Oops, I became the witch's substitute

Xi Yehua specially made some lotus seed porridge for Feilin today. She was a little disappointed when she heard this. She had thought of many delicious recipes during this period, but she hadn't had time to let Feilin try them yet: "Is it okay for you to be so impatient? Do you think the mapo tofu I prepared for lunch is too spicy or what? I heard that you just escaped death, and now you are running away again? Don't you want to rest for a while?"

Feilin originally wanted to get along with everyone as an ordinary person, but it is better to make it clear in a small circle: "You have probably guessed my identity. I am just a useless spy who comes here to eat and wait for death. It's just that I don't want to work for the family."

Nishinoka packed some local specialties, mushrooms, and prepared some wine for Feilin: "Take these with you and eat them on the way. You are not the eldest son, and you can't stay in the family anymore. Come and open a hotel with me. If I eat mushrooms, you will have to drink mushroom soup."

Feilin instantly calculated the survival chances of the two, and suddenly found that the possibility of survival on the family side was higher. However, if he transformed into Feili, the mushroom would not be impossible to eat.

The Black Cat Pavilion is now well-known in Miriam's magic world, and has gradually started to have residents. For now, they are all witches, and there are still very few people. They also receive strange props as payment for debts. Now it is run by Nishinohana, who has the style of a proprietress.

Filin said goodbye to everyone in the Black Cat Pavilion, got rid of Carol's entanglement, and quickly embarked on the journey home.

While we are getting ready here, Fili also needs to find an excuse to disappear.

The war situation in Kalan cannot be ended in one or two years. To put it bluntly, the strong return of Giao Louis is only the pinnacle of heroes. There are still strong demons in the demon clan. Coupled with Kalan's current unpredictable and mysterious existence, the war will last for a long time.

When Fili reappeared in front of Kuina, she was greeted by a hug from Kuina, who even pushed Serena away, making the latter quite embarrassed and depressed.

"It's great that you're still alive. I thought you really met with an accident. If I had a little more strength, I would have been able to help you that day." Kuina's voice was tinged with tears, which made Selena beside him speechless.

Fili froze in embarrassment and glanced at Serena. She felt as if words were floating above Serena's head.

Endurance Lv1 → Endurance Lv2.

It feels like this.

Fili comforted Kuina: "Yeah, I did think I was going to die at that time. My opponent was the Black Witch of the Godhead, but I escaped."

The hidden danger in Kalan on the surface is the war between humans and demons, but in reality it is the war between the moon and the star beasts, a battlefield for humans and a battlefield for gods.

Fili had to disappear: "So I have to continue investigating. I can't let it end like this."

"Do you want to go alone? I'll go with you." Guinai held Fili's hand.

Fili saw Serena's frustrated face and said, "Not good. You still have to stay to help your friends, right? The brave Gaioluis also needs help. Heroes like you are indispensable on the front battlefield. You should stay."

After seeing off Kuina and facing Serena, the atmosphere was a little awkward.

Serena mustered up her courage and said, "Well, my battle in Kalan made me much stronger."

Fili smiled and said, "Isn't this great? Upholding justice while strengthening yourself, this was your original intention. You have the best of both worlds."

Serena shook her head. "Some of my subordinates also fell, and two Riel mercenaries also died. I have eaten bloody food here, rolled in the mud, and hid among the bodies of murderers with Yue Lan. I have seen many terrible monsters, and I am still very weak."

Fili stood on tiptoe and gently touched Serena's head: "It seems that you have witnessed a lot in Kalan."

Serena half-knelt in front of Fili, picked up a strand of her hair and kissed it: "I saw the resistance spirit of the Kalan people, I saw those who became slaves and gave up their dignity to survive, and I also vaguely saw what kind of justice countless people want to protect."

Fili congratulated her, "That's great, Serena. Although you have been promoted for a short time, it is time to consider becoming a hero. The path is the will. What you want to do and what you want to practice are all in this. A strong hero must have a firm spirit to support him. To become a hero, there must be a mission and ideals to back him up. Otherwise, no matter how strong the force is, it is ultimately just a body without a soul."

Serena sighed: "I don't have the strength to stand by your side right now, do I?"

Fili hit Serena on the head with her hand knife: "Why do you keep thinking about this? We all have our own missions to fulfill, but with your talent, I think you are the type who can constantly break through in battle. Keep working hard, Serena, maybe one day you will figure it out and become a hero."

Serena is talented and willing to work hard. Currently, Kalan is surrounded by dangers and is a testing ground for training. If it weren't for the family's troubles, she would still want to stay and continue to commit suicide.

