Mystery: Good Witch

Chapter 1416 Divine Envoy
"where is this place?"

Christina first touched her handbag and found that the "magic lamp" that had led her and Dorothy to sneak out of the house and run around was still in the bag. Then she turned to her sister and asked.

The latter was clearly still not recovered, her head spinning from the bizarre sights of the past few seconds. Her brown eyes were as calm as a lake, and it took her a while to come to her senses. Like Tina before her, she looked around.

"beach."

She gave an answer that couldn't be wrong.

Of course I know that… We just vacationed at Dixie Bay last year, but the sky there wasn’t this blue, the sea wasn’t this deep, and more importantly, the whole beach was packed with people… Tina muttered to herself, reaching into her handbag to touch the golden lamp and ask the genie inside if he knew where she was.

But before she could even touch the sealed artifact or ask a question, the other party's distinctive, majestic voice echoed in her mind:
"This should be the central area of ​​the Roside Islands, north of Blue Mountains Island, very close to Bayam, the largest city in the entire sea area."

"Coincidentally, our next destination is in this city."

Blue Mountain Island? Tina repeated the somewhat tongue-twisting name in a low voice, trying to recall the location of this island in the raging sea.

It is a tropical island located between the northern and southern continents, which once belonged to the Kingdom of Rune and is now peacefully independent.

"You said this is Blue Mountain Island, where the 'City of Generosity' Bayam is located?" Dorothy asked loudly when she heard her sister's mutterings, then looked at her hand that had just reached into her handbag. "Which genie told you that?"

"That's right!"

The voice emanating from within the sealed artifact also rang in Dorothy's ears, startling her so much that she shrank back and looked in their direction in surprise.

"After the second seal was broken, he seemed to have gained a little more power."

Tina smiled slightly and explained.

But the next second her smile vanished. She angrily pulled a golden lamp from her bag, grabbed the spout protruding from the main body, and swung the ancient and expensive lamp around, saying furiously:

"Now that you've regained your strength, why didn't you use the normal methods to get here? Auntie must be very worried about Dorothy and me; she might even think we're dead!"

Then she would tell Uncle Benson, which meant that Mom and Dad knew too. When we got home, we were greeted by Dad sitting expressionlessly at the table and Mom standing by the door with her hands on her hips, ready to lock me up... She suddenly felt like she had lost all hope in life.

“You were the one who went to visit the lab, and you touched that door yourself, so why blame me? Are you the kind of person who always tries to find someone else to take the blame for everything?” the genie retorted without any politeness. And because the seal had been further broken, Tina couldn’t even stop his voice from reaching her sister’s ears. “That electrified door doesn’t have the ability of a ‘traveler’ to travel through the spirit world. It can only perform a certain simulation. But the moment you touched it, the device was accidentally activated, sending you and everything you touched into the spirit world.”

Tina's breath hitched, and she guiltily hid the arm that had reached for the doorknob behind her back.

"If I hadn't adjusted my landing point and landed near Bayam, you would be in the primeval forest of the Southern Continent by now, as the local natives' meal."

The "genie" continued, his tone somewhat high-pitched. Tina seemed to see the golden figure before her eyes, arms crossed, head held high, looking arrogant and haughty.

After everything is over, can I wish to send the genie back into its sealed container...? She shook her head, banishing that annoying image from her mind, and continued to ask:
"Now how to do?"

Since we're already on this island, there's no point in going back to explain to Melissa. It's better to break the seal on the "genie" as soon as possible and grant the wish. Maybe that will make her mother happy and stop blaming her for "running away from home."

Tina even suspected that this sealed artifact intentionally propelled unexpected developments in order to break all the seals as soon as possible, or at least amplified her curiosity, making her recklessly touch the "Door of Anywhere." Otherwise, given her caution, she would have at least hesitated for a few seconds before touching it...

"The third location is a luxury suite on the top floor of a hotel in the 'City of Generosity' dock area. You can enter the city by walking west along the beach."

Seemingly worried that continuing to provoke its owner might lead to something bad, the genie softened its tone and indicated the next destination.

As he spoke, Tina looked up and gazed in the direction where the sun was slightly tilted, and saw a series of low buildings in the distance, with ships constantly approaching or moving away on the sea, clearly indicating a busy port city.

