Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 919 The Secret of Adjacent Paths
Because other Tarot Club members had either just been promoted or were stuck at a critical stage, no one proposed other transactions, and the gathering quickly entered the stage of sharing information and experiences.

There is no doubt that the news that Feysac brazenly launched a surprise attack and declared war on the Kingdom of Loen three days ago became the focus of discussion at the bronze table.

"The newspaper is a little vague. How much did Backlund lose?"

Alger, the "Hanged Man" who was still disguised as a pirate captain and sailing in the violent sea in a ghost ship, asked, his eyes naturally resting on "Justice", "Magician" and other members who were confirmed to live in that big city.

"Feysac dispatched a total of fifty airships from the north, using the cover of thick fog to travel thousands of miles at night and directly entered the northern district of Backlund. After the first wave of bombing, the troops split into two groups and headed for the western and eastern districts, launching attacks on Loen's political center and important factories in the eastern district... The death toll exceeded 1200, and the hospitals were filled with the wounded. Fortunately, after treatment, and... most of them will not be left with permanent disabilities."

Audrey answered, glancing casually at "the world".

Then, she looked at Miss Queen and found that she was just listening to the conversation quietly, so she continued:
"At that time in the North District, Miss Queen intercepted most of the airships, allowing Backlund's three major churches and the military enough time to react. Otherwise, the casualties would have been several times greater."

The "Queen" actually participated in that battle?

Everyone immediately turned their eyes to the slender figure beside Mr. Fool. They couldn’t believe that she could block dozens of airships by herself and escape unscathed.

You have to know that as a Feysac army supported by the Church of the God of War and the Einhorn family, the airships that dare to directly enter Backlund must be guarded by high-sequence Beyonders, and their strength cannot be judged simply by the number of soldiers.

Realizing the expectations in everyone's eyes, Angel took over the conversation with a somewhat sad tone:
"I happened to be in the North District at the time, doing a small job... The 'War Bishop' who led the team eventually escaped. There was a 'Weather Warlock' on the outskirts of the city, and I didn't chase him out."

"Hunter Path's Sequence 3 'War Bishop' and Sequence 2 'Weather Warlock'..."

Cattleya added with a hint of awe that as a demigod who could peeke at secrets, her knowledge reserve far exceeded that of other sources.

The Sequence 3 who came to attack with an airship could only flee in panic in front of the Queen. Moreover, it sounded like he wouldn't have gotten far if he hadn't had an angel protecting him...

Alger, who was sitting opposite Angel, felt his eyelids twitching. He felt that this person who had joined the Tarot Club with him and was obviously a low-sequence member at the time was getting further and further away from him.

Of course, it means that the other party is far ahead.

He had been looking forward to getting a chance to be promoted to demigod in the next change of situation, at least to "settle" the promotion of "Ocean Singer" within the church. After all, on the surface he was only a "Wind-loving One" of Sequence 6. But after a few days of fighting, he and "Blue Avenger" had not received any orders from the church, as if they had been forgotten in a corner.

Alger thought about it and said:
"According to the information I received, the Storm Church's response to this war was not very active."

Angel was a little confused after hearing his vague description.

When responding to the air raid last Friday, although the Storm Church did not dispatch the garrisoned demigods in time, the Holy Wind Cathedral had been carrying out long-range strikes on the airship troops, which greatly delayed the opponent's actions. Judging from the scene alone, the scene of countless wind blades and tornadoes flying in the sky was the most eye-catching.

Of course, if we look at it from the perspective of the gods' game, the actions of the Storm Church are understandable... Angel suddenly thought of the information he learned from the dreams of those deceased people in "Groselle's Travels". Just as he was about to make a few comments, Klein, the "world" at the end of the long table, suddenly said:

"Their passivity represents the attitude of the gods, and the attitude of the God of Storms is contradictory... After all, 'Storm', 'Audience', 'Sun', 'Secret Prayer' and 'Reader' are similar paths, and similar paths often become enemies..."

Not only do people within the same pathway compete for "resources" and guard against each other, but so do people on adjacent pathways?

Klein's words, which he himself was somewhat uncertain about, hit Alger's heart like a heavy hammer.

Being smart, he immediately thought of the reason for the Storm Church's negative attitude: they, or the "Storm Lord" at the top of the sequence, were wary of the "Eternal Sun", "God of Knowledge and Wisdom" in the adjacent sequence, as well as the "audience" Adam who was about to become a god with the help of war!
On the one hand, He was worried that Intis would join the war and wanted to resolve the dispute with Feysac with lightning speed. On the other hand, He was worried that the expansion of the war would help Adam, the descendant of the ancient sun god whose corpse He had once eaten.

This is a war at the level of gods, a war between gods... He suppressed his inner joy at seeing the essence of things and his sigh of admiration for the gods, and asked:

“Are there similar patterns in other pathways?”

"'Witch' is next to 'Hunter', and the same is true for 'Night', 'God of War', and 'Death'."

Angel replied casually.

"Night and the God of War... This partly explains why Feysac started the war!"

“Star” Leonard blurted out, gaining a certain understanding of the high-level factors hidden behind the secular war.

No, the Goddess of Night's uniqueness in obtaining the "God of Death" should be the core factor that prompted Feysac to rush into war... Angel muttered, and seeing that the topic had already been opened, he simply looked at Klein, who got the hint and took over the conversation:

"'Fortune Teller', 'Thief' and 'Apprentice' also belong to adjacent paths and also abide by the laws of conservation and aggregation of extraordinary characteristics.

