Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 855 Interlude
In a two-story house in the Cherwood area.

It was almost evening when Fors Wall woke up from her nap. She looked at the dim sunlight outside the window, struggled on the bed for a while, and finally got up with difficulty.

After a quick wash, the writer and "astrologer" who has been sleeping during the day and going out at night, living a reversed day and night life, touched his somewhat empty stomach and wondered whether to cook something simple at home or go out and have dinner at a nearby restaurant.

"Anyway, Xio must still be busy with her tasks... Alas, it feels like we rarely eat together during this period..."

She muttered to herself and pushed open the bedroom door. Suddenly, she smelled a strong aroma of meat fat mixed with sweet fruit, which made her stomach twitch.

That was the smell of the most famous Sim Kee Dixie pie around!

"Xiu? You're back?"

She twitched her nose, trying to find the source of the scent, while looking around for her friend in the dim living room.

"No, I'm getting ready to go out."

A vague answer came from behind the large sofa where Fors was leaning against.

When she came to the small area formed by two sofas and a coffee table, she sat directly on the carpet. Hugh Dilcha, whose whole body was covered, had already finished her portion of Dixie pie, drank the sweet iced tea that accompanied the meal in one gulp, wiped her mouth, stood up, and pointed to another pie wrapped in a paper bag and said:
"This is for you. I'm going out now and probably won't be back until late at night."

Fors picked up her own dinner, not caring about the heat on her hands and mouth. She opened the package and took a bite of the pie that was filled with a large amount of minced meat and small pieces of apple shreds, instantly filling her mouth with rich juice.

She hummed in satisfaction, then asked vaguely:
"Are you going to monitor that Viscount again?"

"It's to protect him from harm, surveillance is secondary."

Hugh was correcting her friend's misunderstanding. She had already come to the door, put on her boots, put on her bowler hat, and slung a small bag filled with newspapers as a disguise, dressed like a newsboy.

Seeing that Fors was still chewing the pie blankly, as if she hadn't woken up yet, she couldn't help but remind him:

"You remember that you are going to the fortune-telling room at the circus tonight, right?"

"Ah?" Fors, whose cheeks were puffed up by the pie, was stunned for a moment before she reacted. "Of course I remember. I am now the most popular person in the circus, a mysterious astrologer, who will answer your questions every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday night."

She swallowed the pie in her mouth and recited her opening remarks.

Recently, while digesting the "Astrologer" potion, Fors tried the method used during the "Master of Magic" period and found a circus to play the role of "Fortune Teller". The effect was quite good. He hoped to finish digesting the potion this month and try to be promoted to the "Recordist" of Sequence 6.

Unfortunately, Xio couldn’t catch up with me. She still needed to accumulate merits to exchange for the “Judge” potion formula from her superior, and she was unwilling to accept the extraordinary characteristics I bought for her for free. She had to save money to buy it from me... Fors muttered, stuffing the last bite of the pie with clear layers and rich wheat aroma into her mouth, biting out the gravy inside, chewing it carefully, and making a satisfied groan.

Following Xio's example and drinking the sweet iced tea in one gulp, she returned to her bedroom, took out the crystal ball given to her by her teacher Dorian, and prepared to go to the circus to continue playing her role.

But before she went out, she had a sudden idea. She sat back on the sofa, held the ball with one hand, touched the top with the other hand, kept stroking it, and whispered something.

Gradually, a ray of light appeared in the crystal ball, illuminating the living room which was becoming increasingly dark as the sun set.

In the light, the figure of a newsboy about 1 meters tall, wearing a hat covering part of her face, emerged. She walked quickly in the blurry picture, occasionally accepting a coin and handing out a newspaper, but her eyes frequently looked towards a certain location.

----

"A copy of the Tussock Gazette."

Hugh had not taken a few steps when he was stopped by a gentleman passing by and asked to buy a newspaper.

She withdrew her gaze from the restaurant door not far away, glanced at her bag, and replied "regrettably":
"Sorry, they're all sold out."

She had only prepared less than ten newspapers to disguise her identity, but she didn't expect that the residents of Hillston District loved reading newspapers so much that the newspapers were sold out before she even reached her target!
In desperation, she took off the round hat that represented her identity as a newsboy, ruffled her shoulder-length yellow hair, wrapped her coat tightly around her, held her shoulder bag tightly, and her eyes became sharp, making her temperament completely different from before, more like a wanderer who had accidentally strayed into the commercial district.

Now, let alone buying newspapers, even passers-by walking towards her made way and looked away.

This allowed her to easily find a secluded corner and observe the luxurious restaurant across the street.

After an unknown amount of time, a four-wheeled carriage with a coat of arms consisting of a flower and two rings slowly drove up and stopped in front of the restaurant, instantly catching Xio's attention.

That's Viscount Stratford's carriage!

She stared at the carriage with great concentration until a middle-aged gentleman in a tuxedo and a white wig stepped down from it, helped the young lady out of the carriage, and took her hand and walked into the restaurant.

Just as the carriage left and the door of the restaurant was not yet closed, Hugh saw the face of the woman next to Stratford.

She had a beautiful face, with her brown hair tied up, revealing her fair neck. Her lively eyes, like a deer's, looked at the Viscount beside her with a hint of admiration, the corners of her mouth turned up, and her face was full of happiness.

That is Hugh's friend, the "witch" Sherman who has transformed into a woman.

