Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 803: First meeting with the "Manipulator"

In the carriage that slowly drove away from the East Balam Veterans Club, Angel was whispering to his butler, Ribark:

"This cooperation with Mr. Sandel has been completed. He may have other tasks for me in the near future. Please contact him regularly and maintain a good relationship."

"Okay, Miss Theresa."

Riback, with gray hair on his temples and wrinkles around his eyes, wrote this down in his notebook and replied.

It's not that he can't remember these simple things, but he wants to use written notes to express his importance to the task I ordered... Looking at the butler who moved meticulously, Angel thought secretly and suddenly said:

"Do you know any female generals in the military? At least they should be colonels."

Ribak was stunned and stopped writing. He lowered his head and thought for a moment, then said carefully:

"I don't remember that. Whether it's the garrisons in Loen, the troops stationed in Balam, or the navies in various places, it's difficult for women to take on important military responsibilities..."

Glancing furtively at Angel, he added:
"This is not a gender preference, but a military tradition."

This did not come as a surprise to Angel.

The army of the Kingdom of Loen, especially the navy and colonial army, is deeply influenced by the belief in the Lord of Storms. Their philosophy is quite traditional, believing that women should not show their faces in public and that the men in the family should take the lead. Conversely, men have the obligation to protect women.

Therefore, whether in the army or the navy, women account for less than one percent, and are concentrated in positions such as logistics.

But Sander mentioned a female military leader... Angel pondered for a moment and thought of another possibility:
The other party is a Beyonder in the military, and his Sequence is not low, so he became the head of a certain department.

Judging from Sandel's seriousness, this female military Beyonder should be at least a Sequence 5, or even a demigod... Excluding the "sailor" path, which I have never heard of a female high-sequence, it is very likely that she is a "lawyer" or "arbitrator". If it is the latter, she can see whether the people around her are ordinary people or Beyonders at Sequence 4, which will be very disadvantageous to me...

Thinking of this, Angel smiled to himself.

It was probably no longer a secret that she was a Beyonder. Just because Sander, as the military representative, didn't say anything, it didn't mean they didn't know.

The female military leader is going to meet with me soon, and she might be planning to expose my identity in person. The question is, are they going to continue to cooperate or use this as a threat... Various possibilities kept emerging in Angel's mind, but he couldn't be sure.

Fortunately, before she returned to Backlund as "Christine Theresa", she had made preparations and arranged an identity for herself as a witch who escaped from Intis and rebelled against the "Witch Cult". This not only matched her own experience, but was also coincidentally "guessed" by Hvin Rambis, who had connections with the military and the royal family. It was a blessing in disguise.

Unfortunately, compared to me in public, the identity of this female Extraordinary is still a mystery. Riback's military rank was not high before he retired, so it should be impossible to ask for this information... Looking at the butler who was a little anxious because he couldn't answer his employer's questions, Angel didn't embarrass him anymore. Instead, he closed his eyes and leaned against the soft inner wall of the car, arranging what to do next in his mind.

After several discussions, Angel, Klein and others have formulated a plan to lure out and destroy Amon's clones: using magical items as bait, relying on Ms. Arianna's "secret" power to isolate the connection between the clones, and using Pallez Zoroast in Leonard's body as the main force to destroy all of "His" clones in Backlund... The only question is, after seeing multiple "Favored by the Night", did Amon's clones become alert and flee the city?
The extraordinary characteristics of the "Iron Knight" and the production cost of 8000 pounds have been transferred to Ms. "Hermit" by Mr. Fool through "sacrifice". According to her, Angel will be able to get his own new weapon by next weekend at the latest.

In the most recent communication with Triss, Angel reminded her to let Sherman be careful about his acting skills to avoid attracting the attention of the official Beyonders in the East District, especially the "Nighthawks". Although Leonard was usually careless, he was not bad at handling things, and he was also aware of the abilities of witches. If Sherman continued to commit crimes, he would probably be found by this "Red Glove". If he was caught alive, it would be ok, Angel could use his connections in the church to rescue him. If something unexpected happened during the battle...

Thinking of this, a plan that had already been outlined came to Angel's mind.

She planned to integrate the two important forces in her hands, Sherman's East District "Black Claw Gang" and Elaine's "Redhead Girl", so that they could truly belong to the "Queen" of the Tarot Club, the "Golden Queen" above the five seas.

The code name is chosen from the "small cards" of the Tarot deck.

We can bring up this matter in the Land of Fools at the Tarot Meeting next week. I think the other members have their own forces to a greater or lesser extent, and we can reach a consensus. There may be opportunities for cooperation in the future... She muttered, turning her gaze to the street outside the window illuminated by the bright sunshine, and silently assigned code names to Sherman and Elaine in her heart.

----

"Giving your subordinates a code name, this sounds so... so interesting!"