Between her and the city, a steep cliff rises abruptly, blocking out some of the sunlight. The cliff face facing Tina is at an inverted angle. Instead of being eroded by the sea breeze over the long years to form a smooth surface, it looks as if it has been bombarded by hundreds of large-caliber cannons, with craters stretching across the surface and a jagged, uneven surface, like the gaping mouth of a monster.

Dorothy appeared beside Tina at some point, also gazing at the cliff in the distance, and muttered to herself:
"This is said to be where the legendary pirate 'Golden Queen' first rose to prominence. She and her flagship 'Queen Anne's Revenge' destroyed half of the cliff, proving their strength and thus directly joining the ranks of pirate kings, rather than being on par with pirate generals."

Golden Queen Angelica… Tina’s eyes lit up, and she couldn’t help but stare at the cliff that looked like the bow of a ship leaning towards the sea for a few more seconds.

Among the children's books assigned by the school, compared to "The Russell Tales" and "The Great Adventurer Gehrman" series, her favorite is the "Great Pirate Angelica" series, which tells the story of the Golden Queen's adventurous life. She yearns for the unrestrained and free life of this morally ambiguous female pirate.

"Capable of shattering half a cliff, her flagship must be even more powerful than the kingdom's newest 'Dauntless'..." Tina thought to herself, following Dorothy who had already left, walking on the soft sand towards Bayam.

In the sisters' minds, the idle "genie" continued to instill knowledge of the occult:

"The power that sent you to Bayam is the teleportation of the 'Traveler,' or you could call it 'travel.' This is almost the only means of quickly moving to any location before the time of a demigod. Therefore, this sequence is very popular among other extraordinary beings, who often attend various underground trade fairs in the form of sealed artifacts or extraordinary properties."

"...This cliff is actually the mark left by the battle between two angels and many saints. Of course, the destructive power of true angels is far more than this. They can easily destroy a city, turn an island into ruins, and unleash tsunamis that attract meteorites..."

"Wait, you mean the 'Golden Queen' is actually an extraordinary being, an angel?"

"...I didn't say that. I just said that the ship had angelic power."

"That's a saint? The difference between a pirate general and a pirate king is whether they are demigods?"

"No... Let's talk about something else. For example, didn't you ever wonder why your uncle was able to get from the West District to the East District in just 10 minutes?"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

With the help of some magical power, Christina and Dorothy quickly arrived in the "City of Generosity" from the deserted beach.

The city, built along the hillside, is surrounded by low walls, which seem more like marking out the city's boundaries than defending against enemies. There are no traditional city gates; each street leading out of the city has its own gate. Thus, Tina and her companion simply followed a carriage into the city and arrived at the commercial district in the city center.

Then they got lost.

Every street seemed the same... The dock area was supposed to be close to the sea, but there looked like there were several docks... Tina stood on the street, which was slightly above the sea level due to the difference in elevation of the hillside, and looked towards the sea. All she could see were masts and sails, as well as chimneys belching exhaust fumes. She couldn't tell where the real "dock area" was at all.

Dorothy, standing nearby, was also dazzled by the bustling street. In the country of Loen, especially in the small city of Tingen, there were dark-skinned southern continent people who were rarely seen, short-haired, slightly curly-haired natives of the Roside Islands, and half-giants who were more than two meters tall and looked like small mountains. Light two-wheeled carriages, heavy steam-powered vehicles, and even coffins carried by people kept passing by in front of her, making the scenes described in her books come to life.

This is an atmosphere completely different from the peaceful and reserved atmosphere of Hettingen and the stark wealth disparity of Backlund. It embraces all customs and habits, forming a unique system with complete freedom and openness.

Living here might be a good choice... A strange thought popped into Dorothy's head that was out of character for her cautious nature.

Collecting her thoughts, she was about to take out "Arods" to divine the direction of the dock area, but then she worried that the unexpected incident of having her belongings stolen as soon as she arrived in the East District of Backlund would happen again. So she withdrew her hand from her pocket, looked around, and walked toward a gentleman with fair skin, wearing a top hat, and whose features were more defined than those of the locals.

Her guess was correct. The man was a traveler from the North Continent to Bayam, and happened to be a Rune. After a brief exchange, Dorothy obtained the location of the dock area from the smiling gentleman.

"Actually, I can find my destination without the power of the sealing artifact."