Why is she still with Viscount Stratford, and looks like she is deeply in love...

Xio's expression changed, he muttered, his eyes fixed on the backs of the two men, not knowing whether he was blaming the other person or himself.

In a corner that she hadn't noticed, on the window glass that reflected the street scene, a white figure flashed by. ————

"'White Saint' Katarina? Why does she want to protect Stratford?"

In the office behind the noisy canning factory, Triss, who was wearing a black classical dress and had a gentle and sweet temperament, raised her eyebrows and asked in confusion.

"It's not protection, it's surveillance," Angel, who was sitting opposite her in a plain white dress, said slowly, "My source did not point out that it was Katarina, but only indicated that there was a high-sequence witch hiding behind him... But in Backlund, she should be the only one who meets the requirements."

"So, Stratford actually knew about this, knew that someone was plotting against him, and knew that Sherman approached him for other purposes. His appearance of being attracted to her was all a disguise?"

Triss muttered to herself, and seemed to have suddenly figured out a lot of things. Her expression kept changing, and finally fixed on a faint smile.

She picked up the transparent glass bottle with a narrow mouth and round belly on the table, which looked like a beautiful woman from the side, and put the dark brown liquid with bubbles into her mouth. She took a sip tentatively and frowned again:

"So sweet, like the fake love between Sherman and Stepford who both know the other is acting...hiccups."

As she spoke, she burped and expelled the gas from her stomach.

"After drinking enough bitter beer, the workers in the East District will soon like this refreshing drink that can replenish sugar." Angel chuckled, stretched out his finger, and tapped the bottle of "Coke", causing white frost on the surface of the glass bottle and the temperature of the liquid inside to quickly drop to freezing point. "Try taking another sip."

Triss glanced at her, picked up the glass bottle that soaked her palms with coldness and brought an inexplicable sense of refreshment, and took another sip of the carbonated drink inside.

This time, she did not make any comment for a long time. Instead, she lowered her head, savoring the feeling of the cold liquid going deep into her throat and into her abdomen.

"It tastes better this way," she put down the bottle reluctantly and quickly changed the subject, "Since we've confirmed there's a 'trap', should we, hiccup... give up this plan?"

"Of course, continuing will only sacrifice Sherman in vain, and you might even be involved... Inform her to use half a month to slowly distance herself from Viscount Stratford, leave him, and get rid of this fake identity... Then, we will directly kidnap Stratford and ask for all the information!"

what?
Triss was stunned for a moment. She thought that the blonde witch in front of her was ready to give up the existing plan, give up the bait thrown by the military and the "Witch Sect", and look for clues to the truth about the smog. However, she did not expect that the other party would change the subject and was actually preparing to forcibly kidnap the target protected by the "immortal" witch?

"Didn't you say that Caterina Pellet was watching him? She is the 'ageless' witch."

She couldn't help but warn her out loud, lest this "despair" witch die in vain.

"Of course, I will use the power of 'secrecy' to prevent the news from leaking out. Before taking action, I will also contact Catalina to understand her intentions. If the conflict is really unavoidable..."

Angel said, extending his finger again and touching the empty glass bottle on the table.

The transparent glass lost its luster centered on the point where she touched it, and the grayish-white color quickly spread. In an instant, the novel-shaped glass bottle turned into a stone with a mottled surface.

"…I am also an 'ageless' witch."

----

In Bayam's rebel private port.

On the deck of the "Red Head Lady", sailors who had just returned from the "Fountain of Youth" and were preparing to go out to sea again after a short rest were moving boxes of fruit and sugar into the cabin. On the sea surface below the side of the ship, a slim mermaid was lazily floating along the waves, revealing her belly covered with scales.

In the captain's room, Elaine, who still had red hair and no longer disguised herself, had just sent away the terrifying headless messenger with a gold coin. She unfolded the letter sent to her by the "Golden Queen", took a quick glance at it, and a look of surprise appeared on her face.

"To expand the fleet, should we first order three three-masted sailing ships like the 'Redhead'?

“No need to hide my identity any longer, it would be better to let Tracy know that I am Elaine?

"Are you ready to be promoted to 'Reaper'?"

She picked up the envelope on the table and shook out a talisman made of purple translucent crystals. She observed it carefully in the light of the oil lamp and found a curled up worm with twelve segments inside.

----

Tuesday evening, in front of the "Old Weir Restaurant" on Alka Street in the North District.

A hired carriage stopped on the side of the street. A young man in a double-breasted frock coat, slightly padded shoulders and a half-high silk hat got off first. He reached out and took the slender, white hand of the woman traveling with him, helping her get off the carriage as well.

The latter was wearing a light green dress with long golden hair draped behind her. Apart from the gold ring with amethyst on her left ring finger and the maple leaf-shaped pendant on her chest, there were no other distracting decorations.

She took the hand of the man next to her and walked into the Old Weir Restaurant together. Led by the waiter, they came to the private room on the second floor.

After escorting the guests to the private room and receiving the tip, the waiter walked briskly back to the first floor. While feeling grateful for his good luck today, he recalled the appearance of the young man and woman.

He suddenly realized that he remembered that the other person had good taste in clothes and his clothing combinations were quite beautiful, but their appearances were very vague and he could not remember the specific details no matter what.

Strange… he muttered, stuffed the tip into his pocket, and quickly forgot about this little thing.

(End of this chapter)