Chapter 507: Side Quest Collection 2
The mercenaries' tongues loosened instantly for five silver coins. Finding themselves earning free drink money while wandering aimlessly looking for excitement, they became quite polite and talkative.
"There's this woman openly going around claiming to be a witch these days."
"A witch? Are there witches in the Empire too?"
"Well... there are quite a few women who hide among monster waves researching strange sorcery."
The simple explanation began immediately, powered by coin. Their story, delivered with surprising narrative skill, revealed that witches did exist in the Empire.
Like the unexplored jungle regions in the Kingdom's south, witches were researchers who lived hidden in remote areas untouched by humans, studying sorcery. Not all witches were evil, but they were more like mad scientists who conducted research with morality far removed from normal human ethics.
In other words, while Magic Tower mages were madmen who rode the line of legality by allying with state power, witches were madmen who rejected even that and ran wild. Mages walked a tightrope on the line while witches threw themselves beyond it.
"So what's this witch doing in the archipelago's back alleys?"
"She's handing out stuff claiming it's for experiments. Sometimes there's actually valuable items - heard the Magic Tower bought what looked like weeds for 2 gold, and alchemists paid 5 gold for what seemed like rotten wood..."