Chapter 694: Teaching How to Fish

"We're here. It should be here, right? I haven't been here for a long time either."

The group arrived at the entrance of a remote village. Yagyu Jubei pointed to a house at the entrance of the village that looked very old and said somewhat uncertainly.

And on the side, Senior Wenwen, holding a camera, moved the lens to record the appearance of this village. While filming, the Black-Feather Witch couldn't help but complain.

"It's really a poor friend. This village looks like even having enough to eat is a problem. It's a pity you have the nerve to come and borrow money from them."

Senior Wenwen truly found it hard to understand why these Yingzhou witches lived such miserable lives. They were witches, after all.

As a reporter, she definitely counted as well-traveled, but the average living standard of the witches on this Yingzhou Island was definitely the lowest she had ever seen.

No matter how poor the witches in the outside world were, they were definitely free from worry about food and clothing. Even if they couldn't afford a private sky-island residence, it wasn't difficult to get a single-family house in that kind of large residential area.

As for food, witches didn't need to eat; eating was just to satisfy the enjoyment of taste, not a necessity. Besides, in the witch world, ordinary food prices were so low that mortals couldn't imagine them. After all, grain that mortals needed to farm for half a year to harvest was just something that could be ripened by a casual spell for those witches who specialized in farming and breeding.

What was truly expensive was that kind of spiritual ingredient containing magic power. Long-term consumption of these spiritual ingredients helped the magic power growth of little witches. However, low-level spiritual ingredients weren't expensive to the point of being unacceptable. Even relatively poor witch families might not be able to afford to eat them every meal, but eating them every two or three days wasn't difficult.

In short, the lives of even the poorest witches in the outside world were comparable to mortal nobles, and even nobles might not necessarily be better than them.

But, look at these witches on Yingzhou Island...

Sigh, just this dilapidated little wooden house, mortals would dislike it, let alone witches. Clearly, they were witches holding extraordinary power, but their lives were lived even more bitterly than those mortals. Where exactly did the problem arise?

"Tsk, even if they have no money, witches can easily build a beautiful little house with their own power. It's a matter of one spell. Is it necessary to make it so shabby?"

Senior Wenwen complained in a low voice.

And Dorothy scanned the village, not very surprised by the situation.

"Sigh, there are many monks and little porridge, that's how it is."

She sighed and said.

Yingzhou Island wasn't very big, and overall it was just the scale of a medium-sized witch territory, but the population in such a small place was very dense.

Dorothy had seen the population statistics of Yingzhou Island that Sophie Liya had shown her before. This small place had a population of two billion directly. This was outrageous.

You know, the total population of the entire witch world was only over 50 billion, but the territory of the witch world was billions of times that of Yingzhou Island.

Witches were scattered throughout this vast witch world, which was sparsely populated, making the Sage Council very troubled.

After all, the pace of the witches' outward expansion had never stopped, and the territory of the witch world was expanding every moment. In contrast, the birth rate of witches, which was actually somewhat low, couldn't keep up with the expansion speed of the territory, coupled with the high population consumption of the war race...

The Sage Council was often troubled by large areas of territory becoming desolate because no one managed them. Anyway, various propaganda for urging marriage and childbirth on the Mana Web had never stopped.

But Yingzhou Island and the Myriad Realms were two extremes.

Yingzhou Island had always been in a closed state in the past, not allowing outsiders to come in, nor allowing locals to go out.

But witches were long-lived species; even the most ordinary witches had a thousand-year lifespan. However, the fertility of witches wasn't low.

Powerful witches might find it difficult to have offspring, but the fertility of ordinary witches wasn't much worse than that of mortals. Even if witch reproduction was a punishment mechanism, and conceiving a child would cause a permanent decline in the magic power of both witch partners, ordinary witches didn't care about this anyway. Even if they worked hard, they had no hope of becoming Grand Witches, so it was better to give birth to more children and gamble. What if they gave birth to a mutant genius?

The weaker they were, the more they could give birth.

Then the result could be imagined. Even if the land area of Yingzhou Island was about two or three times that of Earth, this little place might be huge enough for mortals, but it was too small for witches.

Generally speaking, the resident witch population of a medium-sized witch territory like Yingzhou Island shouldn't exceed 1 million, and now, Yingzhou Island was clearly severely over the standard.

The limited land resources on this island weren't enough to nourish so many witches. What was more troublesome was the severely solidified social system of Yingzhou Island.

The vast majority of the land on this island belonged to the nobles, who numbered only a few hundred thousand.

Then, naturally, these ordinary Yingzhou witches couldn't expect to live comfortably. They even had to rely on the nobles, relying on serving the noble lords to barely obtain that little bit of resources.

To put it plainly, this was no different from slavery.

Witches were indeed extraordinary people who mastered extraordinary power, and their productivity was indeed powerful, but the prosperity of overall productivity and individual living standards had never been said to be directly proportional.