To be honest, I had a lot of feelings after the battle with Anastasia's twins. My understanding of deception after coming back from the dead also reached a new level. Using the enemy as a stepping stone is indeed the fastest way to improve one's strength.

Finally, Fili went to visit Scathach. She was curious about how the little dragon girl really turned into a dragon. Her big tail and wings were so cute that she wanted to touch them just by looking at them.

Scathach couldn't explain why: "Sister Carol asked me to do this. I learned some strange magic and suddenly awakened."

"Awakened?" Fili sighed. It was Carol again. Carol had too many wonderful ideas.

Scathach took a pendant from her neck and said, "A new dragon stone, Sister Fili. Now I can use the dragon stone to transform into a real dragon. Sister Carol said that I can keep returning to my ancestors and one day I can become a celestial dragon..."

Fili stroked Scathach's face like she was petting a kitten: "Then you must train well and cherish this hard-earned strength, and don't slack off on your previous training. From what I can see now, your talent seems to have been fully developed, and your future achievements will not be low."

Scathach lowered her head: "In the future, I...I will no longer let Brother Filin protect me with his life. One day I will be able to stand by him and drive away all the bad guys."

Feili was in a good mood: "That's great. I finally feel sorry for Feilin. It's not easy for him either."

Scathach raised her head and said, "Why didn't Brother Filin come back? Is his injury not fully healed yet?"

Fili wanted to reassure Scathach: "Filin has been called back by his family. He has a lot of troubles to deal with during this period. He will be back next year. By the way, he also asked me to tell you that saving you is the adult's duty. If he could see how mature you are now, he would definitely be very pleased."

Scathach has grown up a lot, perhaps after studying to become a military doctor. The little girl has become more stable and mature than when she was in the hotel.

After bidding farewell to Serena and the others, Fili first folded a paper crane with magic, wrote a letter to find Hecate, explained the matter of Pandora, and finally got rid of this false clone.

Now Film has returned to its peak state.

Morgana means darkness in classical language. We learned from Hecate that the former great witch Morgana was the witch of darkness. She may be the founder of the family. It is quite incredible that the family name is based on the witch's name.

In fact, the "Darkness" in the name of the Morgana family actually refers to a family famous for black magic. Black magic is not an evil force, there is also white magic corresponding to it, the difference between them is roughly that nitroglycerin is almost equivalent to nitroglycerin, one is for explosion and the other is for saving lives, that is, when doing academic papers, it is specifically emphasized that all lethal magic can be called black magic, and the huge empire achieved peace because of black magic.

"Now is not the time. We cannot defeat that old thing with our current strength." On the way home, Filin sometimes hitched a ride on a caravan, sometimes traveled alone. He only started to formally exchange letters with his family when he arrived at the border of the Stral Empire, went to the nearest family residence, moved into the mansion to rest and live, and then returned all the way under the protection of the guards.

To be fair, Filin was not in the eyes of Count Xie before, but the family treated their blood relatives well. For example, when he travels now, he rides in a luxurious carriage, has knights to protect him, and has butlers and maids. Moreover, these people are also loyal to Filin on the surface. Of course, they are loyal to Morgana's bloodline and the head of the family, not to a certain person.

After enjoying a few days of comfort, Filin began to learn about recent events in the family, and then heard the news of the death of a brother whose name he had just learned.

It was the temporary butler who told Filin: "Three months ago, he was suddenly attacked by an unknown spirit and died of a heart attack."

Feilin looked regretful: "Is that so? Are you sure it's a word spirit? What kind of person dares to curse and kill a fellow citizen of our family?"

The butler was certain: "It's a demon."

Feilin shrugged: "It's inexplicable."

The butler said respectfully: "The demon who used the word spirit has been killed."

In fact, Feilin wanted to ask where his half-brother was buried. It would be more valuable if the body could be dug out and studied.

Judging from the time and manner of death, it seems that the demon Anastasia cursed her own spirit of words at that time, but that spirit of words was distorted by him using false power and transferred to Count Xie. In the end, it was one of Count Xie's sons who died. This information deserves attention.

This transfer was probably the work of Count Xie. Count Xie's control over his descendants and relatives, and the bloody exploitation of slavery, seemed rather tender and affectionate.

Not long after, Filin returned all the way to his mansion. The mansion was still the same as before, like a birdcage for keeping canaries. The gardeners who maintained the mansion were still the same people, and they were also the hardworking jailers.

