Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 779: The Characteristics of “Immortality”

On Thursday, after being busy for many days, concerned about the arms trade in the Gargas Islands, worried about Audrey being visited by Hvin Rambis again, and paying attention to the reactions of all parties after the death of Ince Zangwill, Angel finally had some free time and continued his life as an "upper class" in Backlund.

After receiving the payment from Elaine and including her own portion, Angel's savings had exceeded 18000 pounds, which was several times more than when she first returned to Backlund as Christine Theresa.

Of course, the monthly expenses of the villa she currently lives in are still staggering, and she will soon have to add the Iris Winery in the suburbs. The area of ​​the manor villa alone is five times that of her residence in the city. The larger garden, large tracts of grape plantations and the wine cellar that requires careful care will all require more gold pounds to operate stably.

If it really doesn't work, just sell some of the wine in the cellar. I heard that the wine produced by that winery is of stable quality and there will be no problem with sales... Angel happily calculated his assets and listened to the chattering butler Ribark introducing the next "task".

Balls, dinners... Throughout the summer, the themes of Backlund's upper class were probably inseparable from these two things. Oh, and there were also informal salons, which were the fashion of young nobles. They could discuss topics of interest in such relatively private gatherings without having to worry about being constrained by etiquette and elders... Listening to the almost full schedule, Angel secretly complained about the extravagant lifestyle of this city.

In addition to these "routine projects", Angel also made an appointment with Audrey Hall to visit her newly acquired Iris Winery on Saturday. The "Loen Charity Student Aid Fund", which she had not visited for a long time, also invited her as a director to participate in more affairs. Although this was a courtesy, Angel also planned to take a look at the operation of this foundation that funded Backlund's poor students to prevent the assets donated by her and Klein from being misused.

I haven't contacted Sherman and Triss recently. I wonder how their plan to deal with Viscount Stratford is going... After Ince Zangwill's death, the next thing to do is to find out the truth behind the smog. This may require the help of the Goddess Church. It seems that I have to go to the church...

Thinking of this, Angel interrupted Riback's introduction of next week's arrangements and said:
"After dinner, I'm going to St. Samuel's Church... Also, contact Mr. Sandel and tell him that his deal is complete. I'll ask him to meet me when he's free to discuss follow-up matters."

No matter what the goddess' attitude is, she still has to proceed at her own pace, gradually penetrate into the military's power, and actively look for the opponent's flaws.

----

After nightfall, Angel took a carriage to the North District, made a slight detour to pass by 160 Böklund Street, took a look at the villa and well-kept garden that remained brightly lit after the owner left, and then went to St. Samuel's Church, which had two symmetrical bell towers and was extremely solemn in the crimson moonlight.

After listening to the sermon of Bishop Elektra on duty as usual, Angel took out a 50-pound note, put it in the offering box next to the altar, drew a scarlet moon on her chest, and thought about how to contact Archbishop Anthony - she came here this time as Christine Theresa, not as the "Shadow of the Goddess" she had disguised before.

According to my and Klein's inference, we have all become the goddess's favored ones. At this time, She might give some kind of hint... Looking at the dark holy emblem hanging high, Angel muttered in his heart, and suddenly heard a gentle voice:

"Ms. Theresa, it seems like we haven't seen each other for two weeks. I thought you left Backlund with Mr. Dantes and went to the southern continent for vacation."

Angel looked at the smiling Bishop Elektra, bowed, and replied in the same gentle tone:
"He didn't take me with him, but I was very busy during this time and neglected my faith."

In fact, I did go to the southern continent once, or even several times, and it was also for the goddess... She added in her heart, and drew a scarlet moon on her chest to avoid criticizing the goddess in the church and being severely punished.

"The goddess will forgive you."

The bishop replied piously that the previous donation of 50 pounds had certainly played a big role, but it was more out of his own selfish motives.

"Has there been any progress in the relationship between you and Dantes?" Elektra lowered her voice and asked with a mysterious smile on her face, "Well, a gentleman should be more proactive in this matter. I will visit him when he returns to Backlund."

Bishop, this will make it seem like you can get some special benefits from getting a couple of believers together. If this gets out, people will easily misunderstand that St. Samuel Church has converted to the Mother Earth Goddess... Angel smiled helplessly, but then thought that now was a good time to spread the news in advance, so he lowered his voice and answered:
"He said that he would prepare a special gift for me on this trip to the South Continent. Well, maybe I misunderstood, but this should be some kind of proactive gesture."

"I see. I think it is possible. This way the progress will be very fast. But the goddess said that those who have the courage to move forward will be rewarded as they deserve... I think this is true for everything."

Hearing Angel's answer, Elektra's eyes lit up and she did not hesitate to praise him.

