Oops, I became the witch's substitute

At home, Filin is teaching Scathach seriously, but Scathach's condition has been a little strange recently. She often stays in bed in the morning, and it seems that her sleep quality is a little poor. When asked, she doesn't say anything, and she seems to be confused. It may be the bed-sucking syndrome unique to girls.

Carol continued to transform the workshop as usual, vaguely treating it as her own private property. In fact, as she made more and more tools by hand, the advanced alchemical equipment in the workshop was all made by Carol herself, so this assumption was getting closer and closer to the fact.

Nishinohua still studies recipes every day, and recently launched the Witch Nutrition Package. She has designed several sets of recipes for the hotel, enough to cope with guests from all over the world, whether they are human or not.

Finally, Filin took time out of his busy schedule to write to the family, claiming to be monitoring the follow-up of the Bahamut incident. So far, he has opened the 30th account, all of which are fictional characters, but they all have fictional identities and backgrounds that seem real. They are either highly secretive or highly mobile. In any case, it would be troublesome for the family to verify.

But fictional characters are not safe either, and Feilin is considering whether to bribe some real subordinates recently.

Knock, knock, gentle knock on the door.

As soon as Fili heard it, she knew it was the witch knocking on the door. The force was too light. She said "Come in", and a witch carrying a huge sword walked in.

Sword Witch Surad, a witch who later supported the border city, is a rare doer among witches. Miriam can count the number of famous witches on one hand. She is a powerful person who is dedicated to hunting down the Black Witch. She came here because she was worried about the safety of the border during the Bahamut incident.

As soon as Surad came in, he complained, the big sword he held behind him scraped the ground and sparked: "This is too confusing, Fili, you have no idea what just happened in the Arian sect. They claimed that our sister killed their saint."

"..." Fili was stunned. It was indeed very confusing and had nothing to do with it.

Not to mention that the Arian sect was being harassed to the point of collapse during this period, and the three heroes were also killing people everywhere. Fili didn't want to get into trouble during this period, so she ordered the witches not to make trouble. Miriam's witches now stayed in the "Hidden World Under the Starry Sky" barrier and played cards.

As for the future, she will still steal the rare resources of the star beasts, but she has to wait for the right time.

Afterwards, Fili and Surad confirmed with each other whether the witches they knew were likely to cause trouble. After confirming that all the witches were staying at home, they began to feel strange.

Fili naturally took the perspective of the witch camp: "We have a feud with the sect, but it's a different era now. Even witches who have experienced witch hunting don't bother to argue with them. How dare they frame us? What's the basis for this?"

Surad shook his head. "There is no basis for this. They just said that the life covenant of a saint was shattered and no one could find her alive or dead, and they said it was our conspiracy."

Fili touched her chin and said, "How about this. I will discuss with the Miriam royal family and make a public statement on behalf of the kingdom. We will visit Arius again to assist in the investigation of the Saint's murder."

Surad hurriedly stopped him: "No, it's too dangerous. They have great ill intentions towards us."

Fili thought of what happened before: "That won't happen to everyone. The sect has undergone some reforms over the years, and the cathedral has even publicly acknowledged the mistakes of witch hunting in the past..."

Surad spread his hands and said, "You are right, but the malice of that small number of people cannot be underestimated, especially the Inquisition. They have been actively assassinating those gifted people who are within their reach, and would rather kill the wrong person than let him go."

Fili hummed, closed her eyes and tapped the table lightly, then relaxed: "This seems to suit me better. In a sense, I need them to take action first."

They all said that Miriam was assisting in the investigation with her official background. Fili had originally been responsible for rectifying order on the border and assisting local nobles in maintaining peace. She already had a certain degree of cooperation with the royal family. Now that the sect wants to deal with Fili, it is not just dealing with the witches.

In the past, witches were often targeted and thus succeeded repeatedly, but now Fili is the representative of the kingdom.

Afterwards, I discussed the details with Surad, which basically was to tighten the internal constraints on the witches, find a few reliable witches to patrol and search for any black witches entering the country, and finally everyone hide together in the hidden world barrier.

All I can say is that the border cities that have completed the barrier now feel extremely safe.

A few days later, the negotiations between Fili and the royal family yielded results. Miriam gave Fili the duties of an envoy and sent the Alex sect to assist in the investigation. The Arians remained silent, neither welcoming nor opposing, but just embarrassed.

This is the first time a witch has made a public appearance in all these years, and it's even more embarrassing than the last time she led away criminals.

In the past, finding some reason to frame the witches was like throwing mud at them, and the witches would either protest or just ignore it. But now that the Sun God was drunk and passing by the west, the witches actually assisted the sect in investigating the death of the saint.

