Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 888 The “younger generation” of time travelers?
On the northwest outskirts of Backlund, the Meige Manor on the Tussock River was holding its first hunting event since the beginning of autumn.

Of course, this exciting-sounding activity is actually just hunting free-range animals in the hunting ground attached to the manor. There is no risk except that some gentlemen who neglect exercise may sprain their feet.

As evening approaches, the guests return to the manor in batches, some carrying prey and some returning empty-handed. They will hold a barbecue dinner on the lawn with the animals they hunted.

The Macht family, who came to hunt with Hazel who had just recovered from a serious illness, were gathered around a barbecue grill, roasting two rabbits by themselves. Congressman Mori Macht, who had served in the army and carried a gun, was quite skilled, but the women in the family could only help out and pass the seasonings.

The tall and fat steam-powered car tycoon Franmi Cage was directing his servants to roll the venison on the grill while complaining that the raw meat was too large to be cooked quickly. But people who are familiar with him know that when he really complains about something, he won't smile and look around. He will only do so when he wants to show off something but doesn't want to be too direct.

As the sky gradually darkened, the atmosphere of the lawn barbecue was pushed to a climax. Everyone shared their own grilled food, indulging in these foods that although not so delicious were the fruits of their own sweat. The restrained conversations of the gentlemen, the implicit smiles of the ladies and the cheerful shouts of the children mixed together, decorating this ordinary weekend.

Watching the lively dinner, the owner of the manor, Dwayne Dantes, sat contentedly on a chair in the corner, holding a glass of home-produced white wine, seemingly intoxicated by the alcohol and the satisfaction of his friends.

But the two guests' whispered conversation reached his ears:

"Where's Major General Korg? I saw him this afternoon, deep in the woods alone with a shotgun. I thought I could eat the barbecue he made himself."

"Could it be that he came back early, and then left the manor and returned to Backlund due to some unexpected events? The military often does this..."

"Perhaps. Tell M. Dantes later and ask him to ask the servants at the manor."

Hearing all this, Dantes, with gray hair and a casual posture, raised his glass, took a sip of the moderately sweet wine, and suddenly raised the corners of his mouth slightly.

……

"Miss Hazel seemed to see your secret doll smiling. Her expression changed a little. Did she recall the incident when Amon's clone parasitized her family and her fear came back?"

In the woods next to the manor, Angel casually threw the hot bronze cross to the ground and teased Klein, who was dressed exactly like the "Dwayne Dantes" in the manor.

After she resolved everything in the East District, she took the extraordinary characteristic of "Punishment Knight" belonging to Stratford and this magical item and rushed to Meige Manor without stopping, but she happened to meet Klein who had finished the battle and interrogation.

Earlier, Ms. Arianna had left here.

In the subsequent communication, Angel learned that Chonas Kilger was unsurprisingly defeated in the battle with Klein, who possessed two secret dolls and carried many magical items, and became the first semi-mysterious doll of this "weird wizard".

In the "secret" state of spiritual communication, Qiunas explained everything about the underground ruins in the northwest suburbs of Backlund known as "Relic No. 1", including that the ruins originally belonged to the "Blood Emperor" Alistair Tudor, that there were a large number of workers inside building a sacrificial site, and how to enter and exit the ruins.

Unfortunately, this demigod deputy director of MI9 knew nothing about George III's "plan" and was only responsible for his own tasks, sending the collected materials and workers into the ruins, and was responsible for bringing the leaders of the Witch Sect and the Psychological Alchemy Society in.

After receiving this crucial information, Arianna left immediately. “He” would join forces with the archbishops of the three major churches in Backlund tonight to launch an operation and directly break into “Ruins No. 1” to obtain evidence on the spot in order to attack the Loen royal family.

The swift and decisive actions of this "Servant of Secrets" actually made Angel and Klein somewhat confused.

After they learned that George III attempted to become the "Black Emperor", they have always believed that the three major churches had a perfunctory attitude towards investigating the truth of the Great Smog, especially since the gods did not seem to object to this matter. How much real effort can the angels under their seats put in?

