who has to retreat, isn't there?"

"You have your freedom to kill and set fires, and others naturally also have the freedom to act chivalrously and righteously, don't they?"

"At that time, that will be a true struggle of ideologies, or rather, a struggle of paths. And such a struggle of paths generally won't have anyone voluntarily retreating. The final outcome is generally often either you die or I live."

The Home Witch said this.

"Shouldn't it be either you die or I perish?"

Ati habitually corrected her, but as she corrected, she shut her mouth.

A smart child like her naturally understood the subtext of the bad woman in front of her.

Although to herself, Dorothy was a bad woman, in the eyes of the public, she was probably a good woman.

If she truly became a bad person, then in the future struggle of paths, she would sooner or later encounter Dorothy again.

Then the question came: did she already have the awareness to be enemies with this bad woman again? Could she really be responsible for such a choice?

Thinking of that scary game of hide-and-seek not long ago, Ati fell silent.

"That, actually, I'm not that bad. The evil seed thing and all that are just nonsense from that group of people. I'm not lacking empathy; I understand people's hearts very well. And I have a bottom line for being bad, okay? I only take action against those who break contracts. Those who lose their integrity deserve it."

After a long time, the evil-seeded little loli suddenly straightened her sitting posture and then spoke solemnly.

She secretly looked up at Dorothy's expression in front of her again. Seeing that this bad woman was still in that playful manner with a faint smile, she raised her hand again and swore an oath.

"I really haven't wronged any good people. The endings of those guys in the past were all brought upon themselves. I just made public the things they did themselves..."

"Okay, I confess, there were indeed some that were done a bit too excessively, but I will pay attention to the scale in the future and won't really block the path of people who shouldn't be blocked."

Dorothy: "..."

Good fellow, the meaning is that apart from people who shouldn't be blocked, others who should be blocked will still be blocked, right?

The Home Witch looked at Ati, who was still playing word games at this time, and shook her head helplessly, but she didn't say anything more.

After all, what needed to be said had already been said just now, and saying more would cross the line. Anyway, whether to listen or not was Ati's own business. As long as she could be responsible for the consequences of the things she did, then as long as she was happy, it was fine.

After all, this was ultimately a Demon King larva. No one would really think that a round of verbal bombardment could make that Demon King who had recruited countless demons in the Abyss Hell "turn over a new leaf," right?

It doesn't matter. Anyway, as long as she doesn't block her own path, it's fine.

The Home Witch thought to herself.

And just at this time, the floating special vehicle finally arrived at the station. As the vehicle door opened, Dorothy and Ati ended their teacher-student heart-to-heart talk. The two were just about to get off the vehicle, however...

"Boom..."

Accompanied by a roar that shook the heavens and the earth, the ground began to shake violently...

This was an earthquake.

And it was not just any ordinary earthquake, because another behemoth had just crawled out from the underground of the research institute, which had already turned into ruins.

Dorothy: "..."

The Home Witch stood in the floating vehicle, which was not affected by the earthquake just now because it was not fully on the ground but in a semi-floating state. She just stared at the ruins in front of her, and the monster gradually drilling out from the ruins, with a series of question marks appearing above her head.

Where is my research institute? Where is my research institute, such a big one that I was just about to take office in today?

This is the first day of work after a promotion and salary increase, and as a result, the unit is gone. What should I do about this?

However, the current situation was not a good time for her to think deeply. Before the Home Witch's brain could react, her body had already moved first.

Before that underground monster had even fully drilled out, Dorothy's figure had already appeared above the monster, and then she raised her fist.

Boom...

... In the second wave of the earthquake...