Chapter 833 – Hope Village of the Black Forest

Chapter 833 – Hope Village of the Black Forest

The house in the Dwarven Royal City was ready, and the address field left blank on Cheryl’s invitation could finally be filled in.

Cheryl was still at the Riftgold Forging Workshop, so Mo Lan summoned a golden bird and had it deliver the invitation to Cheryl’s hands.

Afterward, Mo Lan teleported to the Black Forest using the spatial coordinates Anna had sent.

The moment she landed, a dense wave of Death Force—so thick it was almost tangible—rushed toward her.

A row of tall wooden walls constructed from thick blackdeath wood stood imposingly before her, looking like a sizeable fortified camp.

Atop the tree walls, skeleton soldiers could be faintly seen patrolling, their hollow eye sockets scanning the surroundings.

Puzzlement immediately rose in Mo Lan’s heart.

She remembered that between the sisters Anna and Annie, one excelled in blessing and Culinary Magic while the other was talented in Curse Magic and Sewing Magic. By all reason, they shouldn’t be developing in the direction of Necromancer Witches just yet!

And this was the Black Forest, of all places! Twisted, grotesque blackdeath trees, roaming undead creatures, and dense Death Force were the defining features of this land.

Even proper Necromancer Witches were reluctant to settle here, at most dumping their undead servants in the forest to roam free.

It was one thing for Anna and Annie to establish their Witch’s home here, but why were they raising so many skeleton soldiers? And the wooden walls seemed out of place too—if they could control this many skeleton soldiers, their Necromancy Magic must already be quite accomplished. A witch of that caliber wouldn’t need wooden walls to protect her home in the Black Forest.

Everything about this felt contradictory.

Just as Mo Lan was puzzling over this paradoxical scene, two familiar heads popped out from a watchtower atop the wooden wall.

Anna and Annie waved enthusiastically in greeting while nimbly mounting their brooms and flying down, landing lightly before Mo Lan.

Their faces bore bright, energetic smiles that stood in stark contrast to the deathly still surroundings—and were also completely different from how Mo Lan remembered them when they first arrived at the Witch Academy.

“Moira, it’s been so long! Welcome to our ‘Hope Village’!” Anna said with a smile, a hint of pride in her voice.

Annie nodded vigorously and added, “That’s right! The two of us are the village chiefs of Hope Village now! This entire village—my sister and I built it bit by bit.”

“It’s been a while,” Mo Lan returned the greeting, though her curiosity only deepened. “But… Hope Village?”

She looked around at the gloomy surroundings. “Since when has there been a village in the Black Forest? Isn’t this… your Witch’s home?”

She had originally expected at most a magically-protected house belonging to the two sisters, never imagining it would be a place called a “village.”

Brimming with curiosity, Mo Lan pulled out her broomstick and followed Anna and Annie over the towering wooden wall.

The moment she entered the village interior, it was as if she had crossed into another world entirely.

Utterly unlike the desolate, barren, death-permeated Black Forest outside, the village interior—though still dimly lit—was brimming with vibrant signs of life.

Many soft-glowing plants, rarely seen in the Black Forest, had been cultivated here. They emitted halos of pale blue, soft violet, or milky white, illuminating the settlement.

What surprised Mo Lan even more was the presence of many human women.

Little girls chased each other playfully among the glowing plants, women busied themselves operating various tools, and elderly women sat nearby, patiently instructing young girls. Most of them were engaged in spinning, weaving, and dyeing work.

Spinning wheels produced rhythmic creaking sounds, looms clattered away, and dyeing vats of all sizes held threads soaking in strangely brilliant colors.

The air carried the distinctive scent of plant dyes and yarn.

Had she not known for certain that she was in the Black Forest, Mo Lan would have almost believed this was some secluded magical textile workshop or a peaceful little village.

Through Anna and Annie’s explanation, Mo Lan finally learned the story behind “Hope Village.”

As it turned out, after graduating from the Witch Academy, the two sisters had traveled back to the Yala Empire together and found the duchy where they had come from.

However, the Duke who had once abused and tormented them, driving them to flee, had long since met a miserable end under the witches’ daily “curse practice.”

At this point, both Anna and Annie couldn’t help but look toward Mo Lan, their eyes filled with gratitude and a touch of exasperated amusement.

“Actually, you deserve some of the ‘credit’ for that, Moira!

If you hadn’t suggested that the Witch Council compile a curse registry and blessing registry for the Witch race back then, our enemy wouldn’t have met his end so quickly.

From practically that moment on, all manner of ‘misfortunes’ befell him—far exceeding the torment we had originally suffered.”

Only then did Mo Lan recall this old affair, and she couldn’t help but smile.

Back then, she had wanted to practice Curse Magic but had no enemies of her own to curse, so she had asked Anna and Annie for their list of enemies. Later, on a whim, she recommended the idea to the Witch Council.

Now, the compilation and maintenance of these two registries had become one of the Witch Council’s key ongoing projects, updated and refreshed at regular intervals.

If anyone gravely offended a witch and had their name placed on the Mo Lan’s heart swelled—the 《Witch Curse Registry》, then every witch studying Curse Magic would use the names on that registry as ready-made practice material.

Conversely, names on the 《Blessing Registry》 would receive spontaneous good-fortune blessings from witches.

That particular Duke had been a “classic case” and “teaching example” in the early editions of the 《Curse Registry》. Under the tireless “practice” of countless witches, he naturally could not escape his doom.

“Our great vengeance was repaid in the most unexpected way. While we felt relief, we also lost our sense of purpose for a time.”

Anna’s gaze swept over the girls working busily. “Until we encountered a few girls on our travels who had suffered circumstances similar to ours—persecuted and driven out. That feeling of shared pain gave birth to a new idea: to help more human girls who were once like us.

But the two of us weren’t strong enough to directly challenge the Temple in the Yala Empire, nor did we have deep financial resources. In the end, we thought of this place—the Black Forest, where no one dares enter. At the very least, the naturally treacherous environment here could shield us from outside pursuit and persecution.”

Drawing on the magic they had learned, the two sisters carved out this village of hope in what was considered a forbidden zone of death.

Anna excelled in Dark-element Magic and Culinary Magic, making her perfectly suited for the Black Forest. She was responsible for the camp’s defense, hunting, and ensuring everyone was fed.

Annie, on the other hand, specialized in Curse Magic and Sewing Magic. She took charge of teaching the rescued girls sewing and textile arts, cleverly weaving magic into the craft to produce uniquely enchanted fabrics and garments.