"And as far as I know, recently the Sequence 1 'Fortune Teller' angel, the leader of the Secret Order, Zaratul, came to Backlund."

Compared to the others who only knew that the three routes were adjacent, Leonard was undoubtedly much more shocked after hearing these words.

There is a "thief" angel parasitizing in his body!

No wonder other Red Glove teams left Backlund and went to other cities for support or to garrison the temple. Only my team did not receive any orders and stayed in Backlund. This is to use "thieves" to deal with "fortune tellers"... Goddess, I'm afraid you know my abnormality! He felt a chill on his back and decided to discuss it with the old man immediately after the party.

The others did not have his thoughts, but were immersed in the discussion of the "division" of the twenty-two extraordinary paths.

"…In addition, 'Generalist' and 'Secret Voyeur' can be interchanged at a high level, and the same is true for 'Arbitrator' and 'Lawyer'."

Cattleya, the "Hermit," pushed up her heavy glasses and shared her knowledge.

"What about the pathway adjacent to the pharmacist?"

The "Moon" Emlyn across from her asked curiously.

"The 'tiller' of the Church of the Earth." Cattleya answered casually.

The Earth Church… The Earth Church where I often go to clean, help preach, and distribute medicine?

Emlyn's face froze, and he felt that he was being arranged by the "aggregation effect".

This reminded him of the burly priest. As his mind raced, he turned his head to look at the "star" beside him and asked in a low voice:

"You official Beyonders, I mean if you were an official Beyonder, how would you treat the clergy of the hostile forces in this war?"

"Of course we will resolutely strike back."

Leonard was also thinking about something else, and answered the question almost without thinking.

"What if he didn't do anything bad, and didn't intend to do anything bad? He's just an ordinary bishop."

"Then lock him up and monitor him until the war is over. This is called, um, protective custody."

While the two were whispering, the other members also pieced together the connections between the remaining pathways. "Criminal" and "Prisoner" could also be interchanged at a high sequence, but "Monster" was not adjacent to any other pathway, as strange as its name.

This disharmony, as if there was an extra object left after tidying up the desk, made most members feel a little uncomfortable, and they also experienced the chaos and disorder in the deepest part of the extraordinary world.

……

The crimson light faded away, and "Justice" Audrey woke up in the inner room of her office. The noisy voices and horse hooves on the street outside the window reached her ears through the window, bringing this "dream walker" back to reality from the discussion at the Tarot Club.

It’s a pity that I won’t be able to watch Mr. Sun’s exploration of the Giant King’s Court in a while. This is too painful for a “viewer”… Audrey, who became more and more interested in the history of the previous eras after exploring “Groselle’s Travels”, thought dejectedly, opened the door, nodded to Susie who was guarding outside, walked out of the office, and came to the first floor lobby of the Loen Charity Education Foundation.

Compared with the neatness and orderliness a week ago, the foundation's office building is now even more chaotic, with busy staff running around in different offices. Temporary medicines and food that are about to be delivered are piled everywhere, making it almost impossible to find a place to stand.

But this sight made Audrey breathe a sigh of relief. The busier the foundation was, the faster their gold pounds would be converted into medicines that hospitals urgently needed and food that the workhouses longed for, rather than just lying in the bank collecting interest.

At this moment, a deliberately suppressed voice reached the ears of this "audience":

"…the price of a pound of bread has gone up by a quarter of a penny again. The war has only just started for a few days and this is already the second price increase…while the prices of those canned goods in the East End haven't gone up, you can stock up on them."

Price increase...Audrey's good mood was instantly ruined.

She knew that such things were inevitable in war, but she didn't expect that this would also happen through the channels of contact with familiar nobles. It can be imagined how exaggerated the prices in the normal market have become.

To ensure the sustainable development of the fund and to ensure that the "main business" of providing financial aid is not affected, I'm afraid I have to donate more money... She was calculating her savings and the extra income she would get in October when the finance department employee with the same last name as Mr. World, Moretti, stepped forward and greeted her politely, then said:
"Ms. Hall, a man with short wheat-colored hair just came to the foundation and said he wanted to do his part for the people hurt in the war. Before I could explain that the foundation doesn't accept donations from outsiders, he left a package and quickly left... We chased him but couldn't find him..."

"What's in the package?"

Audrey asked, giving the man with a slightly receding hairline a kind smile.

"1500 pounds in cash..."

This... At the dinner for the establishment of the Loen Charity Student Aid Fund, 1500 pounds was considered a large donation. I only donated 1000 pounds at the time... Audrey looked towards the gate in surprise, trying to find any clues of the other party's actions, but apart from the passers-by and carriages that kept passing by the gatekeeper, she did not find any clues.

Since he was lost by several staff members, he must not be an ordinary person... a wild extraordinary person trying to show love?
Audrey thought for a moment and said to Benson Moretti:
"Since it's his good intention and we can't find him, just keep the money, keep a record, and give it to the purchasing staff to buy more medicine and food."

According to the discussion at the Tarot Club, the scale of this war will inevitably expand further with the promotion of multiple parties, and then more supplies will be able to help more people, rather than being hoarded by merchants or rotting in the basements of some nobles.

Thinking about the several estates in her home that were already filled with enough food to feed the masters and servants for several years, which would not be finished even if it rotted, Audrey's bright eyes were shrouded in a layer of haze.

(End of this chapter)