Miss Witch’s Devotion Has Gone… Twisted

Chapter 385: The Origin of the Tarot Cards

Witches do live long, but not that long. The Orthodox Gods had descended at the very least ten thousand years ago, and ordinary witches wouldn't survive until then.

So Chloe received authority alongside the other Orthodox Gods and became a deity at that time.

"Is there something wrong with the name Chloe?"

Paqina didn't understand why Loren was so fixated on that name, she asked.

"It's better if you don't know."

A true name of a god is taboo. Being called by their true name diminishes their divinity, which is why the Orthodox Gods are so sensitive about their names.

So even though Chloe had revealed her true name to Loren, he didn't intend to say it often.

Other gods wanted to sever ties with their former human selves. That's why they forbid others from speaking their true names, while Chloe clearly cared more about the part of herself that was human, the part that was a witch.

"Oh..."

Paqina answered softly. Loren had already told her so many secrets; if he chose not to elaborate on this matter, then he must have his reasons, so Paqina didn't press further."This book is very important to me, so I took it."

Loren closed the diary. The information inside was valuable, and the book might well contain a super-tier magic.

"But this book belongs to the academy library, I checked it out..."

Paqina felt awkward. She didn't mind giving Loren her clothes if he asked, but this diary was library property.

"I'll come to the academy for class tomorrow, I'll tell the librarian."

"Won't someone suspect you specifically requesting this book?"

Paqina had long developed a cautious temperament; when she read the diary she even used to hide it among other books.

"I'll borrow the whole shelf tomorrow, and no one will dare suspect me. I'm doing this to prevent someone from targeting you."

"Which class will you teach tomorrow?"

"I don't know, I teach whichever class I feel like. Tell me what classes you have each day, and I'll teach you."

"Really...really?"

Paqina barely believed Loren's words. She couldn't imagine an unremarkable ordinary girl like her would be worth Loren expending such effort on.

She was already extremely grateful that Loren had taught her so much today.

"It's true, truer than Ding Zhen."

Hearing that, Paqina grew especially excited and hurriedly recited her schedule for tomorrow:

"I have magic class and history class in the morning, and in the afternoon I have Supernatural Creatures class and Magic Practice."

"Alright, I'll attend your class tomorrow afternoon. Don't tell me the morning classes, I won't wake up."

"You're really... unexpectedly... approachable..."

Paqina smiled. She had fantasized many times about what Loren might be like, and the real Loren was far better than her imaginings.

"Okay, I'm going to sleep now. Since I cleared up what you wanted to know, get some rest early."

"Mm..."

Loren's gentleness warmed Paqina's heart. At that moment she finally understood why so many people were devoted to Loren.

Whether as family, friend... or leader, Loren was flawless.

"By the way, how are the dorms at the academy? Want to come live at my place? My house is quite big."

After discovering Paqina was a witch, Loren dropped his guard and figured it would be no big deal to let her come by his house.

"T-this... isn't this moving too fast..."

Paqina flushed instantly. Seeing Loren's calm expression made her even more embarrassed.

"Ahem... I mean the academy accommodations are pretty good, so I won't trouble you..."

"Alright then, see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow..."

Loren left. Paqina stared at his retreating figure for a long time, then took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes.

...

"A fruitful day."

Loren flew through the air, eager to go back and study the Dawn Princess's diary.

There was one suspicion Loren had not mentioned: the Dawn Princess's diary was disguised. Ordinary people could not see its true content.

That the book had remained in the academy library for so long meant the diary's concealment had persisted. When Loren found the book the disguise had already been lifted.

This could only mean one thing: the disguise had been cracked by Paqina.

Without knowing the correct method, the disguise would be very difficult to break. Otherwise no one would have missed the diary's secret for so long.

So Paqina either truly had exceptional talent, far surpassing many of the Church's great mages, or her Arcane Ability was related to this.

Those questions would be answered later. Loren did not intend to overthink now; the immediate priority was to find the magic hidden in the diary, to give himself another trump card.

Having only one chance to use a super-tier magic left Loren with little security; having another use would greatly improve matters.

As he returned near his home, Loren saw Casper still crouching by his front gate, unmoving.

Loren did admire his persistence. He had planned to go to the academy tomorrow because of Paqina; he hadn't even thought of Casper then.

Even if Loren did go to the academy tomorrow, he didn't plan to answer Casper's questions directly. Seeing how desperate Casper seemed, Loren decided to tease him for a few more days.

Loren phased through the wall back into his house without being noticed by Casper.

Once home, Loren hurried to read the Dawn Princess's diary. The diary's entries came after the previous book Loren had seen.

In this diary the Perpetual Observer had already become the Dawn Princess's teacher, and it mainly recorded the things they encountered during their travels.

Life back then had indeed been much better than now. Paqina had probably started doubting the authenticity of the history books because of the accounts described in this diary.

The diary never mentioned the Orthodox Gods. Paqina could likely guess this book dated from before the gods appeared.

Loren continued flipping through the Dawn Princess's diary. When he reached the latter half he made a startling discovery.

"We encountered a second witch, and she was much older than Chloe, which indicates witches appeared earlier than we thought.

"Because of this, Teacher decided to take some measures. Using what Teacher had seen on the way, Teacher made something called Tarot cards. Each tarot card has a unique ability.

"Teacher also gave me one card, this card is [Strength]."

Loren knew the Dawn Princess had the Strength Card, but he had not expected the Perpetual Observer to have given it to her directly.

Loren's earlier conjecture was correct: the Tarot cards were indeed made by the Perpetual Observer.

Moreover, Loren discovered a crucial point:

If the Perpetual Observer truly possessed the power described in Lilith's story, it would have been impossible for It not to know about the Orthodox Gods. There would be no need to go through such a cumbersome method as creating Tarot cards to guard against disaster.

Unless Its power was incomplete at that time.