“Then please do, Lady Ophelia,” Vaan calmly replied, unaffected by her charms.
“My, you’re all quite cautious, huh?” Ophelia glanced at Vaan’s tensed group before nodding with a smile. “Alright, I don’t mind. However, Contract Magic works both ways. If I swear I am not your enemy, your side also has to promise the same for my side.”
“Very well, Lady Ophelia. Start the spell,” Astoria agreed.
Shortly after, Astoria acted as the representative and entered a contract with the Witch Mother to prove they were both willing to be friendly to each other.
“Alright, you’ve gained our trust. But only for as long as the contract spell is in effect. Once it loses its effect, you will also lose our trust,” Astoria stated.
“Likewise, Lady Astoria,” Ophelia calmly replied before saying, “Nevertheless, it’s clear that your kingdom has a misconception about Fallen Witches. Not all of us are evil or on the demon’s side.”
“Aren’t you?” Hester glanced at her suspiciously.
“I believe I’ve already proven I’m not on the demon’s side. Thus, there’s no need for me to prove that again. As for whether I am evil or not? That is subjective. I can be evil to my enemies but a saint to my people,” Ophelia casually stated.
“Let’s be honest. Fallen Witches are persecuted because you fear our capabilities and that we are different, not because we are evil, the demon’s minion, or whatever. If you say we lack morality, then I would say you are right.”
“However, Fallen Witches aren’t the only people that lack morality. In fact, we only account for a minority. There are more vile and evil witches and humans than Fallen Witches. Thus, your argument would be a little weak on this subject,” Ophelia coolly stated.
“Nevertheless, you can’t deny that all Fallen Witches are evil,” Hester argued.
“As a matter of fact, I can,” Ophelia claimed before saying, “Only a minority of Fallen Witches are evil and anti-human; the rest are innocent. And even if they are evil, they would be the evils you witches and humans created.”
“What do you mean by that, Lady Ophelia?” Astoria asked with a frown.
“How do you think Fallen Witches are born outside the seven witch kingdoms, where the influence of witches is weaker?” Ophelia quizzed. But without waiting for an answer, she continued, “Do you know how witches are treated outside?”
“Thanks to your seven witch kingdoms and your extreme matriarchal culture, the weak and non-combat witches who can’t defend themselves outside the seven witch kingdoms are treated as incubators to give birth to the next generation of new humans! And that’s if they have high fertility rates!”
“Otherwise, they face even worse fates! Abuse, ****, torture, experimental subjects. They simply become lab rats or toys for men! All that negativity and despair is what gives birth to a Fallen Witch!” Ophelia stated.
“You’re wrong,” Astoria coolly denied and said, “Various kingdoms and empires had existed long before the seven witch kingdoms were founded. Therefore, such ill-treatments of witches had started long before the establishment of the witch kingdoms!”
“The witch kingdoms were founded to create a safe haven for witches and free them from the evils of men. How men are treated in the witch kingdoms is simply retaliation for how witches are treated outside the witch kingdoms.”
“Nevertheless, this cycle of hatred between men and witches has gone on for too long. Innocent men shouldn’t be maltreated due to the evils committed by other men. This only continues the cycle of hatred,” Astoria said with a sigh shortly after.
“And yet your side only focuses on improving the treatment of men in your witch kingdoms.” Ophelia briefly glanced at Vaan before continuing, “You do nothing for the witches outside.”
“You have abandoned the witches outside and allowed Fallen Witches to emerge. So what right does your kingdom have to persecute us?” Ophelia questioned her.
“If I remember correctly, we’ve never persecuted Fallen Witches without good reasoning,” Astoria argued.
“Every time a Fallen Witch emerged in our kingdom, destruction and death always follow. Should I remind you that your people trespassed on our land and almost slaughtered an entire town? Two wrongs don’t make a right.”
“Furthermore, how ridiculous it is that you are blaming us for abandoning witches. Rather than abandoning seven-tenths of all witches, it should be said that we have saved three-tenths of all witches! You are barking up the wrong tree, Lady Ophelia.”
“Do you think we don’t have our hands full dealing with the demons in the north of the continent? What makes you think we have the spare effort and power to correct the wrongdoings of other countries?” Astoria questioned her.
“No matter how you phrase it, it doesn’t change the fact that the witch kingdoms have abandoned the witches outside their domains,” Ophelia stubbornly argued.
“The seven witch kingdoms don’t have enough power to deal with other countries? Don’t bullshit in front of my face, Lady Astoria. The seven witch kingdoms might be small in comparison to the other countries, but they have the seven Transcendent Witches.”
“Furthermore, I’ve made many trips to Gehenna, so don’t treat me like a fool. I know the situation on the frontlines very well. The frontlines have been relatively peaceful since the end of the last Holy War. Your witch kingdoms can definitely spare the effort and power to save more witches from the other countries.”
“Let’s be honest. The Transcendent Witches have abandoned the witches outside their domains because they view the other countries’ poor treatment of witches as a necessary sacrifice to combat the low fertility rate of humans,” Ophelia mentioned.
Vaan silently listened and agreed with both sides.
None of them were wrong; there were simply too many wrongs in the world.
Humanity’s strengths used to be intelligence and high fertility. That’s why humankind overcame the difficulties of other races and dominated the continent.
However, the emergence of mana and Gehenna crippled their high fertility and reset their worldly understanding.
Thus, Vaan could understand humanity’s need for extreme study and increased copulation.
If the other larger countries didn’t adopt these methods to adapt to the new world, perhaps humanity would eventually be wiped out due to the high death rate.
It was a necessary evil for the greater good.