Chapter 4841

Steve froze for a moment, then asked, "What's the problem? Can't those two coexist?"

Wanda glanced at Strange, who was sitting to the side reading a book without saying a word, then said, "No. The Sorcerer Supreme won't allow any superpowered organization near the school. The Hellfire Club previously wanted to build an academy there and was nearly beaten to death by the sorcerers."

"When did this happen?" Steve asked, bewildered. "How come I didn't know?"

Stark clearly didn't know either. So the two of them looked at Strange together. Strange said without lifting his head, "Mind your own business about magical affairs."

Wanda wore a "see, I told you" expression. The Sorcerer Supreme was just that kind of self-important personality. His words were iron law for the magical and occult worlds; whoever dared disobey got two fists. Mephisto might not even survive two punches from him, let alone witches.

Steve also had a bit of a headache. His relationship with Strange had never been good, precisely because Strange was a bit too dictatorial. He never backed down in any conflict; whatever he did, he had to have the final say, especially when magic was involved — he wouldn't tolerate anyone else inserting half a word, not even asking a question.

Even though Strange also acknowledged that the people in the Avengers were his friends, the most patience he could muster was to teleport away and disappear when they kept asking questions.

Steve was about to speak again, but Wanda hurriedly gave him a "don't provoke him" look, then said, "Even if they want to move back north, now isn't a good time. The movie is about to start filming, and several northern cities have scenes. If a conflict with the witches breaks out, it'll be trouble."

Wanda gritted her teeth and said, "They've lived for so long in the uninhabited wilderness of the Colorado Plateau; there's simply no way they can adapt to ordinary human society now. It's a bit like monkeys just come down from the trees — we can't reason with them. We can't just kill them all, can we?"

Stark flipped his hand over and asked, "What role do they want you to play? I mean, they definitely asked you for something, right?"

Bringing this up made Wanda want to flop onto the sofa without regard for her image, but she held back in the end, just saying in a utterly despairing tone, "They want me to take them to Old Salem. As far as I know, that place isn't far from Ilvermorny — accurately speaking, less than five miles."

"They were there first, right?" Coulson asked like this. But he wasn't trying to side with the witches. He said, "If they've been living there all along, we have no chance of building the magic academy there too. After all, before Ilvermorny started construction, it went through a very thorough investigation and even passed all environmental certifications. That land belongs to the magic school now; they have no legal basis to come back and live there."

"None of that matters," Wanda shook her head and said. "Before they pass the ordinary society's assessment, they have to get past the Sorcerer Supreme first. But the Sorcerer Supreme in their impression is the Ancient One."

Hearing this, everyone else understood. The Ancient One was the type of Sorcerer Supreme who struck out hard externally but was kind and tolerant internally. She was friendly to ordinary people, not harsh toward her peers in the magical and occult worlds, would even lend a hand to passersby, and had very high prestige on Earth.

The witches thought they could move back now, so they had Wanda help take them back. Wanda was unwilling because she knew Strange would never agree. She had no reason or standing to persuade Strange to agree, and even less possibility of fighting him over it.

And when Wanda conveyed her meaning, the witches felt very puzzled. They didn't understand why the Sorcerer Supreme would disagree. Because in their impression, that Sorcerer Supreme was powerful and benevolent, Earth's guardian deity, impossible to get angry over such a trivial matter.

Even when Wanda told them about the magic academy, they felt it was no big deal — just move farther away. If five miles doesn't work, wouldn't fifty miles work? Either way it's still better than the Colorado Plateau.

The problem is, let alone fifty miles — right now the entire state of Massachusetts doesn't allow any superpowered organization stronghold to appear besides the magic school.

You have to know, the White Queen establishing that academy wasn't a recent thing; she'd been preparing for a long time. Everything was arranged, students were even recruited, but with one disagreement from Strange the whole thing collapsed.

The Hellfire Club naturally tried to negotiate with him, but the problem was Strange didn't accept negotiation. His attitude was: you dare come, I'll give you a taste of your own medicine. The Hellfire Club bunch had no way to deal with him either, and in the end could only slink away and change locations.

The Hellfire Club also went to the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants, wanting them to mediate, or rather to step forward. But Charles and Erik are so sharp. They understand Strange; as long as Strange shows his attitude, the matter is unchangeable, no need to touch his bad luck, so they didn't agree.

Now Wanda has run into the same situation. The witches also want to squeeze into Massachusetts. Strange naturally won't agree either, so she can't help with this favor. But she has no way to explain — she can't very well say to Strange's face that he's stubborn and impossible to deal with.

"Do you have deep feelings for the witch clan?" Natasha asked. Everyone was also a bit curious. After all, she took her codename from "witch," so maybe there really was some sentiment.

"I lived with them for a period," Wanda spoke frankly. "During that time my condition wasn't good; they took me and Pietro in. But the one who taught and cared for me all along was my teacher. Most of the witches... don't really like us."

"Why?" Stark asked. He couldn't imagine anyone being unfriendly to Wanda. On one hand, the Scarlet Witch is indeed too strong — anyone without a screw loose wouldn't dare speak ill of her. On the other hand, Wanda's personality is also extremely good; whether as family, friend, or colleague, she's flawless. Someone who can't get along with her would have to be what kind of freak?

