Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 1344 July
July marks the arrival of the hottest season in the North Continent.

This was supposed to be the start of Backlund's social season, when nobles who had spent their time in their manors, castles, and estates would return to the city to attend various balls and banquets and maintain good relations with other families and partners.

However, with the new king's austerity initiatives, these activities, which were originally intended to showcase the wealth of the nobility, became less extravagant. Many families whose estates and plantations had been damaged in the war and whose wealth had shrunk considerably had a respectable reason to reduce their spending on balls and banquets during the social season and instead hold salons to entertain scholars and professionals, learning from the old-school nobles of Intis and engaging with emerging powers.

Of course, there were also several large-scale parades, and the royal family used these occasions to expose some unscrupulous wealthy businessmen as a warning to others.

Compared to the nobles, whose wealth and power were not as great as before the war, the lives of the common people in Backlund had returned to their previous standard, and had even improved thanks to the war reparations from Fussac and Intis and the implementation of some policies aimed at helping the poor.

At least that's how the bustling streets of the North District appear.

Weaving through the bustling crowd, the noise around Angel was deafening:
"Fish and chips with apple juice, only 6p!"

"Iced Black Bear Cola, and the newest orange flavor!"

"Make way, make way!"

A crisp and distinctive bell rang, and a line of bicycles that spontaneously formed a queue passed by Angel.

Klein's "invention"... As these vehicles, so different from horse-drawn carriages, drove away, a smile crept onto Angel's lips.

Her figure, which appeared somewhat blurry to onlookers, then departed, heading towards the St. Samuel Church, whose black spire and bell tower peeked out from the complex of buildings.

Because he performed well in both the Sequence 1 role and the ascension ceremony, Angel stabilized his current Sequence 0 status in less than two months and was able to leisurely stroll around the city.

Of course, what came to the real world was not her true form, but a mirror projection. But even a fake can look real. At least an angel level would be able to see the difference. Otherwise, not only would they not be able to tell if she was real or fake, but they might not even have the upper hand in a fight.

This is her greatest advantage over the previous "Primal Witch," Chick, who was tormented by the original creator, the primordial God.

Meanwhile, Angel's true form is maintaining the Mirror World she restored after becoming a god, especially the part she cut out as her divine kingdom, and is attempting to move it to the Astral Plane as a crucial component of the barrier to wage a "protracted war" against the Outer Gods.

This task was originally very difficult and could not have been completed in a few months, but now that the spirit world and the astral realm have masters, they can help.

Arriving at Pesfield Street, strolling along the street that had been destroyed and widened after being repaired following the bombing by the Fussack airships and the War of the Gods, Angel was surprised to find several steam cars with twelve wheels and huge chimneys driving on the road.

The massive, tank-like vehicles that drew the attention of passersby were noisy and slow, a stark contrast to the nimble horse-drawn carriages that glided past them, but Angel knew that this was the future.

The premise is that they can survive the apocalypse and have a future.

I just hope there won't be another Backlund smog. I can control the witches, but industrial pollution needs to be restricted by law... Angel withdrew his gaze and walked into the Church of St. Samuel.

A wedding is taking place here.

Normally, weddings are held in smaller, less prestigious chapels. This is not only because most guests cannot fill the prayer halls of large cathedrals, but also because the donations required are quite high. Only a few noble families would use such chapels for their weddings. Even wealthy merchants and factory owners who lack social standing do not like to make such public appearances.

But today, this newlywed couple is just an ordinary person, yet not so ordinary. They are Benson Moretti and Lily Granger.

Under Audrey's persistent attention, Angel had long been aware of the close relationship between the two. After Lily graduated, Benson immediately proposed and successfully proposed, setting the wedding date for today.

I don't know how Klein views this brother who has no real blood relation to him before he transmigrated, but is a relative of this body. But for me, it is the hope that Lily can live a happy life... Angel sighed and sat down in the last row of the not-so-crowded prayer hall. Like an ordinary believer who has accidentally entered a wedding and is unwilling to leave, he looked with great interest at the somewhat bewildered groom standing by the altar.

Wearing a sharp dress, Benson Moretti, whose face looked a bit older, seemed to notice something and glanced at where Angel was, but because of the lighting, his gaze swept over her somewhat blurry outline.

Unlike weddings held in chapels, St. Samuel's Church did not ask believers unrelated to the couple to leave, so apart from guests seated near the altar, there were still many strangers around. Benson looked away with some confusion, feeling as if he had seen someone he knew.

He knew that it was already quite rare for him to be able to hold his wedding in the largest church in all of Rune, the Black Night Church. Although this was because the church he had originally booked had some problems and was temporarily unable to receive believers, and Archbishop Saint Anthony happened to be available to preside over the ceremony, he still guessed that it was because of the special circumstances of his and Lily's families that he had received such special treatment.

To give Lily a lasting memory, Benson, who had recently received several promotions and a significant salary increase, originally planned to grit his teeth and make a substantial donation. However, before the wedding, he was informed that the church change was due to problems with the church itself, so the costs would be waived.

He still felt he was benefiting from Klein's influence... He pursed his lips and looked down at the guests.

Most of the people who attended the wedding were his colleagues at the Treasury Department, friends he met while working at the "Rune Charitable Scholarship Fund", as well as Lily Granger's classmates and teachers, and Melissa's peers, not exceeding their current social circles.

But there were still some guests who had come from Tingen sitting in the back. There was a white-haired lady holding a notebook, seemingly recording wedding details; a young woman wearing a girlish long dress, constantly talking to the people around her; a black-haired, green-eyed man with his female companion, constantly examining the details of the wedding venue; and a couple who seemed to be isolated from the light and immersed in shadows.

Finally, the man in the shadows caught Benson's eye for a moment; he felt he had seen the man's hairline, which was quite similar to his own, somewhere before.

It seems to have been at Klein and Angel's funeral, the captain who died alongside them... How could that be?

Benson muttered to himself as cheerful, lively music suddenly filled his ears.

His gaze unconsciously drifted towards the church entrance.

There stood the lady with whom he would spend the rest of his long life, until the very end.

……

After officiating the wedding of this special couple, Anthony Stevenson, dressed in a black archbishop's robe and looking increasingly imposing, greeted the believers and went to the last row of benches in the prayer hall. Following his spiritual guidance, he looked at a certain spot, and his gaze suddenly froze.

Having managed the sealed artifact "0-17" for a long time and witnessed the goddess's divine descent many times, Anthony could sense that there had just been an aura here that was similar to it, but with even greater destructive power, as if it could easily destroy everything around it.

This is not the power that an ordinary angel could leave behind, but rather an existence of equal rank to the goddess's divine vessel after its descent is activated.

A true god has graced the wedding ceremony just now!
Anthony suddenly understood why the goddess would personally arrange a wedding between two families of Night Watchers.

He stood silently for a few seconds, pointed to the stars on his chest, and turned to leave.

(End of this chapter)