At this moment, Angel noticed a figure flashing past the side door of the large prayer hall. It was the rotating bishop who had received the "Shadow of the Goddess" twice before.

She had an idea and expressed to the somewhat excited Elektra her desire to go to the library to read the church scriptures carefully. Naturally, the bishop could not refuse the request of a believer who had just donated 50 pounds and had a good relationship with him.

A moment later, as expected, Angel met the middle-aged bishop with rough hands in the library. Under the latter's guidance, he passed through the heavy iron door engraved with seven dark holy emblems at the bottom of the church and came to the door of Archbishop Anthony Stevenson's office.

"His Excellency the Archbishop is waiting for you." The middle-aged bishop whispered in a different attitude from last time, and then retreated into the darkness.

It seemed that he didn't recognize me, but just led me here as ordered... Angel nodded in understanding, pushed open the unlocked wooden door, and entered the office.

This spacious underground office was lit with only a few candles as before, leaving most of the bookshelves and tables and chairs in deep darkness, but Angel's dark vision clearly reflected everything in the room: bookshelves filled with church scriptures, neatly arranged tables and chairs, a large desk in the back, and...

"Mr. 'Sword of the Goddess', long time no see."

Angel stared at Crestai Cecima, who was sitting in a high-back chair with a silver metal box beside him, lowered his head slightly, and greeted her.

She finally knew who had asked the bishop to lead her here.

And he may have been promoted to Sequence 4 "Night Watcher"... Angel tried to observe him carefully, but did not find any changes in his appearance, demeanor, and etheric body under spiritual vision. On the one hand, this was because the spiritual vision of the "witch" was not as convenient as that of the fortune teller, the secret peeper, etc. On the other hand, she believed that the "sleepless ones", that is, the extraordinary people of the "night" path, would gradually come into contact with the "hidden" power after entering the high sequence, which would make it difficult to distinguish their sequence and strength.

"Good evening, Miss Angel, 'Shadow of the Goddess,'" Cecima stood up and greeted her in the same way as other believers. "You should be able to guess why I asked you to come here."

"I think it has something to do with the reward for the mission?"

Angel suppressed his inner expectation and asked back in a calm tone.

"This is of course the most important point, but I prefer to call it the gift of the goddess..." Cecima chuckled and looked at the desk. "Sir Anthony, please give her the extraordinary characteristic."

Ok?
Angel also looked at the desk, and found that there was an old man sitting on the chair behind the desk. It was Anthony Stevenson, who was wearing a black archbishop's robe with red, a soft hat, and had deep eyes.

He's been sitting there!
Angel recalled with some surprise what had happened since he entered the room, and found that he had not missed that direction when he scanned the room, but the archbishop was not behind the desk at that time.

It seems that the way this saint hides himself is not "psychological invisibility" to make people ignore him, but some kind of "hidden" power... She greeted the archbishop whom she hadn't seen for a while thoughtfully.

The latter came to Angel from behind the desk, holding a palm-sized black wooden box in both hands. This box, which almost blended into the surrounding environment, instantly attracted Angel's attention, and made her feel an inexplicable expectation in her heart.

She knew without being reminded that the box must contain the "immortal" witch's extraordinary characteristic that was promised to her and obtained after dismantling the "1" level seal.

Taking the wooden box, Angel carefully removed the outer seal and opened the lid. A cold breath instantly filled the entire office.

In the narrow space of the box, there was a strange object the size of an egg, which looked like a smooth pebble. Its surface was grayish white, and covered with strange patterns that attracted the eye. Angel looked closely and found that the patterns were constantly changing, showing a kind of changing beauty that made her almost unable to take her eyes away.

Fortunately, as a "witch", Angel had a certain resistance to the power that stimulated her inner desire and possessiveness. She quickly returned to normal, closed the lid, and sealed the box with the spiritual wall again, suppressing all kinds of desires that had surged up in her heart at some point.

She looked at the other two people in the room, and unsurprisingly discovered that the two calm-looking people also had a hint of lust aroused in their hearts. Although this was well concealed by the power of the saint, Angel, who could easily perceive the desires of those around him, still felt it.

If it was a mid-sequence Beyonder with a little less self-control, he would have rushed over regardless of the difference in strength... She thought secretly and put the wooden box away.

"Praise the goddess, thank her for her gift." She drew a circle on her chest that symbolized the crimson moon, praising the goddess' generosity and easing the awkwardness between the two. "Well, besides this, is there anything else you two asked me to come over for?"

"Yes, Your Excellency 'Shadow of the Goddess'," Archbishop Anthony was the first to speak. There was a hint of surprise in his eyes, as if he had not known before that "Christine" was his colleague. "Let's talk about your next job."

(End of this chapter)