But Ms. Ariana was quite active, as if she was deliberately showing her attitude.

Or is it showing the goddess' attitude towards the matter?

The goddess was not so supportive of George III's actions, but was unable to express it publicly due to the influence of other gods. She could only let Arianna, who had the ability of "secret", act in private?

Thinking of this, the two goddesses' favored ones looked at each other, not knowing what to say for a moment.

After a moment, Klein, who was controlling the puppet, Qonas Kilger, who was disguised as himself, to drink wine in the manor and study the strange bronze cross on the ground, let out a sigh and said:
"No matter what, we finally found the key clue and were able to enter the ruins. Tonight, Ms. Arianna should be able to get the final conclusion and confirm whether George III is really planning the 'Black Emperor' ceremony..."

As for what will happen next, whether George III will stop preparations due to pressure from the church, or will he fight against the church and forcibly be promoted with the tacit approval of the gods, that is not something the two demigods present can decide.

"What are you going to do with this cross? It seems to be slowly purifying everything around it. If you carry it with you for a long time, it may even affect the Beyonder characteristics in your body..."

Putting aside those heavy topics for the moment, Klein pointed to the cross he received from Viscount Stratford and asked.

"It will repel other magical items on the holder and is not suitable for us to use. Unless you are willing to give up 'Creeping Hunger', I am willing to throw away the 'Rose Necklace'..." Angel used spider silk to pull up the cross and pressed it on Klein's arm, making him instantly feel the burning sensation emitted by multiple magical items on his body. "And when holding it, the characteristics of the extraordinary person's body will slowly precipitate, as if being 'purified' of filth. For a saint, most of the extraordinary abilities will be lost in six hours at most, and it is irreversible... I suspect its power comes from the 'Darknessless' of the 'Sun' path."

This is too dangerous... Klein smacked his lips. He threw the cross back to the ground and looked at this dangerous magical item, or what could be called a "sealed item". He didn't know how to deal with it. Even if it was used by a puppet without other magical items, the characteristics in their bodies would quickly be released and they would become ordinary people. They would not be able to exert its power to purify all filth and make even a "desperate" witch like Triss retreat.

However, if one does the opposite and uses its negative effects to purify the Beyonder characteristics in those Beyonders who failed to be promoted, or to extract the secondary characteristics contained in high-level Beyonder characteristics, it would be a bit of a waste of talent.

At least I won’t be helpless with the contaminated characteristics before I’m promoted to “Master of Secret Puppet”... He thought about it and made a suggestion:

“Why not offer sacrifices to the goddess and see if you can accumulate contributions in exchange for the Beyonder characteristics you need?”

"It's unlikely. Last time, the metal cylinder equivalent to the '1' level seal only exchanged for the 'Ancient Scholar' potion formula, not including the most critical ritual. The Beyonder characteristics of Sequence 2 are far more valuable than these items..." Angel shook his head and said, "I plan to sacrifice it to Mr. Fool and ask Him to keep it temporarily, just like the blasphemous cards and the 'Parasite' gloves. When needed, I will ask Him to grant it to use. In this way, we can use its negative effects to gradually extract some Beyonder characteristics that are not temporarily used, and obtain the characteristics of the previous sequence for the preparation of potions."

I was thinking the same thing... But if you sacrifice it to the Fool, isn't that the same as sacrificing it to me? I feel so embarrassed... Klein muttered, nodded, and changed the subject:

"What are you going to do with Triss?"

Hearing this topic, Angel took some uneasi steps and walked through the woods, his expression changing a little.

"She seems to know more about the rituals of the Black Emperor than we do. She associated this with what she heard from Stratford... According to her, this was a hint from the Original Witch. This reminded me of those lunatics in the Aurora Society who are said to be able to listen directly to the whispers of the True Creator. But she is mentally normal, even more normal than I thought...

"It would be best if the three major churches could come forward and force George III to abandon his plan. If a situation we don't want to see occurs, the attitude of Triss and the 'Original Witch' behind her may become the key..."

