"The mastermind behind all this is Koranda. She is actually a high-ranking member of the Greed Worshippers. Everything that has happened so far was carried out on her orders. I killed her in self-defense by turning her own sacrificial ritual against her when she tried to kill me."

Loren's words also served as an explanation for how he managed to kill Koranda—by using her ritual against her, which had nothing to do with Loren's own personal strength.

"What?"

Even though he had already guessed that Koranda had betrayed the Church, the Pope still felt a shock upon hearing Loren's words.

What followed was fury, but Koranda was already dead; he couldn't even punish her now.

"I will report this to headquarters immediately and have her entire family executed…"

"I'm heading back first. I'll leave the rest to you, is that alright?"

Loren did not directly affirm the Pope's words. Although he wanted Koranda's whole family dead, he also had to preserve his own reputation for benevolence.

Therefore, he chose to tacitly consent. That way, if anything really went wrong, it would be the Pope's cruelty, and had nothing to do with Loren.

Besides, the crimes Koranda committed were already heinous and unforgivable. Even if her entire clan was truly exterminated, no one would find it unjust.

As for evidence, Loren's testimony was the ironclad proof.

...

Upon returning home, Loren simply collapsed onto the sofa. He had already relayed the news that everything was resolved to the others through Movila.

"I'm not entirely sure if those Greed Worshippers still have any backup plans. Let's wait and observe for a while longer…"

Loren wasn't particularly tired, but he did find it quite troublesome. Having to be constantly on guard against those people meant Loren hadn't sought out Mirrorheart and the others at night for quite some time.

"So when can I go back?"

Caroline knelt beside Loren, looking somewhat melancholic:

"Just thinking about my family still misunderstanding you makes me feel uncomfortable…

"The feeling of being misunderstood… it's not pleasant…"

No one understood the feeling of being misunderstood better than the witches. They were clearly the kindest and purest race, yet they bore the most malicious slander.

"It doesn't matter. A little longer won't hurt. Anyway, once they get to know me, they'll change their opinion of me."

Loren casually placed his hand on Caroline's head as he spoke to comfort her.

"Do you think… if there was a chance, could we possibly explain things clearly to people? Make everyone understand that all that slander is false?"

In response to Caroline's naive thoughts, Loren simply shook his head:

"Impossible. Those who wrong you know better than you how wronged you are. If you pull out your own nails and teeth to prove you're harmless, they'll only take the opportunity to kill you. Self-justification is useless. Never fall into the trap of trying to prove your innocence.

"They don't want you to clear your name. They just want to see you dead. No matter how desperately you explain, they'll only pick out words that work against you from your statements, then add more charges against you.

"Even if you slaughtered other witches to prove yourself, they'd kill you once you've outlived your usefulness."

Loren knew this feeling all too well. If explanations had ever worked, he wouldn't have resorted to such extreme measures when falsely accused as a child.

He remembered everyone's expressions—some gloating with schadenfreude, others utterly convinced. Not a single person wished him well.

"Never apologize. Apologizing equals admitting guilt.

"Your family will clear up their misunderstanding of me, not because I'm particularly innocent. The biggest reason is because you are witches—pure, kind witches. Only witches would listen to my explanation, would ponder whether it's true or false."

The people in the cyberpunk world Loren used to live in were all irrational lunatics. This crazy world wasn't much better; it was just crazy in a different direction.

One world worshipped marketing accounts and internet celebrities as gods; the other simply had a bunch of twisted, actual gods.

One was divided by gender and political stance; the other by faith—divided to the point of not caring about the truth, only wanting to tear each other apart.

"Then… with so many false charges added on, is there really no way to shake them off?"

This was the first time Caroline had heard such a perspective. She had to admit she had been far too naive before, naively believing that justice would never be absent, that the truth would eventually come to light.

"There is. Use the same method the Church uses against witches.

"Wait until the gods step down and we take their place. Then we force people to admit the witches are innocent. Kill anyone who dares to speak ill of witches. After a few generations, the witches' reputation will be reversed.

"Given a witch's lifespan, barring accidental death, every witch can live to see that day."

Loren's words shocked Caroline. She had never considered such a thing before:

"Isn't there… a gentler method…"

"Then guide them. Make people believe the witches are innocent. Make those who realize this truth feel like they're the only sober ones in a world drunk on lies. Then issue indulgences…

"If you really want people to gradually realize it, that would be too slow. The moment we appear even slightly gentle, we'd be seen as weak."

To be honest, Loren didn't fully understand these matters either. He could only think of a few of the most brainless, simple, and brutal methods.

Moreover, whether in the world Loren came from or this one, people were lunatics. Methods that worked on ordinary people wouldn't work on them. They've been brainwashed by the Church for thousands of years.

Loren had another disgusting method he didn't mention: the whole combo of playing the victim, garnering sympathy, seizing the narrative, and silencing normal people. Because the witches were truly innocent, Loren disdained using that move.

"Alright…"

Caroline seemed a bit deflated. She hadn't realized rehabilitating the witches' name would be so difficult.

"Perhaps it's not that hard."

Just then, Mirrorheart suddenly interjected:

"The Observer possesses the authority of rationality. Perhaps we can use the Observer's authority to forcibly make people rational.

"And unlike the Orthodox Gods, the Observer never took the authority of rationality away from people. It's just that people voluntarily abandoned their rationality."

"Forget it. These matters are too distant. Let's focus on pulling the Orthodox Gods from their thrones first."

"You want to pull the Orthodox Gods from their thrones?"

Hearing Loren's words, Caroline was suddenly shocked.

"Oh, right. You're from the Witches' Church. The Secret Witch should have told you these secrets.

"I do indeed want to do that. On this point, my thoughts align with the Secret Witch's."

Possessing the authority of secrets, the Secret Witch knew many hidden truths, including the true nature of the Orthodox Gods.

Therefore, her ultimate goal was also the same as Loren's: to deal with all the Orthodox Gods, return their authority to the world, and let this world become normal again.

"Then our positions are completely aligned? We're a match made in heaven!"

Caroline excitedly grabbed Loren's hand and spoke.

"If you want to put it that way, you're not wrong…"

Loren couldn't be bothered to correct her. The road to educating Caroline in culture was long and arduous.