In the luxurious carriage of Earl Hall's family, "Justice" Audrey covered her mouth with her lace-gloved hands, her eyes full of surprise.

Angel smiled disapprovingly, wondering if he should give Sherman and Elaine a less eye-catching code name.

"I will support your suggestion... but it's a pity that I don't have my own men, well, except Susie."

Audrey muttered, looking at the big golden retriever at her feet, who was wagging his tail out of boredom. The latter felt her gaze and tilted his head to look over. It doesn't know about the existence of the "Tarot Club" yet, let's change the subject... Muttering to herself, Audrey smiled at her extraordinary pet and said softly:

"Susie, Miss Christine is not an outsider, you can speak in this carriage."

She had already revealed to the Queen and the Hanged Man that she owned an audienc dog, so she no longer required Susie to continue playing dumb.

"Audrey, I'll love any nickname you give me, woof."

Susie rubbed her legs affectionately, and spoke standard Loenese from her throat.

Although I already knew that this dog was a "psychologist" and could talk, I never thought that its pronunciation was more standard than mine... Is this Miss Justice's winning secret to getting information at home? Even in the most private conversations, her father and brother wouldn't mind that there was a dog lying under the table, right?

Angel stared in amazement at the big golden retriever who could speak human language, and couldn't help but reach out and touch her soft fur.

"Christine, I didn't expect you and Mr. Dantes to be together so soon," Audrey said suddenly, looking at Angel's left hand resting on Susie's head and the dazzling ring, with inexplicable emotions in her eyes, "I hope to attend your wedding as soon as possible. When will it be?"

Subconsciously retracting his left hand, Angel chuckled and replied:

"I haven't decided yet. Maybe I need to finish the things at hand and eliminate some risks first."

Was she referring to the clone of the "Angel of Time" Amon in Backlund? Or was she preparing to be promoted to the next level?

Audrey guessed, feeling both hopeful and confused.

She didn't know whether Miss Queen and Mr. World came together because of some mission, or whether there was really a relationship that was strong enough to determine their lifelong destiny.

The Tarot Club was established exactly one year ago, and “The World” has only joined for nine months. Did they know each other before joining the Tarot Club?

Audrey was thoughtful when she thought that the first thing "The World" did after joining the Tarot Club was to find the "Queen".

……

The carriage soon stopped in front of Stephen Hampres's villa, and Angel met the furniture merchant who had met him once before. The latter bowed gracefully and introduced another gentleman beside him to the two guests:

"This is Hilbert Alucard. He is a famous jewelry designer in Backlund. He is extremely talented and has designed many pieces of jewelry for the royal family. In addition, he is also a frequent visitor to my Psychology Lovers Salon."

Angel looked at the man, who was about forty years old, with a brown complexion and seemed to have some Southern Continent ancestry, and nodded slightly as a greeting.

She had only heard this name from Baron Syndras before, and guessed that the other party might be related to the Psychological Alchemy Society. Seeing him in this salon, which was almost the headquarters of the Psychological Alchemy Society, confirmed her guess.

Compared to her aloofness, Hilbert was extremely enthusiastic. He glanced at the "Rose Necklace" on Angel's chest, which had almost no design and relied purely on the huge ruby ​​to attract attention. The corners of his mouth curled up slightly, and he said in a teasing tone:
"I was initially interested in psychology in order to understand my customers' minds so that I could better design jewelry that would suit their ideas. But in the end, I found that simpler, more natural designs could best highlight the beauty of the wearer, compared to complex ideas."

Are you praising my beauty or criticizing my necklace for its lack of design sense... Angel forced a smile and complimented the designer.

Later, under the guidance of Hampres, Angel and Audrey came to the salon which had already started in the side hall, and met several familiar nobles and more unfamiliar faces they had never seen before.

Angel guessed that most of them might just be ordinary psychology enthusiasts, but there must be a lot of members of the "Psychological Alchemy Society" hiding among them. They contacted and cooperated with each other in this natural way, extended their tentacles into various fields, secretly collected intelligence, and even controlled certain nobles.

While she was thinking, Audrey left the side hall with Stephen Hampres and Hilbert Alucard. A moment later, another maid came here and took Angel out in the name of Hampres and took him to the door of the living room at the back.

Seeing the maid make a gesture of invitation and gently push open the door, Angel had some guesses in his heart, his expression was natural and relaxed, he walked into the room and closed the door.

In front of her, the "Psychological Alchemist" jury member, "Manipulator" Hvin Rambis, who she had seen several times in the magic mirror divination, was sitting quietly on the sofa, welcoming her arrival.

"Good afternoon, Miss Christine Theresa," he stood up elegantly and bowed, "Or should I call you Miss Pleasure Witch?"

(End of this chapter)