But it was different from a year ago. A year ago, Filin was at the bottom among his blood relatives and was the most inconspicuous screw in the toolbox. But this year, the Miriam witch intelligence network he managed had achieved brilliant results. He infiltrated dozens of witches and even wanted to find out what color underwear Hecate wore every day. If the family really wanted to know, Filin could make it up on the spot. He was considered a meritorious official, and his treatment naturally improved a lot.

A few days later, the head maid knocked on the door of Feilin's study: "The master of the family has ordered that Master Feilin needs to go to the imperial capital before the family banquet begins."

Feilin's first reaction was whether he was going to kill someone. He had been in great fighting shape recently and wanted to find more opponents: "Any more orders?"

The head maid took out a letter and said, "Meet the marriage partner."

Feilin opened the letter and roughly understood the reason. It was to meet the daughter of another magic family in the empire. He didn't know how old the other party was, but he estimated that she was about the same age.

Regarding the marriage, Filin said that it was like that. Although his family was a bit cold-blooded, he had good looks and he was a Romeo after all, so he would definitely not spend the night with a pig.

Filin went to meet the marriage partner on this trip. Ostensibly it was a first meeting at a banquet, but his actual mission was to escort some special magic books to the other party, then obtain the mining rights of a small mine from the other party's family, and finally sign an agreement to form an offensive and defensive alliance in a certain area. To put it bluntly, it was a deal.

"Am I only worth a small mine?"

Chapter 133 The Witch of the Imperial Capital

The Strahl Empire has a vast territory and abundant resources. However, because it is so large (relative to other countries in the world), it has experienced more than a dozen falling star beast incidents and constant natural disasters in the past hundred years.

The great lords occasionally fought against each other, and even the royal family declined. It fought four large-scale civil wars and resisted seven invasions from neighboring countries. Even the current emperor came to the throne through the kindness of his father and filial piety of his sons, and he ascended the throne naturally by killing all his older brothers.

The emperors of this generation were too suspicious. The court nobles changed more than forty times, and they were like weeds that could not be burned out and would grow again if blown away. But perhaps because the emperor himself had suffered, the eldest son of this generation was well protected, and the other children were given some privileges to be free-range.

Due to the large number of pure deities, there have been seven coups and uprisings in the past century, and there have been even more families with evil intentions that failed. War is still a stage for personal heroism today. Filin has witnessed a coup since he came to this world. He knew that Count Xie had personally explained the pros and cons to the deities of other families, and often killed the leader of the other party, and a coup would end thereafter.

On the surface, the Morgana family stood firmly in the royal camp.

Some territories surrounding the empire have not yet been completely recovered or are still controversial, but the emperor is not to blame. It is because the border nobles are not strong enough, and occasionally a few strong men will appear to fight and open up the territory.

In general, the Stral Empire is in a state of peace and prosperity, at least not as dilapidated as the Kalan Kingdom.

The above is what Filin learned from history books. In the more than 20 years of Filin's actual experience, he felt that the magic technology of the Stral Empire was developing rapidly, the equal rights movement was on the rise, the desire to find all races in the world was strong, the theocratic church was booming, the gods did not interfere much with the secular world, land annexation was not serious, the empire's tax revenue was rich, and the people's quality of life had improved, which was basically manifested in a slight narrowing of the gap between the rich and the poor. Capitalism was in its infancy, and some areas still retained slavery, but the momentum for abolition was also very high, which made a large number of slave owners dare not exploit slaves wantonly, resulting in a funny and ridiculous situation.

Civilians also know some life magic, which is very common in the Stral Empire.

The Strahl Empire has a dark side that needs to be covered up with a fig leaf, but there are also many outstanding people who are at the forefront and try to break free from the shackles of the times, just as philosophers say that where there is light, there must be shadow.

In this era, the Strahl Empire is a rare empire that would send troops to help weak countries to encircle and suppress star beasts, and finally distribute according to work. It is an exporter of magic students from neighboring kingdoms, the birthplace of emerging technologies, and an empire dedicated to clearing out wild monsters and ensuring that all roads are unobstructed. It is the safest empire for travelers and merchants.

So this is also the pain in Filin's heart: "It would be better if I was born in a more ordinary family, even if I was just a commoner in Strahl."

In this country, even ordinary cattle and horses can be promoted to mules and horses, and finally live in Rome, as long as they work hard.

Compared to common people, those iron-clad aristocratic families may be polite to you on the surface, but may secretly dig up your ancestral grave. Living in power and conspiracy in the true sense is really tiring.

The case of Filin's family is even more special.