What divided classes was never productivity, but whether one mastered the means of production.

Clearly, these ordinary Yingzhou witches didn't possess those conditions.

Ordinary witches in the outside world were, at the very least, superior people. Even if they belonged to the bottom in witch society, they belonged to the upper level in the entire Western Universe. Below them were many servant races they could order around.

But this Yingzhou Island...

Witches were almost unable to afford food; you still expected mortals?

Dorothy had long discovered that there were pitifully few mortals on Yingzhou Island, fewer than the number of witches. It was estimated that they were literally rolled to death by the witches.

But the rolling dogs often didn't have a good end. The extreme internal rolling brought about high internal friction, which was never a good thing.

The Home Witch couldn't help but sigh, but looking down at the Red Shadow at her waist, her gaze became firm again.

It doesn't matter, I will strike later.

This darkness that had shrouded the sky over Yingzhou Island for a long time would be torn apart by me, and the days ahead would always get better and better.

On the other side, Yagyu Jubei looked at this shabby village, also showing shame. She wanted to turn around and leave, but as soon as she turned, she saw that Battousai was looking at her sword, and there was cold killing intent in her gaze.

The sword-master miss was helpless, so she had to bite the bullet and go up to knock on the door.

Actually, she wasn't very familiar with this family either.

Decades ago, when she was still young, in order to hone her sword art, she had traveled the entire island. Along the way, she had acted chivalrously and helped many people. This family was one of the people she had helped along the way.

This family was a hunter. In order to offset the lord's taxes, they had risked going up the mountain to try to hunt a bear demon. The result naturally didn't need to be thought about; they were almost killed by the bear.

And she happened to pass by at that time. Seeing that the bear demon was indeed powerful and a good material for honing sword art, she went up and performed another insight and slide, successfully killing the bear demon and saving the lives of this family.

Afterward, this family invited her to a meal and said something about not daring to forget the life-saving grace, and that if the benefactor needed anything in the future, as long as she said a word, they would go through fire and water, and would not hesitate to die.

Of course, the sword-master miss at that time didn't care about this. After all, she didn't feel that these ordinary people could help her with anything; they were too weak.

Therefore, after eating that meal, she left directly. And for so many years afterward, the two sides had never contacted each other again. If it weren't for the fact that all her rich "friends" were dead this time, she really wouldn't necessarily have remembered that she still had such a poor "friend."

Mm, and she still had millions of such "poor" friends.

No way, when she traveled back then, she had cut down monsters, cut down fierce people, and even cut down natural disasters like gales and floods. She had indeed saved many people, and everyone said similar things afterward, and she had never taken it seriously for so many years.

Although these friends were poor, as long as everyone borrowed her a few dozen or a few hundred gold yuan each, it would be almost enough to pay off Battousai's debt.

However...

Sigh, she knew these friends were poor, but she really didn't expect them to be this poor. Let alone a few hundred witch gold yuan each, she felt that even a few coins each would be a stretch.

Besides, so much time had passed, it was hard to say whether they still recognized her as a "friend."

At this time, Yagyu Jubei was somewhat depressed. After experiencing dozens of "friend visits" that were like copying homes and exterminating families, she didn't understand "friends" a bit.

Those rich "friends" who still contacted her often over the years had betrayed her, so it was even more unreliable for these "friends" who hadn't contacted her for decades.

Really, it felt like paying off the debt with her body was more reliable. She was a sword master, after all. Letting Battousai do whatever she wanted for a few hundred years would be enough to pay off the debt.

And just when the sword-master miss was letting her imagination run wild, soon, the door opened, and a delicate-looking witch walked out.

"Who are you looking for... Lord Yagyu, it's you."

Seeing a stranger at the door, this delicate witch was originally a bit nervous, but then her eyes widened, full of disbelief.

"Great, Lord Yagyu, you're okay. Those notices were talking nonsense, saying you were killed by that Battousai. I said how could that..."

This witch's joy could be seen. Seeing her benefactor again, she was so happy that her eyes were a bit red. But when she turned her head and saw the cold-blooded swordsman with a cross-shaped scar on her face behind her benefactor, she was directly dumbfounded.

"Bat... Bat... Battousai?"

Because of the notices posted everywhere, the appearance of the Thousand-Man-Slayer Battousai had long been widely circulated. And because the previous notices said that her benefactor, Lord Yagyu, had been killed by this Battousai, how could her family listen to this? So they hated this enemy "Battousai" to the bone, so they remembered it particularly clearly, and now they recognized this enemy at a glance.

But how could the benefactor and the enemy be together?

This unexpected situation made the delicate witch's brain directly crash.

"This is a long story."

This situation also made Yagyu Jubei have a headache. Sigh, it was her impulsiveness that ruined Battousai miss's reputation.