The saints of the Arian sect were, in theory, divine beings recognized and blessed by the gods. In reality, because the current god Arius ignored this sect, their saints were merely clergymen gifted with outstanding divine power, famous for their excellent healing abilities and barrier techniques. They had a higher status, but their numbers were slightly larger, which could not be compared with a sect with only one saint.

This time the saint's disappearance has been confirmed as death, and the sect said that the witch wanted to summon demons for sacrifice, but they didn't expect that a witch would really come to assist in the investigation.

"Hello, nice to see you again, Lady Fili."

This time, the forces of the cathedral were responsible for receiving Fili. Alex came in person and was as polite as ever.

The Cathedral lineage is the most moderate faction in the sect. It advocates the development of economy, divine power, and magical technology. They respect the research of all schools, including magic, and all scholars, including witches and warlocks. They try every means to develop the country, improve the quality of life of the people, use divine power for commerce and agriculture, and establish colleges and hospitals. They are currently an active reform force in the sect.

Because the cathedral has trained three heroes in the modern era, with a stable inheritance of the old, middle-aged and young, and the reputation of the three heroes is also very good, so it is quite prestigious.

Fili also responded politely: "Hello, Mr. Brave, please don't be too polite. I want to know the specific reasons for the case."

Alex nodded. To be precise, they didn't want to let everyone know about the witch's visit, but since she was here, the key was to send her away as soon as possible. Since Fili wanted to reduce the politeness, Alex also fully cooperated. From the above perspective, they wanted to deal with the matter coldly and let it go.

However, the sect’s cathedral is a magical existence, perhaps a little schizophrenic. They govern the country with kindness, but kindness cannot deal with unruly people. What can they do? They can only abide by the law. Their law also has a core idea: every wrong has its perpetrator and every debt has its creditor.

So, the people responsible for investigating the disappearance and murder of the saint, led by Alex, decided that no matter who they cooperated with, the most important thing was to find out the truth and the real culprit. Since Fili was so rude, they were well prepared.

Alex took off the bag from his waist and pulled out a stack of information. In a sense, this was brought here by the hero himself. "Well... the details are all here. By the way, I hope you won't be confused by some rumors. That's not our public statement. Okay, let's get straight to the point. The deceased was 17 years old, female. Her real name is Coles. She came from a farm family in the countryside. Her parents had only one daughter. She was found by the monastery four years ago. She was a girl born with a strong affinity for divine power..."

First, Coles's background was introduced, then her experience of further study in the monastery, and the people and things she came into contact with during this period were checked to see if there was any possibility of revenge, love or other motives. There was not much to say, and after half an hour, she started to talk about her recent experiences.

As luck would have it, Kors was the second batch of reinforcements to arrive. She was assigned to the Inquisition to treat the wounded and assist the brave team in the battle. The reason why the sect had slandered the witch before was because she had been guarding the wreckage of the star beast for several days in a row. Kors' team repelled a group of mysterious invaders several times and suspected that they were retaliated against.

Fili flicked through the files. "According to your evaluation, she would be promoted to a hero in about three years. She was very young and extremely talented. Being assigned to the Brave Team was also a form of protection. She did not violate discipline by going out alone, nor did she touch any suspicious items. She died just like that. Why didn't you conduct an internal investigation first?"

Alex said seriously: "The court conducted its own investigation and determined that it was a missing person homicide."

"Are you serious...?" Fili felt that there were too many things to complain about, and she lost the desire to complain.

The reason why death is determined is magic. After death, the corresponding life contract will be broken.

Alex didn't answer directly, but looked at Fili quietly. Silence is also a kind of answer.

Fili threw the file away and said, "Now we all know that it was very deliberate, so what do you think about this matter? Witches also have many secret techniques, and it may not be difficult to investigate the cause of a person's death."

Alex raised his hand. "You now have two choices. First, sign your name on the document we prepared, agree to the results of the investigation, and then stay here quietly for a week before returning home. Second, you really go to investigate. During this time, you may encounter danger, and we cannot protect you all the time."

Fili spread her hands and said, "That being said, if you can't protect it, then at most one more witch will die. However, this witch severely injured the star beast with one punch."

Alex smiled and held out his hand, "In the meantime, we will only represent the Cathedral. We will fully support you, people or things, whatever you choose."

The cooperation was temporarily settled, and Fili said she wanted to travel secretly and soon disappeared in the sect camp.

After Fili leaves, a man in a large robe and a mask appears in the room and questions Alex.

"What are you doing here?" Alex frowned.

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The visitor was one of the leaders of the court: "In fact, I am the one who is in charge of the investigation into Coles' death. We..."

Alex interrupted him: "You didn't find any suspicious points in your investigation, did you?"