She led Tina toward the dock area and couldn't help but speak up.

Soon after, the two passed a signpost written in the local language, Ruen, Intis, and Duttan, from which they found directions to different areas such as the dock area, commercial area, and administrative area.

These convenient road signs are almost everywhere, on every street corner.

No wonder that gentleman looked at me strangely; he was looking at me with pity for an idiot… Dorothy immediately became dejected, and even her steps became weak.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

"Fragrant Tree Avenue, past here should be the dock area. Then we need to find the 'Azure Wind' Hotel and sneak into a luxury suite..."

Tina glanced at the street sign on the corner again and said to Dorothy beside her.

The two were standing on a wide street, with rows of independent houses on both sides, each with a lawn and back garden. They were all different in style but extremely luxurious, clearly indicating that this was an area where the wealthy lived.

Strangely, although it was just past noon and the other areas of Bayam were bustling and noisy, Fragrant Tree Avenue was deserted, like an abandoned old town.

Should they take a detour to the other side? But going straight would quickly lead to the dock area… Tina hesitated, looking at the somewhat gloomy avenue under the sun. Just then, a yawning man emerged from an Intis-style building with fan-shaped brackets. He wore a silk shirt, his well-developed chest muscles pushing the fabric up, and a trench coat with a fringed vest draped over it. His short blond hair and eyebrows were slightly burnt, but his azure eyes were unusually bright, instantly catching Tina's attention.

So people live here. I thought it was all haunted houses... He's quite handsome... Upon seeing the stranger, she actually breathed a sigh of relief, glanced at him a few more times, and was about to pull Dorothy across the Fragrant Tree Avenue into the dock area.

But the blond man stared fixedly in their direction. After a moment, he frowned, his eyes gleaming, and strode over. He stopped in front of Tina, forced a smile, and asked:

What brings you all standing at my doorstep?

“We’re going to the dock area, and we’ll be passing through this avenue,” Tina felt a strange fondness for the man and, unwilling to lie, answered honestly, “but there’s nobody here. I… I thought it was haunted…”

The blond man pointed to himself with a "Am I not human?" expression, then looked around and said as if suddenly realizing something:
“These properties all belong to me. No one lives here normally, so of course no one comes here.”

He owns all the properties on the street? Tina was dumbfounded and couldn't help but start calculating how many pounds the unassuming, no, handsome and wealthy man in front of her was worth. She was quickly shocked by the huge number and couldn't speak.

Her blank expression seemed to activate some memory in the man's mind. His face twisted for a moment before returning to normal, and he asked in an extremely gentle tone:

Are your parents not with you? Or are they nearby and you just got lost?

Why is everyone, whether they know her or not, asking where Mom and Dad went today…? Tina muttered to herself, shaking her head.

"They're gone..."

"No more?"

The blond man let out a sharp bang, his right hand reaching for his not-so-long, scorched-yellow hair, revealing an extravagantly designed gold ring on his hand.

"...I mean, they're not here, but my sister and I weren't lost. We just wanted to go to the dock area to find a hotel called 'Azure Wind'."

Tina took a breath and finished speaking.

Hearing this, the man finally lowered his hand from his hair, clutched his chest as if trying to put his heart back in place, his expression extremely strange, his eyes flickering and dimming, before finally looking at Dorothy beside him:
"She's your sister? Hmm, she does look a bit like her..."

He nodded, and continued as if he had made up his mind:
“I’ll take you there, so you don’t get kidnapped and sold on the way. That would be a terrible thing…”

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The dock area, Sour Lemon Street, "Azure Breeze" Hotel.

As Tina followed the man, who was half a head taller than her and walked with an odd gait, into the bar on the first floor, the previously noisy environment became quiet.

Almost all the customers sitting at the bar or at the small tables scattered around, drinking, eating, chatting and having fun, looked toward the door, and then quietly looked away.

“It’s 'Blazing Flames'…”

"Why is he here? Wasn't he supposed to be sailing to the Eastern Continent?"

“Danitz is now a messenger of the Church of the Fools, so of course he will come to this city often…”

"...But I heard he's having an affair with a bishop of the Church of the End Times, and that's the main reason..."

The conversation, though seemingly suppressed, reached Tina's ears, making her unable to resist looking at the blond man in front of her.