You have to know, Wanda can even get along well with Pride, and even raise a child together — that alone shows how good her interpersonal skills are.

"Back then my powers weren't stable," Wanda said with a frown. "Before I studied with my teacher, I would sometimes lose control. They felt threatened, so it's normal they didn't like me. But no matter what, when I lived there I still used their resources. They weren't well-off themselves at the time."

"However, later I also helped them solve some troubles and sent them quite a few things, which counts as repaying the favor, only..."

"Only they feel it's still not enough," Greed said. "They feel all this is what you should do, and this time is the same."

Wanda pressed her lips together without speaking, clearly Greed had hit the mark. Steve sorted through the matter and said, "So back then it was your teacher who saved you and taught you. It's just that at the time you and the witches lived together, and the witches shared some things with you."

"Later you went your separate ways. The witches feel they saved you back then, so you should repay their kindness. But you feel your teacher's kindness weighs more, and over these years your help to the witches hasn't been little, so you've repaid the debt. Yet now they've come looking for you again, asking you to accomplish something fundamentally impossible, and still think it's only natural."

Wanda nodded vigorously like she'd seen a savior, then said, "I don't want to help them, and the reason I don't want to say it is because I don't want you to think I'm that kind of ungrateful villain..."

She sighed worriedly: "I don't want them to come back at all, I don't want them appearing in my life at all. Am I really that heartless?"

"Let's talk about the situation back then first," Greed said. "How did you meet your teacher, and how did you end up living among the witches together with her."

"To put it simply, people once again blamed all bad things on mutants like usual, falsely accusing me of killing a coworker at the convenience store where I worked, but I didn't do it at all."

"Police suddenly came to arrest me. I didn't want to cause trouble for my boss, so I went back to the station with them, but they wanted to force a confession through violence. I resisted with my mutant ability, and then my mutant ability went out of control."

"I ran all the way into the forest and passed out. By then the military had already arrived. I almost died. Fortunately my teacher appeared in time. She took me out of the encirclement, healed my injuries, and suppressed my mutant ability."

"When I woke up, I told her everything. She asked if I was willing to go with her. So Pietro and I left with her. We went to Salem together and settled there."

"During that time I kept trying to control the unsettled Chaos Power, but still caused some commotion. The witches thought I was a dangerous element, while my teacher kept guiding me. I spent several months and finally managed to control Chaos Magic. And that was also when I started operating under the title of Scarlet Witch."

"I would hunt in the forest and also work in the city. The supplies I brought back, besides what my teacher and I used, were all handed over to the chieftain. After all, it wasn't very stable; sometimes there was no income, and we had to use Salem's supplies. They weren't well-off then either, but the chieftain and the others didn't say much."

"Your teacher must have paid a great deal," Pride spoke up. "Not just for you, but for the witches too. Her contribution was already great enough that those witches who disliked you couldn't bring themselves to drive you out. All this is nothing more than equivalent exchange."

Wanda seemed a bit puzzled. She looked at those gray eyes of Pride, and unlike many people she didn't shrink back. Because she was neither proud nor greedy, often it's people with simple hearts and fewer desires who can see Shiler's gentle side.

"That's right," Steve also spoke up. "Your teacher must be very capable, having helped them solve many troubles and provided many supplies. That's why they wouldn't interfere with her bringing you back. Because the witches need her more; they can't lose her, and can't even afford to displease her."

"That's how it is," Natasha said. "The one you need to repay is only your teacher. She saved you, and she gave you a place to stay."

"That's what you say, but my teacher wouldn't care whether I repay her or not, and wouldn't think I'm an ungrateful villain just because I didn't repay her. But the witches would. I don't want to give them a chance to slander me, and I don't want them to ruin my reputation."

Wanda finally spoke her true worry. The saying goes: the noble-minded are calm and at ease; the petty are forever fretting. Harkness seeks no return, and would never speak ill of her student. But the witches aren't so certain. If Wanda doesn't help them, they'll definitely go around saying Wanda is ungrateful and heartless.

And what gives Wanda a headache isn't some matter of repaying kindness or not — she just doesn't want people running their mouths. Wanda is someone who pursues a secular, happy life, so naturally she values her reputation highly and doesn't want any blemish on her or her family's name.

"Then just bring them over," Strange suddenly spoke up. "I'm not saying I'll compromise with them for the sake of your reputation. It's just that once they enter Massachusetts, they won't have any chance to say anything about you."

"No, wait." Steve hurriedly interjected to stop him, because he noticed Wanda seemed a bit tempted.

Steve immediately realized that although Wanda looks like a person — even the most normal one among them — she's just like Shiler, immersively performing an ordinary person, but absolutely not as gentle and kind as that human skin they wear.

Wanda has definitely considered the possibility of wiping out this bunch of witches in one fell swoop. It's very likely she just hasn't said it because the kids aren't far away; maybe she'd turn around and erase the other party with a single sentence. Steve believes she's definitely used this method to solve many troubles in life. Although out of trust in Wanda's character those people are absolutely not innocent, this time it won't do.

The Hampton matter might not be suppressible yet; if another batch of people disappears, it'll be trouble. Steve desperately signaled Greed with his eyes. Greed cleared his throat and said, "Cough, cough, I feel there's no need to be this extreme. Perhaps there's a way to have the best of both worlds?"