"Of course not. First of all, you have to understand that not every kidnapping will leave clues. Curses and sacrifices are particularly secretive. Furthermore, the hero Finks is involved. As a newly promoted hero, he cannot have any stains around him. Now all the evidence points to revenge from the outside world. The facts are clear. There is no need to ask outsiders for assistance, especially a witch. This is related to the face of the sect."

Alex disagreed: "The assistance is only on the surface. This is sent by the Miriam royal family to clear their reputation. We are just pretending to help."

"But the witches don't think so. They will spare no effort to bring discredit upon their sect!"

Alex said calmly, "Regarding this, I can guarantee with my character that Lady Fili is not such a person. I listened to the Holy Voice and heard only sincerity in her emotions. But I am very surprised that your investigation was so hasty in less than three days."

"We can't investigate everything and interrogate everyone, right? Maybe we'll find out something."

Alex held his forehead and pointed to the door. "Please leave. I'm really fed up with your hypocrisy. In the name of doing everything for the benefit of the sect, you abuse your power just for your own benefit."

"Master Alex..."

"Please leave, or I will."

Having said this, the people in the court cursed inwardly for being stubborn and could only leave in disappointment.

Alex turned and looked at the goddess statue behind him. After a long silence, he spoke softly, "I'm going crazy. God, please tell me why the people and things I'm exposed to now are contrary to the education I received when I was young?"

If the god Arius saw this, he would probably first refute that he was not a goddess.

Just like that, Fili began her independent investigation. Everyone on the sect's side reacted nervously at first. Even the gentle cathedral felt very awkward and didn't want the witch to get involved. But Fili was not only a witch, but also a special envoy designated by Miriam, who came to eliminate the misunderstanding between the two countries.

In fact, if it was Hecate who wanted to come, the church would have strongly opposed it. But it was Fili, the core figure who directly defeated the star beast. Although most people were reluctant to admit it, her reputation was still passed on by word of mouth, and her strength was exaggerated a lot. In order to prevent Fili, who was suspected to be a deity, from causing trouble, the sect had no choice but to cooperate obediently.

After all, it would be more beneficial to disassemble the star beast and move it back home than to have a conflict with Fili.

But not everyone thinks so. The Inquisition hates witches the most. The atmosphere inside is hatred for everything, and they have no good feelings towards Fili at all.

But... they couldn't find Fili.

Fili seemed to have evaporated. She said she was investigating but no one knew where she went. After a few days, there was no movement. In addition, there was trouble near the wreckage of the star beast, so everyone's attention was quickly diverted.

Another week passed, and just when everyone was about to forget the death of the saint, Fili suddenly appeared and found Alex as a witness.

Fili was absent-minded. Although the sect was a mortal enemy, the girl who died tragically was innocent. "Well, I found the missing Coles. Unfortunately, she probably didn't die peacefully. Her body was scattered in a dry well."

Alex frowned deeply: "...scattered?"

"She was beheaded, dismembered, and burned. I couldn't bear to watch." Fili put her hands on her hips and pointed in the direction where the body was found. "You'd better send someone to seal off the scene as soon as possible, because it's too difficult to find her body. I'm sure she was treated inhumanely before her death. The area near the dry well is not the first scene. The clues before that have been severely destroyed. It's not easy to find the place where the body was hidden."

Alex was a little anxious: "Is the clue broken?"

Fili looked relieved. "But the murderer probably didn't expect that Kors, as a saint, would have such strong divine power. She tried her best to protect the remains from being completely burned, so she had to hide the body. I guess he didn't expect that I had a secret technique to investigate the truth. Now, I just ask you to find a few more reliable people to be witnesses, and I will reconstruct the murder process."

The sect is indeed unfamiliar with magic, or rather, unfamiliar with the latest magical achievements that are developing rapidly. The country where Morganna's family lives is a magical power, the kind of country that would study ordinary attack magic and ordinary defense magic over and over again. Because many magicians' criminal methods are too advanced, criminal investigation magic has to get involved, and the situation on both sides is like that of a demon that is always stronger than the Taoist one.

In fact, after finding the clue, Fili used the same magic that she used to investigate her dead superior. Although it was troublesome to find the clue, the possibility was not zero. As long as she grasped one detail, she could unravel the mystery and find the murderer.

As for the identity of the real murderer, Fili felt it was a bit tricky and was afraid that she could only leave it to Alex to confront.

Chapter 99: Wave after Wave

There have been no major disturbances near the Star Beast recently, and with Alex taking the lead, the Cathedral and the Knights also sent witnesses to follow the witch to the murder scene.

It was an abandoned village. It was actually a village destroyed by the aftermath of Bahamut's attack. Fortunately, the villagers evacuated in advance and there were no casualties. It was a full sixteen kilometers from here to the star beast area.