So his name is Danitz. Is "Flame" a nickname? Like Gehrman's personal servant in "The Great Adventurer"... But unlike in the book, he's not a pirate, but a messenger of the Church of the Fools... And why are there strange rumors about him?

Various thoughts flashed through her mind until the man called "Flame" stepped out, and the heavy footsteps and his deliberate "humph" stopped the other drinkers' private discussions.

"Let's go to the luxury suite on the rooftop."

He turned back to the two girls and spoke, then turned towards the stairs leading upstairs, his somewhat disheveled figure quickly disappearing from sight.

As Tina followed them upstairs, a new round of discussion arose from behind them:

"I didn't expect 'Blazing Flame' to have such a taste, and even two of them!"

"Can this be reported to the 'Fool's Church?

"Why not report him to the Church of the End Times and let that bishop come after him? Haha!"

Tina couldn't help but glance back at the noisy bar, sighed, and followed Danitz to the third floor with Dorothy, who was trying to suppress her laughter.

The corridor here connects to four copper-clad wooden doors, which are the entrances to four luxury suites. "Blazing Flame" was standing at the door of one of them. Upon seeing the two arrive, he inquired:
Which room are you looking for?

Before Tina could ask about the "genie," he casually turned the nearest door, muttering to himself as he did so:

"I think it should be this one; these are the rooms they stayed in."

Dorothy was somewhat puzzled:
"them?"

"Yes, two legendary figures, household-name adventurers, pirates who struck fear into the hearts of other pirates, and you are also..."

Danitz turned to look at the two girls and nodded in response, but when it came to the crucial point, he seemed to get stuck, opening his mouth but not saying anything more.

His expression slowly changed; the corners of his mouth turned up, his eyes narrowed, and his once bright blue eyes were now hidden by his eyelids, his gaze no longer sharp.

And so, he laughed foolishly.

What happened? There was a trap in this room, and Mr. "Flame" accidentally fell into it and became an idiot?
Tina immediately stepped in front of Dorothy, took out the sealed artifact from her purse, and prepared to throw it directly into the room before deciding whether to run away, but the "genie's" voice rang out again:
"Don't waste any more time. While this idiot is spacing out, put me on the single sofa by the window in the living room."

So it was him who did it… Tina hesitated for a moment, but decided to obey the genie’s command and lift the third seal. She squeezed past “Flame” Danitz by the door and entered the magnificent living room, which had the style of the Rosewood Islands. She quickly found the single sofa he had mentioned and placed the golden lamp on the soft cushion.

Swah——

Golden light emanated from the wick lit at the spout of the kettle, forming a familiar figure in the center of the living room for Tina.

"Great, this is the third one. I didn't expect everything to go so smoothly."

He nodded in satisfaction, and just as Tina had imagined, he struck a pose with his arms crossed, head held high, looking arrogant and haughty.

"What did you do to that 'Flame' just now? He seems to have suddenly lost his basic intelligence and become an idiot."

Dorothy strolled over slowly, pointed to Danitz standing by the door, grinning foolishly, and asked.

The genie's figure glanced disdainfully in that direction and said:
"Actually, it's not my fault... Well, it's a little bit related. This guy carries a sealed artifact that reduces intelligence if worn for a long time, and I shortened its safe duration... Of course, even so, a saint shouldn't be affected by the negative effects of a mere Sequence 6, which is equivalent to a 'Level 2' sealed artifact. Fortunately, I happen to have some insights into how to amplify the effects of sealed artifacts."

So that's how it is... Wait, this "Flame" Danitz, the messenger of the Church of Fools, is a Saint? He has at least Sequence 4 power? Tina was stunned, and several plans immediately popped into her mind on how to escape this place and avoid being tracked down and retaliated against by this powerful Extraordinary.

But looking at Danitz, who was grinning foolishly and seemed to have regressed into an infant, she finally sighed and asked:

How can I remove this effect?

"Shouldn't you take all the money from her pocket now, leave this place, and head to our next destination?" The genie's phantom looked at Tina curiously, chuckled, and continued, "Fine, whatever you want, just take the gold ring off her finger."

A ring… Tina looked at Danitz’s lowered right hand and sure enough, she found an extravagantly designed ring on his index finger. She walked over and ripped off the seal that made people look like idiots.

(End of this chapter)