Angel's words caused Klein to fall into a long silence.

Like his counterpart, he did not believe that the church could resolve the matter quickly and force George III, who was already on the verge of collapse, to give up everything.

Without a certain degree of assurance, without knowing the attitude of the gods, who would dare to violate the contract with the three major churches, cooperate with the "Witch Sect" and the "Psychological Alchemy Society", kill tens of thousands of civilians, and attempt to become a god?
……

The barbecue dinner on the lawn ended successfully. Klein exchanged places with his secret doll and personally talked to each guest, accepted their compliments, and arranged for them to rest in the guest rooms in the manor villa.

Some guests had already expressed doubts about Major General Qonas Kilger's unexplained departure. Klein called all the servants, and after understanding the situation, he sent someone back to Backlund to visit Kilger's home and decide whether to call the police based on his family's opinions.

After all, as a major general in the military, it is possible that Qiunas has to leave temporarily due to an emergency mission. If he rashly makes a big deal out of it, it may affect his "actions" and even further endanger national security!
In this way, no one will know that Qonas Kilger is dead and has become my secret puppet in a short period of time. If something happens to him in the "secret", the royal family will not be aware of it immediately. When Lady Arianna and the archbishops suddenly come to "Relic No. 1" tonight, they will be the ones who will panic...

After this, even if someone investigates, they will only know that Qiunas suddenly left my Meige Manor and met with an accident. I am a believer of the goddess, and the one who led the search for the ruins was also the goddess' servant... In this way, the royal family will most likely focus on the Church of Evernight, thinking that I am just an informant, and it is inconvenient and unnecessary to deal with me. My safety can be guaranteed...

Compared to Qiunas, Stratford is only a small figure. His disappearance will point to Triss hiding in the dark, but she has been a wanted criminal for a long time and has not been caught for more than half a year. Now that she has become a demigod and has the attention of the "Original Witch", it is even more difficult to catch her...

Klein paced in his bedroom while constantly analyzing the situation until there was a knock on the door. Walter, the butler he had left at Backlund's residence, walked in, bowed respectfully, and said:

"I have already contacted the manufacturer and investor of the new beverage as you instructed. The other party has appointed a lawyer to discuss the investment, but their attitude is not positive. I think they may not be short of cash, so you may need to make other plans."

"It's okay. You can arrange a meeting with the actual investors there and say, 'Well, I have sales channels in Dixi Bay and can help them make more money...' You need to be nicer and not let them think that we are forcing them or that we want to seize their shares or the patents and formulas."

Klein replied with a smile, not surprised by the butler's news.

He had previously obtained the finished product of the carbonated beverage named "Black Bear Cola". Based on the name, taste, and the familiar curved glass bottle, he judged that the designer either purchased the formula and patent from a "time traveler" or was the "time traveler" himself.

Unfortunately, the divination of the beverage itself pointed to many ordinary workers and several hired school professors. If he investigated further, there would be insufficient information. He was busy preparing to deal with Qiunas Kilger these days and had no time to go to the East District to investigate the "Black Bear Cannery" in person. He could only put aside the investigation of the "traveler" for the time being.

Now that Qiunas has become a secret doll and George III is facing persecution from the three major churches, he can finally spare some time to meet this senior or junior.

Unless he bought the formula left by Emperor Roselle, he must be related to "Earth". Maybe he is the last unidentified person in the three light cocoons above the light gate, or maybe he is a new "traveler" from a different place... But no matter what, his existence means that I am not alone... Well, this is in terms of the destination of the soul, not in the real sense...

For some reason, he suddenly thought of Angel and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

This time traveler was so cautious in cooperating with a small factory in the East District to sell "Coke". His strength must be inferior to his own, and he might not even be a Beyonder. Klein planned to meet him first to understand his situation so as not to scare this "roommate".

Should we exchange secret signals directly or observe secretly for a while... He rubbed his hands, feeling somewhat excited.

(End of this chapter)