The church had complicated feelings towards Fili, but that did not stop them from investigating the truth. When they fished the body out of the dry well, everyone's faces turned very ugly. They all used divine power to confirm it, and they all found it unbelievable.

Although no one said anything, they all suspected that it was done by an outsider. The saint herself was very powerful, and she teamed up with the brave man, and there was a knight group stationed nearby. If they were able to kill a saint without anyone noticing today, they should attack the brave men tomorrow.

"We haven't found any signs of a conflict, which means it was an acquaintance who committed the crime." Fili added another stab, then sprinkled a special crystalline powder from her pocket, cut her palm with a dagger and sprinkled the blood on the surrounding crystalline powder.

A combat nun in the sect came closer to observe, pinched a little powder with her hands and rubbed it, then turned back to report to the bishop: "An unknown technique of pure magic, not mixed with other techniques."

"You can understand?"

"If someone is cheating in front of us and we can't tell, then we'd better kill them."

The blood fell on the powder and hovered, reconstructing the outline of a human figure like twinkling starlight. Everyone saw several people dressed as adventurers dragging the body of the saint here, dismembering it, and then throwing it into the dry well.

"Adventurer?"

Everyone present was lost in reminiscence. There was also an Adventurer's Association within the Holy Country, and the adventurers therein were also quite powerful. In this star beast conflict, they also hired the top adventurers among them.

Alex saw that the bishop beside him had doubts, and after thinking for a while, he shook his head and said, "It can't be them. The image is just an outline. It's worth doubting, but we can't jump to conclusions. Sir Fili, can it be clearer?"

"It will take some time, just follow me."

Fili chanted a few syllables softly, and the glowing outlines gathered together and transformed into several butterflies that floated away into the distance, and everyone followed.

"The details of the magic cannot be revealed. You can think of it as retracing the memories of the world, but I cannot control its speed."

After Fili's explanation, no one showed any impatience. This case was very serious. The deceased was a saint with great potential in the sect, and the real murderer must be caught.

Every few hundred meters those magical butterflies would transform into human shapes again, but the process of moving corpses lasted for several hours. Everyone came in the morning and arrived at the saint's former residence in the afternoon.

Outside the base, everyone saw the young hero talking to the saint. Although no one knew what they talked about, they ended up parting on bad terms. The young hero seemed very angry and vaguely made the movement of drawing his sword. At this moment, the image suddenly shook violently and collapsed.

"This is……?"

"This is what I mean by covering up the traces. The person who killed the Saint used almost every possible means to clear the clues."

Soon someone recognized the silhouette.

"It's Hotch."

"Impossible, he is a brave man."

"Although it's just a silhouette, the clothes, sword ornaments, demeanor, and everything else are definitely him. That frivolous guy is lustful, greedy, and enjoys luxury. He also likes to hang out with adventurers, often fooling around with questionable women, and he also covets the Saint."

As soon as someone raised the issue, someone else questioned it, and soon there was a lot of discussion. Alex quickly stopped it when he saw it.

In fact, Alex also had some doubts about the youngest hero, because he had been receiving inhuman education from the Inquisition since he was a child, which led to a distorted personality. After he finally became a hero, his nature was somewhat released, but... he was a hero after all.

Alex has been taught by two generations of brave men. The justice they taught was different, and they always asked Alex not to define justice, as the word justice is abstract.

The reason why a brave man is a brave man is that there are many unjust things in the world, that is, the social atmosphere that occurs after adulthood is contrary to the ideal. When a brave man begins to resist those unjust behaviors, that may be justice.

The Hodge he knew was young, energetic and frivolous. It was partly because of his youth that he was dazzled by the world, but being able to inherit the godhood and become a hero was absolutely... righteous.

A bishop looked at Fili and said, "Sir Fili, can you find Kors' soul?"

Fili spread her hands and said, "Searching for souls is not my forte. If I encounter a newly dead person, I can still summon him, but the deeper secrets may only be done by those who are proficient in necromancy."

Now everyone is in a dilemma, the hero has an independent status in the sect, and they cannot judge him guilty just because the magic outline is similar, but the clues have come here, and it can be confirmed that it was done by an insider.

"Master Alex, what should we do?"

Alex paced back and forth, looking at the base and thinking, then turned back to inform the Knights.

"Now the clues are obvious. Notify the garrison to surround this camp and investigate everyone in the camp. Leave it to me, Hodge."

Alex is actually quite young, he looks to be in his twenties but he is actually close to forty. He couldn't control his emotions when he thought of Korse's death. He entered the camp and found Hodge's residence directly before the Knights even took any action.