"That's how it is. However, Lord Yagyu, you're okay, that's a good thing after all."

Seeing her benefactor like this, the delicate witch also understood and nodded, not asking much, and enthusiastically greeted the three to enter the house.

"Lord, come in and sit down quickly. Please be sure to have a meal together today."

She said, while shouting into the house.

"Sanada, come over quickly, see who's here."

And hearing the greeting, another gentle-looking witch brought two little girls who looked only seven or eight years old out.

"Lord Yagyu! You really are alright, that's wonderful. May the Great Goddess Amaterasu bless you."

This gentle witch was also very emotional upon seeing Yagyu Jubei; she covered her face and thanked the gods incessantly for their protection.

Immediately after, she pulled the two little witches forward to have her two daughters pay their respects to their benefactor.

"Kana, Eda, come quickly and pay your respects to Lord Yagyu."

In short, the family was very warm and welcoming.

And this left the young swordmaster feeling quite moved.

She hadn't expected that after not seeing them for decades, this family would still recognize her the moment they met; these were true friends indeed—what were those previous ones even about?

However, moved as she was, she also swept her gaze over the furnishings in the home, judging at a glance that this was a home that was consistent inside and out.

The inside of the house didn't look much better than the outside; the furniture and items were visibly old and worn. It was clear that this family's life was truly not very affluent.

The young swordmaster became conflicted immediately; in this situation, how could she have the face to ask for a loan?

However, while she was embarrassed, someone else was not.

Dorothy watched as this family began to enthusiastically bustle about to prepare a meal, and she hurriedly interrupted. Now was not the time for eating; there were still many more of Yagyu's friends' homes to visit later, so...

"Yagyu had a falling out with her family, is now penniless, and owes a debt to a very terrifying existence. If she doesn't pay it back, she'll die, so she's here to borrow money. Are you going to lend it or not? If you don't have money to lend, then we'll have to go to the next house to ask."

The home-loving witch went straight to the point without any emotion.

"You..."

The young swordmaster glared at her in anger, but had no way to lash out, as the young lady Battousai was stating facts.

"I'm sorry, it was me who disturbed you. We'll leave now and go ask at another house. Don't listen to her nonsense; actually, it's not that serious. I still have quite a few wealthy friends. This time, I just happened to be passing by your home and stopped in to see you."

Yagyu Jubei's fair face turned bright red. She looked at this family that had suddenly fallen silent and hurriedly tried to put on a brave front.

The delicate witch and the gentle witch exchanged a glance, their eyes also beginning to show conflict and hesitation.

Just as the young swordmaster had pushed Dorothy and Senior Wenwen to the doorway, preparing to forcibly drag the two of them away, the delicate witch spoke up.

"Wait, Lord Yagyu, please take this with you."

She chased after them, then took a bulging money pouch from her bosom and handed it toward Yagyu Jubei.

Before the young swordmaster could even manage to decline, the money pouch had already been taken away by Dorothy.

The home-loving witch opened the pouch and found that it was actually filled with copper and silver coins. It looked like a lot, but in total, it was estimated to be only about a hundred gold coins.

However, this was not a small sum of money, especially considering that this family lived in such poor conditions and yet still had such savings; it was truly surprising.

"Mother, that is the tuition for Big Sister to learn swordsmanship."

Among the two little witches on the side, the younger one saw her mother's action and became anxious, shouting loudly.

But before she could finish shouting, her mouth was covered by her older sister beside her.

This older little witch said somewhat shyly:

"Actually, my talent isn't good either, and I won't be able to use this. Lord Yagyu, you need this more than I do. After all, if it weren't for you, neither my sister nor I would have had the chance to be born."

Although this little witch was young, she was sensible to a point that made one's heart ache.

A flash of mana appeared in Dorothy's eyes; she discovered that this little one seemed to be a little genius, as at seven or eight years old, she already possessed mana on the same level as her own.

Ah, this...

The home-loving witch silently put the money pouch away and then turned to walk away.

"Stop right there! How can you have the face to take this money? Won't your conscience hurt?"

Yagyu Jubei was anxious; she hurriedly blocked Dorothy and then attempted to attack her chest to snatch the money back.

To this, the home-loving witch dodged with a flash-step and then looked at her, somewhat speechless.

"Aren't you a swordmaster? Don't you know how to teach people swordsmanship?"

She looked at this person as if she were a fool.

The young swordmaster was stunned, then suddenly realized.

"I'll give you ten minutes. Ten minutes later, we go to the next house."

She said this.

Yagyu Jubei did not dare to delay; she hurriedly stepped forward, took a sword manual with very detailed annotations from her bosom, handed it to the little witch who wanted to learn swordsmanship, and then raced against time to demonstrate it once.

Swordmaster is teaching swordsmanship...

The weather is suddenly hot and cold, I've caught a bit of a cold; you all should be careful too.

(End of chapter)