The Little Witch’s Daily Struggle – Chapter 1261

Chapter 1261: Defense

Lorna’s expression changed, and I also felt very surprised. I didn’t expect anyone to immediately say Older Brother Jayad was incompetent. It was beyond my expectations. However, Older Brother Jayad remained calm and wasn’t nervous.

“Oh? How is his character flawed? I don’t see it,” the Grand Tutor retorted to the Elder.

“He’s wearing such luxurious formal wear; that’s greed! He was just with Lorna and another girl, arms around them; that’s lust! He also got into an argument with someone over nothing, showing he’s quick-tempered. And he knew we were assessing him, yet he danced publicly and even provoked us…”

That Elder listed a series of issues, basically covering all the points I had deliberately calculated against them earlier. They are truly simple.

“Jayad isn’t like that…” Lorna’s face showed anger. She had just wanted to say a few words for Jayad but was interrupted as soon as she opened her mouth.

“Lorna, you need permission before speaking in front of the Elders. Also, Jayad, is it? You haven’t said much since you came in. This is supposed to be your assessment; you need to explain yourself,” another Elder with a plain appearance said.

“Exactly. Regarding the doubts just now, do you have anything to say? Everything you say will be used as a reference for whether you are qualified to join us,” yet another Elder stated.

I noticed that all these Elders had plain appearances, the kind that makes them unnoticeable in a crowd; you wouldn’t recognize them if they were mixed in. I estimate these are not their true appearances.

“No problem. I wore these formal clothes to reasonably enter this banquet. The reason I brought two female companions is that the other is my Younger Sister. I have always treated Miss Lorna with courtesy. When I smiled and looked up, it was just to greet everyone. The argument was because he insulted my Younger Sister. I didn’t make a move, so it doesn’t count as anger…”

Older Brother Jayad was completely different from the bewildered and helpless state he was in when he was with me earlier, doing whatever I told him. His thinking was sharp, and his answers were fluent. He provided reasonable explanations for all his previous actions.

“Lastly, inviting a lady to dance is a tradition of the ball. I danced with my Younger Sister and Miss Lorna, respectively. Is there anything wrong with that?”

Most of the Elders were left speechless by his string of responses. Lorna also looked at him in surprise. She had thought Jayad was not good with words and would be nervous facing the Elders, but she didn’t expect his thinking to be so sharp.

What’s more, Older Brother Jayad grasped the core of each issue he explained without sounding glib or deliberately辩解. All his explanations were very normal.

This made it impossible for the Elders who disliked him to find fault. Finally, one person raised a selective objection: “Is it necessary to wear such luxurious French formal wear just to attend a banquet? And with so many gemstones, it goes against our ascetic doctrine.”

“Sorry, I wasn’t aware of your doctrine. I chose this set of formal wear simply because I found out about the banquet at the last minute, so I could only buy a ready-made one. I also told the shop assistant to give me the best. As for the money, it was all earned by killing monsters.”

Jayad’s words were also watertight. Although not entirely true—the clothes were bought by me, and I also requested the gemstone accessories.

Older Brother Jayad’s ability to explain so clearly indicates that he definitely understood the points of contention and knew why I did what I did. The only explanation for his previous feigned foolishness was that he did it because his Younger Sister wanted him to.

An awkward silence fell over the scene. It wasn’t that they would accept him and vote yes just because Older Brother Jayad answered well. They already had their biases, and they were just temporarily unable to find fault.

“Alright, since you have no objections for now, please let Lorna speak. Tell us about your observations from acting together with him during this period,” the Sect Leader said.

It was finally Lorna’s turn to speak. I thought they had already heard reports about Older Brother Jayad and had a general understanding of him before starting this assessment, but it seemed they knew nothing about him.

When Lorna began to talk, they listened attentively, occasionally interrupting her to ask for details. However, I felt their goal was mostly to find fault, such as questioning the authenticity of Jayad’s combat record and whether his learning speed was inflated.

Overall, Lorna’s evaluation of Older Brother Jayad was very high, focusing mainly on his strengths. She barely mentioned anything about the Thief’s theft. Her emphasis was on his affinity and comprehension of Divine Spells, as well as his brave and fearless heroism in fighting monsters.

But as she spoke, I realized there was a slight deviation in my understanding from the conversation I had with Via that day. I had even thought that Jayad’s past as a Thief was a favorable criterion for him. However, Lorna didn’t mention it at all, indicating that it was definitely a negative point in the Elders’ eyes.

Indeed, Via and I were too subjective in our assessment of Older Brother Jayad. In our view, he was flawless, a true dragon among men, destined to become a god.

The situation was one thing from Lorna’s perspective, and it was another from the Elders’. They didn’t believe it at all and even suspected Jayad and Lorna of fabrication.

So, they began a new round of nitpicking. First, they questioned whether Older Brother Jayad could really learn Divine Spells so quickly, and then they asked him to demonstrate the various Divine Spells he had learned.

Then, another Elder questioned Lorna, asking if she had privately passed down secret techniques of the sect to Jayad without permission.

However, Lorna was meticulous. During their teaching period, she only imparted the most basic universal miracles. The advanced Divine Spells were Sacred Spells that Older Brother Jayad had captured.

Next, they asked about Jayad’s purpose and aspirations for joining Arius. This question was difficult to answer. If he answered too casually, it would seem like he had no intention of joining. If he answered with too much eagerness, he would be suspected of having ulterior motives.

“I just want a place to settle down and learn more miracles. I hope the sect can satisfy my thirst for knowledge,” Older Brother Jayad gave a mediocre answer, neither good nor bad.

“Hmph, in the end, he’s just someone who wants to become stronger and learn more secret techniques. He has no understanding of our ideals and sees no reverence for the Gods. It’s hard to imagine the loyalty of such a person without faith.”

“Elder! Are you deliberately looking for trouble? Without allowing me to explain the sect’s teachings, how can an outsider explain our ideals and goals? From a personal perspective, what’s strange about wanting to become stronger? I don’t see how that relates to loyalty!”

Lorna became angry. Anyone would get angry when faced with such deliberate nitpicking. This time, I must admit I was wrong. I was incredibly wrong from the start.