Thinking of this, Feilin stroked the box in his arms. This was the thing he was asked to escort in person. "Even so, even if I am a stinky boy who is not in the upper class, I have found a partner for political marriage."

However, Filin was very curious about the significance of political marriage. In the past, both at home and abroad, marrying a princess did not necessarily bring peace. Bloody marriages were common, and there had never been an unbreakable alliance. Filin even wondered if he could live to see the day of his marriage.

Filin's head maid was an old lady, a senior sorcerer. Her attitude towards him never changed. She was always very cold and gave orders from beginning to end: "Master Filin, the master of the family has ordered that you can move around freely during your stay in the imperial capital. You can use the Abis Mansion at your will. The amount of money you can spend is..."

"I understand. Are there any other orders or tasks?"

"If possible, I hope you can pay attention to the witch association in the imperial capital and make use of your abilities."

Felix glanced at the head maid and said, "I know. I will take action tonight."

"Finally, from my personal standpoint, I would like to advise you to pay attention to your image. For the family, your current behavior is a bit too casual and does not conform to the image of the Morgana family."

"Uh... do you have to take care of this too?"

In fact, Feilin had neither good nor bad feelings towards the head maid, but they had to get along for a while, and she gave him too many advice, which was quite a headache.

"I've watched you grow up. You've worked harder than other young masters and young ladies since you were little. But after that incident, you always kept everything to yourself and never communicated with us..." The head maid couldn't help but sighed when she said this. "Even if it's just a pretense, it's good for you, young master, to reduce the handles on the master's side."

Feilin nodded, then scratched his face: "You... uh... you are..."

The head maid replied silently: "Cloverfjord of the Black Crow, your loyal head maid."

Filin sat up straight: "Cloverfjord, any news about mother?"

The head maid Cloverfield answered seriously: "After the lady returned to her parents' home, there has been no contact, and the Earl has not contacted her either."

"Recently, that old... no, after I left, have any new brothers or sisters been born?"

"There are four of them. The youngest was born three months ago. He doesn't have any outstanding talents and is taken care of by the ladies in a normal way."

"You're really fertile..."

After Filin sighed, Cloverfield remained silent.

"How was my sister's grave while I was away?"

"I go to clean from time to time, and Miss Erniele sends flowers on holidays."

At this point, Filin's eyes brightened up, and his tone towards Cloverfield became much kinder.

"Thank you so much for your hard work."

"……Yes."

The servants and subordinates of the family are not robots, nor are they cold tools in the hands of Count Xie. They also see the changes that have taken place in the family.

"From now on, you will be in charge of the Abyss Mansion. No one is allowed to walk around the mansion without permission after dark. Also, buy some more expensive black tea and hire an excellent pastry chef. Don't neglect my fiancée."

"Anything else you need?"

"Well, no one is allowed to enter my room at any time, and the key can only be kept by me."

"understood."

After arriving in the imperial capital, Filin's quality of life improved significantly. He had everything he needed, and someone would do whatever he asked. The only thing he had to worry about was Qingyue's protection, which was really a bit disappointing, but going out in the name of carrying out a mission seemed to be less tiring.

Investigating the witches in the imperial capital? Feilin was really curious about the living conditions of the witches in Strahl.

Unlike Miriam the witch who can call the shots, Strahl's witches are very transparent, so transparent that they have almost no presence and no reputation. You can barely find out about a few old house girls who run shops, but they just lie down and act like a loser, as if being alive and breathing is a victory.

Filin suddenly thought of something: "Oh, Stral, help me post a commission. I want to recruit a magic consultant."

Strahl carefully recorded Filin's orders: "Do you need a warlock or a wizard? Are you serious about solving the problem, or just a decoration?"

Feilin clasped his fingers together, as if thinking deeply: "I'm hiring a witch. The commission is 2,000 gold coins per month. The requirement is that she must be familiar with mushroom knowledge."

Since he could control the money now, Filin would not be too polite. He knew that whatever he used the money for would be recorded, but after infiltrating the witch for a year, it was normal for Miriam to be interested in mushrooms, right? It was also normal to purchase some mushrooms for the consultant, right?

Feilin's general plan is to issue the commission today, create a clone tomorrow, and let Feili appear openly. By then, the hiring fee can be transferred from one hand to the other and into his own pocket. As for other plans? Feilin has not thought of them yet.

At night, Filin couldn't sit still, so he used the mission as an excuse to leave the mansion early and sneak into the imperial capital. The imperial capital was not deserted at night, as the nocturnal races would gather at this time, and the shops that exclusively served these races would also be open for business.

Witches actually like to wander around at night.